Some Older Korean Drama Recommendations

Lately I have been having the hardest time finding backlist dramas to binge and love. I feel like I'm running out of good dramas to watch! While this is a pity for me, it means I have tons of dramas to shout at you lot about. Of course, I've been thinking about some dramas more than others lately, so those are the ones I'm going to talk about. If you want any other recommendations, feel free to let me know what kind of drama you're looking for down in the comments!

City Hall (2009)

Of course I'm going to start with my favorite drama of all time (and that's saying something considering I've watched 235 dramas). I've never watched a drama like this with such stellar writing and banter between its characters, such brilliant character arcs that aren't limited to just the leads, and a hate-to-love romance I cannot stop thinking about despite it being at least half a year since I first watched City Hall. This drama is a delight from episode one, but there's so much growth experienced in each episode that by the end of the series, you won't even recognize the beginning. Cha Seung-won and Kim Sun-a play the main couple in this drama, and I can honestly say that they are perfect. The drama and its bloopers are a delight to behold, but if I had to pick a favorite scene, it would be the tango scene (those who've seen this drama, you know what I'm talking about) — the angst is fiery and I swoon just thinking about it. I'm currently rewatching the drama and I think the next episode is the tango one, so I'm excited!

My favorite fictional couple of all time. [City Hall]

The Greatest Love (2011)

I discovered this drama exactly one week after finishing City Hall. I started it because I was feeling lost without any more City Hall episodes, and so I started The Greatest Love in a desperate attempt to feel a similar high since it had the same lead actor, Cha Seung-won. Much to my surprise, it really delivered, and I became a huge Cha Seung-won fan! The plot is very different from City Hall - it's entirely rom-com, whereas City Hall is rom-com intertwined with stellar political plot - but the main things to love about City Hall are present in The Greatest Love as well, i.e. wondrous, mature romance based on actual substance, wonderful writing, and of course, weird as heck male lead who has beautiful chemistry with the female lead. I'll say it now: Cha Seung-won is the king of the romantic comedy genre.

The King of Dramas (2012)

In a drama hangover after watching City Hall and The Greatest Love, I spent months scouring recommendation lists, looking for some drama, any drama, to sate my thirst for whatever type of drama these Cha Seung-won gems can be labelled as. I didn't want light, fluffy romance with no texture, I wanted hate-to-love with serious angst and maturity. I didn't just want a rom-com, but also a hefty side of plot to go with it. It took quite a bit of searching, but finally I stumbled upon a recommendation online for The King of Dramas, which apparently featured a wacky male lead who may appeal to those who loved the same in The Greatest Love. This sounded extremely promising, so with high hopes I began watching it...and fell head over heels. The romance here is between a struggling drama writer and a producer, and you get a fair bit of behind the scenes about how a drama actually gets produced. But the best part is probably the slow burn, hate-to-love; the chemistry is there beginning from episode one, but boy did they make us wait (note: I say this with utter glee). It's truly a superb drama, and one I'm so glad I was lucky enough to find.

The odder the couple, I more I adore them. [The King of Dramas]

Lawyers of Korea (2008)

After you watch City Hall, you'll probably spend a few months in despair over the opinion that no drama will ever live up to that one. While that is true, I can share the happy news that Lawyers of Korea comes pretty darn close. It sounds unbelievable, I know, but Lawyers of Korea features the same odd dynamic between main leads that we all loved so much in City Hall. Once again, the plot is nothing like that of City Hall, but the romance and lead characters are so similar that the dramas themselves feel similar. I only started watching this one because Ryu Soo-young - an actor I've adored since watching Nice Witch - plays a second lead, so imagine my pleasure and surprise when I watched the first episode and just knew I'd found the closest thing to City Hall.