Lily_B

That's a good review. I wanted to watch and like this drama; I thought I would, but I put it on hold after only one episode. Mainly because I disliked the father/husband and expected unpleasant scenes to come, but I think I felt a hint of the things you mention in your review. There are so many dramas out there... I don't want to spend too much time on the ones that don't amuse me and/or give me good feelings about the characters/plot, even if they're not "bad".

Thanks! :) I'm glad my article gave a few people something to talk about. :)
Well, yes, we want explanations, but we want the good ones! ;)

Thank you! :) Actually, drama watching has had two major effcts on me: 1) I was in a complete daze and felt like my life became a lot more fun because of this, and 2) I've become more and more curious about real life Japan, I mean culture and society. Sometimes I find myself not knowing what to think about things I see/hear in dramas, because I'm not quite sure how they relate to reality.

Yeah, I've thought about it. :) Thank you. :)

Misconceptions about mental health issues, yes, that sounds like a reasonable explanation.

Yes, I agree. It's true that all people are affected by their childhood and there's nothing wrong with basing a story on it, but it's also true that people can be messed up (in one way or another) for entirely different reasons, or for no apparent reason at all. Sometimes I also feel that they overuse the mother problem, not only in the way I described in the article (abandonment) but other things such as death, emotionally cold mother, etc... Sometimes I also feel that mothers are blamed for things that aren't really their fault at all.

The thought has crossed my mind, yes. :)

You're absolutely right. Maybe sometime later I can write a follow-up article about loving and unselfish mothers. :) After all, there are male leads who have good relationships with their mothers. But I don't know if that'd make an interesting article. In the comment below you mention unconventional but good mothers, which would be a better topic. I just haven't watched enough dramas yet to do it... but maybe you could. :)

Yeah, that's probably true, but I can't talk about k-dramas because I haven't seen very many of them...

Yes, you're right. I only expanded on the topic of "abandoning mothers" because there was a word limit. My first draft of the article was a lot longer, but then I realized that it wasn't possible to talk about other parent-child relationships, or even to go into detail. :( One that I had wanted to mention was Hana Yori Dango, because I got the impression that a lot of Domyouji's attitude was supposed to be explained by his relationship with his mother... Just to mention one example. Also, it's a given fact that everyone is affected in one way or another by their parents, so it's not something "new". I see your point about the patriarchal system!

Yeah, the "forgive all trespasses" thing bothers me, too! I also agree about what you say about revenge... it's stupidly annoying sometimes, but when things get too black or white, it's just not possible to take it seriously anymore.

I haven't seen any of the dramas that you mention, but if I had, I definitely would have included them; I agree that the kind of scenario you describe is worse!!

But there are also dramas with great examples of very loving mothers. :)

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who finds this fascinating.

"How the character deals with such adversity is the important thing." Yes, that's true. The "never give up!" attitude that we see in so many j-dramas is fascinating in itself, I think.

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has noticed this. Admittedly, this article is short with only a few examples and lacks analysis (there was a word limit...), but I almost feel like researching this matter more deeply...

*lol* Yes, I also highly doubt that this is the most frequently appearing trope - but it is that among the dramas that I have watched so far. After all, I can only write based on my own experience... and yes, maybe it's got something to do with the genres I watch! :) I have also noticed that "dead parents" is a very popular trope, but this is something that you can see in fiction from any country, not only in j-dramas, so it's not as "special" (in my opinion). I can only think of two non-Japanese "abandoning mothers" (from novels), that's why this caught my attention.

I haven't watched many k-dramas yet, that is why I felt that I didn't have anything to say about the mothers in k-drama. Thank you for saying that you liked the article. :)

Yes, I feel the same way. :) It seems the J-drama forum is not as active as the K-drama one. This week, I don't have time to watch anything before the weekend... :(

I haven't watched many Korean movies yet, but all of these sound good! I believe I can see myself watching Seducing Mr. Perfect for the very same reason you mentioned. ;)

Thanks for telling me about Nagareboshi. I watched the first episode, I like it.