I got a special request (thank you
LillyLilac!!) to list my favorite Kdramas of the year. And yes, some of these aren't FROM 2017 but are old and I'm still catching up on them! And so I thought it would just be as simple as seeing what I gave five hearts too and there's my list, but in looking back over it.. some of the five hearts got bumped off and some of the four hearts got saved. Yeah, it happens.
Links to my reviews and some random quotes from those reviews are included.
And so my favorites from the dramas that were released this year are:
(Not in any order except that Goblin does top the list.)
Goblin: The Lonely and Great God There is much magic and ghosts and past and future lives, portals to other places and all that fun stuff. Also full of so much funny stuff and many many weepy moments. It's truly one of the more emotional dramas I've seen and that's saying a lot. Cinematography, music, story line, character development, acting. All of it. AMAZING.
The Legend of the Blue Sea But, as usual, I mostly loved the love story. The side kicks (of which there are many), the funny situational comedy, the sweet and perfect sappiness, and especially Lee Min Ho, who I somehow cannot get enough of.
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo I needed a light and funny drama and this one looked like it would do the trick and I was right! It did! Oh my gosh I loved this one just for its cuteness. Sigh. Such fun happy heart warming stuff.
Hwarang So yeah. I loved it. Let it be known though, that this one caused me to cry that hardest I've ever cried because of a drama. Beware episode 18. I'm talking gut wrenching sobs. Yeah, maybe I was a little bit TOO invested in this one and its characters? :) No. It was worth it.
Strong Woman: Do Bong Soon Anyway. He pretty much loves her from the beginning, which is the cutest thing because... he is just SO DANG CUTE! But she is brushes it all off, because first she thinks he's gay and second, she is totally in love with her high school friend. And so it goes from there.
There are a bunch of side stories that are just totally off the wall bizarre. And one of them, about a serial killer, is downright disturbing. But they all tie together in the end, sort of. But I was in it for the cute romance which was totally worth watching all those weird side stories for! Also, beware the cheese factor. This one plays it up as high as it can go! So it's better if you are in the mood for such thing! But again... who cares because... Park Hyung Sik.
While You Were Sleeping Our guy is a brand new prosecuting attorney and over the course of the drama, we get involved in all the cases he is solving. Some of them had me screaming (literally out loud) in suspense and trauma. All of it ties together in the end. There are some great villains in this drama that have you totally squirming and on the edge of your seat. The secondary characters are perfectly quirky too and the second male lead, AS ALWAYS, is swoon worthy in his own right. Sigh. Always.
Suspicious Partner/Love in Trouble Such a fun show... all the way around. For the romantic chemistry and banter. For the most awesome creepy villain who blew me away with his acting and caused a ton of suspense. For the sad back stories. For the fun quirky side characters. For the tragic side stories. All of it. Most of all though, it's the best because of Ji Chang Wook, who I've raved on and on about before. But yeah. He knows his stuff. And he knows how to be a leading romantic dude like no other. He's just, pretty perfect.
And favorites from past years that I watched this year:
Moon Embracing the Sun This is a saga of a drama. A sweeping historical romance that covers a big time period and has a very complicated political plot and complicated messed up romances and relationships. I have no idea how to summarize it! Think of this as a period drama, like watching stuff from our British Tudor history or something. It's like that. Just like that! It's all very emotional, but I held it in for the most part. Until the last couple of episodes and then I gave up and let the tears stream. Sigh. It's so good and heart wrenching!
Coffee Prince The best part about this one was the acting. Like these two were so totally amazing. Gong Yoo, I mean... he's just.. there are no words. He's so good. And Eun Hye? The way she could make you forget she's a girl? Like how does she do that when she's this beautiful actress? I don't get it! She was so good. I think that these guys and this drama won all sorts of awards because of them. And it quite pushed the boundaries, you know, for this whole gay thing and gender identity and all that. And just really makes one think. And the romance was so... cute and fun and intense. All of it. SO GOOD!!!
Pinocchio And it's about revenge. And about forgiveness. And redemption. And...love and family... and so many wonderful beautiful things. I got teary so many times during this one! So many! Which is a good thing because you know it's moving and heart wrenching! Yes. It is. Mark it down for one of the best ones!
It's been a great year for dramas. I love them so much. Can't wait to see what this year brings! Already we're off to a great start!!!
Some of these I remember you talking about and others not so much. Hmmm. Well I’ll be checking out a few in the weeks to come. Wish me luck!
ReplyDeleteJenny: GOOD LUCK! Seriously, I hope you find one where you go.. oh... yeah... I think I get it now....
DeleteI've already seen 'coffee prince' & 'Pinocchio' and I didn't love coffee prince but 'Pinocchio' is very good. I did saw a couple of episodes of 'suspicious partner' and it was pretty good but somehow I just lost interest.
ReplyDeleteyeah, I don't get why k comedies always features such things as serial killers or some very serious plot, it just seems odd that 'strong woman do bong soon' should have a serial killer. I guess they think they need more drama.
I plan on seeing 'goblin' and 'strong woman do bong soon,' eventually.
have a lovely day.
Lissa: I think for Strong Woman they had that subplot so that her powers would be tested by a real scary type dude. Plus... well, there's even more to that test but since you haven't seen it yet... :) You'll have to come back and tell if you do watch it and Goblin and what you think. I need more kdrama discussion around here. :)
DeleteI need to watch more kdramas, but I'm secretly trying to read 50 books this year, so reading is taking precedence over all of my other hobbies. Maybe after I quite in March, I'll have enough time to do both. I don't know.
ReplyDeleteJenni: That would be awesome if you did! Should we plan a marathon someday? For reals?
DeleteFirst off thank you for writing this list, I always find it interesting to see what people's favorites are off the year. The majority of the dramas I watched in 2017 are ones that didn't air in 2017 so I totally get the whole still playing catch up when it comes to watching kdramas and I also often find that how I feel about a series changes over times which is part of way I don't give out star ratings on my reviews because it always takes awhile for me to know how I really feel about a series.
ReplyDeleteGoblin is a series that has been on my to watch list since it came out since you and a bunch of drama fans have said such good things about the series and I'm a fan of quite a few of the actors in the series but I've been putting off watching it since it's by the same writer of The Heirs and Descendants of the Sun which are series that I found a bit dull so I'm worried that I would feel the same way about Goblin.
The Legend of the Blue Sea and Weightlifting Fair Kim Bok Joo are two series that I've also had on my to watch list for a while but I haven't been putting them off for any particular reason.
I loved Strong Woman Do Bong Soon the lead couple was the absolute cutest and I couldn't get enough of their scenes together and I the male lead is surely in the running for the most swoonworthy male leads in my book since he's so cute, charming and completely and utterly taken by Bong soon from the start and since I find guys swooning over their girls to be most swoonworthy thing there is, that show really works for me. While You Were Sleeping was my favorite drama that aired in 2017 and my second favorite drama that I watched in 2017(W Two Worlds in my favorite I watched in 2017)the drama just worked really well for me with how much I found myself loving the leads and their relationship with each other. I'm really glad that you mentioned Suspicious Partner on your list because I really loved that show and it seems like most fans forgot about that show my the end of the year which made me a bit sad. Pinocchio is one of my absolute favorite Kdramas so I'm glad to see that this series stuck with you as well.
Considering you're watching Because This is My First Life(which is a great series that I finished in December but haven't quite yet published my review for yet) and I'm Not a Robot(which is a series I started about a week ago and I'm really loving it so far) I would say that you're off to a great start with Kdrama watching this year.
LillyLilac: I really do hope you give Goblin a try. The acting and banter between those two lead guys is worth it all. Plus Sungjae from BtoB... swoon. :) He's so cute and brings even more comedy to the show. W was one I loved and watched last year. It was my first Lee Jong Suk and now I'm trying to catch up and keep up with all his stuff. And yes, starting my new year off with a bang with two dramas I'm DYING over. So good! So much fun! So much to think about in both of them. I love it.
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