My Top 3 K-Dramas

With the recent lockdown of all citizens, I believe many of us, as a student have suddenly found ourselves with too much time to spare. Even though online classes are still ongoing through many platforms such as Course Networking (CN), Microsoft Teams, Zoom or even Facebook Live, staying home was viewed as some sort of vacation from our usual hectic schedules. I finally had time to catch up on my studies, clean my room, and spend a quality time with my family. However, being cooped up at home 24/7 isn’t all fun and games, as I found that I was quickly running out of things to do. Hence, I decided to do something I have not done in years. I started watching Korean dramas again, and rediscovered my inner Korean fan girl.

1. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is the first drama I’ve watched in a long time. It is a fun romantic comedy with a dark side plot.

The titular character, Do Bong Soon, is a woman with super strength passed down only to the female members of her family. She keeps this as a secret and does not use her powers in public, in fear of being considered as a freak. One day, after defending an old man from a group of thugs, her superhuman display of strength was witnessed by Ahn Min Hyuk, the CEO of a gaming company, Ainsoft. He decided to hire her as his bodyguard, and even persuadedd her with the chance to work as a proper employee in Ainsoft, which is also her dream company.

Despite the light-hearted romantic comedy between the two main characters, a sinister plot unfolds behind the scenes. The kidnapping and murder of young women began happening in the neighbourhood, and after her friend was targeted, Bong Soon is determined to catch the culprit with her own two hands.

What differentiate Strong Woman Do Bong Soon apart from other romantic comedies is the contrast between its light hearted humour and its gripping crime subplot. The balance between the two was what kept me hooked throughout the show. It also added a sense of realism too, in the sense that in one part of the city, a person is getting employed, falling in love and building a family while in another part, a heinous crime is being committed.

Besides, the lead actress, Park Bo Young and the lead actor, Park Hyung Sik also have very good chemistry on screen. In my opinion, the two actors truly brought the whole drama to life, and the scenes between them made the drama worth the hype.

All in all, I loved this drama and would rate it a solid 9 out of 10.

2. The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince

I’ve actually watched The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince a few years ago, and decided to watch it again because I remember loving it a lot.

It describes the story of Go Eun Chan, a tomboyish woman who is also the breadwinner of her family that consists of her mother and little sister. She is a hardworking woman who works multiple jobs to pay off her family’s debts. She meets Choi Han Gyul, the heir to a thriving coffee business through a series of hilarious encounters.

Choi Han Gyul is like a typical rich playboy shown in Korean dramas. He has never held a job and lives a carefree life spending his family’s fortune. In an attempt to make him settle down, his grandmother arranged many blind dates for him without his consent. In retaliation, he decided to hire Eun Chan to pretend to be his gay lover so that he can escape the blind dates. Eun Chan quicky realises that Han Gyul thinks that she is a man, and after much trepidation, she agrees to the chance to earn more money at the cost of her feminine image.

However, his grandmother was not so easy to defeat. After getting an ultimatum from his grandmother, Han Gyul was forced to take over a rundown coffee shop and turn it into a successful business in order to prove that he is a capable heir. He named the shop “Coffee Prince”, and hires only good looking men as employees. Desperate for money, Eun Chan continues to hide her gender to secure a job at Coffee Prince.

Soon, feelings start to develop between the two main characters. Unaware that Eun Chan is a woman, Han Gyul begins to doubt his sexuality and is thrown into emotional turmoil.

One of the most interesting parts of the story was watching Han Gyul develop as a person. Despite his initial disdain of work and responsibility, he is soon happily working alongside his employees in Coffee Prince. Also, we got to witness a playboy slowly accept his feelings for what he presumed to be another man, even though he always thought that he was straight.

In a nutshell, this drama can bring you on a roller coaster of emotions and deserves a solid 9 out of 10 too.

3. Secret Garden

Last but not least, how could I forget about the classic, Secret Garden? It is a typical Korean Drama trope done right.

Kim Joo Won is a successful CEO of a high end mall who meets Gil Ra Im when he mistook her for an actress, when in reality she is the stuntwoman of the actress. He finds himself stunned by her feistiness and cannot take his mind off her. He goes to great lengths to pursue her, including sneaking into her action school to watch her. Ra Im is constantly at her wit’s end due to his eccentric behaviour and arrogant attitude, but gradually starts reciprocating his feelings.

After a series of events that led them to Jeju Island, the two main characters find themselves lost in a mysterious restaurant in the middle of the woods, called the “Secret Garden”. Even more mysteriously, the owner seems to know them both well and gifts them two bottles of homemade floral wine.

Afterwards, they managed to get out of the woods and back to their hotel at Jeju Island. At night, both of them drink the wine and go to sleep, only to find that they have switched bodies the next morning.

Unlike other dramas, I did not read the synopsis before starting the show. So, the body swapping really came out of a blue for me. It was also what changed a typical Korean romantic comedy into something unique. The two main characters have to live out each other’s lives without letting anyone else know about it, and that proves to be quite the challenge when one of them has a physically demanding job as a stuntwoman.

Also, in line with the fairy tale elements in the show, they also made many references to books such as Alice in Wonderland and The Little Mermaid, which I appreciated.

However, despite their many hilarious interactions, the show is also guilty of some bad tropes such as stalking, wrist grabs and forced affection, courtesy of the male lead. Luckily, Ra Im knows how to stick up for herself and shows Joo Won the consequences of his actions.

All in all, it is an enjoyable, light hearted show with a few tear jerking moments, and I rate it 8 out of 10.

Well, that’s all for the list of Korean dramas that I recommend. Have fun binge watching!