These 10 K-Dramas Are So Great, Even People Who Don’t Like K-Dramas Will Enjoy

Some K-dramas are so good that even those who are not fans of the genre will enjoy them. With various series spread out across several genres gaining worldwide popularity thanks to streaming, it’s difficult to know which ones might be to your taste, especially if you do not particularly like K-drama tropes.

Fortunately, most Korean dramas feature engaging premises that almost anyone can enjoy. Although it’s easy to name popular K-dramas, there are several hidden gems that someone who has tried and not liked the subgenre can get hooked on. From horror K-dramas to historical series, some shows have premises and characters that anyone can get behind.

10

Business Proposal

Release Year: 2022

Based on the web novel The Office Blind Date by Hae Hwa, Business Proposal is a fun and hilarious look into romantic relationships. The series sees Shin A-ri, a young woman who takes her friend’s place on a blind date but instead comes face to face with her boss, who proposes that they should get married in order to stop his grandfather from forcing him to do so. When Business Proposal was added to Netflix’s library, the K-drama became one of its most popular shows, and it’s no wonder.

Business Proposal’s biggest draw is that it doesn’t try to be something it’s not by being too deep. Instead, it fully embraces the romantic tropes, which resulted in an engaging story and an incredible love story. The workplace K-drama isn’t without its faults, particularly because of how the male lead is portrayed as a savior. However, it’s a lighthearted K-drama that will have anyone smiling.

9

Because This Is My First Life

Release Year: 2017

Marriages of convenience are a popular trope in K-dramas, but Because This Is My First Life offers a different look into this type of storyline. Starring Jung So-min as Yoon Ji-ho and Lee Min-ki as Nam Se-hee, Because This Is My First Life sees the two characters get married due to the circumstances they find themselves in. The series in no way tells a story that hasn’t been seen before, but it sets itself apart in a variety of ways.

The Korean TV show is a slow burn, but it’s worth investing in. Jung So-min and Lee Min-ki are great together, but it’s the way that the show incorporates other storylines without making it feel overwhelming that makes it such an addictive series.

While Because This Is My First Life is a romantic K-drama, it isn’t overly dramatic. Instead, the series provides a different way to look at love and how it develops, particularly because of the way Nam Se-hee thinks about romantic relationships. The show is a slow burn, but it’s worth investing in. Jung So-min and Lee Min-ki are great together, but it’s the way that the show incorporates other storylines without making it feel overwhelming that makes it such an addictive series.

8

Record Of Youth

Release Year: 2022

One of the best K-dramas of 2020, Record of Youth was also a hit in Korea. It centers around three friends navigating the ups and downs of their professional lives in the entertainment industry. While theseries focuses on millennials and the struggles they go through to achieve their dreams, it also has a sweet love story.

Record of Youth is by no means unique, nor does it feature a storyline that adds something new to the genre. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not an enjoyable K-drama, despite its clichés. The show’s focus on familial discontent and dreams taking too long to come true makes it an incredibly relatable and inspiring show, especially for anyone experiencing the same things.

7

Itaewon Class

Release Year: 2020

Park Seo-joon has been in many great K-dramas, but Itaewon Class remains his best so far. The series tells a sad tale of a man whose life is ruined by people more powerful than him, and how he manages to pick himself up after losing everything. When Itaewon Class aired, it immediately resonated with audiences and remains popular even to this day.

Itaewon Class is an incredibly inspiring Korean TV show. While Park Sae-ro-yi had the odds stacked against him, his hard work and support system helped him achieve his dreams. The series is heartwarming, and its portrayal of people trying to find their place in the world is relatable. With its found family and love story, Itaewon Class is the type of K-drama that will have you going through a range of emotions by the time it comes to a conclusion.

6

Fight For My Way

Release Year: 2017

Another great Park Seo-joon TV show is the slice-of-life Korean series, Fight For My Way. With Kim Ji-won as Choi Ae-ra, the K-drama has set itself apart due to its talented cast, who have all gone on to have incredible careers after appearing in Fight For My Way. The friends-to-lovers Korean TV show focuses on Dongman, an MMA fighter who falls for his childhood best friend.

The transition from friends to lovers isn’t a new one, but Fight For My Way does it in a believable way. The show is hilarious but also features some emotional scenes that tug at the heartstrings. Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won are a breath of fresh air, but it’s the friendship that the group of four young people share that holds the series together, especially because of how they support each other’s dreams.

5

Mr. Sunshine

Release Year: 2018

The critically acclaimed K-drama, Mr. Sunshine, tells a gripping tale of love and loss. Written by Kim Eun-sook, Mr. Sunshine follows Eugene Choi, an orphan who moves to the US and becomes a soldier after losing his parents. When he goes back home, he falls for Go Ae-shin, a highborn woman with a secret life.Mr. Sunshine became a critical and audience hit at the time it premiered, and remains one of tvN’s highest-rated K-dramas even to this day.

Lee Byung-hun won the Best Leading Actor in Broadcasting at the 2019 Baeksang Arts Award for his role in Mr. Sunshine.

Several other Korean TV shows depict how class differences affect romantic relationships, butMr.Sunshine stands out because it also focuses on a turbulent time in South Korea. Mr. Sunshine is a well-crafted story that is made even better by the performances. The series has some great strong female characters, who are undoubtedly one of the K-drama’s highlights.

4

Crash Landing On You

Release Year: 2019

Crash Landing On You was released nearly six years ago and is already considered a classic. Hyun Bin stars as Captain Ri, a soldier in the North Korean army whose life gets upended when he falls for a South Korean heiress. As one of tvN’s most-watched TV shows, Crash Landing On You proved that forbidden romance stories with engaging characters are things that audiences enjoy.

Crash Landing On You weaves an engaging and unlikely love story between two people who are supposed to hate each other because of where they come from. Se-ri and Captain Ri’s romantic relationship is, of course, at the heart of Crash Landing On You, but its subplots and supporting characters are some of the reasons it’s a masterpiece. The romantic Korean series is sure to take anyone on an emotional rollercoaster as its two leads strive to be together despite the low chances of them having a happy ending being low.

3

When Life Gives You Tangerines

Release Year: 2025

When Gives You Tangerines has already set itself up as one of the best K-dramas of 2025. Starring Hotel del Luna’s UI as Ae-sun and Park Bo-gum as Gwan-sik, When Life Gives You Tangerines follows the two main characters through different stages of their lives. The historical K-drama can be heart-wrenching at times, especially when depicting the struggles Ae-sun went through as she was growing up in a poor family in Jeju Island.

When Life Gives You Tangerines is a rich tale of Korean history that sheds light on the haenyeo, a group of women divers who are often overlooked. The K-drama’s characters are so well developed that it’s hard not to feel emotionally invested in their journey. While When Life Gives You Tangerines is heavy at times, it’s one of those Korean TV shows that makes its audiences go through an emotional rollercoaster that is worth it by the time they watch the last episode.

2

All Of Us Are Dead

Release Year: 2022

One of Netflix’s biggest K-dramas, All of Us Are Dead has undoubtedly contributed to why the subgenre is becoming popular with audiences. The Netflix original K-drama’s premise focuses on a group of students who have to fight off zombies after the ferocious creatures begin to attack them. The zombie genre is one of fiction’s most popular, so it’s not easy to add something that no one has seen before.

All of Us Are Dead season 2 doesn’t have a release date.

However, All of Us Are Dead manages to do that. Not only are the characters complex, but the zombies on the show are unique. The series is so well written that even people who don’t like horror will enjoy it.

Release Year: 2022

Like medical dramas, legal dramas are something that most people like to watch as they offer fun insight into what really happens in these professions. K-dramas about lawyers, however, are in a league of their own, as depicted in Extraordinary Attorney Woo. The legal Korean show focuses on Attorney Woo, a neurodiverse lawyer who gets hired at a prestigious law firm.

What makes Extraordinary Attorney Woo a K-drama masterpiece is how sensible and heartwarming it is. It doesn’t make Woo’s journey in her high-stakes profession easy, but instead highlights her struggles and how she eventually overcomes them. The series also has a love story and interesting legal cases for anyone looking for a drama that features both romance and law.