Hey guys! It’s your girl, Giana! If you clicked on this post, you’re either a kdrama-watcher or are interested in starting. With all this free time the pandemic has provided us, watching kdramas in the safety of your own room is probably the safest activity to do! Personally, I feel like I’m a pretty good person to judge these because I’ve been watching kdramas ever since I was in sixth grade. I’ve watched a whole range and variety of them, including romance, comedy, action, and fantasy. This list is for ANYONE who is bored during quarantine or is sick of their normal genre of shows and wants to experience something new. I want to be able to share my love for kdramas with the people like you! So, sit back and scroll down for the Top 10 kdramas I’ve watched!

10. The K2

The K2 is an action-romance drama starring Ji Chang Wook and Im Yoon-ah of Girls’ Generation. The storyline of this drama is about Kim Je Ha, a former mercenary soldier who was framed for murdering his lover at the time. He becomes a bodyguard to use his position to gain information about his lover’s actual killer. I believe his storyline is pretty interesting, but the character of the main girl lead (Im Yoon-ah) really annoyed me because she was really weak and she always needed protection. Her character didn’t match Ji Chang Wook’s character, which made me kinda mad when they got together in the end.

9. The King: Eternal Monarch

The show, starring Lee Min-Ho and Kim Go-Eun, is a fantasy drama about a modern-day Emperor passing through a mysterious portal, traveling to a parallel world. There, he encounters a sassy and bold police detective. The first few episodes were pretty good because not only was it comical but it also talked about how kings are usually treated. However, near the end, because of the concept of parallel worlds, the show became more and more confusing because it wasn’t as to which “parallel world” they were in. There weren’t only two, there were multiple so it was hard to keep track of it. Also, the girl lead’s personality a little too out there for me to enjoy.

8. Crash Landing on You

Kdrama lovers, please don’t come after me! Crash Landing on You is one of the best-liked and most-watched kdramas of 2020, starring Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin. The show is about when a famous and rich South Korean businesswoman gets involved in a paragliding accident, dropping her in the country of North Korea. There, she is discovered by a North Korean general. He doesn’t everything to hide and protect her, even unknowingly falling in love. Personally, I didn’t like this show that much because I felt there was no actual storyline. The woman was just trying to go back home and she was always unsuccessful. Her character was also kind of annoying and bratty because she was such a highly respected figure in South Korea and all of a sudden, she was treated normally in North Korea.

7. Itaewon Class

This drama talks about an ex-con (Park Seo Joon), who was also framed for his crime (I know, it’s such a popular storyline), who dreams of opening his own pub in Itaewon, the hotspot for international tourists because of it’s large variety of cuisine and culture. I personally didn’t like this show that much because the characters were very eccentric and none of them were really that attractive, which is what I look for in a show. However, business-lovers must watch this show because it talks about the struggles and competition of opening a new restaurant.

6. Start-Up

This business drama, like Itaewon Class, talks about young entrepreneurs who dream of making it big in the business world. The girl lead, Seo Dal-Mi (Bae Suzy) dreams of becoming as successful as Steve Jobs. It also talks about the love triangle between the man who is secretly her first love (Kim Seon-Ho) and another man pretending to be her first love (Nam Joo-Hyuk). This show not only teaches the audience about basic components to start a business and just how hard it is, but there’s also a big romance aspect part of it too.

5. My First First Love

Due to various personal reasons, Yoon Tae-Oh’s (Jisoo) childhood friends move in with him, where they experience love, friendship, hardships, and eventually, success. Tae-Oh’s best friend ever since he was three, Han Song-Yi (Jung Chae Yeon) meets his school best friend, Seo Do-Hyun (Jung Jin Young), where they have their own relationship, which soon makes Tae-Oh jealous. This drama is filled with laughter and tears, but in the end, everything works out great.

4. Weight Lifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo

A college and rising star weightlifter, Kim Bok-Joo (Lee Sung-Kyung), crosses paths with a childhood classmate, Jung Joon-Hyung (Nam Joo-Hyuk), a competitive swimmer who also is a student at the university she attends. Initially, she couldn’t stand the man but through a series of events of his teasing and light-heartedness, she begins to fall in love with him. This entire show is probably the cutest show ever. The personality of the male lead is like the ideal personality someone would want in a significant other. The story is also very inspiring, talking about a woman weightlifter.

3. Strong Girl Bong-Soon

Bong-Soon (Park Bo-Young) comes from a long line of women possessing Hercules-like strength. However, she can only use this strength when absolutely necessary, never for her own personal gain or to hurt someone innocent. She is hired as a bodyguard by the CEO of AIN Software, Ahn Min-Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik) to help him catch the man who is making death threats against him. Bong-Soon has a secret crush on her childhood friend, In Guk-Doo (Jisoo), a police detective who is trying to catch a kidnapper in Bong-Soon’s neighborhood. This romantic fantasy-thriller drama is filled with plot-twists and cute scenes, which is every kdrama watcher’s ideal show.

2. Hospital Playlist

This show follows five friends who have been friends since attending the same medical school, who all work at the same hospital, though in different specialties. Lee Ik-Joon (Jo Jung-Suk) in general surgery, Ahn Jeong-Won (Yoo Yeon-Seok) in pediatric surgery, Kim Joon-Wan (Jung Kyung-Ho) in cardiothoracic surgery, Chae Song-Hwa (Jeon Mi-Do) in neurosurgery, and Yang Seok-Hyeong (Kim Dae-Myung) in OB-GYN. This drama shows the daily lives of each doctor, from their patients, their surgeries, their personal life, and their own little romance. I feel this show is definitely one of my favorites because personally, I want to become a doctor in the future. Watching this show gives me a sense of what doctors go through every day from their busy schedules, saving lives, and sometimes, having to say goodbye. This heartfelt show is definitely worth a watch considering I watched it three times during the year 2020 :).

1. Vagabond

Finally, introducing my number one pick for best kdrama ever, Vagabond! Vagabond is my all-time favorite kdrama that I’ve watched so far. Cha Dal-Geon (Lee Seung-Gi) is a stunt man who dreams about becoming a famous action star. On his way to a TaeKwonDo performance in Morroco, the plane carrying Dal-Geon’s little nephew, Cha Hoon (Moon Woo-Jin), mysteriously crashed, killing everyone on board. Dal-Geon makes his life goal for finding out the cause of the plane crash. He travels to Morrocco, where he meets NIS agent, Go Hae-Ri (Bae Suzy) and they work together to find who was behind the plane crash. Personally, I like shows where there’s more action than romance, so this show was perfect for me. The show was filled with action, mysteries, and corruption, with a little bit of romance, which is the perfect mix. This is the number one show I would recommend to fellow kdrama watchers who love action shows.

 

Thank you so much for sticking with me to the end! Remember, these are only a few kdramas that I’ve watched and thought of, so don’t be mad with me if your favorite kdrama didn’t make it! I hope you guys find the time to check some of these out!