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Korean TV List
Drama Series
Rating
Year
Twitter Summary
Trailer
Content (WIP)
By
Song of The Bandits
2023
Strongly influenced by '
The Good The Bad The Weird
', '
Red Dead Redemption 2
' (and possible references to '
Judge Dredd
', 'Star
Wars' & 'One Piece') this Korean Western is stylish, violent fun. Kim Nam Gil (
The Fiery Priest
!) is once again sad & unstoppable, and
Seo Hyun is sad in lots of fantastic hats. Great fi ght scenes. Lots of great supporting characters that don't get enough time.
Interestingly sympathetic to the communist rebels who would later become North Korea.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ujgGTWypdWs
⚔️💰🏯
Gyeongseong Creature 1
2023
Business owners & private detectives in 1940s Japanese-occupied Korea face off against very, very unpleasant things happening in
the local hospital. Very little humour (it's inspired by Unit 731) but good action, suspense, tragedy and special effects. A grim
'
Stranger Things
'. It shares some sets with '
Song Of The Bandits
' but now they're larger. '
Song of The Bandits
' has slightly better
hats.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Q3YgWMxaq8o
⚔️💀🏯👽🕶💰🏴
Alchemy of Souls
2022
Assassins! Mages! Biscuits! Monsters! Romance! Excrement!: One of the best k-dramas I've watched - a bit silly and wobbly in places
but enormous fun with great characters, effects and huge sets,There's even a second series. It's set in a Joseon-like fantasy kingdom.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=nlRw1CGbFU0
🌳💩🏯⚔️👻🐹💀🧀🏴
The Hong Sisters
Vincenzo
2021
Excellent, reminds me of
The Good Manager
in that it's about fi ghting big corporations, only this time with a high body-count, torture,
lots of guns, blackmail, and shameless product placement. A Korean-Italian mafi a troubleshooter shoots trouble & looks pretty/cool
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=S12-4mXCNj4
⚔️🕶🕶🕶💰💻🏴
Park Jae Bum
Inspector Koo
2021
Now fi rmly in my Top 5 Korean dramas, possibly at number 1. It's very diffi cult to describe in one tweet: it's a rather unconventional
and innovative detective series with a very women-dominated cast that avoids most k-drama stereotypes. Great music that's strangely
Madchestery
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Mhb1pq_v998
💀⚔️💰🧠🏳️
🌈
Hometown Cha Cha Cha
2021
A kind but awkward & snobbish dentist ends up in a seaside village, meets casual jack-of-all-trades, and nothing much happens.
Relatively low body-count. It's nice, funny, mostly cheerful and soppy. Ends with impressively forced Domino's Pizza ad. A romance
themed romantic comedy.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=z66fazyp3-M
💀🏳️
🌈🧑
🍳
The Uncanny Counter
2020
Originally missed off this list because it's not a romcom, but if Very Serious '
The Tree With Deep Roots
' has got on the list I can add a
fun Buffy-like superheroes-fi ght-demons-and-corruption series. Also, like The Tree With Deep Roots, it has Ahn Suk-hwan!
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=rI55SRM6uhs
💀⚔️🐹🕶👻💰
🧠🧑
🍳
💤
Yoo Seon Dong
Zombie Detective
2020
This knew exactly how daft it was & made a good job of it. Plot: full of holes. Detective: full of holes. Yet another evil vet, another CGI
pig, boy band, an entire restaurant of tripe (literally), "Express Bus To Busan" & people hit with frying pans.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=HyTSICDokjE
🐗💀⚔️🧀🧀👻💰
Mystic Pop-up Bar
2020
Fun, cheerful double-romcom about death and regrets, ghosts, supermarkets, and one of the odd temporary bars that seem to be in
every Korean TV series. Imagine a big budget Rentaghost reboot that dealt with things like miscarriages and fatal illnesses in a
sensitive way
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=pqaOkAyo0pI
💀🏯⚔️👻🌳🧑
🍳
Diary of a School Nurse / School Nurse
Files
2020
This is... very odd. A bit of rom, a bit com, huge amounts of slime, slime demons, teenagers, flesh tentacles, ghosts (slime), mass
hysteria, supernatural dumbo squid, and teachers. Only six episodes. A haunted school series focusing on the staff. A+
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=SUUiXTZzhQI
👻👽
Mr Queen
2020
A smug promiscuous top chef (male) in 2020 ends up possessing the body of a late-Joseon era Queen. It’s funny but there’s possibly
even more political intrigue than in a serious Joseon drama, & strong themes of how patriarchy turns women against each other. Some
excellent acting, especially from Shin Hye-sun as The Queen's two personalities. Lots of cooking! Lots of eunuchs! Was one of top 5
most watched things on Netflix.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=2-Ikfk0hJbw
🏯⚔️💩🧀💰👽
🧸🧑
🍳
💤
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung
2019
Another Joseon romcom - rather funny at fi rst, then more romantic, and then focuses on a constitutional crisis. Strong theme of
women's rights, progress and anti-corruption. It's about honest, accurate historians but is quite anachronistic in places. Lots of
likeable, almost Dickensian characters, and a very-Austen like female protagonist. We started calling the male lead "Sweet Prince
Doofus". It often feels more like a Japanese 'Isekai', as the heroine is an educated, smart, very modern woman living in an almost
medieval country, and being very smug about it at times. I want my own eunuch now.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=akqoXm7xu18
🏯💩⚔️💰
Crash Landing On You
2019
*The*
Korean Romcom of recent years. Very wealthy woman accidentally ends up in North Korea, meets tall sensitive sad NK captain.
Defi nitely one of the best so far, some surprisingly funny and sad bits, and a high body-count for a romcom, smart.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=eXMjTXL2Vks
💀⚔️🕶💰💤
Park Ji-eun
Kingdom
2019
Epic Joseon drama with all the usual Joseon drama bits, but this time with a vast zombie-like plague too. It succeeds as both a great
pseudo-period drama and as an innovative zombie horror series, and even manages a tiny portion of romcomness. One of the best
Bad Queens, if not the best. I thought many scenes resembled parts of the 'Days Gone' video game.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=4l-yByZpaaM
💩🏯⚔️👻💰🥩
The Good Manager
2017
A gangsters' accountant dreams of moving to Denmark but ends up an accidental hero to workers at a huge company. The entire
series is about dramatic inter-departmental accountancy battles and it's really good. Really. Barely any romance. Excellent antagonist.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=712pgZUFshs
⚔️🐹🕶💰💤
Park Jae Bum
The Tree With Deep Roots*
2011
Not a romcom, more a historical romtrag with fi ghting, betrayal, murders, scheming, linguistics research & Joseon big hats. Absolutely
brilliant.Stars the actors for the Sad Gangster in
Wok of Love
& Sad Psychotherapist from
Bride of Habaek
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=15ccZFV4zQE
💀🏯⚔️🐹🌳🏴🏴
Captivating The King
2024
Captivating The King' Another quality Joseon drama with Shin Sae Kyeong, this time playing an aristocratic lady with a secret life as a
brilliant male Go gambler. Everyone is scheming and plotting. Murders, plots, apparently gay romance, torture of course, good serious
acting. Possibly too serious. Like
Mr Queen
i
t
shows women trapped by court politics.
You will learn how to shout BOLLOCKS in
Korean.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=_1t7mqiqtkk
🏯💰🏳️
🌈🧸
Miss Night And Day
2024
A young woman struggling to fi nd work as a civil servant is cursed, or blessed, by an unexplained magic cat so that she becomes a
retirement-aged woman during the day, and then fi nds work with a grumpy-but-nice prosecutor, fi ghting crime and creating excellent
spreadsheets. It has serious themes and manages to be a silly farce too. Great supporting characters and actors. There is, of course, a
serial killer.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=TgU1Kf-7woU
💩💀🐹👻
Crash Course In Romance
2023
A nice, funny series focused on the stress of university entrance exams, on the students, parents and teachers. An aloof celebrity
maths instructor falls for a humble side-dish cook and mother. Lots of nice characters and a slow romance between older people,
plus, of course, a serial killer.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=M0roNIisQ5w
💩👭🧠🧑
🍳💤
The Uncanny Counter 2: Counter Punch
2023
A direct sequel for '
Uncanny Counter
' and more of the same fun. A new team member, new tougher villains (led by a surprisingly
muscular Kang Ki-Young, usually a nice nerd) with all the usual silly superhero team drama, this time based in an IKEA. There's a
wrestling in cow manure scene. Ahn Suk-hwan with a big machine gun! Blatant product placements for food from the company that
makes the series, which I then bought.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LOXTIrTcwVk
🐹⚔️👻💩💤💰
Strong Girl Nam-Soon
2023
A sequel to '
Strong Girl Bong Soon
', focused on another branch of the strong-women family, this time three generations of super-
powered women at once - a wealthy family in Gangnam - and the Mongolian-raised hero Nam Soon is even stronger than Bong Soon.
It's daft and fun. The heroine's Batman-like mother is frankly terrifying and I felt sorry for the villain. The super-strong grandmother's
wooing of the charming barista is possibly my favourite second-couple.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=bPnfXlsedvc
⚔️🕶👭🧀💰💩
Castaway Diva
2023
After being stranded on a deserted island for 15 years, a woman returns to society and sings a lot. There's a lot of music and a lot of
smart, perceptive drama, great characters. Strong themes of domestic violence, identity, the unfair power men have over women. Even
has a CGI pig! Two comas!
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Qieu0vtPaKc
🐗💤💤
Cafe Minamdang
2022
*takes a deep breath* a group of disgraced police offi cers start a "sexy man cafe" that lets them run a fake shaman scam to catch a
murderer, meet the sister of their dead friend who's now a vengeful super-cop and *then* it gets confusing. Somehow both grim and
silly. The romance element is mostly sidelined after about 2/3 through. It uses the same twist as a number of other dramas on the list.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=jooKgfdfPJg
💩⚔️💰🧀
Extraordinary Attorney Woo
2022
A legal romcom centred on a new lawyer with a rare form of autism. Generally very good but that makes its flaws and contradictions
stand out more. I disliked how one character was treated by the writers, otherwise it would get 5 stars. It has some lovely characters
and manages to highlight social issues despite the law fi rm often representing the bad side of a dispute. Lots of whale facts.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=MxeXECe2t-c
💩🧠🏳️
🌈💻
Unlock My Boss
2022
An unemployed young man fi nds a lost phone containing the soul of a top tech CEO and agrees to take his place. Surprisingly serious,
with
great acting and characters, but somehow too predictable. Phone-in-toilet scene wins a
💩
despite later claim there was a lack of
"number two".
P
ortrays self-driving cars as rubbish so may actually be more realistic than
'Startup'
.
Also f
eatures what looks like the
same AR tech as
'Memories of the Alhambra
'
but wins twice as many stars
.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=PxF6n_2Wd7Y
🕶💰💩🐹⚔️💤
Ghost Doctor
2022
A brilliant but unfriendly surgeon ends up in a coma and becomes a ghost, forced to team-up with a friendly young doctor lacking in
practical skills. The two leading women are very much in the background, this is a bromcom. Rather gory but sweet, sad and funny.
The surgeon is called Doctor Cha, but this is not the same Doctor Cha as in
Doctor Cha.
However his manager is the same actor as
the other Doctor Cha's manager.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=bR9pUYiYOgo
💀👻💰
🥩💤
💤💤💤💤💤
Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist 1
2022
A brilliant but smug Joseon doctor has a
very
bad day and gets exiled, where he meets a noble lady keen on autopsies and detective
work, and a grumpy drunken local doctor. Together, they... help people with mental health problems. It's a romcom but with a lot of
suicide, domestic abuse and other grim bits, including a plot line clearly influenced by '
Kingdom
'. Let down by one character played
with all the subtlety of a pantomime villain
and the female lead being underused
. Strange ending - hopefully it means there's a second
series.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=qc2Nr-1AYBc
💩🏯🧀💰🌳🧠🥩
Hello, Me!
2021
A depressed 37-year-old is visited by her obnoxiously cheerful 17yo self & starts fi xing her life. Lots of snacks. The main love-interest
man is daft but Very Nice. Sweet, sad and funny, but ultimately about death like almost every other Korean romcom.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=7i7XZ3eXNhc
💩👽💰🧑
🍳🧸
Sell Your Haunted House
2021
A warm-hearted fake exorcist.conman with a dark past teams up with a cold, gothy estate agent with a dark past, who is actually a
real exorcist haunted by her own mother. Unsurprisingly it’s all about death, family, regrets (with occasional humour and SHAMELESS
product placement) and is very sympathetic to the ghosts. There's also political corruption and gangsters, of course.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=ZJ-FwGvpMFk
👻💀🕶💰
Secret Royal Inspector & Joy
2021
A r
elatively silly lighthearted romcom but it's still a Joseon-period drama so there's the usual murder, torture, scheming, slavery, etc. A
smart, nice, naive & smug aristocrat gourmet teams up with a
smart, l
oud, direct
,
divorced working class woman to solve crimes &
corruption. The real-world inspiration
for the setting
appears to be exactly the same
as
Captivating The King
, but with different events
and a very different mood.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=krcICbziqiU
🏯⚔️🧀💰🧑
🍳🧸
Hellbound 1
2021
Grim, violent supernatural drama about huge demons horrifi cally attacking people in public and then incinerating them, and the effect
this has on society. Subtle and not-so-subtle satire of religion and society and some great action scenes and twists, but unrelentingly
dark.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LtdXK6yNFN0
💀👻🏴🥩
Startup
2020
An almost perfect example of a good Korean romcom, plus it has Python and Raspberry Pi vs Raspberry Pi drama. And lots of
corndogs. It has a VC who is secretly nice so it's obviously a work of fi ction. A good fi rst k-drama.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=BemKyzbLDDc
🐹👭💻
The Fiery Priest
2019
Ex-special forces Catholic priest with PTSD because he accidentally blew up 11 children takes on a murderous cartel and corrupt
police. Many similarities to
Vincenzo
(same writer) but much lighter & funnier. Huge buns, lots of poo, fi ghts
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=CnVU9tqQmj8
🐗💩⚔️🕶💰⛪️
Park Jae Bum
Extraordinary You
2019
Teenagers at a very posh private school realise they aren't real, and are actually part of a romance comic. I thought this would be funny
but is actually really rather sad and, once again, all about mortality. Apart from the running-joke continuity errors - the school uniform
keeps changing.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=a_1Tf3Rhf6E
🏯👻
Hotel Del Luna
2019
A perfect modern hotel manager & a 400-year-old vengeful semi-ghost hotel owner have romantic squabbles & the occasional murder-
attempt while running a hotel for ghosts. Lots of flashbacks to a previous romance. Quite sweet really but yet another sad series about
death
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=lJ3_1v8sB48
🏯⚔️👻🌳
The Hong Sisters
Her Private Life
2019
Competent, skilled art gallery curator is also an obsessive stalker/fan of a younger k-pop star. Her new boss at the art gallery is a Very
Serious Artist. Confusion & romance occur. It all sounds relatively dull but it's done very well: characters are good people, enemies
reconcile rather than take revenge, positive portrayal of gay characters, and the underlying theme is shared motherhood, not death.
Although it does have a death. Product placement for Canon cameras, the fi rst K-drama product placement to work on me.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=kw47Jqa6tqw
⛪️🧠
Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency
2019
A male trio of matchmakers/wedding organisers try to turn a poor young woman into a Proper Lady, like 'My Fair Lady/Pygmalion', but
it's a Joseon drama so there's also some waterboarding, limb dislocation, murder, suicide, and lots and lots of treacherous scheming
and fancy hats. It's still often very funny, good acting, great characters and some neat cinematography.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=HqaNL_txVzw
🏯⚔️
Lawless Lawyer
2018
Not a romcom, it's an anti-establishment justice drama like
The Good Manager
,
Fiery Priest
,
Vincenzo
, etc. Full of familiar
characters and scenes but enormous fun, despite some legal bits straining credibility. Lots of punching, gangsters & Subway food
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=HZ_QhFnAcTg
⚔️🕶💰
Park Jae Bum
Wok Of Love
2018
The one with gangsters, Chinese restaurants, the sleazy talking horse, huge amounts of cooking.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=jt_FCNQQjt4
⚔️🕶🧑
🍳
Strong Girl Bong Soon
2017
Super-powered slacker game-designer wannabe heroine. Macho cop boyfriend vs arrogant game company millionaire boyfriend.
Comedy gangsters! A creepy serial killer. Grandma's powerful excrement wine. Dad's walnuts. Theme tune! Terrible special effects at
the end.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=XLAlRGc7b8E
💩⚔️🧀🐹🕶💰
Korean Odyssey
2017
What if the characters from 'Monkey' were modern celebrities, and Monkey wanted to eat Tripitaka (the heroine, a psychic estate
agent)? With a nice, sad zombie, TV talent shows, ghosts, KPop Pigsy, a loveable moustached villain/bull god, lusty octopus god &
much more. CGI pig. Terrible special effects at the end.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=n2Y8EeHEkDE
🐗🏯🐹👻
The Hong Sisters
Bring It On Ghost!
2016
Uni student teams up with nice ghost to punch bad ghosts for money. An evil vet! Nice drunken monk! Blatant homages to Scooby
Doo. Quite sweet really.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=YYRMsrBCRYw
⚔️👻💤
She Was Pretty
2015
The heroine ends up with a job at a fashion magazine but... lots of mistaken identity, childhood sweet-hearts, mysterious handsome
but daft journalist things, drinking, more drinking, cow manure, bus stops.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Av_G2B8p6IA
💩
My Love from the Star
2013
A conceited actress & unsociable arrogant vulcan-like alien sociology lecturer fall in love, battle murderous CEO, bicker, use
superpowers. Not bad, quite daft. The obligatory Sad Love Rival looks a bit like John Noakes.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=AyQVdUxCA9E
🏯👽💰
Park Ji-eun
Rooftop Prince
2012
Joseon-era prince's wife is murdered, he somehow travels to 2012 with his trusty eunuch, academic & swordsman sidekicks, and then
there's comas, corporate intrigue, omelettes, and INTENSE nice sister vs evil sister sibling rivalry & hapless villain.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=_V7zypaUb2c
🏯👽💰👭👭💤
Chicken Nugget
2024
A young woman steps into a mysterious machine and is turned into a chicken nugget. Her father and not-yet-boyfriend try to turn her
back. Strange humour, yellow trousers, mad scientists, aliens, restaurants, and another CGI pig at last. Huge amounts of swearing. I
can't decide if the ending was good, weak, or good and then weak too.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?
v=9OWhVGM6xmA
🧀🐗💀🏯👽
Atypical Family
2024
A slow, thoughtful, emotional drama about a rich family with unusual, broken superpowers, and a poorer, scheming criminal family that
become entangled with them. If you wished 'Parasite' had flying and weird time travel you'll love this. It would have got 4 stars but two
great characters failed to become the gay couple they should have been and just became friends. Everyone is flawed, and unlikeable
until suddenly, maybe they are.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=CotipI30Bx8
🕶👭
Flex X Cop
2024
I expected to hate this: a rich irritating playboy is nepotismed into a team of detectives and solves crimes. But I actually enjoyed it - it's
nothing new but was competently done, and there's no forced romance between the rich cop and his boss. Cases sometimes get
resolved via the rich cop's knowledge of wealthy society, and sometimes because he just uses his money. A remake of a Russian TV
show.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=6V87swcUuMA
⚔️🧀💰
Gyeongseong Creature 2
2024
A
generous
3 stars: the words "Highlander 2" and "Alien 3" were spoken while watching. Fun, but very disappointing compared to
series 1, and relying on characters from the fi rst series (many of whom are pointlessly killed). Poor plotting, pacing and depth - almost
the entire series is just about revealing how it connects to the fi rst series. Hopefully series 3 is better. Irritating chittering ninjas.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=YXf8jghqSuY
⚔️👽🥩
Knight Flower
2024
A silly Joseon drama combining Batman (or Robin Hood, maybe?) and Cinderella as a widow supposedly living a life of isolation and
prayer but actually working as a vigilante ninja at night. Funny, exciting and with strong anti-patriarchy themes, let down by a
disappointingly mild end for villains & a heroine who seems to have had some anachronistic work done.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=HBCI6Cc-B1s
🧀💰⚔️
A Virtuous Business
2024
A remake of ITV series 'Brief Encounters', enhanced with extra K-drama plots and themes. A diverse group of women in a small town
in 1992 struggle to start an adult products business. There is a lot of social commentary in here, wonderful characters but also a lot of
silliness.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=d70hX6S6q2w
💤💩🧀🐹
Doctor Cha
2023
A medical divorce-comedy (divcom?) with some surprises, particularly in how it shows relationships and people to more complicated.
Much of the fun is from watching egotistic smug bad-husband doctor humiliate himself. Lots of good melodramatic acting and quality
farce, also lots of bowels-related action and surgical bits. Some limp episodes mid-way, but an excellent ending.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=qDjF9Bkib28
💩👻👭💀🥩
Behind Your Touch
2023
Another series that combines something very silly with a grim serial killer: in this case, a vet gains the ability to access any animal's or
human's memories by fondling their bottoms like a smart phone, and teams up with a grumpy arrogant detective to solve local crimes.
The fi rst half was going to get 5 stars, but it drags on at the end and the otherwise competent protagonist behaves poorly to push the
plot along. Great supporting characters, especially the thuggish best friend and her ageing girl-gang and the aunt re-wooing her fi rst
love.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=XfH2oW4ylyo
🧀💰👽
Bad and Crazy
2022
Bad Cop/Mad Cop series in which a corrupt anti-corruption detective has his life changed by a mysterious heroic weirdo. Sometimes
funny, sometimes full of stabbings and cruel psychological manipulation. Minimal rom, adequate com. First half funnier and more fun
than the second half
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vLOQkT2B_rk
⚔️🐹🕶🧠🧸💰
Yoo Seon Dong
The Silent Sea*
2021
Not a romcom: there is no rom, there is no com. There is a spooky abandoned moon base, murders, and water. Surprisingly good,
especially if you like shouting "No! Why would you do that?" while people in space make bad decisions. Unusual deaths, weak ending.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Af_Hj0MDBBQ
👽💰👭
Was It Love?
2020
A romcom but unusual: female protagonist ends up w/ 4 men in love with her but spends the fi rst 6 hours or so telling them to let her
get on with her work & raising her daughter because life is complicated enough. Who is the father? A nice gangster is in this one too.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=LYGJhj_l71A
Clean With Passion For Now
2018
Scruffy* working class woman & the posh, rude, mentally ill boss of a cleaning company fall in love & communicate very badly. Good
at fi rst, handles social issues/topics quite well but then deflates. Too much kissing. * Only in K-drama context
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=CVywAZZ8v9g
💩🐹🧠
Bride of Habaek
2017
Sulky naked useless god meets sad, bad psychiatrist, then the usual mix of shouting and pouting occurs. Pretty good but the
entertaining 'com' fades away, leaving 'rom' that is mostly awkward slurpy kissing and arguments. CGI pig. Shin Sae Kyeong is
wasted in this really.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=UR4p1cL5mrw
🐗🏯👻
W – Two Worlds Apart
2016
A surgeon falls in love with the smug fi ctional-but-real hero of her dad's comic. Lots of parallel worlds, time travel, and strategic use of
It Was All A Dream. Cursed Cintiq tablets. Another one that gets grimmer as it goes on until it's yet another romcom about death.
Imagine that Aha 'Take On Me' video with murders, taking a full day to watch.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=V1NKhET-Z4c
⚔️👽
Warm and Cosy
2015
Remarkably not that weird for something by The Hong Sisters - woman moves to an island and romantically bickers with a spoiled
playboy chef and the nice mayor, plus there's romance between a diver and property developer, with a bit of Mysterious Death In The
Past, lots of background BLOOP sound effects and cooking.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=iPbAuUdZOtE
🧑
🍳
The Hong Sisters
My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho
2010
Spoiled rich drama student unwillingly ends up living with daft cutesy ancient fox-spirit/young woman hungry for meat. There's a
supernatural scheming vet. It's rather cheap & cheesy and doesn't take itself seriously but is often fun, except for the fi nal 3 hours
which become confusing and melodramatic. CGI Pig. Moral: don't drink poison when someone says "drink this poison"
🐗🏯⚔️🧀👻⛪️
The Hong Sisters
Memories of The Alhambra
2018
It's about Augmented Reality, has an interesting idea, good acting, but both male and female lead characters are just so irritating we
spent too much time groaning, facepalming and hoping the bad guys kill them. Might continue later. Update: I fi nished watching it
while ill, nothing improved and it never made sense. If anything it got worse.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=2Lcy3XUDd_A
⚔️👽🏴
Cinderella and the Four Knights
2016
Honest, hardworking girl who has memorised The Art Of War ends up living with three spoiled rich young men. I'm still not sure who
the fourth Knight was. Too predictable and cliched. The female lead starts off quirky & brave & independent then just goes soppy/
floppy. Everyone behaves badly but is secretly nice, or is just nice. Still watchable, but it would have been better if the heroine ran off
with her apparent rival instead of picking one of the men. Grumpy grandad, and an Evil Sister.
https://
www.youtube.com/
watch?v=VWjXJ3DtSJk
💀👭
Backlog, Paused & Abandoned
Drama Series
Status
The Sound of My Heart
A comedy about a web cartoonist's rise to fame. Very funny, possibly too much toilet humour. Or
just too much toilet. We've not fi nished this one, maybe because of all the toilets, but I should try it
again when I'm not eating dinner.
Oh my Ghost!
A sexually frustrated ghost that possesses a shy junior chef and makes her harass her employer but
we foolishly started watching the Korean and Thai versions at the same time and got very confused
- don't do that.
Strongest Deliveryman
PAUSED
Most dramatic, packed opening episode of any so far but then all characters become unlikeable
The Kings Affection
PAUSED
A lighthearted role-swap Joseon period drama and OH NO. OH.
Under The Queen's Umbrella
PAUSED
Wives and concubines scheme and compete to make one of their sons the next king
Tomorrow
PAUSED
A shabby supernatural team (plus nice guy in coma) try to prevent suicides QUITE GRIM
It's Ok to Not Be Okay
PAUSED
Almost everybody needs to be yelled at IMHO
Rugal
ABANDONED
Having seen Choi Jin-Hyuk looking confused and blinking in the great comedies 'Miss Night and
Day' and 'Zombie Detective' I can't take this supposedly serious drama where he looks confused
and blinks a lot seriously but it also isn't funny
Brain Works
ABANDONED
This is like a K-drama written by an "AI" - it has all the usual tropes for a mismatched-duo cop
drama, but absolutely no energy.
Content Key (WIP)
Icon
Content
💩
Poop, lots of poop, or toilets, or vomit.
🐗
There's a wild boar, probably chasing someone
💀
The big theme is mortality
🏯
Joseon period drama, or flashbacks: lots of hats
⚔️
Martial arts or general fi ghting
🧀
Cheesy and it knows it
🐹
Ham star: probably
Ahn Suk-hwan
or
Kim Won-hae
🕶
Gangsters, maybe with a heart of gold after all. Or not.
👻
Ghost, demons, and other supernatural creatures
👽
Science fi ction, time travel, alternative worlds
💰
Fighting corruption
👭
Evil Sister
🌳
Look it's that same tree again!
⛪️
Yakhyeon Cathedral again!
🧠
Neurodiversity and mental health themes [1]
🏳️
🌈
Gay characters portrayed in a good way
🧸
Sweet Prince Doofus
💻
Computer nerd fan service [2]
🏴
Dark or sad ending [3]
🧑
🍳
Chef Protagonist
💤
Someone's in a coma, maybe
🥩
Scenes of surgery or gore
Notes
1
Not
including the generic depression/anger/guilt/trauma used so often in drama, especially "man seems obnoxious but there is a reason and I can fi x him" trope
or "PTSD/guilt has made me a violent antihero" cliche
2
N
ot
cliche hacker stuff where a hacker uses magical powers to deus-ex the plot. Absolutely not '
Memories of the Alhambra
'
3
Almost every k-drama has some darkness/tragedy in the plot, even in the comedies: suicide, childhood trauma and family tragedy are especially common
Disclaimer: I don't speak Korean, I'm a not an expert in East-
Asian media, I'm just someone who enjoys watching k-dramas on Netflix
and made this list because I'm a nerd and it saves time when
encouraging other people to try some k-dramas.
