By Alexa Martínez
Who can forget the success of ‘Squid game? This series made us realize that little by little South Korean entertainment was going to gain more recognition and it’s not the first time that productions from that country achieves that much scope; just remember ‘Parasite’, the movie winner of many awards.
There are many streaming platforms to enjoy this kind of series. Rakuten Viki is a streaming platform focused on content from Asia; there are some series that you can see if you pay a membership and several others that you can enjoy for free. Although the Netflix library is not that vast, it does have some productions that you cannot miss and here I tell you some of my favorite ones:
1. Crash landing on you (2019) – Netflix
An impossible love story between the two Koreas that will make you laugh, cry, love and hate.
Yoon Seri, a fearless businesswoman, suffers a paragliding mishap and lands accidentally in North Korea; if the military forces find out she’s there, they could attempt against her life. It seems that luck is on her side when the soldier found her in Jeong-Hyeok. This man seems to be a very cold person but has under his command a group of charismatic soldiers that are willing to protect Seri at any cost. In the multiple attempts to send Seri back to South Korea, our main characters didn’t plan to catch feelings for each other.
Directed by Lee Jeong-hyo, this series has 16 episodes and you can’t miss it, this is not a spoiler, but the actors end up dating after filming the show, and nowadays they are still together, so it speaks volumes about the kind of chemistry they had on screen.
2. Move to Heaven (2021) – Netflix
Without a doubt, this series will make you value your life and all your loved ones. Based on the book ‘Things Left Behind’ by Kim Sae-byul and tells the story of Geu-ru an 18-year-old boy that has Asperger syndrome and that with his uncle, Sang-Goo is in charge of making the last move of recently deceased or better known as traumatic cleaning. Here, they gather all the belongings of the dead and the non-tell stories of their lives and families that lead them to experience many emotions.
The story develops while they work and at the same time look forward to strengthening their relationship as a family, which is a little bit complicated, but I don’t want to tell you more, because you must give it a chance.
Directed by Kim Sung-ho and has 10 episodes.
3. The Devil Judge (2021) – Rakuten Viki
This one is my favorite, mainly because it is the adaptation of a webtoon. Our story occurs in a dystopian Korea that addresses themes like alignment, distortion of reality through mass media, and the null importance of the laws against important and powerful people.
Kim Yohan is a chief judge, his word is law, and he’s the main host of his own court, which has become a TV Show where people can decide the penalty that will be imposed on the accused, that usually are important and powerful people. But Yohan’s punishment methods are a little bit questionable and this caught the attention of Kim Gaon, who is Kim Yohan’s subordinate and also appears in the TV Show. Gaon starts to think that Yohan’s intentions are no good because he maintains a mysterious background that could be the answer to his actions.
With Ji Sung as Kang Yohan and Park Jinyoung as Kim Gaon, in 16 episodes you will follow them in their way to do what they think is right.
Actor recommendation: Park Jinyoung is such a multitasking man, he not only acts, but also he models, composes, dances, sings, produces songs and is part of GOT7, a k-pop group. You can find him in other series like, He’s Psychometric, When My Love Blooms and Yumi’s Cells.
Directed by Choi Jung-gyu.
4. Yumi’s Cells (2021) – Rakuten Viki
Yumi has cells -think of as Inside out situation with emotions- that control her daily life and the way she acts, and represents different emotions, like love, rationality, or hunger. Years after a rough breakup she gets to meet Woong, who is a programmer and experiments love at first sight just as soon as he sees Yumi. Woong also has the same cells as Yumi but works differently. In 14 episodes, you’ll be witness to the way the love story of Woong and Yumi develops and as well her development in all aspects of her life.
You’ll love them, this is the adaptation of a webtoon. The first season is available on Rakuten Viki and as far as we know, the second season is expected to release in the first half of this year.
Directed by Lee Sang-yeob.
5. The King: Eternal Monarch (2020) – Netflix
Lee Minho plays the role of the main character in this series, who is the king of the Korean Empire in a parallel world. The story happens between the Korean Empire and the actual Republic of Korea. When king Lee Gon discovers a door that allows him to enter into a parallel world, he sees an opportunity to solve the mystery behind his father murder when he was just a child and someone saved his life leaving an important clue behind that will lead him to the detective, Jeong Tae-eul.
In 16 episodes, you’ll be able to enjoy the love story of a king and a detective that are willing to fight against everything to be together.
Directed by Baek Sang-hoon, Jung Ji-hyun and Yoo Je-won.
So if you don’t know what to do or watch this weekend, and you’re waiting for the remake of ‘Money Heist’ why not give this series a chance? Rakuten viki has several subscription plans and some series can be watched for free but with advertisements. You must keep in mind that the episodes of this kind of series have a duration of almost two hours.