What's next? Upcoming Kdramas in January 2022

[broadcities]

You might be rightly inspired to take up some 2021 Kdramas you missed thanks to this great Omona Original, but the Kdrama industry never stops (literally!) - so let's take a look at some Kdramas set to premiere in January 2022.

Opinions are mine and should be taken lightly as they are just my first impressions. Other thoughts are welcomed!

I marked trailers with English subtitles with an asterisk (*)

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Ghost Doctor

Release date: January 3rd 2022 on TvN
Runtime: Monday & Tuesday
Cast: Rain, Kim Beom, Uee, Son Na Eun, Sung Dong Il
Plot: Cha Young-Min (Rain) is a genius doctor, but he is arrogant and selfish. One day, he gets involved in an unexpected case. Due to the unexpected case, his spirit possesses another doctor's body. These two doctors are complete opposites, with opposite personalities and medical abilities.
Will I watch? The star-studded cast is attractive and the set-up of Rain entering Kim Beom's body has the potential to lead to some fun hijinks combined with heartfelt medical stories (à la Oh My Ghostess!), but from the teaser, I expect it be messily written. Unless I will see some rave reviews on the first 6 episodes, I will focus on other dramas.

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Tracer*
Release date: January 7th 2022 on MBC
Runtime: Friday & Saturday
Cast: Im Si Wan, Ko Ah-Sung, Park Yong-Woo, Son Hyun-Woo
Plot: Hwang Dong-Ju (Im Si-Wan) is the chief of taxation division 5 at the National Tax Service. He works hard to trace money that is hidden from the tax service. His team includes Seo Hey-Young (Ko Ah-Sung), who has a bright personality and his boss is Oh Young (Park Yong-Woo). Meanwhile, In Tae-Joon (Son Hyun-Joo) is the director of a regional tax office. He is an ambitious man.
Will I watch? This drama seems to promise a take down of the megarich - so of course I will watch! Plus, the cast looks great and I am curious how they will make the National Tax Service sexy.

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Through the Darkness

Release date: January 14th 2022 on SBS
Runtime: Friday & Saturday
Cast: Kim Nam Gil, Jin Sun Kyu, Kim So Jin
Plot: A story of criminal profilers who struggle to read the minds of serial murderers. Song Ha-Young (Kim Nam-Gil) is a criminal profiler. He is calm and has charisma. He digs up cases and looks deeply into the human mind.
Will I watch? I think the description by Asian Wiki might not do the story of this drama justice. From what I gather on other platforms, this drama is based on a nonfiction book published in 2018 of the same title, written by Korea's first criminal profiler on his experiences in the field. Perhaps this show will be Korea's answer to dramas on profilers as the US drama Mindhunter. Considering to pick up!

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Dr. Park's Clinic

Release date: January 14th 2022 on TVing
Runtime: Friday
Cast: Lee Seo Jin, Ra Mi Ran, Cha Chung Hwa
Plot: Dr. Park Won-Jang (Lee Seo-Jin) recently opened his own internal medicine clinic. His goal is to become acknowledged as a skilled physician and make a lot of money in the process. He thought that if he opened his own clinic, the money would soon roll in. Reality is a little different for Park Won-Jang. His clinic receives very few patients and it is teetering on insolvency. He struggles to save his clinic. Making things worse, he also suffers from hair loss. Meanwhile, Park Won-Jang is married to Sa Mo-Rim (Ra Mi-Ran). His wife trusts the advice of medical TV programs more than her husband.
Will I watch? Based on a webcomic and starring some of Korea's beloved actors, this drama has the potential to become a national hit. But apparently medical humor does not apeal to me, so I will skip this one.


All of Us Are Dead
Release date: January (scheduled) on Netflix
Cast: Yoon Chan Young, Park Ji Ho, Choi Ji Hyun
Plot: A group of high school students are trapped at their school during a zombie virus outbreak. The students desperately try to avoid becoming zombies and escape from their school.
Will I watch? No, because I'm a scaredy cat, but afraid I will be missing out on Netflix's next Kdrama hit! This drama is based on a webcomic, like many upcoming 2022 Kdramas.



Juvenile Justice

Release date: January (scheduled) on Netflix
Cast: Kim Hye Soo, Kim Moo Yul, Lee Sung Min, Lee Jung Eun
Plot: As crimes committed by minors get more violent and cruel, the offenders usually escape any serious types of punishment.Sim Eun-Seok (Kim Hye-Soo) is an elite judge with a personality that seems unfriendly to others. She hates juvenile criminals. Sim Eun-Seok gets assigned to a local juvenile court. There, she breaks custom and administers her own ways of punishing the offenders.
Will I watch? This drama stars veteran actors who we know from Parasite, Misaeng and Hyena and will most likely center the complicated stories of young people and the failures of the legal system in Korea. Will definitely start this one!

Source: Drama info by AsianWiki 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Other drama images: Netflix (for All of Us Are Dead and Juvenile Justice) | Video teasers: Zapzee Official 1, TvN drama 1, SBS drama 1, TVing 1

What Kdramas on this list are you looking forward to? Did I miss any? Any other Kdramas coming up later next year that you want to watch?