Thanks for giving us your honest take on Perfume, @katakwasabi! It’s true we didn’t watch the drama beyond the first episode, and often a terrible set up is followed by a truly heartwarming story in dramaland. So, I’m grateful you commented, and hope that people who aren’t triggered by the same aspects we were, watch the drama for the eventual payoff.

The trouble is that first impressions matter. And even if the setup is meant to show us how bad things are, so we enjoy the eventual character redemption/triumph more, there are ways to do this without triggering people who actually have to face these issues in the real world. My co-host, Anisa (@laica) has battled life threatening allergies for decades of her life. To show SSR as a manchild is fine. To show him being actively cruel and selfish because of the same conditions as my friend, insults the years of pain and isolation she dealt with while always being considerate towards the people in her life. This would be less of an issue if so many dramas didn’t use mental/physical illness to excuse shitty behaviour.
And the problem with many dramas is that even when their end goal is to address things like ageism and body-shaming, they will indulge in heavy doses of that same prejudice in the initial episodes, believing that all is forgiven because eventually they intend to show how bad that prejudice is.

Anyway, we do appreciate your comment, and it’s good to know that the drama was worth watching to the end for you. =)