Female lead used to be a slut before meeting the male lead?

Er ... this is Asian dramaland, honey. Not Western TV. You're probably going to have a difficult time finding a drama like that. 

Ok, perhaps the first question to ask is what do you define as a manwhore? Maybe you and I have different ideas.

What are those dramas with manwhores in them? In my experience with Asian dramas, it is quite taboo to portray both women AND men in such terms. 

Sure, you can find dramas where the ML may have had or still have a wife or gf prior to or upon meeting the female lead, but he's not portrayed as actually being a manwhore. Usually the relationship with their wives/gfs are on verge of collapse so that he will be free to pursue a relationship with the FL. Other women, besides his current woman & the FL, are not usually involved. 

You have cheating dramas - like Temptation, which I loathed - where the male lead cheated on his wife with another woman, but he was never cast in the light of being a manwhore. Supposedly, he simply fell out of love with his wife & in love with the other woman, the FL (he fell in love with her money, if you ask me). The execution of his journey was poorly done, which is why many audiences, perhaps most, hated his guts and hated this drama. But I don't think anyone would look at him and think manwhore right away. Golddigger, disloyal shameless opportunist, a kept man, perhaps ... but not a manwhore.

At least I wouldn't. When I think of a manwhore, I see a man who has multiple sexual partners, often at the same time, hopping from woman to woman, who deliberately lies and deceives, a lot of times with an abundance of charm, to maintain these multiple encounters. I've never seen a character like that in conservative Asian dramas.

The one drama I can think of that perhaps comes slightly close to the ML being a manwhore is Que Sera Sera.

Aside from that, I can't think of another one. 

As for dramas where the female lead is a slut ... even rarer, probably none existent. I'd love to know what those dramas are too, if they exist, so I can avoid them. 

One of the reasons why I appreciate Asian dramas is the value they put on having a relationship rather than just letting the characters f***k around with as many people as they can. Sure, there are one night stands, but the characters almost always end up having a relationship with each other. I'm tired of how *everything* in western TV has to be sooooo sexualized, even when it's not necessary.

Sometimes Asian dramas have a horrible tendency of portraying adult relationships as too childish and chaste (the polar opposite of its western counterpart), as well as infantilizing the FL ... so I get your frustrations, but sometimes they manage to get the balance right (where the characters behave like adults in an adult world), far more so than Western shows that tend to put too too much focus on sexaulizing everything & everyone, esp if we're thinking the typical Hollywood sponsored ones.

hmmnn... what are you really looking for, cause the title seems confusing as well as the ones you've defined. Sluts? Manwhore? Playgirls?

Thus I super agree with @PrettyCarEye.  i think you need to define Manwhore first and its direct equivalent to a female character.

And as definitions go, the words you've used are western word that doesn't really get translated/ presented in an asian countries much. It probably is a different of a cultural thing, so you probably need more explanation on that part so that we can understand what you are looking for...  and additionally there are some broadcasting boundaries and limitation that Asian countries can't cross as compared to western shows..

I guess You will probably have more luck in movies. They have less restrictions on that part. I remember a movie I've watched years back, I think the title was Everybody Has Secrets.

As for dramas, it would be rare to think mentioned by PrettyCarEye,  Que Sera Sera is probably the nearest thing I can also think of for what manwhore can be. Also maybe  Hateful but once again, and Memories of Bali.

Those type of male characters doesnt really get translated to female character much due mainly to the cultural thing. so the 'sluts' will probably be the characters of female villains rather than the protagonist. and sometimes 'playgirls' are also not really played in asian shows much.

But the most modern and quite realistic look on a female character I have seen, where the female character has multiple sexual relationship yet not label as slut or playgirl, is probably In Time With You, also maybe probably the touted korean version of 'sex and city' titled I Need Romance.  and maybe It's Okay, It's Love.

PS. but back to manwhore/sluts. I guees maybe japan does have a somewhat version of that in their hosts/hostesses culture. So maybe Todome no Kiss, Kurofuku Monogatari, Jotei Kaoruko, Jyouou, GiraGira.

 jaaraf:

Nagareboshi 

https://mydramalist.com/275-nagareboshi

Was she a slut, though? I don't think so even though she worked as a hostess. I don't think she actually slept with her clients ... just entertained them with drinks. Or am I remembering things wrong?

Also even if she did go all the way in her profession, she is not portrayed as a slut in the drama itself. Rather she's portrayed as a young woman who has led a difficult life and due to poverty had to resort to a less than scrupulous line of work.

I think the OP is referring to the female lead being a playgirl because there are many male leads that are playboys. Might be wrong though.

What do u think about The Art of Seduction

In Age of Youth one of the characters is a sugar baby and she has a couple clients that finance her life. She doesn't really have a love story plot - but I've only seen the first season

Because This is My First Life - the secondary female character in this drama deals with sexual harassment in the workplace (receives a lot of catcalls and lewd remarks from co-workers or bosses) and she's not portrayed as a slut, but she prefers one-night stands to having a relationship

Meloholic - Female Lead suffers from DID; her alter personality is someone who's gorgeous, confident, and is not afraid of expressing her sexuality; she's slightly flirty, but most of the time is actually constantly turning down boys

I think I Do, I Do is interesting. It starts off with a one night stand and a career woman. She doesn't fall head over heels for the guy and by the end she still hasn't changed much.

I'm not sure you'll find any where the girl has a long sexual history. Thai dramas would be the likeliest place to look but even then it's usually "oh she's a slut but no, not really it was just people spreading rumors" or if the girl has a long sexual history, she's the antagonist and wants to break up the lead couple.

Ms Temper and Nam Jung Gi comes to mind, she has 3 ex-husbands. The possibility of a romance is way in the background for almost the entire show.