End of the Year Drama Challenge – 2022 Edition (Part 2)

We did this last year, so here it is in an editorial for this year — End of the Year Drama Challenge - 2022 Edition. Starting as a Twitter challenge in 2020 by Annie, I have started the polls based on Annie's challenge to collate the responses, with a mini-drama wrap-up forum-style based on the poll results in 2021.

A big thank you to Cho Na for agreeing to work together on this editorial, and also to fellow MDL users for your active participation and comments in the polls to make this wrap-up more meaningful. And of course, thanks to Annie for starting and continuing this End of Year (EOY) Twitter challenge for 2022.

What to Expect for the 2022 Edition

You may skip to the Day 16 wrap-up if you have read Part 1 of this editorial.

The editorial was split into two parts for a more thorough look into the poll results. Part 1 covers Day 1 to Day 15 of the polls, while this Part 2 covers Day 16 to Day 31.

As with the 2021 Edition, 

• Polls are created for the daily challenges (where possible) designed by Annie; 
• Each MDL user has only one response (vote) per the challenge; and
• The wrap-up is done based on the overall poll results that closed on 15 Jan 2023, 23:59H (UTC).

Of note, Annie has reviewed some changes to the daily challenges, so not all are the same as the 2021 Edition.

For the wrap-up, similar to the 2021 Edition,

• While the focus and ranking for each poll will be on the dramas aired in 2022, shows that aired pre-2022 will be highlighted and mentioned where appropriate;
• Dramas that completed airing in December 2021 will also be ranked together with dramas that aired in 2022, to give these dramas enough airtime for viewers to watch;
• As each voter only has one vote for each poll, voters and votes are used interchangeably as appropriate in the editorial.

In addition,

• Movies will be deliberately excluded as this is a drama challenge; 
• Dramas with different seasons aired in the same year 2022, and thus having different drama titles may be considered the same drama based on the nature of the poll; and 
• MDL rating, ranking, and popularity used in this article are extracted on 16 Jan 2023 (UTC) and may differ from the real-time rating, ranking, and popularity at the point that this article is published.

Day 16: Best Actress of 2022

^{21 people | 195 votes}

(M) Main role, (S) Support role, (G) Guest role
The remaining nominations have 1 - 13 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 list for this poll constitutes more than 73 % of all votes for this poll.
• Topping this poll is indisputably South Korean actress Kim Hye Soo with almost 19 % of all votes for this poll, with her flawless portrayal of the no-nonsense, impartial but compassionate Judge Shim of the Juvenile Court, and the regal Queen who is also a typical hands-on mother to her children with a side of humour.
• 2nd placed is South Korean actress Park Eun Bin for her portrayal of the very likable autistic savant lawyer who counts before stepping into a room or lift, but not the train that she takes to/from work (?), and solves complex court cases with bouts of genius whale moments.
• 3rd placed is Chinese actress Zhao Lu Si. She is also 3rd place in the poll for “Day 2: Favourite Actress Discovered in 2022”. The young actress helmed three dramas in 2022: As the straightforward, chivalrous, and highly skilled Bai Fengxi, a seemingly pitiful damsel Cheng Shao Shang with an unrivaled wit to protect herself, and the passionate and chivalrous poor girl Tian Zao who strives with a successful career.
  
• Thai actress Namtan Tipnaree Weerawatnodom is 5th placed, together with South Korean Kim Se Jeong. Namtan started 2022 with Support and Guest roles and went on to be the female lead in two dramas that aired in the second half of 2022. Romcom is a new genre for Kim Se Jeong, and she has taken on A Business Proposal to expand her acting range.

Day 17: Best Actor of 2022

^{38 people | 208 votes}

(M) Main role, (S) Support role, (G) Guest role.
The remaining nominations have 1 - 8 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 list for this poll constitutes 61 % of all votes for this poll.
• Nanon Korapat Kirdpan topped this poll again for the second consecutive year, with overall higher votes from 16 % of all votes for this poll in 2021 to almost 20 % in 2022.
• 2nd placed Lee Jae Wook led the poll on “Day 3: Favourite Actor Discovered in 2022”.
• Similar to the same polls in 2021, this poll received almost the same number of votes compared to the prior Best Actress poll (208 vs 195 votes), and less than a third of the votes for “Day 3: Favourite Actor Discovered In 2022" poll (208 vs 629 votes).
  • For the 2021 polls, this poll received almost the same number of votes compared to the Best Actress poll (186 vs 168 votes), and less than a third of the votes for the “Day 3: Favourite Actor Discovered In 2022" poll (186 vs 590 votes).
• Of note, South Korean Song Joong Ki is placed 7th (8 votes), followed by Chinese Leo Wu (7 votes), with only one drama each in 2022.

Day 18: Standout Secondary Character of 2022

^{19 titles | 116 votes}

Includes 1 drama that completed airing before December 2021.
The remaining nominations have 1 - 5 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• Standout secondary characters deserve more recognition - Whether they are the second leads or key support roles, their roles are often instrumental to bring out the personalities and encounters of the primary lead roles. And more so when the Top 5 list received more than 73 % of all votes for this poll.
• Similar to "Day 7: Favourite Character of 2022", due to the poll limitation to Shows and People only, this poll is on the 2022 drama with one's standout secondary character.
• As there were no comments received for this poll, I can only second guess the secondary characters that voters have in mind when voting for this poll for the 2 dramas that I have watched:
  • Are voters for 2nd placed A Business Proposal swooning over the intense second lead couple?
  • For me,  Kang Ki Young’s standout performance as the charismatic mentor lawyer to the protagonist in the 3rd placed Extraordinary Attorney Woo is hard to be missed.
• I have not watched the other four dramas to be able to know enough to spotlight the secondary characters of those dramas, including the 1st placed Thai BL drama KinnPorsche with almost 29 % of all votes.
• Which character did you have in mind when voting for this poll?

Day 19: A Drama That Made You Laugh

^{25 titles | 174 votes}

Includes 4 dramas (10 votes) that completed airing before December 2021.
The remaining nominations have 1 - 6 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 dramas for this poll received more than 77 % of all votes for this poll.
• Make no mistake, the super exaggerated and hilarious Korean romcom A Business Proposal topped this poll with more than 27 % of all votes.
• Two other Korean romcoms Sh**ting Stars and Gaus Electronics are 2nd and 4th place respectively.
• 3rd placed is the Thai BL school drama My School President.
• While Alchemy of Souls is the only drama among the five dramas that does not have the comedy genre, it does have quite a fair bit of hilarious silly moments.

Day 20: A Drama That Made You Cry

^{29* titles | 152* votes}

*Excludes 2 movies (1 vote each) as this is a drama challenge.
Includes 8 dramas (total 12 votes) that completed airing before December 2021.
The remaining nominations have 1 - 8 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 dramas for this poll constitute only almost 58 % of all votes for this poll, compared to more than 77 % for the previous poll on “Day 19: A Drama That Made You Laugh”.
• Topping this poll is the Korean drama Tomorrow with more than 23 % of all votes. According to clothcat, “Every single Tomorrow episode was a punch to the gut”. Indeed, this drama explores the various hardships and traumas leading to suicides, through a team of grim reapers who help dissuade those with suicidal thoughts.
• Thai family drama 10 Years Ticket which ended airing recently is 2nd placed with less than half the votes of the 1st placed drama and is closely followed by Korean drama Twenty-Five Twenty-One and Thai documentary drama Thai Cave Rescue.

Day 21: A Drama that Was Better Than Expected

^{23 titles | 145 votes}

Includes 1 drama (1 vote) that completed airing before December 2021.
The remaining nominations have 1 - 6 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 list for this poll received more than 71 % of all votes for this poll, with BL dramas topping this poll.
• Thai BL drama My School President dominated with 35 % of all votes, while Korean BL drama Semantic Error is next with only 8 % of votes. Does this mean voters generally have lower expectations of BL dramas and thus making them easier to be better than expected?
• While Weak Hero Class 1 is 3rd placed, it has an exceptionally high MDL rating of 9.1 compared to the other dramas on this list that range from 8.0 to 8.5. Soompi's article  6 Underrated K-Dramas Of 2022 That You Might Have Missed pointed out that “this drama was fairly popular in Korea as a result of the webtoon being such a success, but internationally, it didn’t get as much hype” and that “the complicated and unexpected storyline was so perfectly drawn out, only creating more anticipation for viewers”.
• Sh**ting Stars, which was 1st placed for "Day 7: Favourite Character of 2022", and Mama Gogo, which was 5th placed for "Day 12: A Friendship that Stole the Show", are tied at 4th spot in this poll together with the Korean rom-com The Forbidden Marriage which started airing only in December 2022, with 10 votes each. I have not watched any of these 4th placed dramas to be able to comment much. If you have watched or voted for these dramas, do share what you think made these dramas better than expected.

Day 22: Shortest Drama You Completed in 2022

^{37 titles | 110 votes}

The remaining nominations have 1 - 3 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• Topping this poll is the Thai documentary drama Thai Cave Rescue with 16 % votes followed by Korean dramas The Sound of Magic and Semantic Error with almost 13 % votes each.
• Within the Top 5 list, Thai Cave Rescue with a total runtime of 360 minutes is the second longest drama, after The Sound of Magic (420 minutes). The shortest drama is the Japanese drama Old Fashioned Cupcake with total runtime of 125 minutes.
• Within the full list are six drama specials that generally have much fewer episodes, and among them, the 2022 Korean Special Reincarnation Love (2 votes) only has 1 episode with a runtime of 6 minutes.

Day 23: Longest Drama You Completed in 2022

^{34 titles | 93 votes}

The remaining nominations have 1 - 2 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• This poll, which received 93 votes, is the poll with the least number of votes.
• For this poll, both seasons of Love Like the Galaxy and Alchemy of Souls that aired in 2022 are considered together, as the drama was made with two seasons in mind.
• Topping this list is the Chinese drama Love Like the Galaxy (Seasons 1 and 2) with 16 % votes and coincidentally also the 2022 drama with the longest total runtime of 2520 minutes. 2nd placed Alchemy of Souls (Seasons 1 and 2) missed with 15 % votes and a total runtime of 2400 minutes.
• Surprisingly, the drama with the longest runtime in the list above is not a Chinese drama, but the 2017 Korean drama My Father is Strange (3 votes) with 52 episodes at a total runtime of 3432 minutes. This is followed by the 2018 Chinese drama Story of Yanxi (also 3 votes) with 70 episodes at a total runtime of 3150 minutes.

Day 24: Favourite Costumes of 2022

^{14 titles | 123 votes}

The remaining nominations have 1 - 5 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• This poll has the lowest number of nominations with only 14 titles.
• While it is natural to think that ancient costume dramas with elaborate custom-made ancient costumes will dominate this poll, compared to modern dramas, topping this poll is the modern Korean school drama Cheer Up with a third of all votes. It’s perhaps the elaborate bright cheerleading attire that voters resonated with.
• Ancient costume dramas did not disappoint with four dramas topping this poll, including one Korean drama and three Chinese dramas.
• Both seasons of Alchemy of Souls made the list garnering a total of 31 votes (30 % of all votes). As a fictional fantasy drama, this drama infuses modern elements into the costumes and hairdo of the characters.
• Chinese ancient costume drama Love Between Fairy And Devil is 3rd placed with almost half the votes of 2nd placed drama. As a fictional fantasy drama as well, whimsical details were incorporated to elevate the fairytale telling.

Day 25: Sweetest Romance of 2022

^{22 titles | 151 votes}

The remaining nominations have 1 - 6 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 dramas received almost 75 % of all votes for this poll, with BL dramas dominating this poll with 3 dramas amassing more than 53 % votes for this poll.
  • Thai BL dramas topped this poll with TinnGun in My School President receiving 25 % votes and OhmNanon in Bad Buddy trailing behind with 23 % votes. Of note, Bad Buddy topped the same poll in 2021 with more than 41 % of all votes.
  • Korean BL drama Semantic Error comes in 5th with the YoungWoo couple (not to be confused with Woo Young Woo of Extraordinary Attorney Woo, which is coincidentally mentioned just below).
• The cute romance of WooHo in Extraordinary Attorney Woo is 3rd placed with almost half the votes of the 2nd placed drama, and the fairy-devil couple in Love Between Fairy And Devil is 4th placed.
• Is there more chemistry between the two male actors?

Day 26: Most Disappointing Drama of 2022

^{23 titles | 100 votes}

The remaining nominations have 1 - 6 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 dramas in this poll are mostly rated at or below 7.8, with the exception of 5th placed Big Mouth which is rated 8.6.
• 4 of the Top 5 dramas are also among the Top 5 of less desirable polls: 
  • "Day 6: A Drama You Dropped in 2022": Love in Contract and Big Mouth (tied at 2nd) and Forecasting Love and Weather (5th).
  • "Day 13: A Drama You Found Boring": Love in Contract (1st) and Woo Ri the Virgin (4th).
• 2nd placed Check Out has the lowest rating of 5.8 in this poll, followed by Woo Ri the Virgin with a rating of 6.6.
• Of note, highly rated dramas, with ratings of 9.0 and above, are nominated in this poll as well. They include Alchemy of Souls (3 votes for Season 1 and 1 vote for Season 2), Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2 votes) and Love Between Fairy and Devil (8.9 - 1 vote).

Day 27: A 2022 Drama That Deserves A Shoutout

^{25 titles | 127 votes}

The remaining nominations have 1 - 6 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The 2022 Top 5 dramas in this poll have a rating of at least 8.5 and constitute 62 % of all votes for this poll.
• Korean drama Under the Queen’s Umbrella topped this poll with almost 20 % of all votes for this poll and with the highest rating of 9.0 among the Top 5 dramas for this poll. As noted in "Day 14: A Writer/ Director Who Caught Your Attention", this drama, under the pen of the new Screenwriter Park Ba Ra, immaculately fuses Joseon palace politics with humour and modern elements, such as mothers fussing over their kids’ education, and depiction of a mother’s unconditional love, courage and resolute to protect her kids, making this a highly enjoyable, rewarding and not-to-be-missed drama.
• Unlike the 2021 Edition that saw Korean dramas dominating the top 3 spots, Thai dramas take the limelight here as they took down the 2nd to 5th spots, amassing more than 42 % of all votes.
• 3rd placed Thai Cave Rescue is the only non-BL Thai drama, as the remaining Thai dramas are BL dramas.
  4th placed Thai BL drama Bad Buddy came in 5th in the same poll for 2021.
• Are there peculiar reasons for the dominance of Thai BL dramas in this poll that deserves a shoutout?

Day 28: Something You Want to See More in Drama

A poll cannot be done for this as a poll can be made only for Shows or People.

However, from the comments received, it seems that in general, there is interest to see more family-oriented and life dramas with children characters or dramas centered on kids (with kids aged 12 or below in main lead roles), and also dramas with the main character from a different culture, a physical disability or with different sexual orientation (such as poly, ace, and aro rep). There are also responses for dramas with just downright silly content or rom-coms that revolve around the academic rivals to lover trope.

Have dramas become more extreme and dramatic to cater to the likes of mainstream viewers, or are viewers getting tired of those themes and craving lighter dramas on kids and minorities?

Day 29: A 2023 Drama That You’re Excited For

^{41* titles | 152* votes}

*Excludes 3 dramas (1 vote each) that have already aired or started to air in 2022 or before: Love like the Galaxy (2022), The Long Ballad (2021), and Raise de wa Chanto Shimasu Season 3 (2022).
The remaining nominations have 1-5 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results.

• The Top 5 list of this poll includes 3 dramas with prior seasons aired with high ratings of 8.7-8.8. They are the 1st placed The Uncanny Counter 2 (14 % votes), 2nd placed Taxi Driver: Season 2 (13 % votes) and 5th placed Dr Romantic Season 3 (5 %).
• Thai BL drama Cherry Magic comes in 3rd, while Only Friends is 5th placed together with Dr Romantic Season 3.
• Chinese ancient costume drama Till the End of the Moon: Part 1 featuring Luo Yun Xi and Bai Lu is 4th placed. Both of them have 3 - 4 dramas each released in 2021, but only one drama each released in 2022.
• Will these dramas be worth the excitement and anticipation?
• The table below shows how the 2022 dramas in the same poll in 2021 are rated following their releases in 2022. The 4th placed Chinese ancient costume drama Who Rules the World starring Yang Yang and Zhao Lu Si is the highest rated in the table with a rating of 8.7, followed by 5th placed Korean drama Reborn Rich starring Song Joong Ki which has a rating of 8.6. 2nd placed Korean drama Glitch, unfortunately, did not rate as well, with a rating of only 7.5.

Day 30: Was 2022 A Good Drama Year For You?

A poll cannot be done for this as well, as the poll can be made only for Shows or People.

Generally, MDLers who responded have mixed reactions. 2022 dramas appear to be generally forgettable and just average or below average, with some MDLers even experiencing a drama slump in 2022. Some managed to watch some good dramas from previous years. However, there are still some 2022 gems and 2022 dramas that generally covered genres that are not seen much in dramaland, such as intersex conditions, asexuality, autism, BDSM, mental health, aging, etc.

Day 31: Favourite Drama Of 2022

^{26 titles | 159 votes}

Includes 1 drama (1 vote) that completed airing before Dec 2021.
The remaining nominations have 1 - 7 vote(s) each | Click the hyperlink at the daily challenge title for the full poll results

• The 2022 Top 5 dramas in this poll are all highly rated dramas with ratings of at least 8.5 and constitute more than 60 % of all votes received for this poll.
• 1st placed Korean drama Alchemy of Souls comes as no surprise as it is also 1st placed in “Day 5: A Visually Beautiful 2022 Drama” and “Day 8: A 2022 Drama with An Interesting Story”,  2nd place in “Day 7: Favourite Character of 2022”,  “Day 15: Favourite Drama Poster of 2022”, “Day 23: Longest Drama You Completed in 2022” and “Day 24: Favourite Costumes of 2022”, and 3rd placed in “Day 4: Favourite Original Song from a 2022 Drama”
• 2nd placed Thai drama Bad Buddy is 1st placed in “Day 4: Favourite Original Song from a 2022 Drama,” and 2nd placed in “Day 10: Have You Rewatched a Drama in 2022” and “Day 25: Sweetest Romance of 2022”. As a drama airing that stretches from October 29, 2021, to January 21, 2021, it was also voted as the top “Favourite Drama of 2021” in the 2021 poll.
• 3rd placed in Thai drama My School President is 1st placed in “Day 21: A Drama that Was Better Than Expected” and “Day 25: Sweetest Romance of 2022”, 2nd place in “Day 4: Favourite Original Song from a 2022 Drama”, “Day 8: A 2022 Drama with An Interesting Story” and “Day 27: A 2022 Drama That Deserves A Shoutout”, and 3rd placed in “Day 19: A Drama That Made You Laugh”.
• 4th placed Korean drama Under the Queen’s Umbrella is 1st placed in both “Day 15: Favourite Drama Poster of 2022” and “Day 27: A 2022 Drama That Deserves A Shoutout”.
• 5th placed Korean romcom A Business Proposal is 1st placed in “Day 19: A Drama That Made You Laugh”, and 2nd place in “Day 12: A Drama Friendship that Stole the Show” and "Day 19: Standout Secondary Character of 2022”.
• Do you have a favourite 2022 drama that has also become the Best of the Best (BOTB) drama for you? If you have, do hop over to the BOTB - Drama Edition poll and list or update your one and only one best drama of all time. This is an evergreen poll started on Sep 11th, 2022, with an annual summary and analysis of the results planned.

Epilogue

This is it - A wrap-up of the good and not so good in dramaland for 2022.
Do you agree with the poll results? Why and why not?

Generally, 2022 has not been a great drama year for me, as many 2022 dramas failed to catch or sustain my attention. So I have not watched many 2022 dramas to be able to have a good grasp of the analysis of the poll results.

Thus, I would not say I agree or disagree with the results. I would only say I can understand the Top 3 rankings of most polls, except for the rankings of Alchemy of Souls, Bad Buddy, and My School President in some polls such as “Day 15: Favourite Drama Poster of 2022” which could be due to voter bias effect i.e. the natural tendency for fans of those dramas to be more active in voting for the polls. 

Immediate observation as I was compiling the poll results is the growing momentum of Thai BL dramas among MDL voters following its emergence in the 2021 polls, and the prominence of Thai screenwriters and directors in the 2022 polls. Thai BL dramas, actors, and production folks are seen to dominate several polls including “Day 8: A 2022 Drama with an Interesting Story”, “Day 25: Sweetest Romance”, “Day 27: A Drama That Deserves A Shoutout”, “Day 3: Favourite Actor Discovered in 2022”, “Day 17: Best Actor”, “Day 14: A Writer Or Director Who Caught Your Attention”, and “Day 29: A 2023 Drama That You're Excited For”. Would 2023 be the year that Thai dramas completely dominate this EOY drama challenge?

Finally, thank you once again to all those who have voted. Your active participation has made this analysis article possible.