Netflix is your go-to platform for webtoon-based Korean dramas!
This type of K-Drama have taken the center stage in the recent years. Presenting imaginative worlds and interesting characters, the webtoon based series have slowly carved a niche to the thriving K-Drama landscape.
Webtoon, a kind of digital comic, are very popular in Korea. Thus, the clamor in the recent years to translate popular web comic in Korean dramas.
From romance to slice of life to thrillers, there’s a webtoon-based Korean drama fit for anyone.
Check out the amazing selection of Netflix below.
Sweet Home
Adapted from a popular webtoon of the same name, Sweet Home is a 10-episode VFX/SFX filled thriller. It takes a riveting route based on the unique premise of a world where people turn into monsters that reflect their own individual desires.
After losing his family, reclusive high school student Cha Hyeon Su moves into a new apartment called Green Home, where he faces bizarre and shocking circumstances. He confronts a series of life changing situations that brings him out to the world to save others.
Love Alarm
Starring Kim So Hyun, Song Kang and Jung Ga Ram; the series narrates the story of friends who find themselves caught in between what they sincerely feel and what a mobile app recommends to be their liking.
Revolving around the Love Alarm mobile app which notifies users if anyone has romantic feelings for them within a 10-meter radius. Kim Jo-jo (Kim So Hyun) struggles with figuring out her feelings while also dealing with a tough situation at home and at school.
With everything revealed by the app, Love Alarm showcases a youthful romance and the implications of this type of technology.
The Uncanny Counter
Based on a popular webtoon of the same title, The Uncanny Counter is a satisfying tale of superheroes who, when not hunting down obstinate evil spirits, toil in a noodle shop.
The dynamic story depicts the struggle between the evil spirits who come down to Earth from the afterworld to become immortal and the Counters, each endowed with a special gift such as brute strength, psychometry and healing, who chase them down.
Full of action and heart, these unconventional heroes will move you.
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?
Embellished with saccharine scenes and made even more lively with ample quirks, Park Seo Joon and Park Min Young’s collaboration was a darling treat for rom-com followers.
The romantic sketch of the debonair boss, who had a mental breakdown when his secretary of 9 years decides to resign from her post, might appear as a typical premise.
But when Park Seo Joon prances with his adorable narcissistic rendition of the self-absorbed boss who eventually come to terms that love is something which can’t be solved by his nimble mind, we got an impressive showcase of his love adventure.
As he tries his best to prevent her from quitting, their relationship begins to change. Full of laughs and swoon-worthy moments, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim is a feel-good rom-com that also incorporates some touching and healing turns for the leads.
Itaewon Class
Park Seo Joon followed up What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim with a role as the main character in another popular webtoon-based series. Itaewon Class follows the story of Park Saeroyi and his quest for success and revenge.
As a high school student, Saeroyi gets expelled and experiences tragedy at the hands of Jangga Group CEO Jang Dae-hee (Yu Jae Myeong) and his son Jang Geun-won (Ahn Bo Hyun). Saeroyi rises from the ashes and seeks to become more successful than Jangga Group with the help of his DanBam restaurant crew.
Her Private Life
Adapted from the web novel Noona Fan Dot Com, Her Private Life has an energizing habit of presenting its narrative in a bright light as much as possible.
Showing the vibrant life of a fan girl, the series sprints to an endearing tale without capitalizing on rom-com cliches. In the drama, Sung Duk-mi is a talented art curator who is also secretly a die-hard K-pop fan.
She tries to keep her private life separate from her work life, but gets entangled with the new director Ryan Gold (Kim Jae Wook). The pair pretend to date to ward off rumors, but sparks begin to fly.
My ID is Gangnam Beauty
Unlike the typical youth dramas staged in school setting, the series veers away to the taxing depictions of youth characters, who seem to have taken all the problems of the world. Although it has problems, the series wisely chose character-centered issues that does not involve school politics, enabling a more sane resolution.
My ID is Gangnam Beauty thankfully proves how youth dramas do not warrant immature characters, while treading on excess baggage of being young, chasing dreams, and discovering love.
It easily hooks due to its refreshing mood, and successfully elevates its game through romantic notes in the waning episodes.
Strangers from Hell
Strangers From Hell is a thriller about aspiring writer Yoon Jong-u (Im Si Wan) and the unpleasant events that occur after he moves into a cheap apartment building. His abnormal neighbors are unsettling and he begins to fear them as mysterious occurrences take place.
While his dentist neighbor Seo Mun-jo (Lee Dong Wook) appears friendly and normal at first, Jong-u realizes that everyone is not as they seem. He struggles to survive while trying to find a way out of the hellish building.
Extraordinary You
Extraordinary You ran on saccharine highs and skids on emotional conflicts that thankfully are not school bullying related.
Adapted from the webtoon July Found by Chance, the drama focuses on high school student Eun Dan-o (Kim Hye Yoon). One day she discovers that she and everyone else are characters in a comic book.
After becoming aware that she’s a side character in a made-up world, she decides to choose her own destiny. She meets a nameless student (Rowoon) and they work together to change the story’s plot as well as their destinies.
Mystic Pop-Up Bar
Mystic Pop-up Bar is adapted from the webtoon Twin Tops Bar. The series is about a mysterious pop-up bar run by hot-tempered Weol-ju (Hwang Jung Eum), former afterlife detective Guibanjang (Choi Won Young), and part-time employee Kang-bae (Yook Sung Jae).
They help customers resolve their problems by entering their dreams. While helping out customers, they also work on getting rid of Kang-bae’s unique ability of making people confess the truth when he makes physical contact with them.
The Tale of Nokdu
The series narrates the story of Nok-du (Jang Dong Yoon) who disguises himself as a woman in order to enter a women-only village in order to evade assassins. While in hiding he tries to uncover the truth about his birth.
In the village, he becomes close to Dong-ju (Kim So Hyun) who is pursuing revenge for her family. In the process, they uncover the secret behind the mysterious village and fight for their lives.
The Tale Of Nokdu, behind its romantic-comedy premise, teaches a serious lesson about men’s penchant for power and thinking having it could bring all the things one’s heart’s desires.
It depicts a side to humanity that is innate yet abhorrent. It also shows that we are given the ability to make choices. Choices that would eventually define how we want to live our lives.
Cheese in the Trap
Webtoons can often run on for many years and are not always completed when a drama adaptation is created. This was the case for Cheese in the Trap which was filmed before the webtoon ended.
The series shows the lives and relationships of a group of university students including main character Hong Seol (Kim Go Eun). She starts to realize that popular
upperclassman You Jeong (Park Hae Jin) has a secret dark side to his personality. In spite of this, they begin to fall for each other.
Love in the Moonlight
Derived from the web novel Moonlight Drawn by Clouds. It tells the coming-of-age story about Crown Prince Lee Yeong (Park Bo Gum) who is transitioning from
boyhood to becoming a monarch. He comes across Hong Sam-nom (Kim Yoo Jung) who has lived her whole life as a man.
She ends up becoming a eunuch at the palace despite her plans otherwise. The crown prince, believing her to be a man, becomes confused about his feelings
for Sam-nom. Amidst the romance, the characters must deal with political unrest and dangers.
The Scholar Who Walks The Night
Based on a manhwa set in an alternate Joseon dynasty where vampires exist, scholar Lee Sung-yeol (Lee Joon Gi) is a guardian vampire who maintains order amongst vampires.
He works with Jo Yang-sun (Lee Yu Bi) in search of a document that provides the key to killing Gwi (Lee Soo Hyuk), a powerful vampire who controls the royal court. Mixing historical and supernatural genres, it results to a unique vampire-themed K-Drama.
Rugal
Rugal centers on police detective Kang Gi-beom (Choi Jin-hyuk) who attempts to take down a criminal organization called Argos. Unfortunately, Argos kills his wife and child while blinding and framing Gi-beom for the murders.
Gi-beom later joins a special task force called Rugal and gains special abilities through biotechnology. Equipped with special artificial eyes, Gi-beom seeks to clear his name and get justice.
Wait, there’s more!
There are more webtoon-based Korean dramas coming soon on Netflix!
Upcoming Netflix original series D.P. is about a military unit that tracks down AWOL soldiers. With a solid cast including Jung Hae In, Koo Kyo Hwan, Kim Sung Kyun, and Son Suk Ku, there is much anticipation for the series especially considering that the original webtoon writer Kim Bo-tong collaborated on the
screenplay.
Another Netflix original series based on a webtoon to look forward to is Hellbound. Directed by Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho, Hellbound will show a world where supernatural creatures appear and drag humans to hell. Top-notch actors Yoo Ah In, Park Jeong Min, Kim Hyun Joo, and Won Jin Ah make up the main cast.
Which of these webtoon-based Korean dramas are your favorites? Check them all out on Netflix!
All photos courtesy of Netflix
