Kachiiing

WOW! Huba baba. She was quite the raving beauty (and now possesses an elegant charm) in that last picture! Brill picture. Even though the younger actors might do 1 or 2 dramas per year, these older ajumma's get all the roles, in all the latest dramas! Woof. Just think of her contact book alone :P

Great article, unfortunately I disagree about Siwon O.o I can let you have the others because I agree, or haven't watched the drama. Oh ha ni...oh GOD YES! In a way it would be better to list the top 5 annoying attributes of a female lead (unless that's been done)- because she could fit all 5.

Overall, I would say what makes a female lead annoying is, inconsistency, stalkerish tendencies, no backbone (and yelling all the time, does NOT automatically consitute for a backbone. Most of the time, they fly off the handle at absolutely nothing), ridiculously bad styling- almost as if she's a time warp reject, and last but not least...whinging! Though I don't like it when it goes too much the opposite way, where the girl accepts beatings/chores/orders without complaint. Grrrr.

Once again, great ariticle. Loved the disney cover picture. rofl.

You've heard it here first. After "Heirs" has finished airing, and Lee Min Ho happily gets his girl, with Jung Yong Hwa sidelined yet again, a plethora of netizens will ambush their forum-boards, with classic 2nd-lead syndrome just like after watching You're Beautiful, and some producer somewhere...will be rubbing his hands in glee as he picks up a pen and writes a script labelled "Heartstrings 2: The sequel"

I was about to say "thanks for the friend request" but loads of people beat me to it...so cool. You're authentic asian^^ I'm asian too, but South-East where I'm still praying they'll start casting younger leads and not make a "song-and-dance" about it. You know. Dramas like you're beautiful/BOF etc etc.

Hi, thanks for the friend request. 49 days is one of my favourite dramas, partly because it's the last decent one I watched. "Innocent Man" was ruined for me, by a friend, who tweeted they were using the show to advertise "Samsung products." I vow to get back, and finish it some day!

Thanks for the friend request, how did you find me? O.o
Can't wait for "Heirs"...will be really weird to see Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye together (especially with Jung Hwa being the second love interest, and pining for her again!) Lol, and after that there will be "Heartstrings 2" to stop fans going apesh*t. Even though the "original" Heartstrings was nothing special (had a gr8 soundtrack)

Thanks for the friend request. I noticed you liked Jaejoong...lol, wrote an article about him recently. I really wish T.O.P from Big Bang will star in a drama, though rumours tell me he's in the Korean version of "Skip-beat?" Lol, we have to wait & see! Anyways, you can talk to me anytime- I'm pretty friendly.

Hi, thanx for the friend request (accepted.) I was scrolling through your profile, and it makes an interesting read (and gazing, you know, lots of pictures!) Yong Jung Hwa...I've heard he's to be reunited with Park Shin Hye again for a 2013 drama (lol, thought you might want to know, though you probably do.) Bye!

"THIS is the Lee Min Ho that has an iron rod implanted in his leg."

The peril of reading something quick, is you mis-read a few words the 1st time. That "quote" I got from your article? For one embarrasing moment, I thought that was smutty orientated :O

But good on you, for ur first article. Personal Taste is not a less well-known drama. It's quite well known, but people usually skip over it, to gush about their favourite stuff.

The investment of time gone into this is staggering. Aragato. (Is that japanese for thanks? lol.) Really appreciate your hard work.

LOL, I thought that was just me! I remember watching my first drama (Boys over Flowers) and not recognising a single character except Kim Hyun Joong's whenever I went back, and only because he wore a white suit!

I felt really bad :(
But I started getting better the more dramas I watched, and now I DEFINITELYY know twinklelie is right.

Hiya. I messaged Skye last November about writing an article, and he sent me a link, that I didn't get round to using till now. Do I still need to "apply" to be a writer? Not sure how it really works. But I've submitted it, and I don't know if that's enough or not.

First of all, thank you for the article purplenette. None of these dramas tickle my boat (at least by the descriptions anyway) and I'm praying something good is released this year. I fear my love for asian dramas is not as strong as it once was :/

lol. Ironic that catnip managed to find like the ONLY photo of Rui that DIDN't have a book in his hand. Bahaha.

Bahahaha. LOVE your comment! To answer your question, there are a few horses, but this drama really isn't about them. Better go with Ashu's recommendation.

Proof that old is gold, and new is silver :) I've been deprived of a good drama/movie for so long, with a few promising starts here or there, that this back to basics Korean movie seemed like AMAZEBALLS to me. Yeah, the idea is incestuous. I DO NOT CONDONE IT. But I really felt for Tae-Sung, when he said "I hope in the next life, you're not my step-sis" Sometimes. Just sometimes. I feel sorry for these individuals when they fall in love with someone society says they shouldn't fall in love with.

I agree. I managed 20 episodes of Taiwanese version, about 3 for Korean, and didn't even attempt Japanese^^
Playful Kiss...male lead expressionless. It nearly (nearly!) convinced me Kim Hyung Joong can't act. Then, I remembered BOF, & he was all right in that..we'll see in future acting projects.

I found Ariel Lin/Joe Cheng sooo cute, but around episode 20, I felt her character was getting too stalkery. There's no way around it. The character is written this way in all the versions. I have vowed to finish this one day...

But good article! :)

Hahahaha. Great comparision! :D

For me, yes. Age is more important than looks. It's because I'm quite young, and can relate to trivial (or not so trivial) things like 1st boyfriend, 1st kiss, 1st love :)

However, the older the cast gets, the more history there is. It's like what I was saying about the novels. Most novels/dramas about women in their 30's/40's/50's are about women who have children, are maybe divorced or having affairs behind their spouse's back. Their firsts have long gone.

So, I know one day, these type of dramas/movies will appeal to me greatly (which i why I said yet.) But for now, I want the firsts :)

However I enjoy eye candy as much as the next person.

I'm going to sum up my answer in 4 paragraphs. I'm female & I think it's bloody obvious that all these dramas are targeted at 1 gender. Let's be honest - females are always the "emotional" ones. They are more likely to sit down, & follow someone else's love story. Yes, I mentioned love. Most of us are drawn 2 this genre, because it let's us enter a fantasy world where the heroine reflects all the insecure traits we have. So when the hero is romancing the lead- it's like he's romancing us too.

I have one favourite. Male. Hiroshi Tamaki. For a period, that included Jang Geun Suk too.

Looks doesn't matter as much a youth does. Yes, I'm going to put my hands up and admit. It's like how I avoid novels by Jodi Picoult etc because I'm not interested in middle-aged problems of infedility & single parenthood (yet.)

But even looks can't compensate for plot. Sorry. It's why I drop 90% of dramas!