IU & Park Bo Gum’s K-Drama Slammed For Having “The Worst Subtitles Ever”
Netflix‘s latest K-Drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines — starring IU and Park Bo Gum — has come under fire for its poor subtitle quality. Viewers have taken to social media to express their frustration, calling the translations inadequate and unfaithful to the original Korean dialogue.
Fans have pointed out that the English subtitles fail to capture the deeper meaning and emotional nuance of the original script. Many complained that lines were translated too literally, stripping them of their intended cultural context.
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One example cited was a scene where a character expresses deep regret, but the English subtitles make it seem like an expression of anger or dismissal instead. This kind of mistranslation has led to significant misunderstandings of key moments in the shoiw.
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But it’s sadly an issue that viewers seem to think Netflix K-Dramas seem to suffer from more often than not. Some argued that older fan-subtitled dramas provided more accurate and culturally sensitive translations by including explanatory notes for idioms, slang, and culturally specific phrases. In contrast, Netflix’s subtitles tend to oversimplify or localize content in a way that diminishes the richness of the original script.
im so serious, those kissasian translators were soooo much better than netflix ones. netflix oversimplifies and shortens every dialogue soooo much and all emotions and essence of the scene is lost that way. even with my limited understanding of korean, it's so blatant https://t.co/EzwkZSmJew
— fruit salad (@girls4taeri) March 21, 2025
this makes me miss those old fansubbed dramas and how they handled nuance. instead of simplifying or localizing everything, they'd include little notes explaining cultural references, idioms, jokes, or slang that didn't quite carry over into english. it was lowkey educational https://t.co/5n5AtBWJi8
— r a f a 🥀 (@storm1eweather) March 21, 2025
However, some defended the translation process, pointing out the limitations placed on subtitle length and readability. Professional translators have strict constraints on the number of characters per line and per second, which can make preserving poetic or literary elements difficult. Others noted that English subtitles often serve as a base for translations into other languages, necessitating a simpler and more direct approach. Additionally, the issue of low pay for translators has been raised, with some arguing that the industry does not adequately compensate professionals for the level of skill required.
1. The characters per line/per second limit makes it harder to make it “poetic”
2. EN Sub works as “pivot language” to translate many other subtitles from, it has to be simple, otherwise it’ll result in mistranslations
3. Translators are simply not paid enough https://t.co/aYQRjEL1wR— Rta (@Ratia_Ks) March 21, 2025
Despite the debate, the backlash highlights a growing frustration among international K-Drama fans who feel that Netflix should invest more in high-quality subtitles, especially when producing content featuring major stars like IU and Park Bo Gum.
