MC writes:
What shows have female leads that are relatable? Lately I get tired of watching candy girls with sad life stories yet are so cheery (I mean who would be so cheery if they had such a hard life!?).
I would love to watch shows with relatable female leads who have their good and bad days and grow through the bad days! I’m asking about female leads coz you did something similar for male leads.
Are you relatable? Am I relatable..?
Dear MC,
Thanks for asking this question! I realize that although I have written a post about female characters, that post was specifically for strong, interesting female characters, and while that may overlap somewhat with the female leads mentioned in today’s post, it’s true that strong and interesting doesn’t necessarily equate relatable.
WHAT DO WE MEAN, RELATABLE?
While thinking about this post, I realize that relatable is.. relative, really.
Depending on where we are in life, we’d find certain characters relatable because these characters might be going through a similar life stage to us, and we’d find others not relatable, because perhaps we just haven’t gone through what a particular character is going through, like motherhood, or divorce, for example.
So for today’s post, I concentrated on looking for female leads that feel like real people, regardless of the life stage they might be going through, or the challenges they might be facing. This has thrown up a very wide range of female leads, and I’m hopeful that wherever you might be in life, you’d be able to find at least a few female leads on this list, whose stories would resonate with you.
As always, I’m fully aware that I haven’t seen all the dramas out there, or I might have simply overlooked to include a perfectly relatable female lead. Feel free to add on to this list, &/or share your thoughts, insights and perspectives in the comments below, everyone! ❤️
18 Again
Relatability: She’s a single mom who’s overhauling her life. Finding her way back to the workforce; having to compete with younger colleagues; being passed over because of her age; having to raise her kids while she’s doing all of this.
She’s patient and determined, and does lean a touch perfect in how long-suffering she can be, but I still found her relatable in her struggles and her circumstances.
Review is here.
Age Of Youth
Relatability: This is an ensemble cast of young women in their early twenties, and I feel like these characters are so different from one another, that there’s surely someone you’d identify with, among the bunch. Whether you’re the shy type, the sexy unni type, the outspoken quirky type or the serious hardworking type, there should be someone in here, who resonates with you.
Season 1 review is here, Season 2 review is here.
At Eighteen
Relatability: She’s just a regular high school student with an open mind and an earnest desire to live according to her own principles. There are struggles, and a clash of values between her and Mom, among other things. I found her fight to be true to herself, very relatable.
Review is here.
Be Melodramatic
Relatability: Our main trio of female protagonists are each quirky in their own way, and still manage to feel like real people, in spite of those quirks. Because each of these ladies is quite distinct from the others, in terms of character, there’s likely someone in here, that you’d find relatable.
Review is here.
Do You Like Brahms?
Relatability: If you’re an introvert &/or a musician, you’d likely find our female lead relatable. As an introvert myself, I very much felt seen, because Show honors her introversion, and allows our story to develop around it.
Review is here.
Fight My Way
Relatability: She’s an everygirl with a newscaster dream, who may not have washed her hair, and who habitually wears sweatpants and a grungy orange t-shirt, in her downtime. I found her relatable, because she felt so real and down-to-earth.
Review is here.
Find Yourself [China]
Relatability: She’s a competent manager in her early thirties, who’s facing pressure to find a boyfriend and hurry up and get married, before she’s considered too old. However, she’s still got an idealistic streak in her, and would like to get married for love. Her characterization does lean a touch fairytale, in that she’s more good-natured than most people I know, but I still found her earthy and relatable.
Review is here.
Healer
Relatability: She’s bubbly, passionate and more interested in getting a great scoop, than in making sure her hair and makeup is pretty. I feel like this is arguably Park Min Young’s most relatable role, to date.
Review is here.
Hello, Me!
Relatability: The fantasy set-up is definitely a departure from real life, but the concept, of someone in her thirties being ashamed to face her idealistic, passionate, 18-year-old self, is something that I believe is relatable to lots of people.
Review is here.
History of the Salaryman
Relatability: She’s feisty, and prone to swearing, ha. She’s probably relatable to at least some of us, even if not most of us? 😅
Review is here.
Hometown Cha Cha Cha
Relatability: As an introvert, I actually found Show’s treatment of our female lead’s introversion very relatable. Her reactions, especially when people encroached on her personal space without sufficient warning, resonated with me a fair bit, which is why she’s on this list, even though the show itself is basically a romcom fairytale by the seaside. 😉
Review is here.
Hospital Playlist
Relatability: I think her relatability lies in the fact that she’s good at her job, is a nice person, and is single, in her 40s. I feel like there are probably a good handful of us who fit into that category too. Sure, we may not be as amazing at our jobs as Song Hwa, and we might be more prone to losing our patience than her, but I still found her down-to-earth and relatable – yet aspirational too, at the same time.
Season 1 review is here, and Season 2 review is here.
I Hear Your Voice
Relatability: She’s flawed, and that makes her relatable. She might not think the nicest thoughts, sometimes, and she might not have the purest motives, sometimes, but she’s a decent person at heart. I thought that was all very relatable.
Review is here.
In Time With You [Taiwan]
Relatability: She’s a regular girl who happens to be approaching 30, who has pretty relatable guy problems. She’s not perfect, and she definitely has her off moments. The only thing that isn’t that relatable, is how she’s got a lovely male best friend who’s had feelings for her all these years. But that’s the beauty of this earthy fairytale, isn’t it? 😉
Flash Review is here.
Let’s Eat
Relatability: She’s a single lady in her thirties, who’s very competent at work, and who finds joy and solace in delicious food. And yes, she’s not always polite, and has her fair share of impatient moments. Relatable much? 😋
Review is here.
Let’s Eat 2
Relatability: She’s a struggling freelance writer who’s got a crush on her neighbor, and a big appetite for good food. She’s also got some self-esteem issues that need to be worked out, and is, overall, highly relatable.
Review is here.
Lost [Human Disqualification]
Relatability: She’s reached a point in her life where she feels like she’s worked so hard, and yet accomplished nothing. Her struggle to find herself, and to find meaning in life, is one that I think would resonate with some of us.
Review is here.
Miss Korea
Relatability: She’s an ordinary everygirl who loses her job in a financial crisis, and, with nothing to lose, decides to join the Miss Korea pageant, as a way to win some prize money. Very believable and heartfelt.
Review is here.
My Unfamiliar Family
Relatability: If you’ve ever felt like you’ve got a weird family with more drama in it than the average family, this show is for you. Depending on your personal experience, you might find Mom, Elder Sis or Younger Sis more relatable. You can rest assured that Show’s touch is real and raw, even if the family issues aren’t exactly the same as yours.
Review is here.
Oh Hae Young Again
Relatability: She deals with a lot of emotional pain and insecurity over the course of our story, and I found her all-in, ugly-cry approach to wrestling with her grief, very relatable. Writer-nim is clearly intimately acquainted with emotional pain and how it all works, and this all resonated with me a lot.
Review is here.
Reply 1988
Relatability: She’s just a regular everygirl, with no particular grace, nor particular talent; just a noisy, loving family and noisy, loving friends.
Review is here.
Reply 1994
Relatability: She’s a regular girl who’s the opposite of genteel. She rocks ugly mop hair, shapeless clothes, and a rambunctious personality. She’s headstrong, stubborn and outspoken on the outside, and yet completely vulnerable and compassionate and even kinda shy beneath the surface. And, all those growing pains, of waiting for the call from that special boy, that never comes, is so very relatable.
Review is here.
Reply 1997
Relatability: If you’ve ever been a rabid fangirl who would go to the ends of the earth for your favorite idol, this female lead would resonate with you. She’s feisty and loyal, and feels so, so real.
Review is here.
Romance is a Bonus Book
Relatability: She’s a single mom trying to find her way back into the workforce, and trying to rediscover her lost mojo, at the same time. She’s sweet and earnest, but there’s a lot stacked against her, and so sometimes, she has to resort to.. less upright means. It’s all a little fairytale, yes, but it’s an earthy one that feels like it could be within reach.
Review is here.
Search: WWW
Relatability: Our three female protagonists are strong, opinionated, ambitious women, who have their good days and their bad days; their enemies and their frenemies. Probably pretty relatable, if you’re a strong career woman who’d like to change the world.
Review is here.
She Would Never Know
Relatability: She’s a normal woman who wants normal things, like the trust and commitment of her boyfriend, recognition and opportunities at work, and a mother who understands and supports her. I found it easy to understand her, because of how relatable I found her.
Review is here.
The First Half Of My Life
Relatability: Her life as she knows it falls apart when her husband announces he wants a divorce, and she’s forced to re-evaluate her life and how she wants to live it. So real sometimes that it hurts, but so very good, all the way to the end.
Flash Review is here.
The Rational Life [China]
Relatability: She’s a successful and talented legal officer in her thirties, who faces obstacles both at work and in her personal life. The general treatment is a little glossed over, generally speaking, but the way she maintains grace under fire, and the way she stands up for what she believes in, mostly without ever raising her voice, is good stuff. This is probably halfway between relatable and aspirational.
Review is here.
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
Relatability: She’s a hardworking athlete who’s unschooled in the graces of femininity, and is all shy and awkward in front of the person on whom she nurses a crush. So relatable that the secondhand embarrassment can get a bit much, in spots. 😅
Review is here.
Yumi’s Cells
Relatability: She’s a regular woman with all the typical thoughts and feelings that most women experience at some point. I’m still watching this one, but have found Show’s unpacking of Yumi’s inner workings impressively on point. This entire show feels relatable; not even exaggerating. 😁
Review is coming! (Episode 1 notes are here!)
IN CLOSING
I hope you ladies will find something relatable to watch, from this list! Some of these shows are a little older, but they are all solid watches that I personally enjoyed.
As always, if you guys have other shows to recommend or insights to share, please tell us about it in the comments – coz sharing is caring. 😉
I hope this helps!
Smooches. ❤️
~kfangurl
We’re all so relatable..! 😁
POST-SCRIPT:
1. If you feel that I missed anything, or if you have your own insights that you’d like to share with the rest of us, do tell us about it in the comments!
2. Do you have a question of your own? Drop me a comment here or on the Dear kfangurl page, or send me an email!
