Year-Ender 2024: 7 K-dramas You Cannot Skip

2024 was a stellar year for K-dramas. There was no dearth of good shows ranging from revenge dramas to time-slip rom-coms. A few titles started out with meet-cutes only to turn into some of the most emotional stories of the year. Queen of Tears kept viewers hooked with its twisty plot while Squid Game Season 2 came in strong towards the end of the year.

Here are some K-dramas from 2024 that you simply cannot skip.

Queen of Tears

Queen of Tears is one of those rare dramas that manages to merge comic elements into an otherwise tragic plot. The plot revolves around a couple – Kim Soo Hyun’s Hyun Woo and Kim Ji Won’s Hae In. Hyun Woo wants to divorce his heiress wife and get away from her rich family’s judgement and bullying. But when he discovers that she’s dying, he decides to stick around for the inheritance. The drama moves from genuine emotional arcs to screwball comedy, seldom missing a beat, making it one of the year’s most bingeable shows.

Lovely Runner

Time slip drama Lovely Runner revolves around Kim Hye Yoon’s Sol, a K-pop-obsessed girl who is confined to a wheelchair and Byeon Woo Seok’s Sun Jae, a K-pop idol who lives a lonely life. When Sol finds herself travelling into the past where she’s a high school student along with Sun Jae, she attempts to change the course of history to avert tragedy in the future. The show doesn’t bother explaining the mechanics of the time slip but the more episodes you watch, the less it matters. The show also takes on some heavy topics like suicide and the pitfalls of K-pop idol worship.

The Trunk

Before he returned as the Ddakji-playing salesman in Squid Game Season 2, Gong Woo starred in The Trunk. Based on a novel of the same name by author Kim Ryeo Ryeong, the K-drama revolves around a contract marriage. Gong Yoo’s Jeong Won enters a one-year contract with Seo Hyun Jin’s In Ji, a woman who works for an agency that pairs high-profile clients with temporary wives. The show is a thriller that’s somehow perfect for ambient viewing. A bonus, apart from the plot twists, is Gong Yoo’s chemistry with Seo Hyun Jin.

Marry My Husband

A revenge drama featuring a girl boss? Sign us up! Marry My Husband revolves around Park Min Young’s Ji Won, a woman undergoing cancer treatment. While she has a support system, it falls apart when she realises her husband is having an affair with his best friend. She dies and mysteriously time travels to the past. She then goes on to take revenge and make her partner and friend pay for messing with her.

No Gain No Love

Shin Min Ah made single, career-driven women seen with her performance in No Gain No Love. The actress plays Hae Yeong, a woman who quickly realises that getting married has a lot of perks including a shot at a promotion at work. When she meets Kim Young Dae’s Ji Wook, a kind convenience store worker, she hires him to marry her. Through the course of 12 episodes, the two slowly go from pretend spouses to lovers. However, the show doesn’t fall into the same category of pretend lovers turning into real lovers. Between the intense emotional arcs that will move you to tears and a solid sub-plot where the second leads shine, the show makes for a highly engaging watch.

Pachinko Season 2

Pachinko’s first instalment set the bar high for a follow-up series and despite the pressure, Pachinko Season 2 delivered. While the first season tells the story of Sunja (Kim Min Ha) and how she survives without her husband under Japanese colonial rule in Korea, the next season follows Sunja’s grown-up sons. One of them is looking to escape his troubles while the other takes it in his stride. The historical drama which also features Lee Min Ho, Youn Yuh Jung, is an essential viewing

Squid Game Season 2

The wait for the second season of Squid Game has been long and in 2024, we finally got more of the K-drama that became a global sensation upon its release during the pandemic. Starring Lee Jung Jae, Wi Ha Joon, Lee Byung Hun, Yim Si Wan and more, the series follows Seong Gi Hun aka Player 456 as he gets drawn back into the games in a bid to bring the makers to justice. Between the bloodier games and the new characters, the series makes a compelling and timely return.Here are some K-dramas from 2024 that you simply can’t miss. Continue reading …Read More