My Favourite Dramas of 2023

Oh, 2023, you strange beast. If I made a graph charting how I felt every day of 2023, the general trend would show a steep ascension from the pits of January into the cozy highs of December. In reality, of course, the day-to-day experience hasn’t been so simple – while my life changed drastically in June, when I escaped a job where I was gaslit and exploited for one where I feel valued and respected, that came with its own challenges.

Switching to a job that was far more rewarding, but also far more demanding, meant I was left with very little mental energy for dramas. Subtitles were challenging for the first time in my life, so anything more difficult to process than a rom-com was out of the question. Tons of great shows (from what I’ve heard) were left to fester on my watch list.

So, as seems to be the case every year, I’m feeling pretty insecure about the list of dramas I’ve collated. It would feel disingenuous to argue that the titles below are the cream of the crop when I know for a fact that sweeping, complex and ambitious dramas that I haven’t even touched yet. I considered stalling this post until I’d worked through some of the hits – dramas like Moving, My Dearest and Kidnapping Day that astounded thousands – but I’ve since changed my mind.

There’s a reason I named my year-end reviews “My Favourites of ___” instead of “The Best of ___”. They aren’t supposed to document the objective masterpieces released each year, but the dramas that touched me. A personal rumination on what was memorable to me, and why. So let’s embrace that. If you’d like to read a far better overview of this year’s K-drama output, go and read Paroma’s 2023 Wrap. It’s the best.

I watched some excellent shows this year, several that weren’t even from 2023. I finally sat down to watch Our Beloved Summer, a sweet sun-soaked ode to first love and second chances. Matrimonial Chaos was a hilariously witty dissection into the modern state of gender politics in South Korea, as well as a softly gutting meditation on marriage as an institution with the capacity to bond people closer even as it estranges them. I loved it. And finally, I saw Happiness, an absolute masterpiece – this is social commentary veiled as a zombie drama, with an insanely loveable kickass couple at its base. I’m so annoyed I didn’t watch it sooner.

Now here are my favourite dramas of 2023:

Hoshi Furu Yoru Ni

I got off to a horrible start with Hoshi Furu Yoru Ni. I’ve recommended the show to people, but always with the addendum that you have to skip the first fifteen minutes because it makes me so angry, more than a romance drama ever should. And I have a few more issues with this drama, which probably come down to cultural differences – the drama sees basically no problem with turning a forced kiss into a meetcute, with having a highschooler date an adult, or leaving a child in the custody of a parent who has consistently neglected their duty of care. But ignoring all that, Hoshi Furu Yoru Ni is a lovely drama with a resoundingly compassionate message. Starring Yoshitaka Yuriko and Kitamura Takumi (who have both featured in my lists before, in Shiranakute Ii Koto and Nijiiro Karute respectively), the drama focuses on the romance between frosty gynecologist Suzu and cheeky, offbeat Issei, who also happens to be deaf. Issei is what makes Hoshi Furu Yoru Ni so charming, because he relentlessly and earnestly seeks to connect with others, and does so in ways that often transcend words. He uses his emotional intelligence and his empathy, and it melts the frozen hearts of the people he meets. While it had its share of problems, Hoshi Furu Yoru Ni was exactly the warming, reassuring drama I needed at the end of winter.

The Glory

There was nothing more glorious this year than watching Kim Eun-sook get her groove back after the lazy, soulless, pandering travesty that was The King: Eternal Monarch, and I’m more excited than ever to see which genre she plays with next. I decided to wait until both parts of The Glory had released before watching it, and I’m so glad I did – the drama is masterminded to be as addictive as possible, dripping with classic showstopper Kim Eun-sook flare. It’s just win after win after win in quick succession, like dominos falling in a perfect line, deliciously gratifying. I was surprised by all the nuances – there are symbols and motifs here! – and how beautifully written the villains were; mosaics of greed and lust and envy and wrath to perfectly contrast Song Hye-kyo‘s graceful (and, honestly, career-defining) performance as the steadfast heroine. It’s not perfect, of course. The romance was forgettable and unnecessary, and as I’ve discussed before in my essay on The Glory, South Korea’s perspective on drug use makes one of the villains unintentionally quite sympathetic. But, oh well – The Glory is a slow burn of perfectly-plotted revenge antics metered out at an addictive pace, consistent from start to finish.

King the Land

Ah, King the Land. Exactly the kind of brainless fun I needed this summer, and not at all what I was expecting it to be. I mean, firstly, because it wasn’t brainless. I wrote about this show twice because it got me thinking about a ton of things; from discussions of performative smiling to how dramas use the pyschological concept of accepting influence, King the Land was rich with themes that set off fireworks in my brain. I don’t want to mislead anyone, though – the beauty of King the Land is how comfortable it is with just being a romcom. While I love the hybridity of most K-dramas, I think there are plenty that would have been better if they shelved the serial killers and magical powers and third-act conflicts. By committing to the “rom” in the com, King the Land is able to deliver the viewers constant gratification. Best of all is the character arcs – while our male lead embraces his destiny as socialist kingpin, our heroine does what Secretary Kim never could and actually leaves to pursue her passions away from him. While I might be steering clear of the episodes with the Arab Prince upon rewatch, King the Land is a lovely, easy win when you need something feel-good.

Doona!

Doona! was what I needed to break through a months-long drama slump. This drama stars Bae Suzy as Doona, a former singer who is now hiding away in a sharehouse, but who gets a new lease of life when college student Won-jun moves in next door. Don’t be fooled by the premise – Doona! is an artistic gaze into the K-pop industry first and foremost, and a romance second. The story always belongs to Doona, whose selfish and self-destructive behavior is made sympathetic through glimpses into her tortured mind. Some of the best directing of the year is on exhibition here, with the fractured, non-linear storytelling doing much of the heavy lifting to help us understand Doona’s fractured psyche. I’ve never taken to idol dramas – when I started this one, I prepared myself for it to romanticise the K-pop industry with perfect idol characters and self-insert love interests. Idol dramas may document the struggles of K-pop stars, but they never persuade their audiences to question the system. Doona! is the anti-idol drama, with a groomed, broken heroine who returns to the industry at the end not in a blaze of glory, with a renewed love of the spotlight, but in quiet resignation to her fate. She knows she can’t be anyone else. Devastating social commentary aside, Doona! also happens to have a charming cast of supporting characters and a fantastic central romantic pairing (Yang Se-jong continues his streak of picking the best romantic heroes ever). It is a soulful, well-rounded drama that enthralled me from beginning to end.

Fence

Anyone who knows me will probably know that Akiko Nogi (of Unnatural, MIU 404, Nigeru wa Haji and more) is my favourite drama writer, no contest. And with Fence, Akiko Nogi brings us her most ambitious drama yet – with her signature wit, strong characterisations and pointed social commentary, she opens up a conversation on an issue I’d never heard about before. Fence focuses on two women, both haafu or half-Japanese but one who passes and one who doesn’t, as they investigate a sexual assault case in Okinawa. This is hardly the first drama to acknowledge Japan’s rampant sexual assault problem, but it’s never been done like this before – for once, sexual assault isn’t treated like a normal thing to experience, and each episode is sticky with potent feminine rage. The story is tangled up in Okinawa’s sociopolitical condition, and while I wasn’t massively engaged with the depiction of US-Japan military relations, I loved how it opened up wider discussions about how gender and racial issues intersect with this shaky area of Japanese history and culture. Stories of post-war trauma are important to me (I wrote my dissertation on the comfort women issue) and Nogi handles the ongoing situation in Okinawa with grace and delicacy. My only regret with Fence is that I wish it had another episode or two to help the story breathe – we could really have used more time with our heroines inbetween major plot points, and more time to get to know Rina. Despite this, Fence is a brilliant little mystery drama that I recommend for a lazy afternoon.

Castaway Diva

When I wrote about Castaway Diva last month, I ended with this sentiment: “Castaway Diva‘s biggest strength is the two main characters at the heart of the story… There’s enough plot in Mok-ha and Ki-ho’s relationship alone to carry an entire drama, and if Park Hye-ryun would just remember that, I think Castaway Diva could be one of the best dramas of the year.” I wrote that halfway through the show. And did it live up to this promise in the end? Well, no, not really. It did for about one episode (Episode 7 should be studied in universities as a prime example of narrative payoff, and I’ll treasure it always), but that’s it. Castaway Diva is a drama marred by too many storylines – Mok-ha’s journey to becoming a singer, Ran-joo’s quest for shares, Ki-ho’s abusive Dad trying to find him, and Mok-ha searching for Ki-ho – all competing for the spotlight, to every storyline’s detriment. That said, the drama still makes this list for two reasons. Firstly, although I can see how it could have been a masterpiece, the end result is a pretty decent drama. And secondly, Castaway Diva still has some exceptional qualities that I’ll remember for a long time. The soundtrack. The first episode. Moon Woo-jin as young Ki-ho. While the lost potential here is fierce and disappointing, the drama should nevertheless be praised for what it is.

Now, finally, here is my favourite drama of 2023:

The Interest of Love

I was in a very sad place at the start of this year, feeling more lost than I’ve ever felt before and completely adrift. This drama, in some ways, saved me, because it gave me something to care about. I wrote four posts about The Interest of Love, recapping and analysing the entire drama in great detail, and doing so brought me back to myself, the person who loves engaging with things critically and loves writing and loves dramas. I cherish it for that. Even outside of my subjective perspective, The Interest of Love is a brilliant drama. It’s a deeply smart and deliciously angsty commentary on modern relationships, the subtle discrimination we still see in workplace environments, and the depressing degree to which money affects everything. The extremely strong characters held up to close scrutiny, brought to life with subtle and masterful performances, especially from Moon Ga-young and Geum Sae-rok. With gorgeous cinematography and strong, deliberate directorial work to boot, I consider it to be basically flawless. The director Jo Young-min – who also directed two other melancholy masterpieces and favourites of mine, Do You Like Brahms and Everything and Nothing – has officially become my favourite director and I’m giddily waiting to see what he produces next. I’m so glad that I was able to convince others to give this drama a chance – there was nothing quite like seeing my passion for The Interest of Love start to infect the people around me, and there are a dozen people I want to thank here for making my January bearable. You know who you are.

Happy New Year, everyone! I’m so excited to see what 2024 has in store for us.