Are you listening to a lot of buzz about K-Dramas? Are your K-Drama fan friends talking non-stop about the dramas they are watching and you have no clue about it? Is your interest in diving into this resurging K-drama ocean but you don’t know where and what to start?
Here are 5 Best K-dramas to watch for beginners.
K-dramas are being popular for many reasons, screen-gluing story, unbeatable direction, real-life screenplay, memorable dialogues, heartwarming emotions, natural and amazing acting skills and not to forget the eye-candy CAST. Yes! The beauty itself can take 50% of the credit of you are not into the technical details and want to watch a drama light-heartedly.
Although there are many K-dramas that are beyond perfection and can take the top 5 spot, still I will conclude some of the most popular K-dramas that can leave a long-lasting feeling for you and you can then go for your next voyage of Kdrama.
- Guardian: The Lonely & Great God (Goblin): This is one of the stepping stone K-dramas that should be in your watchlist. This classic has been on top spot for years. It was released in 2016 but still feels as fresh as a new K-Drama. It’s one of my favorites and I can watch it as many times as I can. Already watched 100’s of times. Its story, script, direction, OST (Songs in K-Drama called OST or Original Soundtrack), dialogues and acting, everything makes it one of the most-streamed and loved K-drama. There are multiple reasons for Goblin to be in the list of best k-drama to watch for beginners and some are below mentioned.
Writer: Kim Eun Seok
A legendary writer who wrote some of the most famous K-dramas of all time like Secret Garden, The Heirs, Descendants of Sun, The Glory, etc. She is famous for her slick and glossy romantic comedy writings. Her work always appeals to audiences and leaves a mark whether it is dialogues or the love story.
Cast: Gong Yoo, Kim Go Eun, Lee Dong Wook, Im Yoona, Yook Sun Jae
This star studded drama has left an unforgettable memory and each character has done a remarkable job. Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook bromance and frenemy scenes giggle audiences every time.
Overview: Why this drama is on my list. It’s not just a romantic drama but has fiction and period-drama essence along with the new-age romance story. It is a story of a Goblin (도깨비) who is waiting for her wife for 900 years to break his curse. In this quest he met a grim reaper and a school student and the story unveils with each following episode.
Episodes: 16
Available on: Netflix
This drama created quite a buzz with raging viewership and ratings. One of the highest rating drama.of all time. This became so huge that even the cast was too stunned to get enormous love from the audiences.
- Crash Landing On You: Again one of the highest rating and viewership K-Drama that makes your heart go aww because of its amazing love story. There are many reasons for CLOY to be in the list of 5 best K-drama to watch for beginners.
When a classic is made, it is made up of the best of the best things and same goes to Crash Landing on You. It not just has the best story but the direction, screenplay, OST and of course cast. Watching this drama doesn’t feel less than watching a movie. The most handsome Hyun Bin and beautiful Son Ye Jin did the justice with their roles and as an everlasting love. The couple is now a real-life couple blessed with a baby boy.
Writer: Park Ji-Eun
She is not an unknown name in the Korean Television and Film Industry. She has given many highest rating K-dramas that got her in the list of most desired writers in the K-drama world. This 48 years old writer has written dramas like Crash Landing on You, My Love from the Star, The Legend of the Blue Sea, My Husband Got a Family and a very recent buzz Queen of Tears. Queen of tears broke all the records made by Goblin and Crash Landing on You before and became the highest ranking K-drama of tvN.
Cast: Hyun Bin, Son Ye Jin, Seo Ji Hye, Kim Jung Hyun
These most loved artists of the drama and Korean industry gave outstanding performances. They literally lived their characters. The on-screen couple then dated and got married. They are the most adored couple of the Korean television and film industry. The couple has a baby boy. The second leads will also leave you in laughter and tears both. So it’s one of the best picks for best kdrama for beginners.
Overview:
One paragliding mishap drops a famous and rich CEO and heiress of South Korea in North Korea. She meets a North Korean army officer who helps her to hide and then their love story unfolds with so many twists and turns.
This is not just a South Korean -North Korean love story but also helps you to know a lot about these countries and their lifestyles. You will be engaged from episode one to episode 16 without a flitch if you are a binge-watcher.
Episode: 16
Available on: Netflix
If you are looking to start a K-Drama then this is one of the top 5 K-dramas for beginners. It’s not just interesting but keeps you busy smiling, laughing, crying, sobbing and wondering.
- What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim: If you are looking for a light-hearted soft romantic comedy but along with a lot of sense then this drama is just for you. This is an office romance story that is loved by all. The insane chemistry of both the main leads give a lot of butterfly moments to the audiences. It has unbeatable comedy as well with the help of all the other casts. The story also has some serious backplot but eventually everything turn out pink pink.
Writer: Jung Eun Young
This is based on the webtoon Why Secretary Kim by Jung Kyung Yoon but Jung Eun Young has done an incredible job of scriptwriting and bringing it to the screen. She brought this on-screen romance as one of the fresh and majestic love stories. The drama used a lot of visual styling and characters looks from the webtoon itself which made it worth-watching.
Cast: Park Seo Joon, Park Min Young, Lee Tae Hwan, Kang Ki Young
Overview: This funny romcom with the pinch of a lot of emotions starts with a narcissistic CEO who gets romantically involved with his secretary after nine years of having a professional relationship. This may sound like an office romance but with a lot of background stories and funny turns. It will definitely tickle your heartstrings as it’s one best kdrama to watch for beginners.
Available on: Netflix
Episodes: 16
This story will definitely giggle you from the get go how a self obsessed CEO turns into a caring and romantic man for a dedicated secretary who never took leaves and worked tirelessly. You’ll definitely need some popcorn with you to sit back, relax and watch this amazing drama.
- Business Proposal: This is one light-hearted rom com for all the beginners who don’t want to start with some heavy stuff. This is a bright story with an eye-catching cast that will leave a big smile on your face after watching each episode. This drama is also based on a webtoon named same. “A fun encounter of a rich CEO of the company and a bright and smart employee on a fake date”, it doesn’t get better, right? So, for beginners it can be a good choice.
Writer: The webtoon was written by Hae Hwa while Han Sul Hee and Hong Bo Hee wrote the script for the drama. Writer Han Sul Hee’s previous works are Mystery Television, Rude Miss Young Ae and All My Love whereas Hong Bo Hee worked on as a scriptwriter for Standby, High Kick: The Revenge of a Short-Legged, Kimchi Cheese Smile, More Charming by the Day, etc.
Cast: Ahn Hyo Seop, Kim Sejong, Kim Min Kyu, Seol In Ah
Overview: In disguise as her friend, the female lead shows up on a blind date to scare away her friend’s date. However, plans go awry when he turns out to be female lead’s CEO and he makes a proposal to save himself from marrying. This drama made a lot of buzz with two magnetic couples as first and second lead. The main leads also scooped the awards for best couple, best actor and best actress in the SBS Award show.
Available on: Netflix
Episode: 12
This cute lovey-dovey rom com will surely take your heart away and a good kick-start for your K-Drama voyage.
- The Glory: The reason I am including The Glory here is not every beginner is a fan of rom com so adding a revenge thriller drama can be a good pick. This drama has 2 seasons and both intrigued the same. A high schooler girl who was bullied to hell in her teens takes revenge from all the culprits after many years. The first episode is so heart-wrenching when the story runs in flashback and the lead was bullied and harassed inhumanely. The after story keeps you glued till the end, I mean till the very end of season 2. This show also scored a Best Actress award to Song Hye Kyo in Baeksang Awards and Asian Academy Creative Awards in 2022.
Writer: Kim Eun Sook
As we talked about this renowned writer above, who wrote so many hit K-dramas like Guardian: The Great and Lonely God (first recommended kdrama of this article), along with popular and classic K-dramas like Secret Garden, The Heirs, Descendants of Sun, etc. Her pen colors a lot of genres from romance to thrill so you won’t be regretting watching this.
Cast: Song Hye Kyo, Lee Do Hyun, Kim Ji Yeon, Park Sung Hoon, Jung Sung il, etc.
Overview: A young woman, bullied to the point of deciding to drop out of school, plans the best way to get revenge. After becoming a primary school teacher, she takes in the son of the man who tormented her the most to enact her vengeance. This will make you fall in love with revenge and you will want more of it.
Available on: Netflix
Episode: Total 16 ( 8 per Season)
This thrilling revenge drama will definitely make you fall in love with beautiful Song Hye Kyo and the story of you love thrills.
These are the top 5 K-drama for beginners to include in your watch-list. Honestly it was too hard for me to choose just 5 K-dramas out of hundreds I have watched but still I tried to keep it simple. There are many classics like Boys Over Flowers, Love From the Star, Reply 1988, Dr. Romantic, etc, but I wanted to keep it simple with the amalgamation of old and new ones. I am someone who loves mellow and heart swooning sad genres but these are also the ones I have loved. I will recommend more of your choices if you leave a comment for a particular genre. This is for starters since first you need to get adapted by the language and the flow of the dramas. Then if you wish to go deeper in this K-drama world, I am all here. I wish this list of best kdrama to watch for beginners will help you to pick one to start.
Hope it will help you a bit with your confusion to choose which one to start.
Happy Watching!
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