10 favorite K-dramas I watched in 2025

Here are my 10 favorite K-dramas I watched in 2025.
Please note that this list is purely based on my personal taste, and it’s in no particular order.

1. Buried Hearts
This drama made me fall in love with Park Hyung Sik. The story is incredibly intriguing, and the ending is haunting. Up until now, I can still feel the heaviness it left behind. It was a great show overall.

2. Study Group
I rarely enjoy high school dramas these days, but this one kept me hooked until the very end. I genuinely loved it.

2025 SBS Drama Awards Full List of Winners

Since it's the first day of year 2026, I am here making a comeback writing on this blog. Hurray! Anyway, I won't say anymore excuses as to why I haven't been posting here last year, I'll just try to become more committed in posting here like I used to back in the days I was very active. 

Okay, so for the first blog entry of the year, let me talk about the year end awards show winners. Here's the full list of winners of the 2025 SBS Drama Awards:

Grand Prize (Daesang):

Lee Je Hoon - Taxi Driver 3

Ms. Incognito Concludes with Record-Breaking 7.1% Nationwide Rating — ENA’s Highest-Rated Monday-Tuesday Drama of 2025

One of my confirmed favorite dramas this year is Ms. Incognito starring Jeon Yeo Been.

When it first came out, I didn’t watch it right away, in fact, I even doubted if it was worth watching. But when four episodes were already available, I decided to start, and wow… what an experience! From the very first episode, you’ll already be hooked and want to finish everything in one go. That’s how good it is. It's thrilling, exciting, and refreshingly unique.

In most recent K-dramas, the bodyguards are usually male, like in Red Swan or Tempest. But Ms. Incognito breaks that pattern because this time, the bodyguard is a woman named Yeong Ran, played brilliantly by Jeon Yeo Been.

Kang Dong Won and Jun Ji Hyun Teams Up in a Star-studded Action Series "Tempest"

Tempest marks the highly anticipated collaboration between Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Dong Won, a pairing that alone is enough to draw attention. And true to expectations, both leads, along with the rest of the cast, deliver strong performances that elevate the series. There’s no weak link in the acting department; everyone brings depth and intensity to their roles.

However, when it comes to the story, Tempest treads on familiar ground. Viewers who have seen Red Swan (starring Rain and Kim Ha Neul) will likely notice the similarities, a bodyguard protecting a woman trapped in a broken marriage, with romance eventually blossoming between them. The themes of love, betrayal, and protection echo almost beat for beat.

That said, Tempest still manages to distinguish itself by weaving in elements of political drama, espionage, and power struggles. These added layers give the series a broader scope and keep it engaging despite its predictable foundation.

In short, Tempest doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it delivers solid performances, striking visuals, and enough intrigue to keep viewers invested. It’s a must-watch for fans of the lead actors and anyone who enjoys a well-acted melodrama with touches of suspense.

Beyond the Bar | Recommended Kdrama

Beyond the Bar is over and I'm feeling empty again. Have you ever felt so attached to the characters and story that you can't focus on other new on-going series? You just can't help but think of what might happen if the drama has more episodes? It's this one for me. The last kdrama that made me feel this way was Park Hyung Sik's "Buried Hearts", which I am yet to make a review about here on the blog, that one was absolutely amazing. It's been months since that drama ended but I still think about it up to this time. When a drama really captures my attention from start to finish, I build that kind of connection towards the characters and the story of that series, so when the conclusion arrives and everything ending after 10, 12 or 16 episodes, I am completely left empty. And it's really hard to find nowadays a great Kdrama that captures my attention fully. Really. That's why letting go of a well written Kdrama is not that easy. 

Anyway, let's stop with the drama and get on with this review. Okay, so, Beyond the Bar is a legal drama that aired from August 2 to September 7 of 2025. It showcases the story of rookie lawyer Kang Hyo Min (Jung Chae Yeon) as she represents Yullim Law Firm through the cases that she works on through the help of her mentor and head of litigation department, Yoon Seok Hoon (Lee Jin Uk). As they work on new cases together, their relationship becomes closer and their backstory gets unveiled one by one. I honestly love that way of story telling when it comes to legal dramas. The cases and the story between characters flowed really in synched unlike some of the legal dramas that make these two flow differently. Both are effective, of course, but this kind of story telling from Beyond the Bar was a personal preference of mine. 

The Haunted Palace | Recommended Kdrama

The Haunted Palace starring Yook Sung Jae, Kim Ji Yeon (Bona) and Kim Ji Hoon ended Saturday last week and your guess is right... my mind still thinks of it. It's a romcom fantasy period drama that revolves around an Imoogi and a Shaman's adventure, taking on and sending off resentful spirits inside the palace. 

There were a few resentful spirits that haunts the daily living of the royal family. Queen Dowager's son, Prince Yeong In, was resented by a female ghost in a well because of foul treatment towards her while she was living. He's disgusting so somewhat, he deserves what happened to him in the end. Other that that, there were more but the biggest villain in the story was none other than the Eight-ft Spirit. This resentful spirit was very powerful as it also carry the souls from the village that got massacred because of the coward King 100 years ago. Eight-ft Spirit got summoned by Pung San backed by Kim Bong In, the betrayer among the few trusted people of the King. Together they aim to take down the King and his family. Actually the Eight-ft Spirit wanted more, his grudge towards the Royal family was immense that he wanted to continue taking down the Royal family for eternity. But despite all that, it's still a happy ending as Gangcheori and Yeori won in the end. Yaaaass! 

Gangcheori/ Kang Chul was the name of a dragon that was bound to ascend 100 years ago. But it did not became successful as someone from the Yeongdam Village saw him while the massacre was on-going. Years later, he has found a way to ascend and it's through Yeori. Gangcheori took form into human figure and pursue Yeori but failed. They all thought Gangcheori was the root cause of the unfortunate happenings including the death of Yeori's grandma, so they try to stay away from him. Then one day, the Royal Scribe Yoon Gap appeared and deceived Yeori to take her to the Palace and solve the mystery behind the resentful spirits. However, as they were on their way, Yoon Gap got killed and that's when Gangcheori possessed his body. Since then, Gangcheori was not able to come out from Yoon Gap's body. 

Yeori wanted to find Yoon Gap's soul and bring him back to his body so she continue on with her journey to the palace despite Gangcheori's opposition. Once they were in the palace, they meet the King and the rest is history. 

That's just a teaser for y'all, if you haven't watched the drama then I'll say you should. It's a recommended drama from me. 

This is Yook Sungjae's drama series since Golden Spoon (2022). Tbh, I didn't like that drama and was not able to finish it.. it felt like it's a drag watching it so dropped it along the way. But this one, The Haunted Palace, was really something. There were no boring episodes, I enjoyed every bits of it. The characters were lovely and they grew on me. Love them. 

Park Eun Bin Transforms into a Genius Doctor who Works in the Shadow in "Hyper Knife"

Park Eun Bin once again left me in awe by her versatility as an actress. I love her for that! This new series of hers, Hyper Knife, is a medical/crime/thriller drama that I absolutely enjoy watching lately. This got me really excited, tbh. I wasn't really expecting anything much from it when I started watching it, as I don't really read synopsis before watching anything, but it just got me hooked as episode 1 gone by. The concept where the one who oppressed the protagonist before and seeking her help now is what made me really excited. lol I want to see Jung Se Ok to disregard the old man's wishes to help him. haha! But the old man does dirty works too, he's persuading her to operate on him by threatening her to stop her from doing surgeries in the shadows. 

It's A Happy Ending for Got 7's Jin Young and Roh Jeong Eui's in "The Witch" Finale

Another Kdrama has ended and it's The Witch starring Got 7's Jin Young as Lee Dong Jin and Roh Jeong Eui as Park Mi Jung. Basically, the story revolves around Dong Jin finding the truth behind Mi Jung's real identity and curse. It's entitled The Witch because it refers to the existence of those who happen to have a curse with them. When someone confesses that they like Mi Jung, they all ended up severely hurt if not dead. The Witch thing only started as a mere mockery from a jealous person towards Mi Jung but it got bigger as more deaths and accidents happen around Mi Jung's close vicinity. During their high school, Dong Jin witnessed how Mi Jung isolated herself from the other students. But he tried his best to serve comfort for her in her solitude even from afar. And as he continues to observe Mi Jung, Dong Jin fell in love with her to which became his driving force to unveil the truth behind Mi Jung's mysterious curse. 

Dong Jin's chosen path was to take analytics to prove that the existence of a Witch is not true. He wanted to prove that the deaths and accidents surrounding Mi Jung were just mere coincidences with facts and data. However, he failed doing so. Eventually, Dong Jin's research turn from dismissing the idea of Mi Jung as a witch towards finding out the rules of her curse as a witch. And there, he found out the rules of death as he tried and tested each hypothesis he came up with through observation and data gathering. 

1. Being with a 10m radius of her for over 10 minutes is dangerous.

2. Holding a conversation with her is dangerous.

3. If she knows your name it's dangerous.

4. Confessing your feelings to her is dangerous.

5. Breaking all these rules will result in death. 

Friendly Rivalry Kdrama Caught My Heart Instantly | Honest Review

Nobody expected much of this drama of Hyeri and Subin to become a hit. Honestly, I didn't expect it either. We all know how conservative SK really is when it comes to GL or BL dramas, right? And some Kdrama fans are not into GL either. I've seen a lot of commenters on my FB page about not wanting to watch it because of that particular theme but hey, look at how it did! It's a hit! It's actually a really good drama, I tell you. It's not that typical GL drama where the females are having the smooching and bed scenes as the highlight. It has a veeeery good story to tell and how it was told was truly beautiful. I suggest you watch it if you haven't. 

Anyway, the story revolves mainly around Woo Seulgi (Chung Su Bin) and Yoo Jae Yi (Lee Hyeri) but some interesting characters are also present here like Joo Yeri (Kang Hye Won), Choi Kyeong (Oh Woo Ri), Jo Ara (Chae So Eun) and more. The story started with young Seulgi getting lost in a field trip and ended up in an orphanage. She grew up there, struggling to make a presence and the only way she saw her life to acquire good changes was through studying. She tried to get away from life miseries and school bullies by getting good grades. Seulgi's ranking went from 15 in the entire class to rank 15 in the whole school and later on (after staying up all night by drinking unprescribed medicine), she managed to rank 1st in the whole school. One day, she left the orphanage because she has been found by her dad. But it turned out that her dad has passed away and the only person left to be her guardian was her step mom. 

Under her step mom's custody, Seulgi transferred to Chaehwa High School and there she met the "perfect" top student, Yoo Jae Yi. And meeting Jae Yi made Seulgi's life filled with colors and true safety was met. TBH, up until now, I'm still in awe with how amazing Yoo Jae Yi really is. I'm not gonna lie, I was doubtful of her intentions towards Seulgi at the first half of the series but... as the story goes by, I can already see the green flag patterns being made by Jae Yi. Obviously, Jae Yi was made to be misunderstood because she was built to show no emotions at all by her father. She grew up in an environment where she was raised like a robot, therefore, it became a flaw for her to be misunderstood by her peers. But thankfully, despite having on and off special friendship with Jae Yi, Seulgi was able to understand the deepest contents of Jae Yi's heart in the end. 

Jae Yi promised to keep Seulgi safe and she kept the promise until the very end after sacrificing everything for her. Jae Yi managed to break free from her dad too and Seulgi became one of her reasons to do so aside from her other own interests like saving Jena and all. 

Anyway, to make everything short, Friendly Rivalry made me realize what genre I really like the most in watching Kdramas. It's the mystery and thriller/suspense kind of drama. Recently, I've been watching a lot of Kdramas that I ended up dropping because they don't meet my expectations or they're just boring enough not to make me hooked with each episodes. But with Friendly Rivalry, it's different. I got hooked the very first episode until the very end. Aside from the interesting story, direction and cinematography of the drama, perhaps it also have something to do with the short duration of each episode. I've watched this series while it was on-going and it's aired every Mon-Thu. There's not a day or night I was not excited to see an episode because every end of the episode made me curious of what's next to happen. Seriously, when was the last time I felt this way for a kdrama? It's probably been a long time. I'm glad I really watched Friendly Rivalry. It's definitely part of my HIGHLY recommended Kdrama of all time now. So if you haven't watched it yet, I suggest you start NOW. 

Hwang Min Hyun's "Study Group" | Highly Recommended K-drama!

When gangster-like students are really involved in a drama, it means it won't get boring at all. The entire run of Study Group was a chef's kiss. It was good! Like reeeeally good! It started off introducing the main character Yun Ga Min (Hwang Min Hyun) who has difficulty in achieving decent grades at school ever since he started studying. He did all the things he can just to improve his grades, but to no luck, his grades remain at the bottom of the ranking. Then one time, he heard his mom and her friend talking about joining study group so other students could help him out with his grades. That made him determined to join one but nobody wanted a bottom ranking student to join their study groups. Ga Min got humiliated from wanting to join such groups. 

Since Ga Min's dream was to go to college, he heard other students gossiping about transferring to Yuseong Technical High School which was famous for delinquent students. The school has a bad reputation and so other students from other schools thought that if they transfer there, there won't be competition and that they'll get proper scores to apply for college. So that's what Ga Min did and the rest was history. He was able to create his own study group and finally improve his ranking by 10.  

So basically this drama became so popular despite not having enough promotions. It just means that it's really good drama. Plus, multiple young starting actors were casted here alongside actor Hwang Min Hyun so the visuals will never disappoint you. All characters were very fun to watch and Hwang Min Hyun's character Ga Min was absolutely adorable with his study adventures. Oh, have I said that Ga Min was poor at studying but was actually good at fighting?? Yep, that's the twist. And that where the story would revolve. 

If you haven't watched this drama, I suggest you start now because it's definitely a recommended kdrama from me.