Can I tell you one thing, Bingers? Prior to the lockdown, I did not K-Drama or Korean dramas. I always saw thought they are too cheesy, romantic, and sappy for my liking. I have been so gotten used to the Hollywood-style of TV shows action-packed and not much emotions. BUT when the lockdown started at around March and we have been in WFH since, things changed. I needed variety for my bingelist. So, guys, let me share you the 5 K-Drama to Binge watch!
- The King: Eternal Monarch
First on the list is my gateway to the genre. Well, to be fair, this is not my first K-drama but instead my first in years. IIRC, my last was Boys Over Flowers. And coincidentally, my return to K-drama is with its lead actor Lee Min-Ho.
The King: Eternal Monarch has everything: romance, politics, monarchy, and parallel universe! The confusing plot may not be for many but I fell in love with it. It just made each episode more demanding of my attention. - Reply 1988
It was around August when my mutuals on Twitter talked about this one particular K-drama. So, at the fear of missing out, I did my research then wondered why a 5-year old series is still being talked about. SPOILER: I never got the answer. But that did not stop me from giving this one a try.
And as it turned out, that was a great decision. Reply 1988 is a lovely tale of a neighborhood set in, well you guessed it, 1988 in Ssangmun-dong, Seoul. While it has a romantic plot, the best part about the series is how it focused on family, friendship, and growing up all that with the backdrop of the nostalgic 1980s. Yes, there’s not one episode that I did not cry- be it for happiness or sadness. - World of the Married Couple
For my third lockdown K-drama, I went along with the hype. At the moment, everybody was talking about World of the Married Couple. This is an adaptation of the BBC One Drama, Doctor Foster. The Korean adaptation based it from that but as the viewers are saying, it was much intense.
I may not have seen the original but I can attest to the gravity of World of the Married Couple. Deception, lies, and manipulation. This is drama amped up to 100! Prepare to get a stress ball before starting an episode because you are going to need it. BADLY! - It’s Okay Not to Be Okay
This recent K-Drama on Netflix is one that my friend has been urging me to watch. According to my friend, while this is romantic it shed a light on the mental problems such as multiple personality, autism, and depression. So, of course, that piqued my interest.
Lo and behold, It’s Okay Not To Be Okay impressed me with how it incorporated the sensitive topic into a lovely narrative of two brothers and an outlier woman. This story of friendship and family was, in a way, magical. - Start-Up
Now we are onto my most recent binge. Start-Up, in fact, is still airing and down to its last three weeks. With that being said, I am so hooked to this series because it is a story of reaching for your dream.
In Start-Up, we see the story of, well, start-up companies and the challenges that come along with it. In true Korean drama fashion, the romantic aspect plays with (the danger of) having a second lead syndrome. Well, things are still up in the air since it is still ongoing but this one is so good. Check it out!
So, there you have it, Bingers. These are the 5 K-Dramas that I binged on during the lockdown. Do you have some recos? Do let me know in the comments!
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