Top 5
2017 Dramas
Can you believe that 2018 is almost half gone already? I sure can’t- it seemed to just fly by. In regards to my K-Drama watching, I feel like I’ve watched significantly fewer dramas this year than I had at this point last year. Is it because I’m spending more time at work? Have the 2018 dramas just not been striking my fancy? Have I actually been *gasp* socialising?! Who knows. But the fact is that my K-Drama watching has unfortunately taken a bit of a dive, so let’s take a look at best dramas that came out of last year (ie- the year I watched an exuberant amount of K-Dramas). You can check out my Top 5 2015 Dramas here and 2016 Dramas here.
This drama was an unexpected winner for a lot of people. It had an interesting and unique way of looking at life and love, and gave us two leads that were about as different from usual rom-com leads as you can get. A girl who isn’t desperately seeking love or a career? A guy who isn’t either the perfect male or a complete tsundere? Unheard of. Rather than showing the heart-pounding moments of falling in love, the show focused on the small and simple way the characters fell for each other and how they had to learn to accept and live with each others’ more complicated personality traits. The leading couple were complimented by two other unique and interesting couples who had complications of their own. The cast were all brilliant without a single weak link, and they truly made their characters endearing and easy to watch. While the ending of this drama did lose it a few points, it remains an interesting and utterly engaging show.
Well to start with- Lee Jong Suk, Jung Hae In, Lee Sang Yeob. On a more serious note, the plot for this drama was totally riveting. The heroine can see the future in her dreams and gets into one of the cutest love-triangles. Each new mystery was engaging and helped to further develop the main plot line. The show was very good at hitting very emotional beats without ever feeling like it was trying to make you weep. The acting was exceptional all round (except for poor Suzy who was a bit outclassed). The plot was generally pretty fast paced, and managed to sneak in a fair amount of comedy which prevented the drama from ever becoming too dark. As a result the show was meaty but fun, and very enjoyable.
Not my favourite drama by a long shot, but it was bound to make a splash. It was Gong Yoo first drama since 2012 so people were obviously to tune in. The huge budget behind this drama definitely made it feel like more of a cinematic experience than most dramas, and it was so amazingly pretty to look at, with wonderful CGI. The main love line was sweet, though a little angst-filled for my taste, but the second leads absolutely dominated with charming characters, astounding actors, and a heartbreakingly bitter-sweet story. The fantasy element of the show was continued strongly throughout, and the world building that went into the story was detailed and interesting to uncover.
2: Circle
I find it rare to come across K-Dramas where the mystery aspect is actually extremely intriguing and…well…mysterious. Something about the length of time that dramas run for somehow seems to make it hard for writers to hold onto their secrets for exactly the right amount of time. ‘Circle’ instantly grabbed me as it was so unpredictable and had a such a strong mystery at its core. Each episode unveiled something new, so it never felt like the plot was at a standstill, but the more we uncovered the more dangerous and confusing it seemed to become. Happily, the drama also managed to bring pretty much all of its lose ends together to form a satisfactory conclusion, and answered most of the questions the plot presented along the way. The acting in this drama was absolutely phenomenal, with Yeo Jin Goo giving what I think might be his most dynamic performance to date.
1: 7 Day Queen
I love dramas that can make me cry, mainly because there are so few that can. I often read comments of people saying that certain scenes made them sob and I’m left feeling completely confused as to why and how. ‘7 Day Queen’ made me weep. It was so beautiful and so sad, and was the true embodiment of a tragic love. No matter how hard the characters tried to make things work in their favour there were always too many obstacles in their way. And unlike most K-Dramas, these obstacles were actually extremely dangerous. Such as our hero getting hamstrung. The villain was an absolute standout as he was so twisted, but also extremely vulnerable. It was hard (in a good way) to watch him enter his downward spiral, and impossible to fathom a way for him to get out of it. The visuals were absolutely breathtaking, and the acting was all excellent- particularly from our broken King.
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| What were your favourite dramas from 2017? |
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