cassiopeiastars

I didn't watch it yet; that's why it's not here xD It's popped up a few times in the comments, so it seems like it's worth checking out!

Thank you so much, again! You're giving me too much credit. I think you yourself wrote a lot of great things above that can be worthy of an MDL article itself!

Thank you so much for such an in-depth and insightful response to this article. I know there's not a single approach to explain antiheroes, and that's why it took me so long to gather, format, and conclude these thoughts. I hoped that the comment section would be filled with people's opinions on antiheroes, and you certainly delivered. I'm thrilled that you brought up many really interesting points and examples that I haven't even thought of. I do agree that at its very core, even the most righteous heroes can be flawed. As you said, "because someone reacts out of anger and goes too far does not mean they are bad; it means they are human." Also, I feel like the very subject of how to categorize a character itself is subjective to the viewer's perspective and how the writers set up the story. I actually tried to do a lot of digging on reviews and comments on dramas/films in Asian dramaland that have an "antihero" lead, and each came off a bit differently. At times I questioned if Do Hyun Soo from Flower of Evil was an antihero himself. I feel like his character borrowed many different character traits from those that expand out of an antihero. In fact, a lot of these characters fall into that category. Though I realize that as a character becomes more dynamic, has more layers, and develops, they are bound to shift in character. But I think that's the beauty of these films/dramas and how our minds connect them. Some people pick and choose certain traits that resonate the most to them and uses those to characterize how they view that character - at least, that's what I've come to conclude.

So using your example of Jeff Bezos gives a great example of how the difference in perspective can change how to define a character. Many business people see him as a "hero" who created this multibillion-dollar company from one idea. How the original idea was an online bookstore that turned into an online shopping center. Now they have external services that they have expanded on. So to a business person, entrepreneur, or someone who sees this story, they see it as he's a genius and gives him endless praise for this small idea and how it grew. You look on the flip side and see how much small businesses like mom and pop stores are impacted, and even, as you mentioned, the long-term effects can be seen negatively through how they treat their warehouse workers. These people can easily view him as the villain. But because with dramas/films, there's an ending, so with what we see/are given, we can only conclude so much as to how to categorize these characters. Maybe then, it'll make it easier to root for or dislike them.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and it was able to open a different perspective to you as this was an opinionated piece :)

I know I watched a good number of them in the past, but I never really broken down antihero characters until recently :( So it feels like it's a new world to me when it really isn't.

I don't doubt your judgment though, as I know it's been popular, and I hope that as we get more, they'll only continue to get better :)

I feel like her intentions and the information we're given, if we don't consider the Kingdom series, kept her in the antihero lane. Her character is the only one that I could think of that gives me the vibes of a Western antihero, where these antiheroes at times come off as villains but are still considered "good"/antiheroes. However, I agree that she can very easily be and probably is the next season's villain when/if it gets produced.

This is such a touching comment <3 Thank you so much for your kind words!

That's exactly how I feel with antiheroes! They make me ponder a lot on morals of society, so that's why well-written antiheroes tend to positively stick longer with me.

I thought I was the only one who felt like that with Hyun Soo's character! The transition of his emotions made me quite upset about how "lazy" the writing seemed/lacked for the character when everything else seemed pretty well thought out.

I'm so glad that you enjoyed the article and connected with the points I made for Hyun Soo and Ashin. I was hoping I wasn't the only one who felt like that during my viewing experience of the movie and drama! :D

I think the hardest aspect of piecing together this article was that I was using western media references to antiheroes and psychology. So while there were so many references to characters like Dexter, Walter White, or Sherlock Holmes, I found that Asian dramas don't tend to really write their characters that way - or just those I have seen. I think for Do Hyun Soo, his backstory had a lot of potentials to make him a dark antihero, but as you mentioned, would that really make him an antihero? I had to do a lot of thinking on that one before continuing his portion. I've come to realize that maybe I'm too used to the Western media portrayal of antiheroes, and in general, antihero character traits don't have to be extreme if their situation/story doesn't call for it? Of course, I'm no expert though xD Thanks for dropping by :)

Oh the ML in Goodbye My Princess did make me feel quite conflicted as well xD As for Hao Du... I feel like I'd have to see more of him before I can categorize him as an antihero. I feel like he can veer into a different hero type vs. an antihero? Or a mix of the first 3? I'll have to think it through some more. Though if they had a spinoff story of Hao Du and expanded it, I think I could easily be an antihero.

Lee Joon Ki is indeed the King of Antihero. These kind of characters probably really attracts him as well. I'm glad he took on these roles and how well he portrays them!

I feel like antiheroes in Korean dramas were present in the 2000s as mainly side characters, and by the 2010s, we get to see more of them as leads, but recently, there are quite a few more morally grey characters, and I don't doubt that we will get to see more!

My assumption is that there will be a season two as in the last episode, they wrote "Season 1." Also, we have only seen 3 of the 12 Li Xian's. There's much more to see and tell with this story.

I can see James and Kao paired up in a drama together. I feel like it is likely that it will happen sooner or later if they both stay with Ch3.

I was on the hunt for the ending song and found it :D If you were talking about this one: 功夫胖KUNGFU-PEN -《阿修罗》https://youtu.be/cRAO-f6LxUI

Awesome first article! This was a really fun read and you made me chuckle with your comments on Kim Eun Sook. I just realized with your analysis that I have never really been into her dramas. The only one where I finished was Secret Garden. I dropped A Gentleman's Dignity, Goblin, and Mr. Sunshine. I don't necessarily think they're horrible but I guess the story just doesn't intrigue me enough. She does know how to cater to the trend though as her dramas seem to have elements where people like and creates a good buzz on them.

Then I realized I haven't really seen any of the other shows you associated with the other writers you mentioned, so I'll have to check them out. A lot of them sounds intriguing so thanks for taking your time to break all of this down :)

lol, well I think lakorns will never not have a revenge plot in there, so it's bound to stick around for a while

lol, okay that makes a lot more sense now xD

I wish I can go back and finish it just to see how everything ends but I don't know if I can do it xD

omg, Pin Anong finally made thel list! You listed out all the bad aspects of it so well! The "all characters are crazy" was what made me drop it. But can we also include that all of them were dumb as well? I saw no logic as to why her mom had to bow down that low to serve a family.

I remember enjoying Jai Rao so much and even rewatched it a few times and replayed the OST non-stop. Although, I don't think I'll be able to enjoy it as much if I watch it now. Aoey cries way way too much and doesn't try to explain herself at all. And as always, Ken doesn't fail to deliver on his performance. I didn't know there was an original to Ngao Asoke though. I thought the version with Pong was the original. This is another one of my favorites on this list.

But this list made me realize that slap kiss is still quite prominent in dramas these days. I thought it was dwindling down.

Question: what is a "ping-pong ML"? Tried looking it up but everything came up ping pong related xD