what a wonderful piece, and again, helps us remember those vibrant ladies better.

Thanks @saya, it really was a year full of great female characters. As you asked us to add our own, I'll add my two favourites of this year - both disturbingly relatable. First, of course, Soo-ji in TLIOF. I understood (and have experienced) so much of what she went through and the performance of Esom made her my favourite character of that series. But it was Min Hyo-rin as Ji-young in Individualist Ms Ji-young who made me cry ugly tears. Is there such a thing as a heroine being too relatable? I think I might even have said some of the things she said (just not in Korean but you know what I mean). Such a fantastic character.

I could go on and on about great female characters this year, a certain drunk chaebol daughter comes to mind, and - like Saya hinted at - it feels as if this was something different to dramaland this year? Long may it last.

Thank you for talking about one of my fave woman this year, Shin Jae-yi. Her journey is unexpectedly full of warmth, especially when she finally found out about her long lost family and she realized that there are many people who actually really cared about her.

Both Shin Jae Yi and Lee Yoo Young deserves to be called heroine, they through a lot this year.
And maybe Lee Si Young too.

thanks, @saya. Enjoyed reading this. as i hinted in my review choices, the dramas i gave beans to had pretty amazing female roles. You just articulated it very well. Indeed, may our writers and PDs evolve to see the wonders and foibles of being woman. my wish, that 2017 is not a fluke on this regard, but that the world catches on fast.

Thank you for the wonderful review, Saya!

The heroine I admire the most and wishing to have her inner strength is Im Sang-mi of Rescue Me. But the character most of my friends would probably identify me with would be Age of Youth 2’s Ssong Ji-won. I cannot and will not argue against this assertion since the observation is quite valid and I love her, but if I were Ssong I would definitely jump Im Sung-min by episode 6.

Thank you for this @saya. It's always great to see a variety of characters in dramas and this includes a variety of women characters. They don't always have to be a damsel in distress or just another pretty face, as they say. Women, like men, are human beings that come in all forms. They can be strong, intelligent, toxic, ambitious, introverted, infuriating, charming, insecure ..... the list goes on. Your review was certainly a reminder that in the mix of usual fare, there did exist a number of diverse female characters. Hopefully, this will continue in the future.

Thanks again saya and for all you do throughout the year!

I’m also wishing for a lead role for Kim Seul Gi ❤️

currently watching save me and i love sang mi so much, such a great character

What a wonderful commentary. I love your analysis of different characters and relationships, especially that of Temperature of Love. TOL has my top sizzling but "reflective" relationship of the year.

Thanks, @Saya! I like especially your commentary on Temperature of Love. Despite some of its faults, I feel ToL has the most honest portrayal of what a relationship is like. It shows almost close to a real life one where it is never textbook- or real life- like with so many internal and external factors beyond your control. And can't agree with you more that it is as much about learning your own self as all other trials and tribulations.

Dear Ms. Saya, thank you for such a beautiful, insightful and soulful post.

Sadly this was a low K-Drama year for me. I watched both Tunnel and Goblin, so I am only able to talk about both heroines.

Yoo In-Nah's Sunny became almost achingly beautiful. She was a human, but in several ways she was more otherworldly and ethereal than the titular Goblin and Grim Reaper. I was also moved not only by her choice about Mr. Grim Reaper, but for the silent support she gave their brother, her sister in law and her love. She knew and remembered all of them after the (shall we say?) reset and even if she loved them and longed for them, she decided not to let them know what she knew, and instead supported them as if their meeting was afresh. It was such an extreme and pure love, and so selfless!... She became an archetype.

I already loved Ms. Yoo In Na before, but I fell heads over heels for Sunny. For me, as incredibly good as Goblin was, Ms. Sunny became the highlight.

On the other hand, Ms. Shin Jae-Yi was an intriguing character. She strucked me as a person with survival's remorse who didn't value her own life. Ms. Lee Yoo-Young's acting gave us a child that under her robot façade was almost crying the whole time: formidable in her logic yet so achingly vulnerable. She literally needed to die in order to value life (that and also find people who cared for her).

Anyway thank you Beanies for a year full of (mostly) friendly chat and some insightful conversations!.

As always, amazingly written, Saya! One female character I would like to add is Shin chae kyung from seven day queen.

When all your choices will bring a measure of pain, choosing the one you can live with best in the long term takes an uncommon measure of clarity and pragmatism

I feel like she makes similar choices too.

Song Ji-won all the way~

This was a trend in dramas that I absolutely ADORED and LOVED this year. It was so refreshing and satisfying to see women with strong characters who spoke up for themselves and never let anyone put them down (or if they were put down, they'd bounce back with so much courage).
Some of my favorite heroines from this year were most definitely
-Yoo Inna in Goblin
-Unni (Lee Yoori) in Father is Strange,
-Park Min Young in Seven Day's Queen,
-Bae Doona in Forest of Secrets,
-Jung Ryeo Won in Witch's Court,
-Suzy in While You Were Sleeping
-and Esom and Jung So-min in BTIMFL.
All these ladies were so bad ass and different from each other character-wise, but they always spoke up for themselves and never let anyone keep them down for too long. They shouldered up, and went about doing their own work in an efficient manner, even when they weren't in the best place mentally/emotionally. They were such a treat to watch, and I hope this trend continues and expands in the coming years, and hopefully, we'll get to see many more bad ass women in dramaland.
[ Honorable mentions: Fight For my Way, Suspicious Partner, 20th Century Boy, and Girl, and Whisper]

Beautiful piece! Love you too @saya, and all the more for doing this review on this year’s heroines. With you in loving Sunny so much. I will do whatever you will do for the Sunny-Reaper spinnoff. I know this is unpopular, but I endured watching the last few eps of Goblin just to watch Sunny and Reaper. 😊 But my favorite heroine out of this year’s bunch has to be Lingerie Girls’ Generation’s Jung-hee. ❤️ I just loved watching her teenage bliss and angst. And I really found her endearing.

Thanks, Saya, for an interpretation of Hyun-soo in TEMPERATURE OF LOVE that makes more sense than I was able to see in her. The abruptness of her eleventh-hour turn around made it too much for me to accept. Maybe I just have to let your assessment marinate in the back of my mind for a spell. ;-) However, I've got to hand it to Seo Hyun-jin: she' willing to play messy, complicated characters, and goes all in to do so. And that's why she's one of my most favorite actresses. ;-)

I was also revisiting the dramas that I ended up watching this year and came to the conclusion as well that I enjoyed them for a large part because of the female characters. There was Hyeyoung unnie, everyone's kick ass pillar of support from Father is Strange, San from The King Loves, who, while hated by many for her seeming indecesiveness on the love triangle, was also a self-less character who put the welfare of her loved ones above herself, Joon from Revolutionary Love, who was just morally upright and fought for her values and, Choi Aera, probably one of my favorite kdrama heroines in years, who just refused to settle for mediocrity and refused to give up on her dreams despite what life threw at her.

♥ I didn't think a write-up about Sunny can make me tear up, even a year after Goblin, but your writing did this to me :'(

I can add a lot more awesome ladies to this list! From Ha-kyung and Ga-eun in Chief Kim to Seol-ok to Jung-yeon to the whole Belle Epoque gang... I'm not sure if this was just a great year for heroines and female characters, or I'm just growing up and learning to notice and show more love for them. Either way, it's a nice change. Another point for 2017! :)

Ji Ho from "Because this life is my first" was the most relatable for me and so was the friendship that the three women shared.

For me, Radiant Office's Eun Howon played by Go Ahsung was the most relatable heroine (and prolly my fave char of the year). GAS made the character painfully relatable.

Great theme, and great picks! I also loved Kim Ah-joong in Live Up to Your Name, the BTLIOF crew of besties, Kim Ji-won in Fight My Way, Bae Doona and Shin Hye-sun in Forest. We had so many great heroines this year, for all that 2017 had few big hits.

Love you as always, you brilliant woman. ❤︎

There are really some sentences worth quoting here! At the end I felt the need to jot them down. That's how good it was. Thanks a lot @saya for staying with us year after after. I wish you all the best in 2018. We love you too.❤