[Theme of the Month] Short but sweet
by stroopwafel
If a regular K-drama is a freshly brewed cup of coffee, I consider the mini drama to be the espresso of dramaland.
Mini dramas tell their stories over a much shorter than usual runtime, but they pack a lot of story and heart over a handful of episodes. Typically, mini dramas have fewer than 5 episodes while your average K-drama has a minimum of 16 episodes. Short but sweet, mini dramas are proof that a good story can be told succinctly. Hymn of Death captured the tragedy and love between its leading couple in just three hours. The bittersweet mini drama Ping Pong Ball was only two episodes long, but it left me with lingering questions on life and relationships. Let’s raise a glass to all the mini dramas that left an impact on us.
Tell us about your favorite mini dramas and the reasons why you enjoyed them so much.
To submit:
- Email your submissions to [email protected]. If you have a registered Dramabeans account, include your handle so we can link to it.
- Include at least 1 image, though more is preferred.
- Suggested length: Between 500 and 1,000 words.
- Deadline: We will post these on a rolling basis, so we’re taking submissions now. We will cut off accepting submissions on April 25. If you miss this month, join us for a new theme next month!
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Tags: Theme of the Month
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1 Mel
April 1, 2019 at 7:37 PM
I've been waiting for the theme of the month of April! its finally here! Thank you @stroopwafel!
Hmmm mini-series, I haven't really watched any, except for One More Time, which I saw one on netflix and couldn't help but watch...
Hahaha, this month's theme posts are going to be a "trailer" for me!
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2 gadis
April 1, 2019 at 7:42 PM
Seems like it's time for me to talk about those gems in KBS Drama Special.
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Waadmay
April 2, 2019 at 12:25 AM
Nice
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frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials
April 2, 2019 at 4:01 AM
Not if I do it first! 😂
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BdxPelik
April 3, 2019 at 3:13 PM
I almost forgot about those... *flashback to teenage Kwak Dong Yeon in school uniform battling it out with boxing gloves against a bully twice his size*
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3 mary
April 1, 2019 at 7:46 PM
Time to promote Naked Fireman...
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Lord Cobol (Kdramas, like water, flow downhill)
April 1, 2019 at 7:56 PM
Girl K
Splash Splash Love
Somebody who wanted to stir things up might suggest Surplus Princess :)
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mary
April 1, 2019 at 10:06 PM
Yes because it ended at episode 6. XD
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egads aka Dame Maggie
April 2, 2019 at 3:12 PM
or rather, rant about the misleading title?
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4 Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
April 1, 2019 at 8:06 PM
Splash Splash Love, Trap, Hymn Of Death, If We Were A Season (i.e. every KBS Drama Special lol), Old Goodbye
... Dare I say those God-awful Lotte Duty Free short dramas/extended commercials?? lol
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larelle79
April 1, 2019 at 8:10 PM
I think I watched one of those Lotte Free ones.
Was it the one where the salesgirl had a dream about kissing seven different dudes and they were all drama stars who played off the characters they were known for.
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Nessa (Bebe) 🌹
April 1, 2019 at 8:24 PM
I think that was the first one that they did, and then the year after they did another one
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5 larelle79
April 1, 2019 at 8:08 PM
Wednesday 3:30PM.
To me, was perfect. Plot, characters, everything.
Eun-woo and Jae-won's friendship and ultimately relationship was the most realistic I has seen in a kdrama since Fight My Way.
Jae-won suffered no fools when it came to Eun-woo, but still treated her with the love and respect she deserved.
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13infamyss
April 2, 2019 at 12:34 AM
I’ve come across this title when I was watching another drama from this network - I picked up a celebrity on the street (an idiotic series that I have no idea why I am still watching 🤦♀️).
I haven’t had the chance to check out Wednesday 3:30 out yet, but thanks for the rec! Sounds really like a drama right up my alley! And it has Jin Ki Joo in it - love this actress since Misty.
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RevSparklyAndroid
April 2, 2019 at 5:40 AM
Something many of us have pondered at some point during our drama-watching careers...😁😉
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chadelrosario27
April 2, 2019 at 8:35 AM
HAHA been waiting for that drama to come out too, im on episode 2 now but i stopped watching it haha didn't think it would be that terrible :D I mean, I was expecting a typical rom com that the guy will lose his memory the girl save him and they live happily ever after :D hahaha a drama that we already know what will happen in the story (but still watching it)
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13infamyss
April 2, 2019 at 9:18 AM
Lol good you had the will to drop it by ep 2. I’m on ep 6 and *SPOILERS* she ended up kidnapping yet another man *bangs my head on the wall cuz I’m still watching*
The plot intrigued me too at first and now I don’t even find the main couple cute at all. Like the girl is annoying me af, but I don’t know how to stop. I see ep 7 is 100% translated now, I’m itching to click that play button yet again 😪
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chadelrosario27
April 3, 2019 at 7:48 AM
HAHAHA me too, since I had a big expectations with Sung Hoon coz, i still had the "My Secret Romance" romatic vibe left :D It's just too sad that the story becomes boring now :) we'll happy watching :D
6 ElKwesi
April 1, 2019 at 9:07 PM
I've only watched two short dramas but I enjoyed them both & plan on checking out whatever I see in the comments.
The Happy Loner: About an introvert woman who meets a guy who's pretty much her complete opposite.
To. Jenny: This is one of my favorite things I've watched. A two episode musical drama about a musician with stage fright who runs into his high school crush. This really was funny with great songs that are still stuck in my head "TIRAMISU CAKE TIRAMISU CAKE!" (also the main character little sister one of the best kid characters to be put on screen)
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Cloggie
April 2, 2019 at 1:00 AM
Happy Loner is so good.
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Yashashree Jadhav
April 2, 2019 at 9:29 AM
I read this and tiramisu cake started playing in my head. That's when you know it was a fun sweet and short drama!
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Beans007
April 2, 2019 at 11:40 AM
To. Jenny was one of my favourites last year - to the extent that I still have Tiramisu cake on my playlist! I just wanted to say how much I loved the kid sister too and would love to see more of her.
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7 missjb
April 1, 2019 at 10:23 PM
Does it include KBS drama special? And if it's 8 episode like Just dance, can it be included as well? There is alor of gem in KBS short drama
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8 13infamyss
April 2, 2019 at 12:27 AM
Tons of web dramas come to mind! Web dramas are my “IT” thing right now as none of the cable/TV dramas interest me at the moment (maybe I should check out Kill It now, and I sort of lost interest on Psychometric Guy after ep 2 😔)
Back to web dramas - I am currently watching the season 2 of Just One Bite - it isn’t as interesting as season 1 since I only care about one (out of 3) couple this time, but omg Chan Hyuk and Soo Ji are absolutely cute 😍😍 I’ve loved them since day 1 and their dynamic continue to amaze me. I need more scenes of them 😭😭
I finished a 4-episode drama yesterday. Longing for Spring - drama with Lee Won Geun and Song Ji Eun 😍 cute. I always have a thing for childhood best friend turn to lovers plot.
Hmmm I’ll try to write up about web dramas this time (I am bit 😔 that I don’t really have a space to talk about them) and send it over! 😄 thanks for the theme this month! Looking forward to read everyone’s post about short drama series!
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Ayan
April 2, 2019 at 2:56 PM
I didn't realise season 2 of just one bite had already aired! Thanks I'm off to watch :)
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13infamyss
April 2, 2019 at 4:01 PM
Yes! It’s on their vlive channel, not YouTube. I feel like web dramas get uploaded first on vlive then they upload it on their YT channel a few months after it finished airing. At the moment there’s 8 episodes out. Happy watching!😃
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Mich
April 2, 2019 at 6:25 PM
i've seen Longing For Spring being promoted on YT and i watched 2 (short) eps (mostly for Lee Won Geun haha).. worth watching all the way through?
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13infamyss
April 3, 2019 at 4:15 PM
It’s 4 episode long and each episode is no longer than half an hour, so even though some parts are a bit cheese, they’re bearable. I’m not a fan of Won Geun’s hair in this drama though. But Still love his moon-eyed smile 😍
Mich
April 10, 2019 at 6:24 PM
hehe 😅 sold on the moon-eyed smile then!!
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9 greenfields
April 2, 2019 at 2:03 AM
OH! A theme I REALLY want to write for. *rummages through schedule for time to do this writing*
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10 nilsche
April 2, 2019 at 2:29 AM
For me its splash splash love and ha soekjin ver. Of 1% of something.
Both for obvious reason: the lack of airing time make the drama makers (what do they called?) Cut of a lot of unnecessary plots.
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11 Kurama
April 2, 2019 at 2:58 AM
Adolescence Medley (KBS)! I loved this one ! It was my first drama with Kwak Dong Yeon and there were a lot of good actors.
Splash Splash Love was cute :)
You Drive Me Crazy, I wanted his house and his cute hedgehog!
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Mich
April 2, 2019 at 6:25 PM
yes!! agreed about You Drive Me Crazy. quite enjoyed that!
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12 Jrr 🌈
April 2, 2019 at 4:06 AM
You Drive Me Crazy literally drove me crazily in love.
The chemistry & skinship was electrifying.
⚡️💕
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Mich
April 2, 2019 at 6:26 PM
yes! couldn't agree more!
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13 DelSatu
April 2, 2019 at 4:51 AM
Page turner ❤
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13infamyss
April 2, 2019 at 5:01 AM
Yaaaas! Kim So Hyun and Ji Soo. 😍 Discovered Shin Jae Ha in this short series too.
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raks
April 8, 2019 at 10:22 AM
I hope they make another drama with Kim So Hyun and Shin Jae Ha <3
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14 ObsessedMuch
April 2, 2019 at 7:13 AM
So many famous ones come to mind immediately! Splish Splish Love, to.Jenny, Page Turner etc- But they are already too high profile! How to remember the many other tiny ones I spent days watching!
Does an 8-episoder count? Or is that too long to be counted as a mini?
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15 chadelrosario27
April 2, 2019 at 8:42 AM
I go for 1% of Something, Trap and Splash Splash Love too. Can't remember the others but these are the best for me.
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16 Yashashree Jadhav
April 2, 2019 at 9:28 AM
Such a good topic! There are many gems that are super short but touch your heart!
The first one that comes to mind is Page Turner!
Such a nice one!
Oh and Splash Splash Love. that's another of my all time favs!
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Yashashree Jadhav
April 2, 2019 at 9:41 AM
Another interesting but tiny one was the one with Lee Kwang Soo. Puck.
I actually love him as an actor and not to mention the variety gods shine on him haha
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17 suk
April 2, 2019 at 9:50 AM
Has anybody here watched Ping Pong Ball? I really loved it, and its the type of show I can write well on 🤔
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18 owl 🦉 🫰
April 2, 2019 at 11:50 AM
Huh, espresso for thought. . .I'll have to go back and check my list of viewed shorties. This will be fun!
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19 Ayan
April 2, 2019 at 2:54 PM
Ooh this is such a great theme, excited to find a show I haven't seen before!
I think the short dramas on playlist global would be fun to talk about too.
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20 Ally
April 2, 2019 at 6:20 PM
White Christmas had 8 episodes. Would this count? This was an excellent mini-drama, and gave rise to many regulars in k-dramas now. If I remembered more about it, I might be able to write something---or maybe it's time for a rewatch.
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Kurama
April 2, 2019 at 11:09 PM
White Christmas was great! I really loved it!
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wakimary
April 3, 2019 at 5:20 PM
I was gonna beg you,Ally to write one for Splish Splash Love but I love White Christmas,too 😅
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21 💜🍍☠ Sicarius The Queen of Melonia ☠🍍💜
April 4, 2019 at 4:48 PM
I think all of the mini dramas I've watched have been favourites... Splash Splash Love, Page Turner, Individualist Ms. Ji Young, You Make Me Crazy, To. Jenny... The first two especially are up there in favourite dramas overall.
Oh but I also watched some wack ones (courtesy of @obsessedmuch) like After School Club:Lucky or Not, which were bad but I liked them in a stupid way anyway, and both Lotte Duty Free dramas because I have no lyfe.
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22 Millie
April 6, 2019 at 6:46 PM
Page Turner. Nuff said
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23 blessingwind
April 8, 2019 at 11:27 AM
My absolute favourites are below:
1.Splash Splash Love and Queen of the ring! Guess what is common in this two dramas? Kim Suel Gi. The chemistry between her and the male leads was off the charts. She really is a charming actress.
2. Puberty Medley- An adorable show. Kwak Dong yon is a hilariously cute in this. This will definitely make you feel very nostalgic about your school days.
3. Nail Shop Paris : I watched this 4 episode drama very long time ago. I remember bits and pieces now, but i i found the show really good when i watched it.
4. The Universe Star - This was the drama that made me cry my heart out in the last episode. I kept thinking about this show so often even when it ended. It really did take a part of my soul during those days i was in that phase. Because of this drama i even knew Suho from EXO and i found him really good looking and developed a crush along the way.
5. Page Turner - Inspiring school drama. I loved all the characters in this and we got two very hot guys in the show . I think this drama would have killed the ratings even if this was full fledged show. Kim So Hyeon + Ji Soo and a good plot.
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24 Sam
April 8, 2019 at 6:30 PM
Drunk in Good Taste. So cute!
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