The year 2022 was a small harvest for good Kdramas.

I think overall the BIG shows with A-list talent and production values have been trending towards anti-climatic or disappointing while some lesser shows (in talent or network) were better. For most of the year, the KBS weekenders have been bad.

I think the western investment by Netflix and Disney have changed the k-drama model too much, such as having second seasons. K-dramas were good when they had a strong beginning, compelling middle and a final ending.

It was also a year where actors off-set behavior and scandals adversely impacted their shows to a greater degree than just changing actors. It was also a year with very few break-out, buzzworthy new stars (especially under the age 30).

This is the first year where I felt just too overwhelmed with just how many dramas are out there to watch. All of the competing streaming services had me throwing up my arms in frustration. I've become a much less loyal watcher to my shows. I may have stuck with a show through a tough start or iffy middle in the past, but now I just move on to something else. And, I think that has the effect of me enjoying shows less because usually it is the imperfect art that is the most satisfying art. As is my usual habit, I read the NYtimes before starting work in the morning. Today, they had their yearly best TV shows from this year and there were no K-dramas on the list. I know this is a NY based paper so it doesn't speak for many, but it is probably the most influential paper in the US in terms of arts/entertainment reviews. There is a lot of competition out there now from all over the world. K-dramas had made quite the splash in the last few years both critically and through popularity so I was sorry to not see any on the list (but, I'm not sure there were any that deserved to be on the list).

This is probably the year with the fewest beans, for me. Looking forward to the year-end posts!

What a year!!

I watched quite a lot this year unlike the year before. I managed to jump past stupid dramas cuz reviews from here and Reddit saved me a lot of stress. I also deliberately refused to watch some popular dramas because of the popularity. Let's me just say, too much popularity makes flaws look appeasing and I did not regret it. Twenty-five Twenty-one, One Beloved Summer, Alchemy of Souls, Under the Queen's Umbrella, and others laid a mark on me this year, I appreciate their presence and I wish other writers could learn from them.

As for the tropey ones, learn please, I thought we were all living in the 21st century, aren't we? But sometimes you need the tropes to survive though.

And one more thing, the so-called English speaking actors were meh 😒 this year!! Looking at you UEE cuz you made me fast forward your scenes a lot in Ghost Doctor.

This was actually a really good drama year for me. I watched too many dramas but more or less found something to like in all of them. I think there were more dramas I really, really liked this year than in some previous years.

I guess I’m in the opposite end of the spectrum from @missh. I only watched 4 Kdramas that aired this year because I think the majority of them were not something I liked. The dramas I finished are 2521, A Business Proposal, Sh**ting Stars, The Sound of Magic.

If there is one word I’d give to the overall impression of Kdramas this year from me who loves light-hearted, fun and romantic TV shows it’d be ‘bleak’ for Kdramas in general.

I am looking forward to reading these posts. This year I have watched a lot of older dramas and enjoyed most of those although some of the tropes from the older dramas didn't age well. I have had a small number of on air watches that I have enjoyed most of the way through but quite a few have been disappointing and I have endured for the bean or reluctantly given up as time is way too precious and the sole purpose of drama watching is to have some light entertainment.

This was not a great year for K-dramas for me personally, although there are few I've heard good things about that I haven't checked out yet but probably will (Under the Queen's Umbrella, Through the Darkness, Alchemy of Souls if season 2 doesn't crash and burn). I found myself watching more shows from other Asian countries instead, and with the exception of The Red Sleeve, all my favorites that I watched this year were non-Korean.

This is the year where I felt the first stirrings of boredom with some conventional kdrama tropes, and I didn't make it through more dramas than I completed. It used to be that I could and would find something to enjoy in almost any drama I watched, but during the past several months I've felt that my expectations are just higher now.

This is also the year during which I found not one, but two, Park Min Young dramas that I couldn't get through. First time that has happened.

That said, when I found a drama I loved this year, I really, really loved it. I still think about "My Liberation Notes," "Our Beloved Summer," Little Women," and "Alchemy of Souls," "Red Sleeve," and (most of) "Twenty Five/Twenty One" (still not over the ending) with a kind of awe and a longing for more. And for the first time, I truly enjoyed a full-on comedic kdrama--"Gaus."

Every year seems worse than the year before, but still, I thought it was a pretty solid year despite not seeing that many kdramas compared to the vast amount of output. We've now got a new channel in the mix - ENA, Coupang Play, and TVING stream-only series are joining lineup. And the industry is exploring different genres and accommodating storytelling other than the usual man and woman in their 20s-early 30s fall in love. Not all actors like or are even good at the romance genre so this gives them more opportunities. And it gives older actors more opportunities. I loved May It Please the Court, which made the romance something that is hinted at rather than an overt thing where they have to awkwardly squeeze in a week #4 kiss.

Also yes to more ensembles and interesting side characters. I like feeling that my time isn't wasted while watching the non-lead characters. Sh**ting stars had weak ratings and didn't get a lot of buzz either, but it nailed the fun ensemble aspect.

I'd love more fantasy worlds. I thought Alchemy of Souls was really cool in that it bringing something different to the fantasy genre in kdramas - using a made-up world with its own culture and leaning more heavily on the fantasy aspect. The Hong sisters may stumble, but at least they're doing something different. However, stuff like this needs a big budget so I can see why there are so many lawyer dramas instead.

What I do dislike this year is how some of the dramas are exclusive Disney+ Korea releases. I am a Disney+ subscriber in the US so it felt unfair.

Very much looking forward to all the good writing to come on this topic, I think you all are brilliant! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Watched a lot of kdrama content this year. The highlights for me were Alchemy of Souls, A Business Proposal, My Beloved Summer, there are probably others that don't come to mind now. More disappointing were the ones started but dropped for one reason or another. And there are too many of those to mention.

This is only my second year in dramaland, but I have learned and watched a lot.
I watched more dramas while they aired, or a few weeks after. I am dissapointed with Wookie and SIG last dramas, but I have discovered new oppas (new to me, but this is not so difficult).
Somehow, despite the abundance of kdramas available to me, I started to explore cdramas. I'm not sure what resonate more (republicain costumes ? silly, light and fun romcom so absurd that I laught ?) but the rythm of drama-watching is a little higher. And I'm still not over Love like the galaxie.

What is very precious to me is this site and the discussions. It's so good to be able to share and discuss the dramas. I'm not all alone in my mindspace, thank you all beanies.

I can’t say this was a good year for kdramas. Good dramas were far few in between and even the ones I liked initially didn’t sustain till the end.
Adamas was probably the best thing that happened this year, for me. I have fewer beans this year.

I did have some success with cdrama's. Under the skin, Reset, Disappearing Child, Legally Romance and Because of Love were all dramas I enjoyed.

Hope 2023 is better for me.

I didn't watch a single Korean drama this year, not even an old one. I'm relying on you all to provide recommendations as to the best ones, and I'll queue them up for next year when I study Korean. Thanks, people. I've been watching Japanese things this year, since I'm studying Japanese.

I was off dramas for a while after my roomba knocked over my TV and broke the screen, but I got back in eventually starting with Risky Romance (and a bit of the Japanese series Samurai Cat) and now playing catchup.

I might have watched more dramas but these are all I could think of..All of Us Are Dead (not sure this is from 2022), 2521, My Liberation Note, Pachinko, Woo Young Woo and the last but not least, Little Women.

Is there a good place to check a list of what aired in 2022? Seems like the year kind of blew through, but I'm sure I watched a butt load of kdramas. I'll rely on wikipedia for a basic list!

This year I definitely took the opportunity to drop a show, forgoing the bean if it wasn't working for me, which was a nice change. There's only so much time and such a glut of content both korean and otherwise that I tried not to waste it on unworthy shows.

I have to say that there are a lot of great shows, but even more that I found amazing at first, and then just good by the end.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo and 25 to 21 come immediately to mind. Some STRONG moments, and I rewatched the early episodes of these ones a few times but I felt the endings were either lackluster or missed some good opportunities to close out strong.

I enjoyed some of the Netflix offerings, such as All of Us Are Dead, Glitch, and The Sound of Magic, but was disappointed by others like Somebody. There were also some DARK offerings not by Netflix, like The King of Pigs that were unsettling, but kept me watching.

I learned the value of patience, waiting for the subtitles team to finish Tracer, rather than suffer through auto translated horribleness (thank you Taxpayers sub team!).

Disney+ disappointed me with pretty much all their shows I can think of (though I'm going to check out Pachinko over the next week and heard pretty solid things about that).

Lots of cracky rom com goodness, and disappointments. A Business Proposal was fun, as was Shooting Stars, but there were ALSO some pitfalls, like Love is For Suckers (man...and I liked both these leads, too bad).

Spreading the net wide and far though, this is typical of the results I expect. Some good, some great, and some AWFUL. Here's looking forward to 2023 :)

My year started with the non-Kdrama world coming off the high of 'Squid Game' and going crazy over the series 'All Of Us Are Dead' and 'My Name' (actually started Oct last year but discovered post-Squid Game). Non-K-drama world then discovered 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo'.

My spring was dominated by 'My Liberation Notes' (up until *that* final episode). I was entertained by 'Glitch' and thoroughly charmed by 'Gaus Electronics'.

Besides these few sparkling gems there was a lot of treading water.

Is it just me, or have Kdramas lurched this year toward more explicit (though still muted) sex, and longer and more intense kiss scenes. I think of Law Cafe's FL and the contract she drew up for the ML to sign demanding an orgasm. Or Yumi's Cells 2. My thought is that with ratings dropping, writers are seeing how far they can go with this. Sex sells. Throw in some r-rated scenes and you don't have to work as hard to produce a good script. Am I being too cynical?

This has been my first year watching Asian dramas (I wish I had started sooner). I have watched around 70 k-dramas and one C-drama, released between 2009 and 2022.
But among them, only these ones are from 2022:
- Business Proposal. 7/10
- Soundtrack #1. 6'5/10
- Yumi's cells 2. 8/10
- Once upon a small town. 7/10
- Seasons of Blossom. 8/10
- Love between Fairy and Devil. 8'5/10
- Weak Hero Class 1. 9/10

It seems to me that I'm loving older k-dramas more than new ones. I have fallen in love with dramas like Queen Seon Deok, Flower Boy Next Door, Misaeng, Live up to your name... Anyway, this has been a great year because I have entered Dramaland. And I have so much yet to see!