list is non-exhaustive

❤ HELL YES ❤

• positive relationship interactions
• well-written relationships
• portrayal of good communication
• cliched tropes and traditional views being challenged and subverted
• well-executed cliched tropes
• good/realistic characterisations + character development
• upright world views and values, observant scriptwriters displaying sensitivity towards the world around them
• just interesting characters in general
• characters are the most important

✕ HELL NO ✕

• slap/kiss dramas, romanticising of violent/unhealthy relationships
• dragginess out of overt lack of communication
• pointless melodrama; birth secrets, chaebol family
• illogical misunderstandings snowballing into a fucked up mess unnecessarily
• unreasonable and stupid characters eg. evil mother-in-laws, female leads who are as weak as pieces of cardboards and foolishly optimistic, male leads who are too much of stuck-up assholes and treat fem leads unreasonably
• demeaning women: male lead and second male leads fighting over fem lead as if she's a trophy to be won, wristgrabbing
• "guardian angel" second male leads or those who shamelessly cling to female leads against their will (same goes for second fem leads)
• badly-written romantic r/s; forced and unconvincing, overdoing it with intimacy and skinsip does not equate to a meaningful and convincing relationship
• flat, airy fairy writing (like most popular kdramas which i disliked)
• intentionally creating "romantic" intimacy between clearly straight characters just to please/attract audience, sell the drama; queerbaiting
• (kmo is canon in the novel and there is censorship for the drama, just saying. i will defend them to death though i won't say the same for how they were treated in majority of the fanon)

stuff i generally dislike (unless executed well or good enough to prove me wrong)

• older woman-younger guy romance
• genderbend
• coming-of-age or school dramas
• immature high schooler romances
• politics (don't mean actual politics but a lot of fighting and framing other people for shit like a stupid inheritance or power or smth)
• extramarital affairs (particularly those which demonise women, and never blaming it on the person who made the conscious decision to betray their other half - mostly men)
• historical dramas, especially involving palace politics, unless they are relatively lighthearted or well-executed
• childhood friends to lovers
• revenge
• harem
• incest (fake/real)
• love at first sight
• nostalgia

genres i generally prefer

• romcom
• romance
• comedy
• modern dramas
• feel good dramas
• light-hearted stories
• stories peppered with angst and rips my heart out but ends on a bittersweet/happy ending
• female-centric stories/female representation
• war stories centred on humanity
• historical-fiction
• human dramas
• romance weaved in well with other genres like mystery

romcom tropes i love

• post-marriage romance
• fake/arranged marriage
• fake dating
• forced living arrangements
• time travel (i don't like bu bu jing xin though hahaha)

misc:

• i also believe that the cast and production team for cdrama can give you a more or less good gauge of the quality of the drama before it airs
• that's why i more or less avoid the dramas starring overrated actors i dislike

milestones

• first jdrama: akai ito (watched in 2009~2010)
• first kdrama (which wasn't watched on local tv): lie to me (watched in 2011~2012)
• first modern cdrama + gateway to cdramas/c-ent: boss & me (watched in late 2014)
• first lakorn: full house thai (watched in early 2015)
• first filipino teleseyre: on the wings of love (watched in mid-2016)