bbchops

Rewatch the beginning of episode 1. That's the ending.

I'm not a fan of darker-themed shows or overly angsty dramas either, but the only hard "nos" for me are zombie's (All Of Us Are Dead) and gratuitous violence (Squid Game). As others have stated in these comments, there are times that dark themes or a tragedy make for compelling drama. Youth of May and The Smile Has Left Your Eyes are fantastic, as is My Mister (my own introduction to kdramas).

Looking over the dramas you've watched (or attempted to) lately , I think you might benefit from refining your approach. At the risk of sounding like Capt. Obvious, go back to the shows you liked (My Lovely Samsoon, Goblin, Healer, When the Camelia Blooms, etc) and find a handful of reviewers that have seen most (or all) of your favorites and seem to like what you like, then use their watchlists to guide you when deciding what to watch next. It has worked wonders for me.

Of the shows you've seen (or dropped) recently most were pretty run of the mill. (Look no further than the ones you rated the lowest: Sound of Magic, Sh**ting Stars, Witches Diner.) Don't base your comeback on them. Furthermore, only a handful of them meet your own criteria and one of them that you liked (When the Camelia Blooms) had a dark undercurrent to it.

Finally, I'm not sure why you limited your recommendations to those produced in the last two years. Again, I think the problem is the ones you're watching. Plenty of great shows have come out since Goblin in 2015. Here are five recommendations from the last two years:
1. Our Beloved Summer - A little angsty, but a sweet story about two young people trying to make their way in the world. Like Kim Go Eun from Goblin, Kim Da Mi is a great young actor.
2. It's OK To Not Be OK - A quirky, Tim Burton-esque kdrama. There's nothing else like it, and Seo Yea Ji absolutely nailed the impossible role of the brooding, mysterious and completely batshit crazy (but oddly adorable) Go Mun Young.
3. Hospital Playlist - Greatness. Watch both seasons, in order.
4. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha - Give it another chance. It is exactly the type of drama you are looking for. Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon Ho have wonderful chemistry.
5. My Liberation Notes - I loved this slice of life drama. It was a bit talky, but the characters were compelling.

If you were to open up your criteria to reach back a few more years, here are five more:
1. Prison Playbook - I kept skipping over this one despite the fact that my favorite reviewers liked it and regretted it. A surprisingly hopeful story.
2. Crash Landing On You - Son Ye Jin & Hyun Bin together should be enough to recommend it, but this supporting cast was a mile deep. (IMHO the depth of talent in the supporting casts is one of the things that sets kdramas apart from western content.) Even Choi Ji Woo makes a cameo appearance.
3. Thirty but Seventeen - A sweet story, with a plucky FL
4. Another Miss Oh - Another plucky FL struggling to break free of her high school classmate's shadow. (Both of these last two recommendations have Ye Ji Won in supporting roles that are startlingly unique and hilarious in completely different ways.)
5. Be With You - The 2018 version with Son Ye Jin and So Ji Sub. Absolute perfection.

I think as long as relationships are age appropriate, I don't mind watching older actors at all. For example, I loved the Netflix drama Dear My Friends. But some of my favorite actresses (like Song Hye Kyo and Park Min Young) have starred in dramas recently where the guy was too young for them. I would love to start seeing those actresses in their 40s playing roles where the relationship was actually with a more mature guy. I'm still not down with older flight attendants, though. Who wants to be waited on by their grandma? 😜

I don't either, although I am one. I don't like old lady flight attendants. Some things are better left to the young.

Absolutely!