My Favorite Korean Dramas

What's a Korean drama? Not a soap opera. There are Korean soap operas, just like there are in pretty much every language, but the word drama is literally the word used to mean TV show. It encompasses all genres of fictional Korean television.

However, unlike American dramas, Korean dramas are generally 16-24 episodes, and that's it. I really love that, because to me it's like reading a book. There's no ten years of serial, but a beginning, middle, and end; a full story arch.

A few of my favorites are...

• Pinocchio. My favorite actor and my favorite actress are the leads in this show that deals primarily with the subject of truth and the media--where they overlap, where lines are blurred, and the effects that can have on a person's life. I love it because it feels very well written--not like things were written haphazardly as the show went on, but like the story and plot were well thought out in advance. I also very much like the balance of drama and comedy. It can be really intense, but it also has parts that have me laughing in stitches no matter how many times I've seen it.

Lee Jong Suk & Park Shin Hye in Pinnochio

• Healer is about a girl who's a reporter for an online tabloid and determined to make a difference in the world, a man who's a famous reporter for a news station, and a man who lives his life as a thief to save up enough money to buy an island away from everyone else. Their story intertwines with another story from decades ago, which is told through memories and flashbacks. It's heartbreaking, beautiful, and funny. The lead girl is beyond adorable, and the lead guy plays the Clark Kent/Superman sort of dual personality fantastically. Plus, it has lots of unnecessary parkour, and who doesn't love a show with unnecessary parkour?

Healer

• W: Two Worlds or just W is another starring my favorite actor. This one was released this year (2016) and I fell madly in love with it very quickly. It's about a woman who's father is the author of a popular webtoon/manhwa (the Korean word for manga/comic book) called W. Lee Jong Suk plays the character her father created, and she somehow is able to travel between the real world and the one her father created. It's got a mystery/thriller vibe to it, which I totally dug, and balances out edge-of-seat-AHH moments with funny and fluff. I also love the way they blended comic book art with the filmography.

Lee Jong Suk as Kang Cheol in W

• Flower Boy Next Door is about a girl who's basically a recluse. She has anxiety about a lot of things in the outside world due to her past, so she spends most of her time holed up in her apartment, editing manuscripts and watching TV programs about places she'll never visit. Then a really energetic, genuine guy moves in across the street, and he becomes determined to help her live her life not so scared of people. It's not very dramatic, and it's not a masterpiece of writing. But I love this show because I personally feel like I relate to Dok Mi, and because I think the lovable characters make up for any lack in the plot. It's mostly a comedy, so it's nice and fluffy too.

Flower Boy Next Door

Flower Boy Next Door

• EXO Next Door is a mini-series (16 episodes that are about 15 minutes long each) about four members of the real-life idol group EXO moving in next door to a supremely awkward twenty three year old girl (yeah, I relate). Of course it's all fiction, but it's funny and cute, especially if you happen to be a fan of EXO. Which I think we might all know a little too well that I am. *insert embarassed emoji here*

EXO Next Door

• Cheer Up (also known as Sassy Go Go) is a drama set in high school, which made me at first think it would be like most other dramas set in high school. But I was happily surprised--this drama deals with a lot of deep themes (love, friendship, stress, abuse, confidence, forgiveness) but maintains a positive vibe. I think it's super well written and the characters all feel three dimensional, not archetypal. 

Now I cheat and add to this list one of my favorite movies! It's the 2014 film The Pirates. I'm also a huge fan of the Taiwanese drama Fabulous Boys, which is a remake of the first Korean drama I ever watched (except I like the Taiwanese version a lot better!)

Remember that watching one drama doesn't form a basis for judging all! That would be like watching Friends or Rizzoli and Isles and then judging all American television. Every show is different, right? Different genres, different writers, different networks, different actors. That's the same in any language.

I watch Korean dramas mostly on viki.com, but there's more and more being added to Netflix!

<3 강다은 Da Eun