The most popular K-dramas are enjoyed for their grand displays of romance and thrills, but some turn up the dial and present truly dramatic narratives that are wildly entertaining. The worldwide popularity of K-dramas has grown increasingly in recent years, with more dramatic series introducing audiences to an outrageous world largely unseen or well-executed on TV. An umbrella term used to define such shows is “makjang.”
This subgenre of K-dramas is known for its eccentric characters, bold narratives, and drastic plot twists (via Rolling Stone India). By its general definition, it’s easy to dismiss such TV shows as being nonsensical and unworthy of devoting time to. However, the best K-dramas that are overly dramatic pull off their larger-than-life elements with strong on-screen performances and a promised commitment to entertaining audiences above all else.
10 Cinderella With Four Knights (2016)
A Cinderella-Inspired Character Moves In With Eccentric Roommates
Inspired by the classic folk tale and based on a 2011 web novel of the same name, Cinderella with Four Knights is a melodramatic tale about love. The series follows Eun Ha-won (Park So-dam), the Cinderella figure whose stepmother treats her poorly. However, Ha-won gets a change of fate when she meets an older chairman who invites her to live in his mansion and help get his rowdy grandsons into shape.
What follows are entertaining adventures and a complicated love quadrangle between the new roommates. The grandsons in Cinderella with Four Knights are admittedly one-dimensional, and they are defined largely by their rebellious, social, and kindhearted personalities. Cinderella with Four Knights is best enjoyed when audiences give into its unrealistic, dramatic storyline and can appreciate the exaggerated characters for who they are.
9 Little Women (2022)
A Mysterious Twist On Louisa May Alcott’s Story
Loosely based on Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age novel of the same name, Little Women turns up the notch on familial drama. The K-drama follows the Oh sisters, In-joo (Kim Go-eun), In-kyung (Nam Ji-hyun), and In-hye (Park Ji-hu). The sisters in Little Women, having grown up poor, are offered a life-changing amount of money but are the target of Korea’s wealthiest family, who wish to keep the money out of their hands.
Little Women builds a strong sense of suspense throughout its 12 episodes, making sure to reserve any big reveals until the very end. When the K-drama began, it appeared to be the same as any other mystery series. However, audiences are soon thrown into a captivating soap opera-style family drama series with dramatic characters that, while difficult to root for, are addicting to follow along with.
8 Hotel King (2014)
An Heiress And Manager Run A Seven-Star Hotel
A complicated love story, acts of revenge, traumatic backstories, and an over-the-top villain are just a few of the dramatic aspects of Hotel King. The K-drama follows an heiress and general manager running a respected hotel. The connection between the two characters grows stronger as the series progresses, and shocking revelations are exposed as they learn more about one another. The plot twists in Hotel King are never-ending, which tend to feel repetitive in the series’ lengthy run of episodes.
However, Hotel King doesn’t rely purely on these revelations to keep audiences engaged. Rather, the K-drama boasts some well-written characters and a captivating display of heightened emotion which compels audiences to become invested in the story. The emotions are high in Hotel King, but rarely do they feel forced, thanks to the committed performances throughout the show.
A Rich Heir Crosses Paths With A Girl From The Countryside
The message of Shopping King Louie is sincere, but the K-drama chooses to take an intricate and dramatic route to share it with audiences. The series details the meeting between Louis (Seo In-guk), a rich heir with unconventional spending habits, and Bok-shil (Nam Ji-hyun), a woman from the countryside who’s more considerate of her money. Over the course of the series, the two fall in love and learn from each other.
Nam Ji-hyun and Seo In-guk are comfortable in their roles and have a compelling on-screen chemistry that makes their love easy to root for. In addition to its stereotypical love story, Shopping King Louie is full of the most common tropes seen in K-dramas. Such tropes include characters waking up from amnesia, a fated romantic meeting, and selfish wealthy characters who are humbled by those less fortunate.
6 Graceful Family (2019)
A Chaebol Heiress Distrusts Her Family
A K-drama rooted in revenge, Graceful Family earned high levels of critical acclaim and became one of the highest-rated dramas on the MBN network when it was released. Graceful Family is centered around Mo Seok-hee (Im Soo-hyang), the only daughter of a successful MC Group, who returns home to South Korea to face her family and uncover the truth about her mother’s death. The family in Graceful Family is living with several lies, which makes for a compelling dramatic narrative.
There’s a bit of everything in Graceful Family — romance, family drama, crime, and mystery. However, the series rarely feels chaotic or rushed. Every twist and new bit of information in Graceful Family is presented at the right time, ensuring the story and its dramatic parts are coherent and balanced. The journey of Mo Seok-hee is fascinating and will have audiences glued to their screens until the very end.
5 Business Proposal (2022)
A Romance Forms Between A CEO And His Employee
There are numerous K-dramas about falling in love with one’s boss. Perhaps one of the more dramatic entries is Business Proposal. The series follows Shin Ha-ri (Kim Se-jeong), who steps in for her friend on a blind date. However, the man she’s meeting up with happens to be her boss, Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), though he doesn’t know she works for him. Ha-ri continues to move forward with her fake identity as she and Tae-moo fall in love with one another.
The ability to keep up such a lie, and the lack of questioning from others, makes the story in Business Proposal a bit of a stretch. Nevertheless, the series is quickly paced and never fails to entertain. Though the source material for Business Proposal is filled with several K-drama clichés, the TV show doesn’t shy away from them and instead, uses them cleverly within the plot.
4 Coffee Prince (2007)
A Woman Works At A Coffee Shop Disguised As A Man
For its introduction and handling of a sensitive subject matter, Coffee Prince is a K-drama that was ahead of its time. The series revolves around Choi Han-gyeol, one of Gong Yoo’s best TV show roles, who operates a failing coffee shop and hires an attractive all-male staff to earn money and prove to his grandmother he’s a capable businessman. However, one of the shop’s employees is actually a woman, Go Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye), disguised as a man.
Eun-chan keeps up the elaborate lie as she’s just as desperate for money as Han-gyeol is. Romantic feelings start to form between the two and Coffee Prince‘s handling of sexuality has earned the series praise from critics and audiences alike over the years. Unlike other dramatic K-dramas, the strong motives of the characters in Coffee Prince are not malicious and are rather easy for audiences to empathize with.
3 The Penthouse: War In Life (2020-2021)
Wealthy Individuals Rush To Protect Their Families’ Image
Many of the characters in the listed K-dramas have dramatic motives and take drastic action, and those in The Penthouse: War in Life aren’t any different. The Penthouse follows a group of wealthy residents living in the same building, Hera Palace, whose lives get turned upside down after the death of a mysterious girl in their building. Each character in The Penthouse lives with secrets and will do whatever it takes to protect themselves and their children.
Each season of The Penthouse gets increasingly more intense. When it appears all has calmed down for the residents of Hera Palace, a dramatic storyline is introduced. From people getting framed as murderers to others appearing to have risen from the dead, The Penthouse has it all. It’s no wonder why the series earned acclaim and high ratings when it first premiered.
2 The Escape Of The Seven (2023-2024)
Seven People Are Connected To A Disappearance
The drama and scheming presented in The Escape of the Seven is entirely over-the-top in all the best ways. The series revolves around seven individuals who are all connected to a missing girl. In an attempt to clear their names, each character sets out on their own investigation to get to the truth. The Escape of the Seven has thriller, mystery, and revenge elements, making it a completely engrossing series.
The characters in The Escape of the Seven are distinct, each containing their own hidden secrets and acts of greed that make them go to extreme lengths. The Escape of the Seven includes some of the craziest plot points in a K-drama, including attempted murder and an individual who gets plastic surgery and returns to society as a new person. The suspense and dramatic plot points in the K-drama build with each story-filled episode.
1 Perfect Marriage Revenge (2023)
The Complex Revenge Plan Of A Mistreated Woman
Perfect Marriage Revenge implements methods of time travel to tell a dramatic story of revenge. In Perfect Marriage Revenge, the life of Han Yi-joo (Jung Yoo-min) is full of misfortunes, constantly being mistreated by her adoptive mother and discovering her husband has feelings for her younger sister. After getting into a car accident, and being murdered by her mother’s assistant thereafter, she wakes up in the previous year.
With the advantage of knowing how the next year will play out, Yi-joo enacts an elaborate plan of revenge on her fiancé and family. The antagonistic characters surrounding Yi-joo aren’t awarded the chance to grow as individuals, but it doesn’t dampen the viewing experience, as Perfect Marriage Revenge is more concerned with Yi-joo’s journey. The unrealistic scenarios and plot twists are wild and are sure to have audiences hooked.
