By Jae-Ha Kim
Kocowa.com
August 20, 2020
A lot of people love a good love story, which is why so many people tuned to to see what would happen with Meredith and Derek (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Jim and Pam (“The Office”) and Ross and Rachel (“Friends).” In our opinion, those romances don’t hold a candle to what some Korean dramas have to offer. Here are 9 of our favorites. Please note there are some mild spoilers included:
“My Love From the Star”
There are few K-Dramas better than this one. Kim Soo-Hyun portrays an alien who has waited hundreds of years to return to his planet. Jun Ji-Hyun is the spoiled movie star accustomed to having men fall over themselves in her presence. His aloof demeanor softens when he realizes she may be the reincarnation of his first love. The ending is hopeful, without being overly optimistic about their fate.
“Angel’s Last Mission: Love”
Shin Hae-Sun plays a prima ballerina who becomes blind after a tragic accident. Kim Myung-Soo portrays a problematic angel who can only return to heaven after he helps her find her true love. Does he fall in love with her instead? Is this a K-Drama with two drop-dead gorgeous leads? There’s your answer right there.
“Healer”
This series made Ji Chang-Wook an international star. Paired up with Park Min-Young, he played a skillful night courier. She portrayed a tabloid journalist who was striving for more. As with many K-Drama plotlines, they have a complicated childhood past that neither remembers until the end. Their relationship starts out sweet, with her pining for the rakish Healer, not realizing that the meek persona he’s created is a guise for who he really is. In the end, their relationship saved each other from lives of loneliness.
“The Moon Embracing the Sun”
Ha Ga-In portrays the daughter of a noble academic, whose beauty and brains make her a target of the royal court. They want to implement their own puppet to marry the crown prince. She “dies,” but then comes back to life and is raised as a shaman. She is reunited with Kim Soo-Hyun — the boy who will be king — who has never gotten over his childhood love, but doesn’t realize she’s right there before his eyes.
“Coffee Prince”
Gong Yoo is a chaebol’s grandson, who’s forced to run a cafe to prove he isn’t just a Peter Pan unwilling to grow up. When his grandmother pressures him to get married, he hires Yoon Eun-Hye to pretend to be his…boyfriend. Never mind that it’s obvious to his cousin (played by “Parasite” star Lee Sun-Kyun) — and all the viewers! — that she’s a woman. Their relationship starts off as friendship until he falls in love with her (thinking she’s a him). His revelation that love is love, no matter whom it’s with, was beautifully portrayed and in a non sensationalistic way.
“Fight for My Way”
Park Seo-Joon and Kim Ji-Won portray childhood best friends who grew up having a sibling type of relationship. He was a high school taekwondo champion poised for an Olympic gold medal. She was a confident teenager who dreamed about becoming a famous announcer on television. As young adults, they are facing a life of what ifs. Slowly, they notice how attractive the other is and how comfortable they are around them. As they address the repressed romantic feelings they have for each other, there are glimpses into their past that allude to their future.
“It’s Okay, That’s Love”
When Gong Hyo-Jin is in a series, I consider that to be a seal of approval. The cast — which also includes Jo In-Sung, Lee Kwang-Soo and EXO‘s Do Kyung-Soo (also known as D.O.) — was spectacular. The story is brilliantly told as it handles the complicated issue of mental illness, as well as the burgeoning romantic relationship between the characters that Gong and Jo portray. It’s not played for cute, but rather with deep emotions and a reminder that love alone can’t cure anyone.
“Master’s Sun”
So Ji-Sub plays a rich, cold chaebol who is repulsed, but also fascinated by a woman (Gong Hyo-Jin) who can communicate with ghosts. Y’all know I’m a So Ji-Sub stan. But I honestly did not like his character at first, because of how cruel he was to her. It’s a testament to both actors’ abilities that they turned the premise into something believable and made viewers fall in love with their romance.
“Kill Me, Heal Me”
A wealthy and privileged son (Ji Sung) has a secret he has to hide: he has multiple personalities. In order to help him figure out his past, he hires a psychiatrist (Hwang Jung-Eum) to be on call 24/7. The first episode or two doesn’t prepare you for what these two will go through, as they explore the thread that holds answers for both of them. As the couple falls in love, there are bittersweet moments where she helps him let go of the personalities that helped him survive.
“Go Back Couple” is touted as a comedy — and it is. But the series beautifully depicts how easy it is for a tired, middle-aged couple to dismiss each other. Through a time travel element, both are taken back to their college years, where they are young, eligible and relatively carefree. The embittered couple begins to see each other through renewed eyes and appreciates things that irritated them in their grown-up lives. Jang Na-Ra is spectacular as the wife and mom, who mourns the loss of their baby who has been left behind in the future. But she’s torn between leaving the world she’s in now, where her mother (played by the brilliant Kim Mi-Kyung), is still alive. Son Ho-Jun does a wonderful job as the husband, who realizes just in time that true love is precious — though it requires a lot of work — and that it’s worth being saved.
Now it’s your turn. Tell us what K-Drama romances you love and why.
One thought on “10 of Our Favorite K-Drama Love Stories”