@ronsboy67 Interesting. The IRIS franchise, especially the spin-off Athena, was well received here. In my case, it's actually the first time I've heard someone who did not like it. I guess that points to cultural differences and genre preferences. Was it perfect? Of course not.
As for Strong Woman, was it not the point of the writer to expose it without getting a negative reaction from their own culture? If one's culture (in this case, the writer's) still have prejudices against this and that, fiction is often the best way to express it and to expose it. Fiction has been used that way for centuries.
Many #Kdrama I've seen for the past 7 years touched on sensitive issues common in South Korea that either no one is talking about or you'll get cancelled for raising it up (for example, toxic feminism). So, fiction became a medium. It's there, and hopefully people in Korea noticed it at least (because foreign fans typically missed it and instead are drooling for their favourite actors).
This is what I like with K-drama, and #Jdrama for that matter, there are social issues embedded in their stories. This has been forgotten, in general, in Western entertainment. In the West, it's about how much money they'll earn; to the point that they'll pretend they agree with “movements” just so members of those “movements” will watch their shows. This is why I like “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, because of all the “nuTrek”, SNW is the only one that went back to its roots (but it does not mean I don't like the other ”nuTrek” series).
Going back to Korea, it was actually amazing that productions like “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” and “Innocent Witness” were green lit, as well as, “The Devil Judge” and “The Killing Vote”. These shows directly addressed social (and political) issues. If I take a guess, they got green lit because those issues (prejudice against #Autistics; and corrupt politicians) apply not just in South Korea, but everywhere else; otherwise, they more likely have to do embed it, or just mention in passing.
In any case, maybe it is just me. When I watch, I try to unlock the mind and goal of the writer, and understand the story from their perspective. What made prompted them to write it this way? What drove the director to express an act in a particular way?
For example, the K-drama “Please Don't Date Him”, and another one I can't recall right now, got so much negative reaction from foreign audiences. Some even had the audacity to make statements like “it doesn't happen in real life” or “the writer should quit, they don't know how to write a good story”. But, when I explained it to them, they changed their mind.
It's the same with “Grid”, “Alice”, and “Sisyphus: The Myth”. The writers got reactions like “the writer is dumb”; “that's now how time travel works”; “they should stop writing, they suck”. Likewise, after explaining it to them, they understood the story and what the writer had in mind.
So, I guess, it is just me seeing things differently in these stories. Maybe because I see these as a form of #Art. If it is an art, then we have to view it and understand it from the creator's perspective.