I’ve had Nord VPN for a few months now. It’s very useful especially to view different content on streaming services. Being in UK and not owning a television I can watch Drag Race UK as an American. Gotta be sneaky haha!
I loved Crash Landing on You - it was the kdrama that got me started on my deep dive during the pandemic! If you haven't watched Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, I highly recommend it. Small town drama, great relationships between characters, and a lovely romance.
I’ve watched the first episode of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha!!! It was really good. But I’m also trying to be good and not get halfway through a new series before finishing the 3 I’m already in the middle of. 😂 So it’s on my future watchlist!
Yeeees, hometown cha-cha-cha was my pandemic kdrama and the one that started it all for me. But I don't like how it gets so dramatic towards the ending episodes, especially on the premise that the drama is based on. It didn't make any sense to me and actually got me worked up. Still, I totally recommend it
Started with Tunnel, a time travel detective series. Favorites: Our Blues (a slice of life drama series), Mr. Queen, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Crash Landing on You, Business Proposal, Rookie Historian, Navillera.
I enjoyed this list but I don't remember if you mentioned the source material for most of these dramas being a webtoon or manga. But I personally preferred the webtoon versions of Secretary Kim and A Business Proposal. I'm also surprised about Coffee Prince not being on this list. Yumi Cells is a current drama I highly recommend. This is by far the funniest drama.
How is Goblin not on this list!? It features the same actress from Cheese in the Trap and Little Women and is amazing. Hotel del Luna is a ton of fun too, and Chicago Typewriter is fantastic, though it seems to have disappeared from Viki recently 😪.
73 year old grandma here! Lee min ho from boys over flowers was recently in The King Eternal Monarch. It’s crazy time travel at its best. It’s okay not to be okay is also one of my favorites An autistic brother and crazy girlfriend what could go wrong. Both are on Netflix. I have watched over 350 kdramas. I am still going strong. I have seen all but two of your suggestions and they went right on my list to watch. It’s fun to watch your journey. We have many interests in common! 💜💜💜💜💜
My favorite kdrama is Coffee Prince. For years, I have tried to find a kdrama romance as good as Coffee Prince, and it just hasn't happened. Gotta say this is mostly due to the two main actors. The male lead is the same actor as the lead in Train to Busan.
I'm a big fan of Korean shows but I have to admit that "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is my absolute favorite. It's got just enough drama, just enough comedy, and I think the actress who plays Woo is exceptional. I was a reporter for 50 years before I retired and during one phase in my career I covered social services where I wrote a lot about neuro-divergent people and their families. I think this actress - and the scriptwriters - have absolutely nailed her character and those she interacts with.
So, they've done a "Little Women" Kdrama. Can you imagine any of Austen's novels being a Kdrama? I bet a Korean "Persuasion" or "Pride and Prejudice" would be really interesting.
My absolute favorite drama was Strong Woman Do Bong Soo, just the right amount of trope and the chemistry between the two leads was fantastic, the subplot of the kidnapper/killer was actually pretty interesting and add a sprinkling of supernatural made it perfect. And Park Hyung Sik is so good looking!
That was a good one! They did have great chemistry 🥰 My favorites are Welcome to Waikiki and I Am Not a Robot-- those were hilarious! Currently halfway through watching Yumi's Cells 😊
I think my favourite of all time is Reply 1988. It's such a beautiful story and so nostalgic. I also really liked It's Okay To Not Be Okay and Fight for My Way. Most of my friends would never watch another K-Drama if I tried to get them to watch Boys over Flowers. 🙈
Those 3 K-dramas are a part of my top favorites as well! Totally agree with you about Boys Over Flowers. I could not get through the 1st episode. That's just my opinion though.
I'm autistic and I think "The Extraordinary Woo" was a great show! I liked how her special interest was whales. I think her actress did a really good job and we have very similar mannerisms and the way we talk. Besides that, I've seen the Heirs (my first k-drama) and Boys Over Flowers. Right now I'm watching Meteor Garden which is a Chinese version of Boys Over Flowers. Both of those shows have an autistic character, but he is sadly very poorly done. In Boys Over Flowers, he gets autism when his family gets in a car crash, and is supposedly "cured" of it when he gets a girlfriend, which I don't like. They are still good shows, but that's just something I don't like.
I'm a pretty big fan of Extraordinary Attorney Woo and I do agree that Young-Woo being a genius shouldn't be a factor. This is coming from me, who was diagnosed as autistic and became the "burned out gifted kid." Love the rapid-fire reviews of various K-dramas though!
Me too! I go back and forth in phases lol! I just finished up on Love Like the Galaxy and highly recommend for both cinematography and acting! :3 do you have any recommendations?
@@EllieDashwood If you watch C-drama, you HAVE TO WATCH THE STORY OF MINGLAN! Its a period drama that has so many similar themes with Jane Austen's novels. As a Jane Austen fan, this is a must watch!
Okay...how did you get that shirt? Were you at BTS Sofi? We tried and tried to get that shirt LOL!!! I should have known you were ARMY! Anyway, big fan of your channel and it is nice to get your ideas for some new dramas to watch. I love kdramas but I have to be in the mood for subtitles. Have you seen "Something in the Rain" AKA "Pretty Noona who Brings me Food"? I liked that one too.
OK someone must write this, I'm sorry😅 I ABSOLUTELY DON'T RECOMMEND BOYS OVER FLOWERS!🙈 it's soo cringy and if it was my first k-drama i would never,never watch any other one, so I'm glad ir wasn't. And when i tried to watch it i could even finish the first episode. That was 9 years ago and i still remember the wtf (what the flower) thoughts it provoked.
I'm in total agreement. It definitely was not my cup of tea as well. I used to think it might have been something that didn't age well, but then realized there seems to be a big divide between people who really love it or really really don't like it period. Lol! As Ellie mentioned though, I'm glad that the Kdrama world has so much variety that I believe anyone can find something that they will enjoy.
I just watched my first, Extraordinary Attorney Woo. I loved it. Thanks for this video. I think I am learning basic Korean through immersion :). I don't like the subbed shows; I prefer the subtitles.
Arang and the magistrate!!!!! It’s the best historical drama. It’s funny, it’s mystical, it’s sad, it’s adventurous. There is romance, fighting, political intrigue, sorcery, gods and miracles. You got to watch it!
Playful Kiss (2010) is a classic you must watch! It's a cute highschool love story that follows the characters into college. It's not the most, let's say, "modern" relationship, but I still think it has so many adorable moments and the main character is really lovable. It was so well loved at the time that they even made a web series to show what happens to the characters next. I also love Pasta (2010), about an aspiring chef trying to make it in the tough kitchen of an Italian restaurant. They filmed it in an actual restaurant in Seoul and I ate there for my birthday once! I recently also watched The Greatest Love (2011) - my husband made me watch it and it was so hilarious! It's about an arrogant actor at the top of his game and a former disgraced girl group idol crossing paths and of course, falling for eachother. It's seriously so funny!!
Boys Over Flowers is based on the Manga Hana Yori Dango, that has a Japanese drama (2 seasons of 11 or 12 episodes, and a film), and even if the k-drama is more accurate to the Manga I prefer the j-drama. Maybe because it was one of the firsts dramas that I watched (long time ago, with Hanazakari no Kimitachi e). Cheese in the Trap was really awesome! Loved Emergency Couple too (a medical comedy with a divorced couple in a internship)
All your favourite K-dramas are my favourite too! 😁😁 I would also suggest to watch "Strong woman do bong soon", it's super silly but also so funny and romantic and so much fun to watch 😚😚😚😚
I’ve been following your content for a while now bc of the jane austen content but I never really went into your channel but I’m glad I did bc I found this video. It’s funny because as I watched your content I understood how korean society could have so many strict and seemingly silly rules that everyone just blindly follows, but learning about Victorian era social etiquette and rules I was like oh, makes more sense now. Also this also explains why regression/reincarnation webtoons set in a places inspired by european 18-19th century are so popular in korea. I feel like you would like webtoons ( a lot of kdramas are adapted from webtoons/manhwas), it would be fun to know your opinion and if some of the scenarios could actually have happened in 18-19th century Europe.
My absolute favorites will be reply 1988 and hospital playlist, I love slice of life drama where all the characters are nice with just a little wholesome love story thrown in the background. They are so wholesome and give me ghibli vibes.
The most recent ones I watched are Business Proposal, Hometown Cha-cha-cha and Hotel del Luna which I enjoyed a lot. One very important category of K-Dramas (for me at least)are food themed shows, I recommend starting with the Let's Eat series, it's my happy place.
Oooh! I loved the Let's Eat series too! Although I loved one and two best. If you love food-based K-Dramas, maybe check out Wok of Love? It's a lot of fun and about a Chinese chef who gets kicked out of a five star hotel restaurant and then turns a gangster restaurant down the road into a success.
100 days my prince stars Kpop singer EXO Do Kyung-soo, also check out "12 year promise" . Also Boys over Flowers is base off Japanese Manga and not the original version.
I almost exclusively watch Asian dramas! I've watched quite a few of your recommendations. I remember when I found Viki I literally did a happy dance 🤣 My favorite story (that I've seen in almost every Asian category - Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean and even Thai - is Miss In Kiss. I highly recommend it!! The Korean version has the same main actor as a Love So Beautiful and the Japanese version has a follow up series called Love In Tokyo.
I really liked Cinderella and the Four Knights. I loved how she had to complete all these impossible missions to bring the family together. I have seen 100 Days My Prince but I really liked Rookie Historian. If you haven't seen that one yet, I highly recommend it. I've tried so hard to watch Boys over Flowers and Meteor Garden. I just couldn't finish it after starting it. Another modern day I really enjoyed was Her Private Life. The heroine is a fan girl and I totally identified with her obsessive behavior. I squealed right along with her! Really recommend that one. I really like C dramas as well. The Untamed is my absolute favourite. I think Xiao Zhan has one of the most beautiful smiles on this earth. If you ever wanted to watch a cute, funny one, I recommend The Tiger and the Rose. It had me laughing so hard in places. I think you can watch that one on You Tube. Thank you for all the hard work you put in for this channel. This video just made my day!
I'm a fellow (asian) Drama fan here! Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese! I've seen Boys over flower in aaaaaaallll versions! Meteor garden is really great new version!
This is off topic but I just wanted to share that Seoyeong Wi skated her short program to music from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie at the recent Nebelhorn Trophy.
Crash Landing on You and Start Up are wonderful Kdramas! Twenty-Five Twenty-One, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and Once Upon a Small Town are great too. The Cdrama version of A Love So Beautiful on Netflix is better than the Kdrama version, in my opinion. I'm watching Descendants of the Sun now.
I used to watch *so* many K-dramas before I had kids. And that was a while ago, so my recommendations are almost all older than yours. lol My all-time favorite K-drama is King 2 Hearts. If you liked Crash Landing on You, you should really give this one a try. The premise is that the Korean monarchy survived the Japanese occupation in the early 20th century, and there's still a king of Korea, and his mission in life is to improve relations between North and South Korea. His younger brother, the irresponsible prince, ends up falling in love with a North Korean special forces agent, and it's just *fantastic*. It's a romance, comedy, political, military drama with a thriller/mystery/action element thrown in. Every single person who cares about K-dramas should watch it. My favorite category of K-dramas are those based off manhwas/mangas. I feel like they tend to be more fun and vibrant than others. My favorites you haven't already mentioned are: *Full House *Goong/Princess Hours *Playful Kiss I also really, *really* love historical dramas, like Tree with Deep Roots and Dong Yi. Tree with Deep Roots is really interesting, because it deals with the creation of the Korean writing system by King Sejong the Great. Dong Yi is also based on real people - but like their adaptation of Little Women, let's just say that the history presented in these dramas is, um, loose. ***btw Joseon is pronounced like "Jo" (as in Little Women) "sun" (as in the star). In the Korean writing system, the dipthong of the long e and long o vowels combine to make a sound kind of similar to the English short u. It's romanized as eo because that's how it's written in Korean. It's confusing, but once you know about that convention, Korean words become a lot easier to pronounce.
Ellie, I love your eyeshadow so much!! Also, I’ve never watched a K-drama before but this video was so thorough and so enticing, I want to now! Thank you!! You’re amazing 🫶🏻😊
If you like the "is he great or is he a psychopath" themes then I would definitely recommend Flower of Evil and Beautiful Mind. My favorite gender bender is Coffee Prince. I've rewatched it so much.😂 Its my comfort food.
Another category I would add is Food Dramas!! So many great shows both historical (Dae Jang Geum aka Jewel in the Palace) and modern-day (Feast of the Gods) that showcase Korean culinary arts and cultural traditions.
Thanks for the recommendations! I will note them down! 😃 I think I started Strong Girl Bong Soon but if I remember correctly I got way too scared of the bad guy. 🙈😂 Unless that was a different drama that was giving me nightmares and I got it mixed up. Lol.
Another genere I like lately is the home town, or small town drama. My favorite so far is hometown Cha Cha, and I'm currently watching Once Upon a Small Town and, DoDoSolSolLaLaSol.
I love Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo. I have crushes on the swimmer guy and on the Bok-Joo’s friend (the one with short hair who also played the trans woman in Itaewon Class). My all time favorite k-drama is Hwarang, though
I'd add "Kill me, heal me", such a good drama with great actors. Also, I really liked "Shine or go crazy", "Reply 1988", "Run on" (soundtrack is superb), "City Hunter", "Memories of the Alhambra", "Do you like Brahms?" Ah there are so many good ones... Hope you can travel to Korea and Japan to get to see what it's really like. I've visited both places many times since 2010, but I went to Korea with my sister this year, who is a huge drama fan. It was an interesting experience for her!
My all time faves are Goblin (and its sorta-but-not-really-spinoff Touch Your Heart), The King Eternal Monarch, and the one that got me hooked on KDramas, Vincenzo. Also looooved Mine (stunning visuals of rich people being absolutely unhinged LOL). Currently watching Little Women.
After watching My Holo Love, and obsessed with it, I ended up watching a lot of crime k-dramas. My favourites were Stranger (that also portrays a neurodivergent prosecutor and an otaku police woman) and The Good Detective! But I have an honorable mention for Signal (that involves time travel). I couldn't watch any other romance k-dramas because I always was comparing them with My Holo Love, but now I'm curious about I'm not a robot. Thank you!
I just finished reading "Cheese in the Trap" k-graphic nover, which served as a material basis for the "Cheese in the Trap" k-drama, and as someone who watched the drama too, i gotta say, the drama does a poor job of portraying the full complexity of the main male lead, and his character arc development. Neither it does justice to the other important to the plot, characters. I heard that its because the live action drama has been made before the graphic novel was completed, and since the coming out of the novel was taking too long, the producers were not sure which direction the story will go, and they needed to complete and release the live action before the full book came out, so they just took their own liberties with it, and ended up with a pretty botched version of their own. However, if you are invested in the main charactes, i recommend the k-graphic novel, which can be found on webtoons. It's a very long story, but if you stick to it, you won't regret it. Very interesting and the conclusion of the story is extremely satisfying.
I love ur break down of kdramas to get ppl into it. So kewl. I’d offer “Flower Boy Ramyun Shop” and “Coffee Prince”. Oh there are so many. And for any horror fan (I understand not for period dramas or romance ppl) but “Train to Busan “ is really good, “#Alive” and “ Sweet Home” (which was an online comic). Oh gosh “more typical kdramas “Fated to love” is good. Also”Playful kiss” and so much more! The historical dramas are good too with some comedy ones being my fav like”My only love song”. OMG I need to find a common friend to talk about these shows. My friends and family think I’m nutz 😅
@@lindsaymartin8503 Awesome another one I can put in my queue! Thank you 🙏 I’m all over the place with the kdramas like she said in her video. I tend to like the comedy heavy ones more.
OK Ya gotta watch the oldies, too. Not in any order: My Lovely Samsoon (or My Name is Kim Sam Soon) I watch it once a year. Coffee Prince - watch it in the summer heat. Master's Sun. Misaeng, What's Up Fox? Nine: Times Time Travel , Queen In-Hyun's Man, Kill Me Heal Me, City Hall...So many good ones.
My first KDrama was “Princess Hours”. I discovered it on RUclips a few years ago. Sweet and cute. I’m a boomer. My Grandgirls love Japan culture. We’ve watched a few of travel videos on ferries and trains. Hope that you will have a blessed and wonderful trip.
I laughed a lot watching Little Women, because it was so outlandishly off of the original book and themes. My husband kept asking me why I was watching it. Honestly, I wanted to see how the writers untangled that mess. If you take away the name, it’s just a mystery drama. Boys Over Flowers and Cheese in the Trap were awful. I didn’t want that girl to end up with the main guy in the end. Why the heck is Goblin(Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) not on this list? Here are some other suggestions to add to your list. -One Spring Night -Something in the Rain -Romance is a Bonus Book -Thirty-Nine -Tomorrow with You -Tunnel -Hospital Playlist -While You Were Sleeping
LOL... I have had so many up all nights because of those cliff hangers! Crash Landing was my first with Boys Over Flowers my 2nd... and I was completely HOOKED!
I had no idea there was a korean version for Hana Yori Dango (Boys over flowers). I read the manga and watched the old Japanese Dorama.... will have to check this out to see how the korean version ranks up (the japanese dorama is pretty fun)
Hi Ellie, this is actually the second time I watch this video. I got into kdramas last summer so when you uploaded this video I had only watched Hello My Twenties and Romance is a bonus book (this one is great!). I was looking for recommendations and actually read all the comments and take notes, so thank you Ellie’s subscribers, since then I’ve watched: -Strong Girl Bong Son -Start-Up -Itaewon Class -Twenty Five Twenty One -Business Proposal -Extraordinary Attorney Woo -Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo -Hometown Cha Cha Cha -Our Beloved Summer Yeah, now i’m really into kdramas and I love them. For me my personal favourites are Twenty Five Twenty One, Our Beloved Summer and Start-Up… so tell me, what do you think about 2521’s ending? Did you finish it? Quite controversial 😅 Now I did the same thing with some of your recs and subscribers to keep fulfilling my list of kdramas ❤ thank you for the video
If you still love watching Kdramas, i would love to see and update on what dramas you like now. Its all your fault, Ellie, I gave them a chance because of you. I like so many k-dramas now!
One Spring Night, Mr. Sunshine, Boys Over Flowers, Home Town Cha Cha Cha, Business Proposal, Nevertheless, King: Eternal Monarch are my favorites. All on Netflix
To everyone is their own, but Boys over flowers is absolutely worst k-drama in my opinion. Years ago it's scared me off of watching any korean or even any asian dramas for 3 years, which is so much wasted time, cause there so much really good dramas. But BOF is honestly awful, disgusting, there's no love, only normalised abuse, a lot of korean swearing (main character) and ugly hairstyles. And an open ending - I personally hate this type of endings. If you want to watch something of similar premises and also Lee Min-Ho - watch Heirs, it's a lot more bearable. And the actress who played mother of the main girl is the godess of acting in every drama with her. And imho even if it's pleasant to watch Lee Min-Ho, I actually only can recommend "Faith" and "The legend of the blue sea". Heirs is fine too, but nothing great.
Kinda late to the party, but I want to ask why didn't mention any of Lee Jong-suk's dramas even though he has one for almost every category. Did you not watch any of them or didn't you like them? Also 2 of my top 5 if not top 3 would be Law School and Black. I don't think that there are a lof of (K)Dramas that get close to them in terms of original story, acting and overall quality.
A few of my other favourites (a lot of them are historical ones, which can be frustrating for non-Asians): Vincenzo: A mafia raised Korean-Italian lawyer seeking justice along with another lawyer who sees everything as either beneficial or useless. Interesting black comedy and you get to hear somewhat decent Italian phrases. Mr. Queen: This is just pure comedy. A man time-travels and becomes a woman/Empress, falls in love with the Emperor. So I Married The Anti-Fan: Another comedy. An anti-fan got fired, got real mad. Some producers decide to make a "Love Island" type of reality show. Hotel Del Luna: A hotel serving the afterlife. A man accidentally is chosen to be the manager. He learns how to help the dead/ghost guests to move on, and later help all the ghost staff, including the owner to move on.
Have you seen Aarang and the Magistrate?!? It is AMAZING!! It’s period it’s a mystery there is a supernatural force at work and it is HILARIOUS!! You need to watch it!!
I really ended up liking Kingdom, then Princess Hours and Flower of Evil. There are others, Like All Of Us Are Dead, 1% of something, Business Proposal, The King’s Affections.
Okay, I have to admit that when you said you weren’t going to be releasing content solely Jane Austen- related I was so disappointed, but I figured I’d stay subscribed for when you do put out JA content (and because I really enjoy your take on things). I have been LOVING your content lately! Your video about growing up native, this one- I can’t WAIT to dig into some KDrama now, and that is totally not something I would have dreamed of saying 2 days ago (I might not have even known it was a thing…). I still look forward to more JA content, but love how you’re expanding. Keep being awesome Ellie!
Boys Over Flowers and Cinderella and the Four Knights are two of my favorites that you've listed. A show you MUST WATCH is True Beauty. Please please please watch it. It's so good. I also loved Coffee Prince.
So I saw this video in my feed about a month ago, and hadnt seen it yet. And then was on a foreign film and tv kick all of October thus far. And this week I discovered the K dramas content on Netflix. Where has the genre been all my life? Who knew? And Song Kang is hot hot hot... but I was worried that made me sicko, as I'm 30, but was very relieved that he is in fact 28...so I guess between the skincare and the makep and the diet Korean men can Just appear very youthful? My original avoidance was bc I am terrified of horror and thrillers and my hubby likes it all including the Korean subgenre. On the subject of K drama english. Inflection patterns do not often translate well between languages anywhere. BUT how many native english speakers can tell the difference between the Mandarin, Korean Vietnamese or Japanese languages? If they're not picky about accent differences between UK, US. Aussies, Kiwis, and South Africans etc... NBD.
I love your list but you forgot, "All of Us Are Dead." A group of students must escape the zombie apocalypses at their school. There is action, love, and vengeance. It is my favorite. For period pieces, I love "The King's Affection." Keep making great videos.
I will say that when I watched Gangnam Beauty on Dramafever, they had some very relevant Kpop songs like Psy and BTS in there. The Netflix version completely stripped them out and what they replaced it with can't even compare...a couple of the scenes just can't come across the same way. Idk if Viki has the Kpop songs, but I would try to find a version with the original songs if you plan to watch. :)
I just gasped because I now know there's a Korean version of Boys over Flowers. (I know it as Hana Yori Dango and I'm familiar with the Japanese Drama and manga).
One of my absolute favorites is King of Baking Kim Tak Gu. It's an old one and it was very popular among the country with 50 % ratings. It's maily about kindness imo but ot also has a romantic line and a rich toxic parent line.
Watching Business Proposal right now and this is the best, most healthy relationship I have seen in a kdrama! Its amazing! As a dabbler in kdramas and a culinary lover, I recommend Coffee Prince and Pasta Coffee Prince is about a girl who, while dressed as a guy, gets a job as a barista at an all male employee (“princes”) coffee shop and love/hijinks ensue Pasta is about a line cook at an Italian restaurant who has a passion for cooking but her new chef boss hates women in the kitchen so she must prove him wrong. Love/hijinks ensue
Hey Ellie-I’m a boomer and my all time favorite K-drama is”DearMy Friends.” It has complicated mother-daughter dynamics, romance, long-lasting friendships, and growing older without losing full zest for life, as well as dealing with aging parents who are always a handful. Might not be relatable for teens, the main character seems to be 30-ish and most of the others are 65+. Lots of humor, tender-hearted moments.
For beginners in Korean soap operas, might I recommend Netflix’s Once Upon a Small Town? It’s a 2022 K-Drama that ended recently, with only 12 episodes in total and each episode is no more than 45 minutes, it's perfect for those not wanting to commitment to a show with a myriad of episodes while still getting a lot of content in one episode!
I'm sure others have said it, but I gotta add my voice in and say "Goblin wasn't included in the list?!" Ellie - If you haven't seen it, you can borrow my copy!
Do you watch Kdramas in the original korean with english subtitles or dubbed in english? I can't stand to watch dubbed movies/shows, I always watch in the original languages
i watched "it's okay to not be okay" and realized that i was probably working with a flawed understanding of kdramas cause that had the best most mundanely human understanding of mental illness I've probably ever seen in any tv show ever so I'm willing to maybe try more
wow thank you Ellie did all the awesome advice! I have a question about the little women show, I've only read book one as a child and I'd like to reread it and read the whole series, but will the k drama have any kind of spoilers for the books if I watch it now, especially after book one, or does it just have nothing in common? I'd really like to watch it, I like the idea of four sisters (they are still sisters right? XD). I've still only seen one k drama years ago, Legend of the blue sea and I loved it, it's just so hilarious you can't stop laughing. I'd only watched season one so I'd like to watch season two of that. and a Love so beautiful sounded nice too, and the alien one :) I love korean movies too! have you seen Parasite? it's so beautiful. Also if you want to read korean books I'd definitely recommend The Vegetarian, it's really good. if you read korean books I'd love to hear advice :)
I love K-dramas. I have learned the hard way just to binge an entire series, rather than wait for the cliffhanger resolution. My two favorite are Secret Garden and Faith. Faith is the best. They cheat and call it a fusion drama, because it is fantasy, history, action, and romance all together. The hero of his age kidnaps a surgeon from 21st century Seoul to save the most famous romance in korean history. It's fantastic! Secret Garden is modern, a cross between your office category and girls moving in with cute guys category. An elevatophobic conglomerate leader meets a poor stuntwoman, and their lives entwine in ways that take too long to explain here. The writing is really strong, and all the relationships have excellent arcs. Thanks for your videos, they are delightful and refreshing.
Many of the K Dramas I enjoyed are already in your list and in some other comments below-one that I haven’t seen listed though, is Move to Heaven; really makes you think more about the people around you beyond what is visible on the surface.
I miss DramaFever so much!! There are so many Kdramas to love, sadly lately I haven’t been able to watch new dramas. A personal favorite is Scent of a Woman, with Kim Sun-a and Lee Dong Wook. Some other favorites are: Coffee Prince Boys over Flowers Secret Garden Strong Woman Do Bong Soon Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo Crash Landing on You You who came from the stars Goblin Fight for my way While you where sleeping W She was pretty Pinocchio Master’s Sun Hometown Cha Cha Cha
![15 Kdramas SO AMAZING They Make Everything Else Seem Like Trash! [Ft HappySqueak]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JTMBzoRG7D0/mqdefault.jpg)
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I’ve had Nord VPN for a few months now. It’s very useful especially to view different content on streaming services. Being in UK and not owning a television I can watch Drag Race UK as an American. Gotta be sneaky haha!
I think you would love the kdrama Secret Garden and Angel eyes
I loved Crash Landing on You - it was the kdrama that got me started on my deep dive during the pandemic! If you haven't watched Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, I highly recommend it. Small town drama, great relationships between characters, and a lovely romance.
I’ve watched the first episode of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha!!! It was really good. But I’m also trying to be good and not get halfway through a new series before finishing the 3 I’m already in the middle of. 😂 So it’s on my future watchlist!
Yeeees, hometown cha-cha-cha was my pandemic kdrama and the one that started it all for me. But I don't like how it gets so dramatic towards the ending episodes, especially on the premise that the drama is based on. It didn't make any sense to me and actually got me worked up. Still, I totally recommend it
I loved Crash Landing on You, too! It was so cool to see their dramatization of North Korean life
Please watch Oh My Ghost! And thank for a great info Ellie, I've got homework now 🥳
Started with Tunnel, a time travel detective series. Favorites: Our Blues (a slice of life drama series), Mr. Queen, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Crash Landing on You, Business Proposal, Rookie Historian, Navillera.
I enjoyed this list but I don't remember if you mentioned the source material for most of these dramas being a webtoon or manga. But I personally preferred the webtoon versions of Secretary Kim and A Business Proposal. I'm also surprised about Coffee Prince not being on this list. Yumi Cells is a current drama I highly recommend. This is by far the funniest drama.
How is Goblin not on this list!? It features the same actress from Cheese in the Trap and Little Women and is amazing. Hotel del Luna is a ton of fun too, and Chicago Typewriter is fantastic, though it seems to have disappeared from Viki recently 😪.
73 year old grandma here! Lee min ho from boys over flowers was recently in The King Eternal Monarch. It’s crazy time travel at its best. It’s okay not to be okay is also one of my favorites An autistic brother and crazy girlfriend what could go wrong. Both are on Netflix. I have watched over 350 kdramas. I am still going strong. I have seen all but two of your suggestions and they went right on my list to watch. It’s fun to watch your journey. We have many interests in common! 💜💜💜💜💜
My favorite kdrama is Coffee Prince. For years, I have tried to find a kdrama romance as good as Coffee Prince, and it just hasn't happened. Gotta say this is mostly due to the two main actors. The male lead is the same actor as the lead in Train to Busan.
Coffee Prince is a classic that I definitely need to add to my watchlist! Thank you!!!
Yes! Let me know if you ever find one cause I haven't found one yet either. 😭
I love Coffee Prince so much!!!!
I loved coffee prince! And the music is really good too!
I’m just gonna keep coming back to the comments section to watch all these 😅
I'm a big fan of Korean shows but I have to admit that "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" is my absolute favorite. It's got just enough drama, just enough comedy, and I think the actress who plays Woo is exceptional. I was a reporter for 50 years before I retired and during one phase in my career I covered social services where I wrote a lot about neuro-divergent people and their families. I think this actress - and the scriptwriters - have absolutely nailed her character and those she interacts with.
So, they've done a "Little Women" Kdrama. Can you imagine any of Austen's novels being a Kdrama? I bet a Korean "Persuasion" or "Pride and Prejudice" would be really interesting.
that would be so funny, especially if it was really inaccurate! I'm here for it
Bollywood did it: Bride and Prejudice. Sadly, while it has one of the best Bollywood actresses, the movie just is not inspired.
I have a good tip for everyone: the k-drama is called Mr.Queen.
It’s really good 🙏🏼
Wow, that sounds like a super interesting one!
My absolute favorite drama was Strong Woman Do Bong Soo, just the right amount of trope and the chemistry between the two leads was fantastic, the subplot of the kidnapper/killer was actually pretty interesting and add a sprinkling of supernatural made it perfect. And Park Hyung Sik is so good looking!
That was a good one! They did have great chemistry 🥰
My favorites are Welcome to Waikiki and I Am Not a Robot-- those were hilarious!
Currently halfway through watching Yumi's Cells 😊
Where can I find these ones? I don’t see them on Netflix
I think my favourite of all time is Reply 1988. It's such a beautiful story and so nostalgic. I also really liked It's Okay To Not Be Okay and Fight for My Way.
Most of my friends would never watch another K-Drama if I tried to get them to watch Boys over Flowers. 🙈
Those 3 K-dramas are a part of my top favorites as well!
Totally agree with you about Boys Over Flowers. I could not get through the 1st episode. That's just my opinion though.
Yeah some of the old dramas full of tropes are cringe worthy, Boys over Flowers tops the list.
Secret Garden (2010) is another great one! Although it's a bit older, I recommend it for those who like a bit of fantasy.
I'm autistic and I think "The Extraordinary Woo" was a great show! I liked how her special interest was whales. I think her actress did a really good job and we have very similar mannerisms and the way we talk. Besides that, I've seen the Heirs (my first k-drama) and Boys Over Flowers. Right now I'm watching Meteor Garden which is a Chinese version of Boys Over Flowers. Both of those shows have an autistic character, but he is sadly very poorly done. In Boys Over Flowers, he gets autism when his family gets in a car crash, and is supposedly "cured" of it when he gets a girlfriend, which I don't like. They are still good shows, but that's just something I don't like.
I'm a pretty big fan of Extraordinary Attorney Woo and I do agree that Young-Woo being a genius shouldn't be a factor.
This is coming from me, who was diagnosed as autistic and became the "burned out gifted kid."
Love the rapid-fire reviews of various K-dramas though!
I watch C-Dramas. There are so many good ones, and yes, they are almost all visually stunning.
C-Dramas are cool! 😃 My brother-in-law loves the Chinese version of Boys Over Flowers, I think it’s called Meteor Garden.
@@EllieDashwood Oh, I haven't watched that yet but it is really popular!
Me too! I go back and forth in phases lol! I just finished up on Love Like the Galaxy and highly recommend for both cinematography and acting! :3 do you have any recommendations?
@@EllieDashwood If you watch C-drama, you HAVE TO WATCH THE STORY OF MINGLAN! Its a period drama that has so many similar themes with Jane Austen's novels. As a Jane Austen fan, this is a must watch!
@@lucyhoneychurch1079 where can that one be watched? ( Ming lab)?
Okay...how did you get that shirt? Were you at BTS Sofi? We tried and tried to get that shirt LOL!!! I should have known you were ARMY!
Anyway, big fan of your channel and it is nice to get your ideas for some new dramas to watch. I love kdramas but I have to be in the mood for subtitles.
Have you seen "Something in the Rain" AKA "Pretty Noona who Brings me Food"? I liked that one too.
OK someone must write this, I'm sorry😅 I ABSOLUTELY DON'T RECOMMEND BOYS OVER FLOWERS!🙈 it's soo cringy and if it was my first k-drama i would never,never watch any other one, so I'm glad ir wasn't. And when i tried to watch it i could even finish the first episode. That was 9 years ago and i still remember the wtf (what the flower) thoughts it provoked.
I'm in total agreement. It definitely was not my cup of tea as well. I used to think it might have been something that didn't age well, but then realized there seems to be a big divide between people who really love it or really really don't like it period. Lol! As Ellie mentioned though, I'm glad that the Kdrama world has so much variety that I believe anyone can find something that they will enjoy.
I just watched my first, Extraordinary Attorney Woo. I loved it. Thanks for this video. I think I am learning basic Korean through immersion :). I don't like the subbed shows; I prefer the subtitles.
Arang and the magistrate!!!!! It’s the best historical drama. It’s funny, it’s mystical, it’s sad, it’s adventurous. There is romance, fighting, political intrigue, sorcery, gods and miracles. You got to watch it!
A good honorable mention to add your list is Hotel Luna, it used to be only on Vicky but I believe I saw it on Netflix recently.
Playful Kiss (2010) is a classic you must watch! It's a cute highschool love story that follows the characters into college. It's not the most, let's say, "modern" relationship, but I still think it has so many adorable moments and the main character is really lovable. It was so well loved at the time that they even made a web series to show what happens to the characters next. I also love Pasta (2010), about an aspiring chef trying to make it in the tough kitchen of an Italian restaurant. They filmed it in an actual restaurant in Seoul and I ate there for my birthday once! I recently also watched The Greatest Love (2011) - my husband made me watch it and it was so hilarious! It's about an arrogant actor at the top of his game and a former disgraced girl group idol crossing paths and of course, falling for eachother. It's seriously so funny!!
I loved Pasta!
I was suffering from second male lead syndrome after watching Boys over Flowers, then I watched Playful Kiss and loved that just as much!
Boys Over Flowers is based on the Manga Hana Yori Dango, that has a Japanese drama (2 seasons of 11 or 12 episodes, and a film), and even if the k-drama is more accurate to the Manga I prefer the j-drama. Maybe because it was one of the firsts dramas that I watched (long time ago, with Hanazakari no Kimitachi e). Cheese in the Trap was really awesome! Loved Emergency Couple too (a medical comedy with a divorced couple in a internship)
All your favourite K-dramas are my favourite too! 😁😁 I would also suggest to watch "Strong woman do bong soon", it's super silly but also so funny and romantic and so much fun to watch 😚😚😚😚
Yay! 😃 And thank you for the recommendation!!!
My favorite kdramas are Moon Lovers: Scarlet heart ryeo and Hotel Del Luna, there is Goblin and Strong Woman Do Bong Soon too. All amazing dramas
MLSHR tore my heart up into little tiny pieces. How dare Lee Jun-ki be so cute and make me so sad! 😭
@@lindsaymartin8503 its been 6 years and my heart its still broke 😭
I’ve been following your content for a while now bc of the jane austen content but I never really went into your channel but I’m glad I did bc I found this video. It’s funny because as I watched your content I understood how korean society could have so many strict and seemingly silly rules that everyone just blindly follows, but learning about Victorian era social etiquette and rules I was like oh, makes more sense now. Also this also explains why regression/reincarnation webtoons set in a places inspired by european 18-19th century are so popular in korea.
I feel like you would like webtoons ( a lot of kdramas are adapted from webtoons/manhwas), it would be fun to know your opinion and if some of the scenarios could actually have happened in 18-19th century Europe.
My absolute favorites will be reply 1988 and hospital playlist, I love slice of life drama where all the characters are nice with just a little wholesome love story thrown in the background. They are so wholesome and give me ghibli vibes.
The most recent ones I watched are Business Proposal, Hometown Cha-cha-cha and Hotel del Luna which I enjoyed a lot. One very important category of K-Dramas (for me at least)are food themed shows, I recommend starting with the Let's Eat series, it's my happy place.
Oooh! I loved the Let's Eat series too! Although I loved one and two best. If you love food-based K-Dramas, maybe check out Wok of Love? It's a lot of fun and about a Chinese chef who gets kicked out of a five star hotel restaurant and then turns a gangster restaurant down the road into a success.
@@dyutibasu4541 Wok of Love is great!
Need to check out the Let's Eat series.
100 days my prince stars Kpop singer EXO Do Kyung-soo, also check out "12 year promise" . Also Boys over Flowers is base off Japanese Manga and not the original version.
I almost exclusively watch Asian dramas! I've watched quite a few of your recommendations. I remember when I found Viki I literally did a happy dance 🤣 My favorite story (that I've seen in almost every Asian category - Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean and even Thai - is Miss In Kiss. I highly recommend it!! The Korean version has the same main actor as a Love So Beautiful and the Japanese version has a follow up series called Love In Tokyo.
I’m so glad to see business proposal on the list. I would also add in hotel del Luna. A little creepy but also funny and romantic.
Yay! I’m glad there is another Business Proposal fan on here. 😃 And I think I’ve heard of the other one before but have never checked it out! 🧐
I also love hotel del Luna! Is sooo good!
@@EllieDashwood also loved the bgm of 100 days my prince.
Yes! I can't believe I forgot to add that one to my list. I've watched through it twice.
Please pretty please! Check out "Stairway to Heaven" and "Winter Sonata". Old but ohh sooo very good!
Healer with Ji Chang Wook. My absolute favorite ever!! Attorney Woo is also a fave❤
I really liked Cinderella and the Four Knights. I loved how she had to complete all these impossible missions to bring the family together. I have seen 100 Days My Prince but I really liked Rookie Historian. If you haven't seen that one yet, I highly recommend it. I've tried so hard to watch Boys over Flowers and Meteor Garden. I just couldn't finish it after starting it. Another modern day I really enjoyed was Her Private Life. The heroine is a fan girl and I totally identified with her obsessive behavior. I squealed right along with her! Really recommend that one.
I really like C dramas as well. The Untamed is my absolute favourite. I think Xiao Zhan has one of the most beautiful smiles on this earth. If you ever wanted to watch a cute, funny one, I recommend The Tiger and the Rose. It had me laughing so hard in places. I think you can watch that one on You Tube.
Thank you for all the hard work you put in for this channel. This video just made my day!
Her Private Life is definitely one of the best!
Thanks for the C-drama recommendations! I'll need to check them out.
I'm a fellow (asian) Drama fan here! Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese! I've seen Boys over flower in aaaaaaallll versions! Meteor garden is really great new version!
So surprised that Goblin isn't on this list!!! I also really enjoy Yumi's Cells and So I Married The Anti-Fan.
This is off topic but I just wanted to share that Seoyeong Wi skated her short program to music from the 2005 Pride and Prejudice movie at the recent Nebelhorn Trophy.
AHHH THAT WOULD BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TO SKATE TOO!!!
It was, made me appreciate the music even more :)
Crash Landing on You and Start Up are wonderful Kdramas! Twenty-Five Twenty-One, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and Once Upon a Small Town are great too. The Cdrama version of A Love So Beautiful on Netflix is better than the Kdrama version, in my opinion. I'm watching Descendants of the Sun now.
I used to watch *so* many K-dramas before I had kids. And that was a while ago, so my recommendations are almost all older than yours. lol
My all-time favorite K-drama is King 2 Hearts. If you liked Crash Landing on You, you should really give this one a try. The premise is that the Korean monarchy survived the Japanese occupation in the early 20th century, and there's still a king of Korea, and his mission in life is to improve relations between North and South Korea. His younger brother, the irresponsible prince, ends up falling in love with a North Korean special forces agent, and it's just *fantastic*. It's a romance, comedy, political, military drama with a thriller/mystery/action element thrown in. Every single person who cares about K-dramas should watch it.
My favorite category of K-dramas are those based off manhwas/mangas. I feel like they tend to be more fun and vibrant than others. My favorites you haven't already mentioned are:
*Full House
*Goong/Princess Hours
*Playful Kiss
I also really, *really* love historical dramas, like Tree with Deep Roots and Dong Yi. Tree with Deep Roots is really interesting, because it deals with the creation of the Korean writing system by King Sejong the Great. Dong Yi is also based on real people - but like their adaptation of Little Women, let's just say that the history presented in these dramas is, um, loose.
***btw Joseon is pronounced like "Jo" (as in Little Women) "sun" (as in the star). In the Korean writing system, the dipthong of the long e and long o vowels combine to make a sound kind of similar to the English short u. It's romanized as eo because that's how it's written in Korean. It's confusing, but once you know about that convention, Korean words become a lot easier to pronounce.
I actually prefer The Chinese drama "A Love so Beautiful " to the Korean version
Ellie, I love your eyeshadow so much!! Also, I’ve never watched a K-drama before but this video was so thorough and so enticing, I want to now! Thank you!! You’re amazing 🫶🏻😊
If you like the "is he great or is he a psychopath" themes then I would definitely recommend Flower of Evil and Beautiful Mind. My favorite gender bender is Coffee Prince. I've rewatched it so much.😂 Its my comfort food.
Another category I would add is Food Dramas!! So many great shows both historical (Dae Jang Geum aka Jewel in the Palace) and modern-day (Feast of the Gods) that showcase Korean culinary arts and cultural traditions.
Ok Ellie you HAVE to watch strong girl bong soon, I remember you, playful kiss, and lie to me. All so good
Thanks for the recommendations! I will note them down! 😃 I think I started Strong Girl Bong Soon but if I remember correctly I got way too scared of the bad guy. 🙈😂 Unless that was a different drama that was giving me nightmares and I got it mixed up. Lol.
Another genere I like lately is the home town, or small town drama. My favorite so far is hometown Cha Cha, and I'm currently watching Once Upon a Small Town and, DoDoSolSolLaLaSol.
Once Upon a Small Town has my heart! I prefer the manhwa version of Han Jiyul instead!
I love Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo. I have crushes on the swimmer guy and on the Bok-Joo’s friend (the one with short hair who also played the trans woman in Itaewon Class). My all time favorite k-drama is Hwarang, though
How about True Beauty and Extraordinary You? If you haven’t watched them you’re missing out!
Those are are great!
I'd add "Kill me, heal me", such a good drama with great actors. Also, I really liked "Shine or go crazy", "Reply 1988", "Run on" (soundtrack is superb), "City Hunter", "Memories of the Alhambra", "Do you like Brahms?" Ah there are so many good ones...
Hope you can travel to Korea and Japan to get to see what it's really like. I've visited both places many times since 2010, but I went to Korea with my sister this year, who is a huge drama fan. It was an interesting experience for her!
My all time faves are Goblin (and its sorta-but-not-really-spinoff Touch Your Heart), The King Eternal Monarch, and the one that got me hooked on KDramas, Vincenzo. Also looooved Mine (stunning visuals of rich people being absolutely unhinged LOL). Currently watching Little Women.
Also: Hotel del Luna and Memories of the Alhambra.
After watching My Holo Love, and obsessed with it, I ended up watching a lot of crime k-dramas. My favourites were Stranger (that also portrays a neurodivergent prosecutor and an otaku police woman) and The Good Detective! But I have an honorable mention for Signal (that involves time travel). I couldn't watch any other romance k-dramas because I always was comparing them with My Holo Love, but now I'm curious about I'm not a robot. Thank you!
I just finished reading "Cheese in the Trap" k-graphic nover, which served as a material basis for the "Cheese in the Trap" k-drama, and as someone who watched the drama too, i gotta say, the drama does a poor job of portraying the full complexity of the main male lead, and his character arc development. Neither it does justice to the other important to the plot, characters. I heard that its because the live action drama has been made before the graphic novel was completed, and since the coming out of the novel was taking too long, the producers were not sure which direction the story will go, and they needed to complete and release the live action before the full book came out, so they just took their own liberties with it, and ended up with a pretty botched version of their own. However, if you are invested in the main charactes, i recommend the k-graphic novel, which can be found on webtoons. It's a very long story, but if you stick to it, you won't regret it. Very interesting and the conclusion of the story is extremely satisfying.
I love ur break down of kdramas to get ppl into it. So kewl. I’d offer “Flower Boy Ramyun Shop” and “Coffee Prince”. Oh there are so many. And for any horror fan (I understand not for period dramas or romance ppl) but “Train to Busan “ is really good, “#Alive” and “ Sweet Home” (which was an online comic). Oh gosh “more typical kdramas “Fated to love” is good. Also”Playful kiss” and so much more! The historical dramas are good too with some comedy ones being my fav like”My only love song”. OMG I need to find a common friend to talk about these shows. My friends and family think I’m nutz 😅
I was also a fan of Flower Boy Next Door - from the same Flower Boy series.
@@lindsaymartin8503 Awesome another one I can put in my queue! Thank you 🙏 I’m all over the place with the kdramas like she said in her video. I tend to like the comedy heavy ones more.
OK Ya gotta watch the oldies, too. Not in any order: My Lovely Samsoon (or My Name is Kim Sam Soon) I watch it once a year. Coffee Prince - watch it in the summer heat. Master's Sun. Misaeng, What's Up Fox? Nine: Times Time Travel , Queen In-Hyun's Man, Kill Me Heal Me, City Hall...So many good ones.
My favorite Kdrama is Crash Landing on you followed closely by Secret Garden. I loved them sooo much...
My first KDrama was “Princess Hours”. I discovered it on RUclips a few years ago. Sweet and cute. I’m a boomer.
My Grandgirls love Japan culture. We’ve watched a few of travel videos on ferries and trains.
Hope that you will have a blessed and wonderful trip.
I laughed a lot watching Little Women, because it was so outlandishly off of the original book and themes. My husband kept asking me why I was watching it. Honestly, I wanted to see how the writers untangled that mess. If you take away the name, it’s just a mystery drama.
Boys Over Flowers and Cheese in the Trap were awful. I didn’t want that girl to end up with the main guy in the end.
Why the heck is Goblin(Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) not on this list?
Here are some other suggestions to add to your list.
-One Spring Night
-Something in the Rain
-Romance is a Bonus Book
-Thirty-Nine
-Tomorrow with You
-Tunnel
-Hospital Playlist
-While You Were Sleeping
LOL... I have had so many up all nights because of those cliff hangers! Crash Landing was my first with Boys Over Flowers my 2nd... and I was completely HOOKED!
I love the Crash landing on you❤️ have to check these out!
Crash Landing on You is so awesome! 😃😍
I had no idea there was a korean version for Hana Yori Dango (Boys over flowers). I read the manga and watched the old Japanese Dorama.... will have to check this out to see how the korean version ranks up (the japanese dorama is pretty fun)
Hi Ellie, this is actually the second time I watch this video. I got into kdramas last summer so when you uploaded this video I had only watched Hello My Twenties and Romance is a bonus book (this one is great!). I was looking for recommendations and actually read all the comments and take notes, so thank you Ellie’s subscribers, since then I’ve watched:
-Strong Girl Bong Son
-Start-Up
-Itaewon Class
-Twenty Five Twenty One
-Business Proposal
-Extraordinary Attorney Woo
-Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
-Hometown Cha Cha Cha
-Our Beloved Summer
Yeah, now i’m really into kdramas and I love them. For me my personal favourites are Twenty Five Twenty One, Our Beloved Summer and Start-Up… so tell me, what do you think about 2521’s ending? Did you finish it? Quite controversial 😅
Now I did the same thing with some of your recs and subscribers to keep fulfilling my list of kdramas ❤ thank you for the video
What about Goblin? Haven’t you seen it? It si very famous and for me the best K-drama ever! On an other level…
If you still love watching Kdramas, i would love to see and update on what dramas you like now. Its all your fault, Ellie, I gave them a chance because of you. I like so many k-dramas now!
One Spring Night, Mr. Sunshine, Boys Over Flowers, Home Town Cha Cha Cha, Business Proposal, Nevertheless, King: Eternal Monarch are my favorites. All on Netflix
To everyone is their own, but Boys over flowers is absolutely worst k-drama in my opinion. Years ago it's scared me off of watching any korean or even any asian dramas for 3 years, which is so much wasted time, cause there so much really good dramas.
But BOF is honestly awful, disgusting, there's no love, only normalised abuse, a lot of korean swearing (main character) and ugly hairstyles. And an open ending - I personally hate this type of endings.
If you want to watch something of similar premises and also Lee Min-Ho - watch Heirs, it's a lot more bearable. And the actress who played mother of the main girl is the godess of acting in every drama with her.
And imho even if it's pleasant to watch Lee Min-Ho, I actually only can recommend "Faith" and "The legend of the blue sea". Heirs is fine too, but nothing great.
Kinda late to the party, but I want to ask why didn't mention any of Lee Jong-suk's dramas even though he has one for almost every category. Did you not watch any of them or didn't you like them? Also 2 of my top 5 if not top 3 would be Law School and Black. I don't think that there are a lof of (K)Dramas that get close to them in terms of original story, acting and overall quality.
A few of my other favourites (a lot of them are historical ones, which can be frustrating for non-Asians):
Vincenzo: A mafia raised Korean-Italian lawyer seeking justice along with another lawyer who sees everything as either beneficial or useless. Interesting black comedy and you get to hear somewhat decent Italian phrases.
Mr. Queen: This is just pure comedy. A man time-travels and becomes a woman/Empress, falls in love with the Emperor.
So I Married The Anti-Fan: Another comedy. An anti-fan got fired, got real mad. Some producers decide to make a "Love Island" type of reality show.
Hotel Del Luna: A hotel serving the afterlife. A man accidentally is chosen to be the manager. He learns how to help the dead/ghost guests to move on, and later help all the ghost staff, including the owner to move on.
Have you seen Aarang and the Magistrate?!? It is AMAZING!! It’s period it’s a mystery there is a supernatural force at work and it is HILARIOUS!! You need to watch it!!
I really ended up liking Kingdom, then Princess Hours and Flower of Evil. There are others, Like All Of Us Are Dead, 1% of something, Business Proposal, The King’s Affections.
My favorite Kdrama is boy over flowers and my favorite costume/period drama is “the general and I” which is technically a Chinese drama
Boys Over Flowers is where it’s at! 😃 and The General and I sounds intriguing 🤔
Okay, I have to admit that when you said you weren’t going to be releasing content solely Jane Austen- related I was so disappointed, but I figured I’d stay subscribed for when you do put out JA content (and because I really enjoy your take on things). I have been LOVING your content lately! Your video about growing up native, this one- I can’t WAIT to dig into some KDrama now, and that is totally not something I would have dreamed of saying 2 days ago (I might not have even known it was a thing…). I still look forward to more JA content, but love how you’re expanding. Keep being awesome Ellie!
Boys Over Flowers and Cinderella and the Four Knights are two of my favorites that you've listed.
A show you MUST WATCH is True Beauty. Please please please watch it. It's so good. I also loved Coffee Prince.
So I saw this video in my feed about a month ago, and hadnt seen it yet. And then was on a foreign film and tv kick all of October thus far. And this week I discovered the K dramas content on Netflix.
Where has the genre been all my life? Who knew? And Song Kang is hot hot hot... but I was worried that made me sicko, as I'm 30, but was very relieved that he is in fact 28...so I guess between the skincare and the makep and the diet Korean men can Just appear very youthful?
My original avoidance was bc I am terrified of horror and thrillers and my hubby likes it all including the Korean subgenre.
On the subject of K drama english. Inflection patterns do not often translate well between languages anywhere. BUT how many native english speakers can tell the difference between the Mandarin, Korean Vietnamese or Japanese languages? If they're not picky about accent differences between UK, US. Aussies, Kiwis, and South Africans etc... NBD.
I love your list but you forgot, "All of Us Are Dead." A group of students must escape the zombie apocalypses at their school. There is action, love, and vengeance. It is my favorite. For period pieces, I love "The King's Affection." Keep making great videos.
I will say that when I watched Gangnam Beauty on Dramafever, they had some very relevant Kpop songs like Psy and BTS in there. The Netflix version completely stripped them out and what they replaced it with can't even compare...a couple of the scenes just can't come across the same way. Idk if Viki has the Kpop songs, but I would try to find a version with the original songs if you plan to watch. :)
You're Beautiful was good, but I preferred the Japanese version, Ikemen Desu Ne! In general, I prefer J-Drama and J-Pop to their Korean counterparts.
My favorite drama will probably always be Chocolate on Netflix. It's just beautiful 🍫
I just gasped because I now know there's a Korean version of Boys over Flowers. (I know it as Hana Yori Dango and I'm familiar with the Japanese Drama and manga).
One of my absolute favorites is King of Baking Kim Tak Gu. It's an old one and it was very popular among the country with 50 % ratings. It's maily about kindness imo but ot also has a romantic line and a rich toxic parent line.
Some of these are based off of manhwa. Dork me has actually read "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim?" and "Cheese in the Trap".
Watching Business Proposal right now and this is the best, most healthy relationship I have seen in a kdrama! Its amazing!
As a dabbler in kdramas and a culinary lover, I recommend Coffee Prince and Pasta
Coffee Prince is about a girl who, while dressed as a guy, gets a job as a barista at an all male employee (“princes”) coffee shop and love/hijinks ensue
Pasta is about a line cook at an Italian restaurant who has a passion for cooking but her new chef boss hates women in the kitchen so she must prove him wrong. Love/hijinks ensue
As a K-drama fan since waaay before they became popular (2004-ish) and a Trekkie, I really appreciate you :D
Hey Ellie-I’m a boomer and my all time favorite K-drama is”DearMy Friends.” It has complicated mother-daughter dynamics, romance, long-lasting friendships, and growing older without losing full zest for life, as well as dealing with aging parents who are always a handful. Might not be relatable for teens, the main character seems to be 30-ish and most of the others are 65+. Lots of humor, tender-hearted moments.
For beginners in Korean soap operas, might I recommend Netflix’s Once Upon a Small Town? It’s a 2022 K-Drama that ended recently, with only 12 episodes in total and each episode is no more than 45 minutes, it's perfect for those not wanting to commitment to a show with a myriad of episodes while still getting a lot of content in one episode!
I'm sure others have said it, but I gotta add my voice in and say "Goblin wasn't included in the list?!" Ellie - If you haven't seen it, you can borrow my copy!
Yes I LOVE weightlifting fairy so much.
I know of friends and acquaintances who like K-Dramas. I’m definitely recommending this as a resource. Thank you, Ellie for creating this list 👏🏽
Awww! Thanks for sharing!! This list took me many hours of television watching to compile so I am glad it is being appreciated. 😂
@@EllieDashwood As it should be.
Do you watch Kdramas in the original korean with english subtitles or dubbed in english? I can't stand to watch dubbed movies/shows, I always watch in the original languages
i watched "it's okay to not be okay" and realized that i was probably working with a flawed understanding of kdramas cause that had the best most mundanely human understanding of mental illness I've probably ever seen in any tv show ever so I'm willing to maybe try more
Have you watched Snowdrop by Jisoo from BlackPink?? I would love to hear your review on it!
wow thank you Ellie did all the awesome advice! I have a question about the little women show, I've only read book one as a child and I'd like to reread it and read the whole series, but will the k drama have any kind of spoilers for the books if I watch it now, especially after book one, or does it just have nothing in common? I'd really like to watch it, I like the idea of four sisters (they are still sisters right? XD). I've still only seen one k drama years ago, Legend of the blue sea and I loved it, it's just so hilarious you can't stop laughing. I'd only watched season one so I'd like to watch season two of that. and a Love so beautiful sounded nice too, and the alien one :) I love korean movies too! have you seen Parasite? it's so beautiful. Also if you want to read korean books I'd definitely recommend The Vegetarian, it's really good. if you read korean books I'd love to hear advice :)
00:40 OMG my comment is at the beginning of the video. I can't wait to see your recommendations. Thank u, Ellie!
My son had watched some Korean war movie, and then Netflix recommended Crash Landing On You. That's what got me started!
I love K-dramas. I have learned the hard way just to binge an entire series, rather than wait for the cliffhanger resolution.
My two favorite are Secret Garden and Faith. Faith is the best. They cheat and call it a fusion drama, because it is fantasy, history, action, and romance all together. The hero of his age kidnaps a surgeon from 21st century Seoul to save the most famous romance in korean history. It's fantastic! Secret Garden is modern, a cross between your office category and girls moving in with cute guys category. An elevatophobic conglomerate leader meets a poor stuntwoman, and their lives entwine in ways that take too long to explain here. The writing is really strong, and all the relationships have excellent arcs.
Thanks for your videos, they are delightful and refreshing.
You need to watch Da-li and cocky prince, is really funny! Greetings from Mexico!
My ID is Gangnam Beauty was a manwha I followed quite a while back. I didn't realize they turned it into a show.
Many of the K Dramas I enjoyed are already in your list and in some other comments below-one that I haven’t seen listed though, is Move to Heaven; really makes you think more about the people around you beyond what is visible on the surface.
I miss DramaFever so much!!
There are so many Kdramas to love, sadly lately I haven’t been able to watch new dramas.
A personal favorite is Scent of a Woman, with Kim Sun-a and Lee Dong Wook.
Some other favorites are:
Coffee Prince
Boys over Flowers
Secret Garden
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
Crash Landing on You
You who came from the stars
Goblin
Fight for my way
While you where sleeping
W
She was pretty
Pinocchio
Master’s Sun
Hometown Cha Cha Cha
wow what happened to DramaFever?
@@aiva729 Warner bought it and then closed it, pretty much what they are doing right now with HBO+
I am still so mad at the demise of DramaFever.
@@anajimenez1702 oh that's very sad :(
Have you seen Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. It is amazing, you need to watch it!
Loved watching Heirs. Thanks for the recommendation!