Playful Kiss

Dramatic Hour Long Korean Drama, Romantic Comedy, Teen Drama

Playful Kiss or Mischievous Kiss is a Korean Series based on the Japanese manga, Itazura Na Kiss. It started in 2010 and ran for 16 episodes before ending in October of the same year. An example of Pragmatic Adaptation, the characters' names are changed and the order of events and outcomes are tweaked, but it doesn't differ too greatly from its source. It's the only Korean adaptation, and the newest, but there was a Japanese series and Taiwan televised its own series and a sequel.

Despite being in the bottom of her class, Oh Ha Ni has had a crush on the popular school genius Baek Seung Jo ever since she first saw him. Her senior year she finally gets up the nerve to write him a love letter, but Baek Seung Jo not only rejects her, but also degrades her by saying he would never like a stupid girl. To add to her misery, Ha Ni's family's new house gets destroyed in a minor earthquake. While another house is being built, they go to live with her father's childhood friend, who also happens to be Baek Seung Jo's father and thus begins Oh Ha Ni's quest to win Seung Jo's affection.


 * A Cup Angst: Oh Ha Ni. In one episode she stuffs her shirt with socks in order to look more endowed.
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys
 * All Love Is Unrequited
 * Alpha Bitch: Hong Jang Mi and Hae Ra.
 * Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Actually just Seung Jo's mother.
 * Arranged Marriage:
 * Beach Episode
 * Beautiful Dreamer: Both Oh Ha Ni and Seung Jo at certain points.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: If Kyung Soo picks up a tennis racket, run.
 * Big Brother Worship: Eun Jo toward Seung Jo
 * The Big Damn Kiss
 * Book Dumb: Oh Ha Ni
 * Bratty Half-Pint: Eun Jo
 * Can't Stand Them Can't Live Without Them
 * Caught in The Rain
 * Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends
 * Creator Thumbprint: Every episode ends with a still of teddy bears, doing something the character did in the episode--just like Goong. Hwang In Roe directed both series.
 * Date Peepers: Oh Ha Ni and Wang Kyung Soo
 * Distaff Counterpart: Hae Ra to Seung Jo
 * Embarrassing Old Photo: Oh Ha Ni uses this for manipulation purposes.
 * Everyone Can See It
 * Family Business: Which Seung Jo refuses to take over.
 * First Girl Wins
 * Forceful Kiss:
 * Hands-On Approach: Tennis lessons, anyone?
 * Handsome Devil: Seung Jo
 * Hopeless Suitor: Bong Joon Gu
 * Imagine Spot: Ha Ni does this a lot.
 * Improbably High IQ: Seung Jo definitely. Even he acknowledges it after managing to get a perfect score on his college entrance exam despite being drugged up on cold medicine and only having fifteen minutes left to fill in the answers.
 * Innocent Cohabitation: Oh Ha Ni and Seung Jo live together for the majority of the series but never really do anything.
 * Insufferable Genius: Seung Jo and Hae Ra
 * Insult Backfire: Ha Ni tells Seung Jo, "Are you so awesome? So you have a high IQ? So you’re a good student? So you have a handsome face. And you’re tall!"
 * Intertwined Fingers: When Seung Jo announces his love
 * Jerkass: Seung Jo, but he gets a little more likable later.
 * Kuudere: Seung Jo
 * Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone: Seung Jo's mother loves this.
 * Longing Look: Everywhere
 * Love At First Sight: Oh Ha Ni fell in love with Seung Jo when she saw him speak at high school orientation.
 * Love Confession: Via love letter.
 * Love Hurts
 * The Matchmaker: Seung Jo's mother of course!
 * Missing Mom: Oh Ha Ni's mother
 * Moment Killer: Oh Ha Ni in episode 4 and Eun Jo in episode 16.
 * Mouthy Kid: Eun Jo
 * My Beloved Smother
 * Nice Guys Finish Last: Bong Joon Gu. But they fix that.
 * Operation: Jealousy: Although it seems that Seung Jo is immune to this. Or is he?
 * Opposites Attract: The Official Couple.
 * Pair the Spares: Just about everyone but the canon couple.
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: Seung Jo's mother whenever she goes to spy on her son (he always knows it's her).
 * Piggyback Cute: Unless it's Bong Joon Gu, in which case it is not.
 * Playing Hard to Get: Even after Seung Jo develops feelings for Oh Ha Ni he still acts indifferent.
 * Single Girl Seeks Most Popular Guy
 * Shipper On Deck: seung jo's mother ships him with ha ni
 * Sleep Cute: Episode 2. Seung Jo's mother walks in on it and her immediate reaction is to find a camera.
 * Stalker With a Crush: Oh Ha Ni, Joon Gu, Kyung Soo, maybe even Hae Ra sometimes.
 * Strictly Formula: Ha Ni's Teacher Song and Seung Jo's Teacher Song are exactly like their respective students. Ha Ni's Teacher Song even has a crush on Seung Jo's Teacher Song.
 * "Take That!" Kiss: Seung Jo really can't stand being forgotten.
 * Tall, Dark and Snarky: Seung Jo
 * The Tease: In episode 4
 * Their First Time: There was some trouble...
 * There Is Only One Bed: Oh Ha Ni is forced to spend the night in Seung Jo's apartment due to inclement weather.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Seriously, Joon Gu, you're going to use a cigarette lighter to peek in and see if the gas tank is empty?
 * Together Umbrella
 * Underdogs Never Lose: Subverted in episode 3 because the weaker team loses by Oh Ha Ni's blunder.
 * Wacky Marriage Proposal: More conventional than most, but it certainly comes out of left field.
 * What Does She See in Him?: Oh Ha Ni's friends think this at times, but it's mostly a question asked by Bong Joon Gu.
 * Will They or Won't They?: Basically the whole allure of the series.
 * You Make Me Sic: Seung Jo corrects the mistakes in Ha Ni's love letter, complete with a grade in red pen!