A mid-year rewind through stories that made us feel, flinch and fall in love
By Mahjabin Rahman
So we are halfway through this year and honestly can you believe it? Blink twice and suddenly it’s August. We have spent the year watching our dramatic life and this dramatic world but also we were all glued to our screens, watching dramas.
As someone who lives and breathes k-dramas (like, I should probably put it on my resume at this point), I’ve either binged or at least stalked all the notable releases this year. There are a few that basically hijacked my heart and I feel a little bit too excited to talk about all the feelings that I felt while watching these dramas.
Photo Source: soompi.com
Study Group
This drama? Oh man, it’s an adorable mess in the best way. Okay it might sound weird considering the genre of this drama is action but the way this one wrapped all the action with goofy comedy together, that was chef’s kiss. It was a light watch and that was the charming thing about it. The story revolves around a boy named Yoon Ga-Min who wants to graduate high school and get into college. So to do that he somehow transfers to a school of delinquents and oh boy! The drama starts then and it is very amusing.
Nine Puzzle
This was an unusual watch. We’ve got Kim Da-mi, Son Suk-ku and Park Gyu-young all in the mix. Kim Da-mi who is known for her roles in Itaewon Class and Our Beloved Summer, she has shown quite versatility in her work so far but her whole vibe in this drama? Ohh, She’s like Dazai Osamu from Bungo Stray Dogs suddenly spawned a daughter in real life, no joke, she is a profiler for the police who herself has a twisted past with crime and now she is profiling other criminals (a bit odd) but she channels this chaotic energy and that dark, sarcastic humor like it’s her day job. And Son Suk-ku having that unbothered aura, damn that captures the entire vibe of his role. If I talk about the plot of this drama then we have Jo I-na who one day returned from school and found her uncle murdered in their own house, the investigation started and I-na is the prime suspect for her uncle’s murder but because of insufficient evidence the police had to let her go. Fast forward to the present, I-na now works with the police and suddenly after 10 years, the pattern starts to show up just like her uncle’s murder and people are dying now I-Na with the help of the same detective that investigated her uncle’s case starts to look for the actual mastermind behind all the killings. Wild ride, honestly. The twist is right there in front of your eyes but it is difficult to see.
Photo Source: Official Poster
Weak Hero: Class 2
Yeon Si-eun, a nerdy boy who only has time for his studies and does not have many friends suddenly finds himself getting tangled up with school bullies. In the process of fighting back he becomes friends with Ahn Su-ho and Oh Beom-seok and now he is willing to do anything to save his friends from getting hurt but not everything goes according to his plan and in season 1 we see friendship being destroyed, friends getting hurt and Si-eun being transferred to a new school. After the first season, I was basically counting down the days for this new season to drop. Did it live up to the hype? Oh, absolutely. A lot of new characters are introduced, new friendships are formed and this time it is less about fighting to survive and more about surviving the fight. Park Ji-hoon’s back as Yeon Si-eun, and wow, the dude is even more wrecked this time around (honestly, who wouldn’t be after what he’s been through?). He’s still got that tough vibe, but you can see he’s hurting, trying to hang on to his new crew and keep everyone safe in this school that’s basically a war zone. This psychological action drama will keep you glued to your seat and you will want to finish it in one sitting.
Photo Source: Official Poster
Squid Game: Season 3
Okay, so we finally have the final season of Squid Game and can I say I have a love and hate relationship with this one? So in season 1 we see that our main protagonist Seong Gi-hun who one day gets approached by a mystery man on the station to play a kids game with him and after the game that man gives him a card and asks him to take part in a game show. Being curious and thinking what can even go wrong in taking part in a game show and that’s when everything that could go wrong, went wrong and he finds himself in a show where every step has death written on it. In season 1 we see some real heartbreaking stuff and at the end our protagonist wins the game but he is not satisfied with that, he wants to put an end to this death game and keeping that in mind he starts his search for that game host and this time he willingly takes part in the game for the second time and starts rebelling in the game. Season 2 is left off on a cliff hanger but it introduced many new characters and with that now we have season 3, and in this season we see how Seong Gi-hun still keeps his humanity intact and tries to win these games that he is forced to take part in. I mean we all waited for this and not saying it disappointed but it did put a hole in our chest at the end. Some characters were so frustrating but overall the tension was the reason what kept me going with this. Not saying too much because I don’t want to give any spoilers but if you want to watch something that breaks your heart and also makes you angry then you would find that combination in this one. And those who have already been on this journey of Squid Game, I think we need a group therapy session or something. Like, let’s all just sit down and process. Because wow, what a ride it was!
Photo Source Official Poster
When Life Gives You Tangerines
So now let’s talk about the drama that was the biggest hit of this year so far. I am talking about it at the very end because I had to process my own feelings first about this drama and then write about it. In life I thought, if you don’t have anything grand or glamorous then your life is very ordinary (yes, I am just a young person who knows nothing about life YET), but this drama made me realize that in life you do not need a grand or glamorous gesture to make or feel that your life is extraordinary. This drama showed an entire lifetime of two people, Oh Ae-sun, a spirited girl and Yang Gwan-sik, a lover boy who only has eyes for Ae-sun. The storyline shows how they survived the ups and downs of the rollercoaster called life and how they enjoyed every moment of it. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they cried, sometimes they argued but they did not stop loving or supporting each other. It is a story that we can say “oh our grandparent’s life was like this” and I think the biggest compliment for this drama. If I had to sum up the show in one line, it’d be, “Yep, that’s what true love looks like.” Now let’s talk about the cast for a sec – Park Bo-gum and IU? Absolute legends. They crushed it. The storyline? Simply gorgeous. 10/10, would recommend. Just maybe bring some tissues, because, trust me, you’re gonna need them.
Dramas in general are a source of entertainment in this weird robotic life and K-dramas capture that vibe properly with the versatility in story telling. Sometimes they mean a bit more to us than they should have, sometimes they make us feel too many emotions or make us relate with something that is shown on the screen or like just makes us relax while watching them.
Back in the day, I was all about those cheesy, feel-good rom-com K-dramas. Couldn’t get enough. But lately, I’ve started noticing all these other layers – thrillers, coming-of-age, even some pretty dark stuff. Honestly, the sheer variety blows my mind. So, here’s the deal: I’m just gonna drop my top picks from this year. Trust me, narrowing it down was tough.
Let’s be real, not every show here is gonna blow your mind. Some might even make you roll your eyes. I probably skipped over a couple underrated masterpieces, too. But hey, these are the dramas that hit me right in the feels. They made me laugh, get all introspective, or just sit there in stunned silence way after the final scene. That’s the good stuff, you know? That’s the kind of drama I keep coming back for.
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