K-Dramas, a lead component of the Hallyu Wave, has taken the world by storm as their popularity rapidly grows each year. With several K-Dramas with different genres, there are many choices to get you into the Hallyu Wave. Whether for rewatching or first-time watchers, here’s a list of K-Dramas to add to your watchlist!
Reply 1988
Let’s go back to the past with Reply 1988! This K-Drama is one of the most popular and highly recommended shows, released in 2015 as part of the Reply series. The story follows a group of best friends who grew up together in the same neighborhood as they navigate their friendship, love, and growing up. Hyeri plays the main character, Deok-sun, a happy-go-lucky and sweet girl who grows up alongside her male friends, like Taek (played by Park Bo-gum) and Junghwan (played by Ryu Jun-yeol). This nostalgic K-Drama is set in the late ’80s, presenting a heartwarming coming-of-age tale that shows the strong emotions and experiences of youth.
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo
Witness the remarkable strength of our leading lady Bok-joo, who attends a sports college to pursue her weightlifting dreams. With its enjoyable, funny, and heartwarming story, this is a must-watch K-Drama that centers on the lives of college athletes. Lee Sung-kyung plays Bok-joo, a spunky and hardworking weightlifter paired with Nam Joo-hyuk’s character Joon-hyung, a swimmer overcoming his trauma. Perfectly showing the fiery passion of youth, reach your dreams just like Bok-joo and Joon-hyung!
Strong Woman Do Bong-soon
To add to the list of strong female characters, Strong Woman Do Bong-soon exemplifies female power with Park Bo-young in the lead. Coming from a long line of women with superhuman strength, Bong-soon uses her powers for good and to protect the innocent. While doing this, she also serves as a bodyguard to Min-hyuk, the CEO of a gaming company she works for. Featuring Park Bo-young and Park Hyung-sik’s unmatchable chemistry, this K-Drama is an enjoyable and heart-fluttering crowd favorite!
Cinderella and the Four Knights
The classic love triangle never goes out of style with Cinderella and the Four Knights! Before Park So-dam starred in the critically acclaimed movie Parasite, this K-Drama gave her one of the earliest hit roles. She plays Eun Ha-won, a poor girl whose life turns around suddenly when she’s hired to look after 3 rich young men and live in their massive house. To add to her tasks, she has to make them all get along as a family while befriending and falling for them. Aside from all the cheesiness, this is the K-Drama with its fair share of drama and comedy to keep everyone entertained!
Business Proposal
Office romance enthusiasts rejoice! Business Proposal is the perfect K-Drama to watch for light and quirky fun, with Kim Se-jeong and Ahn Hyo-seop as the leads. Kim Se-jeong plays Shin Ha-ri, a single woman working for the Go Food company who is tasked by her friend to go on a blind date and pretend to be her. However, little does she know that she’s going on a blind date with the CEO of her company. The CEO, Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), finds out her secret and shockingly asks her to marry him. With the right amount of humor and romantic moments, this K-Drama is always a fun time!
Extraordinary You
Step into the comic book world of Extraordinary You! Meet Eun Dan-o (Kim Hye-yoon), a headstrong girl with a heart problem who discovers that she is a supporting character in a comic book. However, she realizes that she is the only one who knows that they live in a comic book until she meets a fellow side character named Haru (Rowoon). With his help, she sets out to change her fate when she realizes the author plans to kill off her character soon. Despite all the stakes, they take their destinies into their own hands and change their stories for the better. Full of twists and turns, romance, and comedy, this K-Drama will surely keep you on the edge of your seat!
Twenty Five Twenty One
Walk down memory lane with Twenty Five Twenty One! Watch rising fencing star Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri) take on the world of fencing fearlessly. Firstly, due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Hee-do struggled with the disbandment of her school’s fencing team. Because of this, she decides to continue her fencing dreams in another school alongside her fencing idol and rival Ko Yu-rim (Bona). Hee-do also meets Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk), who struggles to make ends meet after his father’s business goes bankrupt. After they meet, they help give each other strength to rise above their hardships and make their dreams come true. With the timeless and heartwarming sentiments of youth and life lessons to learn, this nostalgic K-Drama is a well-loved coming-of-age tale!
From an endless roster of K-Dramas to watch, there’s never a boring moment with these shows! See your favorite K-Drama on this list? Tell us about the first K-Dramas you watched on our Twitter and Instagram.
