favourite dramas

"The scars inflicted upon you outside the home and the scars inflicted on you by life itself and even the pain inflicted on you by family, the people who will hold you and stand by you until the end … in the end, that’s family."

Close-knit neighbours and childhood friends rely on each other through the journey of life. Struggling financially, raising two kids alone, learning to move on from the past, growing up without a parent, feeling neglected, falling in love are some of the realistic struggles Reply 1988 explores and does so brilliantly until the end.  A heartwarming show and an important life-lesson. 

Always my favourite.

"Home is where the heart is."

You spend your life in place where everything seems to have fallen to pieces, and suddenly you find yourself back in the 80s, in a totally different town. Life on Mars is about investigations and uncovering the truth, but more than that, it's about building friendships and finding happiness. 

“At the age of 18, we think we can love anyone … and worry too much about little things. Eighteen. Adults say at this age, we laugh at the simplest things. But at that time, we were serious. Harder and more intense than most adults.”

A realistic approach to falling in love with your best friend, and an ode to youth. Reply 1997 is about young love and friendship and the things that come in between. 

Hilarious and touching. 

Edit: Rewatching this in 2023 and it's obvious to me that there are some very big flaws to this drama especially compared to Reply 1988 but apart from Taewoong who is creepy and basically a predator I find the rest of the characters enjoyable as immature as some of them might be. Will maintain this rating purely for the fact that this was the first of the Reply series I watched and I hold some amount of nostalgia towards it. I still find this drama very enjoyable despite all its flaws.

 “Feeling sad and disappointed is only natural when witnessing disappearances. When a flower withers away, just like it dreams of new blossom, you’ll live, meet, and love again.”

A level-headed manager falls in love with his temperamental but fragile ceo. Except she's been stuck here for far more than a few centuries and has never been able to pass on. Hotel del Luna is a very unique show about life and death and falling in love with someone who should have died a long time ago. 

It's funny, but you find meanings in between the lines. 

"If you take the time to think about it, each and every interpersonal relationship is quite fascinating and precious. You must repay them. Live a happy life. That’s how you can repay the people in your life."

In a world where every day is repetitive and time seems endless, My Mister shows people's struggles to live. As they navigate through different kind of hardships, they find comfort in each other and words to hang on to. 

An absolute masterpiece. 

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people."

There's beauty in the ordinary. Hospital Playlist focuses on five longtime friends-turned-colleagues all working at the same hospital in Seoul.  It realistically portrays  day-to-day life but also maintains a relatively optimistic outlook on human relationships and the world. It showcases that while life sometimes isn't fair or isn't all beautiful, you can still have hope that better times will come.  

Realistic yet hopeful. 

I've already talked about how I much love season 1, and I love season 2 all the same. Season 2 started airing at a time when I wasn't at my best. So for about 2 months, every week, I looked forward to another episode of Hospital Playlist S2 because it was the only thing that made me smile. There's something so familiar and warm about the characters, every episode felt like coming home and I really needed that. 

Very thankful towards Hospital Playlist S2 for getting me through this summer. 

“There is one thing we must remember in our lifetime. We weren’t born in this world to suffer or feel miserable. We were born to be happy.”

Telling a multitude of stories, Our Blues is about a tight-knit community on the island of Jeju. Each and every character has its own story to tell although much like them, their stories are also interwoven. Our Blues is about the blues of these villagers' lives, and how every struggle they go through is intertwined with their friends and families. 

An interesting and grounded look on human relationships and struggles. 

"I looked forward to you popping up unexpectedly. I looked forward to sweaty gym classes. I looked forward to every bus on Route 74. I began to look forward to tomorrow."

Su Zaizai meets Zhang Lurang one rainy afternoon and falls for him at first sight. Zhang Lurang is cool and reserved and rarely lets people in. When he meets Su Zaizai however, his life starts to change for the better. He finds there true friendship, trust and love. When I Fly Towards You is about friendship, youth and how someone's existence might affect yours positively. 

Sometimes a person can really change your life. 

“Time will not stop, happiness will never end. Dark clouds are only temporary because there’s always wind.”

When Xu Hongdou's life hits rock bottom, instead of battling it out in a big city that has become all too foreign, Xu Hongdou decides to quit her job and take a break in a small, remote village. Unbeknownst to her, she will find there the comfort and the hope she needed but most of all a friend in Xie Zhiyao. Meet Yourself is about the arduous road towards healing yourself and finding the capacity to have hope once again. 

It's a long journey, but very much worth it.