[Disclaimer: May contain mild spoilers]
If you’ve watched a drama and went, “Wait, what? What’s going on?” You might have accidentally stumbled upon a makjang series! A “makjang” series is, simply put, an exaggerated drama. Ridiculous, unrealistic and abnormal situations are normal in these series. Some of the most common storylines include absurd birth secrets, murders, crazy revenge plots, and more. Plot twists are almost never predictable because of these. Some can be fun and promise to take you on a rollercoaster ride while all they ask of you is to forget about logic for the time being.
So, with all the craziness in these dramas, what exactly is it like to live in one of them?
1. Make someone mad, and your clothes are out of the window
In a makjang drama, relationships can be very complicated, and they can also get all tangled up in a weird way. Due to these complications, couples are forced to appear loving on the surface, and they usually turn against each other the moment they get home. Having fights at home becomes a normal thing. But you shouldn’t, ever, make someone mad because she didn’t do her laundry the right way. Otherwise, your clothes are going out the window.
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2. You’ll see CEOs doing weird things
You don’t always see a CEO practicing boxing on a carcass.
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3. Getting hit by a large bone after saving someone
Someone is trapped in a room, you unlock the door to get them out… and there comes a large bone flying towards you because they think they are seeing a ghost.
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4. Forget about serving jail time without an extended sentence
Many things can happen in a makjang drama. Being wrongfully accused is one of the most common things that happen in there. For instance, someone could bribe an inmate to hurt herself and accuse you of hurting her. This way, jail time will be extended and sadly… nothing much can be done.
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5. Falling shelves happen
It’s easy to offend someone, or I should say, everyone in these dramas. Once someone is offended, it’s best to stay far away from that person. If not, things may fall on you out of nowhere!
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6. You never get to finish your sentences
Someone’s fuming mad, she asks you a question but her patience runs thin and spills coffee on you before you even finish. She gives you another chance and asks again. There’s no more coffee, so you might think you are safe. But this time, she gives you a slap before you can finish.
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7. Losing weight makes someone completely unrecognizable
People in makjang dramas change their appearances too readily, too easily. And their changes can be extremely drastic. This is probably the only admirable thing in a makjang drama. Staying determined to lose weight for some months can make someone accomplish it so well that they become an entirely different person.
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8. Hair ornaments can be fatal
Being careful of sharp objects is a no-brainer. However, there’s no way to be completely at ease when someone can easily pull out their hair ornament and throw it at you.
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9. Being burned alive and surviving it
People in many makjang dramas get away with murder too often. Fortunately, there’s another breed of people in makjang dramas that balances things out with those murderers–they survive almost everything! They may fall off a cliff and be burned alive, but they will come back stronger than ever–most likely for revenge.
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Do you watch makjang dramas? What do you like about it? Do you have a good series to recommend? Share it with us in the comments below!
You can watch all three series, “Once Again,” “Brilliant Heritage,” “Fatal Promise,” and “The Last Empress” by subscribing to KOCOWA!
5 Comments
Interesting article. I’ve only seen the word Makjang in the Korean series, ‘Because This is My Fist Life’. I’ve only watched it about half a dozen times, but saw the word and wondered what it meant. Thank you for educating me. I love new words, no matter what language. But one thing, you did not mention girls playing as boys. I thought surely this would be a Makjang. They are part of my favorite comedies, and while some few actresses can carry it off, in my 70+ years, I’ve only met two or three ‘boys’ who squealed when they were scared or excited. IMHO, of this genre that I’ve watched, My Unicorn Girl is the best ‘girl playing boy’. But is it Makjang? Thank you for sharing this article.
Hello Glenda, I am so happy this article was helpful to you! 🙂 To answer your question, girl playing a boy character is not considered makjang. We might have an article that can answer your question. Here it is! Hopefully, this helps! https://blog.kocowa.com/k-drama/coffee-prince-gender-bender-at-its-finest/
Once Again may be a makjang drama, but it is funny and sweet also, especially the couple of “in-laws”. They are worth the watch! Adorable!
Thanks for the article as I’m new to Kdramas and all Asian dramas. And It’s nice learning the lingo. Not sure If I will get into many makjang drama’s but the Last Empress looks tempting.
You should definitely try The Last Empress!