The Best Melodrama and Romance K-Dramas of 2020
Metro’s favorite romances of the year, from “It’s Okay To Not Be Okay” to “When I Was The Most Beautiful”
K-dramas have always been big in the Philippines, but this year saw them grow—and explode!—like nothing we’ve ever seen, thanks to the disarming charms of the hit series Crash Landing on You. The drama, starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin, catapulted the already-famous stars into even greater heights and captured the hearts of millions of Filipinos. After its finale aired, viewers could hardly be satisfied, and so we flocked to one K-drama after another. Below, we round up twelve of our favorite melodramas and romances—the series that made our hearts soar and swell, featuring couples and storylines that made us fall further in love with the genre.
Best Melodramas and Romances
Best Melodramas and Romances
Chocolate
Chocolate, like Crash Landing on You, premiered in 2019 and ended this year. The K-drama tells the story of a neurosurgeon who had dreams of becoming a cook—and a woman who became a cook thanks to him.
Crash Landing on You
Crash Landing on You may have ended this year, but it was such a cultural phenomenon that we couldn’t not include it. For the uninitiated, Crash Landing on You tells the story of a North Korean soldier and a South Korean heiress who find themselves falling in love with each other after she crash lands into NK territory.
Dinner Mate
Dinner Mate, which came out this May and ran until July, tells the story of Kim Hae-kyung, a food psychotherapist and Woo Do-hee, a producer at a digital content company. They meet by coincidence, eating dinner together, and eventually become “dinner mates”—they don’t exchange personal details, like their name, occupation, or whatnot; they just sit together in each other’s company.
Do You Like Brahms?
Do You Like Brahms? is a drama set in a prestigious music school, where students Chae Song-ah and Park Joon-young meet and fall in love against a backdrop of dreams, ambition, music, failures, and triumphs.
Flower of Evil
Flower of Evil, starring Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won, tells the story of husband and wife Baek Hee-sung and Cha Ji-won and the deep, dark secrets she uncovers about him as she and her colleagues investigate a series of unexplained murders.
Hospital Playlist
Hospital Playlist tells the story of doctors and nurses working at Yulje Medical Center—Lee Ik-jun, Ahn Jung-won, Kim Jon-wan, Yang Seok-hyung, and Chae Song-hwa—as they navigate life, love, and career.
Hyena
In Hyena, very competitive private lawyers who only work for the richest 1% of society fall in love: Jung Geum-Ja and Yoon Hee-Jae—she in the field for the money; he an elite, smart, and capable lawyer. In Hyena, there’s grift, intensity, and calculation.
Itaewon Class
Itaewon Class stars Park Seo-Joon and tells the story of Park Sae-royi, a young man whose goal is to open a pocha, working with his friends to make his dreams a reality. Itaewon Class, along with It’s Okay To Not Be Okay and Crash Landing on You, is a crowd favorite K-drama from this year, and we’re (still) obsessed with it!
It’s Okay To Not Be Okay
One of 2020’s most renowned K-dramas, It’s Okay To Not Be Okay tells the story of Moon Gang-tae, a caretaker at a psychiatric ward, and Ko Moon-young, a children’s book author who is believed to have antisocial personality disorder. Together, they find the courage in each other to heal—and love.
Memorials (Into the Ring)
Memorials, also known as Into the Ring, tells the story of Goo Se-ra, a lower class young woman with a bright personality, and Seo Gong-Myung, an independent and unapproachable civil servant. They meet when Gong-Myung, newly demoted, meets new council member (yes, you guessed it, Se-ra!), as they join forces to take corrupt policitians accountable.
When I Was The Most Beautiful
When I Was the Most Beautiful tells the story of love triangle with a ceramic artist, Oh Ye-ji, in the center, who falls in love with two brothers: Seo Hwan, an architectural designer, and Seo Jin, a race car driver.
When My Love Blooms
When My Love Blooms, which premiered in April, tells the story of Han Jae-hyun and Yoon Ji-soo, two individuals who fell in love in university, and who meet twenty years later, with Jae-hyun as a businessman and Ji-soo as a mother and a contract worker living a difficult life.
Photos from IMdB
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