Shreya31

Really nice list. Some dramas which I would recommend in addition would be:
Love O2O
Reply 1988
Go Ahead

I had already watched the movie and I recently watched the anime, so I thought I will give this a go because it covered the story further. But I felt so out of it because none of the wow moments really stuck out. I think it was mainly due to Sawako not being awkward or scary. Like the anime, you can really see her surprise and her social awkwardness where she doesn't know how to deal with situations at first.
What really kept me going were the side characters in this. I loved Chi, Ryu, Ayane and Pin. I wish Kurumi was different. She didn't have the charisma I felt from the anime character. They condensed the story a lot. A lot of things felt out of context in this case.

I would love to just see a Johan spin-off or make him the central character in the next season. Won Miho is just not enough. Ufff, she only cared about herself and Van. Then only to drive the plot, she would suddenly care about a certain character or be guilty. I just forwarded through so many of their scenes.

Yeomji is another character who is just used to mindlessly drive the plot. When will the bad guys stop using her? Or just use her spunk to actually retaliate and make better choices. She was so frustating in this season.

This is an amazing list for beginners. I have actually watched a lot of them already. @Soju I think it is because of your previous articles. I am going to go watch some other ones in this list. F4 was a really good remake. You should totally watch it. At this point, I have watched the Korean, Chinese and Thai versions. The Thai version is my fave.
P.S. You have the wrong title for The Gifted listed here^^^

I have similar experience like you. I also started deviating away from Kdramas because they became very formulaic for me. It led me to Thai and Japanese dramas.
But there a couple of shows that I did really like:
1. Weak Hero Class 1
2. Extraordinary Attorney Woo
3. Devil Judge
4. Alchemy of Souls (I know you said not to mention this one. But I dropped it once before going back and I think it really picks up once you get into it)
5. Under the Queen's Umbrella
6. Racket boys (so underrated but really wholesome)
7. Flower of Evil (Everyone has probably watched this)
8. Move to Heaven
9. Gauss Electronics

Thanks! I will check them out

I couldn't get into Jdramas before. I thought they were too serious or tragic. The colour scaling was also very dark. But then I started watching some fun ones or Manga adaptions. Honestly I think Satoh Takeru got me hooked. I watched his medical rom-com and loved it. Then I literally watched him in like everything. Rurouni Kenshin series is just spectacular. From there I watched some other dramas based on articles and recommendations. Also, stumbled across some good BLs like Life: Love on the Line, Cherry Magic, Old fashioned cupcakes, etc. So it helped to expand my horizons.

I loved the article. I find that I have watched most of them on the list. Do I agree with most of these? Yes, I do for at least the ones I have watched. I am going to go and look into the ones I haven't.

Here is mine:
1. How many 2022 released dramas did you watch?
60 (released in 2022)

2. What country did you watch the most in 2022?
South Korea

3. What genre(s) do you usually watch?
Romance with mostly Drama and Comedy.

4. What is your top drama listed in this article? (Can be more than one)
Bad Buddy, Under the Queen's Umbrella, Love Between Fairy and Devil, Reset, Weak hero class1 and Alchemy of Souls (both seasons).

5. What is your top drama NOT listed in this article? (Can be more than one. If you don't agree with dramas rated by the majority of MDLers, this is the chance for you to convince us why you think your choice of dramas deserved to be on the top.)
I think Triage is an underrated Thai drama. It had a great storyline and amazing performances from new actors. It was a surprise for me and I really enjoyed it.

How was your drama journey in 2022?
I think this was the year I really discovered Japanese dramas and found that there are ones that I really enjoyed. This changed my previous perspective about them.

What is your wish or plan in dramaland in 2023?
I want to keep exploring more and take it chill. I kind of overdid it last year trying to do the MDL Annual Challenge. This year I am going to slow down.

Really amazing performances. It took me a month to watch it because its so heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Not sure if that is even possible. Okada Masaki's Shinigami was truly spectacular. Does anyone know the name of the title track here?

I know right. I didn't think it would take that route until it did.

It is a great article and its truly amazing how a lot of dramas and movies have at least one lead with a dead father or simply a bad one. You did miss Reply 1988 because it showed different ranges of fatherhood.

I think she typed out that whole message but never really sent it. Also COVID happened at that time. I think it was a good thing they didn't get together immediately. That might have been too fast as he just got out of a 5 year relationship. It was also enough time for them to figure out their feelings and paths individually.

Do you think its Physician's Kwon who is the actual father? He is also planning the rebellion. This would totally finish them off. Also the Queen Dowager should potentially stop supporting them now that she suspects its not the King's son?

They transitioned from young Do Jun to the older one so fast. I guess it is to capitalize on Song Joong Ki more. Loving it so far though they have changed a lot of things. On a different note, Jin Young is being credited to a support role now. Does that mean we will see him more in the future?

Vaaah....I love Gun.m He is such an amazing actor. Theory of Love and Not Me are both series I really love. I hope I can watch his next series soon. Thanks for such a great article. It looks so cute.

When does the main couple start dating officially? I am so tired of the back and forth. Just when I think they are together, they have a fight or something.

Oh wow. Thanks for sharing this. This takes it up another notch.

I love him too. Have watched all his dramas but none of the movies. Will definitely give them a try now. Thanks for putting this together!

I think I have similar tastes as Enny. I loved 'The Uncanny Encounter'. Your whatsapp chats were the most hilarious. I also prefer South Korean dramas but I have been trying to expand my horizons recently. But it is difficult to randomly pick dramas. The comments here do help a lot. This was an amazing article guys!

I did the challenge for the first time too. And I started out with Easy and kept adding on to it. My idea is to work block by block so that I am not overwhelmed. Also, when I can't think of fitting titles, I just look at other lists to see if they have found something interesting. I think it's more fun this time because we have lists to find the more difficult items. My takeaway from last year's challenge was I had fun exploring things outside my comfort zone and discovered so many gems. Hope you have fun this year too!