Categories: Recess

Recess: That is the Best Title You Can Come Up With?

When Koala’s on holiday, the Playground might seem awfully quiet. But it needn’t be that way, as so many drama mates from around the world have congregated here and ought to be more than capable of stirring up some fun to pass the time. As the Captain, I am here to inaugurate a new category of posts henceforth called “Recess”. Like the name implies, these posts are not necessarily informative or explanatory, but rather just intended to be fun. I get the ball rolling and you guys run with it.

Today’s game for recess is this: how important is a drama title in getting you interested in checking out a drama? I think naming anything is absolutely vital. Imagine if I named my site A Koala’s Dumpster or An Armadillo’s Playground. Yeah, not very enticing, is it? Not that a Koala is any better, but at least it’s innocuous and rather cuddly. So below are some drama naming considerations I’ve pondered over the years.

Oh, and FYI, I’ve officially taken off now, but I’ve prepared these posts beforehand, so am not blogging on the beach. You guys needn’t worry. The playground will have lots of new posts, but currently no expected recaps. Because unless I can see into the future, those new drama episodes unfortunately couldn’t be released early just so I can recap it before I left. Now back to drama titles!

The best titles should have three critical elements: alludes to or explains the story, short and sweet, and easy to remember. Think Goong (the Korean word for palace – which absolutely explains the concept and location of the drama about a high school girl marrying a Prince and moving into the palace) or The Princess’s Man (evoking an epic romance set against the backdrop of court intrigue), or A Star’s Lover (about the perils of an ordinary man falling in love with a top movie star).

Titles named after titular characters are fine if a bit bland: Hong Gil Dong, Iljimae, Queen Seon Doek, Yi San, or Dong Yi. This is almost always a sageuk naming mechanism, and rarely used in modern dramas. It almost becomes an identifier for non-Korean drama watchers. You hear about a drama called Kim Soo Ro and you immediately assume it’s a sageuk. And you’re almost always right.

Using an animal in the name ought to have some correlation to said animal’s traits and sound pretty cool: Eric as Wolf or Lee Seo Jin in Pheonix. Lee Min Ho in Mackarel Run? Not as appetizing.

Pick a title and stick to it. I hate dramas that end up with multiple working titles that all end up being associated with it in the end. That Fool/While I Was Looking/ Accidental Couple, Festival/I’ve Fallen For You/Heartstrings, Lady Castle/Take Care of the Young Lady/My Fair Lady, and finally Story of a Man/The Slingshot/Guys Talk. There are many more such instances, but I’m tired just typing it all out.

Titles that have NOTHING to do with the drama you are making often end up torpedoing your audience goodwill. Imaging if you picked up a drama called Lovers that ended up being about children who’ve lost their parents. The above was just a theoretical, but you can see how pissed that would make you. Romance Town? Apparently didn’t have much to do with a town, and barely any romance.

Don’t have a title that can be used to mock the drama should it fail. For example: if Can’t Lose sucks, then it’s title becomes completely mockworthy.

Your title needs to at least make sense in whatever language it’s intended for. 9 Ends 2 Outs? Deserves an out for failing basic English grammar and baseball jargon.

Pretty titles always get the interest up simply because it sounds so damn pretty. The Seasons dramas: Autumn in my Heart, Winter Sonata, Summer Scent, and Spring Waltz win the award for prettiest titles ever.

If you use a locale in your title, it better be bloody integral to it. Ireland? What a joke – the Ireland part was insanely weird and not at all integral to the drama. What Happened in Bali? Perfect title, and the locale was absolutely vital to the drama from beginning to end.

Using famous movie or novel titles? Better be prepared to be compared and/or asked why it ought to be reused. East of Eden? I’m still scratching my head – it was nowhere near the Steinbeck masterpiece. And Scent of a Woman? Not sure it needed to use particular iconic movie title.

Try not to pick a title that Google will have a hard time deciphering from the billion other such phrases. Case in point: Thank You or Loving You.

So now discuss amongst yourselves. What are some of your favorite titles? Try to be objective and not pick ones because you liked the drama or like the actor(s). Actually consider if the title sounds great on its own. And what are some of the worst? Any pet peeves?

Here are a  few of mine:

Fave title: Goong – simple, elegant, descriptive. Runner up: Chuno, which is the Korean phrase for slave hunter and Fashion 70’s, which had both fashion and was set in the 70s and actually sounds really pretty.

Least fave title: Robber – not at all what the drama was about.

Strangely mesmerizing: The Snow Queen – so evocative and alluring. Runner up The Painter of the Wind.

ockoala

View Comments

  • second?!

    seriously?

    I love "The Painter of the Wind", just the right title for such a beautiful sageuk. and yes, "Snow Queen", perfect.

  • Titles are verrrrry important to me. I can deal with a generic one, but if something in the title is majorly off, I might skip the drama entirely - case in point: Drunken to Love You. Everyone seems to rave about it but every time I hear the title, it's like nails across the chalkboard in lack of grammar, sense and association with fratboy hook-ups. And I just can't. If it was named something harmlessly generic like "Hello Love" or whatever, I'd probably give it a chance.

    My favorite titles? I don't know, I usually notice only those that bug me. Though there are some nonsensical ones which I do like "Friend, Our Legend" makes no sense but it's nonsensical in an interesting fashion. Plus, the drama is so good!

    I wonder if 9 End 2 Outs makes more sense in Korean.

    • The English title "9 Ends 2 Outs" is the result of the Korean title (which does makes sense) being translated ineptly into English. The correct translation would be "Bottom of the 9th With 2 Outs". Which is a bit long and unwieldy, I grant you.

      • It could have been named something fun like 'Drink to Love' rather than a literal (almost) translation from Mandarin.

    • Does it help that the alternative English title is "Love you"?

      NGL, titles are not that important to me, especially if they're translated (badly or not, I don't care) from a language I don't know. I mean, they weren't intended for international viewers anyhow (even most dramas aren't intended for international viewers!) so I don't feel like judging them based on the title.

    • The OFFICIAL title is actually "Love You". The drunken part is a direct translation of the Chinese title, which fans/media came up with before an official english title was decided upon. The Chinese title is actually a cute pun where "drunken" also sounds like "in the end" - so "drunken to love you" or "love you in the end". =)

    • I agree that normally a title like Drunken to Love You would turn me off too, except I happen to know exactly what Sly said above in explanation of the title. This is one case where I thought the title was clever and fitting (for the series) in Chinese but it can't be translated into english well. I think "Love You" is a really stupid title personally for the series but I don't really pay much attention to the english titles anywhere since they don't ever seem to be great. There are definitely some really poorly named tw dramas out there. :)

    • I first heard about "Drunken to Love You" by it's official name of "Love You", which I thought was a beyond bland name. But when I discovered what the actual Chinese title was and its play on words, I thought it was really clever. I feel that the titles of many shows in their original language can be quite clever, but when translated into English, makes no sense at all.

  • Favorites: Sungkyunkwan Scandal, perfect title. It gives us location, basic plot setup, and an idea of genre.
    My name is Kim Sam soon. Just shops solid title introducing the main character and hinting at a plot point relevant throughout the entire drama.
    Bad Guy. As much as I loathe this drama I voice props to its simple but very descriptive and appropriate title.

    Hate!

    • ahhh Sungkyunkwan Scandal...i love that title. i'm a little biased though because i loved the drama.

      • Except Bad Guy (and I hate to speak of this drama as it causes hives to break out) is on Hulu as Bad Boy. Which is just wrong. It just drives a stake in my heart everytime I see that ad pop up on Hulu.

  • I'd have to agree with judayjudayn: The painter of the wind was a great title. It incorporated so many elements about the drama but it also managed to capture how poetic it was. Not to mention that mentioning the wind immediately makes you think of ephemeral or incorporeal elements, things you can't catch or keep and laksjdlasdj okay, I think I could talk about this forever, but I'm much too tired and I don't think I can explain everything well in English.

    Oh and City Hall was nice, too. Simple and yet, you know the story is going to revolve around politics and political schemes.

  • Good Morning Captain! :D

    First, happy R&R! :D

    Wow, I think is a fun exercise. For now, I thought of 3 Korean drama titles:

    I like "Painter of the Wind" too. It's descriptive and intriguing. Thanks to the author of the novel and the real painter on which the drama was based on. The drama production, I thought, was equally artistic and intriguing.

    "Lovers in Paris" maybe simple but when "Paris" is part of a title or any sentence, who wouldn't start having thoughts of l'amour, good food, fine arts? And who is not moved by l'amour, good food, fine arts? The title did depict what the drama is about, even though the latter part of the drama moved to Seoul. ;-)

    When I first read about "Beethoven Virus", I was informed right away that it is a musical drama. The word Beethoven itself is already a give away but the word Virus tripped me. Without any research, I thought the drama would be about some attachment to Beethoven's masterpieces. Eventually I found "Beethoven Virus" is actually a title of a real musical composition, a remix of one of Beethoven's works. As it turned out, the drama was about a grumpy conductor, a young violinist and a young cop turned into trumpeter, and an orchestra of amateur musicians. I think they did play a Beethoven composition. And was there not a dog named "Beethoven" in this drama? Anyways, I like this title too.

    Thanks again Captain! Have a good weekend everyone! :D

    • I also really like Painter of the Wind, but is that an official English title or one that fans created? The Korean title does not have the word "painter" in it and is more ambiguous - "Flower Garden of the Wind."

  • Great topic! Hmm, I think there's also the issue of how the title sounds in the original language and how it sounds once translated. Case in point: I think "Smile, You" is a correct translation, but it still sounds so strange when translated into English. In Korean, they use what I like to call the "lover's you," so perhaps the translation is closer to "Smile Thee." A very different feel.

    I'm not sure which drama title I like the most, but here are some that I like. Some good titles: "Eyes of Dawn," "Joseon X-Files," and yes, "Sungkyunkwan Scandal."

    Worst title? "Good Person."

      • The full translation of the original title (조선X파일 기찰비록) would actually be "Joseon X-Files: Secret Investigation Record."

      • And if you want to be truly technical, it would be "Joseon X-Files: Provincial Governor's Secret Record." But now that I've translated it like that, the title doesn't sound as nice as I initially credited it for. LOL.

    • Eyes of Dawn is such a lovely evocative title. I haven't even watched the drama and it sticks in my head. And Joseon X-files describes the drama exactly and still sounds intriguing. Now that is a good title. The ones I hate the most are the blandy-Mcbland ones: Good Job, Good Job, for example. What the heck am I supposed to get out of that? Ergh.

      • Eyes of Dawn, wow that's from back-in-the-day. Way back, a total powerhouse blockbuster drama, but I love that title too. Haven't found a place to even check it out though.

  • I choose goong but I get to know the title of princess hours not because I like yeh but because roads in accordance with the title story about the life of an ordinary girl who suddenly have to spend time in the kingdom.

  • I loved "Witch Yoo Hee" as a title...even though the drama ended up being a hot mess. It gave such a clear depiction of what a psycho she was. "Witch Amusement" as a title is much more lame. It doesn't quite make sense in English AND it makes me think of Kiki's Delivery Service...aka a witch that is cute and cuddly...not someone like Yoo Hee.

    "Protect the Boss" has ended up being a really great title, even though I was annoyed it changed a few times before the show started.

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