When the Camelia Blooms did it well imo.

That drama never felt like a rom com (to me anyway), it was more of a drama about a small town, its inhabitants and the relationships they had with each other, the murder mystery and the suprisingly dramatic romance between our cute puppy cop and damsel-in-distress noona somehow worked because the entire town felt like a character, so whatever happened to the townspeople just integrated with the overall story.

To sustain the tension that usually dissipates when the OTP gets together, the writers resort to muder. Having any other subplot, say, a political subplot filled with corruption and election wars would not fuel the viewers with the same anticipation as serial killing.

Roses are Red
Violets are blue
Rom-coms without murder are dead!

I want to know how big the intersection is on the venn diagram of people who like murder mystery and romance equally. I think that most of those in there will have a strong bias for one element but equally strong tolerance for the other.

Once I know there is a mystery element included I walk away so I prefer to know upfront so I don’t start and then have to deal with the frustration of leaving a story part way through.

The other element I question, is the skill set of the writer and all the other behind the scenes people in both genres. I would suggest that it is unlikely there is a group of people who excel in both so we end up with one element being poor quality. The comments section always spotlights the poor quality element whether it’s the lighting, mood music, plot line etc.

The dramas I have loved recently have had faults that I have happily piled up and then kicked under the carpet because I was so happy to finally have a stress free watch.

I dont like it that subplot, in fact is ruining #CrashCourseInRomance fior me, it was so warming rom com and now is a Thriller

I hate this trope. Why on Earth does a writer think it adds something to the story, I'm still to find out. In fact it says little about the writer, who needs to get this subplot in to fill in the gaps of their story.

Some murder into rom-com are more or less well done, although the only case I can think of is You are my spring, because there was a reason for it and I can't say no to Yoon Bak, call me weak.

But in others, it just ruins the drama, like in Summer Strike where the murder took over the rom, then com, and any sense and made the drama an absolute train wreck. In others, like in Crash Course in Romance it's adding very little to the story. We could have had the same subplot without any murder. We seem to forget a kid has been killed and we've moved on as if nothing ever happened.

I think I've already said it here somewhere - k-producers saw the huge popularity of few such dramas and decided it's the guaranteed receipt for success. Which is just plain dumb, because the dramas in question became hits for completely different reasons that had nothing to do with this weird genre mix. But dumb trends are like that - they always come out of nowhere, stay for a while (and often longer than they should) and finally disappear when you expect it the least. Another possible reason is the cheap thrill - many writers, esp newbies, lack understanding of what makes screen romance (or ANY romance for that matter) work, so they resort to murder subplots in order to spice their otherwise bland love stories up and raise the stakes for eventual HE to feel more hard-earned. That's why I prefer sageuk romances to modern ones in kdramas - high stakes are already there by default, no need to resort to weird tricks to make things more dramatic. Not that I hate this particular genre mix as a whole - but it's so rarely done right, so might as well avoid such shows whenever possible. Just in case. Sprinkles of romance in primary crime shows are usually better anyways - even if just by the fact that they don't take a lot of screentime and can easily be ignored. Try to do the same with the typical k-romcom today - you'll probably have to FF half of the whole drama, if not more!

Real life couples face enough issues that make it hard to stay together in the long run. Exploring those would be more meaningful than any sub plot.
The odds of meeting a murder/serial killer for most people is rare. It’s hard to empathize or even feel this arc. It takes you away from the story.
I am ok if the murder or crime happens and the leads are somehow in the path of it. Eg it happens in their town and It affects them. And are in no way related to the murder or killer.

I think rom-com are seen as superficial, so they feel like they must give some "depth" or substance to the story. It's wrong because there are a lot of themes that can be adressed in rom-com.

Personally, I don't really mind a mystery or murder in a romance drama, but my issue is when the story looses its balance between the rom-com and the mystery and becomes just angst (like CCIR today).

It's kdramaland, the world were romance can't happen unless someone dies.

Sometimes that's okay because without it, we wouldn't have a show in the first place (Flower of Evil) and other times, it just feels like the most ridiculous filler ever (CCIR).

Since most shows use the murder plot like a filler I just skip it. I can assure you that skipping that nonsense doesn't affect the rest of the show. At all. I don't have a problem if they want both things, but I need them to do 1 show not 2!

One thing is watching Hello Monster and another is watching You're My Spring.
In HM plotd complement each other, everything is part of one big puzzle. While in YAMS you feel like you're watching a nice slice of life show with a random (and sometimes kind of long) scenes of another drama.

Why do the shows feel so different when they both used the "they all know each other from childhood" and "connect by a murder" tropes?
I think they could've made any other connection for the characters in YAMS, and I think we had enough trauma just with the two leads.

It seems like writers feel a major trauma is needed to give characters depth, and they also seem to believe that traumas are only caused by death. Maybe they've been watching too many war movies about soldiers with PTSD? I don't know.

Anyway, I think my point is that they should at least try to do it properly, make it part of the big picture in a... smooth way?
Idk but I wouldn't be annoyed if it didn't feel forced/out of place/random. This trope has worked in the past so they just have to do it right. The rom-com + threat of murder = true happiness formula worked for shows like W, The Girl Who Can See Smells, Oh My Ghostess, etc. imo.

I do think it's legitimately difficult to maintain a pure and simple romcom for 16 episodes without relying on a bunch of contrived misunderstandings, misdirects, or time skips (which viewers also hate). So the solution seems to have become to round out or pad the meet-cute-fall-in-love-get-together-struggle-overcome-stay-together arc of the main couple or couples with crime and/or intrigue. Romantic suspense is also a hugely popular drama across all types of printed and visual mediums, so it makes sense that writers would be pushed or push themselves to find ways to integrate that type of content into more overt love stories. Finally, I think adding in a murder or crime subplot to a romcom may make a show more broadly appealing to, say, traditional men who aren't interested in the romance, but will watch with their partners or wives because there's a darker plot that seems designed for them. (This is certainly true of my husband.)

I don't object to this shift quite as vehemently as others because, again, I do believe it's hard to maintain an audience's interest over the course of 12 - 20 hours with a straight-up romantic comedy. I've seen plenty of viewers complain about how predictable, boring, or slow such shows are, even if those are the same viewers who say all they want is that straight-up romcom. But more than this, when done even semi-well, having these high stakes moments or darker elements can amp up the drama and intensity for the central couple, leading to emotional declarations, or partnering up to solve the mystery, or clever banter.

Maybe the solution is that dramas--and particularly romcoms--should just be shorter in general so they're cheaper to produce and thus there's less pressure to have a big blowout hit every time or to try and appeal to too many tastes without alienating any.

As a teacher, I want more shows to be considerate of societal issues, and as I believe the media people consume daily affects their behaviors to an extent, my opinion is that I see no point in adding any murder mystery into romcoms. There is only one exception to this: when it is EXTREMELY necessary to the plot. One example I can think of is ... well, I can't think of any at this point.

I thought about using Sh**ting Stars as an example of this, but I realized that there is no murder in that show. I also thought of a murder plot done well in When the Weather is Fine, but again, that subplot is not really a murder but a self-defense. So I guess my answer is clearly no. There is no show when I think of a murder subplot done well in a romcom. There might be murders done well in other types of shows, but to me there is none in romcoms.

The supposed reason is simple, it doesn't belong to the category. A romantic comedy has very little, if any, place for any murder. I don't believe that romance lacks depth and there is a need for a murder to fill in that hole.

The more I type the more I think about how absurd this whole thing is. 😅

Thanks for including my question, it’s great to read Beanie opinions exploring this now nearly-standard trope.
I was also thinking about when murder plots began being inserted into romcoms and wondering if My Love From Another Star was the first one? Does anyone recall earlier versions?

I have always said that I like my dramas lighter on the romance side, with an intriguing thriller or mystery side. But the thing is those shows aren't romcoms to me. Also I never watch any promo material, so I never form any kind of preconceptions about shows to feel cheated or blindsided by a thriller element.

HOWEVER, the thing that I do dislike is everything just boiling down to a psychopath killing with no reason, or because of childhood trauma. That is just lazy and ignorant writing.

My guess is that the murder supblot is intended to draw in more male viewers. Pure romcoms haven't performed well domestically in Korea in recent years. It makes me sad, because one thing I always loved about romance Kdramas is that, unlike a lot of American shows, they were mostly made with a female audience in mind.

I also have a theory that whoever is in charge of Kdramas at Netflix requires dramas to have a violent element. Even when we get a "pure" romance like Love to Hate You, there is a lot of violence.

I have long thought and said that when people say "rom-coms" they are expecting not just a romance with a happy ending, but a romance with some funny elements. That is not generally what "rom-com" kdramas are--they are romances with a happy ending, sometimes with murders, ALWAYS with trauma or psychological distress of some type. In the last year I have seen only 4 rom-COMS--Business Proposal, Sh**ting Stars, Gaus Electronics, and the recent "Love to Hate You" which was still pretty heavy on trauma but had a great comic performance by Kim Ok-bin.

So I might slightly shift the question here--not why the murder subplot in rom-coms, but why so few straightforward rom-coms, with the emphasis on the comic? In fact, as a kdrama challenge, could anyone here list a so called rom-com that did NOT have some trauma, murder, mystery, intrigue, bullying, harrassment, etc. etc. Of the ones I list above, only Gaus Electronics was pretty harmless in that regard--even Business Proposal had the dying parents in the rain accident trauma.

The obvious reason why this is the case, is provided by @laurensophie that it is not only very hard to sustain interest in a single couple's course of romance for 16 episodes, it is also very hard to be funny for 16 episodes or even 12. I would probably nominate Gaus Electronics as one of the funniest kdramas I've seen, but even that was very uneven, with one or two laughs an episode. Plus, I very much realize that my sense of humor is not generally shared, so many things I find funny are regarded with indignation by others and vice versa.

So in brief, when I go into a Kdrama "rom-com" I actually expect a murder, a trauma, or some sort of intrigue, and just hope that aspect is handled well. While I agree, for example, that Crash Course in Romance has not been able to balance the murderer, the Mean Mom's and the romance successfully, I'm not going to condemn the show just because it included these elements. Its the nature of the kdrama romance genre.

Whaaaat?! You guys haven’t watched YOU?! Serial killers make the best romantic partners! They get obsessed about their beloved and their whole world revolves around them! Kdramas just haven’t made that connection yet. They are making the mistake of adding a serial killer to fuel tension but what they really should do is make the serial killer the love interest!

*sigh* super hot & attractive serial killers are just misunderstood you know? Forget about all their victims who did nothing wrong and instead look into their intense swoon-worthy eyes. Their devotion! How could anybody say no to that?!

(I’m being sarcastic by the way)

I don’t know why they are adding serial killers and don’t really care, I just need it to stop already. I’m getting tired of this nonsense. It’s ruining rom coms and CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE is the latest example

I haven’t watched LOVE TO HATE YOU yet, but the fact I’m willing to overlook a completely misogynistic male lead so I can finally watch a rom com without a serial killer just proves how much we’ve been deprived of true rom coms…

Because K-dramas exist to make money, I'm sure that the shows/stories that are funded because the stories are seen to have monetary potential. So, murder and serial killer rom-coms must be making money. I don't think these kinds of plots are new and many have been extremely popular (Strong Woman Do Bong Soon). There are so many interesting points in the comments including increasing male viewership, more international viewers, plotting, story-telling. There is also the idea that if it is a pure rom-com it is less important, less artistic and less serious which stems from male viewership being seen as more valuable. I suspect that even though there are many female professionals in K-dramas, those pulling the monetary strings are probably mostly men and even if there are many women in positions of monetary power, they would still put forward a story that makes money (rom-com murder). There is one thing though that I always feel uncomfortable with the rom-com murder plots and that is as society changes and women gain more autonomy, there is a need to make the world seem like a dangerous place (to keep them in their safe place at home). I do think that is playing out in k-dramas with this rom-com murder connection.

I don't bother. It comes with the total package. It doesn't distract me even though it is a very big bother.

Why are murder plots a buy one get one free in romcoms? Basically to raise the stakes high. The writers feel they need our leads in a life threatening situation to make them and they'll rush to save the significant other from the hands of evil. We expect this kind of storyline to play out by the 15-16th episode and then we have the final happily ever after.

But I do not know why they feel they have to do this. Love is not always a deadly affair. Romcom can be full of all the drama and rich without all the save his/her life thingy. If that's the case a huge number of us won't even think of getting into a romantic relationship cause it is way too high stakes for a romance.

I agree that danger and all can be a good adrenaline boost and an avenue to show how much they can sacrifice for each other but does it have to be murder subplots each time. There are other forms of sacrifices, noble idiocy is one of them even though I do not like it. We also have sacrifices due to social status, parental acceptance, social cues, work/corporate hierarchy, betrothals, name it. And they can be made high stakes too, with no need for murder. But murder subplots happens to be easy to construct, has more tendency to cause anxiety levels on viewers and the characters themselves and all that.

So I see why they go for it even though there are other easy ways to raise the stakes but they happen to not know how to construct them for them alone, without adding a murder plot into the mix.

This is a trend that does bother me and sometimes makes me nostalgic for the days I complained about how all kdramas involved time travel. I don't mind a killer or serial killer if it's handled well and integral to the story (365: Repeat the Year comes to mind), but often it seems gratuitous as if there was a studio note saying "nice story, but where's the murder?" and it seems to me disproportionately grisly serial killings of young women (e.g. I liked Queen of Mystery a lot, but that element was jarring), so there's a prurient aspect.

I’ve been wondering if it is a reality of what gets ratings in Korea right now. I feel for years straight romcoms haven’t gotten very high ratings in Korea, even really good ratings. Sky Castle has had the kind of impact that Goblin had in the past. Makjang, revenge, thriller all do better than romcom. As we represent, the international market prefers romcoms and slice of life. I feel more straight romcoms are now web series.

This question has been on my mind. Why are there so few pure rom-com? Why is murder on every kdrama writer's brain? Did something happen in the last few years that I don't know about to make them like this? Sometimes, I just want to swoon and laugh. If I want to be stressed, I will watch a thriller. This is not a "buy one get one free" sale.

In my opinion, it rarely ever works out well. Best case scenario, it makes the show's tone uneven, worst case scenario, it ruins it. Flower of evil is one of the few shows that combined thriller and romance well. It was not billed as a rom-com though, which is part of the reason it works. However, shows like summer strike, Crash course (which already has 500 things going on in it), and May I help you were way better off without the murder.

ROM COMS are better off without the murder.

If murder is going to be part of a (so-called) romantic comedy, I would like it if this was clear from the promotional material. Or the title. Then people who enjoy these shows could find them & I could avoid them. I've started so many shows & then dropped them quick when the murder story began. Sometimes in this scary world I just want an amusing story without thinking about crime.

Haha - that said, one of my favorite movies was a genuine romantic comedy that featured a serial killer, so what do I know? I'm speaking of the Steve Martin movie MIXED NUTS, which was so hated by moviegoers that even the (incredible) cast would like to pretend they were not in it. Also, it was a Christmas movie, which is another weird thing to combine with a murder.

I'd rather see a shorter k-drama rom-com (k-rom? k-romcom?) that was full of witty repartee than a 16 or 18 episode one with a murder.

I'm also not a fan of the trope which is "unbeknownst to us as adults, we share a terrifying childhood trauma."

My tolerance for gore is very low, so I can watch a cozy mystery but not one that shows any of the bloody reality of murder. I like the puzzle of a mystery, not the horror of it. Even medical dramas are a challenge for me. I skipped all the operations in Hospital Playlist, for example.

More witty repartee! Less murder!
More kissy-kissy! Less stabby-stabby!

personally if they would like to have a dang murder mystery, it would have to be executed well and the screen time has to balance out with the romcom aspects.

if you market it as a romcom, literally everyone would be expecting 90% romcom and 10% mystery. if its instead 90% mystery & 10% romcom, might as well make it a mystery with romance aspects.