Once again, I am back with a periodical review of the Top Kdramas of 2017. This year has been exciting for me because, as a long-time lover of Kdramas, I have seen growth in storyline and production. While Kdramas used to focus heavily on romance, and still do to an extent, I find that there is now far more depth and a wider range of plots. These changes in content have been a pleasant surprise and I am excited to share with you both the ones I have watched and those I am looking forward to seeing myself.
1. Chicago Typewriter
This drama is by far my favorite. The cast is made up of Yoo Ah-In who plays Han Se-Joo, Lim Soo-Jung as Jeon Seol, Ko Gyung-Pyo as Yoo Jin-Yo, and Kwak Si-Yang as Baek Tae-Min. This drama is very complicated, so I will try to break it down as much as possible. It is a rom-com, mixed with sci-fi/fantasy themes all held together by the central theme of history. Han Se-Joo is currently a famous writer whose mother died when he was quite young. He goes to live with his father, and there he has to deal with his father’s wife and son (his half brother), Baek Tae-Min. While they initially get along and give each other support, their relationship becomes strained when Baek Tae-Min steals a manuscript from Han Se-Joo. In order not to displease his father, Han Se-Joo says nothing and eventually leaves home to make his way as a writer. However, this is not the main drama in the story. Yoo Jin-Yo is a ghost that shared the same past life with Han Se-Joo and Jeon Seol and seeks to reunite Han Se-Joo and Jeon Seol so that he can be remembered, since he cannot reincarnate if he is forgotten. All three fought as Korean rebel fighters against Japanese imperialism during the 1920s-1930s, where the title of the drama comes from: the guns the Korean rebel fighters used were called Chicago Typewriters (or the 1928 Thompson) because they sounded like a typewriter when fired.
2. Suspicious Partner
Starring Ji Chang-Wook as No Ji-Wook, Nam Ji-Hyun as Eun Bong-Hee and Choi Tae-Joon as Ji Hyun-Hook, this drama tells both the love story and crime solving adventures of No Ji-Wook and Eun Bong-Hee. Eun Bong-Hee is accused of murder after a serial killer murders her ex-boyfriend in her apartment. No Ji-Wook works as her prosecutor, but instead of simply taking false evidence in order to win his case he decides, as result of his conscience and his father, who was once a prosecutor, not to use this tainted evidence and to tell the truth — that Eun Bong-Hee is innocent. Additionally, Eun Bong-Hee is a lawyer, although she is finding it hard to run her own firm. However, No Ji-Wool then offers her a job, and together they seek to capture the person that really murdered her ex and framed her.
3. Bride of the Water God
This was a long-awaited drama for me. I read the Manga also titled Bride of the Water God. The Manga follows a young human woman, Soah, who is offered as a sacrifice to the water god to be his bride so that her village will receive rain and be saved from a drought that had ensued because of their evilness. However, the humans in offering up those they love as a sacrifice to save themselves, only justify the water god in punishing them for their selfishness. Nevertheless, the water god keeps his promise and gives the humans rain when Soah is sacrificed to him as a bride. However, she is struggling to figure out who he truly is, because when she first meets the water god he is in a child’s body due to a curse that made him child by day and adult by night. Soah, however, does not know that they are the same person, and ends up falling in love with both sides of HaBaek, thinking they are different people. However, the drama explores a totally different path. It abandoned much of the original storyline except the connection between a water god and a human girl. The water god, HaBaek, is played by Nam Joo-Hyuk and the human girl he falls in love with is named Yoon So-A, played by Shin Se-Kyung. Yoon So-A’s family has served HaBaek for generations. In order to be crowned king of the water region, he must collect god stones, but he loses both the stones and his powers when he comes to earth, and so when he finds Yoon So-A, he stays with her because she is supposed to serve him until he can get back his powers and find the god stones.
4. Queen of Mystery
This is different from most dramas which focus on young, energetic couples. It focuses on the housewife (Yoo Seol-Ok as Choi Gang-Hee) of a prosecutor. She dreamed of becoming a detective but gave up on her dreams when she got married. She has become a master at solving crimes and lives vicariously through mystery novels. One day she gets the chance to solve a crime; unfortunately her partner (Kwon Sang-Woo as Ha Wan-Seung) does not want a middle-aged woman interfering with his work. This show seems wonderfully thrilling with bouts of comedy interspersed.
I’m definitely looking forward to Thanksgiving break so that I can binge-watch some of these dramas. Which ones are you most looking forward to?
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