3GGG

Yeah, that one had us scratching our heads and it's also the one that made us decide to add an analysis of our findings for each point. I still suspect that many dramas aren't being tagged.

I actually think along the same lines as you. I considered that maybe a love triangle was tagged if it was a big part of the story. I've seen stories where there's a mini love triangle. With maybe a support character showing interest in one of the leads for only a couple of episodes before "giving up". Lawless Lawyer, for example, comes to mind and, rightfully so, it's not tagged with a love triangle.

Thank you! It was extremely time consuming. Turns out trying to add a lot of cells to a table then merging and splitting can go haywire really quickly (with some cells shrinking while others took more space, throwing the balance off), lol.

What I learned? Just use more tables and keep them small!

This article was very time consuming indeed. I think I wanted to cry because at some point I started formatting the information in one computer, but had the site opened on another. So I ended up overwriting my own work by mistake and had to re-do it.

>Age Gap
I agree with you in that it should relate to the character's age and not the actors'/actresses' real age. I would also have preferred if the definition of that tag corresponded to only the main characters. I think mostly the tag is used in relation to the main leads, but I can't be sure. Healer is the example that really made me think (and I'm still not sure to whom the age gap there referred to).

Like I mentioned in the comment below, you can remove tags that you feel don't belong in a show. The change will then have to be approved by a mod before it takes effect. But the option is always there ;).

I agree with you on this! You can always remove tags. The change will then have to be approved by a mod, but the option is there. You can also vote for certain tags so they appear at the very top of the list.

Indeed, which is something we hadn't really thought about when we started to gather the data. It was only as we were analyzing the tags that we began to notice some discrepancies. I think I even went it and took off tags from some shows at some point.

Since we already had the data, however, we opted to move forward but adding our interpretation of the numbers and stressing the fact that there is certainly a margin of error since we're dealing with something very subjective.

Thank you for reading!

I ended up giving this one a 7.5. It would've been great if it half the episodes, tbh, because the story got quite redundant after the halfway mark; which made everything drag.

Highlights:
OST | Excellent!
Antagonist | This was Kang In Wook's show and everyone else was a guest. This was my first time watching Ryu Soo Young and I'm impressed by his acting skills. He really sold his pain and was built with the complexity the other leads lacked.
Joo Hae Ra | This is one of those rare shows where the 2FL out-stages the FL. Second only to In Wook, she was the most complex character of them all. I really enjoyed how the writer displayed both her virtues and flaws.

Things I didn't like all that much:
The leads | They lacked dimension and seem to live in their own "little fantasy world".
Love Story | It got redundant and didn't explore the psychological implications of what they were going through.

Yes :).

Thank you for the recommendations! I already have some of them on my PTWL, so that means I am on the right track. I will add the others to my list!

Thank you very much for reading and commenting, @MusicalVeggies (love your username, btw)! I'm glad you've enjoyed my articles! It's very important to me that my messages are clear and easy to understand, so hearing I've succeeded makes all the effort worth it! More so if people enjoyed the content and/or found it interesting!

I have "Nirvana in Fire" in my PTWL. It has been recommended to me. I do want to watch it because I enjoyed "Legend of FuYao" and I've heard this one is even better. I just need to finish my new series of articles (regarding the tag system and tropes) and "Sky Castle" (I'll be writing a "Visual Mastery" article for it), before I can tackle a new series. But will add a note on Nirvana so I can prioritize it!

Btw, I do want to give more Chinese dramas a chance. So if there's any others you'd recommend, let me know! If the female lead has an active role, I'll probably enjoy it all the more!

I can confirm that Oh Sunny gets better and better as the show progresses. She's really the one reason why I'd recommend the show.

I wasn't bothered by Na Wang Shik's change because well... drama lol. I've gotten used to these types of things so I just roll with it (I mean even his voice changes lol). Unfortunately, the last four episodes were a sin against his character. Rumors are that Choi Jin Hyuk may have had a falling out with the writer, which would explain how his character was basically written out of the show without a proper conclusion.

Also, thank you for your interest in my other articles! I'm glad you're enjoying them! The "Common Visual Cues in K-dramas" series took a long time to write (or rather gather enough examples), and I took extra care to explain it in a simple way. I think it might also help that my first language is actually Spanish and, when I studied abroad, I met people who were having a hard time understanding the English language. So I took to helping them out by explaining in simple terms, which was more effective than trying to prove you master a great vocabulary hahaha.

Oh yeah, agree about the art direction. Though it is less obvious lately than when it started, I find myself still catching at least one error in continuity per episode. But what the director lacks in editing, the writer makes up in character building and development. You got to appreciate a badass female with a clear goal and sense of purpose, right?

Aw! Thank you for reading and for your kind words! I've always enjoyed writing, but I think mastering in Advertising helped me become more concise in my writing. To pay attention to the "most important message" if you will.

As to the drama, was there something specific that made you consider dropping it?

Your welcome! I hope that helped with your decision!

I do recommend it, despite the weak start since it gets better and better.

No love triangle and the love story is great, but it's a slow-burn. I'd say the romance is a minimal sub-plot, but still an intricate part for the characters' development.

If you're looking for heavy romance with fluff and cute scenes, this isn't it. The relationship between the leads is more complex and mature.

The greatest selling point would be the role reversal. In that the female lead is not only the male lead's boss, but she's more of a badass as well. She's also more focus on her goal than on her feelings, while the male lead is equally focused on both. Even better, the male lead is who ends up becoming the "moral compass" of the female lead, and who slowly but surely melts her cold heart.

Yeah. In Wook is the most interesting and consistent character. Followed by Hae Ra (who I really, really like). They both happen to be the most complex characters as well.

Agree 100%! For a second I even waited for him to show Ma RI he had taken the bullet out of the gun; mirroring poetically what she'd done with the flowers stems before. With the message of "love isn't up to fate, it's a choice". But they didn't! It was so out of character and, at this point, they are both manipulating her into staying with them. So disappointing indeed :(.

Episode 14, lol! Same couple from Jugglers!

I agree! It's not without some flaws, but the story and characters are entertaining/likable enough to keep me invested.