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IMO, this drama has weak character development for the main characters, and loses its focus on the main theme, which is the meaning of good doctor. It places a lot of weight on the patients' stories, which is good but forgets to develop the themes (e.g., teamwork, workplace friendship, mentor-mentee relationship, etc). I wish there are scenes where Dr. Takayama mentoring Shindo. And, when one of the episodes follow Dr. Mamiya's hand story, it felt sudden and unnatural.

Very likely.

Dr. Haitani is an infuriating character in Season 3. He doesn't have the confidence to be a doctor, in addition to his timidness, indecisiveness, and selfishness. The worst is his lack of respect for his senior Dr. Shiraishi. The way he talks to her and behaves around her is just so childish. He hasn't even apologized for using her ID card to order sleep medication, which is unethical. Other junior doctors show a certain respect for their seniors.

You can try to defense his attitude and behavior due to his introversion. If yes, why don't he works at another hospitals or chooses other specialty that is less demanding and low-stress (suitable for introverts)?

> the Korean version's focus is on being a semi-romance drama about a doctor with savant syndrome and his acceptance into society and showing that he isn't much different from everyone else, with a backdrop of medical stories.

I think the K-version is more than what you wrote. It explores the theme "What is meant to be a Good Doctor?" I don't know why people only see it as a romance part and miss the whole theme. There is a lot of character growth in all the main characters.

I wish you would change the title as Japanese dramas' tropes.

> It's just that there aren't many writers willing to write about J-content and the fans are not as loud and boastful as the Korean or Chinese fans (just my own observation lol).

I disagree. I read more "stalking [Japanese actors] " articles on MDL though. Kdrama fans usually write about other topics and complain about the certain tropes. I am still waiting for articles that Jdrama fans complain about the certain Jdrama tropes, since it isn't all good.

And, I am still waiting Chinese/Taiwanese drama fans to write articles about their tropes.

In each version (Korea, Japan, & US), the doctor with high-functioning autism and savant has different personality. This is a good thing because individuals with autism have similar symptoms but they are different as a person. The autistic doctor in this version (J-version) has a friendly, kind, and innocent face. His behavior is childlike and pure. So, audiences feel warm and healing to see his presence on-screen.

So far at Episode 9:

This version leans toward episodic, which means each episode focus on specific theme/topic. Its narrative has some similarity to the US version, except that US version is more realistic in showing autistic symptoms and the thought-process. This version shows more on the doctor's intelligence, challenges, and his warm-heart. Like the US-version, it adopted the major plot of the K-version (e.g., hospital financial issues, hospital reputation, rules and protocols, politics, etc).

If compare to K-version, the J-version's narration approach is less complicated. So, this version is easier to watch. I mean, the human relationship and interaction are explored more in K-version. Those questions (i.e., requirement of a good doctors) posted in the K-version aren't seen in this version. The discrimination, bullying, conforming to the system, politics, human flaws/frailty, and other issues are explored deeper in K-version.

In summary, the narrative approach follows the episodic Japanese dramas. Since it is written for the Japanese audiences, the writing is different from the K-version, although certain plots and some characters' traits were retained. You could watch the first 3 episodes and decide if you like this version or not.

Finally, someone writes about Jdrama tropes.

> The whole premise of this article bothers me. Asimov's laws of robotics have been hugely influential in the sci fi genre, "but that doesn't mean other writers are under any obligation to adhere to them."

Many Western sci-fi writers never want to break the laws. So, we have many horror sci-fi movies or series about robots. But, what KearaMH wrote here is that the writers can play with the laws, think outside the box, and write a different kind of story. I am a little tired with those movies/series that always adhere to the Asimov's laws of robotics.

THANK YOU!
I am always annoyed by irrational comments, as if these audiences are female haters because they are jealous of them. All they see is the handsome and pretty actors, nothing else. It is also disrespectful to actors for just admiring their looks and sexiness, while not bother to critically judge them by their acting skills, good or bad.
Another annoyance is some audiences don't know how to watch a drama, as if they don't take it seriously. They don't bother to understand the characters, story, and themes. They keep bashing the female characters for "not doing this and that" or whatever. Sometimes, I wonder if they even understand what is going on in the story or not?

I wish the background song that sound like superman's theme would be replaced with a suitable one. Right now, the song seems misplaced and doesn't evoke my victory emotion.

Best comment. I also like that she is thinking outside the box, and trying out idea, instead of following the rules.

I don't mind her crying but I wish the director would reduce her crying scenes. If she could express a unique facial and eye expressions - mixture of empathy and compassion. That will impact the audiences more.

I think the remake is quite good. I wish the female lead has more screen time, though. She is one of the main characters but she is being shoved aside.

Some of the criticisms are constructive, and not aiming to hate the Remake. There are many nuance aspects are done better in the Original version. Particularly, the directing in the Original was excellent. You have to watch the Original to see the filming, which is much better than the Remake.

> the most annoying by far is the female lead, sakurai. seems to have just two settings:
I am sadden that the directors and screenwriter have no interest to develop sakurai. So, I can't blame the actress' acting since her scenes seemed abrupt and too short to enable her to show her acting calibre.

> the pacing and acting somehow seem off. maybe it's japanese speech.
I think it is the directors' choice. The slower pacing and quietness in the Original aren't adopted in the Remake. You can notice the different vibe by comparing the theme songs. So, the Remake's pacing was faster and more packed, and its dialogs are very succinct.

> korean seems to flow more naturally in terms of tone and cadence.
This has to do with the actors' speech pattern and voice control. Nothing to do with the Japanese language.

> Coming to the acting this is my first drama of Kam Woo Sung. He did exceptionally well. I'm going to check out his other works.

Several years ago, I watched his previous drama, "The Spring Day of My Life". The main female character was played by the famous IDOL from Girl Generation. The IDOL can act but not experienced enough to match Kam Woo Sung's acting experience. While watching that drama ("Spring Day"), I didn't like their pairing. Their chemistry seemed unnatural. The IDOL was trying too hard to squeeze emotions through her big eyes. So, at that time, the drama failed to let me appreciate Kam Woo Sung's acting. It could be he tried his best but he couldn't show his best with a rookie actress (IDOL).

IMO, Kim Sun-Ah and Kam Woo-Sung helped each other to push their acting skills to the next level. They worked so well together. An outstanding actress can make a difference by bring out the experienced actor's best skills.

Now you are moving to another topic, "soft power". (Let's exclude the West). I give all credit to S. Korean Entertainment industries for discovering new solutions to promote soft power. They practically push the boundaries that were set earlier by Japan and Hong Kong, as these two countries started the soft power promotion in Asia.

I don't always watch historical Korean dramas because I can't verify their facts. So, I always know they aren't authentic. But, I always love China historical dramas because of their authenticity, but now, the China Entertainment industry destroys my love for them.

I don't recommend "Legend of Mi Yue", despite it high praises and ratings. The drama has many problems. 1) The wardrobe design/color and the jewelry are inaccurate to the history. 2) Many plots in the story disappointed me because they are copies from Korean historical dramas. I have watched China historical dramas from early 2000. They are close to authentic and they don't contain these kind of plots. 3) The character development for the historical figure, Mi Yue is very unrealistic. And, I expect 80% of the content are false.

@Irrelevantcell

> but my disagreement lies on whether entertainment tv drama has the responsibilities to claim authenticity.

I think they have the responsibility to introduce the authentic Chinese culture to the world.

Of course, we can close one eye for the fictional period drama "Siege in Fog" and let it go, but not for all historical/period China dramas.

For example: "Legend of Mi Yue". I don't have knowledge about the history of Kingdom of Chu during the Warring States period. So, I trust the drama would show me more about the royals' lives at that time. When I watch "Mi Yue", I sense the wardrobe design/color and the jewelry used aren't accurate. It is just a gut feeling. A blog post verified my suspicion. It seems even the Chinese audiences in China aren't happy with the wardrobe. It is sad because the Chinese producers and directors don't care about the history but only the aesthetics. They took away my trust in the historical figure's "Mi Yue" story.

Check your initial comment. I just response to your content.

I wrote my first comment because I read the article above, asking people to look at the outfits. I pointed out that the design has modern cut. So, it isn't accurately reflecting the wardrobe/costume worn by the Chinese people at that time period (Year 1900). People who have no idea about Chinese culture will think they are accurate.

I don't know about "responsibilities to claim authenticity" but those China-made period dramas should at least show the actual wardrobe/costume, but they want to add modern design into it for visual purposes. Question is, are the producers embarrassed by the actual wardrobe/costume designed at that time period? Why the need to add modern design on it?

> Clothes evolve overtime. If Hanfu survived to today, it would not be the same. I would find it weird if period dramas are not adopting to modern standards.

No. If a drama wants to claim authenticity, there shouldn't be any modern standards imposed on it. If you think this way, why don't we change the history and add modern ideas and aspect into them. So, we won't actually know how those people's lives at that time period. Their way of life, culture, costume, and custom are erased from the history book.

It is very wrong to modified history to fit our modern standard. It is no different by you telling your children or your future children your history but change it to fit your children's modern standard. So, what do they learn or even understand how your have lived?

I am very disappointed with recent period China dramas because they distorted the facts to fit the modern standard. It doesn't show me the reality of these people in the past.

Nice article.

I have a critical comment on recent China period dramas. The design of the wardrobe/costume doesn't actually represent the clothing at that time period. The cuts of the men's clothing (example: Yi Lian Kai's clothes in the picture above) appear modern, as in 21th century. I understand they want to appeal to the audiences with aesthetics, an obvious trend that China dramas have been focused on recent years. But, I find it distracting since the wardrobe is all wrong, and thus lose some authenticity of the story, in reflecting the people's life at that time period.