Table of Contents
Sometimes, nothing makes sense. You can’t reply to an overflow of emails; your fingers seem to freeze. You don’t want to leave the bed. You leave text messages on read, and you just hmm your way through conversations. The world hurts, as do you.
You need little reminders that life gets better, even if it doesn’t, immediately. The world isn’t so cruel to you, as it seems. And to lift your spirits, a few K-Dramas reinforce that perspective. They remind you to hold on, and might just help you find faith in the world again.
If you’re going through a tough time, these K-dramas won’t magically fix everything, but they might just bring a little healing and joy.
1) Navillera
Quiet and heartbreaking, Navillera slowly draws you into a world shaped by bittersweet pain and fragile hope. It follows Shim Deok-chul, a 70-year-old retired mailman who finally decides to chase a lifelong dream of learning ballet, and Lee Chae-rok, a young dancer struggling to hold on to his own. As their unlikely friendship deepens, they heal one another and quietly push each other towards the dreams they’re afraid of losing. And when Deok-chul begins to suffer from dementia, it is Chae-rok who helps him hold on to what truly matters, the things the heart never really forgets.
2) Hospital Playlist
Hospital Playlist arrived at a time when the world was deep in the midst of a pandemic. With its gentle, heartwarming stories about five doctor friends navigating their careers, friendships, and budding romances, while unwinding with music at the end of the day, the series quickly struck a chord with viewers. Its comforting tone and relatable characters made it an instant hit, prompting fans to eagerly demand a second season almost as soon as the first one aired. While the music is a relief to the ears, the stories of patients are just as healing.
3) Doom at Your Service
Doom at Your Service mixes fantasy, romance through the story of Tak Dong-kyung (Park Bo-young), a web novel editor who is suddenly diagnosed with a terminal illness, and Myul Mang (Seo In-guk), a supernatural being who embodies destruction itself. When Dong-kyung makes a desperate wish for the world to end, she inadvertently enters into a contract with Myul Mang, binding their fates together for 100 days. A love story begins, as well as a meditation on mortality, despair and the fragile value of ordinary days. Anchored by Park Bo-young’s quiet vulnerability and Seo In-guk’s restrained performance, the drama asks whether loving deeply is worth the pain of loss, and whether even “doom” can learn what it means to cherish life.
4) Move to Heaven
Move to Heaven finds beauty in what people leave behind. After the sudden death of his father, Han Geu-ru (Tang Jun-sang), a young man with Asperger syndrome, is placed under the care of his estranged uncle Cho Sang-gu (Lee Je-hoon), a hardened ex-convict haunted by his past. Together, they run the family trauma-cleaning business, where each job reveals the untold stories of the deceased through the objects they cherished most. As Geu-ru carefully preserves these final memories, Sang-gu is forced to confront guilt, grief and love he never allowed himself to feel. It’s a a searing, devastating reminder that even in loss, there is tenderness and meaning.
5) King The Land
Maybe, you don’t always need life lessons. Maybe, you need something so silly, winsome and goofy that it takes your mind off things, just for a bit. And that’s where King The Land comes in, starring the ever-reliable Lee Jun-ho and Yoona. It’s a classic trope-y romance of an employee falling in love with the rich CEO (this time at a hotel, mind you), where they spend hours smoothening bed-spreads, cooking food while rain spurts from the ceiling, and enjoy a trip to Thailand. There are a few minor inconveniences, but who cares, when you’ve got two dashing leads and the best love story? m
