mooc

All it took was a beautiful smile and little kindness for the ML to fall for the FL.
Writers nailed that scene, well done.

Regarding ML's POV, I won't hold my breath.
It has never happened in any recent dramas and I doubt this would be an exception. We will just be told now and then and will never really get his POV to understand what he went through.

She did not just verbally abuse him but also physically assaulted him.

Agree about character progression for her.

Point was that she is the victim in the drama based on what the characters did, although the drama tries to show us only how the FL feels.

The suffocation part was never expanded. We get like couple of minutes of it and that's it. The set up was that that was happening for years and FL was oblivious to what she was doing.

Abuse does not mean taking advantage.
ML felt suffocated enough to wanting to get out of the marriage.

In fact, post divorce, she physical thrashes him, verbally abuses him and financially suffocates him. The drama shows them as funny but those are pretty damning when you combine them with ML stated reasons for divorce.

ML was working in that place because he really had nowhere to go and he needs to pay a lot of money to the FL each month.

regarding the whole dating thing, her feeling jealous while she is enjoying herself with another man is....
And she did enjoy. All we need to do listen to the FL and her friend discuss it in detail.

Lack of ML POV is the worst thing in these dramas.
I have no idea why the Male lead is shown as 'main lead'. he is like a supporting cast. He does not even have 1/3rd screen time the FL has.
It's not just this drama. This is pretty much a recent trend in a lot of Cdramas and Kdramas in this genre. The Male leads are joke. They just pick the prettiest looking guy and the character is ....empty. Just like the ML in this drama.

There is a reason why Kdramas and Cdramas in this genre are going down the drain.

The drama shows us FL's perspective in minute details.
What the drama does not do is bother to show the ML perspective at all. It just throws few nuggets here and there and does not fully show us each episode the kind of damage he sustained during and after his marriage to FL.

the FL was abusive and controlling when she was married to ML. Communication is just an excuse to pass the buck from the FL actions. She was a grown women who was taking advantage of her husband. If she did not realize that she was being controlling and abusive, she comes across even worse.

The "cheating" part...was it tough on FL? May be. but was she a victim? She was not, the victim was always the ML. He felt so suffocated that he had to get away from her at any cost. Both the truths would have hurt FL anyway and she alone was responsible for being oblivious to what she was putting him through.

Post divorce the drama shows FL being physically abusive, mentally abusive and financially controlling towards ML for years in the name of revenge.
To all those who think her revenge is justified even if he cheated, let us all take a moment to realize she was a controlling wife. If he needs to start taking revenge on FL for what she did to him...I guess we won't like if the ML did similar things to FL that she did to him.

her jealousy and love towards ML is creepy.
She has her tongue down the throat of another man but still pines for ML. What an absolutely horrible situation to be in.
FL sharing how great making out with 2ML with her friend and talks about threesomes etc really hit home the point that FL is the one suffering while ML had been having a jolly good time for years.

These dramas need to get their act right and spend some time of these dramas on the other main leads like the Male Lead. Right now, the drama spends very little time to show how the ML suffered for years, the continuous and repeated abuse from FL during and after marriage.

Agreed that it is my opinion.

Look at FL and how her interactions with men in any Cdrama are. They are more interesting because of that fact.
In many dramas, FL are attracted to multiple men. They comment on physical attributes of men, engage them and interact with them.

Let me pose a challenge to you.
Why not show a Cdrama or Kdrama in the last year where the ML ever comments on physical attributes of a women that is not FL? In fact, the ML would not even comment on looks of FL. he just falls in love with her.
On contrary I can point to dozens of dramas where the FL practically drools over men, ML, 2ML, celebrities etc.

This is the fundamental issue with these dramas.
I don't mind if the drama world has innocent love, pure love etc etc
That is not the case.
the FL is projected to be somewhat normal, while the ML is someone who is fake.

regarding Gay or Bi, sure, I would buy that if the ML showed any sort of attraction to any creature in the drama except the FL.
It would not matter what the ML is as long as the dramas neuter the most basic thing that makes a man a 'man' and want us to consume it.

A random drama having these kinds of ML's, sure
but every Cdrama and Kdrama has these ML's as prototypes.
forget the ML being fake, the creativity of these dramas with such predictable main lead is zero.

barely 1 month in the year and this is like 100th drama with FL with two ML's,
How original.

reading the synopsis itself should be enough to give it a wide pass.
surely it will contain simping ML, clingy/manipulative 2ML and shit for brains FL.

the ML's are not shown hiding their thoughts,
in these dramas the ML is pretty much shown being unattracted to any other women than the FL.

And this is the same way with almost all Cdramas, the ML's are shown this character to probably show how dedicated they are towards the FL.

Imagine if most Cdramas show FL as not getting menstruation until she meets the ML and falls in love with him, not attracted to him but falls in love with him.
It would be silly.

That's how silly these dramas with these ML's come across as.
Men simply don't think or behave that way.
Men don't interact with their friends the way these ML's do.
Men don't talk with their other male friends the way these ML's do.
There literally is very little you can look at these ML's and say these are 'men' except for their looks.

I can imagine for creative purpose an add drama being shown that way.
but when almost every drama has this pattern of ML, it just becomes predictably boring.

This is where adding perspective of ML would really help these dramas.

Cold, distant, aloof, trauma, busy etc etc does not affect libido of men. They are physically not build that way.
A shy man would be as attracted to good looking woman as a normal man but just does not act on it.
Similar to a man with trauma or some other condition, they are all attracted to women but just don't show it.

Because ML's in Cdramas don't have a perspective like the FL's, they come across as not sexually interested in women, making them look like fakes.

Like you explained, why is the ML not looking at other women when talking to them? If a perspective is added, even a funny one, would help greatly improve the character.

Right not, almost all ML's feel very similar and very fake. These dramas need to take 15 mins to add some depth to ML's.

Will the drama show ML kissing 2FL or having sex with her?
we will then know if this drama is realistic or not.

In normal interactions, every human makes eye contact with other, irrespective of sex.

It's one of the basic courtesies as part of social contract with each other.

Usually people who think they are better than others would not look at others when interacting with them. Not a good look.

Imagine if one is talking to their colleague and that person does not even look at you. It can be disconcerting and disrespectful.

Yes, the ML's in Cdramas tend to not make eye contact with other women.
Take this ML as example, the actor who played the ML has similar behavior pattern in the last 3-4 dramas he acted in.

The setting changes shy, cold, trauma, celebrity etc etc but the outcome is these ML's exhibit similar behavior leading to similar interactions with other characters.

How boring would a drama be if you already know how the main lead would interact with other characters.

The ML in 'Blood of youth' has another Cdrama out. watched an episode and dropped it. The ML is basically same in both dramas. Same behavior, body mannerisms etc etc. It felt boring.

This drama has a minor variation of ML we usually see in Cdramas, just on the outside though.
The core though matches with most other Cdrama ML's.

Another thing I keep noticing in these dramas, the ML does not make eye contact with other women.
Whenever I see that happening on screen, the ML reminds me of a psycho. That is just not normal.

I think i finally understand the target audiences and their preferences.

probably why these dramas have these characters.
Still, watching them feels disjointed.

I don't mind the confident FL and shy & awkward ML but thats just about every Cdrama.
by episode 1, you pretty much know everything you need to know about this aspect of every Cdrama ML. There really is nothing to learn about their journey in this aspect.

in Asian dramas, only the ML's are shown as sexually regressive. they have zero reaction to hot women.

the FL and other women do react to handsome men. Quite a few dramas make this fact very clear through their actions and thoughts.

I can understand censorship but I have not seen on Cdrama ML that is realistic in this sense.
on other hand, a lot of dramas have FL showing bit of spark in this space.

There literally is no Cdrama that I have watched where the ML looks at a woman who is not the FL and says she is sexy or hot, not even one that I can recall.

Kdramas used to fare slightly better in this aspect but last year or so they seem to following the same pattern for ML like their counterparts in Cdramas.

Not behave but as in what men are about.

Men as soon as they hit puberty, think about sex, constantly.
It is perhaps on top their mind for a long time.

I am not talking about love here but just sex.

Cdramas basically makes their leads without any sex drive.
These leads are never shown to have any sort of attraction towards attractive females, which is basically opposite of what a normal man actually is.
For men sex drive as much a biological compulsion as periods are for women.

Cdramas basically takes away the most basic trait of their male lead.
The reason why these dramas don't even the ML's perspective is probably because these writers have no idea how to write them.

To put it bluntly, take for example a high school drama or a college drama. The men at that age are probably wanking off multiple times a day and these dramas show these leads as though they don't know what attraction is.

I can understand for sake of drama, toning down reality is ok but completely removing the most basic trait of a man is utter garbage.

Ending of Ep 5,
there is no way they can explain it, it's just hilarious.

The secondary characteristics of these men are not the issue.
It's the primary characteristics that are of concern.

Men on earth don't behave like ML's in Cdramas.
I am talking about the very basic characteristics of being a boy, young adult and a man.
In these dramas, they are not found at all.
Either individually or among friends, ML and his male friends behave like anything but men.

That's why I call these ML's as fake men because they have no primary characteristics of how men are.

Same is said of abusers,
The FL pretty much is abusing ML mentally, physically and emotionally.
She is also a control freak as shown by how she has zero problems being with another man but was mad as hell when she ML is with another woman.

A man thrashing a women, abusing her verbally, emotionally, controlling her finances and even stopping her meeting men, while he is enjoying himself with other women, would be an utter trash.
the FL pretty much did all those in first 3 episodes.

The whole marriage was fake anyway, so why complain on ML when everything was fake? He was free to pursue anyone he wants isn't he?

Men and women can wrestle, have physical contact and sexual contact. It's totally their choice.

This is a drama and the tone of the drama is important.
is it the kind of drama where men and women are shown to have realistic contacts with opposite sex like in real world? A big no.

Coming to FL and her ex, the fact people think FL can have that kind of interactions on her own volition with her ex, who seemed obsessed with her since their reconnect, is ok is problematic.
He was not her gym partner, he was her ex.
He was not normal ex, he was an ex she avoided any contact.
He was also bit obsessed at that point already.

Now if you think it is perfectly normal for a women to willingly go to her ex who she avoided for years and have that kind of interaction....
Btw, she was already telling the world she is married and was parading the ML like a prized cow by that episode.

Hilarious that for 35 episodes FL and her ex would go out of their way to have their own little bizarre relationship even when she was married and the ex was engaged
but
ML interacts with his ex, it's the end of the world.

The reasons, they were not really married etc is pure BS.
They were never really married through out the drama. The marriage was pretty much fake, the relationship never formally established.
So, ML was free to engage any women he wanted if he so wished - as per your logic.

Funny thing though is that ML and his ex are never to shown to have done anything similar to how Fl and her ex did through out the drama but even that is red flag. The only acceptable ML in Cdramas is the one who never interacts with other women. The FL though is provided with all kinds of excuses for her own interactions.

it's not up to him, it's what the writers are writing for him.

I find it very strange in Kdrama's and Cdrmas we never get ML's perspective. Unlike FL whose thoughts are shown to viewers, the ML's thoughts are never ever shown to us.

I think it's intentional and most of the time these writers have no idea how to write a male lead.
This drama is no exception. Kdramas are getting as bad as Cdramas in romance.
the ML's are fake and watching them on screen is cringy. The writers reluctance to showing ML having any sexual thoughts is red flag, not just for the drama but also for the industry since this pretty much seem to be the norm.

It's concerning because girls who grow up watching these dramas will be getting shock of their lives when they have genuine interactions with men.

Sure he did but he did not force them to date or kiss.
She did it out of her willingness.
I am not pointing what she did as negative. In life that's how it goes, you break up and get on with your life.

The only exception to this rule are the Kdrama and Cdrama ML's. They never try to move on or date other women or have casual relations with other women. It's like the sexual requirements are not a thing for Kdramas ML's, it's only FL's who can have fun with other men while being in love with ML.
I usually find ML's in these dramas as unrealistic but this one is not only unrealistic but also pathetic.

Pretty sure viewers who want pure as snow ML will love this drama, since this guy is not only pure but also a complete door mat.