I’ve seen 23 K-dramas, 3 C-dramas, and 1 J-drama this year.

I have opinions.

I am currently in the middle of watching Welcome to Samdal-ri, and I hope to binge Gyeongseong Creature before the end of the year, mainly because I hope that Gyeongseong Creature will salvage 2023’s K-drama season, at least as far as Netflix is concerned.

There is a lot I know I haven’t seen that has been released this year on Netflix and on Viki, but what I have seen so far on both platforms has left me with a feeling of wanting.

And this is difficult because I realized that not every year you are going to have a standout series like Extraordinary Attorney Woo in 2022 or Squid Game in 2021. But at the same time we had Squid Game in 2021 and Extraordinary Attorney Woo in 2022 so I was hoping for that in 2023 and I just didn’t get it. And, I might be spoiled but I expected to get it , especially since both of these shows were Netflix originals. I wanted more.

Of all the K-dramas I have seen this year I would say the best was…

Queenmaker!!!!

I’ve raved about this show on this blog already but I will just say of all the shorter K-dramas Netflix has pushed out this year, this one hit the mark. I didn’t feel like there was any parts of the story that I missed or was glossed over. The plot was character-driven. The actors were great and best of all it was female-led. There was suspense and zero romance and I loved every moment of it. If you haven’t seen it I recommend it.

Still, though Queenmaker was an excellent show, it didn’t leave that satisfied feeling I get after watching a drama. I don’t think about these characters at all. Nothing really stuck with me this year.

Like I said, I hope Gyeongseong Creatures will prove different. And I hope for a better K-drama year in 2024.