I wanted my first post on this blog to be about my favorite K-dramas, actors, actresses, etc. from 2019, but I’m still finishing watching a few shows (cough Crash Landing on You cough), so I’m not quite ready to publish that list yet.
However, I have put together a list of shows I am looking forward to watching in 2020 and some of them are about to begin airing, so I thought that this post would be outdated if I didn’t put it up soon. SO HERE IT IS!! Hope they turn out to be as good as I am imagining they will be!
- The King: Eternal Monarch (spring 2020): This is the drama I am looking forward to the most, as it comes from Kim Eun-sook, the brilliant writer of Secret Garden, The Heirs, Goblin, and Mr. Sunshine, and stars Kim Go-eun (the outstanding actress who starred in Goblin), Lee Min-ho (The Heirs, Legend of the Blue Sea) and Woo Do-hwan (Tempted, My Country)
- A Piece of Your Mind (February 10): Speaking of Goblin, the director of that show will helm this romantic drama with handsome star Jung Hae-in (Something in the Rain, One Spring Night) paired with cute & spunky actress Chae Soo-bin (Where Stars Land, I’m Not a Robot)
- Itaewon Class (starts February 8): I’m mainly looking forward to this show because of the hilarious Park Seo Joon (favorite shows with him include Fight for My Way, Midnight Runners-film, Kill Me Heal Me, The Beauty Inside-film, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, and She Was Pretty), though I also really liked co-star Nara in My Mister and Suspicious Partner. The plot has something to do with high school bullying, class struggles, and restaurant work
- The Most Beautiful Moment in Life (or When My Love Blooms) (airing in April): About a couple who fell in love when they were younger and were involved in the student rights movement, but were later separated, who then come back into one another’s lives and rekindle their love. The older couple are played by Yoo Ji-tae (fangirls will remember him as the reporter from Healer along with many other shows, though I always remember him as the tragic villain of the film Oldboy) and Lee Bo-young (I Can Hear Your Voice, Mother)—the younger versions of their characters are Jinyoung (outstanding in He Is Psychometric) and Jeon So-nee (who had a star-making minor role in Encounter)
- Mystic Pop-up Bar (airing May 20, 2020): Fans of Hwang Jung Eum from her past work (she was hilarious in She Was Pretty and Heal Me Kill Me, along with her poignant role in Secret Love opposite Ji Sung) will be glad to see she’s back in a drama with the nephew from Goblin, Yook Sung Jae, about a nighttime snack & drinks tent set up on the roof of a building where people work through personal issues
- I’ll Go to You When the Weather is Nice (February): If you love Park Min-young (Her Private Life, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim) in a romantic drama like I do, this story of a Seoul resident who moves back home to her country village (which sounds like the beautiful film Little Forest) should be on your watch list. Co-starring Seo Kang-joon (whom I only know from his great second-lead role in the television version of Cheese in the Trap) and Lee Jae-wook who was incredible as the makjang (trashy soap-opera) actor in Search:WWW and also co-starred in Extraordinary You
- Here (no release date): With an all-star cast, including one of the most famous Korean actors, Lee Byung Hun (Mr. Sunshine), along with top actresses Han Ji Min (Familiar Wife, Dazzling, One Spring Night), Shin Min Ah (who starred in the 2003 film A Bittersweet Life with Lee Byung Hun, along with many K-dramas including Arang & the Magistrate, Oh My Venus, and Tomorrow with You), and Nam Joo Hyuk (who was wonderful in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo and Dazzling), this drama tells the story of an international NGO, though not much else has been revealed
- Meow: the Secret Boy (April 2020): Based on a webtoon, this drama will star the charming idol/actor L (Angel’s Last Mission: Love, Miss Hammurabi) with new breakout star Shin Ye-eun of He is Psychometric. This is a fantasy where a Ye-eun’s character finds a cat who can transform into a human man
- Love Alarm, season 2 (no release date): It’s kind of frustrating that Netflix is trying to break up the usual 16-20 episode length of a typical Kdrama into multiple “seasons” (like they did with My First First Love)—but this is just the next 8 episodes of what ended up being a pretty charming little high school & beyond story thanks to the always great Kim So Hyun, as she’s caught between not-quite-as handsome-as-they-make-him-out-to-be Song Kang (a so-so second lead in The Liar and His Lover) and his kind-hearted friend Jung Ga Ram (whose mother is played by the adorable Shim Yi-Young…mom crush!!)
- The School Nurse Files (starts June 30, Netflix): A six-episode quirky fantasy/horror about a school nurse who does exorcisms—I’m mainly excited about this because Nam Joo Hyuk was so hilarious in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, but it also stars Jung Yu-mi (who’s been in many films & dramas, including Discovery of Love and Live)
- Team Bulldog: Off-duty Investigation (latter half of 2020): This show stars well-known comic actor Cha Tae-hyun (My Sassy Girl-film, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds-film, and K-drama The Producers) and the great up-and-coming actress Lee Sun-bin (The Great Show, Sketch) as a intense detective and crime show PD who team up to solve cases together that the police have given up on
- Record of Youth (May 2020): A drama set in the modeling industry starring Park So-dam (hot off of her scene-stealing role as “Jessica” in the film Parasite) and Park Bo-gum (whom I mainly know from his great work in Reply 1988). The writer of the show, Ha Myung-hee, also scripted the wonderfully-written drama Temperature of Love/Degree of Love with Seo Hyun-jin and Yang Se-jong
Fans of Park Shin-hye (the loveable star of Pinocchio, The Heirs, Heartstrings, and Memories of the Alhambra) will be glad to know she will star in TWO shows in 2020: Sisyphus: The Myth and Psycho But It’s Okay (with Kim Soo-hyun of My Love from the Star).
WHICH ONE OF THESE K-DRAMAS ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2020??
(all photos from AsianWiki.com)
don-kxote.com 