Sure media defines a era. The world’s hottest tales can each mirror society’s greatest ideological preoccupations and affect traits throughout style, music, and each business you’ll be able to identify. For Okay-Dramas particularly, the 2010s meant development. The present recognition of exported Korean leisure (a phenomenon known as Hallyu, or the Korean Wave) reached untold heights, largely due to main streaming providers making the drama business accessible to 1000’s of recent viewers who wanted one thing new to impress them.

It won’t appear to be it has been 15 years since 2010. However, sure — these 10 Okay-Dramas actually have been round lengthy sufficient to outline an period. In case you’re additionally like me and all the time within the temper for some bittersweet nostalgia, listed below are essentially the most defining Okay-Dramas of the ’10s, ranked.

10

‘Heirs’ (2013)

Forged: Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye, Kim Woo-bin

This is likely to be the primary entry by screenwriting sensation Kim Eun-sook on this checklist, nevertheless it’s removed from the final. Regardless of their fated assembly in America, the mutual connection that follows, and their shock reunion as classmates at a highschool for South Korea’s richest college students, Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) and Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye) come from radically totally different worlds. He’s the privileged, withdrawn, however compassionate inheritor to one in all Korea’s largest companies; she’s the daughter of a housekeeper who attends their elite college on a scholarship and works a number of jobs to help her household. There’s additionally Tan’s inconvenient engagement to a woman of his identical social standing — however none of those circumstances can stop real love’s course.

Heirs is arguably Korea’s definitive highschool cleaning soap opera. Following an analogous format as The O.C. and Gossip Woman, and due to this fact not as progressive as we might want when considered by way of the good thing about hindsight, the collection’ unapologetic melodrama, cut-throat setting, and dreamy Cinderella vibes made it a smash hit that is still an simply devourable responsible pleasure. Heirs’ success at residence and overseas maintained Lee Min-ho’s fame after his breakout function in Boys Over Flowers, and boosted Kim Woo-bin into one of many decade’s greatest Hallyu stars.

Watch on Netflix

9

‘Descendants of the Solar’ (2016)

Forged: Tune Joong-ki, Tune Hye-kyo, Jin Goo

Kim Eun-sook’s follow-up to Heirs switches from heightened teen angst to an grownup love story replete with the daring themes her later works would undertake. Yoo Si-jin (Tune Joong-ki) and Kang Mo-yeon’s (Tune Hye-kyo) first try at romance cannot overcome the hurdles of Si-jin’s harmful job — being a South Korean Military captain means frequent absences, secrets and techniques he is required to maintain, and the looming menace of demise. Mo-yeon can also’t reconcile relationship a person who’s able to killing to guard the harmless together with her coronary heart’s calling as a surgeon who vowed to do no hurt. However when Si-jin and Mo-yeon are individually despatched to a fictional nation caught in a turbulent cycle of conflict, illness, and ecological disasters, they forge a second probability at reconciliation and understanding inside this chaos.

Between its common themes, cruel setting, and mature characters with multifaceted dimensions, Descendants of the Solar grew to become a cultural phenomenon throughout its 16-episode run. It broke home rankings data and received over viewers in over 30 international locations. Associated product gross sales and elevated tourism closely contributed to Korea’s financial growth, whereas Tune Joong-ki (Vincenzo) and Tune Hye-kyo’s (The Glory) dynamic chemistry and powerhouse performances left a dent in our hearts.

8

‘Secret Backyard’ (2010)

Forged: Ha Ji-won, Hyun Bin, Yoon Sang-hyun

No-nonsense stuntwoman Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won) solely has eyes for her favourite celeb crush. Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin), the conceited, haughty, and leopard-print-wearing fashionista CEO of a division retailer, couldn’t be any much less her sort. Joo-woo, nonetheless, finds himself instantly smitten, even when he doesn’t notice why he’s consumed by Ra-im’s existence. Their reluctant courtship turns into reliable as soon as they begin switching our bodies — a conceit forcing each events into nearer proximity, encouraging self-introspection about their respective traumas, and prompting the opposite to take a deeper take a look at the actual particular person hiding beneath their synthetic picture.

Earlier than Heirs and Descendants, Kim Eun-sook gave the world Secret Backyard, a lighthearted affair merging delicate fantasy and fairy story parts with Okay-Drama tropes that have turn out to be tried and true. Throughout the peak of its recognition, Secret Backyard generated roughly 20 billion received in associated merchandise. Now an authorized megastar, Hyun Bin’s breakthrough recognition was immense and fast sufficient to spark an official time period (“Hyun Bin Syndrome”), and his efficiency received a Daesang award at Korea’s prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards. The endearing, quaint, and tear-jerking collection itself scored a number of different awards.,

7

‘My Love From the Star’ (2013)

Forged: Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Soo-hyun, Park Hae-jin

Speak about star-crossed lovers. The one factor Do Min-joon (Kim Soo-hyun) desires is to return to his residence planet. The sullen, introverted, and centuries-old alien has spent 400 years caught on Earth, and he’s had sufficient of humanity’s fixed upheaval. When Cheon Tune-yi (Jun Ji-hyun), Korea’s most well-known and irrepressibly extroverted actress, turns into Min-joon’s neighbor after a scandal ruins her profession and sends her into seclusion, each characters uncover that they’ve extra in frequent than they assume. For one, they’re profoundly lonely, even when neither cares to confess it.

Written by one other queen, the one and solely Park Ji-eun (The Legend of the Blue Sea, Crash Touchdown on You, and Queen of Tears), My Love From the Star’s pitch-perfect mix of heartfelt romance, quirky comedy, sci-fi, and thriller elevated it from an satisfying idea into an inescapable phenomenon. Fan enthusiasm helped facilitate the Korean Wave’s resurgence. chimaek (rooster and beer) grew to become a go-to snack, and each lead actors took residence prizes at that 12 months’s Baeksang Arts Awards.

Watch on Viki

6

‘Crash Touchdown On You’ (2019)

Forged: Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Search engine marketing Ji-hye

A paragliding accident drops Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin), an achieved however seemingly frivolous businesswoman, into North Korea. With none assets or a viable approach to return residence, the rich chaebol has no selection besides to rely on the tender mercies of Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin), a reserved Korea Folks’s Military captain who’s something however reserved at coronary heart. Despite the fact that they have been born on reverse sides of the DMZ, future appears to have created Se-ri and Jeong-hyeok to full the void in each other’s wounded hearts.

Maybe some of the sweeping, humane, and emotionally resonant Okay-Dramas of the final decade, Crash Touchdown on You acquired near-universal acclaim. It stays the fifth highest-rated Korean cable drama of all time on the time, and plenty of American critics and publications named it one in all 2020’s greatest productions. Its winsome charms and gut-punching coronary heart hit the spot through the COVID-19 pandemic, and its accessibility on Netflix doubtless contributed to the mainstream success Korean content material is at present having fun with. As for Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin, the costars married in 2022.

5

‘The Moon Embracing the Solar’ (2012)

Forged: Han Ga-in, Kim Soo-hyun, Jung Il-woo

The love match between Crown Prince Lee Hwon (Yeo Jin Goo) and Heo Yeon-woo (Kim Yoo Jung), a woman with a “noble destiny,” ends in tragedy earlier than it will probably start. Yeon-woo passes away from a lethal sickness, leaving her grieving fiancé free to marry a relative of the Prime Minster (Kim Eung-soo) and Queen Dowager (Kim Younger-ae). It’s precisely the end result these conniving figures conspired to realize, neither prepared to give up their energy. Besides, Yeon-woo didn’t die — she emerges from her grave with amnesia. Virtually a decade later, King Lee Hwon (Kim Soo-hyun) encounters Shaman Wol (Han Ga-in), an oddly acquainted girl. Wol additionally feels inexplicably drawn to her king, not realizing that her distinctive visions are the recollections of her life as Yeon-woo.

A sageuk fantasy romance stuffed with all of the political conspiracies, lies, and tragedy that include a Joseon-era costume drama, Jin Soo-wan’s The Moon Embracing the Solar tailored Jung Eun-gwol’s novel to nice impact. Fashionable historic hits like The King’s Affection owe a lot of their mastery to this standard-bearer. The immersive ambiance, high-value manufacturing element, and staggering performances catapulted the finale’s rankings to record-breaking standing.

4

‘Kill Me, Heal Me’ (2015)

Forged: Ji Sung, Hwang Jung-eum, Park Search engine marketing-joon

Conglomerate inheritor obvious Cha Do-hyun (Ji Sung) has a secret — technically, six secrets and techniques. When he was 17 years previous, a tragic accident claimed a number of of his household’s lives. Six different personalities emerged to guard Do-hyun from his trauma, however Do-hyun conceals his dissociative identification dysfunction from his family members. Searching for to raised perceive his situation and shoulder his future management duties, he secretly hires the brash, first-year psychiatry resident Oh Ri-jin (Hwang Jung-eum) as his private marketing consultant.

By positioning characters with psychological well being circumstances on the forefront and depicting them with more and more nuanced empathy, up to date Okay-Dramas have chipped away on the cultural stigmas surrounding the demographic. Kill Me, Heal Me is not a flawless examination, however the collection stays charming and compelling with out compromising one tone for the sake of one other or lowering dissociative identification dysfunction to a punchline.

Watch on Viki

3

‘Sign’ (2016)

Forged: Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo, Cho Jin-woong

Park Hae-young (Lee Je-hoon), an excellent however inexperienced felony profiler, stumbles upon a chance to vary the previous. By some means, a walkie-talkie connects modern-day Hae-young with Jae-han (Cho Jin-woong), a fellow detective dwelling in 1989. Their communication spans the following 11 years of Jae-han’s life, with Hae-young utilizing his information of the previous, his up to date assets, and his investigative prowess to assist Jae-han’s workforce — led by Korea’s first girl detective, Cha Soo-hyun (Kim Hye-soo) — resolve chilly circumstances. However as they convey elusive criminals to justice, their actions irreparably change the current and the longer term.

A crucial darling, Sign is without doubt one of the uncommon Okay-Dramas to not simply earn a second season, however be renewed eight years after it premiered. Kim Eun-hee, the author behind Netflix’s historic zombie horror collection Kingdom, primarily based lots of the collection’ homicide investigations on real-life chilly circumstances. It’s a chilling element, however Sign actually shines through its profoundly affecting emotional beats and meticulously plotted story. That 12 months’s Baeksang Arts Awards awarded Sign Finest Drama, Kim Eun-hee Finest Screenplay, and the exceptional Kim Hye-soo Finest Actress.

2

‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Coronary heart Ryeo’ (2016)

Forged: Lee Ji-eun, Lee Joon-gi, Kang Ha-neul

A photo voltaic eclipse catapults Go Ha-jin (Lee Ji-eun/IU), a just lately betrayed and heartbroken girl, from the twenty first century into the tenth century. Reeling, helpless, and surrounded on all sides by the formidable rivalries and machinations of the Goryeo Dynasty’s royal court docket, Ha-jin and her morals should in some way survive this unusual “new” world regardless of all its secrets and techniques, betrayals, cut-throat politics, and love triangles.

Though extremely anticipated, Moon Lovers is taken into account a flop by business requirements attributable to middling rankings and lukewarm opinions. That stated, the drama (and Lee Joon-gi‘s flip as main man Wang So) earned sufficient on-line chatter to complete third behind Descendants of the Solar and 2016’s hottest sageuk romance, Love within the Moonlight, for the 12 months’s most mentioned drama. Moon Lovers additionally proved well-liked abroad, beating out Descendants because the “most costly Okay-Drama ever bought” on the time.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Coronary heart Ryeo just isn’t at present out there for streaming within the US.

1

‘Reply 1988’ (2015)

Forged: Lee Hye-ri, Ryu Jun-yeol, Go Kyung-pyo

It’s the 12 months of the Seoul Olympic Video games. Life won’t be straightforward within the neighborhood of Ssangmun-dong, however the world continues to be full of sunshine, hope, and bittersweet symphonies. 5 childhood pals, now in highschool and nonetheless inseparable, lean on each other by way of each defining teenage expertise — tutorial pressures, profession unknowns, skinned knees, late nights, first kisses, and loss, to call just a few.

Reply 1988 caught lightning in a bottle. Loads of tales mix teenage rising pains with nostalgia for previous many years, however few accomplish that with such earnest camaraderie, sincere socioeconomic acknowledgment, and slice-of-life heat. Throw within the one-in-a-million solid bringing this ensemble (youth and grownup) to life, and Reply 1988 strikes a house run to the center. Nonetheless the sixth highest-rated Korean cable drama of all time, the collection took residence Baeksangs for Finest Director and Finest New Actor (Ryu Jun-yeol), and launched Park Bo-gum, the “Nation’s LIttle Brother,” into the celebrity stratosphere.

Maintain Studying: 10 Okay-Dramas That Ought to Be Tailored Right into a Hallmark Film