Non-traditional romance with assertive/strong female *lead*

Hi,

I'm totally new to Asian dramas and got interested in non-traditional romances, but unfortunately most I've tried seem to not be what I'm looking for.
It would be great if someone could help me out. Thanks :)


I'm looking for romances featuring non-traditional gender roles, where the female lead is not submissive to the male and I guess that this is probably most likely to be found in Noona romances.

However, most I've tried seem to not be too different to standard romances, other than dealing with an age gap and difficulties that come with it.
When it came down to it, the leads still behaved very similar as in traditional romances and the female was treated more like a younger girl by her lover.


Basically I'm looking for more of the following:

Female lead: independent, confident woman who doesn't need a man to be "saved" and most importantly: doesn't lose her independence and decisiveness to the male when the romance develops.

It's about the balance between the partners inside the relationship:
Traditionally it's very one-sided and mostly the male lead takes care of her (even if she was a strong, independent woman before the romance started, once the relationship is established, the male pretty much takes over), he's the more decisive one and provides emotional stability and (more or less) controls the relationship.
But I'd like to find dramas where it's either the other way around, or at least where both partners are equally strong or weak, but without the male dominating in any way. I'd like to see the female partner taking care of him too and not just the usual one-sidedness.

 
What I'm not looking for is the male treating her in "traditional" ways, as if he was "her boss", telling her what to do, or being the *only* partner giving emotional stability (if it's both ways, this is okay though).

I've seen lots and lots of romances (non k/j/c/t-drama) with dominant males and this is getting a bit boring. Give me some cool women please ;)



Meanwhile I've watched Ohitorisama, Sapuri and Majo no Jouken and they totally fit :) the males were especially young and insecure, which shouldn't be a requirement at all, but at least the female leads weren't submissive in any way, but even the more dominant partners for once, which was an awesome change to the usual!

The Noona romance part of The Time I’ve Loved You also seems to be what I'm looking for, but unfortunately it's only a part of it. 
Secret Love Affair looks very promising too (going to watch it, but it was a bit too "heavy" and slow for the moment)


This blogpost really nailed it in its paragraph "Benefits of an older female lead"
http://kdramafighting.blogspot.com/2014/07/is-age-...

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Benefits of an older female lead

At their best, noona romances allow writers to give female characters some power in the relationship . Given the emphasis on seniority in Korean culture, having a woman who is older than the man offers a balance to the control that rude chaebol-type leads tend to have. Noona leads have established lives. They have careers. They know who they are as people. Oftentimes, they aren't total novices at romance, which means that they also have a sex drive of their own (not that they're just hopping into bed with any random man, but it means that they reciprocate kisses instead of staring blankly ahead). All of these things are beneficial not only to having well-rounded relationships, but also to having well-rounded characters in general.
At their worst, noona romances ignore these possibilities and make their female leads extra infantile to make sure that the guy still gets to be the boss of everything. When noona romances go wrong, they go very, very wrong. It's like adding insult to injury if the writers have an easy option for writing a competent female character and then immediately let it go to waste. 
The case in point would be I Need Romance 3, where the female lead was headstrong and great at her job--but had the emotional development of a turnip. Sung Joon's character was a gentle second male lead type, and yet he still spent the majority of the show telling his lady love how she did and should feel.

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Thanks a lot for reading :)

Maybe Empress Ki?

Saigo kara nibanme no koi.

It's a very Japanese mix of slice of life, romance and comedy. The main character is a woman with a career. She wants to move away from the big city to have a bit of peace and quiet in her free time, so she finds a house in a nice little town where she settles down. Next to her house lives a family of four people: a man close to her age with his teenage daugther, and his younger siblings who are twins. (There's also a married sister who doesn't live with them.) I loved this drama and its sequels. A part of it is "noona romance." I don't remember any wrist-grabs or telling her what to think or do or feel. :)

And Secret Love Affair, I think it is the only noona romance I've seen so far that I actually liked even though it's not "perfect". (It's not the kind of story where the female lead just happens to be over 30 and meets a younger man who wants her, while she is as insecure as a teenager and doesn't know what to do.) And yes, you're right it is a bit heavy. But it's worth your time, I think.

I think Empress Ki works.  Seung Nyang is not someone you can push around, and one of the male leads starts out as very inexperienced.  The main plot is revenge, but it has quite a bit of focus on romance too.  She does start out as naive when it comes to romance (hardly surprising given the way she grew up), but her character develops as the drama goes on.   She can be very guarded, and she has her reasons for it.  If you're looking for a LADY POWER drama, I think this a good suggestion, regardless of the romance.  Seung Nyang doesn't need men to save her - she often saves them.  Actually, most of the women in this drama aren't ones you want to mess with, good or bad.

I would also suggest you look into:

Ho Goo's Love
Good Doctor
King2Hearts

@ Granuli

Empress Ki is a romantic and tragic historical drama about a woman from Goryeo who wants to become the empress of the yuan empire. She caught the eye of the Yuan emperor and marries him him instead of her first love to become the empress of the yuan empire...
The female lead is the wisest and strongest woman I've ever seen in a drama and one of the male leads who is entangeld with her in a love triangle is childish and obsessive but sometimes cute.
It could be considered as a noona romance because in reality she is almost 10 years older than him.
I can't spoil you anything else but the storyline and love line is really unpredictable. Even though romance isn't the main focus it has much more romance compared to other historical dramas. It was the most touching love story I've ever seen.  
This drama could keep you from the beginning to the end on the edge of your seat :)

If you are looking for some noona romances some I have seen are:

I Hear Your Voice
Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy 
Witch's Romance 

I don't want to spoil anything but I'd say most of the romance part happens during the second half of the drama.

I looove this kind of drama too... Independent female lead is everything :D

I've watched some Noona Romances:

- Ohitorisama: Funny and cute. The female is a great and super independent teacher and the male just became a teacher in the same school :)
- Sapuri: It was cute, but sometimes it got bored. The couple is awkward but cute ^^ She works at a office and the guy just got there... He admires her.
- I Hear your Voice: Cuute <3 They met when kid. She's a lawyer and he is a high school student. She's also independent but he still protects her.
- Majo no Joken: Loved this one. She's his teacher and he is a troublemaker but they end up falling in love. It's really dramatic and sad but it's really good. Sometimes the couple get's awkward but it's because she really was 26 and he 17.
- Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy: This is the same but way more funny. She's his teacher and he's a troublemaker. They heate each other but end up falling in love. It's funny how the boy is suuper in love and do everything to his teacher.
- Witch's Romance: A bit more mature but still funny. She is the most admired on her office but she's very pround and sometimes rude. And the boy have a huuuge heart and is sensible. They end up falling is love even though she's 14 years older than him. LOVE this one.
- Last Cinderella: The female lead is a bit too innocent and sometimes dumb, but is sooo lovely. The guy fool her but end up falling in love. 
- High School King of Savvy: This one the the female is also a little fool but cute, and the guy is "her boss". She didn't know he was 10 years younger (and still in high school) when she started dating him, but it was late when she found out, they were already in love. Loved this one too.

I love all of these, but I'm not sute if this is really what you want.. Maybe Ohitorisama match more with your description :)