Top 5 2019 Dramas I Wish I'd Seen

Top 5 

2019 Dramas I Wish I'd Seen

As I’m sure everyone’s aware, I watched very few Korean Dramas in 2019. Very. Few. The busyness of life just got in the way, and I didn’t have time to watch as many series as I have for the past few years. I still had my ear out for K-Drama news, and heard a bit of what was going on- which dramas were creating a lot of buzz, which ones had my favourite actors etc. There were even some that I’d heard announced the previous year that I thought I certainly wouldn’t miss. I heard about some plonkers that I’m glad I did miss (lookin’ at you ‘Melting Me Softly’). That being said, there were still some 2019 dramas that I did watch, that will obviously not make a showing on this list (‘Hotel Del Luna’, ‘Kingdom’, ‘Sky Castle’), but apart from those, here’s the top five dramas from 2019 that I wish I’d seen (special mention of ‘Angel’s Last Mission: Love’ which very narrowly missed out on being on this list).

5: Search: WWW

I hadn’t heard very much about this drama leading up to its release- I remember the name being mentioned as it had one of my new favourite actors sign on: Jang Ki Yong. He was the only one in the cast I’d really heard of- I’ve seen Lee Da Hee in a couple of dramas and on ‘Running Man’, but she’s not an actress that would lead me to want to watch a drama simply because she’s in it, the way Jang Ki Yong does. Ignoring ‘The Liar and His Lover’, the shows I’ve seen Jang Ki Yong in have not only been good, but a cut above the rest. It makes me feel like he has an eye for picking good projects. I also heard quite a lot of buzz around this drama during and after it aired. It seems there’s an interesting friendship between the three main ladies, and a lot of interesting, realistic conflicts. I love dramas that cast realistic, hardworking women as their leads, and have their personalities really shine. The time of the Candy Girl is over. It sounded like this was a refreshing story on life and love, and my interest was definitely piqued. I can’t say that I’ll go out of my way to watch it now (as I’ve also heard a handful of people say that it’s ridiculously over-hyped), but if I get the time (unlikely), who knows?

4: Her Private Life

Ah, rom-coms. No matter how diverse the dramas I watch are, no matter how intense and dramatic other stories can be, I just love a good rom-com. Sad thing is, rom-coms have a way of being a bit reliably disappointing. Sure there’s the standout ones (‘Coffee Prince, ‘My Love Fromthe Stars’, ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo’), but more often than not rom-coms fall flat. ‘Her Private Life’ sounded a little whacky – complete fangirl falls for random hot dude- but there were a few things that make me curious about this show. The main reason- Park. Min. Young. She’s a great actress, and not only that, she picks solid dramas. Her last three dramas were big successes, and the drama before that (‘Healer’) was a smash internationally and developed a very dedicated and loyal following. This drama sounded like one that Park Min Young could really sparkle in, and sounded like a cute and fun watch. Kim Jae Wook is also an actor I like, and I was pretty intrigued to see he’d been cast as the hero, not as the second male lead (hopefully this means poor Ji Soo is next in the transition to leading man territory). I’ve since heard that the two had amazing chemistry, and that alone makes a drama worth a look-in.

3: The Crowned Clown

To keep things nice and diverse, here’s a sageuk. Yeo Jin Goo is a phenomenal actor who first started gaining attention due to his child role in the sageuk ‘Moon That Embraces the Sun’. I missed Yeo Jin Goo’s last sageuk (something about a gambler- didn’t tickle my fancy), but was pretty interested when I heard of ‘The Crowned Clown’- he just suits period dramas so well! Plot-wise, this show sounded a little similar to another drama I’d seen ‘Ruler: Master of the Mask’, which anyone who has seen it will tell you- it sucked big time. ‘The Crowned Clown’ sounded like it took a similar premise to ‘Ruler’ (peasant is brought into the palace to pretend to be the King/Prince in order to protect said ruler), and just didn’t f*ck it up. I heard so many people raving about what a great show this was, and how intense the story was, that I’m actually quite bummed I missed out on it.

2: When the Camelia Blooms

Gong Hyo Jin, Kang Ha Neul, writer Im Sang Choon (of ‘Fight My Way’ fame)- need I say more? Well, I guess I probably should. There was just no way that this was going to be a bad show. In all recent memory, every drama that Gong Hyo Jin has been in has been a complete gem of a show and/or a complete market success. It was Kang Ha Neul’s first drama after his military service, and that always creates a lot of excitement. Kim Ji Suk steps in as the second male lead, I just think he’s a delightful actor. The plot sounds engaging and addictive, with an unusual heroine, and while the serial killer aspect seems a bit out of place, I have been informed by those that have seen the show that it’s handled brilliantly, and has a great conclusion. When I heard of this drama, I was sure that I would give it a try (and was pretty sure it’d be a great watch)- I haven’t given up hope that I’ll get around to giving this one a go.

1: Extraordinary You

A high school drama? A high school drama was my most anticipated drama of 2019? Yes. Yes it was. And I’m not ashamed! High school dramas can be really endearing and really entertaining, and I like them quite a lot. Plus, ‘Extraordinary You’ had a plot that I just couldn’t ignore- they are characters in a comic book! A similar idea was done in ‘W- Two Worlds’ and it was awesome and highly entertaining. The best part is that our heroine isn’t even the main character of the comic. The whole thing sounds hilarious and adorable and leaves me feeling like a whole bunch of cute is going to happen in this show. Then once it had aired, I was hearing that the young actors had done brilliantly, and that the show had indeed been filled with a whole bunch of cute. Of the shows on this list, this is the one drama that I am absolutely sure I will make time to watch. Whether that’s in one month or a whole other year I’m not sure, but I will definitely, definitely watch this drama.

What were your favourite dramas from 2019?