Stock up tissue boxes as these weep-fest Korean melodramas will surely numb your heart for a while.
In early 2000, Korean melodramas pushed the emergence of Hallyu to a more dominant position and recognition. “Season dramas” such as Autumn Tale and Winter Sonata became household dramas for families, who were able to relate to the unfortunate fate and satisfying triumphs of the lead characters.
Although these days melodramas are not as agonizingly conceived in a series-of-unfortunate-event setup, it keeps the staple ingredient of the painstaking narrative for the main leads before hitting happy endings. Improvement in tugging the viewers’ hearts with fewer tears is also a significant change compared to how we remember Choi Ji Woo or Song Hye Kyo crying almost every episode in their earlier projects.
Sometimes the amount of tears you shed for Korean melodrama does not make it unforgettable. You cry at the actual moment while watching it, but it does not leave a lingering effect.
But there are stunningly captured Korean melodramas that remain carved in the viewers’ hearts, because of how beautifully and emotionally it was imagined. Each frame lets you feel the rush of the tears, and the nuance of hope for the character to be emancipated from his agonizing situation. Such power and dedication are needed to perfectly picture melodramas.
Let’s look back on some of the most recent Korean melodramas, which left us feeling sweetly depressed due to the amount of emotions we invested. Stories that gave us a prolonged inability to move on past the aftermath. Characters who provided us harrowing answers to life questions that we are too proud to ask.
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
For people who have experienced the bliss of falling in love, they would know how love is not love without pain and memories. Scarlet Heart Ryeo runs a tormenting conflict-driven plot, cushioned by languid story building. The stunning attention to depict the hero of the story paid off, as viewers gravitated to his harrowing journey. In return, the audiences show their appreciation by feeling the numbing anguish of his character.
Given the heavy plot and all the tragedies that happened in the story, a happy ending does not fit the framework of the narrative. 4th Prince So’s open-ended closure on losing his one great love and longing to find her in the future reiterates how the story focuses on the love journey and not on the fulfillment. Scarlet Heart Ryeo treads on the reality that a happy ending does not measure how great a love can be.
Queen For Seven Days
Queen for Seven Days is a breathtaking chronicle about a woman, who puts her faith in love, only to be lured inside a web of doubts and betrayals. Though not achieving a happy ending fully, this historical masterpiece appeals to people who know that love waits and endures. It will challenge your emotional strength in a way that ice cream and chocolates won’t be able to help.
The heartfelt devotion of the main leads to bring out the evolving dimensions of their characters strongly keeps the plot balance. It supports the vibrancy of the love tale, even the unhappy facet of it.
Uncontrollably Fond
Uncontrollably Fond taps into those memories of lost and depressing love that people don’t want to look back anymore in their lives. It is not a happy-ever-after kind of romance that appeals typically to almost anyone. Instead, it delves into the most shameful, most regretful, and most painful things that anyone can do because of love.
Limited by its realistic approach, the writing flows to the agonizing dying-man-all-willing-to-protect-his-woman premise. It leaves a love lesson on how the pain we feel to fight for our love does not mean less to the love we gave to stay in a relationship.
Scent of a Woman
Scent of a Woman lets you feel the tears and the optimism of a dying woman, who has deprived herself of the many comforts of life, only to wake up one day, stumbling on the unfortunate news that she is bound to die. She goes through the stages of grief when the realization hits her.
When she finally accepts that it won’t do her any good, she decides to fulfill her bucket list and uses her abundant savings to splurge on the luxuries she has previously chosen to evade.
One of her bucket list wishes is to fall in love. But just when that wish is set to come true, she faces the dilemma that she is not ready to give up her life because of the man she loves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDgCzKEyoXs
The Princess’ Man
The agonizing yet tender Joseon set Romeo-and-Juliet period drama, bravely presents the risks in committing yourself to someone, and the bittersweet pain of coming to terms that love has always casualties.
The lead couple for this historical drama encounters mishaps and sufferings until they finally claim the fated love they deserve. Their steadfast faith to be with each other at the expense of defying their families can make the heart-rending narrative worthy of a binge cry.
Five Fingers
When you have the protagonist, villains, and counter-villains living under the same roof scheming on how they can make each other suffer and retaliating at the same time, you get the best drama ensemble acting-wise. Five Fingers tells the story of a dysfunctional family that mutually detests each other. The intense, unlimited angst thrown at each other proves how money is thicker than blood and first love.
Full of flavors and sentiments, Five Fingers takes pride in the cohering storytelling, which puts the actors to the acting limit without showing any sign of defiance. It is a sweet tear and bliss story that you can share with your family.
May Queen
Sitting on a 38-episode melodrama with a birth secret, super evil villains, and a revenge-driven plot is a feat that is hard to accomplish. But the oil exploration and shipbuilding industry premise provide a layer of curiosity and drama that viewers can rely on.
What I liked about this drama is they compensated in the long run to explain everything they had to clear. They make sure that characters revolve and redeem their personas. It is a good yardstick for melodramas that do not take romance as an integral part. While not that stimulating, it does not lose track of where it is heading.
Alice In Cheongdamdong
What would you do if you truly love the person but you started off with not the right intention? This question is answered by the Cinderella story of Alice in Cheongdamdong. It highlights interesting characters, reality slaps, gold-digging lessons, PTSD nonsense, and thought-provoking love arguments.
There are a lot of reality check frames in the drama inferring love disparities. That makes the texture of the story different from your typical you-and-me-against-my-rich-family premise since the lead girl is blatant with her intentions of marrying for money even if she knows that it will destroy her. She is honest to emphasize that – when you build a future with someone, love is the foundation but money will sustain it.
That Winter, The Wind Blows
That Winter the Wind Blows treads on this premise – “I pretended to be a long lost brother to a blind heiress because I needed money to continue to live, only to find myself waking up wanting to protect my fake little sister every single day.”
Jo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo’s small screen pairing produced a stunning melodrama, with ample ardent scenes to engross the audiences’ hearts without bordering to hallow weep fest. It leaves a lingering message that loving someone when you are literally blind takes faith beyond reasons, and finding a reason to live because you love someone takes bravery beyond faith.
Mask
Mask, having damaged characters, entices you by how much it deconstructs the main leads’ motivations and frailties on what they are willing to give, because of greed, vengeance, and sacrificial love. Swerving from the musty melodrama trademark, it raises its fight club banner through lies, devious plots, and ruthless counterattacks for reasons of being blindly in love, and the thirst to achieve a payback.
The story revolves around a poor woman, who is hired to pretend as the daughter-in-law of a rich family when the real rich girl died because of an accident. The lie that she agrees to do backfires when she wakes up falling in love with her husband.
If you are up to exercise your tear ducts and to immerse in breathtaking stories that inspire, take a pick on this selection whenever you have a long weekend to spare.
Missing You
Staying away from the chaebol-love-you-hate-you love stories, Missing You plunges to a dark and painful romance between a girl who was left behind by her friend and first love, and the man who waited for 14 years to make up for letting go of the girl he first loved.
Tissue, more tissue, and a lot of tissue. Prepare for the weep fest and constant swaying and sighing over why Harry placed himself on that love triangle when he could have stayed by our side. *chuckles
We normally get a love triangle where the third wheel stood as the villain because the main couple’s love is really unrequited, but this time, viewers are rendered weeping, confused, annoyed, and don’t know what to do on thinking how complicated the love triangle is.
Autumn in My Heart
Birth secret and forbidden unrequited love have layered this quintessential melodrama to sublimity. Succumbing to a bawling mess is normal when you watch Autumn in My Heart, a go-to drama when you need a good cry.
Stairway To Heaven
Early melodramas strengthened the tear ducts of first-generation K-Drama fans. This Choi Ji Woo and Kwon Sang Woo drama is a perfect example. Although it did not have a happy ending, the journey of the two leads to finding their way back to each other was worth all the tears and heartaches. The thought of thinking about this drama is already making me cry. *chuckles Prepare rolls of tissues if you want to indulge.
Something Happened in Bali
Taking the archetypal route of Korean melodramas, if watched at this time, the Jo In Sung, So Ji Sub and Ha Ji Won love triangle series, would surely appear trite and something you have seen before. In a way, the rich-boy-poor-girl and problematic second-lead syndrome elements can be traced to this model tearjerker that refuses to make an apology to its brave ending.
I’m Sorry I Love You
Slowly emerging as a dominating trend last year, healing dramas are conquering K-Drama landscape. A few years ago, I’m Sorry, I Love You was an emotionally written masterpiece that ironically encourages.
Padam Padam
One of the forerunners of JTBC’s debut year, Padam Padam is a Noh Hee Kyung penned drama. As such, its lyrical screenplay translates to a heartfelt love narrative. In fantasy-romance flair, it captures the skill and charm of Jung Woo Sung as an ex-convict who will fall for the niece of the person who caused his jail sentence.
Secret Love
One of those dramas which start slow but zoom in for a runaway hit, Secret Love takes a thrilling route with impressive cliff-hangers.
The unearthing of the secrets involving the lead characters is just mesmerizingly addictive. Although running on revenge tone, it does not emotionally overwhelm.
Jang Ok-jung
When they promised a different approach to the story of Joseon’s femme fatale, I was curious about what they were trying to arrive at. You see it’s hard to sway someone’s preconception of an existing character that has been hailed as a she-Sauron on TV and film adaptations, but it managed to satisfy my curiosity plus it gave me days of happiness staring at Yoo Ah In.
Our modern era has simplified pressing heart-fluttering scenes in dramas and movies. Kisses, declaration of i-love-yous, and some more kisses always do the trick.
Thus the challenge of a period romance melodrama would always be how they can create scenes in a historical premise that would make the audience lovingly sigh, swoon and squeal… and that was satisfyingly achieved by the concubine and her King.
The moon gazing, the walking side by side together beneath the stars, the never-let-go-of-my-hand-promises, and see-how-much-i-love-you scenes were some of the most superbly captured moments in this series.
All you are willing to give up because of love has been the poignant theme of this drama and it concluded in a heartbreaking moment that made me cry like a baby for this star-crossed lover who surrendered on destiny.
This is My Love / Beloved Eun-dong
Hitting a strong narrative, This is My Love narrates a love story so blissful and agonizing as it came straight from a classic love novel.
It can put the audience in a trance while finding a solution for everyone to be happy in the story. Deeply evoking, it reminisces the casualties of failed relationships and the bliss of fighting for the love you think is rightfully yours.
This drama reminds you of your greatest love and proves how love is meant to be when you work for it to happen.
Fantastic
Even with the dying premise, I have grown to love Fantastic because of the dexterous cast and how they blend together supporting each other’s friendship and stories. The series promotes an optimistic story that not only encourages through its love theme but also left ruminative life lessons.
Rendered in simple sketching, it has taken pride in how immersing the actors were in playing their roles. It pushed me to a nonchalant committal to understanding the cast and their stories as well as the minimal discrepancies of the plot along the way.
My Mister
My Mister has introduced characters who are living up to the weight of life realities. Through their shared pain, they find out the meaning of life through mutual healing.
The series pictures ordinary flawed characters, making the viewers able to relate to their pains as if they are their own. Narrated in the perspective of a young woman who has long given up with the miserable life she had to live, My Mister takes you to a breathtaking acceptance of how happiness never amounts to the level of success, fame, and money, but by living life to the fullest.
SKY Castle
Beautiful in its own right, SKY Castle was not something spectacular that ever graced K-Drama land, to be honest. If we mull over the lessons from its fictional world perspective, all those family dramas are honestly sad realities, which can make the viewers retrospect.
All the four featured families had imparted indispensable lessons about family relationships, parental failures, and marital hitches. Depicting the debilitating pressure of youth on strengthening their education merits for their future was another excellent highlight.
On that note, presenting the disheartening truth of how educational attainment has been an agonizing criterion that contributes to one’s success is my takeaway from all the crazy sentiments I got from SKY Castle. Pictured in the context of privileged mothers, I think the rolled complication can appeal to all mothers regardless of economic status.
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes put me on that realization of how I underestimated melodramas to be just relying on tears and a series of unfortunate events to whirl its narrative. If given proper treatment, even with a bare setting along with essential conflicts and characters, it can paint an idyllic picture that goes back to one of the fundamental goals of storytelling — providing clear inspiration to its viewers.
Brilliantly penned, portrayed, and executed, it has streamed to one of the best melodramas in recent years. What you can change to because of love, and to which extent you would be willing to go for that same love, are the questions answered in the thrilling strips of this series.
If you are up to exercise your tear ducts and to immerse in breathtaking stories that inspire, take a pick on this selection whenever you have a long weekend to spare.
Photos: Respective Networks of Aforementioned Dramas
Videos: 1theK | Stone Music Entertainment
