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I think the problem is simply that dramas already require you to suspend your disbelief. So if a Male Lead is portrayed as a one-man army, why should we not get Female Leads capable of getting themselves out of trouble? That said, the FL requiring saving once per drama is fine, but there is a problem when they require constant saving.

And of course I agree with you in that FL needing to be saved from project failures is quite frustrating. Though, personally, I prefer when the lead (regardless of gender) solves problem through teamwork rather than in a solo mission, lol.

Yeah, i don't. The emotional buildup isn't being done to my standards. I am glad you are enjoying it and it's working for you. To each their own :).

At least I'll keep my expectations in check and that should help curve whatever frustration I would've otherwise experience if I had picked it up without prior knowledge. So thanks for the recommendation. :)

I will add Bridal Mask to my PTWL. I actually took it off because I read the FL was quite passive. But i might watch it for the antagonist then! :)

Ah, you're rising my expectations for Nobody Knows then! One of the things I loved about Hyena was the simple fact that the FL had a clear goal set, motivation to accomplish it and a plan to make it happen. It sounds so simple, but it's amazing the amount of Female Leads that are written without this core element. So whenever I find a female lead with it, I start giving the show some brownie points, lol!

I don't think the FL in Gu Family Book has a story per se. She was the daughter of the man leading a secret army... but that's it. She was there simply to lend emotional support to the ML, who had his own story regarding his identity crisis. The 2FL certainly had more potential to her story, a girl who falls from nobility is sold into a courtesan house, and learns to wield power from within her new position. That makes for a different type of story, too bad we didn't see more of it, though.

If you haven't watched Mr. Sunshine, I highly recommend it. The relationship between the Female and Second Female Lead is amazing. I only wished we got more scenes between them, but the few we got were quite memorable. Apart from that one Run On (ongoing) is also building an interesting relationship between the FL and 2FL. And Live On (which should finish next week) has an amazing cast of female characters with complex, beautiful, and interesting relationships with each other. Highly recommend this last one. I'll be writing a review-like article for that one soon.

I also love it when characters develop from good to evil or evil to good. I have a penchant for tragedy, so I enjoy "Tragic Heros" stories the most. When characters start out good and idealistic, but get beat up by life and become the antagonists. There's something so pitiful about them that really play with my heartstrings. The Second Male Leads in "The Nokdu Flower" and "My Country: The New Age" really stole the show for me precisely because we saw events just beat them up until there was nothing of their former idealism left.

I've added the ones you've recommended to my PTWL except Alice in Borderland.

I actually watched that one and even added a review (rated it with a 6.5 and I was generous). I found the gender disparity in that particular show quite jarring and it certainly frustrated me. Not sure if I'll give the second season a try once it's out. I know that, had I watched Sweet Home (recent K-drama show in a similar vein to Alice in Borderland) I would've probably given a lower rating to AIB. Of course, I seem to be in the minority with my rating, so that shows there's always something for everyone :).

I'm likewise surprised by the negative reception of Extracurricular. Like you, I found the moral ambiguity interesting coupled with a role reversal between our leads; wherein the FL was the one making things happen while things happened to the ML. I also kind of enjoyed the old school vibe it had going, especially when it came to the street brawls. And that fight on the roof... it was emotional and epic.

Lawless Lawyer had similar types of fight, which also made it enjoyable for me. Luckily this one also has a balance of power between our leads that makes them proper partners rather than just lovers, and it's an even better ride!

I actually have Nobody Knows in my PTWL. I've heard good things about that one, especially when it comes to the FL's character, so I'll definitely watch it soon! Let me know what's your take on it once you finish it!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, @Charbonnel!

Wow! You're one of the few souls that agree that Extracurricular was great! Every time I recommend it to someone, I get a response from someone who disagrees and dislikes the drama. But I still maintain that it broke a lot of norms and was an enjoyable watch perhaps precisely because it was so dark and grim. I also agree with Strangers from Hell, I binged that one in two days and love every second of it. If you haven't watched Save Me and Save Me 2, I highly recommend them, as they are in a similar vein as Extracurricular and Strangers from Hell. Flower of Evil was a thrilling watch and it was beautifully executed, even despite some flaws that have to do with the antagonist. Sometimes we need to suspend our disbelief in order to enjoy things :).

Ironically, I have kept away from Japanese dramas because the few I've watched, the gender disparity they display has been more jarring than with the worst K-Dramas. The impression I have with J-Dramas is that the stories tend to be more male-focused and the Female Leads will never equate to them in terms of power, smarts, wits, influence or agency. But if you have any recommendations with a good power-balance between the leads, I'll be sure to add them to my list!

Speaking of power-balance, Stranger and Stranger 2 is probably the cream of the crop when it comes to providing an interesting Male Lead and Female Lead. I'm also enjoying Uncanny Counter because the we a beautiful mix of complex, flawed and strong male and female characters. Highly recommend that one as well!

I agree, that was a disservice for the character. I think they didn't focus on her so that she didn't outshine the female lead. Here's to hoping more dramas will establish a friendship between the female lead and second female lead, even if they start on the wrong foot, rather than portray them as antagonistic till the end!

Ah yes. Actually Gu Family Book frustrated me with the 2FL's story. That one was so interesting, that I wished we had actually seen her more.

Hey, there's no reason why we can't have a candid conversation even if we have different tastes in dramas. I find these types of conversations very interesting so long as we respect each other's views and opinions. Nothing beats a good conversation that someone who gets too personal and attacks the person that has an opinion that differs from their own.

Sadly, that's the spirit when it comes to MDL's comment section sometimes. An emotional argument with the "I'm right, you're wrong" mentality can sour things out very quickly and that happened quite recently with Start-Up (as it happened with Born Again) and will continue to happen... The healthiest thing is to accept that people may love a drama you hate and you may love a drama others hate and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. :)

With that spirit, I still loved and enjoyed both Extracurricular and It's Okay Not to be Okay. But I understand if other people do not enjoy what I enjoy. I'm in the minority when it comes to my enjoyment of Possessed if we go by MDL's overall rating. I also rated poorly The Princess' Man, which I know a lot of people enjoyed.

A couple of points I want to touch on is that:
1) A strong character isn't always a strongly-written character and vice-versa. Take The Tale of the Nine-Tails ML. He's written as being super-strong, smart, and rich... but he isn't balanced and, as a result, he's not complex enough for me to tag him as a "well-written character". So a well-written character doesn't always mean a strong female lead/ strong male lead (never really claimed otherwise).
2) A strong character also doesn't mean a nice character. Those are two separate things (and therefore, two separate tags).
3) "Well if going against the norm and making things happen makes it a strong female - then all the female villains in dramas are very very strong. But highly unlikable." >> In K-Dramas an active female lead with a sense of agency is, unfortunately, not the norm. So a female lead who is actively engaged in the plot (makes things happen) to the point that if you take her out of the story the plot can't function is indeed going against the norm. Again, never said a strong female lead isn't the norm. It's being active that's the key point here. After all, more than half the dramas are tagged with "Strong Female Lead". Whether she's consistently strong, however, is a different matter.
4) Not all well-written characters have to be nice characters. Some characters can indeed be evil. In fact, there's a ton of well-written antagonists meant to make us revile them (like the antagonists in Gu Family Book). Just like there are some antagonists that are written in a way to make us pity them (like the antagonist in Children of Nobody and Catch the Ghost).

I agree, that's what we call a "sense of agency". A Female Lead being strong doesn't really equate to a Female Lead being important. A well-written Lead, by definition, should be someone who has a sense of agency (meaning that the story cannot function without said character). So if you can take out the character and the story doesn't suffer, that means that character doesn't have a sense of agency.

Another example that comes to mind is Gu Family Book. The story was great and the Female Lead was strong... unfortunately she wasn't really important to the story. Take her out and the story still functions much the same.

City Hunter is a drama that fits what you described perfectly. The FL was only the ML's interest and that's it. It's a frustrating thing to watch for sure.

My beef with Healer is that the FL's story was building up to having her reunite with her mother, but that was treated as an afterthought towards the end. They simply one scene and that's it, no fanfare. I also would've appreciated it if we'd seen the FL overcome her own trauma like the ML did, but her trauma (freezing when seeing physical violence) was never really dealt with. In that sense, Forest did a surprisingly good job of having both the ML and FL overcome their own traumas by the end.

" I like when ML can save FL lead from trouble, but not when it happens every 10 minutes and FL is just crying about her horrible situation. " >> Yes, I call this the "perpetual damsel in distress". A character who gets in trouble at least once per episode, sometimes twice. Born Again and Alice are probably two of the biggest contenders in earning the prize for having their FLs be in constant danger. I'm not sure which one was worst since I somehow managed to muscle through only one of them. The other I dropped.

I actually enjoyed "Are you Human Too?" for the story, though I'd wished they'd focused more on the 2ML/Antagonist's identity crisis (can you imagine having the mother you missed replace you with an android?!). Having said that, I agree that the FL became a supporting character and didn't offer much towards the second half.

I know Extracurricular is a controversial one. It's one of those dramas that either you love or hate. In my case, I loved it. I never claimed that the Female Lead was a good person, but that she went against the norm. Say what you will, but she was making things happen. If she stepped into a scene, you know the story was about to take a turn. Whereas the Male Lead took the more passive role of allowing things to happen to him and hoping to be saved. That role reversal is what ultimately breaks the norm. In a way, the FL in Extracurricular is the more extreme version of the FL in Hyena.

As to It's Okay not to be Okay, once again we're talking about dramas that broke the norm. I agree that the FL wasn't nice and she was selfish, but she was constantly on the move. She was the successful one of the leads as well and she had confidence to boot. She was also the one unashamedly pursuing the Male Lead and had the most interesting story. Meanwhile, the ML we see struggle trying to overcome hardship after hardship. He's also unafraid to ask for help and we see him have his fair share of weakness and strength moments because he's written more down to earth (as in not perfect).

Thank you for reading, @Ocean. Ah, yes, I see you found out the bane of my existence when watching dramas. Mind you, a badass in distress is still preferable to a damsel in distress... which is still preferable to the "perpetual damsel in distress" (as in, she's in need of saving almost once every 1-2 episodes) that has been plaguing dramas recently.

Thank you for reading, @Mae. I felt the same way. I think I've also been noticing the trends and patterns subconsciously, but the data was still quite surprising because it really made me realize that we're still getting the same formulas over and over again when it comes to the heart of it.

As to recommendations, Iike I've posted below, here are some shows that break the norm:
>> Hyena,
>> He is Psychometric,
>> Crash Landing on You,
>> It's Okay not to be Okay,
>> Hospital Playlist,
>> Mystic Pop-Up Bar,
>> The World of the Married,
>> Arthdal Chronicles,
>> Big Issue,
>> Possessed,
>> The Tale of Nokdu,
>> Hotel del Luna,
>> Flower of Evil,
>> Mr. Sunshine,
>> Live,
>> Catch the Ghost (for the ML),
>> When the Camellia Blooms,
>> Search WWW

Non-Romance:
>> Mother,
>> My Mister,
>> Save Me,
>> Stranger & Stranger 2,
>>Voice
>> Extracurricular,
>> 365: Repeat the Year,
>> Missing: The Other Side,
>> Search,
>> Sweet Home,
>> Uncanny Counter,
>> Kairos,
>> Children of Nobody,
...to name a few

Thank you for reading!

Thank you for reading and joining the conversation, @Eunni. I agree and @Joy made a similar comment down below. I think this is still mostly an assumption made because men are the ones making decisions. So until more women become part of the decision-making, we will still mostly get these types of stories.

Fortunately, I think we keep getting more stories every year with Female Leads who are integral to the stories being told. So hopefully, strongly written and consistent female leads will become the norm down the line. I also hope we start seeing male leads who are flawed and not super rich or successful; but more like the everyday kind of guys.

Thank you for reading, @dramafan422. I'm actually the same way. I think that if a series has a balanced power dynamic between our leads, then I'll enjoy it. But when the balance is tilted towards the Male Lead, I tend to get very frustrated with the show.

Funny enough, I agree with your favorite couples because they all have that power dynamic wherein the leads are both strong and weak at different times; giving us the sense that they are stronger together than apart. I would probably add: Hyena, Search WWW, Extracurricular (though there is a romance, the series is quite dark), Possessed, Arthdal Chronicles (although here, it's the secondary couple that's fantastic), He is Psyhcometric, Hotel del Luna, My Name is Nokdu, Fight for my Way, and Lawless Lawyer.

Hi Cho Na, thank you very much for reading! I already have planned out my next series, which will be a sort of "sister-series" to my "Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas" series. Except, this one will have to do with "Popular Motifs used in K-Dramas", I already collected a ton of examples, so it will be a matter of finding the time to sit down, layout the ideas and write.