2012 Korean Dramas

Happy New Year! It's 2013 now so get ready for a 2012 Kdrama bonanza! I tried to watch quite a few Korean dramas that aired this year, so I hope I have amassed enough information to be helpful to the netizens. I am going to list the 2012 dramas that I watched in chronological order by start of airing date. I will be listing the drama's title, air date, number of episodes, prominent cast members, my own special Korean Drama genres, a description of the drama using a few key words, and whether I think people should watch it or not.

The Moon Embracing the Sun

Air Dates: January 4th - March 15

Episodes: 20

Cast: Kim Soo Hyun, Jung Il Woo

Genres: historical, romance, supernatural, memory loss

Key Words: magical, romantic, epic

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

Wild Romace

Air Dates: January 4th - February 23rd

Episodes: 16

Cast: Lee Dong Wook, Lee Si Young, Jessica

Genres: romantic comedy, sports

Key Words: cute, funny

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

Notes: I tie this drama with Arang and the Magistrate for best ending. This drama ended perfectly.

Shut Up Flower Boy Band

Air Dates: January 30th - March 20th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Sung Joon, Kim Myung Soo, Lee Hyun Jae

Genres: music, high school, romantic comedy, friendship

Key Words: fun, cool, fresh

Watch it? Yes
DramaFever.com

Kpop The Ultimate Audition

March 19th - May 1st

Episodes: 14

Cast: Park Yoo Hwan, Go Eun Ah

Genres: music, romantic comedy, girl pretending to be a boy

Key Words: fun, silly, sweet

Watch it? Yes

Notes: The ending was shortened, but it's still a good drama. Plus, Yoo Chun's brother Yoo Hwan is cute!
Watch it on Hulu

Rooftop Prince

Air Dates: March 21st - May 24th

Episodes: 20

Cast: Park Yoo Chun, Han Ji Min

Genres: time travel, supernatural, romantic comedy

Key Words: funny, romantic, awesome

Watch it? ABSOLUTELY

Notes: My favorite drama of 2012
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

King 2 Hearts

Air Dates: March 21st - May 24th

Episodes: 20

Cast: Lee Seung Gi, Han Ji Won

Genres: romance, political

Key Words: epic, dark

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles
DramaFever.com

Love Rain

Air Dates: March 26th - May 29th

Episodes: 20

Cast: Jang Geun Suk, Yoona

Genres: melodrama, romantic comedy, melodrama again

Key Words: slow, colorful

Watch it? No

Notes: Geun Suk and Yoona look great together, but this drama is slow-moving and often depressing for no good reason.
with English subtitles
DramaFever.com

Queen In Hyun's Man

Air Dates: April 18th - June 7th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Ji Hyun Woo, Yoo In Na

Genres: time travel, romantic comedy

Key Words: funny, lovable

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

A Gentleman's Dignity
Airing Dates: May 26th - August 12th
Episodes: 20
Cast: Jang Dong Gun, Kim Ha Neul
Genres: romantic comedy, friendship
Key Words: funny, endearing
Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

I Love Lee Tae Ri

Air Dates: May 28th - July 17th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Kim Ki Bum, Park Ye Jin, JUB

Genres: body swapping, romantic comedy

Key Words: weird, sweet, fun

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles Viki.com

I Do, I Do

Air Dates: May 30th - July 19th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Kim Sun Ah, Lee Jang Woo

Genres: romantic comedy, fashion

Key Words: playful, colorful, fresh

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

Notes: You'll love this drama, trust me.

Bridal Mask

Air Dates: May 30th - September 6th

Episodes: 28

Cast: Joo Won, Park Ki Woong

Genres: historical, political, action, romance

Key Words: epic, bloody, dark

Watch it? Yes

with English subtitles Bridal Mask

Notes: This drama is long and boring at times, but worth the effort.

Big

Air Dates: June 4th - July 24th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Gong Yoo, Lee Min Jung, Suzy

Genres: body swapping, romantic comedy

Key Words: silly, emotional, magical

Watch it? Yes

with English subtitles DramaFever.com

Notes: The ending did not satisfy, but the drama was enjoyable for the most part.

I Need Romance 2012

Air Dates: June 20th - August 9th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Jung Yu Mi, Lee Jin Wook

Genres: romantic comedy, friendship

Key Words: playful, quick

Watch it? Maybe

Notes: My least favorite drama of 2012.
DramaFever.com

Answer Me 1997

Air Dates: July 24th - September 18th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Jung Eun Ji, Seo In Guk

Genres: high school, romantic comedy, friendship

Key Words: hilarious, fresh, awesome

Watch it? ABSOLUTELY
DramaFever.com

Haeundae Lovers

Air Dates: August 6th - September 25th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Kim Kang Woo, Jo Yeo Jeong

Genres: romantic comedy, memory loss

Key Words: funny, cute

Watch it? Yes
DramaFever.com

Faith

Air Dates: August 13th - October 30th

Episodes: 24

Cast: Lee Min Ho, Kim Hee Sun

Genres: time travel, romance, supernatural, historical

Key Words: epic, emotional

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

To the Beautiful You

Air Dates: August 15th - October 4th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Choi Min Ho, Sulli

Genres: high school, romantic comedy, girl pretending to be a boy

Key Words: young, enjoyable, light

Watch it? Maybe
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

Notes: I recommend this for people who like light, fluffy romcoms, it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Arang and the Magistrate

Air Dates: August 15th - October 18th

Episodes: 20

Cast: Shin Min Ah, Lee Jun Ki

Genres: historical, supernatural, romantic comedy

Key Words: funny, scary, awesome

Watch it? ABSOLUTELY
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

Panda and Hedgehog

Air Dates: August 18th - October 7th

Episodes: 16

Cast: Lee Dong Hae, Yoon Seung Ah

Genres: romantic comedy, baking

Key Words: sweet, funny

Watch it? Yes
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

The Innocent Man/ Nice Guy

Air Dates: September 12th - November 15th

Episodes: 20

Cast: Song Joong Ki, Moon Chae Won

Genres: melodrama, revenge

Key Words: amazing, emotional, dark

Watch it? ABSOLUTELY
with English subtitles DramaFever.com

Full House Take 2
Air Dates: October 22nd - December 13th
Episodes: 16 (2 parts each)
Cast: No Min Woo, Park Ki Woong
Genres: romantic comedy, music
Key Words: cheesy, silly, light
Watch it? Maybe
Notes: This drama is so wrong that it's enjoyable to watch.
DramaFever.com

I am also watching May Queen (aired August 18th - December23rd), I Miss You (started November 7th), and Cheongdamdong Alice (stared December 1st).

To the Beautiful Choi Minho

Choi Minho as Kang Taejoon

I will start off by saying that To the Beautiful You is visually stunning. I think they used some sort of camera filter called “super cute” because every person, outfit, building, dog, and tree looked awesomely attractive. Choi Minho didn’t even look human, his face looks like it was chiseled from a block of marble by baby angels (I insist that you refer to the picture to the left). Also, I love love love the theme song J-Min's "Stand Up" is very cool. I think that song in the trailer is what first got me excited about watching this drama. As far as the story goes, I enjoyed watching, of course, but it felt a bit shallow. I’m not even trying to compare it to Hana Kimi because I don’t really like to say “this drama isn’t as good as blah” about anything, so I will assess it just by analyzing TTBY as a drama of its own.

What I will say about TTBY is that I like the scale of the relationships. Since this drama involves high school kids interacting within the school environment, I think it is important the love not be taken to a weird “I will die for you” level. In school being willing to die for someone is more equivalent to Cha Eun Gyeol’s (Lee Hyun Woo) willingness to accept being gay so that he can like Goo Jae Hee (Sulli). I think the discussion brought up by including a young man suffering through the internal confusion of sexual identity (even if it is actually a girl that he likes) is at least a small accomplishment for gay tolerance. Understanding that being attracted to a person isn’t always about their gender (or any part of their identity for that matter) is a message that I received while watching this drama, even if it wasn’t intended to be more than just another cute love story.

Go Jae Hee and Cha Eun Gyeol

As for the main relationship between Kang Tae Joon (Choi Min Ho) and Goo Jae Hee, this is where I felt the lack of depth in the drama. I think that the hardest part for me to accept (ignoring the fact that obviously Sulli did not, at any point, look like a boy) is that GJH’s reason for coming to Genie, or South Korea at all for that matter, is very weird. So she was a pretty girl that was picked on for no reason what-so-ever by the evil American kids, and she saw Tae Joon on TV blathering about miracles (though, I do like the “Miracle is another name for hard work” sentiment) which prompted her to somehow abandon her family, schooling, friends, etc. and go to Tae Joon to make him do the high jump again? It doesn’t really make sense. But, the reason for her coming aside, I think that KTJ and GJH had some cute moments throughout the drama. GJH became the nurturing female-figure that KTJ was desperately needing after losing his mother, so we see KTJ become super protective of her. The scale of their relationship seems appropriate to me for a high school show as well, at least when considering it is a Kdrama. When they were happy and played around with each other, it felt sweet and real, and when KTJ shutdown about his emotions and his relationship with his father, I believed him as high school boy who is too proud or embarrassed to express himself.

Overall, To the Beautiful You passes as an acceptable use of 16 hours of my life. I don’t know if I will spend another 16 watching again in the future, but I recommend that romcom fans watch this drama if they haven’t done so already, but I think most of you already have at this juncture. If you take TTBY as it is, a cute Kdrama with some of the most attractive young people in South Korea, you will be able appreciate the visual treat that it is and the loveliness of high school friendships that it displays.

I watched this drama on Viki. Here is the link:

http://www.viki.com/channels/3475-beautiful-you