My Top 4 Korean Dramas

    I feel about Korean dramas much the same way a mother feels about her children.  I love them all equally, but definitely have my favorites.  There’s the first born, the misunderstood rebel, the youngest, and of course the one that breaks your heart.  If you have never watched a Korean drama, I suggest any of the following four.  Each and everyone of these dramas will get you addicted for different reasons.  They each tell a story ranging from first love, to love that can transcend any obstacle, and to love of best friends.  The following are my current personal favorites.  The might change as I watch more dramas but this is a good starting point for anyone to enjoy something a wee bit different that what is currently offered on American television. 
    No, these dramas are not ordered in favorite to least since I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, rather they are in the order in which I watched them.  Be warned, there will be spoilers.

Boys Over Flowers(2009)

    Truth be told Boys Over Flowers, a remake of Japanese Hana Yori Dango, will always be in my top five list for the very simple reason that it was my first.  Like first love I find it very difficult to let go of these one.  I probably will never rewatch it but the memory of that first weekend is still strong.  The story revolves around Geum Jan Di a poor girl that gets a scholarship to attend ShinHwa School, a school that is home to the richest of the rich and the richest of these are the F4(flower 4).  She, of course, is the only student to go up against this group of rich bullies.  The two most important members of F4 are Goo Jun Pyo, played by a curly haired Lee Min Ho, and Yoon Ji Hoo, played by the beautiful Kim Hyun Joong.  Geum Jan Di crushes on one but eventually falls in love with the other, you know the one that acted like an ass and treated her like a possession rather than a person.  Boys Over Flowers wasn’t only my first drama it was also my first time experiences second lead syndrome but more on that later.  This drama is cute and sweet and for a first timer exactly what was needed.  It delved into a majority of the Kdrama tropes.  Poor girl rich guy, unrequited love, amnesia, among many more.  And beyond the main story arc it also has a subplot dealing with Geum Jan Di’s best friend and another of the F4 So Yi Jung, played by oh so got Kim Bum, which is just heartwarming.  For a long time this was the drama I would recommend to people to get them interested in Korean dramas because even with its flaws it still has some really good eye candy and a firm albeit predictable plot.

My Lovely Sam-Soon(My Name is Kim San-Soon)(2005)

    There is absolutely nothing in this drama that should make it a standout.  The plot is the same as countless other dramas, the cast isn’t uber beautiful, and for the most part the scenery is pretty meh.  And yet, this drama comes together perfectly.  There is not one thing that you can point at and say yep, that’s exactly why this is good.  The whole is so much more than the sum of its parts.  The chemistry between the actors, the dialogue, the intensity of the drama just makes you forget that you aren’t watch anything new.  The story revolves around Kim Sam-Soon a rather average looking female, in fact in the show she is considered chubby and is subconscious of her stomach when trying to have some sexy time with the male lead.  Sam-Soon is a pastry chef that lands a job at an up-scale restaurant run by younger man Hyun Jin-heon, played by, he gets a lot hotter as he ages, Hyun Bin.  The first few minutes of the first episode took a few tries to get through, but I am so glad I did.  What followed was a solid story about two very different people coming together without sacrificing what is important to them.  In many dramas the lead heroine starts off strong and spunky and then fizzles when she confesses her love, but with Sam-Soon you get a heroine that starts off strong and spunky and never lets that go, she becomes stronger because of the love she found and that in itself is rather refreshing.

The First Shop of Coffee Prince(2007)

    I love everything about this drama.  The main characters, the supporting cast, the story, everything about this drama works.  The story is the most common out there boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy refuses to acknowledge said love until he can’t fight it any more and it all cumulates in a beautiful kiss except through all of this boy thinks he has fallen in love with another boy.  Choi Han-kyul, played by Gong Yoo, is the playboy son of a rich family which has decided that he needs to marry, and to make this happen they start setting him up on numerous blind dates.  Han-kyul really doesn’t want to get married so he hires tomboy Ko Eun-chan, played by Yoon Eun-hye, thinking she is actually a boy, to pretend to be his boyfriend and break up his dates.  Eun-chan needs the money so never tells Han-kyul that she is well a she.  Eun-chan then starts working at Han-kyul’s coffee shop, which only hires young men(princes), she continues to play the part of a male.  Slowly the two start to get closer and closer and feelings start to develop from both of them.  You see Han-kyul struggle with his increasing attraction to another man. He fights it until he can’t any longer deciding that love transcends even sexuality.  His acceptance of his feelings explode in one of the best Kdrama kisses of all time called through out the web as the “alien kiss.”

It’s after this kiss that everything comes to light and you the two leads try to get over such a huge lie.  Beyond the main story, you also a wonderful supporting cast that gives the story depth and makes this drama very well worth the watch.

Shut up Flower Boy Band(2012)

 

    This is the second drama in TVN’s “Oh Boy” series, following Flower Boy Raymun Shop, which casts a slew of young, very attractive actors to lead the dramas.  And the actors in this drama are nothing short of Eye Candy, which just happens to be the name of the band they are all a part of.  This drama centers around these five friends which after the tragic loss of their lead singer, Joo Byung-hee played beautifully poignant by Lee Min-ki, need to find a way to stay together and honor the memory of their lost friend.  Sure, there’s the rivalry between them and the other band at the school they attend.  It’s the fight between the two side of the tracks.  The boys of Eye Candy all come from meager backgrounds and all they have going for them is their friendship.  This drama is about friendship, laced with some of the best music to ever grace a kdrama.  It is unlike any other drama I have ever watched.  It is gritty and beautiful, it heartbreaking and spirit lifting.  This drama is a glimpse into the lives of these young men, and that glimpse is enough to make you fall in love with them, to wish them all the best, to want to comfort them when things fall apart, to want to cry alongside them when they lose their friend, and to celebrate with them when they realize that regardless of where life takes you their friendship endures and strengthens each of them.  Here's a fan made trailer.