Charbonnel

I agree with this! I’m not bothered by the step-brothers trope here, and people don’t often mention the other’s you’ve listed. Rich man/poor woman bothers me so much, it’s probably half of the reason I’m not really watching any Rom-Com Kdramas anymore! Hate to love can be unnecessary too, and often overly predictable.

I’m also just praying this does well because as you said, it’s a HIStory drama that most of us never thought we’d get again after MODC.

I feel for you, hope that your region gets them soon!

The official place to watch this is WeTV, which is free, however VIP users are an episode ahead - so episode 3 will be available to VIPs in two days, and to everyone else in a week and two days.

It’s also more beneficial to the creators to watch it on WeTV, as this will be where viewer stats will come from and probably play a part in determining the success of the show.

This is just proving to me for the umpteenth time how much I love Lin Pei Yu’s style! Every drama I see written by her makes me like her writing more, also just seeing how her writing evolves is fun, from Bromance to HIStory (Obsessed->Right or Wrong->Crossing the Line->Trapped).

I’m excited that she’s written the first two parts of We Best Love (is it her own series?), and hopefully with more success we will see her writing grow even more! :)

Anyhow, really enjoyed ep 1, looking forward to how this goes. A little sad about the fact it’ll be short but it’s a starting point, will also probably be reasonably fast paced because of duration.

Thanks for your reply :)

I was just disagreeing with the original writer, I understand that had it been changed there would be backlash and that it happens in all adaptations. It’s also fairly clear why they die from a writing perspective, just that I who love friendships wish it could have been different, because without that friendship I may well lose interest as far as characters and relationships go..

It’s a pretty unachievable ask for most shows of similar theme or genre for this to showcase long term friends surviving it all. I’d love a show that did focus on the friendship like the first part of this while still being in the genre without loss of ALL close knit characters - at least not in one fell swoop early on.

Sorry, I hadn’t finished the episode at the time of writing (I was on part 1/4 at the time). But yes, you’re right about that in this show, although this has to be the most explicit example I’ve ever seen. Na put it so well! It was nice to hear Na put it to words for me :)

Ton’s development made reasonable sense to me - it’s clear he was in denial a long time, but his change in behaviour was way too sudden, from “only a brother” to looking after him to the extent of wanting to feed him in front of everyone (including poor Na) overnight!? I know this is satire but that’s a little bit intense for me!

Even if I were in Chon’s position, I would find the sudden drastic change too much and probably want the other person to back off and chill, regardless of the previous day’s pretext I wouldn’t want someone being so overtly affectionate after a prolonged period of awkward, semi-aggressive behaviour. Or at all really. Just me?

I agree with some of the sentiment, although I actually like this show, not sure if I agree about pan representation though.. I haven’t seen a single show with a character that is explicitly stated to be pan. I’d say bisexual representation is more common (although often stereotypical when explicitly stated), and do agree that the “not gay, I only like...” trope is too overused.

The reason I’m mentioning about pansexuality is because I haven’t really seen many characters that gave off a pansexual/panromantic vibe apart from Meng Shao Fei from Trapped, both leads in Manner of Death, and Sky from My Day, but even with these I can’t be completely sure.
Pansexuality means that they don’t see gender, they see a person - and this attitude is far less common because most of the more “masculine” male leads go through a phase of complex because of liking another guy. Bisexuality experiences attraction to multiple genders but often have different preferences based upon gender.

To me, the more “masculine” leads who end up falling in to pan/bi is split between genuine or sloppily done, because repression is rarely ever discussed (although it is discussed in this show), and it just feels like a way of justifying them being with females for years and then switching to males, and in a way brings less representation to masculine gay men, especially those who spend time repressing their sexuality and dating women. In many ways, the shows that don’t feature a more “feminine” or “masculine” male lead end up having better effect - for example Trapped (which dealt with sexuality very well in my opinion) where the relationship doesn’t play to a heteronormative narrative, and is one of equals.

Sorry if this seems pedantic or passive aggressive, just my opinion.. :)
(I happen to be panromantic, not saying that I represent everyone’s opinion though)

I still love Na! I feel like everyone could do with someone so genuine, sweet and quirky in their life. Didn’t realise how much I missed this until it aired again today, because I’ve been struggling with a lot recently, at least Na (and others) can finally put a grin back on my face :)

Some of it is almost certainly demand related, but you’re also right about licensing.

Netflix is very successful globally, and in order to be that successful, chances are they offer predominantly western dramas for western countries, and I happen to know Japanese Netflix has far more to offer in terms of Japanese content than say the US, Canada, or the UK.

As far as licensing goes, Netflix Originals are likely to be available in most regions, with potential exceptions in regions where there is heavy censorship, in which case they could be censored/edited or just absent. An example I can recall is that in Korea, there are laws about censorship (blurring) of objects that are intentionally being used as a weapon. Whereas here in the UK, I definitely watched Extracurricular without any blurring of weapons because that is not required and the show is a Netflix Original. Korean Netflix almost certainly does feature this censorship though, otherwise it cannot be broadcast there, and the show originated in South Korea.

I think the licensing issues would come in when working with individual networks to negotiate purchasing the rights. It could potentially cost more to purchase the rights to make a show available in more countries - and definitely the case when the show does not yet have official translations, as then it is not only licensing, but paying translators as well, hence demand still being a factor. In addition, some networks with probably flat-out deny licensing with some kind of reason.

Therefore, most English native countries are likely to share a selection where license and demand are not a problem. However, when it comes to say Netflix viewers in the Middle East, they will probably have different demand and certainly have a different language, so unless there is high demand for the same shows, they are likely to be given different options.

I don’t know how much if any of that is helpful, but I hope at least some of it is.. XD

Funnily enough, as someone who doesn’t ever watch zombie stuff or movies, I ended up watching #Alive, and it was surprisingly good. It made its way in to my Netflix recommendations and I was curious enough to give it a go.

As far as other Netflix Original things go, I watched Extracurricular, Itaewon Class, and some of DDSSLLS and Alice in Borderland. Non-originals wise, I also watched Bromance (TW), W, and several studio Gibli films. I’m sure I’ve missed things but that’s the gist of it.

Most other stuff I watched in the past year was on Viki and not on Netflix. Viki seems to better for overall selection and range than Netflix if not for the fact Netflix has some darn good Korean and Japanese originals. In terms of countries, in my region it’s easiest to find Korean, Japanese and some Thai shows, with not many Chinese shows and almost no Taiwanese shows. Viki is better for Taiwanese stuff from my observation.

This may be region related though in terms of Netflix selection - as I think that (correct me if I’m wrong) that in the UK there isn’t a large audience for foreign TV and film that extends beyond Europe. Anime is an exception, but I have not met a single person while living in the UK who watches East Asian Dramas - I got one of my close friends in to it with Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, but besides that, no one. So the Netflix here could have less choice than elsewhere..?

So, even WITH spoilers, I find myself sobbing my heart out in episode 3, even taking a break just to cry for a bit. I don’t ever normally cry at dramas, this is the 3rd time I have cried at one.

The fact that even with my guards up and being aware of the spoilers and it still hit me like a truck does say something about the writing and directing, even if I hate the choice. However, I don’t feel like I’ll have any emotion the rest of the drama because of this, because no dynamic can top close friendship like that to me, and I’m not even interested in Usagi, in spite of her setup. Arisu isn’t superbly interesting, likeable enough, but most of his charm came from their friendship.

I have to say though, it feels like a waste on the part of the original writer, I would have possibly accepted one death, but it’s a waste of a dynamic and interesting, flawed yet likeable characters.

I might put this on hold....

I had to take a pause to sob quietly because it’s late at night while I’m watching it, even though I knew it would happen, it was done too well..... understandable though, I might give it a few days to heal.

I love Lee Jae Wook in this, but really dislike FL, nothing to do with the actress (actually I like the actress), but I find the overly naive FL who seemingly aspires to nothing isn’t making it interesting. This is the fault of the writers, and judging by the fact there are complaints about eps 14-16, not sure if it’s worth continuing...

After reading this, I’m almost tempted to watch just for the fact Lee Jae Wook shows up in it..! Don’t know if I’ll actually watch it because of FL’s character/obsession.

Fair about your take on Alice in Borderland, I am still on the first half, so can’t say much for the gender disparity. Will definitely update my take on Nobody Knows once I finish it, but I definitely love the FL - although there is one trap she falls in to early on, but not a sexist or poorly written one. They also set up her motivation and background very well, and I love the downstairs neighbour’s son, also a lovely character.

The rooftop scene in Extracurricular was something else for me, and I loved Mr Lee, emotional and epic that one was.

I agree with you on Jdramas, there is a painful majority of plots being as you stated, which is why I only got in to them more recently. Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru would be my top recommendation, it’s FL-centred and has an actual plot beyond romance. I’d also recommend Sixteen Shoukougun, Todome no Kiss, and Imawa no Kuni no Alice (action thriller, not romance). Sixteen Shoukougun has a jarring but interesting use of perspective.

For the three of those that are romance, I’d say there’s one with an FL who has the most power and agency, and the other two feel in many ways ambiguous because the power dynamic isn’t clear or isn’t prevalent, and the status of ML vs FL is more grey than it may appear initially. Also, they are all either more FL-focused or equal in their focus between ML and FL. I’d also wager that Jdramas that don’t have romance have more interesting female characters based off what I’ve come across.

I’m surprised by the amount of people attacking Extracurricular, I found it to be very interesting on how it tackles morals, as well as the fun of it being a dark thriller.
I’ll definitely have a look at the dramas you mentioned, as I am struggling to find Kdramas to start at the moment, it also feels better hearing someone’s recommendation from chat rather than popularity or ratings. One last thing, you might like Nobody Knows (?), I started it recently and it has a very interesting setup character-wise.

I’ve enjoyed this article series, and seeing it all summarised together gives an interesting perspective. In many ways, this summarises why I watch less Kdrama than I used to, because 50 shows later, it isn’t interesting to see the typical “Strong FL is also a damsel in distress moment”, or just unnecessary hardships that end up giving me more apathy than I had to start with.

Flower of Evil was a drama I loved because it didn’t fall into any of these categories - with all of the main cast having flaws and active parts in the plot. As you pointed out, crime-romance tends to have more exceptions generally. Another couple of exceptions are Extracurricular and Strangers from Hell, but it is to be noted they both are not romances and fall into the psychological/thriller/crime category, which often features more interesting characters for me.

These days I enjoy more Japanese and Taiwanese dramas for their writing, although I’m still pretty picky. I do still watch Kdramas, but usually see 1-2 eps and drop, and so things I love don’t come around often. My favourite romances these days are psychological romance (a surprisingly rare combo), or rom-coms that feature crossworld travel (oddly specific but it’s good)!

Thanks for the article! I’m glad about some of the dramas that made the list - Lost Romance is one of my all time favourites overall, and also loved TROTR. I loved quite a few of the dramas here but also feel like some deserved more attention from this year! Watashitachi Wa Douka Shiteiru and Flower of Evil being the most major ones for me, but I guess they had less of a shot due to airing later on in the year..? Anyhow, thanks to you and Happy New Year!

Thanks for the article, I’m not all that interested in the premise, but if it’s really well written I could probably appreciate it.

Would anyone who’s watched Strangers from Hell please tell me if this is similarly well written and atmospheric? If it’s in the same ball park as Strangers from Hell I’ll probably love it..