My list as of 25 Apr 15. Everyone has those dramas that they absolutely love. Recent events have made me re-do my list of top ten favorite k-dramas. Needless to say, my current list is a little different. Some dramas have stayed. A few have dropped off the list. But each one of these is definitely worth checking out if you haven't seen it. These are listed in alphabetical order, because picking my *favorite* k-drama is just too hard. (
For my original Top Ten Dramas, go HERE.)
Boys Over Flowers (꽃보다 남자) (2009) - I admit it, this is the first k-drama that I marathoned. I'd watched a few other dramas, but this is the one where I *had* to see what happened next and hated that I had to interrupt my watching with that pesky thing called sleep. And although other dramas have made cry since, this one sticks out as one that I cried the hardest watching, because I *cared* what happened to the characters. It seems like the last third of the show I cried. I cared that Ji Hoo was estranged from his ailing grandfather, that Jun Pyo was being forced to marry someone he didn't love because of his evil mother, that Ga Eul pined for a man who was a perpetual playboy. And because I was relatively new to k-dramas, the twists and turns and some of the cliche moments... I wasn't expecting them. I think this is about the time where I started calling k-dramas addictive, because I did get addicted. One of the things that I love most about this drama is the breakout performance of Lee Min Ho as Gu Jun Pyo. Even when he was being the biggest jerk, he still had that sweet, personable quality. Even as I wanted to punch him because he was so arrogant, I found myself liking him. I attribute this directly to Lee Min Ho. Other dramas, the hero has been Jun Pyo's kind of jerk, but I never did really grow to like them. And I think if it had been a different actor, I don't think I would have liked Jun Pyo quite as much. And who can beat Woo Bin's "Yo, yo, my bro!"?
Gu Family Book (구가의 서) (2013) - This is the first drama that I recapped on this site. There's so much that I love about it. Unlike a lot of dramas, that take a few episodes to really click, this one sucks you in, in the first 15 minutes. Plus, Choi Jin Hyuk stole my heart (and many other people's) in two short episodes as the tragic gumiho, Gu Wol Ryung. It's not to say that I didn't seriously get irritated at characters, like the monk So Jung, who never had anything useful to say and was constantly wrong, but everyone treated his utterances as gold, or like Chung Jo, who I might have liked except she rejected the hero and then got jealous and catty towards the woman who always saw the hero's worth, or Pyung Joon, who had to be one of the most frustrating fathers *ever* and who constantly made stupid decisions. But even with these people, there were so many more than won my heart: Soo Ryun, the head gisaeng, played by Jung Hye Young, whose nuanced performance communicated more than any scripted dialogue; Teacher Gong Dal, Song (the hero's buddy), and Admiral Lee Soon Shin, whose indignant growl made any episode for me. And most especially, the heroine and her male suitors (which included our hero). Dam Yeo Wool was a girl who threw off the conventions of her day to *literally* fight for what she believed in, plus she knew her mind and loved the hero enough to be the friend he needed even when her own heart was breaking. Bae Suzy did a great job of making me fall in love with this girl, because she played her with the perfect combination of tenderness and steel. Lee Seung Gi was awesome as our hero, Choi Kang Chi. He made me laugh. He made me cry. Most of all, he made me love him so much. And I fell in love with the other two boys. Yoo Yun Suk acted the heck out of his scenes as Tae Seo. When he cried, it was gut wrenching. And Sung Joon rocked it as the untalkative Gon. Like Jung Hye Young, the little looks that he would give said *so* much. Even if he was plagued with terrible, terrible,
terrible hair. For the recaps, go
HERE.
