Once a K-drama buff, always a K-drama buff.
Remember our beginner's guide to one of the most popular phenomena in the world right now?
Sukanya Verma lists 2024's 10 most buzzworthy South Korean TV series on OTT.
Queen of Tears
Where to watch? Netflix
A fairy tale marriage on the brink of an ugly divorce rediscovers romance, after a sneaky lawyer learns his haughty heiress wife is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. That becomes fodder for irresistible melodrama and crazy twists.
Throw in a die-hard villain plotting against the duo and their chalk and cheese families and it spins off 16 episodes of record breaking ratings and hype.
High on Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won's torrid chemistry and a soundtrack full of heart-breaking melodies, the latest offering from the makers of Crash Landing On You makes for an engrossing watch.
Marry My Husband
Where to watch? Amazon Prime Video
Korean dramas are big on time travel. In Marry My Husband, the elfin Park Min-young gets a chance to correct her past by ensuring she doesn't marry the man cheating on her with her manipulative BFF.
Of course, while on this quest, she bumps into her one true love.
Marry My Husband's binging fervour is akin to an unputdownable book that benefits from watching Welcome to Waikiki cutie Lee Yi-kyung and Fight My Way's Song Ha-yoon cast against type in a deliciously wicked turn.
Flex X Cop
Where to watch? Disney+Hotstar
Flex X Cop starts out like a Korean Main Khiladi Tu Anari between a chaebol heir-turned-cop and his colleague wanting to exonerate her father.
Over the course of its 16 police procedural episodes though, it develops into something thrilling and tender.
Be it the light humour or buddy cop camaraderie of its leads Ahn Bo-hyun and Park Ji-hyun, there's much to adore about this underdog show.
There's already season two in the works -- it's *that* fun, yes.
Parasyte: The Grey
Where to watch? Netflix
Based on the Japanese manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki, Parasyte: The Grey's jaw dropping action and striking visuals paint a stunning picture of ferocity and horror against a post-apocalyptic background.
Creepy, tentacle sprouting parasitic creatures using humans as hosts wage a war on mankind that appears increasingly impossible to win and undeniably entertaining to watch across Parasyte's six rousing episodes.
Lovely Runner
Where to watch? Viki
Did we mention South Korea's entertainment industry's love for the time slip genre?
In Lovely Runner, which could serve as a delightful companion piece to A Time Called You (Netflix) and Twinkling Watermelon (Viki), a music idol's tragic death and his connection to a physically challenged fan he knows from high school ensues in shuffling of chronology as the latter travels back and forth to experience a love story spanning their teens, 20s and 30s.
What is most precious is watching the super cute duo of Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon fall in love over and over again.
A Shop for Killers
Where to watch? Disney+Hotstar
Action buffs will love the edge-of-the-seat excitement doled out in the volatile adventures of A Shop for Killers, which kicks off after a hitman's niece is forced to take on all his enemies following his mysterious death.
But it's the sly brilliance that unfolds as the story alternates between past and present to highlight how he's prepared her for this eventuality all along that adds real bite to her survival.
An exceptional Kim Hye-joon and charismatic star Lee Dong-wook's extended cameo makes A Shop for Killers hard to dismiss.
A Killer Paradox
Where to watch? Netflix
What if an accidentally committed crime triggered an endless bloodthirst against the irredeemably bad within an average college goer?
What if he found an unlikely ally and aide for his morally skewed purpose?
What if the cop hot on their trail understood this better than he wanted to?
A far cry from the classic K-drama format, the black humour and destructive imagery of Killer Paradox's cat and mouse chase wildly (and sans any judgement) oscillates between poignant and disturbing.
Above all, Choi Woo-shik's performance is a masterclass in complex portrayals.
Chief Inspector 1958
Where to watch? Disney+Hotstar
A dedicated detective's journey from country to city as he finds his place in the sun along with his colleagues in 1950s post-War Seoul comes alive in Lee Je-hoon's robust portrayal.
A prequel to the series Chief Inspector, the show's detailing to period and production is as impressive as its world and character building all through its exciting investigations and relentless challenges.
Doctor Slump
Where to watch? Netflix
A pair of exhausted young doctors find an anchor in each other, as they realise life is not a race to perfection in Doctor Slump's rich for rom-com premise.
Despite the overload of cliches and melodrama, the heart-warming tone of its proceedings offers enough cheer for fans of Park Hyung-Sik and Park Shin-hye to give it a shot.
Wonderful World
Where to watch? Disney+Hotstar
After losing her son in a hit and run case, a bitter professor of psychology resolves to help all those suffering similar fate as hers in Wonderful World's tale of revenge and grief.
Dark yet emotional, Wonderful World's heavy premise may not be everyone's cup of tea but to those who watched, an overwhelming response has led to its runaway success.
