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KajoPicks: 8 K-dramas starring Lee Jong-suk you should watch

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When speaking about South Korean models who made successful transitions into acting, we have to talk about Lee Jong-suk.

Born in 1989, Lee was the youngest male model ever to participate in Seoul Fashion Week 2005 at the age of 16.

With his boyish good looks and height of 186cm, it is not a surprise to know that Lee was also offered to be a K-pop idol.

In fact, he even trained to be an idol group member for three months before he realised that the K-pop path was not for him.

Today, Lee is one of the most coveted South Korean actors out there with thousands of fans always looking forward for his next project.

If you are a fan of Lee Jong-suk, here are eight of his dramas you should watch:

1.School 2013 (2012)

Like many other successful Korean actors like Jang Hyuk, Kim Rae-won, Jo In-sung, Gong Yoo who started their careers through the School series, Lee’s breakthrough role was also in the popular Korean anthology series.

School 2013 (2012) is the fifth installment of KBS’s School series.

It is a teen drama depicting the struggles of modern day high school students as they facing problems such as bullying, suicide and school violence.

In this series, Lee plays the role of a high school student named Go Nam-soon. While his fellow students are studying hard to get into the best college, he spends his night working part-time jobs.

He just aims to graduate high school without having any particular ambitions.

Through his role in this drama, Lee received the Best New Actor award at the 2012 KBS Drama Awards.

Watch the trailer here.

2.I Can Hear Your Voice (2013)

This drama is definitely one of our favourite ‘noona’ romance K-dramas out there.

It follows the story of a public defender named Jang Hye-sung (Lee Bo-young) who comes across a high school student with the supernatural ability to read other people’s minds by looking into their eyes.

That high school student Park Soo-ha is played by Lee.

He gained his mind-reading ability after witnessing his father getting murdered ten years earlier.

At first, his father’s death was dismissed as a car accident until Hye-sung as a teenager testified in court.

Since then, Soo-ha has been harbouring crush for Hye-sung.

However when they reunited a decade later, Soo-ha is disappointed to find Hye-sung completely different from what he has expected.

She becomes bitter and apathetic who only cares about money.

Still, the duo reconnects and work together to solve criminal cases with the help of Soo-ha mind-reading ability.

Originally slated for 16 episodes, the drama was extended by two episodes due to its successful ratings.

Moreover, Lee won the Excellence Award in the male category at the Korea Drama Awards for his performance.

3.Doctor Stranger (2014)

Following the success of I Can Hear Your Voice, Lee picked another successful project playing a genius doctor raised in North Korea.

Doctor Stranger (2014) begins with Park Hoon (Lee Jong-suk) and his father Park Cheol (Kim Sang-joong) who were tricked and sent to North Korea.

There, Park Hoon was trained to become a doctor who was already a famous doctor.

After his father dies, Park Hoon tries to defect to South Korea in order to live a better life with his lover Song Jae-hee (Jin Se-yeon).

The lovers somehow got separated and Park Hoon arrives in South Korea without Jae-hee.

In South Korea, Park Hoon works as a doctor in Myungwoo University Hospital.

There, he comes across Doctor Han Seung-hee who looks exactly like Jae-hee.

However, the doctor claims not to know Park Hoon or is she pretending?

The drama was a huge success internationally, particularly in China where it gained 400 million views.

4.Pinocchio (2014)

2014 was a good year for Lee Jong-suk as he took up another successful role that year.

He starred in Pinocchio opposite Park Shin-hye, playing the role of Ki Ha-myung.

His father Ki Ho-sang is the captain of a firefighting squad who dies in a factory explosion during a rescue attempt along with several of his men.

The media sensationalises the case for rating and alleges that Ho-sang is responsible for the deaths of his men.

Due to the media frenzy, the Ki family becomes the subject of national scorn.

Ho-sang’s wife kills herself and Ha-myuung by jumping off a cliff.

Thankfully, Ha-myung is rescued and he assumes a different identity Choi Dal-po.

Despite being a genius, he pretends to be dumb to keep up the facade.

He then becomes a broadcast news reporters in order to find his long lost brother and clear their father’s name.

Again, the drama was an instant hit and was sold to China for USD280,000 per episode.

5.W (2016)

When you look at Lee’s face, he looks like someone who came out straight out from a manga.

Hence, no other actors are fit to play a webtoon character other than him.

The series centers on the eponymous fictional webtoon entitled W.

It is written and illustrated by Oh Seong-moo (Kim Eui-sung).

The main character of the webtoon is Kang Chul (Lee Jong-suk), a handsome and intelligent boy who is also skilled in shooting.

He is falsely accused of massacring his family.

After a failed suicide attempt at the Han river, he picks himself up and becomes determined to find the real killer of his family.

Ten years later, Kang Chul has now become a multimillionaire.

One particular night, he receives an anonymous phone call who asks him to go to the rooftop of his penthouse.

There, he is stabbed by a mysterious figure.

As he continues to seek the truth, what happens when Kang Chul finds out that the world he is living in is not even a real world after all?

As though Lee has a midas touch in picking a TV script, the fantasy thriller W topped popularity charts in South Korea.

Additionally, Lee won the Grand Price at the year-end MBC Drama Awards.

Watch the trailer here.

6.While You Were Sleeping (2017)

Perhaps the key to Lee’s success is to pick the right scriptwriter.

In While You Were Sleeping (2017), Lee plays a prosecutor who has the ability to foresee future events through his dream.

The drama is written by Park Hae-ryun who also worked on I Can Hear Your Voice and Pinocchio, both of which Lee starred in.

It is a legal, fantasy and romance drama circling around three young adults who can see the future when they sleep.

Along with field reporter Nam Hong-joo (Bae Suzy) and police officer Han Woo-tak (Jung Hae-in), the trio work together to prevent their ominous dreams from turning into reality.

Again, Lee has proven that he is indeed a powerhouse when comes to acting as he bagged the Top Excellence Award Actor in the 25th SBS Drama Awards for his role in this drama.

Watch the trailer here.

7.The Hymn of Death (2018)

Hymn of Death

Unlike his previous works which were more on the fantasy sides, Lee chose something closer to reality in 2018.

The Hymn of Death (2018) is based on true events, depicting the tragic romance between Korea’s first soprano Yun Sim-deok and the genius playwright, Kim Woo-jin.

Yun was the first Korean to study at the prestigious Tokyo Music School.

There in Japan, she met and fell in love with English literature student Kim Woo-jin.

The problem is, Kim was already married.

But this did not stop the couple to pursue a romantic relationship.

Unfortunately in 1926, the two lovers committed suicide by jumping off of a passenger ship en route from Simonoseki to Busan.

The news of the lovers was sensational and Yun’s final recording ‘Hymn of Death’ became the first popular Korean song in Japan.

Watch the trailer here.

8.Romance is a Bonus Book (2019)

So far, Lee Jong-suk has starred in thriller, medical, fantasy, legal and melodramas. Romance is a Bonus Book (2019) marked his first romantic comedy in his career.

It is story about 37 year-old Kang Dan-i (Lee Na-young) who has to restart her career after a divorce.

She joins a publishing company as a temporary task support team member.

The company’s editor in-chief Cha Eun-ho (Lee Jong-suk) is Dan-i’s longtime friend.

However, Dan-i does not know that her friend Eun-ho harbours romantic feelings for her.

The series also marked Lee’s final project before his military service enlistment on Mar 8, 2019.

In 2022, we expect to see Lee in the leading role of noir/legal drama ‘Big Mouth’ opposite Im Yoon-ah.

He will play an under-performing lawyer who gets entangled in a murder case.

So far, there is a lot of buzz surrounding the series as it is Lee’s first TV project following his discharge from the military in 2021.

In an interview with Esquire Korea, Lee revealed which two characters were his favourite roles that he played. They were Park Soo-ha in I Can Hear Your Voice and Cha Eun-ho in Romance is Bonus Book.

Watch the trailer here.

What are your favourite roles of Lee Jong-suk in his dramas? Let us know in the comment box.

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KajoPicks: 10 Korean dramas you must watch if you love Lee Dong-wook

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Are you a fan of South Korean actor Lee Dong-wook? His most recent drama Bad and Crazy is soaring in high ratings thanks to its fresh and original story about ‘bad and crazy’ detectives who fight against police corruption.

Most people may not know that he is actually one of the many successful actors who came out of the School anthology series.

He joins other popular actors such as Lee Jong-suk, Kim Woo-bin, Nam Jo-hyuk and Yook Sung-jae, all of whom were the products of this series.

The School series is a Korean drama series showcasing the struggles of high school students in South Korea.

Dong-wook took up the role as Lee Kang-san in both School 2 (1999-2000) and School 3 (2000-2001).

Here are 10 South Korean dramas you need to watch if you love Lee Dong-wook:

1.My Girl (2005)

This Korean series might not be Lee’s first drama but it was the drama that catapulted him to Korean Wave stardom.

He plays the role of Seol Gong-chan. He is the only heir of the owner of L’Avenuel Hotel which is one of the top hotels in Korea.

His grandfather put him in charge of finding his long lost granddaughter who is also Gong-chan’s cousin.

Instead of looking for his cousin, Gong-chan hires a tour guide Joo Yoo-rin (Lee Da-hae) to pose as the missing granddaughter.

Desperate for money due to her father’s gambling debts, Yoo-rin agrees to play the role.

The series was so successful in Asian countries that there have been four remakes of My Girl; Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

2.Scent of a Woman (2011)

Scent of a Woman marked Dong-wook’s first drama appearance after completing Korean military service.

It follows the story of a single woman who quit her job after being diagnosed with gallbladder cancer with approximately six months left to live.

She then embarked on a journey to Okinawa Island, Japan for her first vacation alone. There, she runs into Dong-wook’s character Ji-wook, a rich and cynical man. After a series of misadventures together, the duo falls in love with each other as the girl completes her bucket list.

One of their romantic scenes in the drama is when Dong-wook and his co-star Kim Sun-ah danced the tango.

In an interview with One TV Asia, Dong-wook revealed that he had never danced tango before and he practiced for a month before the shoot.

He stated, “On TV, the dance scenes looked very romantic and sexy but in reality, my brain was busy thinking of the next move and my feet were busy coordinating the dance.

“It was not easy to remember the moves and at the same time work well with my partner.”

3.Wild Romance (2012)

Here is another rom-com drama starring Lee Dong-wook that is worth watching.

This time, he plays the role of an obnoxious celebrity professional baseball player Park Mu-yeol.

He is in a love-hate relationship with his bodyguard Yoo Eun-jae (Lee Si-young).

Inspired by Si-young’s determination of not using a stunt double for her action scenes, Dong-wook too decided to perform all of his own stunts in the drama.

So all the fight and bickering scenes you see in the series? The two actors did it all by themselves.

4.The Fugitive of Joseon (2013)

In this drama, we get to see Dong-wook switched it up a bit by starring in a period drama.

It is set during the reign of King Injong, the 12th king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea.

He plays Choi Won, a royal physician who is desperate to cure his sick daughter.

When he gets entangled in an assassination plot to poison the crown prince, Choi Won becomes a fugitive.

The story intensifies as he fights to save both his daughter’s life and his own.

5.Hotel King (2014)

This series reunites Lee Dong-wook with former co-star in My Girl (2005), Lee Da-hae.

Circling around the drama about inheriting and managing a hotel, Dong-wook plays the role of a hotel manager named Cha Jae-wan who hides a secret past.

It is basically a revenge drama in which Jae-wan vows to take revenge on his rich father who abandons him and his mother who died in poverty.

To prepare for his role as a hotelier, Dong-wook along with the cast members of Hotel King attended a training session to learn the basic rules and manners of hoteliers.

The hard work really paid off as the series became one of the most popular dramas, especially in China.

6.Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016-2017)

Unfortunately after Hotel King (2014), many of Lee Dong-wook’s dramas were not that memorable or impressive.

Then came the year 2016 when he starred in a drama that relaunched his popularity.

Instead of taking the main role like he usually did, Dong-wook took up the supporting role in Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016).

He plays the role of a Grim Reaper whose job is to guide souls to their afterlives.

These Grim Reapers do not have memories of their pasts but they do possess some supernatural powers.

Apart from his brilliant acting, his chemistry with his co-stars (especially with Gong Yoo who plays the Goblin) really impresses the viewers.

Watch the trailer here.

7.Life (2018)

“The grim reaper takes dead people, but this time I am saving the lives of people who are on the verge of death,” Dong-wook stated during the press conference for the medical drama Life (2018).

As the role of Dr Ye Jin-woo, he plays the role of an emergency medicine specialist.

The story takes viewers to behind the scenes of the hospital when the fight to save lives becomes less important than the fight of profit making.

Dong-wook also revealed that the fact his previous work was fantasy but this time is a realistic one which drew him to take up the role.

Who doesn’t love a versatile actor, especially a good-looking one like Dong-wook?

8.Touch Your Heart (2019)

After watching Goblin, who can deny the chemistry between Dong-wook and Yo In-na who play love interests in the story?

In this series, the two actors reunite taking up the main roles instead of supporting roles in their previous drama.

Dong-wook turns himself into a workaholic lawyer named Kwon Jung-rok in this series while Yoo In-na becomes the scandalous actress Oh Jin-shim.

In order to clear her name and become famous again after a drug scandal, Jin-shim takes up a job as Jung-rok’s secretary.

The unlikely duo slowly fall in love with each other as they spend more time together.

Watch the trailer here.

9.Stranger from Hell (2019)

Once again proving his amazing acting skill, Dong-wook turns serious and creepy in his next drama Stranger from Hell (2019).

Also known as Hell is Other People, the drama is a psychological thriller based on a webtoon of the same name.

Dong-wook plays the role of Seo Moon-jo, a dentist who comes across as a friendly and compassionate.

However, things are not always what they seem.

Dong-wook received the “Dangerously Attractive Character” Award for his role in this drama… and we totally agree.

Watch the trailer here.

10.Tales of Nine-tailed (2020)

Lee Dong wook 2

Lee Dong-wook returns as a supernatural being in the Tales of Nine-tailed (2020) and this time he becomes a gumiho named Lee Yeon.

He is a mountain spirit and guardian of Baekdudagan.

His job is to carry out missions from the Afterlife Immigration Office while searching for the reincarnation of his lover Ah-eum.

In this story, Dong-wook portrays Lee Yeon as this cynical character who looks like a bad boy who is ruthless to his enemies but only sweet to his girlfriend.

Watch the trailer here.

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KajoPicks: 10 South Korean dramas to watch if you are a fan of Lee Joon-gi

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When we talk about the role that introduced us to South Korean actor Lee Joon-gi, we have to talk about his role in The King and the Clown (2005).

In the movie, he plays the role of historical figure Gong-gil. It is an adaptation of a stage play, ‘Yi’ about a Joseon dynasty king named Yeonsangun and the court clown who mocks him.

Thanks for his performance in the film, Lee won a number of awards including the Best Newcomer at the Korean Film Awards. He was only 24 years old when he was cast for this role that led him to fame.

The film also led the Korean public to know him as the icon for all pretty boys.

However, Lee has proven over and over again since ‘The King and the Clown’ that he is more than just a ‘pretty boy’.

From historical to modern dramas, Lee is one of the top South Korean actors that K-drama fans always watch out for.

Here are 10 South Korean dramas to watch if you are a fan of Lee Joon-gi:

1.Time Between Dog and Wolf (2007)

This series played a significant role in Lee’s career as it was his first leading role in a drama.

He plays the role of Lee Soo-hyun, an NIS agent with a violent temper.

He infiltrates an organised crime syndicate as an undercover agent where he assumes the name Kay.

As a gangster, he goes on rampages to gain the trust of his fellow gang members.

In an interview, Lee revealed how he tried to break away from the image he received from acting in The King and the Clown (2005).

He said, “It’s an urgent matter for an actor to break away from a lingering image formed by a previous role. You don’t want to be typecast into specific roles. That’s probably the most difficult part about being an actor. After appearing in a great role in King and the Clown, I’ve been deliberately taking on different roles to reshape my image. And that has somehow been holding me back in my career and creating a mental barrier. In this miniseries, I’m just going to concentrate on playing my character like I did in the King and the Clown and try to block out all the extraneous stuff.”

This was also the drama that became Lee’s turning point in his career as viewers began to see him as an action star.

2.Iljimae (2008)

From Time Between Dog and Wolf (2007), Lee moved on to play a masked Robin Hood-esque character in this period action drama.

He plays the title role of Iljimae. The series is loosely based on the comic strip of the same name published in the newspaper the Daily Sports between 1975 and 1977.

The comic is written by Ko Woo-young who based it on a Chinese folklore from the Ming dynasty.

Lee’s character is a lazy gangster by day and a masked thief who protects the citizens at night.

Lee’s acting in the drama earned him the Top Excellence Award at the 2008 SBS Drama Awards.

3.Arang and the Magistrate (2012)

The first acting project they participate in after being discharged from mandatory military service is a huge deal for any famous South Korean actors.

Since their fans are not able to see them in any projects for at least 18 months, many anticipate their favourite actors’ first acting gig.

For Lee, his first project after being discharged was Arang and the Magistrate (2012).

In this series, he is a nobleman named Kim Eun-oh who has the special ability to hear, see and touch spirits but chooses to ignore them.

He comes across A-rang (Shin Min-ah) who lost all her memories, including how she died.

She begs for Eun-oh, the new magistrate to help her in finding the truth about her death.

The series was not only successful but it became the most expensive drama to be sold to Japan by MBC.

Moreover, Lee won the Outstanding Korean Drama Actor award at the Seoul International Drama Awards for his role in the drama.

4.Two Weeks (2013)

After he finished playing a magistrate in a historical drama, Lee moved on to a series set during the modern day.

Here, he plays the role of Jang Tae-san. He is abandoned by his father at a young age and his mother took her own life.

To survive, he becomes a small-time gangster.

Tae-san meets and falls in love with a college student Seo In-hye.

When Tae-san finds out that In-hye is pregnant with his child, Tae-san decides to leave the gangster organisation.

However, Tae-san’s gang boss threatens to kill In-hye if he does not become his fall guy for an assault charge and go to prison in his place.

In order to protect In-hye, Tae-san breaks up with her, asks her to get an abortion and then goes off to prison.

Eight years later, In-hye comes to him telling him that she had the baby after all.

But now their daughter Soo-jin has been diagnosed with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.

She asks Tae-san to go a test to see if he is a matching donor because she herself is not.

As it turns out, he is a match and the surgery is scheduled to take place in two weeks.

Unfortunately for Tae-san, a lot of things can happen in two weeks such as getting caught in a political conspiracy and falsely being accused of murder.

It was the first time Lee played the role of a father in dramas and the viewers were happy with his performance.

In an interview Lee revealed his response to that, “On the day when the first episode was aired, I was at the top of a mountain for outdoor filming and sometimes checked the news. When I read a review ‘Lee Joon-gi’s fatherhood acting is perfect.’ I was so happy and my heart was about to burst.”

5.Gunman in Joseon (2014)

Don’t we love watching Lee Joon-gi playing a bad boy? In this series, Lee is a highly skilled swordsman named Park Yoon-kang.

However, he has no ambition and likes to waste his life drinking and flirting at the gisaeng house.

Things change for him when his estranged father Park Jin-han is killed in a conspiracy and falsely branded a traitor.

Subsequently, all of his children, including Yoon-kang, are also punished.

With the help of the girl he loves, Soo-in, Yoon-kang manages to escape on a boat.

Unfortunately, he is shot and falls into the water.

Everyone presumes he is dead. Little do they know Yoon-kang is rescued by a group of men heading to Japan.

Three years later, Yoon-kang returns to Joseon to avenge the death of his family under the assumed name Hasegawa Hanjo.

This time, he has traded his sword for a rifle.

Thanks for his role in Gunman in Joseon (2014), Lee won the Outstanding Korean Drama Actor for a second time at the Seoul International Drama Awards.

The series gained a lot of viewership internationally especially in China where it reached 200 million views in a month on Tencent QQ’s video streaming platform.

6.The Scholar Who Walks the Night (2015)

This series is based on the manhwa of the same name written by Jo Joo-hee and illustrated by Han Seung-hee.

It stars Lee Joon-gi, Lee Yu-bo, Shim Chang-min, Lee Soo-hyuk and Kim So-eun.

The drama is a historical-fantasy story in which Lee takes up the role of Kim Sung-yeol.

He is a loyal and courageous scholar who is close friend of Crown Prince Jonghyun.

Following the deaths of his family and friend, Sung-yeol turns into a vengeful vampire.

He has spent 120 years as a guardian vampire who is responsible for getting rid of any vampire who breaks the rule.

His special role allows him to go out in sunlight as long as he wears his special black robe.

Sung-yeol is hunting Gwi (Lee Soo-hyuk), the vampire who is responsible for killing his family and lover.

In order to do that, he needs to find the memorandum of his best friend, the late Crown Prince Jonghyun.

Inside the document, there is the secret to killing Gwi.

Through this acting project, Lee won the Top 10 Stars Award at the 34th MBC Drama Awards.

7.Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)

How about a Korean historical drama with a dose of time-travel?

As if Lee was not popular enough before this drama, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo actually brought more fame to him as his name consistently topped the real-time and weekly portal sites search ranking.

In the drama, he plays the role of the fourth prince Wang So.

He is initially known as the black sheep of his family, constantly feared and misunderstood by the people around him.

His character begins to change when he make acquaintance with Hae Soo.

Meanwhile, Hae Soo is a 25-year-old woman named Go Ha-jin from the 21st century.

She is accidentally transported back in time during a total solar eclipse to the Goryeo Dynasty.

The drama is one of the most expensive Korean dramas ever sold pricing at $400,000 per episode.

If you feel the storyline sounds familiar, that is because it is based on the Chinese novel Bu Bu Jing Xin.

Before this K-drama adaptation, there was a Chinese TV adaptation that went on air in 2011.

However, the Chinese drama version has a sequel in which the time traveling protagonist returns to her own time.

Although the original author never wrote a sequel, the fact there is a second season in the Chinese drama adaptation let K-drama fans hope that there will be a continuation of Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016).

8.Criminal Minds (2017)

This police procedural action drama is based on the American television series Criminal Minds.

It follows a group of highly trained profilers in the National Criminal Investigation (NCI) team on their job of solving cases.

Lee is Kim Hyun-joon in this series, the equivalent of Derek Morgan portrayed by Shemar Moore.

No, we don’t get to see Lee saying ‘Baby girl’ in this drama but we do get to see him in action chasing after criminals.

In the Korean version of the drama, Hyun-joon is a second-generation police officer.

He is initially a SWAT officer specialising in EOD.

However after watching one of his subordinates die when a bomb their team was defusing, exploded, he was transferred to the Violent Crimes Unit as an investigator.

At the recommendation of Kang Ki-hyung who is the the leader of NCI team, Hyun-joon becomes a profiler.

9.Lawless Lawyer (2018)

After playing a profiler, Lee returns to the small screen as a lawyer in the Lawless Lawyer (2018).

It is Lee’s first time acting in a legal drama.

Still, it is not a role for Lee if it doesn’t involve some action and fight scenes.

In the drama, he plays the role of Bong Sang-pil. He is a former gangster turned lawyer who takes advantage of loopholes in the law and his fist to earn an excellent win rate.

The story sets in the fictional city of Kisung where corruption and crime rate is high.

Even though he is a lawyer, he is not afraid to use his old gang connection and his fighting skills to solve a case.

His goal in life is to avenge the death of his mother and to fight against the corrupt judge Cha Moon-sok and her associates.

To date, the drama is one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history.

10.Flower of Evil (2020)

Lee Joon gi

In this series, Lee reunites with his former co-star from Criminal Minds Moon Chae-won.

The story revolves around a couple in which the husband has a dark past while the wife is the police officer who is tracking down his past identity.

Cha Ji-won (Moon) is a detective and married with a daughter with Baek Hee-sung (Lee).

On the outside, Hee-sung is the ideal husband and devoted father.

He has a metal working studio where he works as a craftsman.

After taking on one particular cruel case, Ji-won begins to hunt down a psychopath criminal.

Her hunt leads her to the man who has been building a family with her all along.

Again, Lee’s portrayal of a double-faced character in the drama impressed viewers.

Plus, his chemistry with Moon as married couple has also gathered a lot of buzz.

We expect to see in the first half of 2022 in SBS drama Again My Life. It is based on a web novel of the same title published on KaKao Page which was also released as a webtoon.

What is your favourite K-drama starring Lee Joon-gi? Let us know in the comment.

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10 popular K-dramas that turn 10 years old in 2022

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Can you believe that it has been 10 years since 2012?

A decade has passed since the media reported that the world has supposed to be destroyed on Dec 21, 2012 as per ancient Maya prophecy.

Yet, here we are 10 years later. We are not the only ones turning 10 years older. Our favourite songs and films that came out in 2012 are also turning 10 years old this year.

Here are 10 popular South Korean dramas that are turning 10 years old in 2022:

1.Moon Embracing the Sun

One of the biggest hit K-dramas in 2012 is none other than Moon Embracing the Sun (2012).

The series recorded a peak rating of 42.2%. It even won multiple awards including Best Drama and Best Actor awards in the television category at the 48th Baeksang Arts Awards as well as Drama of the Year at 2012 MBC Drama Awards.

The historical-fantasy drama is adapted from the novel of the same name written by Jung Eun-gwol.

It tells of a love story between a fictional king of the Joseon Dynasty and a female shaman.

Kim Soo-hyun plays King Lee Hwon while Han Ga-in acts as Shaman Wol.

Basically, the king falls in love with a girl as a young boy and about to marry her. When they about to marry, she mysteriously dies.

However in reality, the girl loses her memory and becomes a shaman.

What is the latest news on the cast?

After the drama ended, Han took a six-year break from acting. She returned to the small screen in 2018 in a series called Mistress. It is based on a UK series of the same name.

Meanwhile, the Kim’s career really took off thanks to the drama. His popularity skyrocketed and after the drama, he set a new record in product endorsements for being the face of 17 products simultaneously.

He continued to act in successful films like The Thieves (2012) and Secretly, Greatly (2013) as well as hit dramas such as My Love from the Star (2013), It’s Okay to Not be Okay (2020).

2.Bridal Mask

Based on the popular Korean manhwa by Huh Young-man, the story follows a man named Lee Kang-to (Joo Won).

As the story is set in Seoul during the 1930s Japanese colonial era, Lee is a Korean police commissioned by the Japanese to betray his own people.

Due to this, Lee is hated by his fellow countrymen including the patriotic Korean woman Oh Mok-dan.

Oh loves Gaksital (The Bridal Mask), a masked vigilante who fights for Korean independence.

What Oh does not know is that Lee and Gaksital are in fact the same person.

The series won the Drama of the Year award at the 13th Republic of Korea National Assembly Awards.

What is the latest news on the cast?

In March 2021, Netflix announced that Joo Won would be starring in Netflix original film ‘Carter’.

Joo will be playing the lead role, a secret agent who wakes up to find that he has lost all of his memories.

His last appearance in a television series is in Alice (2020), a sci-fi drama about time-travel.

Jin’s last job on TV drama was also in 2020 when she appeared in a romantic series about reincarnation, Born Again.

She recently also confirmed her role in an upcoming drama called ‘Bad Memory Eraser’.

3.The Rooftop Prince

Tell me that you didn’t cry watching the final episode of this drama. The Rooftop Prince is a rom-com drama and one of the reasons we laughed and cried in 2012.

It follows the story of Crown Prince Lee Gak (Park Yoochun) who finds himself time-travelling from Joseon dynasty to the 21st century.

He is accompanied by scholar Song Man-bo (Lee Tae-ri), personal bodyguard Woo Yong-sool (Jung Suk-won) and palace eunuch Do Chi-san (Choi Woo-shik).

They find themselves on the rooftop of Park-ha’s (Han Ji-min) apartment. Due to his exact same appearance, a wealthy president of a large company mistakes Lee Gak for her grandson Yong Tae-yong.

At the same time, Lee Gak realises that the events that are going on in the 21st century correlate with what had happened 300 years earlier.

What is the latest news on the cast?

After a series of scandals from drug use allegations to sexual assault accusations by four different women, Park’s career took a plunge.

His last performance on a TV drama was in 2015’s A Girl Who Sees Smells.

A true disappointment for a talented actor who had achieved a so-called ‘Grand Slam’ for having won trophies from each of South Korea’s three major television channels, SBS, MBC and KBS.

As for Han, she remains active in the acting industry since The Rooftop Prince (2012) by appearing in at least one project every year.

Some of her prominent roles in TV dramas include Hyde Jekyll, Me (2015), Familiar Wife (2018) and One Spring Night (2019).

She also acted in some successful films such as The Fatal Encounter (2014), The Age of Shadows (2016) and Miss Baek (2018).

What happened to our favourite trio in Lee Gak’s entourage?

Jung Suk-won continues to take up supporting roles in dramas, the most famous one being Netflix’s zombie apocalypse drama Kingdom (2019-2021).

The same thing goes to Lee Tae-ri who later became known for his supporting roles in The Beauty Inside (2018), Extraordinary You (2019), True Beauty (2020) and as Imoogi in Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020).

As for the youngest of the group Choi Woo-shik who plays Do Chi-san in the drama, he turned out to have a successful career.

He starred in critically acclaimed films such as Train to Busan (2016) and Parasite (2019) with the latter winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes and the Academy Awards for Best Picture.

4.Faith

Speaking of an inter-period romance, here is another one coming out from 2012.

Faith (2012) tells the story about the modern-day plastic surgeon who is kidnapped and brought back in time to the Goryeo period, 700 years in the past.

Yoo Eun-soo (Kim Hee-sun) is a 33-year-old plastic surgeon in the year 2012. One day, she is kidnapped by a strange man who takes her back to the Goryeo period.

There, she is believed to be the apprentice of the famous Chinese surgeon Hwata sent from heaven.

The man who kidnaps her is General Choi Young played by Lee Min-ho.

He is a bodyguard to King Gongmin who is instructed to find someone to save the queen’s life.

The general promises the doctor that he will return her to her world once she saves the queen.

However, the doctor is caught in a political struggle in the royal court.

The drama was a highly anticipated because it is Kim’s first comeback after she took a break from the entertainment industry to concentrate on her family.

Meanwhile, it is the first time Lee acted in a historical drama.

Although the drama was highly rated, it turned out to be a commercial failure due to its high budget.

What is the latest news on the cast?

Both Kim and Lee continue to act in a series of successful project respectively.

Lee in particular participated in dramas such as The Heirs (2013), Legend of the Blue Sea (2016) and The King: Eternal Monarch (2020).

He is set to appear in an upcoming TV drama Pachinko which we expect to air on Apple TV+ in 2022.

In the same time, Kim has acted in Angry Mom (2015), The Lady in Dignity (2017) and Room No.9 (2018).

As for Kim, expect her to return on screen as a grim reaper in the fantasy drama Tomorrow. It is scheduled to air in the first half of 2022.

5.The Innocent Man

This melodrama is about a man who is no longer the ‘innocent’ man. Kang Ma-ru (Song Joong-ki) is a promising medical student who is in love with his neighbour Han Jae-hee (Park Si-yeon).

Unfortunately, she breaks his heart by becoming the mistress of a rich CEO in order to escape from poverty.

Six years later, Ma-ru is now an arrogant playboy who works as bartender/gigolo.

He approaches Seo Eun-gi, a rich heiress in a scheme to take revenge on his ex Jae-hee.

What is the latest news on the cast?

Song once described 2012 as a phenomenal year of his career. The Innocent Man (2012) was his first leading drama role in television.

It is also the year he played the titular character in fantasy romance film A Werewolf Boy which was premiered at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

From there on, he has landed leading roles in Descendants of the Sun (2016), Arthdal Chronicles (2019) and Vincenzo (2021).

In 2022, we expect to see Song in the criminal thriller film Bogota alongside Lee Hee-joon and Kwon Hae-hyo as well as a drama adaptation of the web novel The Youngest Son of a Conglomerate.

Moon too continued to enjoy a smooth acting career since The Innocent Man (2012).

The TV drama that she took on a role includes Good Doctor (2013), Criminal Minds (2017) and Flower of Evil (2020) were all successful.

As for Park who played the ex Jae-hee in the drama, she got herself into some legal trouble.

In 2013, she was sentenced to eight months in prison for illegal use of propofol. Then in early 2021, Park was booked for driving under influence.

Her last TV drama appearance was a cameo in 2020’s series Birthcare Center.

6.Arang and the Magistrate

Starring Lee Joon-gi, Shin Min-ah and Yeon Woo-jin, this period horror-romance drama is based on the folklore of Arang.

According to legend, Arang was the beautiful daughter of the magistrate of Miryang who was raped and killed by her stalker.

Since this incident, each newly appointed magistrate died on their first night on the job in Miryang.

Then came a young, brave magistrate who made contact with Arang on his first night in Miryang.

The magistrate found out that his predecessors all died of shock upon seeing the ghost of Arang.

Arang sought justice from him and on the next day, the magistrate punished the man who was responsible for Arang’s death.

Thanks to this, Arang could finally rest in peace.

The series put a lot more twist on this original folklore. The magistrate in the series is a nobleman named Kim Eun-oh (Lee Joon-gi).

Arang (Shin Min-ah), in the meantime, is a ghost who lost all her memories.

At first when Arang ask for Eun-oh’s help to find her memories, he rejects her request.

However, he changes his mind after seeing that Arang has the hairpin that he gave his mother before she goes missing.

Eun-oh believes that by helping Arang he could find his mother.

The drama marked Lee’s first comeback acting project after being discharged from military service in February 2012.

The rights to the drama was sold to Japan for a record-breaking 200 million won per episode which amounts to 4 billion won for the 20-episode series.

What is the latest news on the cast?

Both Lee and Shin won the Best Couple Award at the MBC Drama Awards 2012.

Thankfully, the fictional couple is still active in the entertainment industry.

Shin’s last acting gig in a drama is in Hometown-Cha-Cha-Cha (2021) where she played the role of a dentist who moved from the city to open a clinic in the seaside village.

The series went on to become one of the highest rated television series on Korean cable television history.

She is also set to appear in an upcoming Netflix drama Our Blues that is set to premiere sometime this year.

Meanwhile, Lee has been appearing on the TV screen almost every year since 2012.

He has starred in Gunman in Joseon (2014), The Scholar Who Walks the Night (2015), Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016), Criminal Minds (2017), Lawless Lawyer (2018), Flower of Evil (2020) and an upcoming drama Again My Life (2022).

7. A Gentleman’s Dignity

The story told through this particular drama is unlike your usual K-drama.

It tells the story of four men in their forties who have been friends since they were eighteen.

Kim Do-jin (Jang Dong-gun) is an architect who is suffering from memory loss problem when in stress.

So he records everything in his daily life with a voice recorder pen.

Im Tae-san (Kim Soo-ro) is Do-jin’s partner at his architectural firm while Choi Yoon (Kim Min-jong) is a lawyer who is still mourning from his wife death.

The last member of the group is Lee Jung-rok (Lee Jong-hyuk) is the cafe owner. Despite being married to a rich woman, he still constantly flirts with other women.

The drama follows these four men and their love lives as they still preserving their friendships while they are in 40s.

What is the latest news on the cast?

All of these four senior actors are still in the industry.

However, Lee Jong-hyun who plays Kim Do-jin’s son in the series, might never be in the limelight again.

He was involved in the Burning Sun Scandal in which he took part in a one-to-one chatroom with Jung Joon-young.

Jung was convicted of secretly filming and sharing the videos of himself having sex with women to his friends.

One of his friends was Lee and he reportedly responded to the video with “inappropriate sexual conversations and making disparaging remarks about the women filmed”.

8.Queen In-hyun’s Man

2012 took long distance relationship in a whole new level as we saw many time-travel romance going on in K-dramas.
Here is another romantic drama which transcends different centuries.

It follows the story of obscure actress named Choi Hee-jin (Yoo In-na) who falls in love with Kim Bung-do (Ji Hyun-woo), a time-travelling scholar from the Joseon Dynasty.

Back in his time, he is a scholar who supports the reinstatement of Queen In-hyun who was deposed due to scheming by royal concubine Lady Jang.

When he time travels to 2012, he comes across Hee-jin who is cast as Queen In-hyun in a TV drama and falls in love with her.

What is the latest news on the cast?

At the press conference for the last episode of Queen and I on June 7, 2012, Ji made the public shocked by announcing his love for Yoo.

Yoo then confirmed their relationship on her radio show a week later.

Unfortunately, their romantic relationship did not last long as in 2014 they announced they had broken up.

As for their careers, Ji has starred in drama series such as Angry Mom (2015), Wanted (2016), Bad Thief, Good Thief (2017) and Young Lady and Gentleman (2021).

And we all know Yoo from Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016), Touch Your Heart (2019) and Snowdrop (2022).

9.To the Beautiful You

Here is the teen drama that rocked our year in 2012.

Based on the popular manga series Hanazakari no Kimitachi e written by Hisaya Nakajo, this Korean series is the fourth television adaptation of the manga.

It follows the story of Goo Jae-hee (Sulli), a Korean girl who lives in the US. She is attracted to high jump athlete Kang Tae-joon (Choi Min-ho) and idolises him.

Her fascination over Tae-joon even leads her to disguises herself as a boy in order to enter the same all-boys high school with him.

What is the latest news on the cast?

Sadly, Sulli was found dead in her house on Oct 14, 2019. To the Beautiful You (2012) is her last leading role in a television drama.

In the meantime, Min-ho is still active taking roles in series such as Medical Top Team (2013), My First Time (2015) and Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016).

He also remains active in his singing career as part of K-pop group Shinee.

On the other hand, some of the supporting actors in the drama have been landing leading roles over the years.

Kang Ha-neul, Kim Ji-won, Nam Ji-hyun and Kim Woo-bin are now no longer taking supporting roles in dramas but playing the main characters instead.

10.Love Rain

2022 dramas ten years 2

Love Rain (2012) was the most expensive Korean drama presold to Japan in 2012.

It tells the story over a two generations with Jang Geun-suk and Im Yoon-ah playing dual roles.

When Seo In-ha (Jang) and Kim Yoon-hee (Im) meet for the first time in university during the 70s, it is love at first sight for In-ha.

It takes time for the pair to be together but in the end circumstances push them to take different paths in life.

Moving on in 2012, In-ha is now happily married to one of Yoon-hee’s former best friends.

He has never forgotten Yoon-hee after all this time. When he runs into her after so many years, the two reconcile and try to make up for the lost time.

Well, this is not a K-drama if it does not come with a dramatic plot twist.

In the meantime, In-ha’s son Seo Joon (also played by Jang) bumps into Yoon-hee’s daughter Jung Ha-na (also played by Im) by chance.

Unlike their parents, it is hate at first sight for the duo.

The more they argue, the more they find themselves falling in love with each other.

Unaware that their children are dating each other, In-ha and Yoon-hee announce that they are getting married.

What is the latest news on the cast?

Some of Jang’s works after Love Rain (2012) are Pretty Man (2013), The Royal Gambler (2016) and Switch (2018).

Meanwhile, Im has landed many leading roles such as in Prime Minister and I (2013), The K2 (2016) and The King in Love (2017).

Im is set to appear in a legal drama titled Big Mouse alongside Lee Jong-suk in the first half of 2022.

Some of the supporting actors in Love Rain also seen their careers improved after the drama.

Seo In-guk, for instance, who had his acting debut through Love Rain is now a leading actor in K-dramas.

In-guk landed his leading role later in 2012, in hit drama Reply 1987 as a teenage boy in unrequited love with his childhood best friend.

The role catapulted his career into mainstream popularity and he continued to take part in dramas like Hello Monster (2015), The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018) and Doom at Your Service (2021).

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KajoPicks: 8 K-dramas based on Korean novels to watch

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These days, there are so many Korean dramas that are inspired by manhwa and webtoon.

Even though the number is not as huge as K-dramas based on webtoons, there is still a handful of television series which have gained their inspiration from Korean novels.

So here are eight K-dramas based on South Korean novels to watch:

1.Painter of the Wind (2008)

Based on the bestselling historical fiction novel of the same name by Lee Jung-myung, this series stars Moon Geun-young and Park Shin-yang.

It circles around the idea of ‘what if’ real-life Joseon painter Shin Yun-bok had really been a woman.

Shin Yun-bok was known for his realistic depictions of daily life in his time.

In the drama, Yun-bok is a talented young painter who disguises herself as a man to search for her father’s murderer.

She meets Kim Hong-do, a master painter who later becomes her mentor.

The novel also inspired 2008 Korean film Portrait of a Beauty starring Kim Min-sun.

2.The King in Love (2017)

This Korean series is one of the few youth historical dramas out there.

It is based on the novel of the same name by Kim Yi-ryung.

Starring Im Si-wan, Im Yoon-ah and Hong Jong-hyun, it is a story of a love triangle set in the Goryeo dynasty.

Won is a young and ambitious crown prince who falls in love with a young woman named San.

At the same time, his best friend Wang Rin is also in love with San.

But who does San love between the two?

Watch the trailer here.

3.Top Management (2018)

Top Management (2018) is a YouTube original production based on a novel by Jang Woo-san.

It is a romance-fantasy story which centers around Eun-sung.

She is a former idol trainee and has special power that allows her to see the future.

The storyline focuses on her life as the manager of the aspiring but struggling male idol group ‘S.O.U.L’.

Watch the trailer here.

4.Ms Hammurabi (2018)

What makes this drama different from other K-dramas adapted from Korean novels is that the novelist wrote the script himself.

Judge Moon Yoo-seok wrote the novel The Hankyoreh which was first serialised in a local newspaper back in 2015.

To bring his work to the TV screen, he wrote the script of the drama series Ms Hammurabi which was based on his book.

It was the first time Moon tried his hand at script writing.

In an interview, he revealed that he was surprised that the production company suggested to go with his script without the help of a co-writer or a sub-writer.

It turned out to be an excellent decision as the series was well-received by viewers for its fresh perspective on judges.

This Korean legal drama tells the story of the life of judges and the various challenges that they have to face.

It stars Go Ara, Kim Myung-soo, Sung Dong-il and Ryu Deok-hwan.

Watch the trailer here.

5.Girl’s Generation 1979 (2017)

Based on the novel Lingerie Girls’ Generation by Kim Yong-hee, the series is set during the 1970s in Daegu city.

It circles around Lee Jung-hee whose father owns a lingerie factory. Jung-hee like other girls at her age, loves to listen to pop music.

Instead of concentrating on schoolwork, she focuses more on boys.

Besides the teenage drama, there is a dark mystery going on in the story.

There is an increasing number of sexual assaults in the city and one by one, the female workers in the factory go missing.

Watch the trailer here.

6.Kingmaker: The Change of Destiny (2020)

This historical romance drama is based on Lee Byung-joo’s novel Wind, Clouds and Tombstone.

It stars Park Si-hoo, Ko Sung-hee, Sung Hyuk and Jun Kwang-ryul.

The story follows the fierce struggle for the throne during Joseon dynasty.

Choi Chun-joong is the best face reader in the country who eventually becomes the most powerful person of the era.

Meanwhile, Lee Bong-ryeon is a royal princess who has a special ability to see the fate of people.

Together with Chun-joong, the duo tries to change the fate of their country for the better.

Watch the trailer here.

7.Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010)

Most people do not know that this famous historical drama is based on Jung Eun-gwol’s bestselling 2007 novel The Lives of Sungkyunkwan Confucian Scholars.

Starring Park Min-young, Park Yoo-chun, Yoo Ah-in and Song Joong-ki, the story follows a girl who disguises herself as a man to make ends meet.

When Kim Yoon-hee enrolls in the prestigious Sungkyunkwan, the Josean Dynasty’s university, she becomes close with three men.

The first man is Lee Sun-joon, who known for his upright and cold demeanour.

Then the mischievous Gu Yong-ha (Song Joong-ki) and the moody Moon Jae-shin (Yoo Ah-in).

The four of them called their little group the ‘Jalgeum Quartet’.

8.Moon Embracing the Sun (2012)

Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010) is not the only Jung Eun-gwol’s novel that materialised into a television series.

Her 2005 novel The Moon that Embraces the Sun is adapted into drama in 2012.

It is a love story between a king during Joseon Dynasty and a female shaman.

In the same time, it shows the power struggles and conflicts that take place in the royal court.

The highly-rated drama stars Kim Soo-hyun, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo and Kim Min-seo.

Special mention
Lovers of the Red Sky (2021)

Korean novels

Proving that she is the queen of Korean historical romance novels, Lovers of the Red Sky (2021) is Jung Eun-gwol’s third book to be adapted into a television drama.

With a dose of fantasy, the story sets during the Dan dynasty when Ghost, Demons and God are heavily involved in human lives.

This ongoing drama follows the story of a genius female painter who was born blind due to the curse of the Demon King.

However, she miraculously can see, thanks to God’s blessing.

Meanwhile, Ha-ram is a red-eyed man who lost his sight as child. Despite being blind, he can still read the future by tracing the movement of the sky at night.

It stars Kim Yoo-jung, Ahn Hyo-seop, Gong Myung and Kwak Si-yang.

Watch the trailer here.

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KajoPicks: 8 Korean sci-fi dramas you need to watch

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The genre that has been gaining momentum in Korean television industry in recent years is none other than scientific fiction or sci-fi.

With bigger budgets as well as huge support from giant companies such as Netflix, advanced computer-generated imagery is no longer only be found in Hollywood.

These Korean sci-fi television series proved that everything is possible in TV production as long as fans are continuing to watch and money is continuing to be pumped in.

Here are eight South Korean sci-fi dramas you cannot miss out:

1.Circle: Two Worlds Connected (2017)

While sci-fi is already a rare genre in Korean dramas, this K-drama is even rare since it is a dystopian fiction story.

Circle: Two Worlds Connected (2017) is a Korean sci-fi television series starring Yeo Jin-goo, Kim Kang-woo, Gong Seung-yeon and Lee Gi-kwang.

It follows the story of two parallel plots set in the years 2017 and 2037.

The drama begins in 2007 when two fraternal twin brothers Kim Woo-jin and Kim Bum-gyun along with their neuroscientist father Dr Kim Kyu-chul (Kim Joong-ki) witness the arrival of a humanoid alien (Gong Seung-yeon).

The family brings the alien to live with them and the twins become attached to her, calling her ‘Byul’.

In the meantime, Dr Kim is secretly working on Byul, calling it the Beta Project.

One day, Dr Kim and Byul go missing, Bum-gyun believes Byul has taken their father captive while Woo-jin thinks their father has abandoned them.

In 2017, Woo-jin (Yeo Jin-goo) is a college student studying in neuroscience.

When a series of suicides takes place in his campus, Woo-jin believes it somehow linked to his twin Bum-gyun (An Woo-yeon).

As he investigates the case, Woo-jin comes across Han Jung-yeon who looks exactly like Byul.

Jung-yeon, who is a computer science student, is also investigating the multiple suicides.

In 2037, South Korea is now divided into Normal Earth and Smart Earth.

Normal Earth is where crimes are rampant and heavily polluted while Smart Earth is where the city is clean and free of crimes.

A crime detective in Normal Earth Kim Joon-hyuk (Kim Kang-woo) is investigating a pair of twin brothers who went missing in 2017.

Watch the trailer here.

2.My Holo Love (2020)

Go Nan-do (Yoon Hyun-min) is a genius inventor and the owner of an IT research company.

However, nobody knows that he is the real owner and all the projects were created by him except for his stepsister and the official CEO.

Meanwhile, Han So-yeon (Ko Sung-hee) is an assistant manager at a glasses company.

Due to her face blindness disorder, she decides to live a reclusive life.

Her lonesome life starts to get exciting when she starts to form a connection with a human-like hologram who looks exactly like his prickly creator Go Nan-do.

As many fiction stories are inspired by real-life events, the scriptwriter Ryu Yong-jae was inspired to write the script after watching the Google DeepMind Challenge Match in 2016.

It was a five-game Go match between 18-time world champion Lee Se-dol and AlphaGo, a computer Go program developed by Google DeepMind played in Seoul, South Korea.

In the historical match, AlphaGo won all but the fourth game.

Watch the trailer here.

3.Memories of the Alhambra (2018)

Speaking of gaining inspiration from real-life events, here is a Korean sci-fi drama that is inspired by Pokemon Go and tech mogul Elon Musk.

Memories of the Alhambra (2018) centers around on a company CEO Yoo Jin-woo (Hyun Bin) who get entangled in a series of mysterious incidents surrounding a new and intricate augmented reality game inspired by the stories of the real-life Alhambra Palace.

Together with Jung Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye) the sister of the creator of the game, the border between the real world and the AR world of the game becomes blur.

Today, it is one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history known gaining praises for its creative plot and its unexpected twists.

Moreover, this Korean sci-fi series is the first drama based on AR gaming.

Read more about Memories of the Alhambra here.

4.Are you Human? (2018)

Laura Oh (Kim Sung-ryung) is a scientist who is one of South Korea’s leading names in robotic and artificial intelligence.

She is also married into one of the richest families and her son Nam Shin (Seo Kang-joon) is expected to inherit the family business.

Things take a different turn when Nam Shin gets into accident and slips into coma.

To secure his position as the heir, Laura sends one of her creations Nam Shin III pose as Nam Shin.

The family also hires former mixed martial arts fighter Kang So-bong (Gong Seung-yeon) as his bodyguard.

So-bong, unknowingly falls in love with the lifelike robot.

Like many Korean sci-fi dramas that circle around artificial intelligence, the series highlights the main question, ‘Can an AI replaces human intelligence?’

Watch the trailer here.

5.Alice (2020)

In 2050, the organisation Alice is formed to send clients back through time to see deceased loved ones to find peace and closure.

In the same time, they also work as police time incursions.

Alice agents Yoon Tae-yi (Kim Hee-sun) and Yoo Min-hyuk (Kwak Si-yang) travelled to the year 1992 Seoul to search for The Book of Prophecy.

It is a book that predicts the fates of certain people and end of time travel.

However, a rogue group called Teacher that manipulates time found young Tae-yi and murdered her father for the book.

Right before he passed away, the father gives the final page to young Tae-yi before her adult counterpart arrived.

Later, Tae-yi find out that she is pregnant with Min-hyuk’s child. Min-hyuk asks her to abort the baby because the radiation caused by time traveling can cause serious defects to the child.

Tae-yi then disappears with her child. Under a new identity as Park Sun-young, she raises her son Park Jin-gyeom (Joo Won) as a single mother.

In 2010, the young Jin-gyeom find his mother murdered and vows to find her killer.

As an adult, he becomes a detective and slowly learns about time travelling, Alice, Teacher and the truth about his mother’s death.

Watch the trailer here.

6.Rugal (2020)

This drama follows the story of Kang Gi-beom (Choi Jin-hyuk).

He is an elite police officer who is trying to bring down one of South Korea’s largest criminal organisations, Argos.

Argos, instead sends a hitman to kill Gi-beom’s wife, blinds him and even frames him for the murder.

Later, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) recruit Gi-beom to join a special task force called Rugal.

This special team consists of members who are equipped with biotechnology which give them superhuman abilities.

Gi-beom for instance, receives two artificial eyeballs to regain and enhance his sight.

Using his new identity, Gi-beom is set to clear his name and gains his revenge.

Watch the trailer here.

7.L.U.C.A The Beginning (2021)

Here is another Korean sci-fi drama circles around biotechnology.

Ji-oh (Kim Rae-won) has a secret. He has extraordinary power and fighting skills but he does not know who he really is and how he got his power.

While looking for answers about his identity, he is chased by mysterious figures.

He later learns about a mysterious group of scientists at an institution named Human Tech.

The group conducts a secretive genetics and biotech project codenamed L.U.C.A.

Ji-oh’s only ally is Ha Neul-ae-goo-reum. She is a police detective who is searching for her missing parents.

Watch the trailer here.

8.Sisyphus: The Myth (2021)

This time travel story centers around a genius engineer Han Tae-sul (Cho Seung-woo) and his saviour from the future Gang Seo-Hae (Park Shin-hye).

Tae-sul is the CEO of Quantum and Time Company. After his older brother dies, he tries to uncover the truth behind his death.

His journey leads him to come across a time-traveler Seo-hae.

Seo-hae, in the mean time is an elite warrior and skillful sharpshooter from the future.

Her mission to travel back to the past is to save Tae-sul and prevent him from inventing the Uploader, a time machine which is capable of sending both human and objects including a nuclear weapon to the past.

Watch the trailer here.

Korean Sci fi drama
Special Mention
The Silent Sea (2021)

Here is an upcoming Korean sci-fi mystery thriller series that you need to watch out for.

It stars Gong Yoo, Bae Doona and Lee Joon.

It is an adaptation from the 2014 short film The Sea of Tranquility.

The story follows a special team sent to secure a mysterious sample from an abandoned research facility called Balhae Base which located on the moon.

Gong Yoo plays the role of Han Yoon-jae, the exploration team leader.

Bae Doona takes up the role of Dr Song Ji-an. She is an astrobiologist who wants to uncover the truth behind the accident that caused Balhae Base to be abandoned.

With only eight episodes, the series will air on Netflix in 2021.

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KajoPicks: 10 South Korean dramas that suffer from Second Lead Syndrome

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Second Lead Syndrome in Korean dramas are real guys.

It is a phrase coined by K-drama fans when the viewers like the second male lead character to end up with the female lead rather than the main male character.

In most cases, the first male character is always being portrayed as cold and very domineering.

Meanwhile, the second lead male character is the one we know who does everything for the girl but in the end will never have her heart.

Here are ten dramas, we believe that are suffering from a serious case of Second Lead Syndrome:

1.Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010)

This historical drama follows the story of Kim Yoon-hee (Park Min Young) who disguises as her brother Kim Yoon-shik to earn money for the family.

It is set time during a period when females are not allowed to earn education or employment.

One day, she is offered a chance to make money by taking an entrance examination to Sungkyunkwan, a Joseon dynasty university.

Since her action is illegal, she gets caught by Lee Sun-joon (Park Yoo-chun).

After acknowledging Yoon-hee’s intelligence, Sun-joon encourages her to enroll in the university.

There, she gets to know her schoolmate including Gu Yong-ha (Song Joong-ki), Moon Jae-shin (Yoo Ah-in) and Ha In-soo (Jun Tae-soo).

Even though she is surrounded by these men, her heart still sets itself upon Sun-joon.

However, viewers are rooting for Yoon-hee to choose Jae-shin.

Unlike Sun-joon who is cold and arrogant, Jae-shin is Yoon-hee’s silent protector who hides his gentle heart behinds his gruffness and constant mood swings.

2.You’re Beautiful (2009)

The series You’re Beautiful (2009) in a lot of ways are similar to Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010).

We have a female lead character who disguises as a boy, a cold, arrogant male lead character and lastly a warm-hearted, protective second male lead.

Ko Mi-nyeo (Park Shin-hye) wants to be a nun while her twin brother Ko Mi-nam wants to be a singer.

One day, Mi-nam must leave for the US to correct his botched plastic surgery.

Hence, Mi-nam’s manager Ma Hoon-yi (Kim In-kwon) approaches Mi-nyeo and asks her to disguise as Mi-nam for a month.

After much consideration, Mi-nyeo agrees and joins the band A.N.Jell whihc include Hwang Tae-kyung (Jang Keun-suk, Kang Shin-woo (Jung Yong-hwa) and Jeremy (Lee Hong-gi).

Shin-woo is the first to discover Mi-nyeo is actually a girl but he does not reveal it to anyone, including Mi-nyeo.

In fact, he continues to care for her while secretly protecting her.

Honestly, a normal woman would definitely go for Shin-woo instead Tae-kyung after watching this drama.

3.She Was Pretty (2015)

This drama will remind you of Selena Gomez’s song ‘The Heart Wants What it Wants’.

Kim Hye-jin (Hwang Jung-eum) has been in love with her childhood friend Ji Sung-joon (Park Seo-jeon) since they were children.

When they reunite as adults, Sung-joon does not recognise her and treats her coldly.

In the meantime, Hye-jin’s colleague/senior feature editor Kim Shin-hyuk (Choi Si-won) is the opposite of Sung-joon.

He helps Hye-jin in her work and likes the way her unique way of dressing up.

Sung-joon on the other hand, only starts to pay attention toward Hye-jin after she had a make-over and treats her differently after knowing she is her childhood friend.

Despite having a serious case of Second Lead Syndrome, the series was both a hit domestically and internationally especially in China.

Watch the trailer here.

4.Boys over Flower (2009)

First of all, why would you go for a guy who bullies you publicly in school? It is just wrong on so many levels.

Geum Jan-di (Ku Hye-sun) is the daughter of dry cleaner who is studying at the prestigious Shinhwa High School on a scholarship.

Unfortunately, she gets on the bad side of Gu Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho) who is the richest kid in school known for his hot-temper.

Unlike others, Jan-di has the courage to fight back against Jun-pyo.

Even though Jun-pyo torments her at first, he eventually falls for her.

While Jun-pyo is busy tormenting Jan-di, the one who treats Jan-di well is Yoon Ji-hu (Kim Hyun-joong).

He is calm and gentle which is the opposite of Jun-pyo’s volatile and hot-tempered behaviour.

5.School 2015: Who Are You (2015)

Go Eun-byul and Lee Eun-bi (both played by Kim So-hyun) are identical twins who are separated when they were children.

Eun-bi lives in an orphanage while her twin is adopted and studying in a private school.

Due to intense bullying at school, Eun-bi decides to commit suicide but she is saved at the last moment by Eun-byul.

After the incident, Eun-bi loses her memory. Eun-byul goes missing while her adoptive mother takes Eun-bi in thinking she is Eun-byul.

When she is living as Eun-byul, Eun-bi gets to know Han Yi-an (Nam Joo-hyuk) Gong Tae-kwang (Yook Sung-jae).

Yi-an is the star swimmer while Tae-kwang is the troublemaker in school.

Behind his naughtiness, Tae-kwang is caring and thoughtful especially toward Eun-bi.

Throughout the series, Eun-bi seems to spend more times with Tae-kwang more than Yi-an making you wonder who is the main male character actually.

Watch the trailer here.

6.Love in the Moonlight (2016)

Based on the novel Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, this coming-of-age story is set during 19th century Joseon Dynasty.

It follows the story of Lee Yeong (Park Bo-gum), the only son of the king and heir to the throne.

He has a eunuch named Hong Sam-nom (Kim Yoo-jung) who is in fact a girl named Hong Ra-on.

Ra-on has to disguise herself as a male to make a living.

Meanwhile, Kim Yoon-sung (Jinyoung) is Lee Yeong’s childhood friend and a charismatic scholar.

Your heart cannot help but be softened watching Yoon-sung continue to love Ra-on from a distance throughout the story.

Watch the trailer here.

7.True Beauty (2020)

Second Lead Syndrome

This high school drama gives viewers major heartache thanks to its Second Lead Syndrome.

It centers around Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young), a girl who is constantly being bullied by her peers due to her appearance.

After learning how to use makeup, she transforms herself and becomes the ‘goddess’ in her new school.

However, her natural face is discovered by the school popular kid Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo).

He couldn’t care less about how Ju-kyung looks with or without makeup.

Just like Su-ho, Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp) never shunned Ju-kyung regardless of her look.

Yes, Ju-kyung is in love with Su-ho from the beginning.

However, our hearts are stirred looking how much Seo-jun cares for Ju-kyung while being friend-zoned especially when Su-ho is not there for her.

Watch the trailer here.

8.Reply 1988 (2015)

Kim Jung-hwan (Ryu Jun-yeol) has been harbouring feelings for his childhood friend Sung Deok-seon (Lee Hye-ri) since they were kids.

He is reluctant to admit his feelings to Deok-sun. When he finds out that his best friend Choi Taek (Park Bo-gum), Jung-hwan takes a step back for the two.

The drama sets in the year 1988, revolving around five friends and their families living in the same neighbourhood of Ssangmun-dong, Dobong District, Northern Seoul.

However, the plot focuses mainly on the love in the families rather than the romance between the characters.

Watch the trailer here.

9.Cheese in The Trap (2016)

When the male lead character is problematic from the beginning of the story, the drama naturally will fall into Second Lead Syndrome.

The story follows Yoo Jung (Park Hae-jin), a handsome, intelligent and heir to a conglomerate company the Taerang Group.

Most people see him as this nice guy who is kind toward everyone. Little that they know, he is manipulative with tendency of destroying those who irritate him.

Hong Seol (Kim Go-eun) sees this dark side of Yoo Jung and her life starts to become miserable up to the point that she decides to take a break from school.

When she returns, Yoo Jung unexpectedly nice to her and even asks her on a date.

Even though she is confused with Yoo Jung, Hong Seol agrees and the two start an awkward relationship.

Then, Baek In-ho (Seo Kang-joon) comes into the picture and falls for Hong Seol too. He is Jung’s former childhood friend.

Unlike Yoo Jung’s manipulative and fake character, In-ho is sincere and earnest man who deserved Hong Seol’s attention.

Watch the trailer here.

10.Start-Up (2020)

Perhaps one of the most severe cases of Second Lead Syndrome is this drama Start-Up (2020).

It revolves around a woman who dreams to become South Korea’s Steve Jobs and her love triangle between a man who is secretly her first love and another man who is pretending to be her first love.

Seo Dal-mi (Bae Suzy) takes various part-time jobs while building her dream to become an IT entrepreneur.

Meanwhile, Nam Do-san (Nam Joo-hyuk) is a math genius who founded the Samsan Tech.

Dal-mi mistakes Do-san for her first love from her childhood who used to write her love letters.

In reality, the one who wrote the letters all this while was Han Ji-pyeong (Kim Seon-ho).

While writing all those letters, Ji-pyeong slowly falls for Dal-mi and even forming sweet relationship with Dal-mi’s grandmother.

Although viewers know who Dal-mi would choose in the end, it doesn’t mean this love triangle story is less painful to watch.

Watch the trailer here.

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5 reasons to watch C-drama Falling into Your Smile (2021)

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One of the hottest Chinese dramas in 2021 is none other than romance esports series Falling into Your Smile (2021).

Directed by Qiu Zhong Wei and produced by Kelsey Yang, the story is based on Qing Mei’s webnovel “You’re Beautiful When You Smile”.

The series follows the story of Tong Yao (Cheng Xiao) who is scouted to be part of an esports team called ZGDX.

When she finally agrees to join the group and be a professional gamer, Tong Yao officially becomes the first female esport athlete in China.

Her new teammates include the leader Lu Si Cheng (Xu Kai), Xiao Pang (Sun Kai), Lao K (Gao Han) and Lao Mao (Kevin Xiao).

WeTV reported that Falling into Your Smile is the most watched Chinese drama in the month of July 2021 on its platform, beating out other on-air Chinese and Korean dramas.

So what is the buzz all about?

Falling into Your Smile 3

Here at KajoMag, we have watched all 31 episodes of the series so here are five reasons you should watch Chinese drama Falling into Your Smile (2021):

1.The buildup of the story and main characters

The plot builds around the journey of ZGDX playing through China’s Onmyoji Arena Pro League or OPL.

Like any other sports teams, ZGDX has ups and downs throughout the series.

Moreover like any other sports, they win and lose their matches in the story.

The storyline progresses steadily, focusing more on Tong Yao becoming a professional gamer, the teamwork of ZGDX as well as Tong Yao and Lu Si Cheng’s romantic relationship.

Tong Yao who is used to playing video games as a pastime has to learn how to play it professionally.

She also has to learn to deal with her new status as a ‘celebrity’ whose every move is being watched and posted online.

Other than that, we can see how ZGDX grows as a team and work out their differences whenever conflicts arise.

2.The chemistry among the characters

Speaking of ZGDX, their chemistry in the drama is undeniably good.

The team members Lu Si Cheng , Xiao Pang, Lao K and Lao Mao as well as their coach Yu Ming (Yalkun Merxat) and manager Xiao Rui (Cui Shao Yang) are like older brothers to Tong Yao.

Lao K, being portrayed as the metrosexual guy in the group, notices the little things happening around them.

In the meantime, Lao Mao is the fitness fanatic who is clueless of his surroundings.

Xiao Pang is like a human version of a teddy bear who always sticks by Tong Yao’s side.

The only one who always bickers with Tong Yao is Lu Yue (Yao Chi) but in more like sibling’s rivalry kind of bickering.

Last but not least is Chen Jin Yang (Rachel Wang), Tong Yao’s best friend.

Their friendship is just how you imagine it would be between two young women.

They spend time together, care for each other, are protective over one another and talk about work, love, men and even sex.

3.Healthy romantic relationship between the two main characters

Of course, the most interesting relationship to watch in the series is between Lu Si Cheng and Tong Yao.

Honestly, healthy romantic relationships are hard to find in C-dramas as well as K-dramas.

A cliched plot usually consists of an intelligent, handsome, cold and borderline God-like male lead falling in love with the damsel in distress.

Throw in insecurities, misunderstandings and some love rivals on either (or both) sides, and there you have it; a typical background love story in C-dramas and K-dramas. Sometimes, you don’t even know why the two main characters fall in love with each other in the first place.

Thankfully even from the beginning of Falling into your Smile, Lu Si Cheng and Tong Yao have something that you can rarely find in most fictional couples on TV, and that thing is growth.

First, they begin to trust each other as teammates and then slowly become friends.

From there, they start to show interest in each other with the little things they do for each other and some innocent flirting being thrown back and forth.

When they are finally sure about their feelings, they decide to pursue a romantic relationship together.

Even when they are dating, Lu and Tong are helping each other to be better people and esports athletes.

They do have issues… because which relationship doesn’t have problems, right?

However, they deal with it using very less dramatic way for a fictional couple, which is by communicating.

Don’t expect over-dramatic scenes like someone left crying in the rain after a fight or a love rival coming out of the blue to sway their feelings.

However, there is one thing that is very cliche and cringing to watch when comes to Lu and Tong’s relationship in the series; the slow-mo scenes of Lu catching Tong every time she falls and then them gazing into each others’ eyes.

These scenes are just unnecessary.

4.It addresses the social issues around esports industry

Most of the social issues addressed in Falling into Your Smile are about the esports industry.

With Tong Yao being the only female pro-gamer in the fictional story, it naturally highlights the sexism in the esports industry.

While her teammates are unfazed by her gender, the world seems to be more interested with the fact that she is a girl who plays video games.

Since the esports industry is relatively new, the series focuses on society’s general perception on professional gaming.

The general population deso not see gamers as a profession and there is no future in playing video games.

In the series, the parents of these professional gamers all have different reactions to their children’s choice of work.

Some are supportive while some even disowned their sons.

Their reactions portray the different opinions of society in professional gaming.

Apart from esports, the drama also highlights other social problems that are not just happening in China.

These issues include cyber-bullying, irresponsible journalism, obsessive fans and invasion of privacy for public figures.

Today, athletes are treated like celebrities whose private lives are being reported in the news.

Gone are the days when athletes’ names only appeared in the sports news section.

5.Thrilling fighting animation scenes

If you are not familiar with the game Onmyoji Arena, you might find all the talking about the game strategy and the animation scenes in the series are confusing.

You might even think ‘What on earth are these people talking about?’ or ‘What the hell is going on?’ or ‘Who is who again?’

Once you get familiar with the nature of the game and the game’s characters, the fighting scenes are very entertaining.

The fighting matches in the series are depicted through animation so it is like watching an anime in the same time.

Every fight is not the same as these players used various characters and strategies in different matches.

Moreover, the background music in the fighting scenes makes it more thrilling to watch.

Falling into Your Smile 2

So is Falling into Your Smile (2021) really worth watching?

Falling into Your Smile is Xu Kai’s first ‘modern’ role in a television series.

His previous roles are all in historical or periodic dramas such as Story of Yanxi Palace (2018), The Legends (2019) and Dance of the Sky Empire (2020).

Meanwhile, K-pop fans might recognise Cheng Xiao as one of the members of girl group WJSN.

Although she has been active as a K-pop idol since 2015, Cheng only made her first debut as an actress last year in the drama Detective Chinatown.

Speaking of K-pop, one of the drama soundtracks ‘Warrior’ is by Korean group SEVENTEEN.

Other artists who contributed to the impressive line of soundtracks are WayV, Angela Chang, Chen Zhuoxuan and even the two lead actors Xu Kai and Cheng Xiao.

Overall, Falling into Your Smile is story about a group of young adults who share the same dream and goal.

It is a still a romantic comedy so you will find yourself chuckling every now and then.

While international fans might enjoying the drama including Cheng’s performance as Tong Yao in the series, the esports community in China was not entirely thrilled.

Global Times reported that esports players in China were accusing her of being ‘unprofessional’ and ‘ruining the spirit of esports’.

This series of criticism led into an online uproar between esporting groups and Cheng’s fans.

The drama’s production company had to publish a statement urging the fans to “watch these episodes rationally, pass fair judgement and do not insult or target any actors.”

Perhaps Cheng’s performance was so good in Falling into Your Smile that some viewers could not differentiate between fiction and reality?

You have to watch the drama yourself to find out.

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KajoPicks: 5 South Korean dark comedy dramas to watch

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Also known as black comedy, dark humour, morbid humour, a dark comedy is a style of comedy that makes light of serious subjects.

Unlike other genre such as romance and thriller, South Korean dark comedy dramas are quite rare.

But it doesn’t mean that they are not unpopular.

The common themes in Korean dark comedy series are crime, wealth, power, poverty, violence and death.

Regardless of the storyline, they all have one thing in common.

They managed to provoke discomfort but serious thought among their audience particularly in South Korean society.

Here are five KajoMag’s suggestions of South Korea dark comedy to watch:

1.Sky Castle (2018)

Korean dark comedy

This South Korean dark comedy drama is the second highest rated drama in Korean cable television history.

The mothers in Sky Castle (2018) are the worst kind of helicopter mums in televisions.

They are housewives residing in a luxurious residential area called SKY Castle.

However, they are not like your ordinary housewives.

These women are using every possible mean to make sure their husbands becomes more successful and their children to be the best students going into South Korea’s Ivy League.

Overall, it casts light on South Korea’s extremely competitive education system.

In a way, the series also pokes fun at parents’ obsession over their children’s education.

From making sure they have the perfect results to ensuring their paths at the best universities, the parents in Sky Castle are just relentless in this story.

For example, the overzealous mother Han Seo-jin (Yum Jung-ah) under the suggestion of her daughter’s tutor, purchases a desk similar the one in school and set her daughter’s room in the precise temperature so it ‘recreates the examination atmosphere’ at home.

Thanks to the similar issues of competitive education system and the glory of entering a prestigious university, the drama also gained a lot of attention in China.

The series stars Yun Jung-ah, Lee Tae-ran, Yoon Se-ah, Oh Na-ra and Kim Seo-hyung.

Watch the trailer here.

2.Prison Playbook (2017)

Just like Sky Castle, this series was also one of the highest rated Korean series on cable television history.

It tackles social issues such as male friendship, toxic masculinity as well as the lives around correctional facilities.

The plot starts with Kim Je-hyuk (Park Hae-soo), a star baseball player who is going to sign with a major league team in the US.

Unfortunately, his life turns upside down when he saves his sister from a sexual attack and assaulting the attacker in the process.

The incident lands Je-hyuk with a one-year prison sentence and that is when his life behind bars begins.

What makes the drama so hard to let go from the first episode is the background story of each character in the series.

The prison guard for instance is Je-hyuk’s best friend who used to play baseball with him in high school.

He had to quit the sport due to an injury he sustained in a car accident.

Every character is well put together and portrayed perfectly by the talented casts.

They managed to show the viewers that these convicts in a correctional facility have more stories to tell than what being reported on the news.

3.Heard it Through Grapevine (2015)

Here is another South Korean dark comedy series that makes fun of the ultra-rich or the chaebols in the country.

Han Jeong-ho (Yoo Jun-sang) comes from a prestigious and wealthy family who known to produce successful lawyers.

Meanwhile, her wife Choi Yeon-hee (Yoo Ho-jeong) is perfect looking without a single hair strand out of place socialite life.

Their family life turns upside down when their teenage son Han In-sang (Lee Joon) impregnates a girl.

For the wealthy couple, it is a double-blow because the girl is considered a ‘nobody’ who comes from an ordinary family living in a neighbourhood.

Unlike other Korean dramas, this series focuses on more realistic situation when a rich boy falls for a poor girl.

4.Psychopath Diary (2019)

Can a person’s character change completely after suffering a memory loss?

Yook Dong-sik (Yoon Shi-yoon) has a timid character who cannot even express anger toward those who look down upon him.

This causes him to be depressed and suffers suicidal thoughts.

After failing a suicide attempt, Dong-sik accidentally witnesses an ongoing murder.

He also unintentionally picks up a diary belonging to the murderer… who also happens to be a serial killer.

The killer has actually detailed all his crimes in the diary.

While Dong-sik runs away with the diary, he is accidentally hit by a police patrol car which causes him to suffer retrograde amnesia.

After waking up with the diary in his possession, Dong-sik believes that he himself is a psychopathic serial killer.

In the meantime, the real serial killer is feeling anxious.

Watch the trailer here.

5.Vincenzo (2021)

Korean product placements

Another Korean dark comedy drama that made it into one of the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable television history is Vincenzo (2021) starring Song Joong-ki.

It follows the story of Park Joo-hyung (Song Joong-ki) who was adopted by an Italian family and lived in Italy at the age of eight.

He is then adopted by Don Fabio, the head of the Cassano mafia family.

Under his new name ‘Vincenzo Cassano’, he becomes the mafia’s Iawyer and Don Fabio’s right-hand man.

After Fabio dies, his biological son Paolo becomes the new head of the Cassano family and tries to get rid of Vincenzo.

Vincenzo then runs for his life to Seoul and to recover 1.5 tonnes of gold that he helped to secretly stash in the basement of Geumga Plaza.

Here comes another problem; the Babel Group has illegally taken ownership of the building and Vincenzo has no access into it.

The drama plays around corruption and murders particularly in the real estate world.

Besides Song Joong-ki, the casts include Jeon Yeo-been, Ok Taec-yeon, Kim Yeo-jin and Kwak Dong-yeon.

Watch the trailer here.

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KajoPicks: 6 Chinese esports dramas you need to watch

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Do you know that in China more than half a billion people play video games? This explains why the obsession over esports even transcends to the fictional world of dramas.

If you are into video games and drama series, here are six Chinese esports dramas you need to watch:

1.Go Go Squid! (2019)

Based on the novel ‘Stewed Squid with Honey’ by Mo Bao Fei Bao, Go Go Squid (2019) is a romantic comedy drama circles around an esports celebrity player.

20 years ago, nobody would believe that one could earn fame and fortune from playing video games.

Han Shangyan (Li Xian) is a legend in the world of esports but he is lacking in his people skills.

Meanwhile, Tong Nian (Yang Zi) is a brilliant IT programming student with a large social media following thanks to her covers of Japanese songs.

When Shangyan walks into her life, Tong Nian falls for him head over heels.

But can she attract the attention of the Shangyan who is famously known for his cold personality?

Putting aside the romance, the drama focuses on what it takes to prepare for a world-class esports competition.

Watch the drama Go Go Squid (2019) on Youtube here.

2.Love O2O (2016)

Basically, this drama is a romance story between the most popular boy and the most beautiful girl on campus.

In this story, the most popular boy Xiao Nai (Yang Yang) is the CEO of gaming company Zhi Yi Technology.

He meets computer science major Bei Weiwei (Zheng Shuang) through online game A Chinese Ghost Story.

They form an in-game ‘marriage’ with Bei Weiwei not knowing the real identity of her online husband.

Apart from the romance plot going on between Weiwei and Xiao Nai, the drama also focuses on all the hard work goes behind developing a game.

For examples are the details of NPC (Non-player Character) in a video game and the programming work to make the game to load smoother and faster.

Based on the novel of ‘Just One Smile is Very Alluring’ written by Gu Man, the drama is one of the most watched Chinese modern dramas.

The game featured in this drama is ‘A Chinese Ghost Story’. It is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) famous in China.

Watch the drama Love 020 here on Youtube.

3.The King’s Avatar (2019)

Here is another Chinese esports drama starring Yang Yang as the main character.

This time he plays the role of professional gamer Ye Xiu.

He is kicked out from his own team and becomes a manager of an Internet cafe.

After awhile, Ye Xiu slowly works his way up again to regain his spot as the number one gamer.
The plot circles around the conflicts and incidents happening within professional gamer teams.

This is quite close to reality as even here in Malaysia, we have seen numerous times professional gamer teams breaking up and moving on to new groups.

It is based on the web novel of the same name by Hu Dielan.

The game featured in the King’s Avatar is a MMORPG called Glory.

Watch the trailer here.

4.Gank My Heart (2019)

Today, there is a rising number of internet broadcasters who specialised in esports commentary.

Just like the traditional sports commentator, these broadcasters would live-stream an online game, watching them while commenting about the move.

In Gank Your Heart (2019), Qiu Ying (Wang Zi Xuan) is the noob internet broadcaster who aims to be a professional e-sports commentator.

She falls for Ji Xiangkong (Wang Yibo), a professional gamer whose nicknames are ‘Battle Swindler’ and ‘Hand Remnant’.

It is based on the novel Dian Jing Lian Ren by Nanye Lin’er.

While most Chinese esports dramas are based on real-life games, Gank My Heart (2019) centers around iConquer, a fictional multi-player fantasy game similar to World of Warcraft.

Watch the first episode of Gank Your Heart (2019) here.

5.Cross Fire (2020)

This Chinese esports drama shows how much the gaming industry changed in less than fifteen years.

In 2008 when the money is little to earn while playing game, Xiao Feng (Lu Han) is an e-sports team leader who barely keeping his team together.

Meanwhile in 2019, Lu Xiao Bei (Leo Wu) is a wheelchair-bound gamer who’s trying to make it as a professional.

Something happens and the two gamers from two different times finding themselves playing in the same game.

They find friendship in each other and continuously growing together in the gaming world.

As you can tell by the title of this drama, the series circles around the video game CrossFire.

6.Falling into Your Smile (2021)

Chinese esports dramas

When professional gamers are treated like internet celebrities, it bound to have gossip columns and obsessed fans following these gamers around.

In the drama Falling into Your Smile (2021), the all-male ZGDX OPL team has a large following of die-hard fans.

All eyes are watching the team when one of their star players suffers from a hand injury and they need of a replacement.

What they do not expect is that the replacement is a girl named Tong Yao (Cheng Xiao).

With this, she becomes China’s first female profession esports athlete.

In a male-predominated industry, the Chinese esports drama highlights the scepticism and prejudice suffered by female players as well as fans.

One of our favourite quotes in this drama is, “If a woman can be your mother, why can’t a woman be an esports professional gamer?”

Overall, the storyline does a great job in portraying the struggles faced by these athletes for choosing this unconventional profession.

If you are a fan of the game Onmyoji Arena, this is definitely a must watched drama.

Watch the drama Falling into Your Smile (2021) here.

Special mention

You are My Glory (2021)

Besides Love 020 (2016), Chinese novelist Gu Man wrote You Are My Glory which inspired another Chinese esports drama of the same name.

Again, she collaborated with Yang Yang as her main lead actor who plays the role of an aerospace engineer/expert gamer named Yu Tu.

In this currently ongoing drama, celebrity Qiao Jing Jing (Dilraba Dilmurat) is about to lose her endorsement for an online game.

Someone leaks a video of her sucking at playing an online game, which is the complete opposite of her public image.

In order to prove herself and not lose the endorsement, Jing Jing’s agent suggests that she join a gaming competition.

While trying to improve her gaming skill, Jing Jing encounters her old classmate Yu Tu and eventually asking him to become her gaming couch.

Unlike other Chinese esports dramas which circle around role-playing video game on PC, this drama centers around mobile gaming.

Chinese esports dramas 1

Watch the trailer here.

Do you have any favourite Chinese esports dramas? Let us know in the comment box.

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