Webtoon adaptations have been gaining grounds in the K-drama world. However, not all are nicely adapted.
As the webtoon industry in Korea started to prosper, more and more K-dramas decided to make adaptations of these interesting comics. However, for webtoon fans, this isn’t necessarily a good thing, seeing that K-drama versions may not be faithful, and even ruin the spirit of the original.
Below are some prime examples of K-drama adaptations that completely derail from the original webtoons:
Cheese In The Trap (Park Hae Jin, Kim Go Eun)
Adapted from the famous webtoon of the same name, the drama version of “Cheese In The Trap” received high expectations, and boasted an outstanding cast with serious acting talents. However, from halfway through, the male lead, played by Park Hae Jin, started to disappear, while the second male lead, played by Seo Kang Joon, got all the spotlight
As a result, “Cheese In The Trap” was buried in criticisms for changing too much of the plot, to the point that lead actor Park Hae Jin and writer of the original webtoon had to complain. From a highly-anticipated series, “Cheese In The Trap” became a regrettable adaptation.
Love Alarm (Kim So Hyun, Song Kang)
Also adapted from the webtoon of the same name, the K-drama “Love Alarm” drew huge attention after its first season aired on streaming platform Netflix. The interesting integration of technology into a common love story combined with the overflowing chemistry between Song Kang and Kim So Hyun made everyone excited for the 2nd season.
However, the loveline completely derailed as “Love Alarm 2” was released, and Kim So Hyun’s character fell in love with the second male lead, leaving Song Kang alone. This was unacceptable for netizens, who waited for too long to see the conclusion of the 1st season’s romance.
While the ending remains faithful to the original webtoon, the writing of “Love Alarm” the K-drama ruined the pacing, and made the loveline unreasonable to viewers.
Itaewon Class (Park Seo Joon, Kim Da Mi)
It must be said that Itaewon Class is a Netflix series that resonated greatly after its release in 2020 with the story adapted from a famous webtoon. The work conveys many positive views on life, filled with the atmosphere of youth and entrepreneurship and the characters were described excellently thanks to its charming and talented cast. The highest rating recorded in the series was 16%.
However, the closer to the final episodes, the more weak and disjointed the plot of the series becomes. The change in the last episodes of the series is quite ridiculous and makes a strong villain suddenly become a weak man, from a dangerous “boss” to a man who is willing to kneel to apologize to his enemy easily. In addition, Park Seo Joon‘s love triangle with Kim Da Mi and Kwon Nara also makes the already tangled series becomes even more confusing. Not to mention, the male lead character can’t also maintain his charm like in the first episodes, making the final credit in the battle with the enemy fell into the hands of the sublead female. Failing to convey the correct storyline compared to the original has made the last episodes of “Itaewon Class” lose their appeal, receiving many disparaging comments from the audience.
Nevertheless (Song Kang, Han So Hee)
Nevertheless is a melodrama adapted from the famous webtoon of the same name. The drama revolves around a girl who doesn’t believe in love but is still attracted to a charming guy who only likes to have a vague relationship. Despite having opposite personalities, they were attracted to each other from the very beginning and completely lost control and fell in love.
However, the storyline of Nevertheless gradually became different from the original. In the end, the main couple still got back together, which is different from the webtoon. In the original version, the female lead in the end broke up with the male lead.
Yumi’s Cells 2 (Kim Go Eun, Jinyoung)
Yumi’s Cells is a lovely drama about the love life of Yumi. The first season was released and received a lot of praise for its good content creation, good chemistry, and storyline that followed the original story from start to finish. In season 2, when Jinyoung took on the main role, viewers were still very excited because he also worked well with Kim Go Eun.
However, the audience realized that Yumi’s Cells 2 took many details from the webtoon season 3, not season 2. Netizens thought that perhaps the producer only intended to make 2 seasons, so he took many details about the male lead of season 3 to use for this season 2’s Yoo Babi. This makes fans of this famous webtoon unsatisfied. Now everyone is curious about how the drama going to be and whether the ending will be like the webtoon or not?
