Top 5 Terrible Male Leads

Top 5 

Terrible Male Leads

One of the most magical things about K-Dramas I find (at least to me anyway), is their ability to create these wonderful, emotional, amazing leading male characters that seem so real and lived in, yet so unlike anything we would ever find in the real world. There are an enormous number of leading male characters in K-Dramalad- some are cookie cutter tropes, some are wonderfully individualised and unique. And not all of them are good. We always watch a show hoping to like, if not love, the leads, so it can be pretty darn disappointing when this isn't the case. The last drama I reviewed had a really crummy male lead, and it reminded me of all those times I sat through a K-Drama and found myself thinking 'Am I supposed to like this guy? Does the writer really think this type of man is appealing?'...

5: Seok Hyun from ‘I Need Romance 2012’

While this drama wasn't terrible overall, I do remember being distinctly irritated by the male lead. I found the leading lady, Yeol Mae, endearing and sweet, and she really gave it a good go to make their relationship work- even going so far as only being friends-with-benefits because that was the only way Seok Hyun would let her be close to him. Seok Hyun did my head in with his hot and cold behaviour- he pushed Yeol Mae away when she wanted to be close to him, but then got petty and jealous when another (better) man started showing interest in her. He didn't treat his lady well, and that never makes for a good leading man. I'm sure there was a reason (there was a reason given right?) that Seok Hyun acted the way he did, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. I just remember that he sucked hard and that Yeol Mae should have chosen the second lead who treated her right.

4: Han Gyul from ‘The Liar and His Lover’

This drama was bad and there was hardly anything I liked in it. One of those things that I did not like was the lead male character, Han Gyeol. He was just so darn moody and broody and depressive. Yes men can have feelings and I LOVE when K-Dramas express this well- but having your main lead sulk around for most of the show and only brighten up when he gets things 100% his way is not really the way to go about it. Han Gyeol was arrogant and uncompromising and it really was his way or no way. I didn't much like the female lead either, so I wasn't too torn up about the pairing, but was slightly troubled that all Han Gyeol's manipulative behaviours were being presented as romantic. 

3: Dae Oh from ‘Was It Love’

THIS is the drama I watched reccently that sparked the idea for this list. There were so many things wrong with the show, but Dae Oh really was one of the biggest ones. He was petty, unobservant and self-centred. Dae Oh really had no interest in seeing the world from anyone else's perspective, and didn't really care about anyone's issues but his own. Honestly, what man finds out their ex from 14 years ago has a 14 year old kid and doesn't even consider that it could be theirs? Talk about daft. His obsession with a girl he dated for less than a year felt creepy and slightly unbalanced as opposed to 'fated' as the drama seemed to be trying to present him. If you're still tied up with angst and anger over a failed relationship from 14 years ago you need professional help, not to rekindle the romance from 14 years ago. 

2: Soo Hyun from ‘Madame Antoine'

Hooooo boy, now we 're really getting into the sucky characters. I remember being completely and utterly baffled that this despicable mess of a man was supposed to be the guy we were rooting for in this show. The character of Soo Hyun in this show is actually so despicable that I started to dislike the actor playing him. The whole premise of this show is that 'Psychologist' Soo Hyun is running an experiment on the leading lady by...pretending to be in love with her. Yeah. So he lies to her, strings her along, lies to her some more, breaks up with her, gloats over her, and lies again. He just had absolutely zero redeeming qualities. Rather than rooting for him, I spent the whole drama wishing the leading lady would kick him to the curb and go for the second male lead. Or the third male lead. Or any male. Actually I would have even preferred if she spent the rest of her life single rather than ending up with the giant jerk that was Soo Hyun.

1: Jun Pyo from ‘Boys Over Flowers'

When this show aired, Jun Pyo was the biggest heartthrob in the world. Since then, a lot of fans of the show have realised and admitted that Jun Pyo had a lot of seriously problematic character traits and behaviours, and is certainly not a character worth idolising. I got onto this drama late, and as such I never had the rosey, romantic view of Jun Pyo that a lot of other people had. To me, this character was always violent, obnoxious and just bad news all round, and I had a really difficult time comprehending how he charmed so many viewers. I mean, when we started this show Jun Pyo was bulling Jan Di quite severely, and as he falls for her he becomes increasingly jealous, possessive and controlling. He is just bad news all round, and if you meet a man like that in real life, my advice to you would be to stay far, far away. 

Who are your least favourite male leads?

Top 5 Annoying Candy Girls

Top 5 

Annoying Candy Girls

Ah, the Candy girl. It’s one of K-Dramas favourite tropes and you’ll pretty much find one every two or three series you watch. Basically a Candy girl is that character who is bubbly, bright and innocent. She’s K-Drama’s average girl who comes from a normal family background, or more often than not a poor family. The main characteristics of our Candy heroines are that they are somehow always the subject of misfortune. Whether it’s family debt, no school tuition or some other unfortunate circumstance our Candy tends to stay happy and upbeat. While being depicted as a regular, non-spectacular girl, she somehow manages to snag the attention of handsome (often rich) men. Candy girls are often the heroines in Cinderella-like stories- cheerful, regular girl in unfortunate circumstances is courted by a ridiculously good looking man (or men). Although Candy girls can make decent heroines, they’re starting to get a little over-used and now come across as bland and boring rather than a nice everyday girl. Their ability to see the best in everyone can sometimes make them look stupid rather than forgiving, and Candy girls tend to be fairly prone to noble idiocy (leaving for the greater good). When constructed poorly, Candy heroines can come across daft and annoying, and completely undeserving of their much better developed hero’s affections. Here’s my top 5 pick of Candy girls so candy that they’ve become annoying.

5: Cinderella and Four Knights

Very obviously a Cinderella-esque story. Our Candy girl lives with her mean step-mother and step-sister and works several part-time jobs to save up for paying her tuition. So obviously a Candy girl. The heroine is happy and optimistic despite her hardships and magically finds herself living with three young, handsome grandsons of a large company. I will admit that this heroine had a smidge more personality than most Candy girls, but was mostly reduced to being the quiet girl that the three rich boys could fight over and try to win. While not the worst character out there, our heroine’s Candy traits definitely made her more annoying rather than appealing. It also didn’t help that the drama just wasn’t very good.

4: Princess Hours

An average high school girl finds out she has an arranged marriage to the Prince of Korea. While the girl starts out with a bit of personality she takes the typical trajectory of a Candy. Even though she does virtually nothing to win the favour of the Prince, he falls for her anyway. As does the other Prince. Our heroine this time takes the weepy road- a common road for Candies to take. When the hardships all become to much she just deteriorates into a crying, blubbering mess and does nothing to improve her situation. The heroine's innocent, idealistic nature more often than not comes across as stupid, and makes it difficult to pity her when she encounters a rough situation.

3: The Heirs

Park Shin Hye is pretty much known for her Candy roles. In most of the dramas she acts in she tends to be a Candy girl, and ‘Heirs’ is definitely not an exception. Park Shin Hye’s character has virtually no character to speak of, and spends the entire drama being dragged around by the two male leads who have for some unknown reason fallen for her. This heroine exhibits all traits of a typical Candy girl- she’s pretty happy-go-lucky with a tendency to be quiet, lets men drag her around by the wrist regardless of if she wants to go with them or not, does not actively participate in kisses (just stands there with her eyes open and let’s the young chaebol kiss her), and cries. Oh and noble idiocy. Lots of noble idiocy from the Candy girl.

2: Moon that Embraces the Sun

This is a strange one in that I don’t actually think that the heroine was supposed to be a Candy at all. It just goes to show the overall negative connotations that follow the Candy idea around. While the young actors were amazing, particularly the young heroine, once we switch to the older actors everything just kind of falls apart. The heroine loses her memories (which doesn’t help her Candiness), and with them basically all her personality. She becomes blank and boring and serves no greater purpose than being someone the King is all angsty about. Our heroine wore a vacant expression for the majority of the series. Even when she cried she was kind of blank. As a typical annoying Candy she never really did anything and basically just let every other person in the story dictate her life. And of course she didn't kiss back either.

1: Boys Over Flowers

The Candiest Candy on this list- Geum Jan Di. The situation is similar to ‘Heirs’- normal high school girl gets enrolled in a school for the rich and prestigious and BOOM all the young, wealthy boys want to make her their Cinderella. Not only is Jan Di a typical Candy character (hardworking, bubbly, innocent to the point of naivety), but so many Candy situations happen to her. A main point of the Candy girls is that despite their apparent ‘normality’, everyone takes an interest in them, be they girl, boy or villain. So of course every situation under the sun happens to Jan Di so that she can show just how optimistic or forgiving or bright her character is, despite going through constant hardship. And of course this also means that the hero (and his best friend) have plenty of opportunities to come save her. Jan Di ends up being an annoying Candy for a number of reasons. 1- Her forgiving nature often puts her back in danger making her seem dumb rather than generous. 2- She often never actually did anything when she was in a bad situation and just waited around for someone to save her. 3- She cried. A lot. 4- She was an annoying Candy for an extended period of time (24 episodes as opposed to the usual 16).

Who are your least favourite Candies?