Top 5 underrated Korean dramas and why you should watch them: a post
Korean dramas aren’t always cheesy and lovey-dovey. This post will change your mind.
I started watching Korean dramas when I was in middle school (Indonesians called it junior high school). I was in my last year and supposed to face National Examination within months, but getting introduced to Korean dramas has given me a solace until now, so I think people should know too. Who knows, they might have another option to look for consolation and forget their problems for a while.
Anyway, I’m writing down my personal recommendations for underrated Korean dramas, because I personally think these titles deserve more attention and hype than they did. Now, let’s cut the chase!
Title 1: Live (2018)
Synopsis
Live tells the story of police officers — from the lowest field cadets and patrol officers, to their superiors including corporals, captains, and more — as they form the ‘Live’ team at the Hongil patrol division. Each officer has their own story, and each works hard in their own places at one of the busiest, most stressful jobs in the world, in order to earn a living. (Wikipedia)
Personal Comments
I learned a lot from this K-drama. During the process of writing this article, I’m currently on Episode 12 in Netflix. Just so you know, it’s a lengthy drama. Most K-dramas are only 14–16, this one has 18 episodes. It was challenging for me to continue watching this, but as I watch more episodes, things start to get more tense. Spoilers alert: there are so many different crime cases. It spans from rape, domestic abuse, child molesters, juvenile crimes, illegal prostitution involving foreign citizens, abuse of power, etc. From these cases, I get to understand why people sometimes do what they do.
One thing you should keep in the back in your mind: having a job as a patrol officer is very exhaustive.
Title 2: He is Psychometric (2019)
Synopsis
After losing his parents in a fire, Lee Ahn (Park Jin-young) acquires the power of psychometry, the ability to read a person or an object’s past through physical contact, and he decides to use it to take bad people down. While he does not know how to control his power yet, he meets Yoon Jae-in (Shin Ye-eun) who tries her best to hide her painful secrets. Together with his foster guardian, prosecutor Kang Sung-mo (Kim Kwon), and the latter’s colleague, investigator Eun Ji-soo (Kim Da-som), they team up to solve an elusive case that has been haunting the lives of Ahn, Sung-mo, and Jae-in. (Wikipedia)
Personal Comments
I took this drama into My List section in Netflix just because I think this is gonna be another crime K-drama. Nah, I was wrong. This is the only K-drama that actually has a great mix between rom-com and crime. Unlike common crime K-dramas, every case in this title is connected to each other. Same for the characters — they are also connected to each other. The reason will blow your mind. Just watch, seriously.
Spoiler alert: uh, please mind the sunflower. EVERY sunflower. It has a meaning.
Title 3: Voice (Series: Voice 1, Voice 2, Voice 3)
Synopsis
Voice 1
Moo Jin-hyuk (Jang Hyuk) is a “mad dog” detective who becomes guilt-ridden after his wife was murdered while he was at work. Kang Kwon-joo (Lee Ha-na) is a tough policewoman who is gifted with perfect psycho-acoustics skills and went for voice profiling. She was working at the call center when a brutal murder case took place and in the process of investigating her father was killed. Three years later, Jin-hyuk and Kwon-joo team up as the “Golden Time team” and solve cases together, chasing after the serial killer who took their loved ones. (Wikipedia)
Voice 2
“Voice 2” follows Kang Kwon Joo (Lee Ha Na), the leader of the Golden Time police hotline center that tries to solve emergency cases as soon as they can, and who has the gift of hearing things that most people don’t; as they try out their program in Poongsan City. (The Kats Cafe)
Voice 3
“Voice 3” will continue the events in “Voice 2”; following the lives of 112 emergency call center and dispatch team as they fight against an international evil cartel involved in the internet’s dark web. Kang Kwon-joo (Lee Ha-na) is a 112 Call Center Chief & Golden Time Team — Team Leader. Do Kang-woo (Lee Jin-wook) is a Golden Time Team — Dispatch Team Leader. (Kdramacrazy)
Personal Comments
Yes, you see it right. THREE titles.
It’s a series. Let me explain why there are three titles in the series and make it into a lengthy series. At the end of Voice 1, Jin-hyuk dies and Kwon-joo continues to lead the Golden Time Center. She tries the program in Voice 2 in Poongsan City with the help of Kang-woo. The serial killer they caught in Voice 2 was a part of crazy international cartel in the dark web in Voice 3, even Kang-woo dies here too.
Quite messy? It is.
Nevertheless, for every crime K-dramas I have watched, I get to learn why people do what they do. Traumas, hidden childhood memories, different kinds of secrets — you name it. Voice 1–2–3 is a more messed up, dark, and bloody, less-friendly version of Live.
Title 4: The Master’s Sun (2013)
Synopsis
Joo Joong-won (So Ji-sub) is the cold and distant CEO of Kingdom, a conglomerate that includes a major department store and hotel. He meets the gloomy Tae Gong-shil (Gong Hyo-jin), who started seeing ghosts after an accident. Their lives take a new turn as they discover whenever Gong-shil touches Joong-won the ghosts that surround her disappear; after much pleading from Gong-shil to allow her to stay by Joong-won’s side in return she must help him recover a fortune that was stolen from him during a kidnapping attempt. (Wikipedia)
Personal Comments
This drama also has cases. The difference is: it involves ghosts!
Ain’t it fun?
No, for some people. Yes, for me. Some people just die without actually having the chance to solve what they want to solve, or tell what they want to tell. The ghosts then use Gong-shil to do these things. Of course, it’s clearly fictional. Unless you’re a shaman or such thing, there’s rarely a gift like that owned by common people.
Anyway, it’s a great mix between rom-com and mystery. Seo In-guk looks so good here. *wink*
Title 5: Angry Mom (2015)
Synopsis
Jo Kang-ja was once legendary for being the toughest, most feared troublemaker at her Busan high school. When she gets pregnant in her late teens, she drops out of school and tries to become a responsible mother to her daughter, Oh Ah-ran. Fast-forward to the present, Kang-ja is now in her thirties and Ah-ran is a teenager. The two have a contentious relationship, with Ah-ran ashamed of Kang-ja’s unrefined ajumma manners.
When Ah-ran befriends the class outcast, it makes her the target of the school bullies who make her life hell, yet, she’s too proud to tell her mother what’s happening. When Kang-ja finds out that her daughter is getting bullied, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Unbeknownst to Ah-ran, Kang-ja enrolls in her daughter’s high school as an undercover student with the false name “Jo Bang-wool” to teach those bullies a lesson. But, she learns that there are bigger, darker problems within the educational system. Kang-ja makes it her mission to put a stop to the school violence, with the help of Ah-ran and naive, idealistic homeroom teacher Park No-ah.
Personal Comments
Aren’t you relieved? Finally, there’s one in my list that isn’t tense.
I only have one comment for this drama: you will watch and will see how messed-up the educational system is.
(Every country does the same thing, I guess, no matter how developed they are.)
Thank you for reading!
