(Originally posted to my Substack)

In 2015-2017, I ran an Asian drama review blog. I was obsessed with Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese dramas, sitcoms, variety shows, and movies. They were pretty much all I watched during those years.

I was hooked on them for a very similar reason that people love genre fiction; dramas (usually) follow a very specific formula. There’s a meet-cute, comedic run-ins, feelings, a massive fall-out/breakup/reveal to cause conflict, you spend a few episodes crying because of the problems, then by the end of the drama, they are back together, and you’re crying because they’re either going to be together forever or have been separated forever. Knowing what’s going to happen, or at least being prepared for it, is very comforting. Sometimes, when a show goes outside of the box, you end up with a truly special show.

I’m not sure when dramas started picking up speed again, probably like 2020, when we were all stuck inside with nothing better to do, or maybe it was because of Squid Games? But now you can watch dramas on pretty much any streaming platform.

If you’re like me and my friends, you’ve recently watched K-pop Demon Hunters (maybe more than once). Watching that might have reignited your love for K-pop, and then somehow you’ve found yourself craving the wild world of dramas again.

If you’re brand new to any of these, CONGRATULATIONS! I’m so excited for you to step into this world. Dramas are funny, emotional, strange at times, but ultimately some of the best storytelling I’ve ever seen.

Rachel’s Top Ten (for now):

1. Healer – An illegal “night courier,” a tabloid news reporter, and a famous journalist are brought together by a decades-old incident resurfacing with a string of murders.
2. Strong Woman Do Bong Soo – A petite young woman blessed with inherited super-strength from her mother’s side, who dreams of creating video games and marrying her childhood crush, is discovered and recruited by a gaming company CEO to be his bodyguard.
3. Descendants of the Sun – Focused on two South Korean soldiers in active duty and the doctors they fall in love with, this heart-wrenching drama is full of strained relationships and suspenseful drama, both medical and military.
4. Her Private Life – An art gallery curator has a secret life as a K-pop fansite manager and photographer, but when a new Gallery Director steps in at work, she worries her secret will cost her professional career.
5. Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin) – A young girl is born into a life of suffering as “the goblin’s bride,” who can see ghosts and holds the key to the end of the Goblin’s unwanted immortality.
6. Hotel Del Luna – A supernatural hotel for ghosts with unfinished business, run by a mysterious woman who is bound to the building after a previous sin, and a young human man whose father sold him into the work to save his life as a child.
7. The Girl Who Can See Smells – A young woman wakes from a coma with the ability to see smells as colors and images, and she teams up with an emotionless cop to bring criminals to justice, including a serial murderer who may be responsible for killing both of their families.
8. A Gentleman’s Dignity – A slice-of-life comedy series about four male friends in their forties and the women they fall for, as they navigate the next stage of adulthood and face the mistakes of their youth.
9. Reply 1988 – Third installment of the “Reply” series. A slice-of-life comedy following a group of young friends and their families in 1980s South Korea, a time of the Olympics, political strife, and changing societal norms.
10. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo – Coming-of-age college sports drama around a female weightlifter chasing Olympic dreams while dealing with body-consciousness, and a young male swimmer dealing with mental hurdles to get back in the pool and a crush on a girl who likes his older brother.

There are so many more that I have watched and loved, but these are the ones that I keep going back to. The lists below do not even scratch the surface of what’s out there and fantastic to watch. I’ve been out of the drama game for a while, but I’m back. Maybe I’ll post some of my thoughts if I come across some interesting ones.

Want a bigger list?

Classics:

Secret Garden – body swap

Coffee Prince – Boy is actually a girl in disguise

Descendants of the Sun – Medical drama mixed with military…soo many feels

Kill Me, Heal Me – Mental health/Multiple Personalities

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho – Mythological Creature

My Love from the Star – Alien…

Dream High – The best music drama out there

Crash Landing on You – North Korea/South Korea relations

Sungkyunkwan Scandal – Historical RomCom/Boy is actually a girl in disguise

Master’s Sun – Girl can see ghosts; He’s the grumpy CEO

Rips your heart out multiple times:

It’s okay to not be okay – Mental Health rep/Medical

Extraordinary Attorney Woo – Autism rep/Law drama

Flower of Evil – Secret life as a former serial killer

My Mister – Girl obsessed with older guy protects him in very illegal ways

The K2 – Bodyguard/shut-in romance; political chaos

W – She falls into a comic book

Tale of the Nine-Tailed – Mythological creatures

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo – Don’t do it to yourself, but if you really want pain

Just Between Lovers – Like…really don’t do it unless you want to cry the entire time

Feel Good (then sad, then good again) RomComs

She was Pretty – Makeup makes you hot?

What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim – Terrible boss falls for secretary

Vincenzo – Mafia/Law drama

Business Proposal – Fake relationships; based on webtoon

Any of the “Reply” Series: Reply 1988, Reply 1997, 1994 – Great slice of life romance that gives insight into different time periods in Korea

True Beauty – based on a webtoon

The Bride of the Water God – Mythological creatures

So I Married an Anti-Fan – Girl fake-dates an idol; based on a webtoon

My Roommate is a Gumiho – Mythological Creatures, based on a webtoon

Suspicious Partner – Serial Killer on the loose…it might be her new coworker

Fight for My Way – Young people trying to figure life out; one wants to be a boxer

Tastefully Yours – Food/grumpy girl meets over-excited boy/enemies to lovers