Humans cry for many reasons. If we’re being honest here, sometimes we just want to cry for the sake of it. May it be a therapeutic release or you’re just low-key a masochist, you have to admit there’s nothing like going through a roller coaster of emotions than with an insanely well-written and excruciating K-drama series. If you're looking for exactly that right now, we got you covered.
Below, we list down 10 underrated K-dramas that will leave you feeling like a part of your heart has been taken away:
1. 49 Days (2011)
Watch on: Viu
Bride-to-be Shin Ji-hyun is living her best life—she’s got a wealthy family, a perfect fiancé, and supportive best friends. A complete opposite to her optimistic nature is Song Yi-kyung, a downcast convenience store worker who’s still mourning the tragic death of her lover. One afternoon, Ji-hyun is driving around shopping for her wedding day when Yi-kyung attempts suicide by running into an upcoming truck. This quickly progresses to numerous cars colliding with each other, including Ji-hyun’s. Moments later, Yi-kyung collapses on the pavement when a bystander saves her, while Ji-hyun wakes up in shock to see her unconscious body still in the car.
Their lives further intertwine when Ji-hyun is given a second chance at life by a grim reaper with one condition: that she’ll collect three drops of genuine tears from people outside her family. In order to do this, she borrows Yi-kyung’s body who spends most of her days sleeping.
Starring: Nam Gyu Ri, Lee Yo Won, Jung Il Woo, Jo Hyun Jae
2. Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014)
Watch on: Netflix
26-year-old Jang Geu-rae has spent most of his life indoors playing baduk. Upon accepting the bitter reality that he failed to achieve his dream of becoming a professional baduk player, Geu-rae is forced to relearn everything about the outside world. With only highschool credentials and a friend’s recommendation to back him up, he gets hired as an intern at a trading company. There, he strives to catch up with his co-workers who all come from different walks of life, while learning to adapt to the ins and outs of corporate culture.
Starring: Im Si Wan, Kang So Ra, Kang Ha Neul, Byun Yo Han
3. Remember (2015)
Watch on: Viu
Seo Jin-woo has hyperthymesia, a special condition that allows him to remember every single detail of his everyday life. Meanwhile, his father, Seo Jae-hyuk is in denial of his early onset Alzheimer’s disease. One unfortunate night, Jae-hyuk gets wrongfully convicted of commiting murder due to a lack of alibi. Four years later, Jin-woo becomes a lawyer and uses his ability to save his father from death row. Joining him in the race for justice is Lee In-ah, a feisty prosecutor who believes in Jae-hyuk’s innocence.
Starring: Yoo Seung Ho, Park Min Young, Park Sung Woong
4. Angry Mom (2015)
Watch on: Netflix
In this comedy drama, a young Jo Gang-ja was notorious in high school as the most-feared rebel. However, her life changed forever when she gave birth to her daughter Oh Ah-ran and had to drop out. Now that A-ran is all grown up and studying in high school, she’s extra protective of her. Hence, when she discovers that her daughter is a victim of bullying, Gang-Ja decides to go back to high school and enrolls as a student once more in order to protect her.
Starring: Kim Hee Seon, Kim Yoo Jung, Ji Hyun Woo
5. Dear My Friends (2016)
Watch on: Netflix
Dear My Friends centers on a group of elders who are in the vulnerable years of their lives. Jang Nan-hee, one of the elders, brings along her daughter Park Wan to their reunion so she could write a novel about their lives. Though hesitant at first, Park Wan earnestly listens to the stories told by her mother and her friends, which soon leads the young writer to uncovering the beautiful meaning of life and friendship for herself.
Starring: Go Hyun Jung, Kim Hye Ja, Go Doo Shim, Na Moon Hee
6. The Hymn of Death (2018)
Watch on: Netflix
Based on the life of Korea’s first soprano, this tragic romance series follows the life of Yun Sim-deok, a music student during the Japanese colonial period in Joseon. She joins a musical play directed and written by Kim Woo-jin, a young married man from a rich family. Despite the risks, Woo-jin intentionally curates the play into a political movement against Japan. With Sim-deok as one of the main singers, the pair passionately act as patriots to their helpless city, Joseon.
Starring: Lee Jong Suk, Shin Hye Sun
7. Mother (2018)
Watch on: Viu
Kang Soo-jin is a substitute teacher at an elementary school. Loved by her students for her enthusiastic and kind approach, she realizes that one of her female students, Hye-na, has been coming in late and unprepared for class. As soon as Soo-jin discovers the bruises on Hye-na’s body, she makes an impulsive decision to kidnap the child and save her from her abusive family.
Starring: Lee Bo Young, Heo Yool, Ko Sung Hee
8. My Country: The New Age (2019)
Watch on: Netflix
Set during the transitional period between the end of the Goryeo dynasty and the beginning of the Joseon dynasty, My Country: The New Age circles around two young men—Seo-hwi, the son of a renowned blacksmith, and Seon-ho, the bastard son of an elite military official—who become each other’s trusted companion. As the tumultuous era further tears them apart, they soon become part of different military troops. Now enemies, Seo-hwi and Seon-ho fight to death for a place in their developing country. Alongside the battle for a better future, they meet an intelligent woman named Hee-jae, who is also leading her own propaganda movement.
Starring: Yang Se Jong, Woo Do Hwan, Kim Seol Hyun
9. Beautiful World (2019)
Watch on: Netflix, Viu
A happy family of four breaks apart when one of the children, Park Sun-ho, falls from the school’s rooftop one night. Listed off as an attempted suicide by the police, his parents and sister continue to question the underlying cause. Whilst in a coma, his family start to investigate on their own, slowly unearthing horrible truths that have been going on inside the school’s campus.
Starring: Park Hee Soon, Choo Ja Hyun, Nam Da Reum
10. When My Love Blooms (2020)
Watch on: Netflix, Viu
Twenty years ago, a genuine romance bloomed between two university students, Yoon Ji-soo and Han Jae-hyun. However, just like a lot of first loves, their relationship didn’t last. At present, fate has made the pair cross each other’s paths once more. Now in their 40s, Ji Soo is a desperate single mother striving to make ends meet, while Jae Hyun is a successful businessman whose life revolves around money and connections. Far different from the bright young souls they once were, can these two really reignite a spark that had fizzled out so many years ago?
Starring: Yoo Ji Tae, Lee Bo Young, Park Jin Young, Jeon So Nee
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