K-Drama Recommendation List for Newbies
If you're new to K-Dramas here's a great place to start
If you watch and love Rom-coms and haven’t watched any K-Dramas yet, oh my… your world is just about to be transformed!!! ✨🙌 🎉 If you are already on the journey of joy - see if you’ve missed any of these - I thoroughly recommend a catch-up if you have!
*Note* All have happy-endings, with lots of love and romance in the best way.
In no particular order (they are all just wonderful!)
Romance is a Bonus Book
Oh my Venus
The Heirs (aka The Inheritors)
Crashlanding on You
Hospital Playlist
Alchemy of Souls
Romance is a Bonus Book
I watched this on Netflix and it seems to stay over time - thank goodness! It is perhaps one of my most favourite K-Dramas and one of the first I watched. It stars Lee Jong Suk and Lee Na-Young as well as a stellar cast alongside them (Jung Yoo-jin, Wi Ha-joon, Kim Tae-woo, Kim Yoo-mi, Jo Han-chul, Kim Sun-young, Kang Ki-doong, Park Gyu-young - all turn up in other delightful K-Dramas as well!) and directed by Lee Jeong-hyo.
It follows the story of the character played by Lee Na-Young, Kang Dan-I - a mother and former successful advertising copywriter who after a disastrous marriage, tries to get her life on track in her own independent way. Her long-time best friend, Cha Eun-ho, is a successful author and a chief editor at a book publishing company. To keep her head above water, she takes up a role as his housekeepr (incognito) and then she ends up getting a job at his publishing firm as temporary task support worker, lying about her previous experience to do so (hello prejudice against return to work mothers!) and then thats when the fun really begins.
It is just a great story, well directed and a magic connection between the two main characters. Great supporting lines too - watch it, I haven’t met someone who doesn’t like it yet…
Oh My Venus
So it took me a while to watch this… the title didn’t really appeal and I had not previously experienced the Shin Min-A or So Ji-Sub magic. But it is now my most watched K-Drama because it just keeps on giving every time I watch it. Again really great supporting characters (thank you Jung Gyu-woon, Yoo In-young, Sung Hoon, Henry Lau, Jung Hye-sung…) and a cracking story with gentle ups and downs to keep you watching every episode (and in my case many times over!).
Shin Min-A plays the loveable but also annoying Kang Joo-eun. A star in her youth ‘Daegu Venus’ (Daegu is a beautiful city in southeastern South Korea), primarily named so for her looks, she struggles to keep her good looks over the coming years as she becomes a lawyer, gaining rather a few pounds and becoming rather sedentary (haven’t I known this feeling!). She meets the striking, fitness focussed Kim Young-ho (or John Kim as she comes to find out), who also happens to be an heir to a successful company (and is contending with an extended family member eyeing up his position). Needless to say her transformation begins with the support of this celebrity personal trainer and his closest friends but with no end of trouble from people around the both of them.
Definitely a watch to the end and don’t skip an episode because every one has golden moments that you wont want to miss!
The Heirs (aka The Inheritors)
Now this is classic K-Drama at it’s best and I know that many people might argue that this isn’t the epitome of many of the actor’s work, however, I love it. It was my second introduction to Lee Min-ho and my first proper introduction to the wonderful Park Shin-hye. The two actors are ultimate professionals - you just know that they are proud of their craft and work their butts off because it shows on camera. But the all star cast doesn’t stop there… there are gloriously love-to-hate watches of Kim Woo-bin (who by the way in real life is married to Shin Min-A and according to wikipedia & other outlets, best mates with our beloved Lee Jong-suk from Romance is a Bonus Book).
The story primarily follows Lee Min-ho’s character Kim Tan, who is a wealthy heir to a large Korean conglomerate called Jeguk Group. While in the States, he meets Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye), who went there to look for her sister, who has fallen into trouble and wont return home. Their accidental meeting turns into something much closer to home when they both return to Korea and their lives are intertwined forever… alongside a posse of other wealthy heirs and their dysfunctional families. Again filled with a great supporting cast, which in more recent years have taken their own lead roles, as they rightly should! Shout out to Kim Ji-won, Kang Min-hyuk, Krystal Jung, Kang Ha-neul, Park Hyung Sik, Choi Jin-hyuk, Jung Dong-hwan, Kim Mi-kyung, Choi Won-young for their acting in this drama. Even as I’m writing this I’m having a wow moment - there are just so many great performance in this K-Drama!! Thank you Kang Shin-hyo & Boo Sung-chul for your direction - it must have been a blast making the series!
Crash-landing on You
This is right up there for my favourite watches - super entertaining and great sparks between the two main actors.
The story kicks off with Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin), a successful businesswoman and successor to the conglomerate Queens Group, going out paragliding in Seoul. A sudden tornado blows her off course and knocks her out. She awakens to find her paraglider hanging in a tree in a forest in the North Korean portion of the demilitarized zone, the border barrier that divides North & South Korea. Unaware of her dangerous situation, she comes into contact with Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin). The handsome soldier risks all and gives her shelter, then develops a plan to help her return to South Korea secretly.
I love the writing in this with a more unusual love story emerging, largely set with a sympathetic view of the fundamental human values and principles each of us hold. It of course also has it’s dreamlike settings too - gotta love a trip to the wilds of Switzerland!
Definitely a K-Drama to watch, even if just to say you have and to measure all others by it! And do click on the actors to see other K-Dramas - these two don’t disappoint in their other series as well 😊🙌
Hospital Playlist
There are sooooo many K-Dramas that could arguably be on this starter list but I am bringing Hospital Playlist here because for me it provided a slower, somehow still captivating watch with a joyful cast. Unlike most K-Dramas which have the 10-16 episodes & that’s it, this one has delivered a second series, an off-shoot (Resident Playlist) and likely more to come series.
The key characters are Lee Ik-jun, an assistant professor of general surgery, Ahn Jeong-won/Andrea, an assistant professor of pediatric surgery, Kim Jun-wan, an associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery, Yang Seok-hyeong, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and Chae Song-hwa, an associate professor of neurosurgery - all friends with their own respective quirks and dramas, and sitting in different areas of the hospital. Each character has a compelling backstory and is great to watch in their own right, but as we become aware of their shared and deeper relationships with each other, it is hard to stop pressing the ‘Next episode’ button.
If you haven’t watched any Korean programmes previously you may want to prepare yourself for the very unreserved shots of surgery being undertaken… you get used to after a little while but sometimes I happily pressed the 10sec ahead button to skip.
Again amazing contributions of acting by Jo Jung-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok, Jung Kyung-ho, Kim Dae-myung, Jeon Mi-do and a huge supporting cast.
Alchemy of Souls
This K-Drama is a great example of magical spiritual wonderfulness that often comes about in our beloved Korean dramas. It has the cracking Lee Jae-wook, Jung So-min (also the lead in the Hospital Playlist spinoff Resident Playlist) & Go Youn-jung playing the lead roles.
The story follows the journey of young mages as they overcome their twisted fates due to a forbidden magic spell known as the ‘alchemy of souls’, which allows souls to switch bodies. An elite warrior & assassin named Nak-su whose soul is accidentally trapped inside the weak body of Mu-deok becomes entangled with Jang Uk, who is from a noble family. She becomes both his servant and master, teaching him her skills as they both start to fall for each other. Secrets & darkness loom as they manage to carve their way through to a magical ending.
Not your run-of-the-mill K-Drama so definitely worth a watch.
I am going to stop here because after all it is a starting list and I have many more to review and recommend… I have to say it is difficult to narrow it down to such a short list but hey, it’s a start and hopefully will give you a taste of the different types of K-Drama and some air time with some of the best actors in the business.
Now go! Find a network provider… Netflix is my go-to mostly for K-Dramas, and settle in for the beginning of your new world into joyful television and online streaming!