Soompi Forums Awards: The Most Iconic Female Leads, The Most Disappointing Dramas, Favorite Kdrama Trends (2023) - Poll #3

[partyon]

Soompi Forums Awards: The Most Iconic Female Leads, The Most Disappointing Dramas, Favorite Kdrama Trends of 2023 - Poll #3

 

Many people here would agree that 2023 was pretty disappointing kdrama wise (hello k-drama slump ). This year we had a lot of dramas people were looking forward to (e.g. Strong Girl Nam Soon and See You In My 19th Life) only to be sorely disappointed with the execution and/or ending. 

Too many car crash dramas in 2023

 

We also saw some new trends as well as, old trends that made a comeback in 2023. Some of these trends we love, some of them not so much...

 

In 2023 we had a comeback of the following trends (we thought they had exited kdramas long ago, but alas, they came back...):

• sageuks
• marriage contracts
• wrist grabs (never went fully away, but there has been an influx of them in 2023)
• time travel dramas
• revenge
• FL falling over - ML grabbing her to save her (this trope came back with a vengeance in 2023...)

 

You dare wrist grab me...? 

 

Newer trends were:

• kissing in the rain (without an umbrella)
• shorter dramas (quite a few dramas are only 8 or 12 episodes)
• many seasons
• more violence than before
• smoking / cigarettes
• strong Female Leads
• fantasy and supernatural themes
• multiple lives (leads doing revenge over a span of multiple lives / lifetimes)

 

One of the trends of 2023 was definitely the fact that we had a lot more iconic and strong female leads and characters in kdramas. Therefore we are choosing to highlight them this time around.

 

A strong and resilient woman 

 

Vote in the poll and let us know what you liked and/or disliked about kdramas in general in 2023.

 

The poll closes on Jan 18th. 

 

Thank you to @gm4queen for the lovely banner.

Your Event Organizers,

@partyon @confusedheart @agenth @Sleepy Owl

 

tagging:

Spoiler

 

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[partyon]

Most Disappointing Dramas in 2023 (for me)

 

Heartbeat

The first 2 episodes were great! Loved the comedy! Taecyeon as a hot vampire - check.

 

As the story progressed the genre of the drama changed to melodrama, and started including annoying characters (hello 2nd FL and 2nd ML) and weird plot twists. The "cat man" annoyed me the most - he kept changing the rules of the game! And let's not forget the catastrophic ending... Stay away from this drama unless you want to get into a cat fight and scratch someone's eyes out because you're so disappointed.

@TheaN @CarolynH @LeftCoastOppa @4evrkdrama @Fazlina LyNN @sweetroad @kingpin Did this drama disappoint you too?

 

Strong Girl Namsoon

It was the follow-up drama of our beloved Strong Woman Do Bong Soon.

Despite having hesitations that it could live up to the iconic 2017 drama, I still wanted to give it a chance because of the writer's previous drama, Mine. Initially I found the main couple kind of cute (despite the FL's cutesy and girlish overacting). But when there were barely any scenes of them together in the second half of the drama, even the romance fizzled out. I can definitely understand the people who shipped the villainous 2nd ML and the FL. Add to that some other extremely annoying characters (hello mom!) and it was bound to be a disappointment.

 

The only aspect I really enjoyed in this drama was the cameo of Park Hyung Sik oppa and Park Bo Young. How cute are these two?

 

Family

Our Jang-Jang snail couple reunion was supposed to be the big highlight of 2023. What happened was that the couple starred in a drama with a script that MADE NO SENSE and bored you to sleep. Also, don't get me started on the daughter of the family and the weird kiddie romance that ensued.

Even though I'm a huge Jang Nara fan, I couldn't complete this mess...

 

Did any of my Jang Hyuk chingus manage to finish this drama? @Biology Lesson @azureblue7 @Blizzardistkaputt @dramafan33  @YouwinJH @Prettysup

 

I will pretend this drama never happened, and remember our snail couple like this instead:

 

PS. Recommendation: If anyone wants to watch a superb drama (that started in 2023 and finished in 2024), do watch Death's Game! It's an amazing drama and is receiving great reviews online.

[Biology Lesson]

2 hours ago, partyon said:

 

Family

Our Jang-Jang snail couple reunion was supposed to be the big highlight of 2023. What happened was that the couple starred in a drama with a script that MADE NO SENSE and bored you to sleep. Also, don't get me started on the daughter of the family and the weird kiddie romance that ensued.

Even though I'm a huge Jang Nara fan, I couldn't complete this mess...

 

Did any of my Jang Hyuk chingus manage to finish this drama? @Biology Lesson @azureblue7 @Blizzardistkaputt @dramafan33  @YouwinJH @Prettysup

 

I will pretend this drama never happened, and remember our snail couple like this instead:

 

 

I'm with you on this. These days I can't bear any mention of this show! Such a dissappointment! When we first heard about this reunion, we were so excited, as to this day FTLY is the best Kdrama I've ever seen! but the more I heard about Family, the more concerned I became as I couldn't understand what the show was about! I was hoping for a Korean Mr. and Mrs, Smith, or Spy family or The Way of the Househusband, but the synopsis didn't correspond with any of them! I cannot understand how this show even managed to get green lit!

The show started with a plot line that had nothing to do with the main plot- focusing instead on a bitter wife, annoying and inconsiderate husband, and a bunch of annoying family memebers. As you mentioned, there was a strange focus on the love life of the daughter, who was in KINDERGARDEN, and an ongoing gag involving the bratty daughter as she always interupts her parents when they were about to get it on. So the result was that the daughter had a kiss scene (ugh!), while the parents never even kisssed once! I felt like they were mocking the audience, after the sweetness that FTLY was... The focus on the plot line of the daughter was extra baffling when in the same episode we also got scenes of people being shot in the head! So who was supposed to be the audience of this show- kids? grownups?! What a mess! 

When by the 5th ot 6th episode I still didn't understand what the plot of this show is, I simply dropped it! Such a waste of a great cast! It felt like the entire production thought the success of the show was a sure thing, so no need to put any effort into the plot, and they simply relied on jokes, cool shots and forced emotional moments with no basis or consequence.

[rocher22]

The Most Iconic Female Leads

 

Mijo from The Good Bad Mother

 

 

 

 

Feng BaoBao from I Am Nobody

 

 

 

 

 

Kirika from Trillion Game

 

 

 

[partyon]

Bonus....

 

Funniest Character in a Kdrama in 2023 goes to the ML Seo In Ho in Doctor Cha (played by Kim Byung Chul)

 

This dude who ended up becoming @agenth's @sweetroad's and @Ameera Ali's oppa just cracked me up!

 

His facial expressions alone made me laugh out loud. Who could really hate him even though he played a cheater?

 

10 minutes ago, Biology Lesson said:

Such a waste of a great cast! It felt like the entire production thought the success of the show was a sure thing, so no need to put any effort into the plot, and they simply relied on jokes, cool shots and forced emotional moments with no basis or consequence.

 

Agree with everything you wrote, chingu. For me the biggest issue was simply put the writing. Am mostly baffled about how two seasoned veteran actors even signed up for a drama with such a weak script? If they wanted a reunion, I would have assumed that they would have chosen the script very carefully?

 

For me the biggest issue was that there just seemed to be no plot. When the writer started incorporating some kind of plot, it became an even bigger incoherent mess. One thing is for sure, I will be staying away from this script writers dramas in the future.

 

[partyon]

27 minutes ago, rocher22 said:

The Most Iconic Female Leads

 

For me My Most Iconic Female Leads in 2023 were....

 

Doctor Cha (played by Uhm Jung Hwa) in Doctor Cha

I just loved how she went from a stay at home mom who had given up her career to re-starting it by becoming a resident at the age of 50. She went through a lot of self transformation during the drama, and it was amazing to see how confident and happy she had become in the last episode!

 

Moon Dong Eun (played by Song Hye Kyo) in The Glory part 2

Despite the fact that I didn't particularly like the ending of The Glory part 2 nor the drama's message, I still appreciated Moon Dong Eun's strength, resilience and courage after all that she had been through.

 

Yeo Mi Ran (played by Kim Ok Vin) in Love to Hate You

Any female character who knows martial arts is cool in my books!

Kim Mo Mi (played by Nana) in Mask Girl

Whereas I liked all the characters who played Kim Mo Mi in Mask Girl, Nana became my favorite. Her performance stood out. Her character decided that she wouldn't take bullying anymore, and showed fearlessness even inside prison. When you've had enough, you've had enough....

[Biology Lesson]

38 minutes ago, partyon said:

 

 

Agree with everything you wrote, chingu. For me the biggest issue was simply put the writing. Am mostly baffled about how two seasoned veteran actors even signed up for a drama with such a weak script? If they wanted a reunion, I would have assumed that they would have chosen the script very carefully?

 

For me the biggest issue was that there just seemed to be no plot. When the writer started incorporating some kind of plot, it became an even bigger incoherent mess. One thing is for sure, I will be staying away from this script writers dramas in the future.

 

I don't understand it either! I will love to first hear an acknowledgement from both JNR and JH that they now understand that family was a bad show, just to renew my confidence in their judgement , and then I'd love to hear an explanation as to why they accepted it in the first place. My guess is that one of them accpeted it first, maybe as a favor to someone or because they were mislead, and then the other accepted just for the opportunity to work together again. 

[frozentundra]

Oh, I forgot to tick off that I liked the fantasy tropes this year. Well, I did. 

 

Strongly dislike: multiple seasons. ! Also not a fan of unreasonably short dramas. (Really, the number is just a number; I don't want rushing and I don't want filler. So therefore I don't want 8-12 to be "the new norm" as many storylines will feel cramped. More like, make the story as long as it needs to be, whatever that is. No rushing, no filler.) Not a fan of smoking. And I hope the pendulum swings back soon from the heightened shock-value violence we've seen lately. I can get my fill of that through western shows, thanks; I don't need to see Korean brains splatted on the sidewalk over and over as well. (If you like it, fine, but I hope for enough shows that DON'T have it that we can all find something to suit our tastes.)

 

I initially liked the FL in Strong Girl, but the drama itself ended up fizzling in the second half. The lead pair were never on screen together and the villain started taking on main lead status...whut...?? Then I watched Moment of Eighteen starring Ong Seung Woo and felt double the pain, because that guy can ACT, and meanwhile all we got in Strong Girl were occasional shots of him making phone calls. I also didn't care for the FL's family much. Maybe the Strong Girl series is just not for me. (I did like the cameo from the first one, though.) 

 

I felt like there were a lot of dramas that sounded promising on paper and that even had a good cast, but logic went out the window in the scripts and they didn't hold together or make sense. 

[itsmeash]

12 hours ago, partyon said:

Most Disappointing Dramas in 2023 (for me)

 

Heartbeat

The first 2 episodes were great! Loved the comedy! Taecyeon as a hot vampire - check.

 

As the story progressed the genre of the drama changed to melodrama, and started including annoying characters (hello 2nd FL and 2nd ML) and weird plot twists. The "cat man" annoyed me the most - he kept changing the rules of the game! And let's not forget the catastrophic ending... Stay away from this drama unless you want to get into a cat fight and scratch someone's eyes out because you're so disappointed.

You hit the nail on the head. I could right a short story on how disappointed I am by this series, but it's not worth my time. It can be summed up in one sentence. It was promoted as one genre, but it was actually a different genre. 

 

I don't like being played like that. It already happened with Oh My Ladylord, and I still at times remember that series and get annoyed all over again. 

[willenette]

*** I based the most iconic female leads for me through their visuals and performances.  K-Dramas with strong personality female leads are always worth watching. Nothing is more inspiring than watching successful and strong women. Here's my choice for 2023 in random order : 

 (Kim So Yeon) in Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 – I’m impressed with her stunning visuals and striking action-packed performances. In the drama, she features a strong personality female character I just can't ignore.

(Jeon So-Nee) in Our Blooming Youth – She has a unique character in the drama. For me, she’s a cool person you can look up to. She’s smart to investigate, doing martial arts, and using tricks to find her way out. She knows how to share what she has, save lives, and repay favors. So, I couldn’t help but like her character in the drama. And she is pretty!

(Bona) in Joseon Attorney: A Morality - She’s a fearless character who won’t back down and is the kind of female lead who will save the male lead, defying the usual dynamics where it’s always the male lead saving the female lead!

There are some praising shows while there are always experts with their own views like in the case of “The First Responders 2”. The drama had ratings that seemed generally high and I loved it, but it wasn’t a hit with the critics. Dramas that usually disappoint me are due to poor writing, miscasting choices, or bad air time. For me, Joseon Attorney did not do well rating-wise because of the air time.  "Joseon Attorney" took over MBC's Fri & Sat 21:50 time slot, which was a little late.  

It was certainly easier for me to see Korean content not only in 2023 but, these past years because of Netflix and other platforms.  Several previously popular dramas returned for second seasons, like “Arthdal Chronicles”, which I don’t really like because for me, nothing could surpass the original. But, really have no choice but to watch the drama since my bias was on it. This is the reason why I don’t watch Western shows. They have season after season.  Romantic dramas, still considered the Korean industry's bread and butter, typically adhere to a strict one-season format, unlike period dramas, which are getting the green light for renewals. True, trends like sageuks,  time travel dramas, and revenge dramas never went fully away like “Bloodhounds”, Worst of Evil”,” and Numbers”.  K-dramas embraced every possible genre in 2023, from mysteries to gangster dramas to monster stories and fluffy romcoms, but some themes stood out focused on characters who were celebrities. Also true, K-dramas were definitely more violent in 2023 like “Moving”. Before, violent scenes used to be reserved for films rather than dramas, but now, dramas are catching up. Many more characters lit up cigarettes now while we seldom see this from most international TV shows. A Non-romantic story with supernatural elements is also a new trend like “Black Knight”. There was a lot to enjoy in 2023. 

 

Spoiler

Grabbing wrist has been an old trend but still exist. I remember when I was quite new to Kdrama then, I wonder why? Was it the cultural norm? Loads of dramas I’ve watched have dramatic scenes where the guy kinda grabs the ladies wrist. Why not her hand? I do find it more romantic though. Maybe holding someone hand needs consent. That said, my BF is a Korean, based in US and I remember before he did once lead me by the wrist and I was kind of taken aback by it. That was the first & last, though. Romance seems so pure in Korea.- hehehe – 

For me, a short Korean drama can more create a worthy bingeing experience. Thanks to Netflix on this. 8-episode dramas are becoming prevalent.  I dig short EP dramas because it neatly offers concise storytelling and nuanced scenes. Moreover, for me there’s something remarkably satisfying about watching a tightly-knit short K-drama. That’s why, I loved watching “Strangers from Hell” then because it was only (10) EPs. We know that 15-20 episodes—that's the K-drama trademark. I’m glad that episode counts have declined to 10-12. NICE that a short-run contents are a part of the trend now. Only the shortest and the simplest survive now.   

 

[gm4queen]

On 1/7/2024 at 3:13 PM, partyon said:

Family

Our Jang-Jang snail couple reunion was supposed to be the big highlight of 2023. What happened was that the couple starred in a drama with a script that MADE NO SENSE and bored you to sleep. Also, don't get me started on the daughter of the family and the weird kiddie romance that ensued.

Even though I'm a huge Jang Nara fan, I couldn't complete this mess...

 

Did any of my Jang Hyuk chingus manage to finish this drama? @Biology Lesson @azureblue7 @Blizzardistkaputt @dramafan33  @YouwinJH @Prettysup

 

I will pretend this drama never happened, and remember our snail couple like this instead:

 

PS. Recommendation: If anyone wants to watch a superb drama (that started in 2023 and finished in 2024), do watch Death's Game! It's an amazing drama and is receiving great reviews online.

 

I totally agree with you on this one, unnie! I also had high hopes because it was Jang-Jang couple again! But I don't even remember what I watched back then. May be Family is my least favorite dramas out of all Jang Nara's dramas so far!

 

[larus]

6 hours ago, willenette said:

(Kim So Yeon) in Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 – I’m impressed with her stunning visuals and striking action-packed performances. In the drama, she features a strong personality female character I just can't ignore.

 

The Most Iconic Female Leads- Kim So yeon in Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938

 

I could not agree more. Ryu Hong Joo is one of my favorite role of Kim So Yeon if not my favorite. She played a complex character. She is not perfect. She can be  petty, act like a diva and be selfish/ impulsive sometime, be bored living among humans. Aparently, she has it all: beauty, wealth, strenght, imortality but she is longing for love and she feels lonely. She is direct, she says what's on her mind and values love/friendship and loyalty more than anything and she doesn`t hesitate to protect the people she cares about.

 

 

 

Which dramas had potential but ended up disappointing you the most in 2023?

 

I did not watch many dramas this year. Probably around 16 and I did not have disappointments. From the list,  I watched only three dramas. I could vote for Castaway Diva but I did not have big expectations for this drama anyway. Early, I understood that the writing is not good (it had some irritating plots for me) but I enjoyed some moments between characters.

 

Numbers was a drama that could have been better written but that`s it. No hard feelings.

 

I definetly would have vote for The Story of Park`s Marrige Contract. I wasn`t excited watching this drama like others but it was  light and had some cute moments but the plot became weird in the last two episodes. I could not find the logic. 

 

3. Which were your favorite drama trends / tropes of 2023? (choose as many as you like)

 

I voted for time travel before I new that Park`s Marriage has ruined the time travel enjoyment for me.

 

But I like time travel trop if it is used satisfactory.  Tale of Nine Tailed 1938, Reset, Twinkle Watermelon used it alright for me to enjoy watching those dramas.

[MayanEcho]

I like fantasy and multiple lives genres, since I'm always on the look out on how creative would be the production to execute the "impossible". As for multiple lives - there's always the question on whether the person going through reincarnation becomes better, has everything better, or did he/she deteriorate in present life compared to the past? Does he/she have memories of life before? Did it make the person wiser?

 

The most number of episodes of the dramas I watched in 2023 is 25. The rest were below 15 at average of 1hr per episode. IMO, dramas with less episodes does away with unnecessary filler scenes that barely do anything to the story. I'm still willing to watch upwards of 50 episodes if the story is that long. I won't mind additional scenes if they're substantial. I absolutely detest it if there are scenes added merely to give someone more exposure for accommodation purposes.

 

That said, I also don't mind multiple seasons so long that there's something new and not just a mere continuation of the previous season.

 

It's long overdue to have FLs that are actually using their brains! It can't be that the antagonists are the only ones that can scheme!

[partyon]

On 1/7/2024 at 3:57 PM, Biology Lesson said:

My guess is that one of them accpeted it first, maybe as a favor to someone or because they were mislead, and then the other accepted just for the opportunity to work together again. 

This could definitely be a reason. I hope they star in a 5th drama together, but pay more attention to the script the next time.... Are you watching Jang Nara's My Happy Ending at the moment btw?

 

On 1/7/2024 at 4:49 PM, frozentundra said:

Not a fan of smoking.

 

To me it's been a huge surprise that kdramas have started promoting smoking during the last few years, when it's the other way around in Western shows. I remember being so shocked in 2020 when I saw doctors in Hospital Playlist smoking.... Aigoo.

 

On 1/7/2024 at 4:49 PM, frozentundra said:

I initially liked the FL in Strong Girl, but the drama itself ended up fizzling in the second half. The lead pair were never on screen together and the villain started taking on main lead status...whut...?? Then I watched Moment of Eighteen starring Ong Seung Woo and felt double the pain, because that guy can ACT, and meanwhile all we got in Strong Girl were occasional shots of him making phone calls.

 

This! They were only talking on the phone in most episodes - difficult to ship a couple when they have no scenes together. I had never watched Ong Seung Woo in anything before, but it did seem that he wasn't half bad - and he's kinda cute. I think he is doing military service now? I hope we get to see him in a better role when he's back.

 

22 hours ago, itsmeash said:

I could right a short story on how disappointed I am by this series, but it's not worth my time.

 

I would love to read it though!

 

7 hours ago, gm4queen said:

May be Family is my least favorite dramas out of all Jang Nara's dramas so far!

 

Mine too.

 

6 hours ago, larus said:

I definetly would have vote for The Story of Park`s Marrige Contract. I wasn`t excited watching this drama like others but it was  light and had some cute moments but the plot became weird in the last two episodes. I could not find the logic. 

 

6 hours ago, larus said:

I voted for time travel before I new that Park`s Marriage has ruined the time travel enjoyment for me.

 

You get to vote for Park's Marriage Contract next year, chingu.

 

6 hours ago, MayanEcho said:

It's long overdue to have FLs that are actually using their brains! It can't be that the antagonists are the only ones that can scheme!

 

Am still waiting for the FL in My Happy Ending to start using her brain. It's been 4 episodes already. It's a wonder she hasn't been killed off 5 times already....

 

 

13 hours ago, willenette said:

Grabbing wrist has been an old trend but still exist. I remember when I was quite new to Kdrama then, I wonder why? Was it the cultural norm? Loads of dramas I’ve watched have dramatic scenes where the guy kinda grabs the ladies wrist. Why not her hand?

 

I remember watching kdramas for the first time and this caught my attention too. I was like, she better make him pay for  that.

 

But she was just being dragged around like a rag doll.... I still don't understand it and I don't find it cute after almost 15 years of watching kdramas. I just kind of ignore the wrist grabs and pretend they don't happen. And I always get equally happy when the wrist grabbed lady tells him off. 

 

13 hours ago, willenette said:

That said, my BF is a Korean, based in US and I remember before he did once lead me by the wrist and I was kind of taken aback by it. That was the first & last, though.

 

Let me guess what happened to your bf to make it his last time to wrist grab you?

[confusedheart]

Two kickass female leads ought to be the one from Mask Girl and the other one is from QueenMaker. 
 

Disappointing - Strong Girl Nam Soon.
 

Revenge! We had some good revenge dramas. 

[willenette]

13 hours ago, larus said:

 

The Most Iconic Female Leads- Kim So yeon in Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938

 

I could not agree more. Ryu Hong Joo is one of my favorite role of Kim So Yeon if not my favorite. She played a complex character. She is not perfect. She can be  petty, act like a diva and be selfish/ impulsive sometime, be bored living among humans. Aparently, she has it all: beauty, wealth, strenght, imortality but she is longing for love and she feels lonely. She is direct, she says what's on her mind and values love/friendship and loyalty more than anything and she doesn`t hesitate to protect the people she cares about.

 

 

Which dramas had potential but ended up disappointing you the most in 2023?

 

I did not watch many dramas this year. Probably around 16 and I did not have disappointments. From the list,  I watched only three dramas. I could vote for Castaway Diva but I did not have big expectations for this drama anyway. Early, I understood that the writing is not good (it had some irritating plots for me) but I enjoyed some moments between characters.

 

Numbers was a drama that could have been better written but that`s it. No hard feelings.

 

I definetly would have vote for The Story of Park`s Marrige Contract. I wasn`t excited watching this drama like others but it was  light and had some cute moments but the plot became weird in the last two episodes. I could not find the logic. 

 

3. Which were your favorite drama trends / tropes of 2023? (choose as many as you like)

 

I voted for time travel before I new that Park`s Marriage has ruined the time travel enjoyment for me.

 

But I like time travel trop if it is used satisfactory.  Tale of Nine Tailed 1938, Reset, Twinkle Watermelon used it alright for me to enjoy watching those dramas.

 

@larus  Watching (16) dramas in a year is plenty enough, I guess. I assumed that these numbers were not only K-dramas, huh? I mentioned earlier in my post to @partyon here that I've watched a total of 14-15 dramas for 2023 and those were all K-dramas. Like you, I did not have any disappointments at all. I knew those dramas I've watched were not flawless at all and I find them all good, if some were not great for my taste. You see, every time I watch the drama I avoid having high expectations, so I don't feel regret/disappointments after. I couldn't agree with you more about "Numbers" & "Tale of the Nine-tailed 1938".  

[Sleepy Owl]

Talking about Disappointing dramas, well,

 

Well, I think the most disappointing drama for me would also be Heartbeat. Not really a fan of Vampire dramas, so I started this drama with very low expectations, but then saw that the plot had potential, it had fun moments, and seemed like a good fantasy rom-com type of drama. 

 

But midway it started losing it all, when I paused it indefinitely, and then officially dropped it when I came to know how what happened in the end. I mean who does write that sort of dramas, and who would really call that drama a rom-com? This had potential to be among the best rom-coms this year, and then boom, it ended up being the worst one for me. Kinda very similar with "Oh! Master" which ended. 

 

As for the Iconic Female Leads, we had many this year! My top 3 Iconic characters would be:

 

1. Dr. Cha (Dr. Cha) - I think Dr. Cha would be the most iconic for me, seeing how she decided to take control of her life just after kind of surviving a near death experience. She didn't really shy away from deciding to follow her passion again, worked on herself and became a good doctor by the end. 

 

 

2. Moon Dong Eun (Glory) - While I could be commenting a thing or two on how they could have changed her fate at the end, and she kind of had to still pay for what she did to the bullies, but that doesn't mean she wasn't an iconic character. I liked her character, she was patient, resilient, and very smart. She very patiently and meticulously had planned her revenge, and that too in such a way that she would had to hardly get involved.   

 

 

3. Gu San Young (Revenant) - It was interesting to see how she still decided to move forward despite knowing she had become a vessel for an evil spirit who would use her to kill others. Throughout the drama she came across temptations to cure her disease, threats to dear ones' lives, but still it was interesting how she kept resisting them, and tried her best to get rid of the evil spirit. 

 

 

I also did like Yeo Mi Ran (Love to hate you) and Kim Mo Mi (Mask Girl), so they would be part of my top 5 iconic female characters for 2023. 

 

Talking about the tropes or latest trends in the dramas:

Multiple seasons something I am not really a fan of. I mean of the main reasons I had decided to go for Kdramas instead of English TV Series was because Kdramas were shorter and without seasons, 16-24 eps and the story concludes. You can move on to another drama. But seeing how Kdramas are bringing in this formula, it doesn't feel so good to wait that much for the seasons. 

 

In some cases it is still bearable, like Death's Game released half episodes first and then the other half in like 2 weeks, but then we have had dramas that aired their 2nd seasons in like a year or two years. Not really a fan of waiting that long. 

 

Shorter Dramas were interesting to me, but i have mixed feelings for them. There were some short dramas, which still felt long to me. So for me, I think its more on the quality of the writing than number of eps. Give me a good drama and keep it 24 eps long, I will watch it, some of my most favorite dramas have been 24 eps long. But still I think shorter dramas sort of lead to lesser filler scenes.

 

It was refreshing and very good to see several Strong female leads and characters in the dramas though. I think this could be the best trope of this year for me. I seriously feel we got to have this continue, it was really good to see some Female Centric dramas like "Glory", "Dr. Cha", "Revenant", "Strong Girl Namsoon" etc. 

 

Finally talking about genre, Revenge was good, but then again I think the only revenge drama I watched was Glory (if I remember correctly), like a purely revenge drama. But still I am waiting for a drama to match the likes of Secret, Money Flower etc. 

 

Similarly I liked how we got some supernatural dramas, and look forward to some more this year! 

 

More Violence was something, well, I feel like it was good to see it in some dramas like "Worst of Evil", since more violence means stakes are higher there, and that things can go real bad. At the same time it sort of goes into the realism factor. But yeah, I mean we have seen days when they censor knives in dramas (maybe they still do in some), and now we see blood splashing everywhere, so yeah we have come a long way, but Kdramas seem to be getting more graphic wrt to violence. Not really a fan of violence that much, but i feel it is good to see in the dramas where it is required. 

[larus]

7 hours ago, willenette said:

Watching (16) dramas in a year is plenty enough, I guess. I assumed that these numbers were not only K-dramas, huh?

 

I count only Kdramas or Kmovies. Maybe it is enough but I never watched less than 20 kdramas per year. It is the first time for me but I really didn`t have the mood to watch more. 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, Sleepy Owl said:

Not really a fan of Vampire dramas

 

Really? I know I don`t like or watch vampire dramas but I thought you like them. Or maybe you like only zombie dramas.

[partyon]

10 hours ago, Sleepy Owl said:

But still I am waiting for a drama to match the likes of Secret, Money Flower etc. 

 

Yes to Secret (Love)! Dongsaeng, when are we gonna do another rewatch?

 

Let's lure Ms. Koko @kokodus to watch it with us! I already convinced her to watch Death's Game, we can surely convince her to watch a light makjang too.

And let's not forget @agenth, she will probably want to see her favorite Secret (Love) oppa!

 

@sweetroad and @confusedheart are always game to watch it too!

 

6 hours ago, larus said:

I count only Kdramas or Kmovies. Maybe it is enough but I never watched less than 20 kdramas per year. It is the first time for me but I really didn`t have the mood to watch more. 

 

How about a Thai lakorn?

[willenette]

14 hours ago, larus said:

 

I count only Kdramas or Kmovies. Maybe it is enough but I never watched less than 20 kdramas per year. It is the first time for me but I really didn`t have the mood to watch more. 

 

 

 

 

Really? I know I don`t like or watch vampire dramas but I thought you like them. Or maybe you like only zombie dramas.

 

@larus  I'd say you probably haven't tried the right one for your tastebuds yet.