I have shifted a lot on my opinions for what I have watched, over time that is. I didn't even know Asia existed until I started getting into Anime in 2013. When I first started watching anime, I could ONLY watch romance anime (And harem anime. Because I was a young lad). It took two years before I could start to look at genres outside of romance (Mostly because I really loved romance and didn't want to bother with other shows). I used to have the requirement that Romance be included at least as a sub genre. And for Anime, this isn't too hard of a requirement to fill. Later on I was able to enjoy slice of life and comedy anime (Or thriller without romance). But it took a long time to get into.
I started watching Kdrama's a little over half a year ago (I had not watched any Jdrama's before that either) and it really called upon my romance sweet tooth. Almost every Kdrama fulfills that "Must at least have romance as a subgenre" requirement. And that made watching Kdramas quite easy for me. I took a chance and watched a few non romance Kdrama's. And while I enjoyed them, they felt incredibly long to go without even a touch of romance.
My interest is still mostly in Japan, and as I am trying to learn Japanese I have tried to distance myself from Kdramas and get into Jdramas. But the biggest issue I have encountered is the lack of a strong modern romantic genre in Japan. All the other issues above did not bother me in the least. And I think Japanese storytelling gets me way more involved. But maybe because I am a young kid spoiled by high quality content, I can't go back and enjoy dramas from the 80's 90's and early 2000's as easily. I know Japan can tell romance stories (Because Anime has wonderful romance stories and Japan still produces good romance dramas like Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu which I really enjoyed). But the lack of good romance content is rough. Here's to hoping I can find enough good romance content to get me involved enough with Jdrama's to move on to none romance.
I started watching Kdrama's a little over half a year ago (I had not watched any Jdrama's before that either) and it really called upon my romance sweet tooth. Almost every Kdrama fulfills that "Must at least have romance as a subgenre" requirement. And that made watching Kdramas quite easy for me. I took a chance and watched a few non romance Kdrama's. And while I enjoyed them, they felt incredibly long to go without even a touch of romance.
My interest is still mostly in Japan, and as I am trying to learn Japanese I have tried to distance myself from Kdramas and get into Jdramas. But the biggest issue I have encountered is the lack of a strong modern romantic genre in Japan. All the other issues above did not bother me in the least. And I think Japanese storytelling gets me way more involved. But maybe because I am a young kid spoiled by high quality content, I can't go back and enjoy dramas from the 80's 90's and early 2000's as easily. I know Japan can tell romance stories (Because Anime has wonderful romance stories and Japan still produces good romance dramas like Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu which I really enjoyed). But the lack of good romance content is rough. Here's to hoping I can find enough good romance content to get me involved enough with Jdrama's to move on to none romance.