The listener-favorite and TIME Magazine’s top K Drama of 2025: When Life Gives You Tangerines
Songs we loved in 2025
The top shows of our listeners. We hear from:
MrsDJQ
Irma
Christine
Malcolm
Shine
Sue
Ernabel
Our personal top 5 shows and honorable mentions
A special treat: audio clips from listeners sharing their top shows!
The actresses who blew us away in 2025
The standout male performances
The most memorable scenes from K Dramas we watched
K Dramas we’re looking forward to in 2026
Korean films from 2025 we recommend watching
A reminder to join us next week when we return to Start-Up and discuss Episode 7 and Stephanie Lee, the actress who plays Jeong Sa-ha
References
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K Drama Chat is a weekly podcast where we take one Korean (K) Drama each season and and recap and analyze each episode. K Drama Chat is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora.
Hi everybody! I listened to this GREAT episode as soon as I woke up today. I so loved listening to all your voices and comments. A few notes:
ReplyDelete1. Although I liked Joanna and Sung hee’s pick for favorite scene, I think they missed what might be my favorite K drama scene ever! I’ll be interested to see if anyone agrees with me.
It’s when Gwan Sik hears Ae Sun’s cry somehow, on the boat as he’s sailing away. Leaving her becomes unbearable once he hears her cry, and he dives into the water and heroically swims through the choppy, cold open sea into her astonished arms. I cry every time I see it. And they soon find out that she’s already pregnant with their adored daughter.
2. A note on Sung hee’s pick of the helicopter rescue scene from Trauma Code. Ju Ji Hoon won two Best Actor awards this year for this part. In an interview, he commented on this scene. He said he focused his whole performance on this “preposterous” scene, saying he wanted to convince the audience that “ If there was anyone who could actually pull this off, it would be this guy!”
Sung hee, I hope you’ll give this show another chance, especially since they’re currently filming Seasons 2 and 3! Here’s what The Korea Herald has to say about its relevance.
https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10416460
3. I highly recommend both Love Scout and Resident Playbook for anyone who hasn’t watched them yet, and I was so pleased to see them on the other lists besides my own. And thanks to all of you, Our Unwritten Seoul has now jumped to the top of my watchlist.
Thanks Joanna and Sung hee for your wonderful podcast, and Happy New Year everyone!
Ellen, you selected fantastic scenes, for sure! It was so hard to pick a scene and name it my favorite. Yours are great. The "Yang Gwan Sik" cry scene was iconic, almost like it came out of a comic book in the way it was filmed.
DeleteAnd I can't wait for another season of Trauma Code! That show was just pure fun. Ju Ji Hoon was over the top and wonderful!
Hello Ellen, well, in spite of my protests, I did watch all of Trauma Code. I had to suspend disbelief completely and just go with the story. In the end, Ju Ji Hoon's charisma carried the day
DeleteYou are right to mention the scene with Yang Gwan Sik making the heroic swim back to shore. What a love story!
Ellen, that is the one scene in Tangerines that came to mind when I had to pick which one is my favorite.
DeleteGreat episode, Joanna and Sung Hee. Our little community is more like-minded than I imagined. We chose similar Kdrama series as our top for 2025. I'm in the right community.
ReplyDeleteI keep a record of the series I watch, I've been doing this for sometime now.
Joanna, that scene in Tempest is my favorite, too. Those two leads are oozing with chemistry.
For 2026, I am looking forward to watching (1) Made in Korea, (2) Can This Love Be Translated?, (3) The Remarried Empress. I know there's more. I'll see what this community recommends.
Irma, awesome that you track your K Drama watching as well! I think you and I have similar tastes, which is why I pay close attention when you recommend shows to me! I'm looking forward to the same show, although I don't know The Remarried Empress! Gotta check that out!
DeleteI love knowing that most of us share similar taste and favorites! Tangerines has been a top favorite among most podcast communities and Unwritten Seoul is almost neck and neck with it. I love hearing other listeners and their take in each of their picks. While I did finish a lot of kdramas this year there are only a few of them that stood out for me. Hopefully 2026 will bring more and better ones and not rely on big names alone because sone of the most anticipated ones of 2025 were sadly disappointing IMHO.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Ellen, thank you for your comments. I don't watch enough K Dramas to know if 2025 was substantially different from previous years. I do know that I abandoned many shows this past year, like The Potato Lab, When The Stars Gossip, The Divorce Insurance. But there were also AMAZING shows! Let's see what 2026 will bring!
DeleteWhile I finished 59 2025 dramas, I only have maybe 10ish that I liked. I also dropped Divorce Insurance and Potato Lab. I watched Gossip mostly for Gong Hyo Jin, one of my fave actresses. This year may be a better one, who knows?
DeleteAha! I finally realized one of my 2025 picks, "Family By Choice" was from 2024. I'd have to replace it with ... The Divorce Insurance and Dynamite Kiss. Both were light and fun and easy. Fav scene of the year that really sticks with me is LDW and Smiley Weirdo running through traffic in "The Divorce Insurance." While I only watch K Dramas, only 15 watched in 2025 were actually from 2025. I like to dodge the initial wave of expectation and hype as much as possible. I like all episodes to be available before I watch, and I can choose based on final ratings. I binge like Ernabel. 2 episodes at night, or maybe 3.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I'm with you in that I usually like all of the episodes to drop before watching. And I'll often check with my cousin Linda about the ending because I've been traumatized by too many shows! Haha!
DeleteI do make exceptions for shows that I"m really looking forward to, like Pro Bono. I'm loving it and am almost caught up to the shows that have dropped, but I got distracted by Dynamite Kiss! Loving both shows!
What a great episode!
ReplyDeleteAs an occasional watcher of K Dramas other than what’s being covered on the podcast 😉, it’s great to see other people’s favorites! I love that Trauma Code was so popular despite Sung-hee’s objections! And I’m glad that others really enjoyed Our Unwritten Seoul, which was a real sleeper hit. A lot of people are saying 2025 was not a great year for K Dramas, but I watched so many good ones, I’m not sure I agree.
Not only, do I keep a list of the K Dramas I’ve watched, I actually have a spreadsheet on Google Sheets! I even include a 1-10 ranking of the drama. I’m actually embarrassed to say how many K Dramas I watched this year…. Maybe that’s what I can’t immediately think of my favorite scene from this year’s K Dramas. I’ll give it some thought.
As for WMW….
Hwasa singing and dancing with Park Jeong-min at the Blue Dragon Awards on repeat on Instagram – IYKYK
Made in Korea on Hulu/Disney – So this is basically Breaking Bad set in the 1970’s Korea, but instead of a chemistry teacher it’s a rouge KCIA officer. This show is more like a movie. It stars Hyan Bin who might just be the coolest guy in Korean entertainment. Highly recommended.
Surely Tomorrow on Amazon Prime – So this star Par Seo-jun as an entertainment reporter and Won Ji-an as his first love who is a cheabol heir who left him twice in the past. But they are reunited and he is trying to help her get her life back on track and failing to convince himself that he still has feeling for her. So far it is pretty good, but not amazing. There’s actually a lot in the show that I can relate to, so I am sticking with it. Interestingly, Won Ji-an is in both Made in Korea and Surely Tomorrow, and it is kind of jarring to see her playing two very different characters.
That’s it for this week. Here’s to more great K Dramas in 20206!
I second this, and most especially on Hwasa and Jeong Min. Major earworm and I'm not mad about it. Hyun Bin in a questionable character/role is hotter than Capt Ri IMO 😆
DeleteHey Malcolm, thanks for the heads up - Hwasa was great. She’s in shape for Mamamoo comeback this year!
DeleteMalcolm, so glad you sent in an audio file! Thank you!
DeleteYes, Hwasa singing and dancing with Park Jeong-min was over the top amazing!
I'm trying to convince my boys to watch Made in Korea with me. Now that we're back in our routines, I think it will happen.
Thanks for sharing what you watch. I too, have a list but I don't rate the shows. I don't think I would be consistent enough with the my ratings. Haha.
I had a goal of watching 50 KDramas in a year. In 2020, I almost made it but fell short of 9 dramas.
ReplyDeleteThis 2025, I was only able to watch 20 (I keep a list of ALL I've watched. Even variety!). Reason why I wasn't able to make headway of my original goal was because of Korean variety/reality shows! If you guys still have time and access, I highly recommend watching these shows!
I previously recommended Culinary Class Wars, Physical 100, Chef and my Fridge, Running Man and Two Days One Night. There are also some gems that are not available in Netflix such as Three Meals a Day (where 2-3 actors live in a provincial town and cook 3 meals a day by making use of the local ingredients), Youth Over Flowers (where PD Na "kidnaps" actors with just literally whatever they have on them and bring them abroad. He took the Reply 1988 boys -- Park Bo Gum, Go Kyung Pyo, Ryu Jun Yeol and Ahn Jae Hong to Africa. -- https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDCEgG_G2U1eAZU400RbzQVk_b2jhYZjN&si=VbSFO3X6Inzi7di3) and Backpacker Chef (Chef Paik goes around Korea cooking in bulk).
The celebrities are recommending Singles Inferno and the like as apparently, these dating shows are a big thing in Korea too!
Thank you for this 2025 recap!
Shine! Thank you for submitting an audio file with your Top 5!
DeleteI love your recommendations; they are always spot on for me. I am looking forward to the second season of Culinary Class Wars. Loved the first season!
Youth Over Flowers sounds incredible. Will have to check it out. Thank you!
I loved this episode, and it was great hearing other listeners' choices and voices! Joanna encouraged me to participate, but alas, I'm still relatively new to K-Drama, and very slow to finish even the shows I love. I did not have five from 2025.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful community, and the near unanimous affection for Tangerines was enough that I said "dang it, I guess I need to see this one after all..." (it was a personally challenging year, so I was looking for something a bit less emotionally "heavy.")
So yesterday I'm on the treadmill and the EXACT SCENE Ellen's describing above (Ae Sun cries/Gwan Sik swims) comes on and holy smokes, I'm lucky I didn't slip off my treadmill and break a clavicle. I'll be fortunate if my poor treadmill doesn't spontaneously rust, there's only so much a machine can take.
That's an absolutely iconic scene that will endure, I promise you. Thanks for the tip, and please pass the kleenex.
Jeff! You'll have to submmit an audio file next year. Even if you only watch a few shows, tell us about it!
DeleteI am SO GLAD that you broke down and started watching When Life Gives You Tangerines. It gets even better as the show progresses, if you can believe it. And god, please be sure to have plenty of Kleenex around.
And be careful on the treadmill. Don't be like Han Ji Pyeong and fall off easily. Take care!
Jeff, glad you didn’t get injured on the treadmill! I wouldn’t want to meet the guy who wasn’t moved by that powerful scene. And I loved it when she wailed that she had to pay for the outfit and he said “I have money!” Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteEllen, just reading about that scene where Ae Sun was wailing about the dress and Gwan Sin says "I have money" made me smile. God that was a great scene! Tangerines is a show that will stay with me for a looooong time. I sometimes go back and watch clips on YouTube because I just miss those characters. When Ae Sun and Gwan Sik would smile at each other at the start of each day - amazing!
DeleteGreat episode! Liked hearing from listeners too. I started some new shows. Spring Fever on Amazon Prime - an even bigger Ahn Bo-Hyun speaking in dialect! Lee Joo-Bin is FL. I haven’t seen Divorce Insurance so first time I’m seeing her as lead. Good so far. And just started Idol I (still in first episode). Early on had reminders to “Her Private Life” but the internets says it will be darker. Featuring another Girls Generation alumna - I think Sooyoung is a better actress though.
ReplyDeleteSDguy, thank you for sharing what you're watching. Gah! Too many shows! I feel like there is a lot of darkness around us right now. I refuse to sink into despair and I'm grateful that I have my family, my friends, my job, and my K Drama community. And when I'm ready to turn off the news, I sink into a great K Drama and smile, laugh and cry. Thanks for going on the journey with me and Sung Hee, and the rest of us!
Delete
ReplyDeleteI’ve enjoyed reading the community’s comments on their favorite 2025 k-dramas, so I’ll throw my two cents in…or would that be 30 won? (Note: My only streaming service is Netflix. How do all of you with Viki keep your jobs?)
When Life Gives You Tangerines – I watched this show along with the KDrama podcast. For me, the show was about the joys and challenges of faithfully loving others over time. One of the most memorable scenes is in the hospital, when Yang Gwan-sik and Oh Ae-sun are looking at each other. They see each other as they are now, but they also see each other as young lovers, a bittersweet way to highlight the decades of their mutual devotion. Everything from acting to set design to writing was high level – a beautiful series on all counts.
A Korean Odyssey (2017-2018) – This show surprised me. I watched part of the first episode over a year ago, and not being a fan of the ghost genre, dropped it but finally went back and finished the first episode, then the second, then it was off to the races. The show has humor, romance and memorable characters based on Chinese mythology. Oh Yeon-seo has had the ability to see ghosts her entire life, and uses it to enhance her role as a real estate agent. She encounters Son Oh-gong, the Monkey King, wears fur coats since he was born in a volcano and is always cold (yet who also eats ice cream). Son Oh-gong’s cohort in the pantheon of demon gods is Woo Hwi, the Bull King, who runs an entertainment agency where the stars are also demon gods (including a side reference to Hyun Bin). They have a great bromance. There’s the River Demon, who runs a communications company yet acts as a butler for Son Oh-gong worrying about coffee cup stains and many more. All of the characters’ back stories came together as the show progressed. I wondered why it was so well written, to discover that it was written by the Hong sisters, who wrote Hotel Del Luna, Alchemy of Souls, and the upcoming Can This Love Be Translated? (which premieres tomorrow!!).
Bon Appétit Your Majesty – Hands down and chopping with a beoseon-tip knife, this was the best of the three food-focused dramas I watched this year. The others, Tastefully Yours (2025) and Wok of Love (2018) are left behind in the compost pile, although I would rank Wok of Love above Tastefully Yours. I found the meal scenes with the images floating through people’s minds to be hilarious. Whoever produced the food photography deserves a special award. We won’t talk about the end of episode 11, which had me yelling at the tv “noooooooo…”
Dynamite Kiss –This show is simply fun. I enjoyed the chemistry between the leads, the almost uncountable k-drama elements, the humor. In the last couple of episodes, the show almost seemed to be self-aware and poking fun at the genre of romantic comedies but never went off to the territory of camp or satire. High rewatch value, especially after a stressful day.
As to my pen-name – I noticed the use of an umbrella scene in my 1st and 2nd k-dramas, so wondering if it was a thing, searched for “umbrella scenes k-dramas” and down the rabbit hole I went! Who knew that k-dramas had so many motifs, or as they’re called on K-Drama Chat, k-drama elements? A much better term than “tropes” with its slight negative connotation, because when used well, a k-drama element is as effective if not more so than dialogue.
Now off to decide what my first drama of 2026 will be. A delightful year of watching to you all!