K-Dramas

It all started with a squid and a lawyer

Squid Game

My love of K-Dramas started in the same place as a lot of people: "Squid Game". I'd never seen anything like it. Brutal, a dash of humor, mind-bending, and the visual style was wild. I had recently stopped watching a lot of the American shows that normally would have drawn me in. They were becoming so cynical it was both boring and depressing. Shows like "Ted Lasso" were becoming increasingly rare. "Squid Game", even though it was dark, had moments of hope. Plus it exposed the issue of massive debt that rings true in America as well as Korea.

I immediately started looking for more K-content. I devoured shows like "Rain or Shine" and "You Are My Spring". Then I stumble upon "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" and my obsession truly began.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo

I don't think there's a show like "Attorney Woo" anywhere in the world. America certainly hasn't produced one. It really struck me how Korean writers treat characters with Autism; they basically approach them like they would any other character. They're treated with dignity while acknowledging their different ways of seeing the world. They're funny, but they're never the butt of a joke.

Not just dramas, not just K

In the years that I've been watching K-Dramas, I've started to spread out and explore more - I love watching C-Dramas, T-Dramas, and J-Dramas (China, Thailand, and Japan), and I've gotten into movies from the region, too. You'll find stuff from everywhere in my recommendations, along with movies and limited series. I particularly like Korea's take on the horror genre. Two of my recommended movies are "Exhuma" and "The Call". They're equal parts scary and gory.

There's an app for that

allthedramas.com

My obsession with K-Dramas inspired me to build an app for tracking them. About a year ago I created All The Dramas, which allows you to look up movies and shows and create lists for them. Just by tagging you can make lists of shows you want to watch, shows you seen, shows you gave up on, and rate and review each one. You can easily share your list and your shows with others. In fact, the lists at the bottom of this page pull data from my list directly through the API.