TeleriFerchNyfain

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.

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..

To sylwia:
You obviously missed my entire point. It's not a lack of well-rounded main female characters. It's the overall emphasis and number of women in the cast. Notice I find American and European dramas lacking in this area as well? I've seen quite a few JDramas, lots of Japanese films, and am an anime/manga addict. In fact I found KDramas when looking for JDRAMAS to watch! JDramas came first for me.
But go ahead. Do the Bechdal test with all the JDramas you've seen. Report back. I hope it's not as abysmal as HOLLYWOOD'S record, BTW....

To Akai-Kitsune:
Oh, sweetie - I've seen LOTS more JDramas than just Bitter Blood - & BTW I think JDrama police procedurals are AMAZING. Are you trying to say Bitter Blood was a reverse HAREM? LOL LOL LOL LOL
I simply find that JDramas, like AMERICAN ones BTW, are not balanced when casting. More men than women.
I'm a huge ANIME fan, & have watched Chinese (Hong Kong) films for DECADES. Please.
My comment stands. It's not that I hate Jdramas - far from it. I just find it refreshing that KDramas are pandering to women. DESPITE the fact that the country is still in the 50s far as women's rights are concerned!!!!

I see. Drama queen attitude. You mean, men showing actual realistic emotions and having real-life family relations, and emotional as well as sexual attachments to women? Right.

How about a BIG reason - a REAL reason? Japan, just like America & a lot of European & British shows, can't pass the Bechdal test on that many dramas. What is that, you ask? Simple. A show or film that has TWO main, or just NAMED, female characters who TALK to each other about something other than men, specifically the leading men as love interests! Now that sounds simple, doesn't it? Well go try that on. Amazing how many shows can't pass such a simple test! A lot of the reason lies w/the dearth of women in the cast! In American shows even the extras are mostly men unless there's some specific reason they need to be women (despite the FACT that women make up 52% of the world population). Not sure about Japanese shows (the extras) but the main cast will definitely have a lot more men than women usually.
NOT so w/Korean dramas. Nope, the cast is very often half & half, or at least close to it. I've seen KDramas where there were twice as many WOMEN as men! So those shows have no problems passing that Bechdal test. But even ones (usually standard testoterone shows ie police or spy dramas) where there are more men than women, KDramas almost always manage to have at least two named female characters talk about the actual PLOT - the problem/case the whole drama is focused on - rather than the leading actors' characters.
One reason? Most of the KDramas are written by WOMEN. Also, Korean entertainment companies, while hardly bastions of feminist thinking, do recognize that women are their major audience and therefore cater to them. For profit rather than idealism - but still!!! Why don't the idiots running Hollywood see this?
Japan remains the most misogynistic of the developed countries of the world. I do enjoy their shows - they are quite often well-written and thoughtful, finely acted & directed. But still, they fail to present a well-rounded and realistic depiction of women in the world.

And Seok Gyun has the creep recorded, admitting to abusing his wife :D I really hope he gets his in a BIG way - LOL

There should be some kind of filter, at least one that throws out all votes before the show ends!

Another case of a really misleading blurb! This girl IS superstitious, but its because she thinks she's unlucky (due to her family mishaps) & is trying to get her sister to come out of a coma.

The ONLY worthwhile reason to watch Timeslip Dr Jin is Kim Jaejoong - really. I usually prefer KDramas to JDramas tho.

From momma? Oh, yeah - she's the one in that family I dislike. I'm afraid the writers are going to go down the tired old meme of conniving older sister - I really thought for a nano-second they were going to add more depth & realism with a real study of sibling rivalry.

Because trolls & anti-fans :(

I'd say that about the mother, maybe. But she was very angry about that woman being mean to Gong Shim. And the sister was definitely all about sueing the woman until it became obvious she'd lose her job. There's a major communication breakdown in this family, which all of them are guilty of perpetuating. No use picking one person or the other to demonize.

Maybe go to episode 4 to get a clue...

The lead couple mainly - the chemistry, the LACK of push/pull stupidity (or any of the other silly memes like noble sacrifice etc) The way you think she might be faltering but nope! Ji Chang Wook. Just OMG he's so beautiful, so totally awesome, so amazing running over rooftops. I love this kind of thing period (the meek guy by day, awesome fighter by night characters) and this is so purely done it leaves me breathless. I've watched it all the way through twice now and it is total drama crack. There are other dramas w/tighter plots (as in less plot holes & more logic), but as far as pure adrenaline rush, between the action scenes, suspense and the amazing awesome love story OMG this is just about my fav drama of its type.

Like the first episode - our lead girl is way too quick to condemn, & good GRIEF does she not understand the consequences of sueing your sister's boss & losing the only steady income the HH has? Of course her family did NOT deal w/that well. Another dysfunctional group there w/total lack of communication skills. I really love our two male leads lots!

A lot of us are entirely sick of hearing about it, and it really is a lame criticism. Maybe it does take away from your enjoyment. Whatever. I've studied history & when a drama or film manages to be true to it's time period with something it makes me happy. Granted this is basically a fairy tale, but most of the fairy tale heroines ARE specifically said to be around 16.
This is an anachronistic and PC argument. It's the same as people screaming about not having any black people in certain period dramas (I'm now talking US & British ones) where there simply WOULDN"T have been any.

Then don't watch the drama and quit commenting about it.

I have rather a disdain for Disney's depiction of fairy tales, & history as well LOL I always advise people who only know Disney versions to check out the originals.

That's so ignorant. For one thing, a 16 year old girl was at the prime marriageable age thru-out most of history - while her ideal groom would be in his 20s (ie YSY) - for another, he doesn't LOOK much older than her LOL. I really don't understand all the freak-out. If it were contemporary, if there were major romantic scenes w/physical contact - then sure I could see the problems. But you know THAT'S not going to happen LOL