Meineke

You should! I thought the romance was really well done but even if you don't like that aspect, it's still a great show.

I totally agree. I’ve never rated so many 10/10’s as I have these last few months. We’ve really been spoiled for choice. Almost making quarantine life bearable lol.

That was a fun show, but not anywhere near as awesome as this one.

Not sure how far you’ve seen but not all of it was fake. There is no reason for FL not to love him even though she was deceived for a long time. ML really did love her, his actions show it even if he wasn’t really aware of it for most of the series. By the end there’s no doubt whatsoever.

What an interesting topic. Superb analysis as well. I never knew there were actual cases of people flying into a storm. Please please continue the series. I am very interested in learning about what was shown about North Korea fact vs Fiction. It was one of the main reasons I decide to watch the show. There was a lot of drama with the FL lead running her own company vs her family business. I'd love to know more about real life chaebol families in Korea.

Same! If I have to pick 2 from separate groups it will be Jin and Chanyeol as well.

I love the concept of your article. Our tastes are quite different but it was fun to see a different point of view. CLOY was one of the best dramas ever, I agree 100%. It would be fun to read how everyone else’s year went. For me:

Best dramas: CLOY, It’s okay but not Okay, Flower of Evil, The untamed, 365: Repeat the Year, and Someday or One Day
Worst Dramas: The Crowned Clown, Good Casting
Best OST: Flower of Evil, The untamed, Alice
Favorite couples: Moon Kang Tae/ Go Mun Young and Baek Hee Sung (LJG) / Cha Ji Won

My mom is exactly the same! She watched a few then stopped because can’t multitask while watching. I’m still trying to get her back into them. I keep trying to encourage her to watch Flower of Evil, let’s hope I succeed. I really wish I had someone to watch with as well.

Great article. I didn’t know Hong Bin left VIXX, that’s unfortunate. I liked him.

Another example would be Search WWW. It's about a IT search engine company. There's a female hacker and several other female characters. I've gotten used to being the only girl in the room. So I don't notice it as much.

OMG I completely agree to every word you wrote! As a software engineer, I experience two things very often - first surprise since I'm a girl, second that I must be a genius who can not only hack but also fix every computer problem including hardware issues. Truth is I can do neither of those things. Also, the perception of being self centered, super arrogant and geeky. I don't fit that mold at all. Coding is hard and takes a long time. Sometimes you think you've got the logic right but end up spending hours trying to get the right results all while juggling multiple tasks and trying to meet deadlines. TV shows tend to over simplify things because not many people understand what exactly we do.

I absolutely agree. If a drama has at least one good song in the OST, the show become memorable. In fact a good OST can even make a bad show memorable. Some of the best OSTs I've come across include: Goblin, Bride of Habaek, Just Between Lovers, Hotel Del Luna, Chugakusei Nikki, The Untamed, Encounter, Uncontrollably Fond, Someday or One day, Extraordinary You, I Hear Your Voice. Most recently, I've been enjoying the music from Flower of Evil.

I’ve only watched one Taiwanese drama - Someday or One Day. Which was great. Reading the summaries, I feel Autumn's Concerto might be interesting.

I like watching slow paced dramas while they’re airing. Ex. When the weather is fine. If you binge on them, the slowness becomes annoying. But if you watch them over several weeks, it’s less overwhelming. I feel you can appreciate them more.

I was first introduced to Wang Yibo through The Untamed. Thanks for writing this fan guide. I learned a lot about him.

Is this about a group of friends or is romance a big part. How big of a role does Kim Ji Won have? I want to watch this but can’t stand her.

I’m pretty neutral on age gaps. I think mental age is more important than physical or even the characters’ appearances. If they have the same level of maturity, their connection is more believable. Example, Hotel Del Luna vs Goblin. In both shows, there was a character and real life age gap, but in HDL, both characters were mature while in Goblin, Ji Eun Tak was incredibly childish which made the pairing awkward.

This is exactly what attracted me to Asian dramas. Especially points 1, 2, 4 and 5. I love how they pay attention to things like that. It wasn’t something I was used to seeing in Western dramas. What I love most is how everyone has this drive to work hard and fight through all obstacles. I see this in K-/J-dramas mostly but also in real life among idols. It makes me want to do my best as well.

I can’t cook to save my life but the food looks delicious. Never heard of corn cheese but tteokbokki and kimbap are my favourites.

Excellent article. It must have taken a long time to collect and analyze all this data. I’ve always known that often there’s a difference in the financial status of male and female leads, I just didn’t realize it was still this bad. As an aside, it would be interesting to do a time based comparison of dramas now vs 5-10 years ago. I have a feeling there’s a lot that has changed in recent years.