and they're fated together... :)

And I'm happy that once in a while there's a drama like "My Ahjusshi" where the leads didn't share any childhood past - except for those neighbourhood ahjusshis :)

Lovely exploration of the 'We've met before' trope @missvictrix. I'm so happy to see that you've include Just Between Lovers and Healer (my 2 ultimate favourites!!!) to your list of shows that have made use of it to good effect.

I know you were saying this in your own words, but the phrase that came to my mind when I was reading this was: "meant to be" ... I'd like to include that this trope makes the resolution of the OTP that bit more satisfying, because they had 'always been meant to be together'. If not for circumstances, families, misunderstandings, etc... they should have been united always from the start, but at least in the end, the OTP's being together feels right, because it was meant to be. :)

Thanks @missvictrix!

@missvictrix How is it that every piece of yours on kdrama tropes are so entertaining to read? 💕

The childhood connection more often than not makes me roll my eyes because it's no longer a carefully crafted surprise ( WWWSK ) and more often than not drags the story and then lazily conlcudes: Fate must've bought us together.

I really love though, when it actually uses such moments to flesh the characters and their narratives along. Or when it's an actual surprise or played off as no big deal or used to signify the cuteness of childhood because you make your own choices ( You Who Came From the Stars, WLFKBJ, 100 Days My Prince, Bride of the Century, Fight My Way, Healer ) etc.

One of the reasons why I think this trope is popular is because these kind of fated relationships rarely happen in real life. I'm not talking about the childhood friends to lovers, but the shared trauma ones. Which I've seen in so many shows like JBL, CAHM, 30 but 17, WWWSK, WYWS etc. Since our real lives are rarely so eventful (though no one would want this kind of events in their lives, naturally), maybe that's why we turn to dramas to give us that excitement.

If done right, it becomes an awesome experience as we take a journey along with the characters. And like you said, it gives us immense satisfaction when they're together at the end, because if they can overcome those obstacles, they're definitely meant to be. Thanks for the interesting read.

Shout out to all the amazing child actors that really bring this interconnectedness to life! They're always blowing me away with their talent.

The risk is that the child actors are better than the adult ones. I prefered some childhood part in dramas like Will It Snow for Christmas, Angel Eyes, Inspiring Generation or Come and Hug Me.

In Hundred Millions Stars..., I liked how they shared the same feelings caused by the same trauma without knowing it. They fell in love because they shared the same loneliness and the same fear to have been abandonned.

In Healer, the childhood part was interesting thanks to the parents. I loved the parents squad, it was nice to see.

In Pretty Noona, it was interesting because it made their love story pretty real, the fact they fell in love in someone in their cercles of friends/family, not someone completely new with a very different background or world.

I loved the childhood part in Queen For Seven Days. The actors were really cute. Usualy in sageuk, there are great child hood stories.

Firstly, I need to thank @missvictrix for all these lovely write ups! I really enjoyed reading them. 🙇💕

I wanted to say I’m sick & tired of all the childhood-connection tropes, but I couldn’t. Coz kdramas are all about it. It’s SO overused, there’s no surprise anymore. Which is why I will always prefer the ones that start off with the backstory straightaway, than those only revealing it at the latter part of the drama, if they really had to use this particular trope.

Fate/destiny is cliché, but I love it (only when it’s done well). On the Way to the Airport is one good example. The OTP were strangers, only to have met through a phone call, with the connection of their respective daughters. After the too many coincidences, we called them destiny, & even soulmates, when they understood each other effortlessly. Even the best friend of the male lead said, “With that kind of fate, wouldn’t I meet someone like that again, no matter who it was? … The universe is giving its all to bring you two together, who could stop it?”

Here I hope to see more kdramas with the better usage of interconnectedness, & not just the almost-formulaic childhood connection. 🙏

I used to love this cliche. That was before so many kdramas turned this into a corny, useless, artificial way to promote this idea the OTP is destined to be together. Almost every drama would have been better without that, from that list above only HMSFS and Come Hug really needed that to be there.

Wow, i always hated what i called "coincidence" but what you call "interconnectedness." You've made me see this i a new and valuable light. Thanks.

I personally consider this trope to be one of the weaknesses of Kdramas and its rare for it to be used well. But if they didn't meet as children randomly in an ice cream shop on Jeju Island during a hurricane how else would we know they were meant to be together *rolls eyes*

But on a serious note shows like Kill Me, Heal Me and secretary Kim used the childhood back story in a good way. Because it actually showed why the main characters act the way they do.

I loved how Misaeng did it tastefully. It was so darn good. In the last scene of the last episode (spoiler), geurae is seen leaving his dad's funeral. And Mr.Oh, running franctically, bumps into him as he heads into his old contract worker's funeral. As such, they unknowingly have gained a new father figure/worker/friend just as they lost their old one. It's so poetic. I usually hate these connections, but when done beautifullly it makes me think, cry, and just love the drama all together even more.

Healer was definitely one of my fav 'we've met before' troupes used correctly! Their childhood connection totally made sense! And for once, that is literally what drove their first meet cute as adults so it wasn't 'oh we met again by conincidence and you were my childhood sweetheart'
Healer is one of my top 10 dramas of all times! Such a good story! And Ji Chang Wook is like a hot knife through butter in those action sequences!

Dramas where I appreciate that the main leads have NEVER met before (as children and/or share childhood trauma)
- Love in the Moonlight
- Scarlet Heart Ryeo (cuz duh, they were from diff timelines)
- Arang and the Magistrate
- I'm Not a Robot
- Are You Human Too
- Cheese in the Trap
- Boyfriend

Thank you for the post Missvictrix! I really enjoyed reading on the way to work this morning.
I accidentally deleted my comment whilst getting off the bus - so annoying.

I'm a sucker for the childhood reunion mainly because I think it's so interesting to see how they have developed from the beginning. I've never really seen it explored in Western drama apart from period pieces.

I liked how it was used 30 vs 17, when we finally realised that both of them were aware of each other early on.
But that was just a bonus point to an already great drama.

My issue is when it's suddenly revealed in episode 14 of 16, after a huge angst ridden fight,stretching out the sorry until the finale. It just feels like a cop out from the writers. The issues are supposed to be ignored by the viewer because the protagonists had a 5 second romance in high school.

Ok I'm exaggerating,but I almost wish this wasn't used as a plot device to tie the story in a neat bow.

It's one of those tropes am not a fan of. Childhood connection, add some trauma to it etc.. That's why I like it when strangers meet as adults and form a connection like real life people do ; )
In some of the dramas like 'Just between lovers' this didn't feel like a trope because that was the crux of the story. It was not a convenient ploy to bring the leads together.

anyway, nice read!

what a wonderful write up! and thank you for mentioning Just Between Lovers and Healer cause i love them both.

I remember a recent drama that threw in the childhood connection trope in the last 10 minutes, totally unnecessarily. I was ROFL. Was it Cinderella and the 4 Knights? If done well and I like it though, especially in sageuks.

And then there are the childhood-friends-with-a-secret-crush who often endure the fate of second leads because they didn't speak up. *sob*

I liked the title though... But it had somehow more depth in Korean.

The fated together trope can get tiring for most parts because often dramas use this thin-connection to connect two leads and they tend to over drag this plotline sometimes. Or when our leads do finally find out that they knew each other, by this point I just want to throw popcorn at the screen.

Also, when they begin a series with the child actors, I am so fully engrossed into the plotline and the children's acting that I end up being a little disappointed when they jump a few years later and I have to wait for the adults to catch-up with the revelation that they once met before.

The funniest 'they met before' moment came at the end of 'Arang and the Magistrate' where the couple (spoiler alert ) reincarnated a children but only one of them remembered.

On thing about this trope that annoys me is that too often I like the child versions/actors better than the adults. (This usually happens in historical dramas. Sorry, if you disagree but I'm thinking of Moon Embracing the Sun, Dong Yi, and I'm sure there are others I'll think of as soon as I hit "send.")

"2017’s Just Between Lovers. Poorly titled, underappreciated, and fantastically cast" This is the best description of JBL that I have ever read. I think it's the best drama ever.

i'm such a sucker for childhood tropes lol

i think 30 but 17 was one of the recent ones that did it REALLY well! like i t was so cliche of course, but i really felt like it added a lot to the whole story and made their 2nd encounter so much more meaningful. and that their two lives were affected by this 1 event that they shared, and she ended up having a crush on him too and he didnt know and omg i'm literally just awwing just thinking about that one scene where she flashback all those times she was busy googly eyeing him and he had on idea and wow ok end rant

BUT YES 30 BUT 17 <3