Some stories slip away from thought right when they end, others stay awhile before fading away. However, there are times when you find a piece of media that manages to resonate with you long after you finish it, especially with plots revolving around love, loss, regret, revenge, and time.
Certain K-dramas are unique in how they weave their storylines, flesh out their characters, and portray scenarios that leave the audience completely enthralled.
1. Missing You (2012)
After her father was convicted of murder, Sooyeon (Kim So Hyun) was relentlessly bullied in school by her peers. She finds an ally in Jungwoo (Yeo Jingoo), who is the son of a rich family with criminal ties, and the two fall in love. A tragic accident wrenches the two apart, with Sooyeon presumed dead.
Fourteen years later, their paths cross once more, with Jungwoo (Park Yoo Chun) working as a detective with an obsession to learn the true fate of his first love, and Sooyeon (Yoon Eun Hye) is chasing her dreams as a rookie fashion designer who tries to keep the horrors of the past at bay.
2. School 2015: Who are you (2015)
Lee Eunbi and Go Eunbyul (both played by Kim So Hyun) are identical twins who were separated and led to experience very different lives. Eunbi lives in an orphanage, while Eunbyul is a popular student in a private school.
Eunbi tried to commit suicide due to bullying and was saved, but lost her memories because of the incident. The twins switch identities, and each one tries to find answers to the pressing questions that surround them.
3. Reply 1988 (2015)
The show is set in the 1980s, right when South Korea was undergoing significant political and economic transformations, and revolves around a group of five friends along with their families. Sung Deoksun (Lee Hye Ri), Kim Junghwan (Ryu Jun Yeol), Sung Sunwoo (Go Kyung Pyo), Choi Taek (Park Bo Gum), and Ryu Dongryong (Lee Dong Hwi) rely on each other as they navigate their difficult adolescent years and try to figure out their futures.
4. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
Based on the Chinese novel Bu Bu Jing Xin, the show follows a 21st-century woman named Go Hajin (Lee Ji Eun/IU) who is unexpectedly transported back to the Goryeo period. She transmigrates into the body of Hae Soo, a young noblewoman, and soon gets entangled in deadly royal politics as a fierce rivalry for the throne breaks out among the princes.
5. Uncontrollably Fond (2016)
Shin Joonyoung (Kim Woo Bin) and Noh Eul (Bae Suzy) are former classmates who lost contact after a troubled relationship. They cross paths once more as adults, with Joonyung becoming a successful celebrity while Noh Eul works as a documentary producer. Noh Eul is assigned to create a documentary about Joonyoung and pursues him in an attempt to get him to agree. This brings them back into each other’s orbit, and as they shoot for the project, feelings begin to bloom once more.
6. My Mister (2018)
Lee Jian (Lee Ji Eun/IU) is a young woman desperately in need of money to pay off debts while struggling to make ends meet and take care of her ailing grandmother. She tries to steal money from Park Donghoon (Lee Sun Kyun), a tormented older man burdened by family matters, betrayal, and a miserable workplace. What they find instead is a kindred spirit that helps them navigate their harrowing lives.
7. Hi, Bye Mama (2020)
Cha Yu Ri (Kim Tae Hee) had been floating around as a ghost since she tragically passed away in an accident five years ago. She is elated after being given the chance to reincarnate by undergoing a 49-day-long process. However, she must make a difficult decision as, during her death, her husband and daughter have found a good woman who made their family complete. Will she return to her family or sacrifice her own happiness to let them move on in peace?
8. Youth of May (2021)
Set in 1980, during the Gwangju Uprising, medical student Heetae (Lee Do Hyun) finds himself at a matchmaking meeting in exchange for transporting an injured protester. He meets the nurse Myunghee (Go Min Si) and their love story blooms against the tumultuous background of the revolution.
9. Move to Heaven (2021)
Geuru (Tang Joon Sang), a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome, helps with his father’s business of cleaning up what’s left behind by deceased individuals. When Geuru’s father passes away, his uncle Sanggu (Lee Je Hoon) shows up to become his guardian and to help him run “Move To Heaven.” The cold, distant man is an ex-convict and a former underground fighter. As they focus on their trauma cleaning business, stories about the late clients unfold, and so do memories that have led Geuru’s father and Sanggu to where they were in their lives.
10. Bulgasal: Immortal Souls (2021)
Min Sangwoon/Kim Hwayeon (Kwon Nara) is a former immortal who lives in constant death and reincarnation with her memories of each life intact. Danhwal (Lee Jin Wook) is a former Joseon military official who was cursed with the inability to kill or die. He swears to hunt down the woman who holds the answers to end everything and is determined to end the 600-year chase between them.
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Katherine grew up watching Korean dramas and other Asian shows. Although she first learned to appreciate Korean music through OSTs broadcast locally in the early 2000s, it wasn’t until 2011 that she began to pay proper attention to K-pop. She is fond of SEVENTEEN and NCT and would recommend (G)I-DLE, Dreamcatcher, and XG to whoever cared to listen.
MEDIA: As Credited