Lovingly Reviewing The Best K-dramas I watched in 2022

When I think about 2022 in relation to K-dramas, lines blur. It literally took me googling some of the dramas I watched this year to be sure I saw them this year and not last year. What does this tell me? Well, that life moves so fast! Okay, jokes apart, I think it’s telling me that like last year, K-dramas of this year were not bad at all. In fact, it gave me my best K-drama ever. Yes, the almighty Twenty Five, Twenty One.

I still have to say though, that overall, I enjoyed 2021 dramas more. That said, let’s dive right into most impressive K-dramas I watched in 2022.

Twenty Five, Twenty One

This K-drama defines my 2022 like no other. The characters, screenplay, cinematography and soundtracks are forever etched in my mind and soul. It’s a colourfully saturated drama that narrates the story of five young friends in the 90’s who experience first love, friendship, heartbreak, pressure, and hardships during a time of financial crisis. 

Why would I forever be obsessed with this drama?

Kim Tae-ri is the number 1 answer. She was a revelation for me. I have never met any actress on screen playing such a wholeheartedly adorable teenager with enormous talent, flair and soul. She embodied the major character, Na Hee-do, with the highest level of heart and passion, and her winning Best Actress at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards was one of my 2022 highlights. Then we have Nam Joo-hyuk playing the boyfriend of the year. Not only was he illegally handsome in this role, he fit it to a T. 

2521 also blessed me with one of the purest and deepest love stories of all time. The natural and magical chemistry between Tae-ri and Joo-hyuk truly engraves the romance in anyone’s heart. The drama also has quirky characters and an enviable circle of best friends (flaws and all) that you just root for. Not to mention, the writing shared a lot of deep nuggets and wisdom about life. The ending of the drama was not the best, in my opinion, as it could have been handled much better, but overall, 2521 is truly a GEM. I would recommend it over and over to anyone ready to experience end pain for a magical journey. Find my full review of the drama here.

My Liberation Notes

After I watched 2521, I couldn’t bring myself to watch any drama and enjoy it. My Liberation Notes changed that. Compared to the bright and chirpy youthfulness of 2521, this show in muted in colour, rural, and slow-paced.

The whole drama is actually a deeper quintessence of why K-dramas have me in the heart. It’s just so freaking real. To me, this is the first show ever to depict the bleak and hopeless feeling that long commutes to and from work infuses one’s mind and soul with.

The show narrates the story of three siblings; an introverted younger sister who feels intensely alone and unworthy; an elder sister looking for love everywhere possible; and an only brother who feels like a loser yet to accomplish anything on his own. They’re all adults who live under their parents (due to the high cost of living in the city) and feel trapped in all that they do.

How relatable is that? I can’t even begin to explain the rare resonance and strange healing the drama gave me. Plus, it features a rugged yet hot-looking alcoholic’s subdued romance with our introverted heroine. It’s problematic but weirdly intimate and beautiful (also, Son Seok-goo had me fanning my face and bobbling my throat every damn time)😩.

My Liberation Notes was another GEM of 2022. No doubt. I cherish it so much.

Little Women

When the trailer for Little Women dropped, I was ecstatic. Following Yumi’s Cells, one of my favourite romance dramas ever, Kim Go-eun gained a strong fan (girl can ACT!!!), so I couldn’t wait to see her in a different capacity that looked sleek, dark and mystery-filled.

When I eventually started the drama, I honestly couldn’t get into it. It got too graphic and dark for what my palate wanted at that time. It also felt like show was running in circles and not really progressing to new revelations. So around the episode 5 mark, I dropped it. But the online hype grew bigger, and I was curious to get answers to the head-ramming questions show had presented, so I went back.

Apparently I had left right after the show picked pace. Now DRAMA started to unpack. Concrete clues started to reveal themselves and the villains could hardly hide their twisted faces anymore. It was back-to-back action, suspense, thrill and charisma and explosive acting and I enjoyed every minute of it. I’m really glad I went back to this one. I had worried I would miss out on all the hype, Kim Go-eun, and reveals simply because I couldn’t get into the drama, so I’m happy that turned out not to be the case.

Not everything makes logical sense in this drama, but the interestingness and sleek cinematography makes up for it. I particularly enjoyed Kim Go-eun’s acting and her chemistry with the handsome and charismatic Wi Ha-joon. I would totally recommend it to anyone in the mood for a dark and twisted drama with great suspense and charismatic acting.

Gaus Electronics

This is a drama that I almost forgot to include, but it’s one of my favourites and biggest highlights this year! 

I just shake my head in serious amusement, satisfaction and happiness whenever I think of Gaus Electronics. It’s so darn stupid, hilarious, interesting, and heartwarming all at once. I truly feel for people that have not yet seen this special one. It’s a workplace drama that follows the foibles of the marketing team of an electronics company. There’s so much to keep you engaged and literally laughing your ass off.

There’s the ever adorkable Kwak Dong-yeon in his first lead role, playing a quirky, good-hearted character who seems to mess things up every time with his cluelessness and clumsiness. I’m usually not a fan of male leads portraying silly and idiotic characters and that’s mostly because they come off as obvious, try-hard and fake. But Kwak Dong-yeon’s natural acting and natural charm rubs off so endearingly on the character he plays in this drama that I found him so adorable and lovable. 

His enemies-to-lovers romance with Ko Sung-hee was also so well done and truly side-splitting. Their natural, silly charms bounced off each other entertainingly and I couldn’t get enough of their childish banters, and highly comical yet delicious kiss scenes. Another thing the drama did so well with, is the side characters on the team. They are fully developed and hilarious in their own rights.

Gaus Electronics is the epitome of a light drama done perfectly well. God bless the Facebook comments that made me check it out. Totally, 200% recommend!

Business Proposal

I think it’s safe to say that Business Proposal was a 2022 favourite for most K-drama fans. It aired alongside 2521 and for the most part, I loved how light, hilarious and silly the show was. As a serial fan of contract dating or marriage premises, there was no way I wasn’t going to check it out. What mattered was, would it be interesting? Well, it was. A lot of the times! As overly cliché as it was. 

I remember laughing out loud several times especially in the earlier to middle episodes. Having a clueless rich chaebol grandson who thought of himself as cool and important, and dramatized his wealth when the situation called for it, was fun to watch. And that first blind date scene, between the two leads – HILARIOUS!!! Kim Se-jeong delivered and made me sit upright!

Also, the whole “You know I have no chingu!” scene with Jin Yeong-seo (Seol In-ah) and her arch enemy cousin, gosh, that scene was GOLD. I was literally drunk on laughter watching that scene play out. 

I also really loved how chill the grandfather was and how he enjoyed watching K-dramas too.😅

On the flip side, I would say I was not a fan of the male lead not fully recognizing that the girl he went on a blind date with worked in his company (after it was about time he did). I really was not a fan of the extreme hijinks there. Also, I would say that the second leads’ romance was more fun to watch overall.

For weird reasons, I didn’t watch the last two episodes of Business Proposal. Maybe it became so predictable towards the end that I couldn’t watch anymore or maybe I was just bored (especially with the grandfather no longer being chill and the couples no longer being dramatic). Either way, I didn’t finish the drama.

That’s not to say it wasn’t worth the watch. It was definitely worth it and I would recommend it to any rom-com lover who doesn’t mind silliness (maybe sometimes, extreme silliness).

Summer Strike

This drama immediately reminded me of My Liberation Notes and Hometown Cha Cha (and what I loved about both dramas). 

Summer Strike follows the ordinary life of a female employee in the constantly crowded and busy Seoul City. Everyday, we see her commute to work in a jam-packed train, looking mindless and fed up with the rinse and repeat life. To make matters worse, she doesn’t have the best colleagues at work. They take advantage of her and treat her almost like she doesn’t exist.

On a serendipitous impulse, while on her way to work, she catches a train going to the countryside, far away from the bustling city life. On the ride there, her soul felt dazzlingly calm. She couldn’t believe that on a week day, the world could be so quiet and serene.

Eventually, she decided to move to the countryside and do nothing. In that period, she meets two teenagers, a grandma, and an introverted librarian guy who brought joy and contentment to her life. At some point, the drama too got dark for what I was expecting, but it all made sense and worked out in the end.

It’s a slow and healing drama that truly resonated with me and reminded me again, not to be pressured into any rat race and enjoy the ordinary moments in life. I would recommend it to any slice-of-life lover and introverted soul craving escapism, breezy seaside scenes, and a slowed-down life.

Dear M

As a college drama and romance enthusiast, Dear M definitely caught my eye. I recently finished the show and it was addicting. Thoroughly engaging. It had all the recipes that made for a delicious college show to me. It had a solid best friends-to-lovers story, roommates-turned-close friends story, and overall, major characters that are so so so likeable!

Our male lead is a wonderfully calm and good-natured person who sweetly, secretly pines for his best friend, but treats everyone around him (even the silly girl showing interest in him) with just as much innocence and respect. I loved that about him. Jaehyun, one of my favourite members of the NCT 127 boyband, portrayed this character (his first acting gig ever) and I would say he was a natural. It hardly felt like he was acting, especially in his romantic scenes (they were genuinely tender and heart-fluttering). Admittedly, he needs to work on his more emotional expressions. 

Our female lead is quite clumsy, idealistic and sometimes too enthusiastic, but she’s cute, warm and good-hearted. I liked her more than I would normally like such characters.

On the other hand, our second female lead is delicate, pretty, sweet, and innocent but interestingly firm, straight-forward and smart. I loved the contrast with her character. We could really use more of these characters in K-dramaland, where the girl is not simply sweet-hearted, but highly discerning and prim when she needs to be. Loved her!

We also have an hilarious male character who is a talkative and neat freak (what endearing quirks!🤣). He gets into a relationship with a girl who typically looks and sounds haughty, but she is surprisingly open, easy-going, and drops the wisest advice without any self-importance. Again, K-dramas could use more of this character. Not every strong/sassy-looking girl has to be rude or stuck-up. She can be just as wise and lovely.

As for the villain in the show, I don’t remember hating a villain so much. She reminded me of those insufferable high-school mean girls, but with the way she was classily handled by the second female lead, I felt so satisfied.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed this show. I have nothing to complain about (well, maybe except the second male lead who couldn’t set boundaries with a fake-smiling b—ch).

Rookie Cops

This show is very similar to Dear M in that it’s also a college romance drama revolving around roommates-turned-best friends; only that it’s set in a Korean Police University.

I loved that the show has a lot of interesting action scenes. Apart from that, I love that it’s colourful and light-hearted despite its police college setting (it’s actually funnier than Dear M) and features really hot kiss scenes amongst our two leading couples. 

Kang Daniel, a former member of boyband Wannna One, makes his debut as the male lead in this drama and I would say he did a great job, honestly. He could work more on his emotional scenes (just like Jaehyun), but the role he played thankfully didn’t call much for such scenes.

He played a calm, virtuous and morally-disciplined student calling out the bad guys even when he could be implicated too. He was charismatic and had the most charming eye and toothy smile. It was super fun watching him and his friends chase down the bad guys.

Towards the end, Rookie Cops slowed down and got a little predictable but I was loyal and in love enough to finish the drama.

Guess what? I was not disappointed.

Still 17

I watched this 2018 drama this year simply because I had been putting it off but wanted to check it out finally. My favourite K-drama reviewer, Kfangurl, gave this drama a glowing review the time it came out and as someone who loves Shin Hye-sun’s acting, I could not let the drama pass me by.

True to Kfangurl’s rave reviews, I enjoyed this drama so much. It narrates the story of a 17-year old girl who gets into an accident, goes into coma as a result, and wakes up 13 years later, at the age of 30.

Distraught and disillusioned, she navigates life as a sudden adult and crosses paths with her childhood crush. A series of incidents led her to living with this childhood crush who had guiltily thought he was responsible for the accident she suffered from.

I can’t even pinpoint what exactly made this drama so enjoyable for me, but it’s filled with a lot of  raw emotions, cracky humour, and an enormously endearing male teen. I guess the story was just so well told, had powerful and sincere acting, heartwarming characters, and an emotional gravity to it.

My Name

I’m still not sure if I watched this 2021 drama the year it dropped or last year. But I definitely didn’t watch it when it first aired. 

I think I watched it early last year. The point I’m trying to make is: why did I ever think the show would be cringe or mediocre? Oh, I remember. Because I learnt that the story was about a girl avenging the unfair death of her father. 

I’m sorry, the action story just seemed so cliché and it was gaining a lot of popularity on Netflix, so that made me even more skeptical than interested. Besides, I couldn’t believe that I would enjoy Han So-hee in a gritty action series. Prior to that, she had only played very feminine roles. 

Well, suffice to say that Han So-hee proved me very wrong. I really enjoyed her subtle yet convincing eye acting and her charismatic moves. Girl’s got moves!

The story was still as cliché as it gets with revenge stories but the drama was gripping on its own, and it was really fascinating watching an actress that I perceived to be very feminine take on the role of a quiet, badass lead in a female vengeful drama.

I would say she actually deserved her Best Actress nomination at the 2022 Baeksang Arts Awards.

Happiness

Happiness is another 2021 drama that I refused to watch while it aired. It features two actors that I really like, Park Hyung-sik and Han Yoo-joo. But because I was inundated with a lot of dramas then, I didn’t have the bandwidth to start any more new K-dramas. Also, it’s a zombie drama and I’m not really a fan of zombie genres. Still, upon seeing the very great reviews it received and learning that the leads enter a contract marriage, I tried out the first episode. But urgh, I found the opening scenes boring. So I gave up only to try it out again early this year.

And oh my gee, thank you lord of the lords that I did not miss out on this FABULOUS drama. We had logic stretches here and there, but that did not take away my serious engagement in and enjoyment of this drama. The story is set in a complex residential apartment building infested with a zombie outbreak, and our leading couple happen to be long-term best friends and police officers living together in one of the apartments for financial convenience. Hand-in-hand, they fight off zombies and human beings more deadly than the virus causing infections.

The show was not really concerned about making you scared about morbid zombies. It was more interested in showing you the dark side of human beings during dire situations. And in the same vein, the unconditional warmth, love and loyalty that humans show each other in such situations.

The drama was just so well narrated and thoroughly entertaining. The chemistry between Yoo-Joo and Hyun-sik was also soooo good. I enjoyed every minute of this drama.

And there you have it, my lovers! Thank you for taking the time to read! Happy New Year and may our 2023 K-drama watches be much more Entertaining, Heart-Grabbing and Soul-Satisfying.

Cheers!💗

You can find my review of the K-dramas I moderately enjoyed in 2022 here and my brutal review of the very bad ones I watched here.