Watching K-dramas is basically a full-time gig. Most episodes run over an hour long, and with the Hallyu wave (the South Korean equivalent to the British Invasion into our pop culture) in full swing, there’s more Korean TV to watch—and more places to watch it—than ever before.
It’s a good thing we’re so obsessed with K-dramas then. And of course, we’re not the only ones either. No matter the show, whether it’s a lovesick romance, a gritty noir thriller, or a supernatural historical saga, there is a huge fandom desperately hooked to every moment, every frame of each series.
With all that attention comes more investment in Korean TV than ever before, which in turn, brings more pressure our way. Because who in their right mind would try and rank the year’s best K-dramas knowing how much the fans love every single one? We would, because just like you, we’re fans too, and with so much to celebrate this year, it’d be a crime not to bring the best of the best together in one extraordinary list.
Inevitably, the sheer volume of great K-dramas that was released this year means that some of your faves might not have made the cut. But believe us when we say the omission of shows like Vigilante, Mask Girl, Agency, The Worst of Evil, Taxi Driver 2, My Demon, Love to Hate You, Celebrity, Doona!, King The Land, Divorce Attorney Shin, Queenmaker, Crash Course in Romance, and See You in My 19th Life all hurt us just as much as they hurt you.
So if those shows didn’t make the cut, which ones did? Without further ado, here are our picks for the best K-dramas of the year:
10. Twinkling Watermelon
10. Twinkling Watermelon
Music-loving high school student Ha Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun) helps his deaf family navigate the world and does his best to shield them from cruel, small-minded people. But in doing so, Ha Eun-gyeol inadvertently puts his own dreams on hold. That is, until he somehow travels back in time to 1995 where he forms the band Watermelon Sugar and comes of age in a gorgeous, deeply emotional story about love and putting your own dreams first. The music and comedy is fluffy and heartwarming, but there’s much more going on under the surface of Twinkling Watermelon, which is why it shines bright as one of the highest-rated K-dramas of the year among fans online.
9. Dr Romantic
Following its three year sabbatical, Dr Romantic returned in 2023 for a third season where we continue to follow the genius surgeon Teacher Kim (Han Suk-kyu) and his team at Doldam Hospital. Not only is this the best named medical drama on TV, it’s also the best, full stop. With thrilling medical emergencies and gasp-worthy moral dilemmas to spare (not to mention all the usual love triangles you’d expect from a hospital as dramatic as this), Dr Romantic continues to transcend cliche with what might be its best season yet. Honestly, Grey’s Anatomy could never, and we’re not just talking about the later years either.
8. Revenant
After a Korean folklore professor dies in a supernatural attack, his daughter, Gu San-yeong (Twenty-Five Twenty-One’s Kim Tae-ri), becomes a target for the same demonic entity that he was running from prior to his death. As the body count begins to rack up around her, San-yeong seeks help from Professor Yeom Hae-sang (Oh Jung-se), an expert who possesses the ability to see these ghostly forces. Jump scares are few and far between, especially at first, but for horror fans who enjoy chilling slowburn fare, Revenant is a truly ghoulish descent into the occult infused with eerie Korean myths and legends.
7. Bloodhounds
Based on Jung Chan’s webcomic, “Sanyanggaedeul,” Netflix’s Bloodhounds follows two boxers in Seoul who must contend with COVID lockdowns and also each other in the finals of a national tournament. Kim Geon-woo (Woo Do-hwan) and Hong Woo-jin (Lee Sang-yi) couldn’t be more different, yet a firm bromance soon forms regardless, which is just as well because moneylenders have scammed Gun-woo’s poor mom into crippling debt, so the pair team up and fight for justice. Come for the cute boys punching each other and stay for the cute boys punching baddies in a somewhat simplistic yet thrilling series that includes some of the best fight sequences you’ll see this year. Special kudos to stunt choreographer Park Young-sik, who makes every brawl and car chase even more tense and visceral than the last. Hollywood studios, take note.
6. Moving
Anyone who complains about “superhero fatigue” clearly hasn’t watched Moving, Kang Full’s webtoon adaptation that follows three teens who inherited powers from cautious parents who try their best to protect them from danger. Kim Bong-seok, Jang Hee-soo, and Lee Gang-hoon (Lee Jung-ha, Go Youn-jung, and Kim Do-hoon) aren’t your typical “heroes” per se, but you’ll root for them more than any comic book protagonists on the big screen this year, especially when a spy named Frank (Ryu Seung-bum) begins hunting them down. Not only is Moving one of the most successful Korean shows ever streamed globally on Hulu and Disney+, it even outdid the likes of Marvel and Star Wars in certain Asian territories. Maybe it’s not superhero stories that people are tired of then. Maybe we just need more quality, original fare that’s up there with Kang Full’s magnum opus.
5. Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938
With its seemingly definitive ending, 2020’s Tale of the Nine Tailed wasn’t exactly begging for a follow-up season, but it’s a good thing tvN commissioned new episodes anyway because this unexpected follow-up is better than the first in just about every way. With a more enjoyable and decidedly camper spin, 1938 throws our titular nine-tailed fox—or gumiho—back in time during Japan’s occupation of Korea. There, the immortal Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook) runs into his deceased brother, Lee Rang (Kim Bum), who he constantly bickers with, Thor and Loki style, as they reluctantly team up for some deity-on-deity action. No, not like that! To offset the humor, there’s also supernatural battles aplenty, which makes 1938 a real jack-of-all-trades when it comes to the show’s playful mixing of genres.
4. D.P.2
The second season of D.P. (short for Deserter Pursuit) continues to follow Private An Jun-ho (Jung Hae-in) and Corporal Han Ho-yeol (Koo Gyo-hwan) as they track down alleged defectors who try to escape their mandatory military service. And again, the pair are often faced with extreme moral dilemmas where the people they’re hunting are actually the victims of horrendous bullying and abuse during their time in the army. But this time around, Season 2 digs even deeper as Jun-ho’s crew strives to overhaul a broken system inspired by painful yet vital stories that continue to hit a nerve with real-life military proponents in South Korea. This all makes D.P. a hard watch at times, but a necessary one still, and it helps that the action and performances are uniformly stellar across the board.
3. The Good Bad Mother
Like its titular parent, The Good Bad Mother contradicts itself at every turn. One minute, it’s a seething revenge drama with bold courtroom reveals. The next, it’s a heartbreaking melodrama that surprises with devastating twists and slapstick humor alike. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, and much of that comes down to towering dual performances from Ra Mi-ran and Lee Do-hyun, who play mother and son in what can only be described as a turbulent, yet painfully relatable relationship. As Jin Young-soon tries to make up for her past mistakes and look after her boy when he needs it most, you will cry and sob and heave until your eyes are as dry as the pigs she looks after on her farm. Because pigs can’t sweat. Didn’t know that? Well, now you do.
2. Daily Dose of Sunshine
When nurse Jung Da-eun (Park Bo-young of Strong Girl Do Bong Soon fame) is transferred from Internal Medicine to work in the psychiatric ward, she struggles at first to help patients deal with ailments that can’t just be cured through medicine or surgery. This new learning curve isn’t just difficult for her though. Mental health has historically been stigmatized and stereotyped in South Korean media, as it often is throughout the world, so it’s really refreshing to see a K-drama approach this topic with such sensitivity and warmth. Even when things get challenging for Jung and our tear ducts alike, Daily Dose of Sunshine will continue to brighten up your day with a well-meaning and even inspirational procedural that will move you in ways few medical dramas can.
1. The Glory
The three month gap between parts one and two of The Glory almost felt as long as Moon Dong-eun’s (Song Hye-kyo) own wait for vengeance, but like the fruits of her labor, this second batch of episodes did not disappoint. Together, The Descendants writer Kim Eun-sook and director An Gil-ho transcended the usual revenge thriller tropes by infusing the series with biting social commentary on class warfare and the depths we’ll go to seek our own personal brand of justice, no matter who might get hurt along the way. From the vicious twists and stunning cinematography to Song’s new career-best performance against type, everything about The Glory lives up to its name and then some. It’s no wonder that this series now sits comfortably in Netflix’s top 10 non-English language shows of all time.
David Opie is a freelance entertainment journalist. To hear his ramblings on queer film and TV, you can follow him @DavidOpie.
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