5 Best K-Dramas That Have Fourth Wall Breaks
K-dramas allow fans to escape into a fabricated world full of fantasy, romance, crime, or the hunt to find a killer. But a few K-dramas defy rules and have the main characters address audiences with fourth-wall breaks. What is a fourth wall break? It is when the characters are aware of what separates them from the audience and talk to them head-on as if they are in the same room. Fourth wall breaks happen in a few ways in a K-drama.
‘Because This is My First Life’ has subtle fourth wall breaks throughout the K-drama story
Before starring in Alchemy of Souls, Jung So-min became well known for her role in the romance K-drama, Because This is My First Life. The drama tells the story of two unlikely individuals who meet under unpleasant circumstances and are forced to live together.
Nam Se-hee (Lee Min-ki) married and entered a two-year contract with homeless writer Yoon Ji-ho (Jung). They agree to live together as landlord and tenant to gain the benefits of marriage. But along the way, the turmoil and problems of their personal lives change their agreement. They soon begin to develop feelings.
Because This is My First Life is a popular romance K-drama that breaks the fourth wall in many instances. It is not over the top to distract from the main storyline.
Because This is My First Life is available on Netflix.
‘Lovestruck in the City’ is an interview-style storyline that addresses the audience
One of the most talked about K-dramas from Netflix in 2020 was Lovestruck in the City. The storyline focuses on a group of characters and their dilemmas with love, breakups, and relationships. What makes the K-drama a real treat is the unique way it breaks the fourth wall, or lack of a fourth wall.
The K-drama is an interview style as the main characters sit in front of a camera and air their grievances and feelings to the audience. They retell their stories and experiences in the hope of coming to a realization. Lovestruck in the City stars Ji Chang-wook as Park Jae-won, a 32-year-old architect whose heart was broken by a woman he fell deeply in love with and then disappeared.
My Liberation Notes star Kim Ji-won plays the role of Lee Eun-o, a 29-year-old freelance marketer. She lives a boring life but has an alter ego that fell in love. The other characters include a couple who seem perfect and stable and two other characters who have never fully committed.
Lovestruck in the City is available on Netflix.
‘The Law Cafe’ K-drama has multiple fourth wall breaks from its main characters
A new 2022 September K-drama fans are loving is The Law Cafe. It centers on two lifelong friends who reunite under certain circumstances. Kim Yoo-ri (Lee young) is a good lawyer who works for the people and seeks justice. While successful, she decides to leave her big law firm and open a law cafe.
But she never expected the owner of the building to be Kim Jung-ho (Lee Seung-gi). He is Yoo-ri’s long-time friend who has not spoken to her in years. Jung-ho was also a top-notch lawyer who gave it up due to a scandal. Reunited, they learn to work together and develop feelings.
The Law Cafe is a good example of a K-drama with fourth wall breaks. Within the first episode, Yoo-ri introduces herself directly to the audience. She continues to voice her thoughts and opinions directly throughout the K-drama.
The Law Cafe is available on Viki.
‘Our Beloved Summer’ was 2021’s most talked about coming-of-age romance story
Many K-dramas debuted on Netflix that gained popularity. One of them was the Our Beloved Summer, about two characters who remeet each other as adults and come to terms with their leftover feelings for each other. Like Lovestruck in the City, the K-drama breaks the fourth wall in an interview-style setting.
Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-soo (Kim Da-mi) are opposites and met in high school. They became the subject of a documentary that, along the way, pushed them to realize their feelings for each other. The couple stayed together for years until a disastrous breakup.
Years later, their old documentary went viral again, and Yeon-soo’s PR company struck the idea to remake it. Choi Ung is now a popular illustrator and rejects the idea at first. Forced to redo the documentary as adults, they quarrel and begin to fall in love again.
Our Beloved Summer is available on Netflix.
‘Extraordinary You’ is the top fourth wall break K-drama – set in a webtoon
Extraordinary You is among the K-dramas that every fan has watched when they first got started. The K-drama stars SF9 idol and actor Rowoon in his first major leading role, alongside Kim Hye-yoon and Alchemy of Souls star Lee Jae-wook. The K-drama is special because of its fourth wall breaks within its storyline.
Eun Dan-oh (Kim) is an ordinary high school student whose life gets turned upside down. In an instant, she realizes that her life is not her own. She is merely a supporting character in a fantasy world within a comic. Realizing she has no autonomy, she becomes dead set on changing her fate. Along the way, she breaks the rules that lead to chaos as she breaks the fourth wall.
Extraordinary You is available on Viki.
