Differences in Korean Web Dramas

If you have watched dramas for quite a while, you probably noticed the differences: shorter episodes, shorter dramas, and slowly shifting from one trope to another.

There is a lot of discussion about whether Korean dramas have gotten worse. They are now on Netflix and other streaming services, as there were days when kdramas were still a niche, not as mainstream as it is now with Squid Game and other series' popularity.

However, we're less inclined to discuss the differences we see in web dramas. This is probably because not as many people choose to watch them; they are usually very low-budget, with unknown actors, and the story might not be fully fleshed out or unfinished.

For example, I'm still waiting for Girlfriend Project Day 2, and now I realise that it's been three years since then.

What is a web drama?

Web dramas are usually posted on Naver, YouTube and for us, international fans, some of it is on Viki. They mostly deal with kdrama storylines focusing on love entanglements among people in their twenties and a bit older; that way, covering their target audience. It is usually between 10-20 minutes and is great for commute time, and they are usually 10 episodes if not fewer. (The Sookmyung Times)

As I mentioned, more dramas are coming out with six episodes or less show time, so sometimes it is hard to differentiate if the drama is supposed to be called a web drama or a normal kdrama.

To distinguish that I usually think not only about length but also where it is uploaded and heavily rely on the tags in mydramalist, Viki, etc.

Web dramas in the past

I found out my web drama journey through Vlive. If I'm not mistaken, it was The Universe's Star, and it is still one of my favourites that I recommend. It deals with lighter topics, such as being a fan of someone, and heavier conversations, such as death, are also mentioned.

This is where the iconic video of Suho seeing a hater commenting on his performance video and saying that he will sue her.

Another one is Queen of the Ring, which briefly talks about lookism and how much we care about appearances. How the female lead is getting through her insecurities and starting to love herself.

Even if you want to get into something different, there was Nightmare Teacher if you want a bit of horror. It's Okay to Be Sensitive for a short course on feminism and sexual harassment.

Of course, the priority IS romance, but the point is that there is more to it. They had the time to put in romance and fit it with some kind of deeper meaning of finding yourself. Though not all the dramas succeeded in that regard.

It was also a good way for new actors to get into the industry and gain fame. A lot of idol actors used this opportunity to get into acting, this was a way to test the waters and see how it would go.

Web dramas now

Maybe because in the past few years, I have started to watch fewer web dramas, but even when I see one, I'm not interested in the plot.

Of course, I watch some horrible ones where I can see my favourite idol, but putting those aside, most web dramas are based in high school or a BLs. I'm not saying that those things are bad, but they usually don't have a good plot. This is from the ones I've seen, and it's not a bad thing. Sometimes it's nice to look at cute romance.

There are always exceptions to the rule. Recently, I talked about how much I loved One Day Off, Hope or Dope also had a good story following high school students.

However, there is not only a change in the drama but the platforms that upload it. Viki stayed the same, and there is no Vlive anymore, but YouTube game has changed.

Some channels are now doing web dramas as shorts. That was the most surprising thing. While the others are no longer uploading anything, they are there if people want to watch older stuff, but most of those channels have not been touched for years.

I understand, it probably costs more than they get paid back, but it left me wondering, did people stop watching web dramas?

Nothing much has changed throughout the years. People still need to commute to work, and BL dramas, the last time I've seen it, are doing great. However, there are still not a lot of platforms producing it.

It just feels like the end of an era of some sort, and I'm feeling a bit sad.

Give me those 10 minutes of my son helping me find my boyfriend. Kind of entertaining but somehow touching dramas!

As I mentioned, there are still web dramas on Viki and YouTube, but they don't feel the same because there is barely any plot in them.

Future of web dramas

We already see them slowly deteriorating, so I don't have much hope for it. The ones that are uploading on YouTube will soon disappear and maybe go to TikTok or their own channels.

I wouldn't be surprised if Viki were the only platform producing and putting out shorter series.

Or maybe all of the dramas will last 10 minutes, and everything will become shorter as the years go by. Our attention span is not getting longer.

Of course, I'm joking about it, but it's interesting to analyse the industry that I came to know and how it's now changed. I still hope to see web dramas. It's a good palate cleanser, especially after finishing a drama that has one episode that is more than an hour long.

Share your best web dramas with me and let me know how much you agree with my thoughts!