This is when there is a significant difference in ages between the hero and heroine — a large enough difference that it gets mentioned in the plot. This usually happens when the heroine is older than the hero, and it is often an obstacle in the relationship.

If a character isn't stricken with cancer, than they must have some other ailment or accident. Often these accidents will result in a convenient bout of amnesia. The amnesia may be only related to specific people or events, or they may forget who they are entirely. Either way, their life and actions while suffering from amnesia are almost always better than how they were living before. A rich person will live as a poor one and learn life lessons, etc.

For some reason, animal suits appear frequently in Asian Dramas. I am not sure why, but often a character will wear one in order to be incognito at an amusement park, as part of a part-time job, or some other ridiculous situation. This tag is for shows where someone appears in an animal costume. It is usually one of the main characters, but I'm including any instance in which someone in an animal costume appears, even in the background.

I don't know why, but in the last few years, a growing number of dramas are showing characters going to batting cages to practice their swing. Well actually, the reason they go is usually to distract themselves from whatever big drama is happening in their lives. Perhaps this explains why nearly everyone who goes to the batting cages, in particular the female characters, sucks at hitting anything. Sometimes there will be a handsome leading man there to give, ahem, batting lessons, but often the girls just stand there, holding their bat completely wrong, and miss everything that comes their way.

Dramas (especially kdramas) wouldn't be dramas without the all-important Birth Secrets! There is always someone who is secretly the son/daughter of a billionaire, or was raised by a billionaire and is secretly NOT related to them. Or someone discovers they were adopted, or someone else had a baby they gave up for adoption or they have a sibling they never heard of, etc. These things cause all kinds of tension and angst.

Nothing says tear-jerker like striking down a hero or heroine with cancer. In the early 2000's, cancer was the disease of choice in the world of KDramas. A ridiculous number of series ended with one character or other laying weak and ill on a hospital bed while the other characters cry rivers of tears and finally realize the love they had been denying all this time. Occasionally, if a character is lucky, they will survive the cancer, and go on to lead an uplifting an inspirational life with their love interest (after first overcoming the other 500 obstacles in their path to true happiness).

In Asian Drama land, eternal love often begins in childhood. Poignant things happen that affect the shape of the love polygon that forms later in life. In fact, events that occur during childhood can be so traumatic that they change a character's appearance entirely when the action fast-forwards to present day.

Old or young, drama heroines are often poor, underappreciated women. If only they could find that perfect prince to rescue them from their lousy circumstances. That's where our hero comes in. He is almost always the heir to some large corporation or hotel chain, and has plenty of funds to make the heroine's Cinderella dreams come true. Naturally, the heroine will resist at first, but never fear, she will get her man, and they will eventually ride off into the sunset.

Few things spark romance in a drama like having a man and a woman live under the same roof. Usually, this scenario occurs with the hero and heroine living together. However, sometimes the 2nd leading man gets in on the action, and he lives with the heroine instead. Regardless of who is sharing a household, they almost never actually sleep together, and the living arrangements are always a secret. Why, if the news got out, it would be absolutely scandalous!

Oh, you KNOW the good stuff's gonna go down when your rival invites you out for coffee. She is going to tell you to keep your hands off her man, that she is stealing your man away from you, or she will ask you leading questions, trying to pry some information out of you. But stay strong! Confrontational Coffee is also a great place for the villain to spew all the details of their elaborate plot to ruin you, thus giving you the tools to foil them later. And just ignore the evil bitchy girl and let her talk. She may try to steal away your man, but she will never get him in the end!

Apparently in Seoul it is perfectly legal to make a U-Turn anywhere you want. All other traffic will magically disappear for a few moments while you complete the turn in the middle of the road, and police will look the other way because they know you are in a hurry to see someone special.

Korean guys can be ridiculously pretty (I'm talking to you, Lee Jun-Ki!) so when they dress as girls, it is understandable that they may fool people. However, it appears that the reverse scenario is most likely. It seems to be all the rage for girls to cross-dress as guys. Sometimes it's for personal gain, other times they are pressured into it by someone else. Yet every time their masquerade causes some poor guy to have an identity crisis as he finds himself falling for the girl while believing her to be a guy.

Asian dramas (Kdramas in particular) are not only about the main romantic couple. There is an extended cast of characters that almost always includes the siblings, parents, and even the grandparents of the main leads. The parents are often there for comic relief, but they can also fulfill the role of the Evil Family who opposes the main couple, or they can be irresponsible parents who manage to get themselves into awful debt, forcing a lead character (usually the heroine) to live under the constant threat of debt collectors. For some reason, it's almost always the father who has landed the family in financial ruin. The debt collectors can be seen chasing after the heroine, who must be in great shape to dodge down narrow streets to escape. Or they will corner her and offer menacing threats usually involved with what she can do with her body to pay off the debt. Sometimes they appear as an army of men in suits who arrive and slap little repossession stickers over everything the hero or heroine owns. They are used as a plot device enough that they cannot be ignored!

Heroes are almost always rich, while heroines are poor. Therefore, the rich family will usually be opposed to their eligible bachelor heir falling for someone of inferior status who will bring down the family image. Some family members, mothers and step-mothers in particular, will go to any length to save their sons from the clutches of their pure-hearted love interests, often to the point of nearly ruining her life. One tactic they like to employ is the Money Envelope, that time-honored tradition of bribing the girl to go away. But this is just one of many evil schemes they hatch! Watch out for evil family members!

Whenever an Asian Drama plot calls for a scene with an American, the accepted practice seems to be to grab whatever Caucasian person they can find off the street - acting skills not required - and have them be the American. Now this wouldn't be too bad, except they usually end up grabbing people who have obviously thick accents when speaking English. Often these "Americans" will speak with heavy Australian accents, or perhaps French or German. Now, that's not to say that there aren't any Americans who have accents of course, but when you have every member of what is supposed to be the high-ranking brass of the US Military speaking with an Australian Accent, it looks a bit suspicious (I'm talking to you, Sweet Spy!)

These are dramas in which the main couple start off in a fake or contract relationship. The reasons for this sort of situation are many. Usually a girl will need a boyfriend in order to impress her classmates at her class reunion or to save face after being dumped by her ex. For a guy, he may need a girlfriend in order to keep his marriage-minded mother from forcing him to go on blind dates. (what other reason could there be? The guys are so hot that they wouldn't need a girlfriend to save THEIR reputations, hrmph.) Either way, what starts as a contract will eventually develop into love. And then what happens when the contract is over? Oh, the drama!

One of the major rules in Asian Dramas is that if there is a love triangle between two guys and a girl, the guys wil more often than not be related to each other. They are usually brothers or cousins, or in the case of Lovers in PAris, Uncle and Nephew. If not related by blood, then the guys will have known each other all their lives and grew up together, so they might as well be related. It's sad to see a girl cause so many problems in a family! It's amazing how family members will have the same taste in girls!

If the hero of a drama isn't the heir to a giant international mega-corporation, then the next best thing is an idol. Someone who is rich and famous as a singer, model, athlete, or actor. This is another type of guy that all the girls can drool over and envy the heroine for dating. But watch out - if it's a Korean Drama, then that idol will probably have photos and posters of himself plastered all over the walls of his apartment. This can be kind of creepy. Seriously, what's up with this?

After cancer-deaths faded from fashion in Korean dramas, a new reason for dramatic hospital scenes had to be found. Liver transplants fit this bill nicely! Given how much drinking goes on in dramas, it is not so surprising that some characters will have liver failure of some sort, and need a generous donor to help them. In drama land, that donor will often be a loved one, or that person you are having an affair with. And ever time, the liver transplant must be kept a secret just so it can be revealed later on in the series for a better dramatic effect.

I believe that the little bump on the upper left arm of most Korean actors is not really an immunization scar, but is actually a microchip implanted during childhood that allows them to summon a taxi cab at will. No matter where a character is, a taxi will be there, lurking in the shadows, ready to appear at a moment's notice.

These are dramas that are based on a comic. Usually it's a manga or a Japanese comic, but for K-Dramas, it might be their manga equivalent, manhwa.

Heroines in dramas are often poor (yet have a heart of gold, of course). Therefore, they often can't even afford that most basic of necessity, a cell phone. This will often infuriate a hero. After all, how else will he be able to keep tabs on his love interest at all hours? Therefore, the only solution these wealthy megacorporation heir heroes can think of is to buy the heroine a cell phone. It's even more touching when he buys them cute matching phones. This phone will always end up playing an important part in some misunderstanding later on in the story.

Now, I think it is obvious that countries like Japan and Korea are not quite as big on public displays of affection that we see a lot in other countries, like America. In TV land, holding hands is still a major event, and kissing? Well, kissing is a MAJOR step! It's not like in America, where apparently we all greet each other (even strangers!) by kissing them. Therefore, I suppose it's understandable that when actors are required to kiss someone they don't know, namely their co-stars, they can be a little nervous. This often results in a legendary Motionless Kiss, an amazing feat of kissing while not really kissing at the same time. Lips will be touching, but they will be clamped closed and mashed together in such a way that you wonder if the characters or actors have ever kissed anyone before. Eyes squeezed shut, bodies frozen in place, lips pressed awkwardly together while the camera circles around and around, their expressions communicating the fact that they are holding the kiss just up until the director yells CUT! Motionless kisses are a sad sight indeed.

An omiai or blind date is a date set up by a third-party, usually the parents, or perhaps a matchmaker or dating agency. It is usually undertaken with the expectation of finding a suitable marriage partner. If the initial meeting is successful, then the couple will continue dating with the expectation of eventual marriage. The initial date or meeting can be a formal event, held at a fancy restaurant, where both parties are introduced to each other by their parents. In Asian dramas, these meetings almost never go well. One member of the couple is almost always either unaware they are about to attend the blind date, or they are being forced to attend when they are really in love with someone else. That someone else will naturally discover their loved one attended the date, and a misunderstanding will ensue. It is a very rare thing indeed, for a drama to depict a successful omiai or blind date!

Drama heroes are handsome and strong. This is a good thing because drama heroines are often fragile little things who get drunk easily, or who have weak, easily-sprained ankles. This often requires out heroes (often reluctantly) to give the girl a piggy-back ride home. The girl may be passed-out drunk, asleep, or very much aware of where she is, and totally relishing the moment. Face it, it is a romantic situation, and allows the guy and girl to get closer. What noble guys!

Drama heroes are multi-talented. Along with running whatever mega-corporation they are the CEO of, they almost always have some sort of musical training and can play an instrument. Naturally, when they fall in love with the heroine they must show her by playing that instrument for her and maybe even singing, too. Guitar and piano are the usual instruments of choice.

In Korean dramas, the age-old symbol of being poor, of having hit the absolute rock-bottom, is the Rooftop Apartment. And it's always the SAME rooftop Apartment, too. I think the owner must make a living renting it out to sad looking poor heroines, knowing that they will soon find their rich corporate heir or movie star soon enough. This apartment will consist of two rooms, separated by a sliding door. There will be an outdoor patio area that is painted green and decorated with potted plants and some clothes lines. A small wooden deck/table will be set out on that patio for the characters to lay out on in mild weather and admire the spectacular views of Seoul from. It is almost always the heroine who lives in the Rooftop Apartment, and the rich guy will end up staying with her there for some reason.

I have never been to Korea (well, never outside of teh airport) so I have no idea if this is a cultural thing or what. Apparently, at some point in time, everyone will go and spend a day at a sauna. They are fancy places where you change into clothes they provide you, wear a towel on your head, and lay down on the floor of one of several large rooms and just relax. They sell snacks at these saunas, most notably, brown hard-boiled eggs. Sauna Scenes are usually funny, as there is always one character who has never been to a sauna before.

These are dramas in which a good chunk of the action takes place in a school setting. The characters can be teachers or students, and often some life-lessons will be learned somehow.

Any series involving an idol star of any kind will almost always have the idol living in a house plastered with their own photos all over the place. It's kind of creepy. Heck, sometimes thy have non-idol characters living surrounded by their own photos blown up to poster size. What is up with this?

Time works funny in drama series. From the moment a series starts, the characters will endure a shocking amount of incredible events and hardships, one right after another. It will usually build up to a point where a character finally decides to leave (thus requiring the Obligatory Airport Scene). Once a character leaves, all the dramatic events will suddenly cease, and everyone will live perfectly peaceful lives for 2 or 3 or however many years until that character returns again, at which point more crazy stuff will happen. It is amazing how all noteworthy events will cease during Time Passing skips.

You know how in real life, when you drive somewhere, you have to find a parking space before you can get out of your car? This may involve circling a parking lot a few times, or feeding a parking meter. Well, in Kdrama land, no such chore exists. When you become the hero or heroine in a Korean drama you can park anywhere you want without getting a ticket. This includes the following places: right in front of the airport loading zone, directly in front of the hotel (that is, when the parking valets aren't around), directly in front of any restaurant (parking on the sidewalk is fine too!) and directly in front of your apartment building regardless of the other tenants. There are only two exceptions to this-- your car may be towed if such an action will force you to spend more time with your designated love interest, or you can park in the Parking Garage of Doom, a place where everyone always overhears conversations they are not supposed to hear, or are attacked by thugs trying to kidnap you or collect on your father's debts.

I really don't know why Korean Dramas insist on doing this. On US TV and movies, when a character has to puke, they usually do it over a railing or in a bush so that we, the audience, don't have to see any actual vomit. Not so in Korean Dramas! They take this puke seriously, and have no problems showing a character, usually the heroine, puke all over someone. Lovely chunky puke. I kind of wonder what they actually use as the puke, and what it is like to film those scenes. Anyway, it's gross, and I wish they would stop :)

The moment a character in a Korean drama sets foot outside of Seoul, the biggest thing they must fear (aside from quirky poor girls with horrible country accents who are secretly the granddaughter of a major corporation) are wild pigs. Big, hairy, and liable to charge at a moment's notice, wild pigs roam the Korean countryside, ready to make any Kdrama hero look like an idiot as he runs away squealing like a little girl.