Current favorite kdramas

These are list of my top 5 kdramas

1. Catch the Ghost: Don’t worry this drama is not about actual Ghosts. It’s about a serial killer known as the subway ghost. Moon Geun Young plays Yoo Ryung, a rookie detective, whose autistic twin sister goes missing joins the Subway team to try and find her. The Korean title is also a play on her name which also means ghost. Kim Seon Ho who plays a main lead role here is perfect as Ko Ji Seok, a police officer for the Subway team. I enjoyed the leads’ chemistry a lot. Ryung is quite reckless as a character, but I love her as she is a very empathetic person who really cares about the victims. As for Ji Seok I don’t think anyone can top him as the best ML for me. Also an empathetic person who is strict about following the rules. At first he gets annoyed by Ryung but slowly comes to see things her way. While some people didn’t feel that she developed much as a character I disagree. But I understand others might not be satisfied with it. Their romance is like the slowest burn ever cause the drama focuses more on the mystery so they literally don’t get together until the last episode. Watch the drama for them and some of the cases they solve on the way if not for the serial killer mystery itself, which I agree was dragged a few episodes too long.

2. Start up: (If you hate the ML don’t read further cause I won’t take any criticism) Ah one of screenwriter Park Hye Ryun’s most polarized dramas. Not to mention actor Nam Joo Hyuk’s most controversial and hated role yet. Set in the world of Start ups this drama follows the leads as they try to fullfill their dreams and succeed. Most people had the worst case of second lead syndrome for character Han Ji Pyung played by none other than one of my favourite actors Kim Seon Ho. And while he wasn’t my favorite character I kind of understand why people liked him. That said I was too tired of the rich tsundre (and shouty which personally annoys me) MLs with a sad past and a childhood connection with the female lead which there were too many of. I prefered Nam Do San who to me was an interesting and complex but very flawed character of his own which you barely get to see any of. I mean if he was too perfect and too nice people would have found him to be boring anyway. That said I found the hate for him surprising and even his small flaws were laughably exaggerated as if he was totally evil. I also thought that Bae Suzy who played the female lead Seo Dal Mi had the most chemistry with the ML compared to the other dramas I have seen her in and it was also her best role yet. You could see the improvement in her acting. The most impressive improvement in acting I saw was though was of Joo Hyuk. Especially since I saw him in Bride of the Habaek where I found his acting to be kind of okayish. Since the character of Do San was introduced at the very end of the first episode people had already started to get SLS. I actually prefered the second lead’s relationship with Dal Mi’s grandmother. I also loved the ML’s relationship with his friends. Most people were also unhappy cause this drama wasn’t very realistic about startups even though the writer had done some research. But kdramas (though this is not specific to kdramas) rarely are that realistic. For me the drama was more character based than plot based. I do have some of my own criticisms like the second female lead Won In Jae not getting a lot of screentime and the development of her relationship with her sister Dal Mi was also rushed. Some things were dragged or unnecessary, as was the love triangle. This drama had me crying a lot. I will always remember this drama for giving me a relatable (and soft, lovable nerd who knits! idc about other’s opinions) lead like Nam Do San. That said I wish I could have watched it in my own bubble than get involved in one of the worst shipping wars I have seen.

3. Squad 38: The story is about task force chief Baek Sung Il (played by Ma Deong Seok) and a con man Yang Jung Do (played by Seo in Guk) who work together to collect taxes from rich tax evaders. Ok this drama was extremely fun. (Don’t worry it has almost no romance a thing which I actually loved about it back then) Cons, found family, heists, what’s not to love. It was also perfect as far as I am concerned with lot’s of twists and turns that left me guessing. Everyone time you think you know what’s going to happen it surprises you and you wonder if Jung Do would betray the team or if they would get caught. From start to end there’s nothing there for me to complain about.

4. Black Dog: It follows the character of Ko Ha Neul played by Seo Hyun Jin who is a temporary teacher at a private school. Also one of my favourite FLs she is very adorable and cares a lot about her students. This drama has been compared to Misaeng, a drama I haven’t seen yet. The character goes through a lot of struggles while teaching especially since she is a temporary teacher. She slowly proves herself and gets everyone on her side. Ra Mi Ran plays Park Seong Soon a teacher and the Head of college admission who also acts as a mentor to Ha Neul. I also couldn’t help but ship Ha Neul with the character Do Yeon Woo another teacher played by Ha Jun even though there was no romance in the drama (I blame catch the ghost for making me suddenly crave romance as this drama aired soon after that one).

5. Hot Stove League: I didn’t think a drama about baseball would interest me that much but it did. It is about a baseball team called Dreams which hadn’t won a championship in quite some time. Namgoong Min was well suited to play the character of Baek Seung Soo who was brought in to manage the team. Even though he had managed a few sports teams before he had zero experience in managing a baseball team. At first he isn’t very liked by the team but he softens as the drama goes on and the team comes to trust him. Park Eun Bin plays the operations manager Lee Se Young. I liked her in this role who helps him along with Han Jae Hee played by Jo Byung Gyu to manage the team. And it also introduced me to the fantastic Oh Jung Se who played Kwon Kyung Min the team president and junior manager of Jaesong group which owns the team. He actually wants the team to disband as it was unprofitable and there is conflict between him and Seung Soo. I did think that an episode in the middle (which still managed to make me emotional thanks to NGM’s performance) which showed Seong Soo’s backstory was kind of unnecessary (way too much tragedy for one person for a drama like this). That said it’s a drama which I would totally watch a second season of.