Tropes

I have included tropes in my rating scale because it is a huge part of what we all love and hate about dramas. However, for those of you may be new to Korean Dramas, perhaps an explanation is in order.

This is the list of tropes that I find are the most common. There are others of course, like dramatic crying and last minute u-turns, but I don’t really feel like those should make a significant influence on the drama’s overall rating. And then there are some like hidden identities, secret parentage, and body switches that are really too big of plot points to be considered “tropes” in my opinion.

So then based on that list, I rate by quality on a scale of one to a hundred with a basic:

70= C

80= B

90=A

100 = A+

Some examples of an accidental kiss gone wrong:

And this is it done right:

One Percent of Something

And then what about the tropes we hate? For some it is the dreaded wrist grab…

for me, it is amnesia. I can’t stand it, which is why on my spreadsheet it is worth extra negative points.

There are of course times where amnesia isn’t completely horrible like in Shopping King Louie when it is a major plot point, or in Secret Garden where the amnesia doesn’t last very long and it is made into a kind of joke. So if you choose to use my drama rating system, feel free to make your least favorite trope worth some extra negative points!

And now, for the list and how I came up with the rating of tropes for 1988:

TROPES	Reply 1988 Score
Accidental Kiss	100
Amnesia	–
Back Hug	100
Chaebol/Candy/Cinderella	–
Cohabitation	100
Contract Relationship	–
Crazy Mom	–
Drunk/ Drinking	100
Gender Bending	–
Hit by a Car (Motorcycle)	100
Love Triangle	70
Noble Idiocy	60
Piggy Back Ride	100
Rain Scene	100
Terminal Illness	100
Wrist Grab	–
Total Average:	92