r/kdrama 2022 Challenge List

#1 Featuring a member of The Heirs cast (Kang Ha Neul)

(Great look into office life, fantastic ensemble, utterly amazing.)

#2 As it airs

(It was bad. Just bad)

#3 Award in r/kdrama awards

(Utterly gorgeous show. Amazing cinematography and production. The story is good as well, and the historical setting is such a great idea in comparison to the normal (bland) modern setting for a zombie show. But while I like the characters I miss deeper character interactions and connections.)

#4 A rom-com

(It was very meh. One of the reasons was Ji Woo. I've seen wallpapers that have more personality than him. That's why the entire relationship between him and Seo Joon fell flat. In contrast I quite liked Seo Joon but I was more invested in what happened with his job. Additionally, the show can be categorized as a rom-com, but the comedy was almost non-existent.)

#5 MC under 25

(Love it. It's so sweet and heartwarming and pure fun. It's a sports anime in real life. With actual great female characters and good parents. I especially loved the side stories of all the villagers, like the city couple.)

#6 Meme/Screencap post

(Perfection!)

#7 Remake/Adaptation

(Nice Agatha Christie adaptation that got a bit too draggy in the end. The season mystery was quite obvious as well. But the characters (Major+minor) were fun. It was a cozy mystery indeed.)

#8 Season I was born in (Winter)

(A really solid psychological thriller that leaves you thinking. While I could guess a few twists, most of the story keeps you guessing and with that ensnared. Great villain. Love the one day - one episode pacing)

#9 Featured in Banner

Great production and acting but the story itself seemed a bit too artificial and forced as everything (plot+characters) was always dramatic for dramas sake.

#10 Short Form

(Disapponting and bland. They could have done so much more with the setup and actors than a bland Train to Busan Copy)

#11 Came out the year I joined r/kdrama (2022)

(Cute story, some gorgeous aesthetics although they got sadly tuned down a lot in the second half. Ji Chang Wook and his magic was the highlight and stole every scene but it was good acting all around. Most songs were kinda bland except the Asphalt song. It had some pacing issues and dragged in the middle a little)

#12 Sageuk Genre 

(Great production and acting overall, although there were flaws in the writing and story. Seriously, it's an utterly gorgeous show and the acting by the mains was really good. Jang Hyuk stole every scene he was in, and his character carried the first half of the show. In the second half the women were the MVPs.)

#13 Not so distant past 

(Ehhh, I didn't like it. While it had some great acting, the story was just too messy and it had to much mysteries for the sake of mysteries.)

#14 Found Family

(Good story, amazing found family aspects, and some of the best friends I've seen. The action was a lot of fun as well. The corruption plot in comparison was a little boring)

#15 LGBT+ Character

(Very heartwarming, loved the development of the uncle-nephew-relationship. Some of the sidestories were heartbreaking but lovely at the same time, as they illuminated some important social issues)

#16 Idol debuting pre-2010 (YoonA)

This was really not my style. It had aspects I enjoyed (the friendship, the overarching political plot...), but it was overwhelmed by the romantic plot tumor. The way it was presented by overuse of utterly dramatic music or looooooong camera shots of googly eyes, made me want to strangle myself with red string, just so I could escape it.

#17 Supernatural Main Character

(The way they used shamanism and occultism was very interesting, and were the best parts. That's why the evil shaman was the best character. Overall, it had good acting and good production. Sadly, I didn't feel a lot of danger as the bad guys seemed passive most of the time. The main twists were also quite easy to figure out and the ending was too open and unexplained.)

#18 Inspired by a Review

(Very interesting look into TV journalism with themes of journalistic integrity. Very good acting. But sometimes a little too focused on the squabbles with the ambitious asshole character.)

#19 My Profession/Lifestyle (Student)

(I adore this show. It was short and sweet, with great chemistry between the leads.)

#20 Multiple Timelines

(Fantastic story, great MCs, even the useless and annoying pseudo-romance didn't detract from the show and acting)

#21 Nominee in technical Baeksang Award category

Really great and heartwarming. The characters and their relationships are fun, sweet, heartwarming and heartbreaking, and so 3dimensional. Just a joy to watch. It had a slow beginning and I didn't care for the romance of the MC, but otherwise it was almost perfect. The use of colours, aspect ratio and music was also really great and inventive.

#22 Main Character over 40

(Veeery dragging 1st half, with kinda bland characters and a somehow confusing tone. Got a lot better in the 2nd half, but it stayed overall a bit bland)

#23 Sandwich PPL 

(Kinda fun, and I really liked the Suyeol-K-shenanigans. The various side characters were interesting as well. Overall solid with a lot of fun moments, but I feel it was missing something to make it a really good show. One of the highlights: the family relationship. I loved how it showed the value of adoptive families and the love between them and how it's a real family.)

#24 Lead contributing to the OST (Im Siwan - Fire)

(Fantastic plot, great acting. Loved the intrigues and plots. Really enjoyed the ending)

#25 Podcast Episode (All about kdrama with the kdrama reviewer)

(Zany characters, heartwarming bonds, fun. But it could be a little dragging.)

#26 Previously dropped but gave another Chance 

(Great season 2. Loved the insight into police-prosecutor-issues. The Lead duo stayed fantastic)

#27 Randomly selected Trope (Herbal)

(A fun romp. All the different characters were great and I loved to see their development as well as their growing relationship with each other. MVP is Yang Jong-Hoon (Kim Myung-Min). I would hate to have him as a teacher but it was really fun seeing him teach others. Ye-Seul and Kang Sol B had the best development by far and I loved to see it)

#28 Based on Myth, Fable, Folklore...

It was okayish. It had things I liked (Bromance, Side characters, humour...) but it was hempered by things I disliked (FL+her acting, pacing&length, repeated storybeats/humour....). 

#29 Fictional city (Mucheon)

(I really liked it overall. It had a good overarching story and really some great cases. It also has some seriously creepy moments. The acting was really topnotch from all actors. And can I say that Jang Hyun-Sung is really good at being a dislikable and corrupt cop? Because He really is. Jang Hyuk of course really good, although the pimp sunglasses he often wore were a little too much. Sadly while it was still good, the last episodes lost their steam.)

#30 Written by a Male

(Amazing. I would recommend everyone to watch it. It deals with some very heavy stuff regarding school violence but it is still a very rewarding show to watch. It leaves you thinking and you have think about everyone involved bullies, victims, bystanders. It's a very complex show with some really subtle and complex character writing. The technical aspects (cinematography, editing....) are great as well. Since the show is very layered and complex the rewatchability is very high.

#31 Umbrellas on the Promo Poster)

(Amazing show. The interviews/interrogations were the highest points. Even though it's basically people sitting and talking, the scenes are often spellbounding and stunning. The cinematography and editing: Really good. Especially during the interrogation scenes, where it gave them an opressive but dynamic atmosphere. The acting: Kim Nam Gil, great as always. But the others matched him. It was also nice to see the respect for the victims. And the show made the point clear that the empathy for them and their loved ones was the most important thing. Not the interest in the killers.)

#32 Less than 500 watchers on MDL

(After a very enjoyable start with many hijinx where you learned to care about the characters, it sadly took a step back after the mystery aspect took over. It started to take itself much too serious in contrast to the first half and lost almost every bit of it's humour, leading to a messy tone overall. The mystery aspect itself was a little predictable. The different storylines of the characters were also not as interwoven for some, which led to the fact that some characters were basically unnecessary. Despite it all, it was entertaining and is still underrated as hell.)

#33 Released pre-2010 

(A solid action show that is enjoyable enough but it has a few things I dislike (Pacing issues, Unnecessary character played by TOP, overacting by basically everyone....). The endind is.... mean, but I somehow still like it. Lee Byung Huns acting is really great.

#34 Makjang

(Interesting ideas, and while I enjoyed a few Things (MLs, setting and general plot) it had too many flaws (eg. FLs clothing, FL having no real plan or actions for her revenge, very superficial characters, rushed ending that left a lot of questions...)

#35 Long-Form Drama

(Epic historical drama with some great characters. It gives a great insight into the life of Kim Jun, depicting the very interesting politics of the time concerning the mongols and inner power struggles. Great side characters rounded it off, together with good battle scenes like the Gladiator death polo. It could be a little bit draggy, but the worst thing were the two FLs)

#36 Movie

Overall fun movie, the plane scenes were the best. Im Siwan as the villain knocked it out of the park. Some smaller grievances (e.g. the passengers seemed to stop dieing?) and the end was a bit too pompous/corny.