Una Chang, Entertainment and Advice Writer
With the current K-pop sensation surrounding artists such as BTS, it is common to see fans streaming over to the TV industry to explore what Korean Dramas have to offer. The term ‘drama’ is primarily used in Korea to describe TV shows. It’s not the formal term for ‘tea’ (*sipping sound*) as we have here – although there is plenty of that in the Dramas.
So you may be wondering, what is this article even about? Well imagine this scenario: pretend that you’re a newbie to the whole K-Drama world. You want to find out what everyone is talking about and see all the good looking actors and actresses (lucky for you, there’s a lot of them!!!). But when you open up a streaming site and search “K-Drama”, hundreds of results come flooding in. You panic. You don’t know what drama to watch first. You spend 5 hours reading the synopsis of every drama deciding what to watch until it’s 3 am and your mom is yelling at you to go to bed. The next day, you finally watch one that you chose after long hours of reading synopsis. Feeling relieved and happy, you start to watch the drama. Halfway through of the season, it starts to get really boring. But it’s too late to go back now and go through the whole process of choosing a drama to watch. So now, you realize you wasted countless hours into choosing a drama to watch that you don’t even enjoy. What a waste of time!
Have you ever been in that position before? One thing that I can tell you for sure is that I have. And today, I’m here to save you all. After extensive hours of research of good K-Dramas to watch, I have come up with 10 dramas that you MUST watch and are VERY VERY INCREDIBLY spectacular, so you don’t have to go through the LONG process of trying to choose a drama to watch like I once did. Although I must say, all of these are my top 10 favourites, and I tend to like a little too much rom-coms!
10. Oh My Ghost – Plot: Timid Na Bong Sun gets possessed by the ghost of a confident young woman who seeks to solve her unfinished business by hooking up with Bong Sun’s boss, famous chef Kang Sun Woo. Now, the drama is so much more fun and quirky than what the plot hints. I was wonderfully surprised with the plot twist that occurred near the end. To make things better, this drama is up on Netflix!
9. Cheese in the Trap – Plot: Hong Seol (Kim Go Eun) is a dedicated student who has just returned to college after taking some time off to work part-time jobs and make money to pay for her tuition. Nothing has come easy for her in life, but she is determined to study hard and overcome her impoverished background. Yoo Jung (Park Hae Jin) is a handsome, athletic student who has returned to college as an upperclassman after serving his mandatory military service. Despite Seol’s best efforts, she keeps having unfortunate run-ins with Jung that irritates her while her friends, Jang Bo Ra (Park Min Ji) and Kwon Eun Taek (Nam Joo Hyuk), try to run interference. I LOVE this drama. The performance of the actors and actresses here are just fabulous.
8. Memories of Alhambra – Plot: While searching for the cryptic creator of an innovative augmented reality game, an investment firm executive meets a woman who runs a hostel in Spain. This drama definitely keeps me on my toes. Better yet, this is currently running on Netflix! Can we just please appreciate the CG here as well as the main actor in the drama – Hyunbin!
7. Secret Garden – Plot: The accidental meeting of Joo Won and Ra Im marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies. This drama is filled with fun-filled moments that you can watch on Youtube or streaming sites such as Viki. This also has the actor Hyunbin in it, which makes it even better!!!!
6. W- Two Worlds – Plot: A surgical resident is pulled into the webtoon (online comic) world of W, which was created by her father, and becomes entangled in a murder mystery. This drama is awesome in the sense that it incorporates an uncommon storyline filled with suspenseful surprises.
5. Goblin – Plot: Goblin, who once was an unbeatable General in ancient times and died tragically, possesses an immortal life and hopes to end the torture by finding a human bride who can pull out the hidden sword in front of his chest. Having searched for the bride for 900 years, one day, he met Ji Eun Tak who can summon him and claims that she is his bride. Gong-Yoo’s and Kim Go-Eun’s performances in this drama are fantastic. You won’t regret watching it!
4. The Heirs – Plot: After a chance encounter in LA, two teens from different social backgrounds reunite at an exclusive high school attended by Korea’s super-rich. Ahhhh! I have warm feelings whenever I see this drama, as this was the show that got me hooked onto the whole world of K-drama!
3. The Moon that Embraces the Sun – Plot: Historical drama “The Moon Embracing The Sun” tells a love story between King Lee Hwon and a female shaman named Wol. Wol was born from a noble family and became the crown princess, but she was entrapped and faced execution. This drama earned high ratings in Korea, and when you watch the drama, you can see why!
2. My Love From the Stars – Plot: An alien who has been stranded on Earth for more than 400 years is almost able to return home, but finds himself developing feelings for a famous actress. Once you see the drama, when you think of an alien, you won’t think of green gooey globs or E.T anymore (you’ll think of the beautiful face of Kim Soo Hyun!)
1.Descendants of the Sun – Plot: A love story between Captain Yoo Shi Jin, Korean Special Forces, and Doctor Kang Mo Yeon, a surgeon at Haesung Hospital. Together they face danger in a war-torn country. This drama!!! It makes me feel strong emotions (don’t worry, they’re all positive ones). You MUST see this! To your convenience, it’s on Netflix!
That is it for my suggested dramas! Do you agree with my suggestions? Leave comments below to offer some more to help out the community. 🙂
