Filipino K-Pop Fans And K-Dramas That Enter Netflix's Top Ten Choices

While I don't deny that most K-Drama does things a lot better than the sh*tty teleseryes - it's still possible to enjoy a good product for a bad reason. I don't deny I've been guilty of doing too though I've also enjoyed a couple of shows where there's no attractive actress at all. The K-Drama The King: Eternal Monarch did become number one for weeks already. Before that, there was also Itaewon Club (which had too many woke sprinkles and bad plot twists so I DROPPED IT) and Crash Landing on You. Then The King: Eternal Monarch became part of the top ten but what about other K-Drama out there? Why haven't the more complex ones like the crime drama (which has several layers of mystery to it) got into the top ten list? I was totally boggled at how some K-Dramas seem to get ignored or never make it into the top ten.

Previously, I remembered the talk about What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? which had Park Seo Jun and Park Min Young. The show did also air on ABiaS-CBN. I did watch the show and it's well... all about office romance. Me watching Asianovelas started out with love stories like Meteor Garden. However, I was more hooked into the action genre that Love O2O (which aired in GMA-7) didn't click to me as much as King's Avatar due to the flicks. All I hear about What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? has been the office romance. The kilig or heartwarming moments tend to be talked more than the leading guy's past, the strained relationship with his older brother, and the love triangle formed out of a false memory. I think the same happened with The King: Eternal Monarch which probably Lee Min Ho unintentionally stole the whole show with his good looks (that is for his fangirls) and probably got popular the wrongest reasons. Are the Pinay fangirls just envying the gutsy leading ladies thinking they deserved the men more? I guess the men will just ignore them.

I remembered when Erik Matti called K-Dramas as faux Cinderella stories. Matti is indeed showing his loser mentality. However, I couldn't help but think of the term "faux Cinderella story" because the Cinderellas are anything but waiting for their Prince Charmings. I still remember how Shining Inheritance had Eun Sung have her most unlikely prince charming in Hwan who started off as an obnoxious spoiled child before becoming a better person. Crash Landing on You does have a spunky Cinderella but Rappler's review of it was too focused on the kilig factor.  Yup, I can't forget how GMA-7 actually aired that show in the late 2000s and the show turned 10 last year. GMA-7 also aired My Golden Life where Shin Hye Sun's character has a sudden twist of fate. I think about why the Korean Cinderella stories do get more popular in the Philippines than the more complex ones or those that hardly have a romance as the focus. Crime-themed Korean TV series like Strangers, Voice, and The Lies Within just didn't make it to the top ten in Netflix Philippines. Those three don't have any romantic focus and are have criminal investigations as the theme.

Though the stories of K-Dramas have defeated teleseryes by being unpredictable and direct to the point - the choices are still somewhat too limited. It seems that Filipinos who have detested the stupidity of teleseryes are immersing themselves into K-Drama for the wrong reasons. I was thinking about the shallow reasons to watch it. I've been guilty of that since I tend to watch K-Drama for the sake of an attractive actress. I watched a little more of them only for the attractive female lead who's not always that hot. In the article "10 Reasons why Filipinos are attracted to Korean dramas" - the first reason listed is the attractive cast. Maybe, it's because the K-Drama oppas (and many of them have completed their MANDATORY military training) are manlier than the teleserye guys? There are some of them that just love to boast the muscles of their guys. Many of these guys are really manly in contrast to the teleserye actors.

I think it's worth noting that more complex plotted K-Drama just doesn't make it to the top ten. It seems that the choices usually are based on kilig, attractive cast members and that it must be a love story. I think that's why The King: Eternal Monarch got that popular because of the kilig, the muscular good-looking leading guy (the female lead is anything but attractive IMHO), and the love story focus. I think the popularity of My Golden Life was also was based on the kilig moments that it had. They could've chosen to at least try watching some more complex and non-romantic K-Drama for a change. Sure, many started watching K-Drama with love stories but going beyond that narrative is good for a change. The Korean crime drama, historical drama, or action genre usually ditches aside romance or just adds it as the cherry on ice cream. Others even forget the romantic narrative in favor of a plot like solving a murder case or taking down a criminal empire. There's even some political drama such as dealing with disasters and corruption. Sadly, none of the deeper K-Dramas ever get popular in the Philippines or enter Netflix's top ten choices. I think none of the attractive leads in more complex drama can get the entries to go on top if they lack the romantic narrative.

Many members of the Filipino KPop community have a lot of growing up to do. What's the use of them actually complaining about teleserye redundancy when their choices are seldom, too redundant? They need to see what makes K-Dramas better beyond the cover and go beyond the well-written love stories. Not every telenovela has to be a romantic narrative. A lot of them need to stop being Koreaboos because they're no less creepy than the Weaboos since every culture has its flaws.