After watching so many drama series in just the first half of 2020, I just want to share some of my favourites vis-à-vis to the plot, characters, cinematography and overall entertainment value and whether I would recommend it or not. Note that this is just my personal views and not meant to be taken too seriously! In no particular order, just in chronological order which I watched these series.
JTBC 'Sky Castle'
(2019, 20 episode)
'Sky Castle' was the first drama I watched at the start of the year - although its a old drama from 2019, I finally had time to watch it, especially with its high reviews and recommendations from friends - it was the highest rated cable drama in history (until 'The World of The Married' took over its reign) and also winning 4 awards at the prestigious 55th Baeksang awards - Best Director (Jo Hyun Tak), Best Actress (Yum Jung Ah), Best Supporting Actor (Kim Byung Chul) and Best New Actress (Kim Hye Yoon).
'Sky Castle' revolves around the stories of upper class families staying in a luxurious and exclusive residential housing area Sky Castle, showing how the housewives tries their best to get their children to prestigious universities - particularly the Seoul University Medical School. With the help (or not) from Kim Jooyoung - a dubious exam coordinator with acclaimed reviews and records, Han Suh Jin tries to get her daughter to gain entry to Seoul University Medical School. However of course, dramas being drama, things are not as simple as it is. What is Kim Jooyoung's real agenda? What are the conflicts in this highly prestige and upper class environment? The real identities and agenda of the different characters gets revealed - be it the ugly truth or shocking revelations, every episode leaves you hanging for more.
Highly recommend this drama, sheds light on the realities of education and parent's role in how they want their children to do well - aspirations vs reality, especially on how their "control" would affect their children in a good or bad way. Of course the acting in this drama is superb - with perfectly created characters, which makes this satirical drama strike a balance between its serious and comedic aspect, as well as showing the importance of family ties and relations. Nonetheless, I wished the ending was better - it felt rather rushed and left much to be desired though the overall message was highly commendable.
Keywords: Education, Family, Upper class, Drama, Murder, Mystery
Rating: 8/10
tvN 'My Mister'
(2018, 16 episodes)
Another 'old' drama, this one is from 2018, but I have always wanted to watch this because there's IU and it was also highly raved as the "life drama of all the actors", alot of good reviews about this drama. This drama won 'Best Drama' and 'Best Screenplay' at the 55th Baeksang Awards and was highly commended for its raw and inspiring life story.
I did watched the first episode back then but I didn't really continue because it wasn't my cup of tea. But as time goes by, I gave this drama another chance and I really did not regret it - I was honestly inspired by this drama towards the end and it was a comfort to me. This drama revolves around the story of three brothers, and IU, who plays a woman with an ill-fated life and treats life as cold and how they come together to "help" and bring comfort to each other.
This is not your typical romcom drama but a really inspiring slice of life drama with a message that "you're not alone" and that someone will always be there for you - which in this drama was portrayed very clearly with the dynamics between IU's role and the family. Showing the struggles in life, the hard reality of living through each day and how life hits you hard yet brings you comfort and tears at the same time. This was a dark and beautiful drama - especially with the OSTs (added points for the OST list) which adds on to the overall vibe of the drama. This drama was all just nice - it was not too exaggerated nor was it slow and draggy, but at a pace which leaves us to think about the little stories of each character without compromising the overall story plot. Every character gets their own stories to tell and each with a humane side which shows their raw feelings and struggles in embracing them in life. Of course, life is not perfect and there is bound to be setbacks, but one thing I learnt from this is that everyone has their own struggles, living their own way to get over and embrace them as their identity, as well as the power of relations with people.
Keywords: Life, Human relations, Comfort, Struggles, Partnership
Rating: 9/10
OCN 'Tell Me What You Saw'
(2020, 16 episodes)
I have always enjoyed crime and thriller dramas but there's so many similar dramas of this genres out there so every piece have to be unique in their own stories to appeal to the masses. I watched this drama because there is Sooyoung and Jang Hyuk, which made this even more exciting - sometimes you just want to watch a drama for its casts. But this drama was well plot out revolving the the famous criminal profiler Jang Hyuk and Sooyoung, who's a rookie policewomen but have aspirations to become a detective in solving crime. She has a special ability and power of her superb picture-like memory, recalling events and crime scene, making her a handy helper to Jang Hyuk to solve cases.
Although it can be cliche at times - just like a typical police drama, I like how this drama challenges the norms and plays around with topics like corruption, copyright killers, police secrets and they do not filter the gore scenes as well, which makes the production much more exciting because of its scale. Through the different cases, they find hints and clues to seek out the criminal which they have been after. Even till the end, it leaves viewers to think about the real truth to the criminal which they have been seeking for years because of all the unexpected twists through the series.
Keywords: Police, Crime, Thriller, Mystery
Rating: 8/10
Netflix 'Kingdom' & 'Kingdom Season 2'
Kingdom (2019, 6 episodes)
Kingdom Season 2 (2020, 6 episodes)
Of course, another popular drama which many have been watching due to its genre and exciting plot. 'Kingdom' follows the success of Korean zombie films and dramas, such as 'Train To Busan' and 'Rampant', and making it their own kind of zombie drama. 'Kingdom' series features zombies in the time of Joseon era, which makes it already interesting as it is set in a different time period.
It also incorporates elements of power struggle, as the royal dynasty tries to keep their family on the throne and trying to overthrow crown prince Lee Chang, yet faced with a plague - or rather the zombie attack, which affects livelihoods province. Political fight and zombie fight happening at the same time, it makes this fast paced zombie drama worth to watch. The cinematography for this is amazing and the details for the zombies was also well elaborated. Each season is only like 6 episodes - with some episodes being only 30 minutes, which makes one hoping for more. I literally finished two seasons in like 5 days and cannot wait for the next season next year already.
Keywords: Zombie, Political, Action, Thriller, Violence
Rating: 7/10
JTBC 'Itaewon Class'
(2020, 16 episodes)
Many people was watching this drama and Park Seo Joon's hairstyle went viral because of this drama. I decided to watch this drama because I saw reviews saying that this drama has a good message and tackles social issues like racism, transgender and ex-convicts, which made it quite interesting for a genre. The story revolves around Park Saeroyi (played by Park Seo Joon) who's father died in an accident caused by a rich conglomerate family, which also caused him to land in jail. After he was released from jail, he promised to take down the food conglomerate company and shows his journey in tackling the challenges which comes in his way of revenge, alongside his trusty (and fiesty) manager and kitchen crew.
Yes, this drama does have a nice message behind it, a story of how an underdog is able to fight against all odds to the top. However, it felt like a rather cliche story and rather expected plot for me. The characters were great but I felt more could be shown on the supporting character's growth and backstory. Quite an disappointment despite the high reviews but still worth to watch - who doesn't like a successful underdog story?
Keywords: Social issues, power struggle, politics, betrayal
Rating: 4/10
tvN 'Crash Landing on You'
(2020, 16 episodes)
From the posters and promotional material for this drama - lady lands in North Korea after an accident and falls in love with a North Korean soldier - sounds super cliche and non-realistic. I thought this would be another one of those typical romcom like 'Goblin', 'Descendants of the Sun' or 'My Love From The Stars', which honestly I didn't want to watch at first. But my friends have been raving this drama to me and saying it is worth watching as it was funny as well - that I did not expect this to be a comedy drama. This drama is also the third highest viewed Korean cable drama in history, right behind 'Sky Castle' so it was really popular. So I watched it after I finished 'Itaewon Class' - and only the first episode, I'M ALREADY SOLD. I love the dynamics between the two leads (whom both have dating rumors since years ago), and I really like this fresh idea of dramas based in North Korea.
'Crash Landing on You' just features the story in which how Captain Ri (played by Hyun Bin) tries to protect a haughty Yoon Seri (played by Son Ye Jin) and hides her identity and tries way to bring her back to South Korea without being found or exposed. However, things always don't go their way and they have to keep trying different methods. Eventually they fall for each other (cliche) but is somewhat sad and brings tears because they are ultimately star-crossed lovers and can never get together because of the political relations between North and South Korea. Eventually more intense violence and the plot thickens as she gets faced danger even in South Korea and Captain Ri tries to protect her... but how?
Another saving point for this drama - which I really enjoyed and I must really commend, is the supporting characters, which brought much laughter and enjoyment to this series, which otherwise might be a typical romcom or political army based drama. The North Korean village ahjumma gang definitely brought the best laughter to me, as well as Captain Ri's comrades, when they go over to South Korea and became so amazed with everything they see. Even the second leads had a unique story of their own, and also made our hearts feel sad for them. This is one drama which made me had withdrawals - and I would very much not mind re-watching the whole season again. I guess the chemistry between the actors and character development had saved this rather cliche plot, which made it very enjoyable for the viewers. I cried, I laughed and I smiled with the characters and this is one drama which I will remember for a long time.
Keywords: North Korea, Soldier, Romance, Comedy, Violence
Rating: 9/10
Netflix 'Extracurricular'
(2020, 10 episodes)
This was a fresh and very different drama genre, probably because it's on Netflix, but it is very raw and unfiltered, with very dark scenes involved. This story revolves around a student, who has good grades and all, gets found out to be doing illegal prostitution business by his friend, whom threatens him and eventually they worked together. However, things is not that simple as they face real issues like murder, crimes, smoking and scams in the dark adult world.
I like that this drama challenges the typical stereotype of Korean dramas and depicts the true struggles of students from another angle, trying to earn money and also facing issues with their identity and trying to find their worth in the world. It was very real - directly delving into taboos. But plot wise, it felt lacking somehow, there was much to be expanded on, I felt like this drama had a good theme, which the writers can further work on the plot. Of course, even till the end, it becomes a cliffhanger, which I hope a second season would be in the works.
Keywords: Student, Prostitution, Smoking, Illegal, Murder
Rating: 6/10
OCN 'Strangers From Hell'
(2019, 10 episodes)
Based on the webtoon of the same name, 'Strangers From Hell' is a psychological thriller drama which revolves around Yoon Jong Woo (played by Im Siwan) and his encounters as he rents a cheap and suspicious dormitory - Eden Studio, where strange characters live in and mysterious happenings and killings happen, which made Jong Woo more suspicious of the people living there, but could not do anything to confront them, but eventually tries to find out the truth behind Eden Studio, with the help of a brave policewoman.
This was a really really dark drama which even I was was scared at some scenes and felt I needed to take some break from it sometimes, but it was really good with the cinematography and simple plot which makes the story paced at a good speed and does not feel draggy. However, I felt like the character development for each character can be expanded on, to fully tell the backstories behind the residents of Eden Studio. Worth a watch if you are into mystery and thrillers.
Keywords: Murder, Thriller, Mystery, Psychological, Crime
Rating: 7/10
JTBC 'World of the Married'
(2020, 16 episodes)
This drama is the highest rated Korean cable drama in history, beating the previous record set by 'Sky Castle' and is highly commended for its fast paced story, unpredictable twists and realistic aspects behind a divorce and cheating, which is different from typical revenge themed dramas. The real feelings behind finding out your partner has cheated on you and the events which happen thereafter. Although this drama was adapted from an US drama 'Doctor Foster', it brings in the Korean view of this social issue in a more dramatic form which makes viewers look forward to every episode.
Yes, I too was hooked on to this drama, each episode was fast, filled with shocking scenes which one might not expect and even from as early from episode 1, the revelation of the scandal was shown, all the day up to episode 6, it felt like it was the last episode of the series - it was THAT exciting. Towards the end, however I felt like it was starting to get a little repetitive in the last few episodes and the last episode really left much to be desired. Nonetheless, props to the direction and acting skills, which led to the series winning 'Best Director' and 'Best Actress' at the 56th Baeksang Awards.
Keywords: Adultery, Drama, Betrayal, Revenge
Rating: 7/10
tvN 'Hi Bye, Mama'
(2020, 16 episodes)
It was a heartwarming and close to heart drama, no unnecessary conflicts, exaggerated fights or overused love lines - it was more than just a comfort drama, but a drama which reflects on the fragility of life, to cherish one when they are still around, and also on the other hand to live life to the fullest with no regrets because you will never know what will happen the next day.
'Hi Bye, Mama' revolves around Cha Yuri (played by Kim Tae Hee), who died in an accident five years ago, becoming a ghost and following her loved ones around for the past years as a ghost. However, one day she had the chance to become a human again, only if she completes her mission of "getting back her position in life" within 49 days - that is to be her daughter's mum and her husband's wife again, but the catch is - he's already remarried and moved on.
A strong message and a heartwarming story. You will like this if you're into dramas with a strong life message, but if you are looking for a drama about the other world and supernatural, this is not for you. Props to the child actor because HE is acting as a GIRL in this drama - really pulled off the character well making her role lovable in the series.
Keywords: Family, Ghosts, Regrets, Life
Rating: 6/10
KBS 'When The Camellia Blooms'
(2019, 20 episodes)
This drama was the highest rated drama in 2019, and getting praises and various awards such as the prestigious 'Grand Prize (Daesang) Award' and 'Best Screenplay' at 56th Baeksang Awards, 'Best Drama' at 32nd Korea Producer Awards, 'Best TV Show' at 13th Korean Media Awards and 12 awards at the KBS Drama Awards 2019. This was another drama which was deemed as the life drama of the production crew and viewers alike.
Set in a fictional town of Ongsan, the story revolves around Dong Baek (played by Gong Hyo Jin), a single mother, and her bar Camellia, as well as her new relationship with Yong Sik (played by Kang Haneul) and the challenges they face. This drama is also applauded for its unique genre and plot in which they manage to include genres of romcom as well as thriller and mystery as throughout the series Yong Sik tries to find the truth to a notorious murderer who is after Dong Baek next.
Although it is 20 episodes, each episode has a good balance between the romance, as well as the mystery part and also allowed for each character to show their backstory as well, which I really like as we get to know the characters better - as well as the different human relationships behind it, be it love relationship, friendship, and also kinship and neighbour ties - all of these is well developed in this drama, which was timely aired during winter as it definitely warmed my heart watching this.
Keywords: Family, Life, Mystery, Murder, Single Mum, Stereotypes
Rating: 8/10
SBS 'Hot Stove League'
(2019-2020, 16 episodes)
'Hot Stove League' won the 'Best Drama' at the 56th Baeksang Awards and there were also many good reviews about this, so I thought to myself, I need to watch this to see for myself how good was this. I started watching this with no expectations at all and found myself enjoying it till the end. It is a simple story around how the new general manager (played by Nam Goong Min) and baseball team 'Dreams' - which came in last place for the seasonal championships for the past few years, and how he tries to get it back to track, making decisions which are rather controversial during the off peak season.
If you're looking for a nice baseball drama with all the baseball action and matches, this probably isn't a drama you should be watching (I can only remember two episodes showing full matches) because this drama was set during the off peak seasons as they try to prepare for the league the following year. I liked how the characters complemented each other, yet does not come off as cliche. Of course there was a lot of power struggles and abuse, which comes with most dramas where there is a rich cooperation and fight for positional power - basically office politics but incorporating aspects of humane vs strategic.
Keywords: Baseball, Office Politics, Strategy, Teamwork
Rating: 6/10
That's most of the dramas I have catch up with this circuit breaker period - ran out of new dramas to watch, so I'm probably going to catch up on movies now, or clearing some backlog dramas from years ago (like Voice series).
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