Do you find the second male lead in dramas cute, sweet, and in almost all ways completely perfect and deserving of the main girl's love and devotion? Do you find yourself disgusted by the main girl choosing the bad boy main male lead in the end, no matter how much character development he's undergone to become a better person? Do you find yourself yelling at the screen, demanding to know what on earth is WRONG with this girl for overlooking the clearly superior second male lead who is the epitome of the ideal boyfriend/husband?
If you've answered yes to any of these questions you too may be a sufferer of Second Lead Syndrome. If this is the case, you have my sympathies. In case you haven't noticed from the numerous dramas you've watched up until this point, the nice guy second lead hardly ever gets the girl so you are in for potentially years of future disappointments.
But thankfully you're not alone and there is help for those of you dealing with this condition. Further entries will help provide you with needed support.
Hey, I like the new blog and look forward to future posts!
ReplyDeleteAbout Second Lead Syndrome, I've only seen 2 Asian dramas, but in both of them I would say that the second male lead is definitely a more appealing character than the main. But, that doesn't necessarily make me wish that the main girl would end up with them.
In fact, Gareth and I talked about this a little after he saw You're Beautiful. While he preferred Shin Woo to Tae Kyung, I'm glad that Go Mi Nam ended up with Tae Kyung. Though I do agree that Shin Woo is the better catch. I guess what it boils down to is this: I like that Mi Nam ends up with the vain, self-centered, egotistical Tae Kyung, because it gives hope to the other vain, self-centered, and egotistical guys out there - like me. -_-;
Hey! I'm surprised you found my blog, but I'm glad you like it! Hopefully I'll keep up with updating it. ^_^
DeleteWow Gareth watched You're Beautiful too? Did he like it?
As far as Second Lead Syndrome goes, I'm actually very very rarely someone who experiences it. I've only come close once or twice. The first time was Nakatsu, but that's mainly because I just didn't like Sano very much at all, I'm not entirely sure it's because I thought Nakatsu was actually strong boyfriend material.
The second lead might get my sympathy a little and I might like him as a character, but usually I'm too busy enjoying the antics of the main guy and watching his growth as a character to care too much about anything else.
To cap things off though I am planning a post about why despite this epidemic among viewers, I personally do not feel like the second leads are as deserving as they're made out to be. And why despite the egomania some of these lead guys aren't necessarily so bad. Especially Tae Kyung, he's still my favorite. ^_^
In You're Beautiful, at first I really liked Shin Woo and thought him the better person. But in the end, I got frustrated with him and got tired of waiting for him to make his move. He waited so long that Mi Nam already had something going with Tae Kyung. (I deleted my first comment to rewrite it.)
ReplyDeleteI have lots more I can say about this but I'm saving it up for my next blog entry on the topic! But I will say I agree with you. Bad timing is a chronic problem for the second leads of most Korean dramas. They never show up places on time, they always hesitate just a little too long, etc and before you know it the main guy swoops in and saves the day. But ahem yes more on this later. ^_^
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