kirtil

@cityhunter
Thank you for the recommendation. I feel the drama was a lot easier to understand/follow compared to the rest. I binge watched (or as close to it as I could get in my age what with work and life obligations) and quite enjoyed myself.

One comment regarding social media/life.

I have nothing but respect for people who organize, plan and execute these articles, videos, reviews and all, but if you are going to recommend a place to check out like you did for happysqueak, the most important thing is to make sure these places are alive and working.
So far I watched 2 videos that suggested I check out her channel, and both times the last video was from a year ago. 1 year is like eternity in todays social media. Maybe she has another channel she is working now? or another platform?

advertising / recommending non-working places would work against that person if used frequently. I advise to re-strategize before a third recommendation.

I agree with everything you said, save amnesia and that is only because I never really researched it and have no comments.
And I also add the care-free high school life. This I think is also more common than you think.

I was highly anticipating soul mechanic. I really like the cast and the synopsis but from the comments I learned the romance was doctor-patient. I do not like unethical, unbalanced pairings like this so I am on the fence with this now.

Ok, a question:

I have the book, this drama and the anime version. Which would you say is the best? which one would you advise to check out first?

watching 3 episodes, for me, this is definitely not a drama to watch as it is airing. I will wait till it is completed and I will probably use fast forward a lot

Thank you for adding timestamps in the details.

Nope, but now I'll definitely look for it.

The witch was nearly the first thing I watched after this. She also great in there.

The scene I liked the most of him regarding their relationship is the one where he was talking with Jang Geun Soo and apologizes to him for loving DaMi. The way he talked made me believe he was already in love with her long before and was holding back because he believed Jang Geun Soo loved her and made a better choice than him.

cheers and thanks for this fun to read article.

Also, reading as your quarantine is almost finished; I hope you stay safe.

What is the title in the last gif? The one Karine says "retreat~" ?

I loved Hyori's B&B season 1. It was so relaxing, so honest.
Not so much with the second season. I felt some of the guests were intentionally chosen to get emotions out of me and/or the team.
Also, maybe because I was learning about "behind the camera" of kdramas and kpop idols being worked like slaves during the time; in some shots I kinda felt Yoona feeling pressured because of her age.
Still not finished it.

Things I learned from kdramas (trigger version)
- Everyone is only as smart or dumb as the scene requires. Even the (previously proclaimed) brightest person can turn into bumbling idiots when the time comes. And if they are the police, forget about it; they are stupid most of the time. Lazy screenwriters pretending all viewers are idiots.
- Even if someone is abusive, dismissive or outright villanious, it is ok as long as that person is one of the mains, one of the (main) villains, or played by someone attractive; there will be people who understand and support them and most likely they will be forgiven before the end.
- If the drama is 16 episodes long, the worst/saddest thing will happen in episode 13-14.
- It is ok to lie to people as long as you are doing it to protect others or in self sacrifice.

I was very impressed with Kim Da Mi. Yi Soo character had the potential to go south fast but she took the character and made us care for her. I read a lot of people didn't like her / found he too stalker-ish.
She was obsessive (and extreme as you said) but I kinda found her character refreshing as she was as far as standard kdrama heroines could be.
Only thing I didn't like was how she changed to fit in Saeroyi's world (trying to be kind and thoughtful etc) as opposed to ML who stayed same. I didn't like that they made Yi Soo do everything; she saved his job, made his dreams come true, helped achieve his goals, practically did everything and in return all he did was switch his affections from second female to her? Felt unfair to her.

I was hesitant to tag stuff because I believe (like @cityhunter) the term strong woman is used very broadly and as it is used now, my idea of strong woman can be pretty different to some people (Tho, seeing my list; maybe not).

But taking your comment as permission to mess up some stats (hehe), I tagged some stuff. Here are some dramas that has strong female leads imo.

Doctor X (pretty sure no one would contest this)
Kazoku no katachi
Kekkon dekinai otoko
Mondai no aru restaurant (so many strong female characters)
Dr. Koto
Second to last love
Soratobu kouhoushitsu
Yuube no curry
Date

I checked some of the jdoramas with strong female leads that I watched and none of them were tagged with that.

Ep 2 and it is already turning stale.

I like the mains and their interactions but the company side is really bad. overacting, overbearing villains doesn't make me exited for a drama anymore. I want real intelligence in my dramas, not these "their plans and actions are brilliant because the screenwriters said so" nonsense.

one of my favorite dramas misaeng is the 26th highest rated drama.
But it got 8.2%, so considered not good enough in terms of tv ratings system you listed. mind boggled.

I saw the first episode but no subs

let me say in advance that my knowledge of reverse harems may be lacking.. but; I think that tho reverse harem genre may have formed to empower women, the style it transformed today does not make me feel much empowerment for women.

When reverse harem genre first came out the main idea was to "choose her own fate without any limits. The beauty of the Reverse harem sub-genre is that it is so free and empowering for women… Reverse harem shows that the main character can be a woman, and have several men love her, and she is strong enough to love them all" (direct quote from an author in an interview I think).
Even back then the harem and reverse harem genres different greatly. in harems it was all about superiority, and in reverse harems it was about equality as I understand it.

Sadly now I feel reverse harem genre is also focused on mass consumption in a male dominated society and turned into another form of male fantasy. There is one woman who is the focus of several men, but usually the power between them is in-equal. Most if not all of the reverse harems I saw the power dynamic tilted towards men. The woman is usually depicted as lacking in some way (lacking money / lacking education / lacking experience / etc) and men usually save or protect her.
As female fantasy I don't feel it is an empowering one. But thinking as male fantasy; a woman in need of protection, have a lot of choices but chooses you in the end..

in this list I only was 4 RH titles I watched, and only lunch queen does not perfectly fit my description. She is kinda homeless, close to being penniless and somewhat on a run from some people and men all help her solve these problems but the power dynamic did not tilt against her if I remember right. it's been many years since I watched it, not sure if I remember it right.

I'd be more than happy to learn about titles that empower women in these genres.