Twenty Five Twenty One, Alchemy of Souls, Little Women: Experimental and dark, the best K-dramas of 2022 aren’t what you were expecting

Little Women

Kim Go-eun’s thriller turned Louisa May Alcott’s warm novel on its head, and focussed on the travails of three sisters, abandoned by their parents. Kim Go-eun played the eldest sister (In-ju), who suddenly finds herself heir to a shocking inheritance after her best friend supposedly dies. Her sisters, In Kyung (Nam Ji-hyun) and In-hye (Park Ji-hoo) get trapped in this mystery as well. The story was brilliantly taut, riveting and kept the viewers guessing till the very end—-and despite all the expectations, the male lead, played by Wi Ha-joon and Kim Go-eun did not end up together, though it was clear they had obvious attraction to each other. Season 2, anyone?

Twenty Five Twenty One

This is the show that gave everyone severe trust issues and lead to an eruption of debates, discussion and polarised views on social media. Twenty Five Twenty One sees a young girl reading her mother’s diary and trying to piece together the story of her first love. Played by Kim Tae-ri and Nam Hoo-jyuk, despite every possible clarity provided in the show, viewers still expected the leads to find their way to each other. The show experimented with the raw heartbreak of first love, a rarity in a K-drama show. Till the show ended, viewers were praying that the Baek Hi-jin and Na Hee-do would end up together.

Tomorrow

Welcome to the world of Grim Reapers. The angels of death are slogging away in a bureaucracy that has its own issues of understaffing and being under-funded. Two Grim Reapers accidentally cause a young boy to fall into limbo and have to unwillingly let him train with them. The episodes dealt with homicides, but also unravelled the love story of the female lead, Kim Hee-sun, the main Grim Reaper and Lee Soo-hyuk’s Park Joon-gil. The romance was an ill-fated one, and left many fans heartbroken owing to their powerful chemistry.

Under the Queen’s Umbrella

One of the standout shows of the year, Under the Queen’s Umbrella sees a determined Kim Hye-soo as the queen and mother of four wayward sons. However, she needs to make one of them the king, as there are rivals lurking in every corner to bring her down. As she attempts to rein in her sons, she learns a secret about one of them and is forced to think like a mother and not just a queen. It’s a sharply written tale filled with politics and angst, and portrays the true test of a mother’s love.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo

Woo Young-woo is an attorney on the autism spectrum and finally lands a job at a prestigious firm. With her sharp memory, sensitivity and intelligence, she solves cases. In an unusual first for a show, the male lead, played by Kang Tae-oh, wasn’t the center of the show—and moreover, wasn’t the typical K-drama protagonist that one would expect. In a first, he was actually wholesome, sweet and understanding, and raised the bar for other K-drama male leads

Alchemy of Souls

Alchemy of Souls is almost like a fever dream that revolves around the dark magic of soul-switching. A powerful sorceress named Naksu takes the body of a blind woman and runs into a man from a noble family. The first season ended on a rather ambiguous and heartbreaking note with no happy ending for the lovers—-but the second season, which is still airing, but prove otherwise.

Pachinko

Apple TV brought forth an complex tale of Korean immigrants in Japan, and received high acclaim. Starring Lee Min-ho, Kim Min, Pachinko is a tale of love, hope, loss and grief, spanning generations. A second season is on the cards.

All of Us Are Dead

In this riveting apocalyptic tale, zombies crash a high school and the remaining survivors fight for their lives as they try to escape from the school grounds. They have to battle the government, their old friends who are now zombies, and perhaps themselves. No love story gets a happy ending here, the most heart-breaking being best friends On-ju (Park Ji-hoo) and Cheong San (Yoon Chan-young), as she realises that she loves him just as he gets bitten by a zombie and then sacrifices himself in a heart-wrenching scene.

Business Proposal

Let’s end the list on a comforting note. Business Proposal was one of the few shows that reminded some of us why we preferred to watch Korean dramas—-just for the sake of those cheesy romances and saccharine sweetness. Starring Ahn Hyo-Seop and Kim Seo-jong, Business Proposal relates the hilarious story of chairman Kang Tae-moo (Hyeo-sop), who has to find a wife for himself on his grandfather’s strict instructions. A series of misunderstandings leads him straight to Shin Ha-ri (Kim Sejeong), an employee in his own company.