Intensity, that’s the underlying thread that ties together all the best Korean dramas of 2023. Whether it was an allegory of how society turns its back on those most in need or a revenge-driven journey of terrible people getting their just deserts, this year, 10 powerful K-dramas turned the mirror on ourselves and made us reflect on the dark, unspoken fringes of human nature.
READ MORE: The 20 best TV shows of 2023
Yet, it’s not all doom and gloom. Even in shows with the most morally questionable protagonists – looking at you, Mask Girl – they take the time to slow things down with tender moments of respite, showing how joy and love can be found in the strangest of places. Join NME as we recap the 10 best Korean dramas of 2023, and their impact on a fantastic year of television.
Puah ZiWei, Commissioning Editor (K-pop)
Words by: Daniel Anderson, Carmen Chin, Rhian Daly, Sara Delgado, Hidzir Junaini, Tani I. Raj
10. Crash Course in Romance
Season: limited series
Crash Course in Romance does exactly what it says on the tin but with an extra twist: a fully fledged romance story with a murder-mystery sub-plot. With the acting chops of Jeon Do-yeon and Jung Kyung-ho – both of whom have the ability to imbue any character they portray with life – Crash Course in Romance is a masterfully executed romcom sure to make you giggle and kick your feet, all while interweaving the murder well enough to have you on the edge of your seat too. The series balances the warm and fuzzy with the eerie and gory with mastery – there is no doubt that this K-drama has something for everyone to enjoy. CC
Biggest fans: Huge romance buffs who are still waiting for their Y/N moment.
9. A Time Called You
Season: limited series
A remake of the Taiwanese series Someday Or One Day, K-drama A Time Called You took us on a rollercoaster journey across decades as the lives of modern-day Han Jun-hee (Jeon Yeo-been) and ’90s schoolgirl Kwon Min-ju become entangled. When we meet Jun-hee, she’s mourning her fiancé, Koo Yeon-jun (Ahn Hyo-seop), who’s been presumed dead following a plane crash a year prior.
READ MORE: ‘A Time Called You’ review: a body swapping, time loopy romance
Soon, though, she begins to receive strange packages – a photo of two people resembling the couple, and a Walkman with a cassette of Seo Ji-won’s ‘Gather My Tears’. As Jun-hee travels back in time, things get complicated, deadly and incredibly heart-breaking, marking this out as one of 2023’s biggest tearjerkers. RD
Biggest fan: The hopeless romantic who can’t let go of past loves.
8. Celebrity
Season: limited series
While we won’t fault K-dramas for playing things up, we’re all perhaps too intimate with influencer culture to really be shocked at how certain events in the show played out. Outrageous, scandalous, scintillating and even disturbing at times, Celebrity worked because it spoke to the basic instinct in all of us – the same one that, at times, ignores all common sense for wealth and status.
READ MORE: ‘Celebrity’ review: a scathing Instagram story about the vapidity of influencer culture
As audiences, it stretched us to emotional extremes – celebrating Seo Ah-ri’s rise to fame and thriving on schadenfreude when it came to her enemies. We were appalled, disgusted and perhaps even a little bit curious about our own selves – after all, would fame have driven us down the same path? TR
Biggest fan: People who prefer scandal for dinner with a side of shock value.
7. Doona!
Season: limited series
There’s not a shortage of romance when it comes to K-dramas, but the way Doona! tackles the tried-and-true trope is not for the faint of heart. Based on the Naver webtoon of the same name and starring Bae Suzy as former K-pop idol Doona and Yang Se-jong as her fated neighbour Lee Won-jun, the show portrays love in the most carnal sense of the word.
READ MORE: ‘Doona!’ review: an emotionally visceral, refreshingly grounded love story
Though Bae and Yang’s fiery chemistry undeniably takes centre stage, the show also poignantly depicts the trials and tribulations idols and celebs alike face while balancing their stage personas and private relationships. SD
Biggest fan: Those who need an extra dose of steaminess and reality in their K-dramas.
6. Revenant
Season: limited series
Following the death of her father, Gu San-yeong’s (Kim Tae-ri) body becomes host to an evil spirit – something she didn’t believe at first, but is slowly convinced of by more and more supernatural, murderous occurrences. Coloured with shades of The Ring and The Host, on the surface, Revenant is just another scare-filled spooky series.
READ MORE: ‘Revenant’ review – a thrilling, immersive horror K-drama
But, if you dare to look beneath, you’ll find critiques of wealth inequality, child abuse and more. As San-yeong assessed early on in the series, it laid bare the truth that “humans are more terrifying than ghosts”. RD
Biggest fan: The horror junkie always searching for new scares.
5. Daily Dose of Sunshine
Season: one
Daily Dose of Sunshine is director Lee Jae-kyu’s olive branch to South Korean society, which has an infamous history of its struggles with understanding and accepting the realities of mental illness. Armed with the emotive and nuanced performance of lead actress Park Bo-young, this K-drama is an informative, heartfelt and layered story set in a psychiatric ward.
READ MORE: ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’ review: an earnest, destigmatising portrayal of mental health
Nurse Jung Da-eun learns to adapt to the less physical treatments of the patients under her care and faces the odds as someone who has been in her patients’ shoes herself. Daily Dose of Sunshine is one of the most poignant, worthwhile K-dramas released this year – the tears you shed after each episode is proof. CC
Biggest fan: If you need a reminder that there’s good in the world after all.
4. The Good Bad Mother
Season: limited series
If there were a ranking of K-dramas that should come with a side of tissues, The Good Bad Mother would take the top spot. What starts as the story of an estranged, strict mother and her son, who’s forced to return home after a tragic accident leaves him with the mind of a child, soon turns into a more complex web of intertwined fates and ploys.
READ MORE: ‘The Good Bad Mother’ review: authentic and unapologetically raw
The show features stellar performances by veteran actress Ra Mi-ran and breakout star Lee Do-hyun as mother-son duo Young-soon and Kang-ho that will crash and mend your heart multiple times throughout its run. SD
Biggest fan: Plot-twist lovers looking for an emotional rollercoaster.
3. Moving
Season: one
Based on Kang Full’s webtoon of the same name, Moving intricately weaves a soulful web of family drama, espionage and superpowers across three decades. The series, featuring clever flight sequences and monstrous strength, remains grounded through its impressive ensemble cast, while tenderly exploring the bountifulness of love and the sacrificial consequences that come with it.
READ MORE: Zo In-sung on ‘Moving’: “All that drives me is that I wanted to do it”
Every performer excels, but the heartwarming love stories between the adorkable pair of Bong-seok (Lee Jung-ha) and Hui-soo (Go Youn-jung) mirroring that of the composed Mi-hyun (Han Hyo-joo) and Doo Sik (Zo In-sung) was resplendently inimitable. DA
Biggest fan: The jaded Marvel Cinematic Universe enthusiast experiencing superhero fatigue, in need of a comforting, character-driven pick-me-up.
2. Mask Girl
Season: limited series
From its opening scenes, it was obvious Mask Girl was going to give us a commentary on beauty standards, but it quickly turned into so much more. Office worker Kim Mo-mi dreamed of being on stage all her life but, cruelly, society deemed her too “ugly” for a place in the spotlight. Instead, she turned to livestreaming – with a rose pink mask covering her face – and found a legion of adoring fans.
READ MORE: ‘Mask Girl’ review: a captivating tale of murder and vengeance
But when one became a little too obsessed, things took a dark turn and the show dove into themes of misogyny, sexual and domestic violence, and more via sharp character studies and a three-act story that was gripping – if extreme – to the last moment. RD
Biggest fan: The extremely online person who’s on top of everything, from current trends to true crime horror stories.
1. The Glory
Season: one, part two
Not since Park Chan-wook’s acclaimed Vengeance Trilogy has a South Korean revenge narrative been so satisfying, or deeply disturbing. Brutally bullied when she was in high school, Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) has been planning her retribution for the better part of two decades. In part one, we witnessed the trauma and consequences of her psychological and physical scars, as she laid her Machiavellian groundwork. In part two, her schemes bear fruit in twisted fashion when she ruins her perpetrators’ lives in cunningly sadistic ways.
While seeing these privileged bullies finally get their just desserts did taste sweet, Dong-eun’s methods often cross the line in uncomfortable ways, forcing the audience to grapple with the moral justification of her elaborate reprisals. There’s nothing subtle about The Glory – everything from its shock-filled plotting to its irredeemable villains are heightened. But it’s that maximalism that makes this show the most gripping K-drama of 2023. HJ
Biggest fan: Anyone who thought Edmond Dantès didn’t go quite far enough in The Count of Monte Cristo.
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