Patterns in Jdramas (this applies to TV series in general but I'm justtaking it in the asian drama world)

As a jdrama watcher, I noticed a couple of things about japanese dramas. One of the things is that in some  dramas (not all) they have a pattern with each episode. Each episode is different but has a similar structure as to the previous ones in a specific order. It becomes really repetitive and in some cases, predictable. Now this isn't only limited to just jdramas, but also in any other language shows. I just usually see the pattern sequence mostly from jdramas out of the three language dramas that I watch which are: Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
If you don't know what I mean by this repetitive pattern I'll show you some examples:

(This may contain spoilers so if you haven't watched any of these series and you plan on watching them, I'd advise you to skip it or not continue reading)

Gokusen Series


Gokusen is about a woman named Kumiko Yamaguchi or known as"Yankumi" (nicknamed by her students) who is the next heir to the Yakuza business but does not wish to follow that path. Instead she wants to achieve her dream of becoming a teacher. She applies to be a teacher at an all-boys school. However, she was assigned to the worst class of the school, class 3-D. It's filled with delinquents and many students who have no hope or goals in life. Throughout the series she helps her students on real world situations and guide them to a better direction in their life and gives them motivation to keep trying. The pattern in this drama is that in every episode it usually follows in this sequence:

1. A problem is introduced
2. One of the  main students seem to have an issue of their own and acts kind of strange
3. Yankumi butts into the student's problem and tries to help but the student declines
4. Yankumi tries to figure out more of the situation and figures out that the problem that was first introduced is related to that student
5. The student is in trouble with some bad guys and Yankumi saves the day.
6. The student then realizes how different Yankumi is from ordinary teachers and begins to respect her as not only a teacher but also as a person.



This followed throughout the series with the main group of students (usually 5-6 guys). Around the end, her students change and become better people. Also at the end of every season it introduces the problem of her being almost fired and how her students try to prevent it and stuff.

Atashinchi no Danshi


This drama is about a girl who is left with a huge debt by her father and battles her way to survive. One day she meets a rich man who makes a deal with her. He will pay off her debt if she marries him and becomes the mother of his six adopted sons, which one of them will be his successor. Shortly after they marry, the rich man dies and leaves several missions for his wife and sons to follow to unlock the secret of the family.
The pattern usually goes like this:
1. Chisato (the main girl in the drama) gets a mission left by her deceased husband
2. Everyone is uncooperative to help out and even try to make it impossible for her to pass
3. She somehow finds a why to succeed in the mission and regains the support of one of the brothers, and slowly all the brothers begin to accept her from each mission at a time


Risou no Musuko

This drama is about a single mother, Umi, who raises her son, Daichi, to become a "mama's boy" in order for him to buy her a bigger house (so basically she wants him to spoil her when he's older and successful). Although because he was raised this way, he has become overly attached to his mother that he does whatever it takes to please her and also is overprotective of her when a man gets close to her. One day, Umi gets a job at an all-male high school where there's a lot of rebellious guys and such. When Daichi hears of this, he quickly drops out of his prestigious high school and enters the school where his mother works at in order to protect her.
1. A villain appears in the school and causes trouble
2. Daichi becomes worried that the villain may be a threat to his mom so he takes action
3. Tries to defeat the villain even though he's quite weak
4. In the end, he uses "Mama boy's punch" thing that give him some weird power that allows him to beat the villain
5. The villain then befriends Daichi

I'd name other dramas but let's just stick with these three.

These dramas show a pattern and a sign of repetition of the gist of each episode. Of course they have different problems presented however the structure is the same. It's similar to certain action series with the "Villain of the Week" concept. It's repetitive but keeps you interested on the new villains. So I'm not saying that this pattern is something that should be taken negatively. Of course for others, this can be taken as boring and want to see something in more a story format filled with surprises. This all depends on perspective.

If there's any dramas that you felt that would've fit this post, feel free to comment below!