Heroine addict

Sometimes I think 90 percent of Korean dramas are about the same girl. (See above.)

You know her: always hardworking and self-sacrificing, wide-eyed and innocent. Sure, the details are different. She makes a mean omurice, or she likes watching horror movies. Maybe she’s a little snarky, maybe not; that’s where her individuality ends. And while she may be the star of the show, she never really grows or changes. Things happen to her, not in her. It’s her love interest that becomes a new person, usually thanks to her positive influence.

Other kinds of girls—the ones who are troubled, conflicted, and unsure—tend to be the “bad guy” second lead who may or may not find redemption by the end of the show. They’re Rachel from Heirs, pushing meek little Eun Sang’s suitcase down the stairs. They’re Yoon He Ra in Playful Kiss, doing everything in her power to make the female lead look stupid. They’re Oh Se Young in I Need Romance 3, sleeping with the lead’s boyfriend because...well...why not?

It’s a rare, special Kdrama that allows malcontents like to take the lead, and then dares to allow her to evolve rather than punishing her. 

Here are some dramas to watch if you’re looking for a girl who has a mind and a journey of her own.

Secret Love Affair

Also known as my boyfriend, the Korean drama, this show revolves around Oh Hye Won, the queen of difficult women. She’s tricky and morally flexible, and has spent her adult life doing distasteful things for money. Watch it for her sizzling chemistry with the younger man who opens her eyes to what she’s become, watch it for the creeping sense of dread that touches even the happiest scenes as her life begins to fall apart, and—hopefully—watch it for the glorious redemption she finds by the finale. 

A Wife’s Credentials

A powerful drama about everyday life and the things we do to survive it, A Wife’s Credentials follows middle-aged, middle-brow Yoon Seo Rae as she decides whether her own happiness is worth more than her wedding vows. But the handsome—and equally married—dentist whose kindness and easy charm tempt her toward infidelity is only the beginning of Seo Rae’s problems. (Why yes, Kim Hee Ae of Secret Love Affair does make two appearances as an adulteress on this very short list. It’s easy enough to see why—at her age, she can either star as a cheating wife or a hide in the background as somebody’s mother. She definitely made the right decision about both of these roles.)

Flower Boy Next Door

This sweet, silly character study introduces us to Go Dok Mi, a reserved girl who’s content to live life apart from the rest of the world. Well...content until she meets manic pixie dream boy Enrique, anyway. He’s a blast of sunshine in her drab universe, and he helps her control the fear that has held her frozen her in place for so long. 

Que Sera Sera

Eun Soo is a lot like typical Kdrama girls, except for the whole squatting in a stranger’s apartment thing. As she falls in love with a heart-breaking gigolo, her wide-eyed innocence is replaced by hard-edged anger that drives her to do things she shouldn’t, and then prompts her mature acceptance of the world and herself. 

Prosecutor Princess

The Korean version of Elle Woods from Legally Blonde has a dark secret: She used to be fat. When the series begins, she’s also not so crazy about the concept of hard work, which is unheard of in the world of Kdrama girls. (You can always count on her to be stylish, though.) Over the course of 16 rom-comy episodes, Hye Ri transforms from a spoiled brat who doesn’t care much about other people to a driven prosecutor who can solve any mystery with her unique brand of brainy, breezy common sense. Factor in a mysterious flower boy and a big mystery, and you have a drama about a girl who’s going places.

I Hear Your Voice

The only thing Korea loves more than a dashing prosecutor is a dashing prosecutor who used to be a total mess. Thanks to a bad childhood experience, Hye Sung is a slob who slacks off at her job as prosecutor, using every ounce of her energy to avoid playing the hero. But everything changes when she realizes that it’s impossible to hide from the past, whether that means hooking up with a cute younger man who can read her mind or fighting off a serial killer who wants her dead.

Dream High

Whether she’s a pampered princess or a homeless delinquent on the run from gangsters, Hye Mi is always a girl to be reckoned with. She doesn’t undergo a massive character transformation in the course of this show, which is actually why I put her on this list. Dream High lets her grow and change but still stay herself—the kind of girl who makes up her own mind about things and never quite falls into step with the world around her. Hye Mi might not be the star of this show, but she’s proof positive that you can have a happy ending without turning into a smiling dramabot.

Painter of the Wind

Unlike most cross-dressing drama girls, Shin Yun Bok didn’t want to pretend to be a boy—she was forced into it by an adopted father eager to make use of her artistic talent. She meets the perfect teacher and falls in love (maybe not with the person you expect), but her real story is about the journey from cowed schoolgirl/boy to someone who makes hard decisions for the people she loves.

Ojakgyo Brothers

Baek Ja Eun travels the traditional path for a troubled drama girl. She starts off as a rich and lazy celebutante who’s content to glide through life on her good looks, but grows into a hardworking farm girl who’s always eager to do the right thing. What makes Ja Eun special, though, is that the catalyst for her change isn’t a guy (although she does pick up one of those along the way). Instead, she finds the mother figure she always longed for and learns from her what it means to live a dedicated, compassionate life.

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That’s a distressingly short list, isn’t it? Are there other female leads out there who grow and change as the stars of their own dramas, instead of reacting to the world around them? (And aren’t punished with cancer or death in the end?)