Dramas Everyone Talks About But I Never Watched

 RomancePixi:

Bridal Mask I actually am somewhat tempted to watch seeing as Good Doctor happens to be one of my favorite dramas (you can imagine I was quite disappointed with the American adaption) and Bridal Mask stars two main actors from Good Doctor, as well as a fair amount of other actors I like. The reason I've avoided it is because I've heard it's somewhat gruesome/gory/hard to watch? I'm not sure of that, but that's what I've heard and the past few dramas I've watched have been somewhat violent, I can handle a bit of it, but not too much. Plus I feel like it'll be jarring to see Joo Won go from possibly the sweetest male lead I've seen in a drama to a violent character.

Aw, I can see that, though.  The jump from Shi On --> early drama Lee Kang To would be kind of jarring!  I did Joo Won's dramas in order, and so I had already seen him in Baker King and Ojakgyo Brothers AND 1N2D, so I guess with that background, I knew he was versatile, to say the least :)

It's not that gruesome in terms of really nasty graphic bloodiness, but it is fairly violent and there are scenes that are really difficult to watch (there's one that even though I've seen the whole drama more than once and I know what's coming, that I will skip even now.  Mute, close eyes, fast forward a little, whatever.  Can't do it again.)

I know I'm probably never going to watch Descendants of the Sun, Hwarang, Beautiful Gong Shim, Cheese In The Trap, Level 7 Civil Servant, Uncontrollably Fond, or My Noble My Love

I wonder how people nowadays would feel about Boys over Flowers, You're beautiful etc. When i watched them it was 2009 and they were all so pretty and the story was so cute but then now beauty, style, and stories in dramas have steped up so much when i tried to rewatch some of the dramas I loved as a teen in can't help but cringe a little.

The drama I would recommend the most from your list is Master's Sun. I still think it is a masterpiece, I watch it everytime i feel gloomy and I need some good heartwarming show. I don't know how tu put it clearly but the story, the characters, is so satisfying to me, it's in my top 5/ top 10 ever since I watched it the first time. 

I loved You who came from the stars mostly because of the female lead. She's so different from the other leads we had before 2012. And even now tho. Basicaly she could be considered as a vilain in another drama lol. She's witty, pretentious, superficial, clumsy and over the top. but also very genuine and funny. She made the entire drama for me. 

Coffee Prince is also a favourite of mine, but then again I don't know how watchable it is now, for someone that would've been used to modern dramas.

The repply series are very well written too, very different from most dramas, it's more a bunch of slice of life that actually could happen than fairy tales.

Kill me heal me is a very good melodrama. when it came ou I remeber we were all so excited for every new episode until the very end. it has a lot of very funny moments too.

 jaaraf:

The dramas I will probably not watch (some are also on your list) are Descendants of the Sun (I generally tend to avoid dramas with a medical backdrop- it's my profession and I usually spot something way too unrealistic that irks me), Personal Taste,  Coffee Prince, Secret Garden, Cheese in the Trap (I will probably watch the movie), City Hunter, I Hear Your Voice, Prison Playbook,  Misty, Mother, Stranger, Come and Hug Me, It's Ok That's Love and While You Were Sleeping.

I'm gonna be "that person" who suggests their favorite dramas. While You Were Sleeping has its flaws, but it's my all-time favorite drama and the only drama I'll suggest to non-drama watchers (two of my older brothers and their wives watched it and now my sister-in-law is a drama watcher because of it, my mom watched it as well and loved it, as did my aunt who has never watched anything in another language besides English) it rose above dramas in general for me, so I'd definitely say give it a chance or maybe even just watch the first episode (because the first episode alone is kind of like a standalone movie). 

The dramas that I see everywhere, but didn't watch because either I can't bring myself to watch them  or simply because there are tons of newer dramas I started watching, are: Stranger, Signal, Hana Yori Dango, Full House, Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim, Moon Embracing the Sun, Eternal Love, Mother and 1 Litre no Namida. 

I have seen a lot of dramas you've listed, and I would say that Healer, Moon Lover: Scarlet Heart Ryero and Kill Me, Heal are are probably some of the best dramas I've seen. I did also thoroughly enjoy The Master's Sun and Fight for my Way. I did like DotS (but this one is not for everyone) and The Korean Odyssey. YWCFTS, Secret Garden, Coffee Prince, Reply 1997, Hwarang, Oh My Ghostess, BoF, and the above-mentioned Goblin were ok, but not really that great (my apologies to the fans). I felt like they all were a bit overhyped. I dropped Doctors because I didn't love the story or the leads together.

Personally, I would actually recommend staying away from: 

- Cinderella and the 4 Knights => This show is just not only full of really dumb cliches, but also not that interesting. It also has one of the most stiff second female leads in the history of kdramas, and generally lacks direction. It's fluffy and that's it; it's not even that cute. The evil step- sister and mother got on my nerves, too.

- Uncontrollably Fond => I actually did get into the first 12 episodes, but everything after that was just an epic fail. The character's decisions stopped making much sense to me, and the story was repetitive. I also didn't like the ending.