It's getting killed in Kmedia because of the acting. IU is always going to be a weak link, but Jun Ki and Ha Neul…
THAT makes no sense - cause LJK & Ha Neul ARE doing a great job! No, it's just getting "killed' (a bit strong after only 2 episodes) cause Moonlight Seen Thru Clouds started first & is very very popular (& on at the SAME TIME)
I am totally only watching this for Ji Chang Wook LOL I at first wasn't going to cause he's dubbed, but then I watched that exercise session (is holding up your shirt w/your teeth really a thing LOL???) and you know, don't CARE if he's dubbed, nor what the story is!
ive heard theres a kdrama remake of this. although kdrama version got bad reviews, i would still prefer it from…
I haven't seen nearly so many JDramas as KDramas, and the slice of life JDramas do usually pass the test. But not always. Sex & the City did NOT pass the Bechdal test much - those women almost always talked about their love lives. If they talked about much else it tended to be fashion etc.
But I noticed this when I first started watching KDramas 5 years ago. It shocked me because the storylines & so much of the male/female interactions are so similar to the 50s here, which somewhat reflects life in Korea. But they STILL manage to have a ton of women, and they talk about a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with their love lives. I've heard discussions about how to clean TOILETS on KDramas. It's not that they NEVER talk about their relationships (or that their MOTHERS don't bring it up lots LOL) - that's not the point. It's that they ALSO talk about other things.
And that's RARE. If it's a love square the girls will talk about the guy - BUT they also talk about their relationships with each other! NOT including the guy! In My Love From Another Star for instance, you had the typical girl crushing on guy who's crushing on the female lead. The 2nd lead was scheming against her friend of course. But it wasn't just because of her crush on the 2nd lead. There was more to it - AND the two girls hashed it out between them, using those OTHER reasons (lead girl being popular, getting better parts, blah blah blah).
The Japanese cop dramas I've seen (they really do them well) DON'T pass the test because they usually don't have enough women in them LOL
And that is the reason so many shows of any country origin don't pass. Count all the women in a drama. Any show. Any country. It's an eye-opener.
ive heard theres a kdrama remake of this. although kdrama version got bad reviews, i would still prefer it from…
Oh, yes - I do agree w/you! I'm also not sure what 'reputation' sam talked about!
No - I've done the Bechdal test with most of them and since the dramas have as many women (or almost as many) as men, the women talk about all sorts of things (just like the men do, & just like in real life). Even cop dramas - you'll have two main characters who are COPS - they talk about the CASES, about work, the superior will talk to the junior about her performance.
I've seen over 200 KDramas and have done this test for all of them - there's only a tiny handful that don't pass that test. Really.
Please name a KDrama that YOU think doesn't pass? I'm interested about that.
ive heard theres a kdrama remake of this. although kdrama version got bad reviews, i would still prefer it from…
The Korean Dr. Jin is horribly written, has an insane plot device for the time travel that's NEVER fully explained, the chemistry between the two leads is non-existent...shall I continue?
I DO tend to prefer KDramas over JDramas, because I prefer the emphasis on the romance more, and I have more fav Korean actors than Japanese ones. I've got quite a few Japanese dramas that I've loved, however.
Now in my experience JDramas have a reputation for being more serious, less romance, and more likely to have sad endings. They do horror & crazy comedy well from what I've seen.
But JDramas suffer from the same problem so many AMERICAN ones do - ie they can't seem to pass the Bechdal test (you know, TWO female NAMED characters who talk to each other about something other than the men in their lives....) They also don't have the balanced cast that KDramas usually do (age/sex balance) - of course KDramas are rather unique that way in my rather lengthy experience. Its because the companies doing KDramas considered women as their main demographic (for profit, not any enlightened reason) which is simply not the case in most countries (like, Hollywood, get a CLUE here...).
I stopped while watching cause these STUPID writers keep messing with Joon Soo - I had to come here to make sure they weren't making him evil. I hate the way these writers just don't give us more of these two together! Love the bromance!
I always find it funny for people who don't watch J-dramas to say these reasons which require an intensive amount…
Funny thing, that. I was totally looking for JDramas when I stumbled on KDramas. I'd seen several, had seen a LOT of Japanese films and was/am a huge anime fan. I've NOW seen a lot more KDramas - although I do watch JDramas that look interesting & get good reviews - because I LIKE KDramas better. Oops. I really don't think I'm going to force myself to watch 100 JDramas just so YOU or others like you will 'allow' me to say I prefer KDramas. So sorry.
But I do still give individual JDramas a chance.
I want to add few reasons because I am an avid fan of both, and started with Japanese Dramas: - it's difficult…
Well THAT drama had tons wrong with it - her looking way better than a real person would in that situation was a blip compared to other crasser inanities.
Hahahaha I'm the complete opposite of the statement (paraphrasing) "KDrama and JDrama fans are willing to…
I found Skip Beat unwatchable - dubbed Donghae & Siwon which truly annoyed me, and then that girl! OMG over the top! I tried watching w/the sound off & STILL couldn't go more than 7-8 episodes :(
Jdrama will always be the better choice for me. Okay, while kdrama get me to cry like a baby in every singel drama…
Honey, don't take my list as what I've seen of JDramas. Maybe I should go back & update? I just used this site to keep up w/KOREAN dramas. I find your comment COMPLETELY insulting and patronizing.
Also, I ask you, do you think ANY TV drama is that realistic all the time? I've seen some pretty ridiculous stuff in dramas from all over the world. KDramas tho took a lot from JANE AUSTEN. It's not Cinderella, nor fairy tales, but those Austen masterpieces that so much of these RomComs derive their plots. And Austen, while giving happy endings unilaterally, did most certainly give us realistic characters, and her secondary plots are very real indeed. She strived, as do the best KDramas, to give the audience a fantasy that COULD happen - that seems REAL. Which is exactly what most KDramas do. They give the viewer the feeling that this preposterous pairing or whatever COULD happen this way which is their charm. And along the way they show us amazingly thoughtful reactions.
Coffee Prince - EXCELLENT example! Sure, he's the usual chaebol (although toned down here - basically works as just the owner's son running the cafe) but the interaction is not forced at all - it unfolds very logically. Most important about that drama - the way he deals w/his feelings for this young person he thinks is a guy! Done so well - I don't think I've seen this explored as movingly ever, except in a couple 'Twelfth Night' productions.
Signal - another one. It's not a romcom at all, but a SF thriller. Yet there's a balanced cast despite the setting (a police thriller), and there is this lovely underlying love story along with the emotional bond the younger policeman develops for BOTH of the older ones. The working relationships of the teams, the nuanced portrayals of the 'villains', just so amazing. This is in my top five EVER WATCHED dramas - from EVERYWHERE, ANYTIME.
The Hours of My Life is about the most critically brilliant JDrama I've seen, and it's amazing - but it depressed me, despite how well the story was told. So for that reason, not as good for me as Signal.
The Perfect Insider & Ouroboros are two more wonderful JDramas that I've seen. But both of those lacked balance. As in, way more men than women.
In fact, I find that JDramas, which I think are basically higher quality than US shows (taking into account ALL US shows, not just the great ones LOL), still suffer from the same problems I find in US network TV. I think Japan emulates Hollywood way too much, in fact.
How about a BIG reason - a REAL reason? Japan, just like America & a lot of European & British shows, can't pass…
To cllanti:
Who's giving them a pass? Did you READ my comment? Yes, Korea does seem stuck in the 50s, they've got a long way to go far as women's lib is concerned and that certainly is reflected in the drama memes. But that doesn't negate anything I said about the dramas at all. Korean shows are written BY women FOR women much more than anywhere else in the WORLD, as far as I can tell (and I've watched quite an international collection of films, dramas and plays over the decades, believe me). I'm an old-school feminist, BTW - one of the early members of NOW. So don't make the mistake of thinking I'm somehow not interested in equal rights for women.
Korean dramas show relationships (all of them, not just romantic but family, friends, boss/subordinate, etc) as important and explore them. So many people make the silly mistake of dismissing anything smacking of 'emotion' or 'relations' or 'family problems' as somehow not important compared to, oh, MURDER and SEX and POLITICS. Or more to the point, stuff that men feature in more prominently. Ridiculous!
I also find it fabulous that gorgeous males are objectified as much as gorgeous females. Fair is FAIR LOL and the pretty is real..
1 
But I noticed this when I first started watching KDramas 5 years ago. It shocked me because the storylines & so much of the male/female interactions are so similar to the 50s here, which somewhat reflects life in Korea. But they STILL manage to have a ton of women, and they talk about a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with their love lives. I've heard discussions about how to clean TOILETS on KDramas. It's not that they NEVER talk about their relationships (or that their MOTHERS don't bring it up lots LOL) - that's not the point. It's that they ALSO talk about other things.
And that's RARE. If it's a love square the girls will talk about the guy - BUT they also talk about their relationships with each other! NOT including the guy! In My Love From Another Star for instance, you had the typical girl crushing on guy who's crushing on the female lead. The 2nd lead was scheming against her friend of course. But it wasn't just because of her crush on the 2nd lead. There was more to it - AND the two girls hashed it out between them, using those OTHER reasons (lead girl being popular, getting better parts, blah blah blah).
The Japanese cop dramas I've seen (they really do them well) DON'T pass the test because they usually don't have enough women in them LOL
And that is the reason so many shows of any country origin don't pass. Count all the women in a drama. Any show. Any country. It's an eye-opener.
No - I've done the Bechdal test with most of them and since the dramas have as many women (or almost as many) as men, the women talk about all sorts of things (just like the men do, & just like in real life). Even cop dramas - you'll have two main characters who are COPS - they talk about the CASES, about work, the superior will talk to the junior about her performance.
I've seen over 200 KDramas and have done this test for all of them - there's only a tiny handful that don't pass that test. Really.
Please name a KDrama that YOU think doesn't pass? I'm interested about that.
I DO tend to prefer KDramas over JDramas, because I prefer the emphasis on the romance more, and I have more fav Korean actors than Japanese ones. I've got quite a few Japanese dramas that I've loved, however.
Now in my experience JDramas have a reputation for being more serious, less romance, and more likely to have sad endings. They do horror & crazy comedy well from what I've seen.
But JDramas suffer from the same problem so many AMERICAN ones do - ie they can't seem to pass the Bechdal test (you know, TWO female NAMED characters who talk to each other about something other than the men in their lives....) They also don't have the balanced cast that KDramas usually do (age/sex balance) - of course KDramas are rather unique that way in my rather lengthy experience. Its because the companies doing KDramas considered women as their main demographic (for profit, not any enlightened reason) which is simply not the case in most countries (like, Hollywood, get a CLUE here...).
He's PERFECT for Gintoki :d This will ROCK
But I do still give individual JDramas a chance.
Also, I ask you, do you think ANY TV drama is that realistic all the time? I've seen some pretty ridiculous stuff in dramas from all over the world. KDramas tho took a lot from JANE AUSTEN. It's not Cinderella, nor fairy tales, but those Austen masterpieces that so much of these RomComs derive their plots. And Austen, while giving happy endings unilaterally, did most certainly give us realistic characters, and her secondary plots are very real indeed. She strived, as do the best KDramas, to give the audience a fantasy that COULD happen - that seems REAL. Which is exactly what most KDramas do. They give the viewer the feeling that this preposterous pairing or whatever COULD happen this way which is their charm. And along the way they show us amazingly thoughtful reactions.
Coffee Prince - EXCELLENT example! Sure, he's the usual chaebol (although toned down here - basically works as just the owner's son running the cafe) but the interaction is not forced at all - it unfolds very logically. Most important about that drama - the way he deals w/his feelings for this young person he thinks is a guy! Done so well - I don't think I've seen this explored as movingly ever, except in a couple 'Twelfth Night' productions.
Signal - another one. It's not a romcom at all, but a SF thriller. Yet there's a balanced cast despite the setting (a police thriller), and there is this lovely underlying love story along with the emotional bond the younger policeman develops for BOTH of the older ones. The working relationships of the teams, the nuanced portrayals of the 'villains', just so amazing. This is in my top five EVER WATCHED dramas - from EVERYWHERE, ANYTIME.
The Hours of My Life is about the most critically brilliant JDrama I've seen, and it's amazing - but it depressed me, despite how well the story was told. So for that reason, not as good for me as Signal.
The Perfect Insider & Ouroboros are two more wonderful JDramas that I've seen. But both of those lacked balance. As in, way more men than women.
In fact, I find that JDramas, which I think are basically higher quality than US shows (taking into account ALL US shows, not just the great ones LOL), still suffer from the same problems I find in US network TV. I think Japan emulates Hollywood way too much, in fact.
Who's giving them a pass? Did you READ my comment? Yes, Korea does seem stuck in the 50s, they've got a long way to go far as women's lib is concerned and that certainly is reflected in the drama memes. But that doesn't negate anything I said about the dramas at all. Korean shows are written BY women FOR women much more than anywhere else in the WORLD, as far as I can tell (and I've watched quite an international collection of films, dramas and plays over the decades, believe me). I'm an old-school feminist, BTW - one of the early members of NOW. So don't make the mistake of thinking I'm somehow not interested in equal rights for women.
Korean dramas show relationships (all of them, not just romantic but family, friends, boss/subordinate, etc) as important and explore them. So many people make the silly mistake of dismissing anything smacking of 'emotion' or 'relations' or 'family problems' as somehow not important compared to, oh, MURDER and SEX and POLITICS. Or more to the point, stuff that men feature in more prominently. Ridiculous!
I also find it fabulous that gorgeous males are objectified as much as gorgeous females. Fair is FAIR LOL and the pretty is real..