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5 South Korean thriller series to watch on Disney+ Hotstar so far in 2024

Would money be enough for you to take a life? What if the guardian assigned to care for you as a child isn’t who you thought he was? How far would you go to maintain an undercover persona?

Whether it’s tumultuous family secrets, strangers out for blood, or someone you simply can’t trust, we’ve curated a list of must-watch South Korean thriller series on Disney+ Hotstar. Are you ready for the ride?

1.No Way Out: The Roulette (2024)

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If you could put a price on a life, how much would it be?

According to one mysterious citizen, Kim Gukho’s life is worth $14 million.

After spending 13 years in prison for a number of unspeakable crimes earning him the title of South Korea’s most hated man, Gukho thinks he can go back to his everyday life without a hitch – until he realises there’s a bounty on his head.

Like moths to a flame, the $14 million bounty immediately attracts desperate citizens.

With no choice but to trust his police protection team, Gukho is forced to put his life in the hands of the very system that put him behind bars.

So, how much money would it take for you to collect a bounty? Find out in No Way Out: The Roulette when it premieres on July 31.

2.The Tyrant (2024)

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The games have begun, and it’s going to be a wild ride.

When a group of scientists within the South Korean government go rogue and create a virus that can awaken superhuman abilities, it comes as no surprise that there would be outside forces dying to get ahold of it – one force in particular being the United States government.

A secret handover between two of the most powerful nations in the world goes awry when the virus dubbed Tyrant is stolen from underneath their noses.

Infuriated at his life’s work being taken, the lead scientist hires a group of mercenaries to get the Tyrant back.

A band of morally corrupt men, a bounty on their heads, and a super-serum on the run… what could possibly go wrong? Find out when this Korean thriller series premieres exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar on August 14th.

3.Red Swan (2024)

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Good aim, ace! Oh Wansoo, a top golfer born into an impoverished family, dreamt of one thing all her life: success. After building her career from the ground up, it was inevitable that she caught the eye of one of the most powerful men in South Korea; Kim Yongkook, heir of Hwain Group. Their marriage was picture-perfect… until Yongkook’s infidelity.

Desperate to maintain their public image, Wansoo strives to put their marriage back together, fulfilling her duties as a diligent and caring wife—after all, she’s fought hard for her success. However, everything comes to a head on the biggest night of Wansoo’s life.

Caught in a rain of gunfire, Wansoo escapes harm thanks to Seo Doyoon, a mysterious bodyguard who appears out of nowhere, setting off a trajectory of events that threatens her lifelong facade of perfection.

Wansoo finds herself drawn closer to Doyoon, unable to resist falling for her protector.

And just as before, their romance seems perfect. Well, at least until Doyoon’s real motives for joining Wansoo’s protection detail are revealed.

4.A Shop for Killers (2024)

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Jeong Jian’s uncle, Jeong Jinman, was a mystery to her for most of her life.

All she knew about him was that he was a simple man – albeit oddly educated in the field of martial arts – who sold garden hoses, lived a solitary life, and would always show up in her times of need.

To Jian, that was enough, until she received news of Jinman’s sudden passing and everything she thought she knew about her beloved uncle was flipped on its head.

Jian suddenly finds herself in the crossfire of a deadly gun war with men hunting her down in return for a massive bounty.

Stuck in Jinman’s suspiciously armed house with nothing but her wits and a school friend who has his own hidden agenda, Jian must put everything her uncle taught her to the test.

With three award nominations (Best Supporting Actor, Seo Hyunwoo; Best Supporting Actress, Geum Hannah; Best New Actress, Kim Hyejun) at the 3rd Blue Dragon Series awards, this Korean thriller series is a gripping series that you wouldn’t want to miss.

5.The Worst of Evil (2023)

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How do you know when you’ve made a deal with the devil?

For Park Junmo, it was the moment he agreed to go undercover and infiltrate an underground crime syndicate in exchange for a two-rank promotion.

Notorious for chasing his marks till the bitter end, the ever-determined Junmo soon finds himself face-to-face with Gangnam gang boss Jung Gicheul, the root of all underworld crimes.

This Korean thriller series follows Junmo’s descent into his undercover identity, where the lines between his real self and false identity eventually start to blur.

Junmo soon realises that when working for Gicheul, there are no options, and there are no exits.

As Junmo is tasked with more and more heinous crimes, he begins to realise that there may not be a way out as he sinks further and further into his persona.

If you were in Junmo’s shoes, would you know where the real you ends and the mask begins?

Excited yet? Prepare yourself for some exciting thrills by watching all these Korean thriller series, streaming exclusively on Disney+ Hotstar.

Do not forget to check out these 10 Korean thriller series you should watch from OCN.

KajoPicks: 8 South Korean dramas to watch for some countryside romance

Forget about Hallmark, here are eight South Korean dramas to watch for some countryside romance:

1.When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

This drama is a ‘noona’ countryside romance mixed with some murder mystery.

When the Camellia Blooms (2019) follows the story of a single mother Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin) who runs a bar called “Camellia” in the fictional town of Ongsan.

She has a 8-year-old son Kang Pil-gu (Kim Kang-hoon). Dong-baek unfortunately always becomes the subject of the town’s gossip just because she is beautiful, runs a bar and a single mother.

The gossip worsens when a younger police officer Hwang Yong-sik (Kang Ha-neul) openly pursues her.

On top of that, the sudden appearance of Dong-baek’s ex-boyfriend and Pil-gu’s biological father Kang Jong-ryul (Kim Ji-seok) adds more whispers among the neighbours.

In the drama, Ongsan has all the essence of rural social life with aunties gossiping about everything under the sun.

Regardless, these are the same aunties who usually the first people offer helps during hard times.

For Dong-baek, the hard time comes when a serial killer sets her as the next target.

The series was filmed mostly in Guryongpo Beach, an area that was used as a fishing village during Japanese colonial times and to this day remains a fishing town.

2.When the Weather is Fine (2020)

Korean drama about books

The male character in this drama is living my retirement dream.

Im Eun-seob (Seo Kang-joon) is the owner of a bookshop named “Goodnight Bookstore”.

Every day he wakes up, drink coffee, read a book and write on his blog.

His seemingly mundane life is interrupted when his former classmate and neighbour moves back to town.

Cellist Mok Hae-won (Park Min-young) quits her job in Seoul and goes back to Bookhyun Village.

It was where she briefly lived when she was in high school.

The drama is based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Lee Do-woo.

If you are into a slow-paced type of storyline that set against white winter background, this is the drama for you.

3.Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021)

This series is a remake of 2004 romantic comedy Mr Handy, Mr Hong.

It follows the story of Yoon Hye-jin (Shin Min-a) who moves to the seaside village of Gongjin from Seoul after her career as a dentist suffers a setback.

She then decides to establish her own dental clinic in Gongjin.

There, she comes across a peculiar man with an unclear background Hong Du-sik (Kim Seon-ho). The villagers nicknamed him Chief Hong as he always there to help the town folks.

Hye-jin and Du-sik’s countryside romance is a classic tale of enemies to lovers as both of them always bicker in the beginning of the series.

The drama was one of the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable television history and one of Netflix’s most-watched non-English television shows.

4.Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (2020)

While the female lead in the previous drama is a cellist, the protagonist in Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol (2020) is a pianist who retreats to the countryside for a fresh start.

Goo Ra-ra (Go Ara)’s life suddenly turns from riches to rags when her family business goes bankrupt.

While trying to rebuild her life in the rural area, she comes across Joon Sun-woo (Lee Jae-wook).

Despite their unexpected meeting, Sun-woo is generous and helpful toward Ra-ra. He even pays for her living cost and builds a small place for a piano lesson so that Ra-ra can get back on her feet.

Is he genuinely want to help Ra-ra or is there an unspoken reason behind his generosity?

5.Eccentric! Chef Moon (2020)

This series follows the story of two people who moved to the countryside for two different reasons.

Moon Seung-mo (Eric Mun) is a famous chef and the only heir to an 80-year old traditional Korean pork soup restaurant.

When tragedy strikes and he loses his parents due to a fire, he decides to move to the quiet Seoha Village.

Meanwhile, Yoo Yoo-jin (Go Won-hee) is a popular fashion designer. After losing her memory from an accident, she makes her move to Seoha Village.

Her memory loss also causes a complete change of personality; from her usual glamorous self to acting like an oddball.

So what happen when these two opposite characters meet in a small, quaint village?

6.Summer Strike (2022)

After her boyfriend dumps her, her mother dies an accident. As she goes through one of her worst periods in her life, Lee Yeo-reum (Seol Hyun) decides to quit her job and moves to a small village.

There, everything is new and strange to her.

She also gets to know one of the residents An Dae-beom (Im Si-wan) who works as a librarian.

Overall, it is a slow paced drama without any much conflicts as it focuses more on human emotions and relationships.

The drama is based on a webtoon of the same title by writer Joo Young-hyun.

7.Like Flower in Sand (2023)

This drama is set against the backdrop of the fictional ssireum city of Geosan. Ssireum or Korean wrestling is a traditional national sport of Korea.

The storyline circles around Kim Baek-doo (Jang Dong-yoon) who is a ssireum player considering to retire from the sport.

When his childhood friend/first love Oh Yoo-kyung (Lee Ju-myoung) becomes the management team leader for his ssireum team, everything takes a different in his life.

Like Flowers in Sand is written by Won Yon-jung and directed by Kim Jin-woo. The cast also includes Yun Jong-seok as Min Hyun-wook, Kim Bo-ra as Joo Mi-ran, Lee Jae-joon as Kwak Jin-soo, and Lee Joo-seung as Jo Seok-he.

8.Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023)

Set on Jeju Island, the plot centers on two childhood friends, Cho Yong-pil (Ji Chang-wook) and Cho Sam-dal (Shin Hye-sun).

Following the tragic loss of his mother due to a mistaken weather forecast, Yong-pil resolves to become a weather forecaster to safeguard his hometown’s elderly residents.

However, his steadfast commitment and intolerance for inaccurate information brand him as a stubborn troublemaker.

Meanwhile, Sam-dal moves to Seoul to pursue her aspiration of becoming a successful fashion photographer under the alias Cho Eun-hye.

However, when her career takes a turn to the downfall, she returns to her hometown where she reunites with Yong-pil.

Despite past conflicts that drove them apart, their bond remains as strong as ever, reaffirming their enduring affection for each other.

The drama is directed by Cha Young-hoon who is known for his work Uncontrollably Fond (2016) and When the Camellia Blooms (2019).

You obviously can see the pattern here in these K-dramas (as well as Hallmark’s Christmas movies) with countryside romance.

When bad thing happen in life, retreat to the rural area. There, you will find a hard time adjusting but it is okay. In the end of the day, you will find your prince charming and you will live happily ever after. The end.

5 reasons why K-drama Moving (2023) is worth all the buzz

When the first episode of Korean drama Moving (2023) was aired on Disney+ in South Korea, it became the biggest premiere ever on the platform based on hours watched in its first week of availability.

Then when it was released globally, it became the most watched series in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan as well as other Southeast Asian countries.

So what is the big deal? It is just about a bunch of teenagers and their parents who have superpowers, American dramas and films have a lot of those…but after watching the first episode, we understand why Variety called the series “the next breakout hit from Asia after Squid Game”.

Here are five reasons why K-drama Moving (2023) is worth all the buzz and why you should watch it:

Moving Korean Drama

1.The star-studded cast and their brilliant performances

Let us talk about the star-studded cast. First, we have Ryu Seung-ryong. Who is he you might ask? Well, he is the first Korean to star in four movies that have drawn over 10 million viewers each.

Some of his works are the famous tear-jerker Miracle in Cell No.7 (which became at the time the third highest grossing Korean film of all time), The Admiral: Roaring Currents (which is currently the highest-grossing film of all time in South Korea) and Extreme Job (which is currently the second highest-grossing film of all time in that country).

Then, we have Zo In-sung, a heartthrob known for his roles in Something Happened in Bali (2004), That Winter, the Wind Blows (2013) and A Frozen Flower (2008).

This drama marks his first official return to the small screen after his 2014 drama It’s Okay, That’s Love (2014).

Also staring in the drama is Zo’s real-life friend Cha Tae-hyun. Most viewers would remember him from My Sassy Girl (2001), Scandal Makers (2008) and Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds (2017).

Other big names on the list of cast include Han Hyo-joo, Ryoo Seung-bum and Kim Sung-kyun.

Some might said 36-year-old Han is too young to play the role of a mother to a teenager but her performance in the drama will shut the critics up.

When adult actors playing the roles of high school students, it is usually too awkward to watch. Just because they look young, it doesn’t mean they can act young.

However, hats off to Go Youn-jung (age 27) and Lee Jung-ha as well as Kim Do-hoon who are both 25 years-old.

Their performances as teenagers are very convincing.

A special shout out to Lee Jung-ha who completely transformed for his role. He is almost unrecognisable as he reportedly gained 30kg as Kim Bong-suk.

2.It is an adaptation of Kang Full’s work

The series is based on the eponymous webtoon by Kang Full.

He is considered as a ‘first generation’ webtoon artist who has been releasing his works since 2002.

Besides Moving, his other webtoons that have been adapted into screens are Hello, Schoolgirl (2008), Pained (2011), The Neighbour (2012) and Timing (2014).

If you are a fan of Kang’s webtoon, this drama is definitely worth watching.

Plus, the script for the screen adaptation is written by Kang himself.

3.Well-paced storytelling

Despite having no formal training in art and writing, Kang has always been known as a great storyteller.

And you cannot help but acknowledge his natural talent of storytelling as you watch Moving.

The series progresses with each episode tells the background stories of different characters.

Combining with many flashback scenes, viewers can slowly put together of what is going on and where is the story going.

Of course, there are plenty of “Aha!”, “Ooo” and “WTH” moments too.

All in all, the plot progresses with a nice pace with enough suspense that viewers cannot wait for the next episode.

4.Phenomenal action scenes

Action scenes are always fun to watch for those who enjoy them but it is more fun if the action include some supernatural powers.

We warn you; some of the scenes might be too gruesome to watch.

Plus, the way the killing scenes are carried out almost remind you of John Wick or Denzel Washington from The Equalizer.

Overall, the action scenes in Moving are quite original and some would make you hold on to your chair tighter.

5.It is romance, family, conspiracy and coming-of-age stories all wrapped in one

All in all, Moving is more than just an action drama filled with supernatural people like American drama Heroes (2006).

It is a story of romance of two couples who go through many hardships just to be together.

In the same time, it is a story about family where parents would sacrifice everything just for the children.

Speaking of the children, they are like any other teenagers trying to figure out themselves and their future who happened to have superpowers.

Behind it all, there is a conspiracy brewing which will push these characters to their limits.

Directed by Park In-je, Moving is available on Disney+.

KajoPicks: 20 C-dramas based on Chinese novels you really should watch

We have made our list of K-dramas based on Korean novels that you need to watch.

So here are our 20 picks of C-dramas based on Chinese novels you really should watch:

1.Love Me if You Dare (2015)

This romantic crime drama is an adaptation from Ding Mo’s novel of the same name published in July 2014.

It stars Wallace Huo, Sandra Ma, Zhang Luyi, Wang Kai and Yin Zheng.

The plot tells the story of Simon or Jin Yan (Huo), a criminal psychologist who survived the notorious serial killer Flower Cannibal.

After his returns from the US, he hires Jian Yio (Ma) as his assistant/translator.

Along with police officer Li Xunran (Wang Kai) and friend Fu Ziyu (Yin Zheng), the group forms a crime-solving team to handle mysterious and violent cases.

However, what they did not know is that the Flower Cannibal is still lurking in the dark trying to finish what he has started on Simon.

Overall, the story development is well-paced and it offers enough tension as well as romance to keep viewers watching.

Thus, it is no surprise that the drama is one of the highest rated television series on Viki.

Here is a little trivia for you; in the first episode where Jian Yao is browsing through the bookshelves while she waits for an interview, you can see the titles of four books namely Battle of Changsha, All Quiet in Peking, Ode to Joy and When a Snail Falls in love. All these Chinese novels have been adapted into dramas.

2.When a Snail Falls in Love (2016)

Beside Love Me if You Dare, novelist Ding Mo also published a highly rated novel entitled When a Snail Falls in Love.

It follows the story of Detective Ji Bai (Wang Kai) who is the team leader of the Violent Crime Unit.

One day, a profiling intern named Xu Xu (Wang Ziwen) is assigned to join Ji Bai’s team.

Ji Bai is having a hard time with Xu Xu on his team. While she is talented in profiling, she lacks in physical ability as well as communication skills.

Xu Xu, on the other hand, turns to drawing comics to express herself better. In her comic, she portrays herself as a snail and Ji as a lion.

Do not be fooled by the title of this drama; the crime and suspense parts are heavier than the romantic plot.

For this reason, we absolutely love this drama.

The series may have aired from Oct 24 till Dec 12, 2016, but by Nov 15, the show had already reached 1 billion views online.

3.Memory Lost (2016)

Here is another C-drama based on one of Ding Mo’s masterpieces. Memory Lost is based on the detective trilogy of the same name by her.

It follows the story of highly intelligent police officer Bai Jingxi (Yang Rong) who works with her partner Han Chen (Bai Yu) to solve many difficult cases.

Despite the fact that they started off from a misunderstanding, the duo manages to work their ways out their differences to focus on their jobs.
The series has three seasons with every season comes with its own twists and turns.

Memory Lost was not only a hit in China but also internationally since it was aired on iQiYi.

Overall, the series is estimated to have garnered a total of 2.3 billion online views.

4.Love O2O (2016)

Based on the novel of the same name written by author Gu Man, this campus romance Chinese drama stars Yang Yang and Zheng Shuang.

It tells the story of Bei Weiwei (Zheng Shuang), a computer science student who aspires to be an online game developer.

To kill time, she engages in an online role-playing game “A Chinese Ghost Story” using the ID Luwei Weiwei.

After being dumped by her online husband Zhenshui Wuxiang, she is ‘proposed’ to by the number one player Yixiao Naihe who suggests that get married so they both can participate in the couples in-game competition.

After playing a few rounds together, the ‘virtual’ newlyweds start to hit it off.

What Weiwei does not know is that her online husband is her college senior who is the popular student jock and academician in campus.

After physically meeting each other for the first time, the duo start a romantic relationship.

The series is one of the most-watched Chinese modern dramas with 25.2 billion views online.

5.The Eternal Love (2017)

Qu Tan’er (Liang Jie) wakes up to find that another person has entered her body named Qu Xiaotan, who has time-traveled from the modern world.

Both girls share a different personality, with Qu Tan’er being gentle and submissive while Qu Xiaotan is wild and uninhibited.

Whenever one of them tells a lie, the other takes over their shared body.

Duty forces Qu Tan’er to marry Mo Liancheng (Xing Zhaolin) thus beginning an unexpected romance between two people thrown together by circumstance.

Things are complicated because Tan-er is in love with Liancheng’s older brother Yi Huai (Wang Rui Chang).

At the same time, Liangcheng is slowly falling in love with the modern girl, Xiaotan.

This transmigration drama is based on the novel ‘Hilarious Pampered Consort: Lord I Will Wait For Your Divorce’ by Fan Que.

6.Princess Agents (2017)

This commercially successful drama is based on the novel 11 Chu Te Gong Huang Fei written by Xiao Xiang Dong Er.

It stars Zhao Liying, Lin Gengxin, Shawn Dou and Li Qin.

The story takes place during the chaotic times of the Wei dynasty, where innocent citizens are often kidnapped and turned into slaves.

Slave girl, Chu Qiao is thrown into a forest along with other slaves and becomes the next hunting target for the rich lords.

She is saved by the Prince of Yanbei, Yan Xun.

Afterwards, she is brought into a powerful family of Yu Wen and witnesses their bloody power struggle. Seeing this, she swears to take her younger sister and flee from the situation.

However, she catches the attention of Yu Wen Yue and undergoes strict training to become a spy while building a sense of companionship with Yan Xun.

Like most of the dramas on this list, this series is a commercial success with more than 40 million views on Chinese streaming sites Youku, Tencent and iQiyi.

7.The King’s Avatar (2017)

In the multiplayer online game Glory, Ye Xiu (Yang Yang) is well known as the textbook-level expert and top-tier player Ye Qiu.

Due to a series of circumstances, he was forcefully expelled from his professional team.

After leaving the pro-gaming scene, he resides at an Internet Café employed as one of the managers.

When Glory launches their tenth server, he throws himself into the game once more—equipped with ten years of gaming experience, memories of the past, and an incomplete, self-made weapon.

This live-action streaming television series is based on Chinese webnovel of the same name by Hu Dielan.

During this era when esports is popular among young adults, there is no surprise why this drama was instantly a hit when it first came out.

It attracted more than 3 billion views on Tencent Video as well as moire than ten million views from other platforms such as WeTV and Youtube.

8.The King’s Woman (2017)

Set during the Warring States Era, Gong Sun Li (Dilraba Dilmurat) is the granddaughter and disciple of the powerful military commander Gong Sun Yu.

The first disciple Jing Ke (Liu Chang) and Li have always been in love with each other childhood.

When the Qin troops attack, Jing Ke is poisoned while trying to protect Li.

In order to save Jing Ke, Li agrees to marry Ying Zheng (Zhang Bin Bin), the King of the Qin State.

Ying Zheng finds out Li is already pregnant with Jing Ke’s child but accepts the child as his own.

Although she hates Ying Zheng at first, she slowly falls in love with him once she gets to know the kinder, gentler side of the ruthless ruler.

But what happen when Jing Ke comes to the palace to assassinate Ying Zheng?

Where will her allegiance lie? With her new or old lover?

This historical romantic drama is adapted from the novel The Legend of Qin: Li Ji Story written by Wen Shiren.

9.A Love So Beautiful (2017)

This slice of life drama follows the story of a group of high school friends.

Chen Xiao Xi (Shen Yue) and Jiang Chen (Hu Yi Tian) are neighbours who go to the same high school.

Their circle of friends include swimmer Wu Bo Song (Gao Zhi Ting) who has a crush with Xiao Xi and Lin Jing Xiao (Wang Zi Wei), the most beautiful girl in school.

Xiao Xi doesn’t like to study but has a talent for drawing. In the meantime, Jiang Chen is popular in school for his good looks and high grades.

The storyline takes you from their high school years, to college days and well into adulthood.

It is based on the novel To Our Pure Little Beauty by Zhao Qianqian.

10.Guardian (2018)

How about some science fiction drama on this list?

Set on the Earth-like planet of Haixing, populated by a native human population and two alien races.

The Yashou are aliens to shapeshift into plants and animals while the Dixing are super-powered beings who live deep underground.

The plot circles around the hotheaded Zhao Yunlan (Bai Yu) leads the Special Investigation Department (SID).

It is a group that works with the Black Robe Envoy to uphold peace and investigate cases related to the Dixing people.

While investigating an incident at the local university, Zhao is assisted by Shen Wei (Zhu Yilong), a biological engineering professor.

This mystery, science fiction drama is an adaptation of the 2012 web novel of the same name by Priest.

In the novel, the relationship between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei is depicted as romantic in nature. However, the web series depicts the relatiohip as platonic friendship with some homoerotic subtext.

The series was a hit when it came out and received a total of 1.8 billion views by August 2018.

11.Legend of Fuyao (2018)

Based on the Chinese novel Empress Fuyao by Tianxia Guiyuan, this fantasy-adventure drama has 66 episodes altogether.

It follows the story of Meng Fuyao (Yang Mi), a young woman who was born out of a divine lotus petal.

Adopted as an orphan, Fu Yao served as a slave for the Xuan Yuan sect in the Taiyuan Kingdom.

After a series of tragedies, she journeyed across the lands searching to lift the curse that blighted her life.

Along the way, she meets the Crown Prince of Tianquan, Zhang Sun Wu Ji (Ethan Juan), and falls in love with him.

Together, they tackle political issues in the five kingdoms and unearth secrets regarding her birth.

Unfortunately, the drama was not well-received among the Chinese audience. It was criticized for having cliche plots and a ‘Mary Sue’ protagonist.

Some even claimed it has a similar storylines to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Regardless of the harsh criticism, the series still managed to gain 14 billion views in 50 days becoming the most viewed online drama of the summer season that year.

12.The Untamed (2019)

Are you familiar with danmei? It is Chinese genre of literature and other fictional media that features romantic relationships between male characters. Danmei which also means indulging beauty, is typically created by and targeted towards a heterosexual female audience.

One of the most famous danmei novels out there is Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.

The drama adaptation of the novel is The Untamed (2019), starring Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo.

It follows the adventures of two soulmate cultivators who travel to solve a series of mysteries that link to a tragic event in the past.

Wei Wuxian (Xiao Zhan), a loathed cultivator of what some called “dark and demonic arts”, is resurrected 16 years after his tragic death.

His return to the world brings him to reunite with the people in his first life, including his soulmate, the honourable Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo).

Wei Wuxian then begins to remember his time before his demise, from his beginning as a young cultivator using traditional tools like the sword and musical instruments, to his very personal methods of using resentful energy of departed beings, with the help of innovative tools of his own creation.

While the original web novel featured an explicit romance between the two main male characters, the adaptations have homoerotic subtexts instead.

Regardless, the drama was one of the highest-earning Chinese dramas of 2019.

13.Put Your Head on My Shoulder (2019)

As Si Tu Mo (Xing Fei), an accounting student’s graduation nears, she is unsure about her future plans although she dreams of joining an advertising company.

While living at the dorm, she is forced by her mother to move into an apartment coincidentally owned by Gu Wei Yi’s mother.

Unlike Tu Mo, Wei Yi knows exactly what he wants from life and he isn’t afraid to chase his dreams.

Watching Tu Mo figuring out her future plan during her last fleeting days of university life, Wei Yi decides to step in and help her out.

Unbeknown to both, their mothers were classmates who thought their two children would make a good match and set them up.

Before they know it, the matched couple begins to fall in love.

This campus drama is based on Zhao Qianqian’s novel of the same name.

14.Le Coup de Foudre (2019)

Zhao Qiao Yi (Janice Wu) and Yan Mo (Zhang Yujian) may have been high school classmates, but the only thing they had in common was the desk they shared in class.

While Yan Mo is a top student, Qiao Yi is failing miserably, these two couldn’t have been more different, and yet, it doesn’t take long for a strong bond to form between them.

Promising to study abroad together after high school, this unlikely pair seems to have the world before them. But when an unexpected family emergency forces Qiao Yi to back out on their plans, the two drift apart and eventually lose touch.

Four years later, the long-lost friends are reunited, and old flames are quickly rekindled.

Finally willing to accept her feelings for Yan Mo, Qiao Yi moves to the city, determined to pick things up where they left off all those years ago.

But with Yan Mo already in a relationship, Qiao Yi’s love seems destined to fail. But is it really?

Unbeknownst to Qiao Yi, Yan Mo hasn’t forgotten his old friend, nor the feelings he has for her.

This is one of the most realistic Chinese dramas that surely will make you cry and laugh throughout the series.

It is a story about love, friendship and family.

Based on the Chinese novel I Don’t Like This World, I Only Like You by Qiao Yi, the drama does a great job in portraying the realistic struggles of young adults.

15.First Romance (2020)

This series is an adaptation of a Chinese novel of the same name by Wei Mian Jun.

It follows the story of Yan Ke (Riley Wang) and Xiong Yi Fan (Wan Peng) who were schoolmates.

But back in her younger days, Yi Fan never discovered that she had a secret admirer in Yan Ke, who kept his crush a secret and loved her from afar.

Now things are very different for both of them, and Yan Ke is at college, where he is one of the most popular and well-loved students on campus.

Dashing, sensitive, a hit among the female students, and unfailingly charming, he has also become a budding young pianist.

This time, it is Yi Fan’s turn to be smitten by Yan Ke. What would happen to ther pair?

16.Word of Honour (2021)

Here is another danmei novel turned into a drama that made it into this list.

Word of Honour (2021) is an adaptation from the novel Faraway Wanderers by Priest.

Here is a fun fact about the author Priest. She is a woman born in 1988 whose works have been adapted into manhua, donghua and Chinese dramas. Her novels have also been translated into Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese versions.

The drama tells the story of the leader of assassin organisation “The Window of Heaven”, Zhou Zishu (Zhang Zhehan).

In order to leave the assassin organization, he performs an obligatory departure technique, leaving him with three years left to live.

He disguises his face and tries to live the remainder of his days as a drunkard wandering the martial arts world.

During his travels, he meets Wen Kexing (Gong Jun), the reclusive leader of Ghost Valley who wants nothing but revenge.

The two become entangled in various machinations within the martial arts world, and eventually become soulmates instrumental in each other’s redemption.

This series was featured on Teen Vogue’s Best BL dramas of 2021.

17.Falling into Your Smile (2021)

In the world of e-sports, the all-male ZGDX OPL team is second to none. They have armies of adoring female fans follow the team wherever it goes.

But when one of the team’s star players suffers a hand injury, the tall, handsome, and notoriously hard-to-please ZGDX captain Lu Si Cheng (Xu Kai) will not be rushed into choosing a replacement.

Meanwhile, Tong Yao (Cheng Xiao) is a budding amateur gamer – obsessed with OPL.

When the ZGDX team manager learns of her skills, he contacts her, thinking that recruiting her as the scene’s first female player will help score a major PR coup.

Lu Si Cheng is dismissive of her initially, but eventually agrees to accept her as part of the team.

As they grow closer as teammates, the duo also starts to have feeling for each other.

KajoMag previously picked this series as one of the must-watched e-sports dramas.

It is adapted from the web novel ‘You’re Beautiful When You Smile’ by Qing Mei.

18.You Are My Glory (2021)

Speaking of esports dramas, here is another one that is based on the novel You are My Glory by Gu Man.

It mainly tells the story of the popular actress Qiao Jingjing (Dilraba Dilmurat) and her former high school classmate Yu Tu (Yang Yang) as they unexpectedly reunited through the mobile game Honour of Kings.

The drama was an instant hit due to the popularity of its original work. As of August 2021, the series has reached 4 billion views.

19.Love between Fairy and Devil (2022)

Drama based on Chinese novels 1

According to legend, in order to obtain a terrible power, Dongfang Qingcang (Dylan Wang) of the Moon Tribe became an emotionless monster.

He killed his father, seized the position of Moon Supreme and led an army of 100,000 Moon Tribe soldiers on a path of devastation.

Shuiyuntian (the immortal fairy realm), Cangyan Sea (the Moon Tribe), and Yunmeng Lake (the mortal world) were in grave danger.

To save the world and stop Dongfang Qing Cang and his army, the first God of War of Shuiyuntian destroyed her primordial spirit.

Dongfang Qing Cang’s army and primordial spirit were sealed and his body was locked away in Haotian Tower under the immortal bonds of the Haotian Matrix.

But due to a mishap, a fairy named Xiao Lanhua (Esther Yu) unwittingly sets him free. In the process of setting him free, some bizarre magic appears to have taken place – the two have swapped bodies.

Though they are able to sort that out quickly, there’s another problem – somehow, when Xiao Lanhua woke him, she cast the “One Heart Curse”, which links them so that he suffers her injuries, feels her emotions, and would even die if she did.

Now his life is at the mercy of a fairy who doesn’t even know the curse exists.

Since she is his biggest weakness, he has to protect her life in order to protect his own.

As he searches for a way to undo the spell, a forbidden love begins to blossom between the fairy and the devil.

This fantasy series is based on the novel of the same name written by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang.

20.Who Rules the World (2022)

Based on the novel Qie Shi Tian Xia by Qing Ling Yue, this wuxia drama follows the story of Hei Feng Xi (Yang Yang) and Bai Feng Xi (Zhao Lu Si).

The series is set in the Dadong Empire whereby the country is divided into seven factions with six autonomous states with their respective lords.

Emperor Chunxi rules over them but knows each of them is coveting the throne.

The legitimacy of the dynasty’s rule comes from the Empyrean token. With the token suddenly declared missing, there is a fight among the states to get hold of it.

In the midst of all these chaos, two great martial artists get drawn into the tussle.

They are Bai Feng Xi of the Tianshuang Sect and Hei Feng Xi of Fountain Abode. Bai Feng Xi has no interest in politics but ends up with the token by accident. Thus, she becomes a target and is shadowed by Hei Feng Xi who also saves her in the process.

The pair then continues their journey together as they find out who is the villain behind the scene that masterminds the political chaos in their country.

KajoPicks: 6 K-dramas written by Korean screenwriter Kim Soon-ok to watch

If you have been watching Korean dramas long enough, you might be familiar with the names of the screenwriters who were behind your favourite dramas such as the Hong Sisters and Kim Eun-sook.

Some you might not be familiar with Kim Soon-ok but she is the brain behind the popular drama The Penthouse.

As every screenwriter has his or her own distinct style, Soon-ok’s works are known for extreme ‘ridiculousness’ that viewers cannot stop themselves from watching.

Basically when you watch her drama, you cannot help but think, “This story is so unreal but I still want to know what happens in the end.”

Hence there is no surprise that her dramas are harshly criticized while also widely-viewed and highly-rated.

Here are six K-dramas written by Korean screenwriter Kim Soon-ok to watch:

1.Temptation of Wife (2008)

In this revenge drama, Goo Eun-jae (Jang Seo-hee) was a woman who was nearly killed by her husband Jung Kyo-bin (Byeon Woo-min).

Her husband truly believes that she had died until a woman named Min So-hee who looks identical to his dead wife but with a completely different personality shows up.

Here comes the ridiculous part; the only physical difference between Eun-jae and So-hee is a mole on her left cheek.

Just because of this mole, nobody recognises Eun-jae anymore.

Putting aside the many controversial issues surrounding the plot, it became one of the most viewed dramas.

On top of that, the series has been adapted into China, Malaysia and Filipino versions.

2.Jang Bo-ri is Here! (2014)

As a child, Jang Bo-ri (Oh Yeon-seo) was adopted by a family without much money.

She then learns that she is the missing daughter from a wealthy family.

Bo-ri goes through a drastic change in her life and tries to become a successful designer of traditional Korean dresses.

The drama became highly-acclaimed and won Drama of the Year at the 2014 MBC Drama Awards.

3.My Daughter, Geum Sa-wol (2015)

The Korean public dubbed it an ‘absurdly unrealistic drama that rated well’ while The Korea Times called it a drama that been ‘drawing flak for an unrealistic plot, complicated relations among characters and scenes with certain dramatic settings that seemed far-fetched’.

The plot tells the story of three friends Sa-wol, Hye-sang and Oh-wol who grew up in the same orphanage.

Hye-sang finds out that Sa-wol is to be adopted by her wealthy biological father instead of her after a DNA test that reveals the mix up between them.

Wanting to be raised in the upper class society, Hye-sang traps the orphanage director, who is also her true father, to hide the truth.

However, when Sa-wol ends up being brought into the family as well, Hye-sang starts tormenting, blame shifting and burying the truth, to make herself the better daughter. 

Let us warn you that the series is 51-episodes long, so you can expect plenty of twists and an emotional roller coaster ride.

4.Five Fingers (2012)

The drama starts when Yoo Ji-ho and Yoo In-ha were kids. When Ji-ho suddenly loses her grandmother after being run over by a mysterious black car, he is adopted into the rich family of In-ha.

Life at his new family is not easy for Ji-ho as his adopted father begins to favour him causing the jealousy and outrage of his adopted father.

His own best friend who becomes his adopted brother also starts to feel threatened by him.

Overall, the story is about the two of them who became rivals not only in their careers but also in their love lives.

Through this drama, it is the first time we see actor Ji Chang-wook in an antagonist role and Ju Ji-hoon’s first TV role after his drug scandal in 2009.

5.The Last Empress

The Last Empress is set in an alternate universe, in which Korea is a constitutional monarchy in 2018.

Oh Sunny (Jang Na-ra) is a bright and vivacious musical actress who marries the Emperor of the Korean Empire, Lee Hyuk (Shin Sung-rok).

She becomes involved in the palace power struggle and a mysterious murder that sets off events that threaten the monarchy itself, while searching for true love and happiness.

She teams up with Na Wang-shik (Choi Jin-hyuk) who works as a bodyguard for the imperial family in order to uncover the crimes of the Imperial family.

Most people do not know that Na actually started working in the palace to take revenge on the person responsible for his mother’s death.

In the midst of the political drama, Oh starts to fall for her bodyguard Na.

Overall, the series received high ratings and Jang in particular was praised for her performance.

6.The Penthouse: War in Life (2020-2021)

Speaking of ridiculousness, nothing beats The Penthouse: War in Life. This drama led the Korean public to give Kim Soon-ok various nicknames such as ‘Anything is possible with Kim Soon-ok’ and ‘Kim Soon-ok’s mythology’.

This is because dead characters kept on coming back alive throughout three seasons of the drama.

Even the scriptwriter herself admitted in an interview that The Penthouse lacks a sense of reality.

Despite that, the drama to this day is one of the most viewed Korean series of all times.

It follows the story of wealthy families living in Hera Palace and their children at Cheong-ah Arts School.

All of the parents have grand ambitions for their children and would do anything for them.

For those who are planning to watch this drama, we highly advise you to just through your common sense out of the window.

Let just say that this is the 90s telenovela equivalent of Korean dramas.

KajoPicks: 10 Chinese transmigration dramas you need to watch

If you are a fan of Chinese webnovels, you must be familiar with the transmigration genre.

This is when the main character finds himself/herself transported into a fictional world such as a book, drama, game and so on.

It also covers stories in which the protagonist inhabits an existing person’s body across different time periods.

Perhaps the most famous Korean drama which carries a transmigration type of plot is Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.

In the drama, Go Ha-jin (Lee Ji-eun) from the 21st century finds herself in the body of Hae Soo in the year 941.

As for C-dramas, here are KajoMag’s choices of 10 Chinese transmigration dramas you need to watch:

1.The Eternal Love (2017)

As if being transmigrated into another person’s body was not complicated enough, in this story the main character’s body switches back and forth between two souls.

Set in the ancient China, Qu Tan Er (Liang Jie) is the second daughter of the Qu family.

She is in love with the king’s oldest son, Mo Yi Huai (Wang Rui Chang).

Unfortunately, she is being forced to marry, Yi Huai’s younger brother, Mo Lian Cheng (Xing Zhao Lin), the eighth prince of the Dong Yue Kingdom.

Unhappy with the forced marriage, Tan Er tries to commit suicide, only to wake up from her failed attempt with the spirit of another woman also taking up residence in her body.

The modern Xiao Tan (also played by Liang Jie) has the opposite personality of Tan Er, cheerful and assertively strong.

She is stuck in the past world and has so far been unsuccessful in her attempts to find a way back to the modern time.

Whenever one of the women tells a lie, the other personality takes over the body.

To complicate the situation, Lian Chen falls in love with the vivacious Xiao Tan.

The drama is an adaptation of Fan Lai’s popular novel ‘Laugh Favourite Concubine: Sir, I Wait for You to Divorce Me’.

Yes, it is quite a mouthful for a title of a novel. It is no surprise in the drama adaptation is simply called ‘The Eternal Love’.

2.Cinderella Chef (2018)

This drama follows the story of Ye Jia Yao (Zhong Dan Ni) is a chef who runs a mobile diner in the modern day.

One day, a dejected young man comes in one day and asks her to cook his last meal.

Apparently, he plans to take his life that night. As it turns out, the man is devastated that his professor has stolen all of his data for a time machine that he built.

The man then brings Jia Yao to his lab to show her his time machine. An incident happens in the lab and Jia Yao is catapulted back to ancient times.

There, Jia Yao finds herself in the body of Ye Jin Xuan who is the daughter of a magistrate.

The moment she wakes up, she is suddenly kidnapped to Hei Fang Camp where she meets the leader of the bandits Xia Chun Yu.

He is the former master of the Jing An Marquis manor. One thing leads to another, the two get engaged in a fake marriage.

Like many fake marriages in the drama world, both of them starts to fall for each other.

3.Princess at Large (2018)

This Chinese transmigration drama follows the story of Ji Xian Yun (Yang An Qi) who is preparing for her career as a doctor.

However one day, she is transported back to the ancient times and finds herself in the body of a powerful minister’s daughter at the Imperial Court.

The moment she is transmigrated, the minister’s daughter has just survived a suicide attempt.

Her parents are forcing her to marry the Emperor’s favourite son, Prince Ming or Qi Ling Xiao (Sheng Ying Hao).

Despite being the favourite son, Prince Ming is suffering from mysterious illness.

As Ji Xian Yun is looking her way to return to the modern times, the minister’s family is pushing the marriage ahead.

After being forced to go through the wedding, Ji strikes a deal with Prince Ming. If she can cure him from his mysterious sickness, the prince will divorce her.

Being transmigrated from the modern era, Ji is definitely not a weak princess in this drama and that makes the whole series fun to watch.

4.Joy of Life (2019)

Based on the webnovel Qing Yu Nian by Mao Ni, Joy of Life (2019) follows the story of Fan Xian (Zhang Ruo Yun).

He is born in the ancient empire of Southern Qing with memories of the 21st century.

He lives in a rural town as the illegitimate son of the Minister of Finance, raised by his grandmother.

His mother, Ye Qing Mei, was once a celebrated inventor and the founder of the Overwatch Department, the country’s spy network but was killed shortly after her son was born.

Fan Xian has since been protected by a blind martial arts expert, Wu Zhu, his mother’s bodyguard.

He learned martial arts and the art of poison as a child, also assisted by his knowledge from the 21st century.

After an assassination attempt, he decides to venture into the capital to find out more about his mysterious mother and why anyone would want to kill him, as he perceives himself to be an unimportant person.

He also wants to know why he has memories of a sharply different era. In the capital, he accidentally meets Lin Wan Er (Li Qin) the sickly illegitimate daughter of Princess Royal, and falls in love with her.

Unbeknownst to him, she is the woman the emperor chose for him to marry so that he would be the new overseer of the Royal Treasury, an institute Fan Xian’s mother established in the palace and currently handled by Princess Royal.

In the capital, however, he gets entangled in the Imperial Court conflict as well as in the Overwatch Department.

The drama garnered high viewership and mostly positive reviews for its comedic elements and logical story flow. It won two awards at the Shanghai Television Festival including Best Adapted Screenplay.

5.My Heroic Husband (2021)

This Chinese transmigration drama is adapted from the novel Zhui Xu by Fen Nu de Xiang Jiao.

It follows the story of a successful entrepreneur in modern-day China.

Due to some business dispute, his former business partner has him brutally beaten.

When he awakes, he has transmigrated back in time hundreds of years and now inhabits the body of a young man named Ning Yi (Guo Qi Lin).

He immediately discovers that he is engaged into the family of a successful cloth merchant and will become a matrilocal husband.

Even though at first he is reluctant to get married, things change after he meets his fiancee Su Tan Er (Song Yi).

Ning Yi changes his mind and the couple ties the knot.

After their wedding, Ning Yi discovers some of the problems of his in-laws’ cloth merchant business.

Using his modern day business skill, Ning Yi helps the family’s business to grow.

6.Love Better Than Immortality (2020)

How about a Chinese transmigration story with some love triangle drama?

The plot starts in the year 2196 when technology has advanced so much that was once considered extraordinary has now become ordinary.

For example being immortal has now become a normal thing.

Humans can even experience different life through virtual reality program.

However, Chun Hua (Zhao Lu Si) wants more than virtual reality. She yearns to experience true love.

Hence, Chun Hua agrees to participate in a VR program called Tianlei System where she can transmigrate into a different world to find true love in exchange for her immortality.

After waking up in a world of martial arts, Chun Hua is caught between the love of two men; the arrogant and aggressive Qie Yue (Li Hong Yi) and the kind and gentle Xiao Bai (June Wu).

Both men are mortal enemies and are different as night and day, yet both falling in love with the same woman, Chun Hua.

Like many drama on this list, this series is based on the novel of the same name by Shu Ke.

7.Mr Bad (2022)

If you are looking for something light and sweet to watch, this is the C-drama for you.

The plot follows the life of Nan Xing (Shen Yue) who works an online novel writer.

In the novel she wrote, her main character is based on her favourite idol Lu Zi Chen (Luo Ming Jie) while his main antoganist is Xiao Wu Di (Chen Zhe Yuan). He is a cunning and manipulative martial artist.

One day, after making a wish for an ‘unforgettable love’ in a Fairy Pool.

To her surprise, Xiao Wu Di who is the villain of her novel appears before her.

She tries to avoid him but Xiao Wu Di keeps on threatening her into taking care of him.

After awhile, Nan Xing realises that she develops a special power; whenever she needs help, Xiao Wu Di would teleports next to her to fulfill her wish.

8.Dance of the Phoenix (2020)

In modern-day China, a quiet, shy young female student named Meng Yuan (Yang Chao Yue) works hard at her dream of becoming a leading practitioner of Chinese traditional medicine.

But on one fateful day, she finds herself transported into the body of a woman named Feng Wu who lives in a fantasy land where magic and martial arts rule the world.

Feng Wu is forced into a marriage with a prince named Jun Lin Yuan (Xu Kai Cheng), who also resents the fact that his bride has been selected for him against his will.

Meng Yuan soon discovers that if she is to make her life as Feng Wu a success, she will have to learn how to defend herself against danger and make powerful friends.

Fortunately, she soon discovers that her knowledge of Chinese traditional medicine will be invaluable here and will help her treat the ailments of her newfound friends.

9.The Romance of a Tiger and a Rose (2020)

Overall, this Chinese transmigration drama is cute and enjoyable to watch.

But what we love the most about it is how the drama plays around the idea of stereotypical gender roles.

Chen Xiao Qian (Zhao Lu Si) is a struggling screenwriter who has never been in love before.

Her script was finally being picked up but the filming has been delayed because the main actor Han Ming Xing (Ding Yu Xi) questioned a lot about the storyline.

The next day, she finds herself being transmigrated into her own script in the body of the third princess of Dong Liang named Chen Qian Qian.

Dong Liang is a unique country where females dominate and males are perceived to be the weaker species that need to be protected.

Since she knows the storyline of her script, she knows that her character Princess Chen Qian Qian is a supportive character that soon to be killed in the third episode by the male lead character Prince Han Shuo.

Prince Han Shuo is from the neighbouring country where the gender roles are conservatives and are opposite of Dong Liang’s.

On top of that, Han Shuo looks exactly like Han Ming Xing who is the actor in Chen Xiao Qian’s drama.

Being in her own drama, Chen’s goal is simple which is trying to find her way back home while avoiding being killed by the male lead.

10.The Player (2022)

This Chinese transmigration drama follow the story of Lu Ren Jia (Zhang Yun Long) who lives a lonely life.

After being abandoned by his mother as a child, he lost all trust in other people and became an almost reclusive.

He has shunned society, but has also taught himself a range of IT-related skills, transforming himself into something of a tech whizz.

His daily existence is dull and relatively uneventful until he discovers the latest gaming craze, an AI-based game named 5W.

5W becomes a massive phenomenon in the gaming world, pitting humans against one another and artificial intelligence, allowing them to interact with one another and aid or harm each other in the battle to gain ultimate transcendence.

In this online arena, Lu Ren Jia meets Zhou Zhi Shu (Deng Jia Jia), a beautiful and kind-hearted kindergarten teacher with some mysterious secrets of her own.

Her former boyfriend introduced Zhou Zhi Shu into the virtual world of 5W.

Because of a bug, a group of gamers get transmigrated into the game and the border between reality and the gaming world begins to blur.

KajoPicks: 5 webtoons that are in dying need of K-drama adaptations

Every year, we have seen many webtoons that have been adapted into K-dramas.

And we have also watched many Korean dramas that we did not know actually were adapted from webtoons.

For those who read the webtoons first, we can’t help but make comparisons between the artwork and the real-life adaptation.

The first and most important question we always ask is: “Did they cast the right actor and actress for the webtoon characters?”

While we appreciate that K-dramas these days are constantly bringing our favourite webtoons to life, there are still some really good ones out there that are in dying need of TV adaptations:

So here five webtoons that need to be adapted into K-dramas and KajoMag’s dream cast for every series:

1.The Wolf & Red Riding Hood

The Wolf & Red Riding Hood is a comedy webtoon original created by Xuann.

It follows high school student Anna who wakes up one day to find that she is super hairy and has an unnatural appetite for meat.

Later, Anna realises that she is slowly turning into a werewolf.

Since Anna is a high school student, we really want a young actress to play this role.

One actress that pops up in our mind is Kim Hyun-soo who is known for her role Bae Ro-na from the Penthouse: War in Life.

We would love to see her taking up a comedic role.

While So Ju-yeon’s appearance as Han So-mang in Seasons of Blossom (2022) kinda reminds us of the webtoon character with the short haircut, she is a bit too old to play Anna at the age of 28.

But then again if 32-year-old Kim Tae-ri pulled off playing a high school student in Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022), maybe So Ju-yeon could also do the same.

Webtoo Drama Adaptation 1
What do you think? Anna (left) and So Ju-yeon

Check out the webtoon here

2.Devil Number 4

Since there are many romantic love stories between human and non-human beings such as in Goblin (2016), Tale of the Nine Tailed (2020), K-drama fans would definitely love this adaptation.

Devil Number 4 follows the story of Hanna Yoon. She is a poor college student who struggles to get by.

One day, she is approached by Number 4, a devil who promises to give her a wish in exchange for a soul.

Hanna, on the other hand, is not ready to part with her soul. Number 4, being a high-ranked official in Satan’s corporate ladder, is not willing to give up.

He goes as far as offering Hanna a job at his coffee shop in order to convince her to give up her soul.

Readers who have read Devil Number 4 must have cried and laughed through the series and we expect to do the same if there is a drama adaptation.

When the webtoon first came out in 2018, it had already garnered a lot of attention. Fans also came up with their imaginary cast for a fantasy drama adaptation.

For Number 4, they wanted Joo Ji-hoon who is known for his work in Princess Hours (2006), Along with the Gods and Kingdom.

As for the role of Hanna Yoon, the actress chosen by the fans is Kim So-hyun. The former child actress has a steady acting career and has starred in many hit series such as Who Are You: School (2015), Hey Ghost, Let’s Fight (2016), Radio Romance (2018) and Tale of Nokdu (2019).

As much as we love Joo, the 17 year age gap between him and Kim would just be too much for us.

To fit our vision of the perfect Number 4, we have Yoon Si-Yoon in mind.

He is versatile in his acting and we are sure he can pull off a supernatural character like the devil.

Webtoon Drama Adaptation 1
Number 4 (left) and Yoon Si-yoon.
Webtoon Drama Adaptation 2
Hanna (left) and Kim So-hyun.

Check out the first episode of Devil Number 4 on Webtoon here.

3.My Dear Cold-Blooded King

This webtoon is one of the best action, romantic and historical publications on the app.

It follows the story of Kihara Mei who has a strong-willed personality.

She is born a simple farm girl who grew up working as a merchant while her family sold fruit for survival.

One thing leads to another and Mei finds herself working in the Blood King’s palace.

Mei has two love interests Asukai Katsu and Ryusaki Hayate. Both carry secrets and it is interesting to know how their relationships with our female lead character grow as she slowly learns about the secrets that the Blood King’s palace hides.

For the role Kihara Mei, we would love to see a Korean actress who is trained in martial arts.

On the top of our heads are of course are Ha Ji-won and Park Shin-hye. Ha for instance, has learned kendo while Park is known for her boxing skill.

Another one actress who might be perfect as Mei is Han So-hee. She has proven that she is talented in action roles through My Name (2021).

Webtoon Korean Drama Adaptation 5
Kihara Mei (left) and Ha Ji-won (right).

Meanwhile, Ryusaki Hayate is a handsome, young man with long black hair.

He has a flirtatious and cheeky personality which also works as a mask to hide his true motive sometimes.

We imagine Lee Joon-gi and Ji Chang-wook to be the perfect Ryusaki.

Apart for the reason that they are undeniably talented for the role, both actors have the look too.

We have seen Lee rocking Ryusaki-type of hairstyle in Iljimae (2008) and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016).

Ji’s portrayal of Baek Dong-soo in the historical action drama Warrior Baek Dong-soo (2011) also reminds of Ryusaki.

Asukai Katsu on the other hand has a long straight silver-white hair and green eyes. His appearance reminds us of Choi Siwon and Jung Ill-woo.

Both actors have that historical royalty vibe and both have taken up action roles before.

Webtoon Drama Adaptation 3
Ryusaki Hayate (left) and Lee Joon-ki
Webtoon Drama Adaptation 4
Asukai Katsu (left) and Jung Il-woo (right)

Check out the webcomic here.

4.Age Matters

Created by Enjelicious for Webtoon, the series ran on the app from Aug 20, 2018 till Sept 7, 2021.

It follows the story of 29-year-old Rose Choi as she tries to pick up her life after being dumped by her ex-boyfriend.

While looking for a job, she takes over her best friend’s job to cook and deliver meals to a mysterious boss.

As it turns out, the mysterious boss is a young, handsome CEO named Daniel Yoon.

Rose is subsequently hired to be Daniel’s personal assistant despite the fact they do not get along in the first place.

The story explores the themes that we are familiar with in K-dramas such as ‘noona’ romance, office romantic relationship and family conflict.

There are many young Korean actors that would fit perfectly to the role of Daniel Yoon but here at KajoMag, we want to see Kim Min-kyu as our Daniel.

After playing the chief secretary Cha Sung-hoon in Business Proposal (2022), we would love to see a promotion to his fictional career and finally become a CEO in a drama.

As for the mature, strong-willed character of Rose, Choi Soo-young can be our female leading role.

We have seen Choi’s constant growth in her career from being a K-pop idol in Girls’ Generation to taking up more prominent roles in her acting.

For that, we would love to see what she could bring as Rose Choi.

Webtoon Drama Adaptation 6
Daniel Yoon (left) and Kim Min-kyu (right)
Webtoon Drama Adaptation 7
Rose Choi (left) and Choi Soo-young

Check out the webtoon here

5.Scorching Romance

Here is another high school webtoon that is worthy of a K-drama adaptation.

It follows the story of high-schooler Ember who is constantly hot, as in having a high body temperature.

Ember also has a hot temper that comes along with her hot bodily temperature.

What happens when she encounters a fellow schoolmate who is the opposite of her?

Instead of feeling hot all the time, Aspen is constantly shivering with cold.

Overall, the webtoon is fun to read especially watching the development of relationship between the two polar opposite people, Ember and Aspen.

For our imaginary cast, we want fresh blood for the drama adaptation of Scorching Romance.

Well, these actors are not exactly fresh but they still need more work to gain more recognition that they deserve.

So far we have seen Kim Min-ki in supporting roles such as True Beauty (2020) and Under The Queen’s Umbrella (2022).

It is about time to have his first leading role, so how about the role of Aspen?

As for the feisty role of Ember, Yoon Seo-A left deep impression in her role as Seo Ji-wan in Nevertheless (2021). Thus, we would love to see her exploring different types of roles.

Webtoon Korean Adapation 9
Aspen (left) and Kim Min-ki
Webtoon Korean Drama Adaptation 8
Ember (left) and Yoon Seo-A

Check out the webcomic here.

What do you think of our imaginary cast for these imaginary drama adaptations of webtoons?

Let us know in the comment box which webtoons you would like to see to come to life?

KajoPicks: 10 dramas and films starring SNSD Yoona you should watch

Girls’ Generation or better known as SNSD just celebrated their 15th anniversary this year.

The group is one of the best-selling artists in South Korea as well as one of most popular K-pop group worldwide.

Apart from being K-pop idols, all of the eight members have participated in other line of works such as TV hosts, solo singers, variety show entertainers, musical artists and of course actresses.

Out of four SNSD members (Yoona, Yuri, Sooyoung and Seohyun) who ventured into acting, you have to admit Yoona has the most impressive track record of filmography.

Yoona, whose real name is Im Yoon-ah has been hailed as a top idol-actress in South Korea.

Here are 10 dramas and films starring SNSD Yoona you should watch:

1.You are My Destiny (2008)

For her first leading role in a drama, Yoona plays the role of Jang Sae-byuk. She is a cheerful young orphan who dreams to become an interior designer.

Due to an accident three years ago, Sae-byuk losses her sight and undergoes corneal transplant surgery.

After operation, she tracks down her donor’s family and slowly becomese close with them.

The family in return, slowly is slowly accepting her as part of them.

Overall, the series was a success with viewer rating of up to 41.5%.

Behind this successful drama, Yoona revealed the hardship she went through filming during an episode of talkshow Strong Heart aired on Feb 2, 2013.

She said, “On the first day of filming, I made a mistake with my line, and the director yelled at me angrily. He came up to me and said, ‘I don’t think you are ready for this role.’ He then told to me go home even though we were not done filming that day.”

Yoona shared that she was so upset that she could not help but cry all the way home.

In the show, she stated, “There still were nine months left until the end of drama, and I didn’t know what to do. I lost all confidence. On some days, they had to stop the filming because I couldn’t stop crying.”

Yoona then added, “However, I later learned that he was harsh with me to teach me a valuable lesson. He meant me, a rookie actress, to never lose my focus. After that incident, I received a lot of praises and I was able to grow and learn a lot. ”

The scolding and tears were definitely worth it as Yoona won two ‘Best New Actress’ awards at the 2008 KBS Drama Awards and 45th Baeksang Arts Awards for this drama.

2.Love Rain (2012)

If you are into those melodrama with aesthetic filming style, this is the drama for you.

Directed by Yoon Seok-ho, it tells a love story over two generations with Jang Keun-suk and Yoona playing dual roles.

When Seo In-ha (Jang) and Kim Yoon-hee (Yoona) met as university students in the seventies, it was definitely a love at first sight.

After some times, they finally confessed their feelings toward each other.

Unfortunately, circumstances led both of them to break up and wind up in different paths of life.

Fast forward to 2012, In-ha (Jung Jin-young) is now unhappily married to Baek Hye-jung, one of Yoon-hee’s former best friends.

Secretly, he has never gotten over his first love. Hence when he runs into Yoon-hee (Lee Mi-sook) after so many years, the two reconcile.

On the other hand, In-ha’s son Seo Joon (Jang) is a photographer. One day, he bumps into Yoon-hee’s daughter Jung Ha-na (Yoona) by chance.

They start to bicker at first but eventually starting to fall in love with each other. Unaware that their children are dating each other, In-ha and Yoon-hee announce that they are getting married, which will make Joon and Ha-na step-siblings.

Joon and Ha-na struggle with sacrificing their love for their parents’ long-aborted happiness.

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

3.Prime Minister & I (2013)

At the age of 42 years old, Kwon Yul (Lee Beom-soo) is South Korea’s youngest prime minister ever.

He is known for his reputation as an honest man of the utmost integrity.

Apart from that, he is also a widower as his wife died in a car accident seven years ago and raises his three children alone.

Behind closed doors, Yul is actually a struggling father devoid of even the most basic of parenting skills.

Meanwhile, Nam Da-jung (Yoona) is a journalist from Scandal News who resorts to writing for a trashy tabloid to support her ailing father.

When she chases Prime Minister Kwon for a lucrative exposé, she ends up scooping a whole lot more than she bargained for.

The unlikely duo ended up in a contract marriage and later on fell in love with each other.

For this role, Yoona bagged the Excellence Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries at the KBS Drama Awards 2013 and Best Young Actress at Seoul International Youth Film Festival.

4.The K2 (2016)

Yoona’s role in the The K2 (2016) is completely different from her previous works.

Here her role as Go Anna is the illegitimate daughter of presidential candidate Jang Se-joon (Jo Sung-ha).

Due to her illegitimate status, nobody knows Anna’s existence. In order to protect her father’s career, she is exiled to Spain at a convent under the constant surveillance of her stepmother Choi Yoo-jin (Song Yoon-ah).

Anna is also suffering from social phobia and experiences panic attacks from flashing lights.

She eventually becomes a pawn in her stepmom’s plan to control Se-joon’s political career.

Yoo-jin hires Kim Je-ha (Ji Chang-wook) as Anna’s bodyguard who later becomes her love interest.

Overall, The K2 is a thrilling political drama combined with impressive action scenes.

5.The King in Love (2017)

This historical drama is loosely based on Chungseon of Goryeo who was the 26th ruler of the Goryeo Dynasty of Korea.

He was Korea’s first royalty of mixed heritage whose mother was the daughter of Kublai Khan, a Mongolian emperor and the founder of Yuan dynasty in China.

The main character in The King in Love (2017) Wang Won (Im Si-wan) is loosely based on this mixed-race king.

Won has two friends whom he knows since childhood; Wang Rin (Hong Jong-hyun) and San (Yoona).

These three become the closest of friends eventually romantic feelings arise between these three.

Won falls in love with San and would do anything for her.

On the other hand, his childhood friend Wang Rin who also fell in love with San at first sight.

Even though Wang Rin loves San so much, he still hid his affection for her because of his duty to his Crown Prince and because he doesn’t want to hurt his best friend’s feelings.

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

During the press conference to promote the drama, Yoona revealed that she wanted to feel and experience new things with this character which is different from her character in The K2.

“She is brave and bright in the beginning. Later on, her emotions and choices become very deep,” she said.

6.Hush (2020)

One of the reasons Yoona picked up the script for Hush (2020) is the opportunity to act alongside Hwang Jung-min.

In an interview with Forbes, Yoona said that she has done a lot of bright and cheerful acting but never got to play a serious, heavy-toned character like this before.

She added, “The drama itself is also different from what I’ve done in the past, so it was a new challenge for me to showcase a different sides as an actress.”

Based on the 2018 novel Silence Warning by Jung Jin-young, Hush centers around a group of journalists in a newsroom.

Yoona plays the role of Lee Ji-soo, a spirited and bold intern reporter.

Hwang takes the role of Han Joon-hyuk, a senior reporter who has lost his passion for journalism.

7.Confidential Assignment (2017)

Yoona made her film debut in the movie Confidential Assignment (2017).

The story follows a North Korean Officer (Hyun Bin) and a Seoul detective (Yoo Hae-jin) team up to track down a dangerous fugitive.

In the movie, Yoona plays the role of Yoo’s sister in-law Park Min-young.

Confidential Assignment was a hit and one of the most viewed Korean movies in 2017.

Through her first movie, Yoona once again proved that she is more than just K-pop star.

Her role in this action film, the SNSD member was nominated for many awards and eventually brought home the Most Popular Actress at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards, Best New Actress at Korean Film Shining Star Awards and more.

In 2022, Yoona reprises her role as Park Min Young in Confidential Assignment 2: International.

As of October 2022, the sequel is the third highest-grossing Korean film of the year.

Watch the trailer here.

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Im Yoon-ah in the official still photo of Confidential Assignment 2: International (2022)

8.Exit (2019)

What makes Exit (2019) special for Yoona’s career is the fact that it is her first leading role in a film.

It is a disaster action comedy film written and directed by Lee Sang-geun.

The story follows Yong-nam (Jo Jung-suk), an unemployed man who once one of the best rock climbers in his college years.

He meets his old crush Eui-joo (Yoona) at the Cloud Garden during his mother’s 70th birthday festivities.

Eui-joo who is also a former rock climber is working there.

In order to impress Eui-joo, Yong-nam lies to her claiming that he is now very successful.

Meanwhile, a terrorist group releases a toxic white gas and spreads to its immediate surrounding. This causes pandemonium throughout the city.

During the chaos, Yong-nam and Eui-joo are left on their own to seek higher ground and avoid the rising toxic gas.

They use their rock climbing skills to survive.

Overall, the film was a box office success and South Korea’s third highest-grossing domestic film for 2019.

Again, Yoona won numerous awards for Exit including Popular Star Award at 40th Blue Dragon Film Awards and Best Actress in Movie at the 4th Asia Artist Awards.

Watch the trailer here.

9.Miracle: Letters to the President (2021)

This fictionalised film is based on a true story that took place in a remote area of North Gyeongsang Province in the 1980s.

Tae-yoon (Lee Sung-min) who is an engineer has always dream to set up a train station in his village.

His village has railway tracks but there is no station.

Tae-yoon has a son named Joon-kyeong (Park Jeong-min) who is a high school math prodigy.

Together with his girlfriend Ra-hee (Yoona), his older sister Bo-gyeong (Lee Soo-kyung) and the villagers, Joon-kyeong work to establish the first privately owned small train station.

The movie was selected at the 24th Far East Film Festival where it won the Golden Mulberry Award.

Through this film, Yoona earned her a second Blue Dragon Best Actress nomination as well as her Baeksang Best Actress nomination.

Watch the trailer here.

10.Big Mouth (2022)

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Yoona in an official still photo of Big Mouth 2022.

This is one of the most talked about K-drama in 2022. Big Mouth (2022) follows the story of Park Chang-ho (Lee Jong-suk), a third-rate lawyer with a ten percent success rate.

Among his legal colleagues, he is known as ‘Big Mouth’ because he likes to talk big before doing something.

When people started to mistaken him as a ‘Big Mouse’ who is a genius conman, his life is suddenly in danger and gets caught up in a murder case.

Yoona takes up the role of Chang-ho’s wife, Ko Miho who works as a nurse.

She tries to clear up her husband’s name and finds herself get entangled in the conspiracy among the wealthy and powerful people.

Although this is Yoona’s first hard-boiled noir drama, she does not fail to deliver her best performance.

Audience can easily find themselves getting caught up with Mi-ho’s emotions throughout suspenseful plot and her relationship with Chang-ho.

Upcoming Projects

Fans can look forward to two upcoming projects from this idol-actress.

We will see Yoona as a hotelier in a television series that is scheduled to premiere on JTBC in the first half of 2023.

King the Land tells the story of Goo Won (Lee Jun-ho) who is the heir of a luxury hotel conglomerate The King Group.

Her second upcoming project is a rom-com directed by Lee Sang-geun.

Starring alongside Ahn Bo-hyun, the 2 O’Clock Date tells the story of two people who lived in the same building having a date at 2am while everyone else in the block is sleeping.

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

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.

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

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)

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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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