A. The Tropes

1. Accidental Kiss

Fern wrote:

if you don’t like tropes, stop now. Not just wrist grab, but a full ‘fall on top of him with your mouth on his.’ (without broken teeth or cut lips, mind)

I loved the grandfather asking wonderingly, ‘Why are the rich always villains on these shows?’ after forcing his grandson to go on 11 dates in one day with ‘suitable’ girls.

2. Nosebleeds

Fern wrote:

I’m a bit worried about the nosebleeds. We’ve had 2 already. In K-drama tropes that can mean leukemia or some such. –Or high blood pressure due to lust. 😉 The name Samantha reminds me of Sex in the City, and Rachel, of Friends.

3. Chase scene with a star athlete

From Fern again:

When Tae Moo chased after Ha-ri with the slipper, I thought the same thing: he was a star athlete and would have a relatively enormous two-stairs-at-once stride, but couldn’t catch up with her? But I liked that he gave her the slipper back. I thought he might have believed the drop on her slipper was a tear and that she was weeping.

Hahaha. I’m not going to remind you where we heard of this before.

4. Tonkatsu slap

Fern wrote:

Worse than throwing water or a sea-weed slap, right? Trope heaven.

5. Yellow Umbrela

Carolina wrote:

Side note- @pm3 – I was just finding out about the yellow umbrella trope 😄. The hong sister mentioned on your other post got me to go back to Hwayugi and rewatch bits and pieces, which led me to read your posts on the episodes, which led me to the post on yellow umbrellas

6. Rich guy, poor gal

Cleopatra wrote:

As for the second couple, in the manga, they are an item before our main couple, but the most known k-drama trope about rich and poor will take place, before they find their happiness.

7. Evil Chaebol relatives

Fern wrote:

another trope possibly — Yeong-seo mentioned evil chaebol relatives who might have planned the accident in which Tae-moo’s parents died. –The stuff of Sageuks and makjang dramas. She also said that Chairman Kang fired all relatives to protect Tae-moo.

8. Cinderella trope

Packmule3 wrote:

That shoe moment — 😂 that was definitely a Cinderella trope. We were just missing the glass slipper.

Gifs from yesdramas’ tumblr

Did he go around her?

from yesdramas’ tumblr

9. Wrist/elbow grabs
10. Saving from passing motorbike
11. Pretty fireworks over the river with the pretty girl

Fern wrote:

Wrist/elbow grabs, saving from a passing motorbike, pretty fireworks over the river with the pretty girl, we nearly had another fall-upon with Grandfather, but Ha-ri couldn’t do it and protect her face as well…

12. Accidental Purse Drops

GB wrote:

While the Cinderella trope has cropped up twice, there’s something that happened 3 times: she dropped her purse.

In Ep 2 she dropped it when Young Seo sprung the surprise meeting with TM on HR and she had to quickly put on her wig. He picked up her family’s restaurant coupon and kept it for himself.
In Ep 3, she dropped her purse when she was with Grandfather and he found the tickets to the concert.
In Ep 4 she dropped her purse during the anniversary date and her dress ripped when she crouched to pick it up. That time TM picked her up and covered the back of her dress. He was also intending to at least pretend to marry her and keep her for himself.

13. Elevator Meeting

Famous last words: “A regular employee will never run into the president at work.”

14. Dolls

HK_Lady wrote:

re: freebie gift – dolls – it is rather interesting to have the HERO talk to the dolls. ingenious! another trope, but different. i think he needs it more? haha even though he has a side kick. i feel they don’t confide in each other much.

Usually, it’s the heroine who’s into these stuffed toys.

15. Family of choice

Welmaris wrote:

Secretary Cha, although not a blood relative, is considered trustworthy by Chairman Yang as chosen family. (Family of choice is another common trope.)

16. Genius, flawless hero

Harvard alum too.

17. Glasses as disguise

Also known as the Clark Kent trope.

But…but…but…he looks the same!!!

Shin Hari wears a pair of nerdy glasses; GeumHui has a pair of boobs named Samantha and Rachel.

 

18. Tall hero, short heroine

Kdramas like this big height difference. Notice how Hari hides behind Taemoo.

From Episode 1

From Episode 3

I’m waiting for the scene when she asks Taemoo’s help to get something off the top shelf.

19. Manic pixie heroine, aloof hero

20. Fried chicken

The product placement is either a fried chicken restaurant or Subway. I guess Subway lost to GooBne.

21. The blind date from hell

source: kateknowsdramas

22. Falling trope

From Episode 1

She almost fell down the stairs because she pushed him away. She pushed him away because she thought he was propositioning her.

Hari: No way. I’m not going to marry someone I barely know.
Taemoo: Then let’s go on just ten dates.
Hari: What?
Taemoo: I’ll give you a chance to get to know me. Once you do, you’ll learn I have a lot of strengths. And I am quite good…(leaning in to whisper in her ear) at many things.
Hari: (pushing him) What do you mean you’re good at –?

And she fell backwards.

Taemoo: What were you thinking about? I just meant that I’m good to women. I’m confident that you won’t want to see other men while seeing me.

This is because she said she liked to see two, three men at the same time. lol.

Hari: I don’t want to marry you or date you. So I hope to never see you again.

From Episode 2

23. Pushy parents/grandparents

24. Handkerchief

The guy must carry handkerchief at all times in case the girl needs it.

Gifs from mostlyfate’s tumblr

source: mostlyfate’s tumblr

25. Storm drains

Storm drains must have a vacuum-like suction. Everybody keeps dropping things in them in kdramas. (TaeEul drops her lanyard in the “The King: Eternal Monarch”)

26. Bump-and-Go

I don’t get this. Don’t people in South Korea stop to help pick up dropped items after they bump you?

27. Saving hero/heroine’s number under cute contact names

But this is the first time I’ve heard of “archaeopteryx.”

28. Eating street food

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

B. The Meta

Here’s @GB’s post on meta. Thanks, @GB –pm3

The Meta in the Show

It’s fun to see a soap opera within a Show, and to hear of the PPL in the soap opera, which is also evident in the Show. Grandfather and now HR’s parents note how it didn’t make sense that the chaebol family in the soap ate cheap and bought cheap t-shirts. The meta comment is that they were PPL for stores willing to sponsor them. LOL.

This nicely leads into Geum Hui and Tae Moo’s fake date at a real expensive chaebol store and doing the real chaebol things that the soap failed to do.

Following on Grandfather’s style of doing things, (like a soap with a male chauvinist ML) TM does all the choosing of the clothes for HR to try without asking first what she’d like.
She seems to think it’s very like a soap opera : “What’s with the cliché lines and vibe? I think you’ve seen way too many TV shows.”
TM : “Not me. It’s my grandfather who’s seen too many.”
HR : “What?”
TM : “If we don’t do this, he’ll hear about it. So do your best. As if this is real, not fake.”

By the time he’s seen her in the 4th outfit, his admiration of her seems to be real and not fake LOL.

The next bit of meta was when Young Seo’s rich Cousin comes into the same store demanding to have the dress that the actress, Kim Se Jeong wore to the press conference for her new show. LOL. Well, Kim Se Jeong as Geum Hui really was wearing the dress that Cousin wanted, however, the dress that she wore for the press conference for this show was this other white dress (I believe).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DdYs0vPgBWyIIbCJbiQA0DLcOOXRykHH/view?usp=sharing

I’m not sure that Cousin would have been able to fit into the dress that Geum Hui found too tight… I’m not sure but she looked shorter than KSJ, so not the right height? Even the other white dress, might not have been suitable, because the broad waste would have cut a person into 2 or 3 and made them look shorter. I felt it would have looked better proportioned, if the skirt had been longer for Kim Se Jeong.

More on the Meta

Episode 1 – Now that I’m going back to check on what I missed, I see that show has enjoyed being self-referential from the beginning. When Ha Ri is ruminating about the concert tickets that she got from from Min Woo at the bus stop, the poster there is of this very manhwa.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CEuy9_pb6O_mNkgm1joPqZI3YWRaLy9y/view?usp=sharing

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Just add the tropes and metas here. Thanks!!