And now last but not least, here's the Top 10 Asian Dramas list that I started two years ago! Again, this list is based on my personal opinions and may contain spoilers. If you'd like to see more, make sure to check out my Weekly Drama Reviews, Favorite YouTube Videos and My Asian OTPs & Ships as well as checking out my Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2018, and Top 10 Asian Dramas Of 2019 lists!
First up in alphabetic order are my honorable mentions which once again are dramas that I watched this year but aired in previous years!
A Gentleman’s Dignity
First up on my honorable mentions list is a kdrama called A Gentleman's Dignity. Now this drama will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea cause it's basically a show in which middle aged men act raunchy but I think I watched this at the perfect time and I fell in love. It's an ensemble show in which we follow four guy friends as they navigate through the minefield of love. The main male lead and his romance is my favorite of the bunch cause I'm kinda a sucker for the whole playboy falls for a soft woman trope and though I could take or leave the others, I kinda just loved what a great squad they were together. The men had each other's backs through life or death and it was just overall sweet. Click here to see my full review if you're interested!
It’s Okay That’s Love
Next up on my list is a kdrama called It's Okay That's Love. This show has one of the best portrayals of mental health that I've seen in a drama before. It follows a wonderful found family as they live their lives and get through hurdles that each one faces. The main leads are the highlight of this show of course and their chemistry is what allows you to buy what the show is selling but I also want to shout out how mature the whole show feels. It doesn't slide away from talking about sex but it's not an American show level either. This is another case of a playboy falls for a woman who changes his world but there's more to the story that I'm not entirely sure if I should spoil... The end of the drama wasn't exactly my cup of tea but other people enjoyed it so it's possible that it will work for you. Click here to see my full review if you're interested!
Liar Game
My third honorable mention is a kdrama called Liar Game! So this is technically a remake of a jdrama that's an adaptation of a Japanese manga but never having seen any of the Japanese versions, I jumped into the kdrama completely blind and was mesmerized! This show is basically the dramatic version of watching a game show but with the stakes and energy of a death game anime without the death part! It takes a look at what people are at their core and whether someone would lie cheat or steal for money. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of the female lead but I also didn't despise her like others did so take of that what you will. Click here to see my full review if you're interested!
Mary Stayed Out All Night / Marry Me Mary
Next up is a kdrama called Mary Stayed Out All Night/Marry Me Mary. This show is a mixed bag cause while the concept for this show was something that was right up my alley and I would seriously die for how cute the main couple was, the writing really took me out of it. The thing you've got to know going into this show is that the main writer switched halfway through so honestly you could only watch the first half and be perfectly content to skip out on the mess that was the second half. The story follows a female lead who's father basically sells her into marriage with a rich man's son to pay his debt so the female lead turns to a friend and pretends that she's already married. The music is pretty great here and I do like the friend group our leads have but the parents are truly despicable in fun new ways each time. Click here to see my full review if you're interested!
Nine: Nine Times Time Travel
My last honorable mention is a kdrama called Nine: Nine Times Time Travel. This drama actually might be the most underrated on my list cause while I've at least seen people talk about the others on this list, I feel like no one has seen this time travel drama and that's such a shame. Honestly it's probs cause this show is definitely not a rom com (which seems to be the interest for most viewers) but I'm a sucker for romance thrillers! This show doesn't exactly have a new and fresh take on time travel but one thing it does exceptionally well is that it actually shows you the consequences of changing things without knowing all the facts. The main couple is totally angsty and lovely and I really loved the ending for this show despite everything. Click here to see my full review if you're interested!
Now let's get into my Top 10 list ranked from 10 to 1 with number 1 being my favorite drama of the year!
Go Ahead
Coming in at number 10 is a cdrama called Go Ahead! Now honestly modern cdramas are a mixed bag for me cause while I tend to find most of them too superficial or tropey, once in a while I find a diamond in the rough and that's exactly what this show was. This show is definitely the first cdrama I've watched that feels more like a family drama than anything else and it's what grabbed me from the start. It follows a group of five people who become a family due to circumstances and we get to watch them grow from children to teens to adults. It really does feel like we're popping in and out of different moments in these people's lives. We see them struggle with really realistic problems like abandonment, insecurity, and anxiety while trying to answer the question: Does blood or love make a family? There's a wonderful romance in this show but the story is more focused on platonic love than anything else.
Someday Or One Day
At number 9 is a twdrama called Someday Or One Day! I don't usually watch that many twdramas but when one catches my attention, I really fall in love. This one was really unique cause I don't know if I've experienced a show trying to fit so many different genres into one and succeeding. If I had to condense it down I'd say it's a time travel body swap high school romance thriller and if that doesn't peak your interest, you've got to be crazy! But seriously the time travel in this show is interesting in how it plays with the idea of closed loops and I think it's super creative that this show starts out feeling like it's going to be a rom com only to take a right turn when murders start taking place and our heroes have their backs to the wall. The main romance is absolutely adorable and I love the way everything that goes around comes back around. Click here to see my full review if you're interested!
Find Me In Your Memory
Coming in at number 8 is a kdrama called Find Me In Your Memory! I didn't have that high expectations for this show when I first started it only to straight up fall in love not only due to the amazing chemistry that our leads had but also because it fed me all the tropes I adore. Fake dating? Check. Grumpy guy meets sunshine girl? Check. Star-crossed lovers? Check. No but seriously this show follows a reporter who ends up having to pretend to date an actress due to reasons and they stumble upon a mystery in which they have to hunt down her stalker and fall in love along the way realizing that they're connected in the past in ways they didn't know before. The second couple in this show is pretty cute too and there are two wonderful friendships that make this show as well.
Stove League
At number 7 is a kdrama called Stove League! So if you know me then you know I'm a giant sucker for romance so usually I tend to enjoy shows that have romance in them whether that's the main point of the show or if it's sprinkled in but this show was super unique in that it has no romance whatsoever and yet as you can see it still ended up on my top 10 list. This show follows the management crew of a professional baseball team as we try to take the worst baseball team in the league and make them champions while also trying to prevent the team from being sold by the owner. I do have to explain though that this show is more of an office drama than a sports one cause we barely ever get to see the team play. There is a lot of politics but the fun of this show is how competent our main leads are and watching them outsmart their opponents.
365: Repeat The Year
Coming in at number 6 is a kdrama called 365: Repeat The Year! I feel like as I go down this top 10 list, you can start seeing a trend cause this is the third time travel drama on my list! This one is a little different though cause it's more of a murder mystery thriller than a romance. It follows a group of people who are sent back in time one year in order to fix the regrets they had and while at first everything seems perfect eventually they start noticing that they're being killed one-by-one. There are so many twists and turns to the story but everything is so well paced and well written. The main leads can be read as friends or lovers but the thing that works the most with them is how much they care for one another and how competent both are. The female lead is never a damsel and she's always right there in the thick of things solving puzzles unlike in most dramas where the male lead does all the work and hides things. The only complaint that I would have is that the means for time travel was never really explained but I can let that go cause the time travel wasn't the focus as much as the mystery was!
It’s Okay To Not Be Okay / Psycho But It's Okay
At number 5 is a kdrama called It's Okay To Not Be Okay/Psycho But It's Okay! This show was interesting cause it might have been one of the only Netflix dramas this year that lived up to it's hype. The show was absolutely beautifully filmed, the themes were perfectly on point, the acting was top notch as was the writing and the chemistry between our leads sizzled to the point that when the leads finally kissed, we were all screaming. The story mainly follows 3 leads: the female lead who struggles with anti-social personality disorder and the male lead who has spent so much of his life taking care of his brother that he's severely emotionally repressed and the male lead's brother who's autistic. It kinda feels like a dark take on a fairytale which is one of many things that makes it feel so unique. I do have to say that the twist at the end about the female lead's parents was a little lame but it doesn't take away from the overall story in my opinion.
My Unfamiliar Family
Coming in at number 4 is a kdrama called My Unfamiliar Family! If you've ever been of the mind that you want to try a family drama but are scared by the large episode count, then look no further than this drama right here! This show streamlines the normal craziness and soap opera elements of a 50 episode family drama into a 16 episode one while also removing all storylines that aren't related to our main family to keep the show condensed. I do adore the friends to lovers loveline in this show between the second daughter and her best friend but the highlight of this show is the relationship between the main family. It makes you look at the idea that though family are supposed to be the ones that know you best sometimes they're the ones who know you the least. And if that isn't all enough, there is also a wonderful LGBTQ storyline in this show too that blew me away with how carefully it was done.
Coming in at number 3 is a jdrama called Alice In Borderland! This is a surprise last minute addition to my top 10 list cause it literally just came out in December and I binged it in a weekend. Remember how I said earlier that Liar Game felt like a death game anime without the death part? Well scratch that out! This show is literally a death game anime in live action with how it takes all our main characters from the real world into this parallel world in which they have to solve puzzles and win games in order to survive. If you lose, you die. The characters in this show are excellently written and acted whether they're heroes, villains or in between, the games are exciting to watch, and the mystery of where we are is compelling. I love the way it breaks your heart at every turn and how there's even a transgender character in the mix that isn't treated any differently than any other. Click here for my full review!
The Romance Of Tiger And Rose
Coming in at number 2 is a cdrama called The Romance Of Tiger And Rose! If you haven't actually seen this drama yet then you're definitely missing out cause when this show aired everyone including people who don't usually enjoy historical/fantasy cdramas adored this show and I'm here to say it's definitely everything the hype promises and more! It follows a female lead who accidentally ends up inside the book she's writing but instead of being the female lead, she ends up becoming the second female lead and falls in love with the male lead. It's one of the funniest cdramas I've ever watched and the female lead is the perfect balance of being silly but not being a complete child while the male lead starts out thinking that he's this badass dark traitorous man who turns into a puppy following the female lead around with heart eyes. The final third of this show isn't as strong as the rest and the male lead does do something that might be a trigger warning but all in all I had a blast with this show and I've definitely rewatched more than once this year already!
Do You Like Brahms?
And finally my number 1 drama of 2020 is a kdrama called Do You Like Brahms!! Did this show start out super cavity inducing and adorable? Yes. Did it turn into an angst fest by the second half? Also yes. Did I mind? Not even for a second. I know I'm in the minority with this opinion but I truly thought that every moment of this show was perfection whether our leads were happy and cute together or sad and depressed separately. The story takes place in the music world where we basically see two love triangles in which the remaining triangle legs fall for each other instead. The male lead is a famous pianist who's forgotten why he ever loved music while the female lead is a struggling violinist who loves music but finds that maybe music doesn't love her back. Both the male and female lead are super introverts so a lot of the story is told through expression and behind closed doors rather than through direct confrontations and there's something just so magical about that in a world of dramas with extroverts! When a character makes a decision it's more impactful cause you know how much thinking was involved. I do have to admit that other than our male and female lead and maybe one or two other characters, every person in this show is super flawed and sometimes monsters but it just adds to the reason why the leads find a quiet shelter in each other.
And with that I have officially wrapped up all my Top 10 lists of 2020! I hope you all have a wonderful New Year and I'll see you all in 2021!!
xoxo Allie
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