ONTD Original: Best and Worst K-Dramas I Watched in 2023
Hi fam,
It's me, trying to make you guys talk about K-dramas with me again. I'm doing an end of year wrap up of dramas that I watched in 2023 so we can have an excuse to talk about what we watched in the Asian Drama sphere this past year. :)
FYI, these were not all released in 2023. These are just shows that I happened to watch in 2023. Some of them are... quite old. And also I am currently watching a couple of dramas that are great and could earn a spot on this list but they won't finish airing until 2024, so I'm disqualifying them from this year.
TOP 3 WORST DRAMAS I WATCHED IN 2023
3. Black Knight
source
The issues with this drama weren't any kind of bad acting or bad stories. It was just that the bad pacing did a massive disservice to the story. There are only 6 episodes which isn't long enough to fully tell the story of the world that has been built. It's like half of a good show but the various story beats never get a chance to fully breathe before we have to rush on to the next one, so the overall effect of the show is just frenetic and disappointing. There's no chance to explore themes or deeper storylines. I mean it's a show about a dystopian future where air is a scarce resource and there are deep class divides! So much to explore. And yet, the surface was barely scratched. I think that's why it made my list of 3 worst. It was a show full of unfulfilled potential.
[Worst 2 Under the Cut]2. A Time Called You
source
I watched this show because NewJeans recorded a song for it and then their OST was BARELY featured, so on that basis alone, I kinda resent this drama, but I would have gotten over it if the show itself was good. Spoiler alert: IT WAS NOT. It was a timey-wimey bullshit mess of a storyline with world building that just did not hang together. I now live in fear that Stephen Moffat will stumble across this show and do an English language remake. Many of the characters were not exactly likable and the ONE gay character basically was on screen for 5 minutes and then died in service of making sure all the heteros got their happy ending. Which... was the ending even really happy? It was just WEIRD, if you ask me.
1. That Winter, the Wind Blows
source
Unlike the other two dramas on the list, I did actually enjoy the HELL out of the viewing experience of this one because it was just flat out ridiculous. It was a car crash I could not look away from. But objectively, it was NOT good. The show was WAY too comfortable with the pseudo incest. Like ok. The gist of the plot is: a conman pretends to be the long lost brother of a female heiress who is blind, in order to get access to her money. But like, while I GUESS it's ok that he falls in love with her because he knows the truth, she is DEFINITELY way too easily falling in love with him while she believes he is her brother. LIKE. WHY. WHY DO THIS TO ME? The melodrama is enjoyable enough but idk, if you want a fun melodrama I think Descendants of the Sun is better because it's more self-aware. I often felt like this show took itself too seriously.
TOP 3 BEST DRAMAS I WATCHED IN 2023
3. Thirty-Nine
source
I LOVE a good women-centric drama and this one delivers on that front. Yes there are romance subplots, but the heart and soul of the show is the friendship between the three women. This is the story about women who have been friends for 20 years and the year they turned 39. One of them receives a devastating health diagnosis and all 3 take steps to change their lives in this one year that changes so much for them. When I tell you that I cried watching this show, I mean I full on SOBBED. I ugly cried. I was a mess. There was snot involved. It was so good though.
[Top 2 Under the Cut]2. Flower of Evil
source
I feel like this show does a REALLY good job of keeping you guessing as to what the truth is and what exactly happened in the past while also not feeling like the twists are cheap. The twists feel earned because they're not exactly twists, they're just more of the truth coming to light and events being seen from a different perspective with more information. So the overall mystery/crime plot is solid. And then! THEN! Then you have the delicious delicious drama regarding the main couple because the husband is a maybe serial killer who has been living his life under an assumed identity and the wife is a detective who has just been assigned to investigate a killing that could lead her to uncovering the mountain of secrets her husband has been hiding.
1. Tale of the Nine-Tailed (and Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938)
source
I am an absolute SUCKER for complicated sibling relationships which is probably why this show rates so high for me. Look, sometimes you are an immortal being with a younger half brother who feels abandoned by you and lashes out by killing people but you love him anyway and all you want is for him to love you again. It's a very relatable and common occurrence!! The romance is sweet and there are a lot of great supporting characters. The main plot of the first series hangs together well, and the second series builds on the first while also doing its own story that isn't connected to the main plot of the first.
[Honorable Mentions]HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Doom At Your Service: I LOVED the A-plot but unfortunately the B-plot was so boring and thematically and tonally at odds with the A-plot that it really brought the overall quality of the show down.
Hello My Twenties!/Age of Youth: The first season was practically perfect, but oh man that second season was uneven AS FUCK and thus I couldn't include the show on the list.
So that's it from me, ONTD! My year in K-drama.
What were your best and worst Asian dramas this year, ONTD?
Are you watching anything good right now?
It's me, trying to make you guys talk about K-dramas with me again. I'm doing an end of year wrap up of dramas that I watched in 2023 so we can have an excuse to talk about what we watched in the Asian Drama sphere this past year. :)
FYI, these were not all released in 2023. These are just shows that I happened to watch in 2023. Some of them are... quite old. And also I am currently watching a couple of dramas that are great and could earn a spot on this list but they won't finish airing until 2024, so I'm disqualifying them from this year.
TOP 3 WORST DRAMAS I WATCHED IN 2023
3. Black Knight
Click to viewsource
The issues with this drama weren't any kind of bad acting or bad stories. It was just that the bad pacing did a massive disservice to the story. There are only 6 episodes which isn't long enough to fully tell the story of the world that has been built. It's like half of a good show but the various story beats never get a chance to fully breathe before we have to rush on to the next one, so the overall effect of the show is just frenetic and disappointing. There's no chance to explore themes or deeper storylines. I mean it's a show about a dystopian future where air is a scarce resource and there are deep class divides! So much to explore. And yet, the surface was barely scratched. I think that's why it made my list of 3 worst. It was a show full of unfulfilled potential.
[Worst 2 Under the Cut]2. A Time Called You
source
I watched this show because NewJeans recorded a song for it and then their OST was BARELY featured, so on that basis alone, I kinda resent this drama, but I would have gotten over it if the show itself was good. Spoiler alert: IT WAS NOT. It was a timey-wimey bullshit mess of a storyline with world building that just did not hang together. I now live in fear that Stephen Moffat will stumble across this show and do an English language remake. Many of the characters were not exactly likable and the ONE gay character basically was on screen for 5 minutes and then died in service of making sure all the heteros got their happy ending. Which... was the ending even really happy? It was just WEIRD, if you ask me.
1. That Winter, the Wind Blows
source
Unlike the other two dramas on the list, I did actually enjoy the HELL out of the viewing experience of this one because it was just flat out ridiculous. It was a car crash I could not look away from. But objectively, it was NOT good. The show was WAY too comfortable with the pseudo incest. Like ok. The gist of the plot is: a conman pretends to be the long lost brother of a female heiress who is blind, in order to get access to her money. But like, while I GUESS it's ok that he falls in love with her because he knows the truth, she is DEFINITELY way too easily falling in love with him while she believes he is her brother. LIKE. WHY. WHY DO THIS TO ME? The melodrama is enjoyable enough but idk, if you want a fun melodrama I think Descendants of the Sun is better because it's more self-aware. I often felt like this show took itself too seriously.
TOP 3 BEST DRAMAS I WATCHED IN 2023
3. Thirty-Nine
source
I LOVE a good women-centric drama and this one delivers on that front. Yes there are romance subplots, but the heart and soul of the show is the friendship between the three women. This is the story about women who have been friends for 20 years and the year they turned 39. One of them receives a devastating health diagnosis and all 3 take steps to change their lives in this one year that changes so much for them. When I tell you that I cried watching this show, I mean I full on SOBBED. I ugly cried. I was a mess. There was snot involved. It was so good though.
[Top 2 Under the Cut]2. Flower of Evil
source
I feel like this show does a REALLY good job of keeping you guessing as to what the truth is and what exactly happened in the past while also not feeling like the twists are cheap. The twists feel earned because they're not exactly twists, they're just more of the truth coming to light and events being seen from a different perspective with more information. So the overall mystery/crime plot is solid. And then! THEN! Then you have the delicious delicious drama regarding the main couple because the husband is a maybe serial killer who has been living his life under an assumed identity and the wife is a detective who has just been assigned to investigate a killing that could lead her to uncovering the mountain of secrets her husband has been hiding.
1. Tale of the Nine-Tailed (and Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938)
source
I am an absolute SUCKER for complicated sibling relationships which is probably why this show rates so high for me. Look, sometimes you are an immortal being with a younger half brother who feels abandoned by you and lashes out by killing people but you love him anyway and all you want is for him to love you again. It's a very relatable and common occurrence!! The romance is sweet and there are a lot of great supporting characters. The main plot of the first series hangs together well, and the second series builds on the first while also doing its own story that isn't connected to the main plot of the first.
[Honorable Mentions]HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Doom At Your Service: I LOVED the A-plot but unfortunately the B-plot was so boring and thematically and tonally at odds with the A-plot that it really brought the overall quality of the show down.
Hello My Twenties!/Age of Youth: The first season was practically perfect, but oh man that second season was uneven AS FUCK and thus I couldn't include the show on the list.
So that's it from me, ONTD! My year in K-drama.
What were your best and worst Asian dramas this year, ONTD?
Are you watching anything good right now?