I can say that I am a "Late Bloomer" when it comes to Hallyu or Korean Wave. I was even asking others before what's with this "Korean Thing" until I discover Kdrama around late 2017. At first I found myself finishing a series of 16-20 episodes around 2-3 weeks. Until I found those Kdramas from as early as 2009 that really made me hooked with these series....and for those late bloomers like me, I am recommending my Top 20 Kdramas worth couch potatoing!
20. Boys Over Flower (2009)
This Kdrama is based on a Japanese Manga series "Hana Yori Dango." Starring Lee Min Ho (Gu Jun-pyo), Kim Hyun-joong (Yoon Ji-Hu), Kim Bum (So Yi-Jung), Kim Joon (Song Woo Bin) and Ku Hye-sun (Geum Jan-di). I actually love the Taiwanese series Meteor Garden that was shown previously in a local channel around 2001-2002. I think this was also played in a local channel after the Taiwan version but was not able to watch it. I watched this after the remake of Meteor Garden Chinese Version (Dylan Wang as Dao Ming Zhu) as I wanted to know how Kdrama will give their rendition about this series. I think I need not to recap the plot of this series as this is very famous, but why do I recommend this??? The chemistry of the actors are superb! plus the classic story of High Schoolers struggling until they become aldults... I can say this really is a must for a newbie in Kdrama!
19. The Innocent Man (2012)
Also known as The Nice Guy. Starring Soon Joong Ki (Kang Ma-ru), Moon Chae Woon (Seo Eun-gi) and Park Si-yeon (Han Jae hee). This is a dark melodrama. Personally, I like romantic comedy but because I so love Song Joong Ki (my oppa), I watched it which did not disappoint me at all. Although, like what I said, this is a dark melodrama kinda series, I found the twist and turn of the situation real exciting. Park Si-yeon portrayed her role so good that I really hated her character in this series. The plot of the story revolves with greed to be rich to be able to take revenge to an ex lover but ending falling in love with another girl which is the daughter of the husband of the ex girlfriend. You'll find yourself wanting to slap the face of Han Jae Hee while consoling and reassuring Seo Eun-gi... :-)
18. 49 Days (2011)
Also known as "Pure Love." Actually, this is the first Kdrama that I have watched in Korean language (of course reading the English subtitle)... Thanks to my good friend's DVD (take note DVD copy... hahaha, so ancient!!!). I also got curious with this because there was a Tagalog adaptation of this series. This is a story of a cheerful, wealthy and beautiful lady who before her marriage got into an accident because of another lady's attempt to commit suicide. She fell into comatose and her wandering soul met the "Scheduler" (not the grim reaper) who is serves as the guide of the souls to their final destination, since according to the "Scheduler" that it is not yet her time to leave this earth, she was given a chance to be back to her life in three conditions, she must collect three teardrops coming out of pure love from three different people that is not related to her by blood. She ended up using the body of the lady that causes her accident in order to accomplish the task she needed to do for her to come back to life. She thought that it was an easy task but it turns out that it wasn't as she discover that her life is way far from perfect as she thought it was. Staring Nam Gyu-ri (Shin Ji-hyun), Lee Yo-won (Song Yi-kyung), and Jung II Woo (Scheduler). This series will not only revolves around love and romance but also will let you reflect on your belief in life and afterlife.
17. Legend of the Blue Sea (2016)
I am not really fan of fantasy love story nor historical type kdrama (with Joseon Dynasty setting) but since I love looking at Lee Min Ho's handsome face, I tried to watch this and to my surprise, I was fixated with the series. The plot is a mixed of fantasy-historical love story of a noble man who fell in love with a mermaid, but their love story ended with a tragedy during the Joseon Time. With the current setting, their tale continued with the son of a rich businessman who becomes a con artist after the divorce of his parents, meeting the mermaid somewhere in Spain as he try to escape from a group of gangster who is after him. The mermaid from the start remembers him as the nobleman from the Joseon era so she tried her best to be close to him until he fell in love with her again... This fiction shows that love has no boundaries; that it goes beyond time and even though some other factors may make one person forget one part of the other, still the love that's within him will eventually come out reaching for that one person to whom your heart really belong. Heo Joon-jae portrayed by Lee Min Ho and Shim Cheong played by Jun Ji-hyun will make you wanna swim the ocean to search for your true love.
16. Prime Minister and I (2013)
Honestly, I am not familiar with the actors in this Kdrama, but when I first read the story plot of this, I got curious and I did not made a mistake of watching this. I cannot really say that it belonged to a "RomCom" category but more of a family oriented with melodrama type. The story is about a enthusiastic, young reporter, well more of a paparazzi type who writes for a tabloid regarding expose and scandals who struggles to make a living to support her ailing father. She happen to met the youngest prime minister of Korea while she was assigned to make a lucrative expose about him. The prime minister was a widow with three kids. He has a clean record and people looked into him not knowing that despite his success he is struggling as a single parent to his children. Due to consistent stalking of Ms. Reporter to get a big scoop about the Prime Minister, they ended up in a contract marriage. It also give way to the last request of the ailing father of Ms. Reporter to bring her to the altar for marriage before he leave this world at the same time for the Prime Minister to have a mother figure to his children. This series not only tackles father-daughter relationship but also it shows the struggle of being a single parent. If you love watching stories about family with a twist of love story, this one's for you.
15. My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)
One of the most handsome face in Korea today, Cha Eun-woo happen is the lead male in this series together with Im Soo-hyang. A romantic comedy series that tackles about the struggle of a girl, Kang Mi-rae, who as a child and a teenager was not gifted with the "Standard" beauty that society prescribed. She ended up sorting to scientific way of enhancing her appearance but despite of achieving being beautiful physically, her past experience as her old self still hunts her, making her insecure. Do Kyung-seok, a handsome and intelligent student in the same university that Kang Mi-rae was studying, who believes and look at "Beauty" beyond a person's appearance fell inlove with Kang Mi-rae, but Kang Mi-rae was not convince since they also both went with the same high school before and she felt that it is impossible for a guy like him who knows how he really looked before the surgery to be inlove with her. If you are into "kilig" type of series then this is absolutely for you. You'll find your self also falling inlove with the Cha Eun-woo's character specially when he stand on Mi-rae side when his former high school classmate/schoolmates was about to bully her about his previous appearance and their stand on plastic surgery. This series will make you smile even after watching it, making you more eager to see the next episode. I'm giving this 2 thumbs up!
14. Hotel del Luna (2019)
Is a story of a not so ordinary hotel in Seoul, wherein guests are usually ghosts or people who just passed away and haven't accepted they are dead already. Humans can only enter the Hotel with special permission from the owner Jang Man- wol and on some occasion such as a Lunar Eclipse. His only human being employee Gu Chang sung, the hotel manager, who later fell in love with her, is her connection from the living to the "life in the middle" of the afterlife. A melodrama that tackles possible life after death scenario on which uses a hotel setting as a rendezvous of people who left this world with unfinished business. You'll enjoy how stylish and posh actress/singer IU portrayed Man-wol with her much awaited OOTD (outfit of the day) with each episode on this drama. By the way, don't forget to have a box of tissue or a hand towel ready beside you while watching the last few episode as it will bring our a well of tears. If you love fantasy-drama-love story in one, make sure to ass this in your watch list.
13. Doctors (2016)
As I am a healthcare professional, I love watching medical dramas and this K-medical Drama is a must in your list. The story revolves with a stubborn young lady raised by her grandmother Yoo Hye-jung. She met Hong Ji-Hong as her homeroom/biology teacher in high school. He was so concerned with then hard-headed Hye-jung and always make sure to meddle with her unacceptable manners until they become very close that other student thought that something is going on with them. Their paths was separated as Ji-Hong continued his studies abroad while Hye-jung was sent to a province after misfortunes in her life and studied there to be a doctor. That separation made Ji-hong realized that he really did fell inlove with Hye-jung. They met again 13 years after in a hospital, where both are successful doctors of their own field and their love story continues. If you like watching medical action with the twist of love stories between doctors as a back story, well this one's for you.
12. Touch Your Heart (2019)
Rom-com and law?!? Hmmm, sounds like it will not fit together??? Well, this will KDrama will change the way you think about Type A, serious type lawyers who's interest is more on criminal or corporate law books alone. As the story plot of this series goes like this... He is a flat affect and cold personality Lawyer who happened to got an intern in the person of a beautiful female celebrity. She was out of the limelight from quite sometime because of a controversy and her last chance to get back her career is to film a series involving a life of a prosecutor. She needed to learn the day-to-day life of a lawyer which lead her way as the secretary of the lawyer. While working together, miss celebrity found herself falling in love with Mr. Lawyer, until the time Mr. Lawyer also found himself smitten with Ms. Celebrity as well. If you're into stories about first love and it's success, you should not miss this one. You'll find your self laughing as you watch the scene where a well-mannered, very professional lawyer act like a high school student in love for the first time. By the way, their love team is quite good in reel, I think they can also be good in real life.:)
11. Hospital Ship (2017)
Another must watch medical drama but this time their setting is not on a hospital but on the ship. As the title of this drama goes, the ship serves as a hospital which visits little town around the island to provide medical/dental attention to people on the countryside. This story revolves with 5 doctors who was sent to this hospital ship for different reasons. The series had a lot of medical "action" in a very peculiar settings wherein it showcase the ability and talent of the doctors with limited resources under a lot f pressures. But of course in the middle of the chaotic medical emergencies and lack of resources, love blooms with in the doctors. Korean medical dramas are really "near-like-real" medical situation wherein their researchers really do research to provide a realistic outcome of the series. For medical drama lovers, make sure to schedule dates to finish this series.
10. Personal Taste (2010)
Personal Taste is also one of my personal favorites when it comes to rom-com kdrama. Ask me why?...Of course the lead roles are Lee Min Ho and Son Ye-jin. Their tandem alone is already a reason to make this kdrama a favorite of all time. It is a story of a Mr. Architect who desperately want to win a project to get back to business after the death of his father and the lost of their business to his own uncle. While on the other hand Ms. Furniture designer who was fooled by her boyfriend and best friend, wanted to prove her father her worth. While in the process of their personal struggle to attain their goals, Mr. Architect pretended to be "gay" to be able to live with Ms. Furniture Designer as he wanted to learn the architectural design and history of her house called "Sanggojae." As they become closer to each other, and Ms. Furniture Designer thought to have a "gay" bestfriend, Mr. Architect fell in love with her and also the other way around.... There's a lot of twist and turn in this series, but what's sure is the great match and how the actors played the role they are portraying. Aside from the lead roles, the supporting roles also adds up to the hilarious scenes in the story.
9. The Heirs (2013)
Another Lee Min Ho K-series this time with the innocent face looking Park Shin-hye. Also known as "The Inheritors" this series is about the life of a rich heir and his complicated family. While on his way fulfilling his part before being the successor of a conglomerate, he struggles with high school, rivalry and love life. As he is supposed to be married to a woman who is a possible business partner, he should not be in love with another woman. He can play, but not fall in love,yet fate has played so much with him that he lost the game, he found himself madly in love with this girl not of the same financial status as he is, but totally the opposite. He was ready to give it all, even to the extent of losing his inheritance. A heaven and earth type of story, where you can only choose one, not even in between. If you are nto high school life type of story, well you'll definitely love this one.
8. Clean with Passion (2018)
He's Mr. Tidy, unblemished, spotless, sterile....She's clumsy, messy, contaminated, well... unclean. How can the two of them fall in love with one another?!? This is one of the most hilarious yet sweet and touching romantic comedy that I have seen so far in kdrama. Where usually the meaning of two worlds apart is rich to poor or good to bad... but this time it is clean to untidy. (I am not very familiar with the lead actors of this Korean series but I found their tandem very suitable to each other. They will leave butterflies in your tummy with the sweet scenes they have shown. Love knows no excuses, if you're in love, it doesn't matter if it is clean or not... hahaha... :)
7. Emergency Couple (2014)
They say "Love is lovelier the second time around." ... It seems that it applies with this series. This story is about a couple who tied the knot at a young age even without their parents blessings. They think that they are so in love and ready to face married life. Faced with insecurities, financial problem and in-law's non-acceptance, they found their selves divorcing each other after a great big fight uttering bad things with one another. But after six years since their divorce was granted, they met again in the emergency room of a hospital where both of them are interns and must work in a group. Although there are a lot of ups and downs with the lead couple here, they slowly find their way back with each others arm. A story of being in love, falling out of love and falling in love again. This is a good watch especially for those couples who are in the verge of splitting up or planning to have a divorce. You'll have a good laugh, a teary eye and a good realization in your love life after watching this kdrama.
6. Her Private Life (2019)
A story of a talented chief curator of an art museum Sung Deok-mi who also lives secretly as a fangirl and fansite (Shi-an is My Life) manager who is obsessed with singer/actor Cha Shi-an. She can not open up being a fan girl because she might lose her job due to her boss, the director of the art museum who hates "fangirling." When some changes in management in the museum took place, he met (again) Ryan Gold, a famous artist from New York who is snobbish and very strict. Ryan Gold got interested with Deok-mi ang her activities outside the museum because of some unexpected circumstances that involves him and a disguised fan girl which he thinks is his curator. The story seemed to be shallow at first, that it only revolves with a life of a fan girl who doesn't want to be discovered because of her fear to being kicked out of her work, but in the middle you'll discover that it offers more, and that there is a back side story that connects the lead actors way back before they met as an adult. Another "kilig" rom-com that will make you smile after watching.
5. Dr. Romantic 1 (2016)
This is not a typical romantic medical drama that you usually watched, but its story's moral will really make you realize what being doctor as a profession should really be. This is the story Professor / Master Kim who heads the emergency/surgery unit of Doldam Hospital. Add to the story of the new but talented doctors who were sent to a hospital far from the city for different reasons. This series is really packed with "Hospital Action Scenes." From simple emergency wound dressing to complicated heart surgery of a VIP. Hospital politics and ethics were also touched here, emphasizing on choosing what is right and just to do. Like what I previously mention, I am into medical drama and if you're like me, you must not forget to watch this one.
4. The Good Doctor (2013)
This medical KDrama may not started it all, but I think it gave a big impact that medical kdramas are a hit for us viewers. A story of a doctor with autism but with great visual, very good memory and high intelligence in anatomy and physiology and his struggle to be recognized as a medical / surgical doctor. A young doctor with a dark past from being bullied, abused by his father and childhood trauma of seeing his brother died, Dr. Park Si-on backed up by his foster parent who is the director of the hospital he is working with, proved to his medical colleagues that he is capable of being a doctor and falling in love as well like other man of his age. Aside from being medical, I can say that this series is also melo-drama as i got teary eyed with the scenes that showed the struggle of Dr. Park to reach his dream profession. With adaptation of other countries to this kdrama, i think it is enough proof that this is really a must to watch!
3. What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? (2018)
One of the most romantic and funny romantic-comedy series I have ever watched in Kdrama. Secretary Kim is a well trained, reliable, loyal and beautiful secretary of President and Vice Chairman Lee Young-joon- a young, handsome, capable and narcissistic boss. They have been working for quite long time, when secretary Kim suddenly filed for a resignation. President and Vice Chairman Lee offered her everything he can for her to stay but she refuses. While secretary Kim was rendering her last month in the office, boss and secretary found their selves that their relationship is not just as a boss and secretary but it blossomed into love. At first they hid it with the rest of the staff until another secretary, whom Secretary Kim is training to replace her, discovered their love affair. The lead actors give life to the character so well and the kissing scenes were so passionate that you would think they are real life couple. I really enjoyed watching this series and if you want a series that will make you feel relaxed, this one is for you.
2. Crash Landing on You (2019)
I think I do not need to give a lot of introduction to this Kdrama as this is currently the most popular now a days. The heart touching story of a North Korean Captain born from a high ranking military office in the northern peninsula and the heiress of a conglomerate and successful businesswoman of the south. Captain Ri Jeong- hyuk and Yoon Se-ri's story started when Se-ri accidentally landed in the North after a paragliding mishap. In the attempt of Captain Ri to help Yoon Se-ri to cross the boarder / return to south, love blossomed. There are lots of interesting scenes in this series as it give a glimpse of what is life in the North peninsula of Korea. I personally got so interested with the north and while watching this series, I dig in with the internet on what is it like to live in North Korea. There are many parts of the story that you will really laugh but be ready for you tissue or hankies as you reach the last part. It also showcase beautiful sceneries of Switzerland and Mongolia (where some part of the story was filmed, like the train scene when they are to go to Pyongyang). The story plot is quite new as well, that's why I think viewers loved it. But you may asked me why I placed it only on my second spot of my list? To be honest, I am biased (hahahaha) as I love Song Joong Ki (my first oppa) more than Hyun Bin. But both Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin were great with this series and viewers were wishing that they are dating in real life. Two Thumbs up for this Kdrama!
1. Descendants of the Sun (2016)
Yes, I put this as the top of my list because of Song Joong Ki (my very first oppa that made me crazy with kdrama hahahaha). But aside from that, I found this K series really exciting and full of "kilig." The story of Captain Yoo Si-jin, Sergeant Major Seo Dae-young, emergency Doctor Kang Kang Mo-yeon and army surgeon Yoon Myung-ju entwined with their duties to serve the South Korean Special Forces Unit. Captain Yoo and Doctor Kang met in an emergency room while the doctor is treating a patient that she doesn't know is a thief who also stole captain's hand phone. The captain tried to date the emergency doctor but every time they are on their "date" the captain will leave for some urgent matter that he always do not want to disclose to his doctor date. The doctor got fed up with it and because of the captain's duty they were separated. Dr. Kang on the other hand was frustrated for not getting the position she was hoping to get in the hospital She had a not so good situation with the hospital director where as a punishment, she was sent as a volunteer emergency medical staff in Uruk (where there is a mission with the Special Force Unit) where she met with Captain Yoo again. This series is packed with a lot of action with compassion as it shows the difference of both profession, one ready to kill who ever will be violating the law and the other ready to save a person who ever he is. I could say no one whould be hooked with Kdrame without watching this series. The story is so unique and the actors are really fit for the characters they portrayed. You will not waste your time watching this series.
DISCLAIMER: I finished this blog post of mine today March 25, but I started writing this last February 29. I think this is the longest post I have ever written in my blog so far. There may be a lot more good and must-watch Kdrama series aside from the ones in my list. Well, actually I have seen some while finishing this post, but do't know how to insert all of them. For the mean time, these are my entries. Happy Kdrama watching!
