Shahz writes:
Hey KFG. Hope you are well. An idea for “ask KFG” post was one around what your guilty pleasures are? And opening that same question up to the KFG community. In particular those that you couldn’t explain to a non K drama lover.
So for me three immediately come to mind. The first being “Secret Garden”. Body shifting, toxic couple. Female lead sometimes one note, an annoying mother but even though I watched this ten years after it was shown I still fell for all the iconic lines. The second ” “You are Beautiful”. Cross dressing nun joins a pop band pretending to be her male twin. The chemistry between the OTP never sizzles but it is oh so sweet and actually what develops is a nurturing relationship despite the communication problems. And Jang Keun-suk is so mesmerising beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off him.
The third is” Don’t dare to dream”. Questionable OTP and questionable decisions and at one point the female lead dates both the ML and the second lead at the same but the sparkling chemistry between the leads makes this a great binge watch. And an honourable mention for Masters Sun. FL sees ghosts and ML acts as a barrier to those ghosts but uses this power to manipulate the FL into furthering his interests but again the sizzling chemistry between the leads makes the show so bingeable”
Ooh, stuff that you can’t look away from, you say? 🤪
Dear Shahz,
Thanks for asking such a fun question!! I had a good time thinking about which dramas are guilty pleasures for me, and what makes a drama a guilty pleasure for me personally, as well.
I realize that a show can feel like a guilty pleasure for me, when it satisfies one or more of the following conditions:
1. It’s not objectively good, but I enjoy it anyway
2. There’s something about it that I find very slurpable
3. There’s an actor or OTP relationship in it that just draws me in, even if I have misgivings about other parts of the show
4. It’s a show that I’d like to rewatch, even though I have a watch list of shows that I haven’t seen, that is a mile long
To be clear, this doesn’t mean that all the shows on my list aren’t good. 😅 I think some of these shows are objectively excellent, but there’s still that giddy slurpy sort of feeling that I get while watching them, that makes me think of these shows as guilty pleasures.
If you guys have other titles to add, please share them with us in the comments!
A LOOK AT SOME OF MY GUILTY PLEASURE DRAMAS
A Love So Beautiful [China]
Light, warm and breezy, there’s just something about this show that works, for me. The story – about a warm girl who unabashedly likes an aloof boy – isn’t anything new, but there’s a charm and X factor in this one, that sets it apart, I feel. I happily watched back-to-back episodes of this one, and I’d like to do it again sometime.
Flash Review is here.
Are You Human Too
Show is so flagrantly ridiculous in how melodramatic it is, and how much it stretches logic, but I loved it, while keeping my absurdist lens firmly in place. Did it make sense that I was rooting for the robot and not the human? No. Did it make sense that our OTP loveline is between a robot and a human? Also, no. But I loved it anyway.
Review is here.
Big
Ha. This is a show that’s objectively not at all great. But Gong Yoo‘s in this, and he looks amazing in it. I basically watched it just to spazz at him on my screen. 😂 I didn’t care that the script didn’t make much sense. I did care a little, when Show became a drag to watch after episode 12, but I finished it anyway, and then pretended that episodes 13 to 16 never happened, ha.
Review is here.
Bride of the Century
This show was so much fun, with the right lens on. Puppies playing makjang, is basically what this show felt like, to watch. It feels like writer-nim was playing Drunken Trope while writing this one as well, coz we go from trope to trope in a blithe, haphazard fashion, for the most part. This was as slurpable as it was silly. I loved it.
Review is here.
Bromance [Taiwan]
This show isn’t objectively well-written, but the premise, of a boy falling for a girl-dressed-as-a-boy, is one that I’ve had a soft spot for, since Coffee Prince. Plus, the chemistry between Megan Lai and Baron Chen is so electric, and Baron’s smoldery gaze is so mesmerizing, that I just couldn’t look away.
Flash Review is here.
Coffee Prince
Ok, I do think Coffee Prince is a very good show that deserves all the love that it gets. But, similar to Bromance, I am just so taken by the OTP chemistry, and Gong Yoo’s smitten gazes, which are simply glorious, that it feels like a guilty pleasure to binge this.
Review is here.
Crash Landing On You
There’s something so frothy and fun about this, that reminds me of classic Hallyu rom-coms. I think the OTP chemistry is nice and sparky, but to be honest, this feels like a guilty pleasure because I just felt really charmed by Hyun Bin in this role. He’s so decent, and caring, and dorky, and swoony, all at the same time. 😍
Review is here.
Dream High
I found this really fun and slurpable, when I watched it back in the day. There’s something about high school dramas that appeals to my inner teen, and when that concept is meshed with kpop, it just feels quite fascinating, even though I don’t even really listen to kpop. The music just made everything feel extra breezy. Taecyeon and Kim Soo Hyun fighting over underwear also never gets old, for me. 😂
Review is here.
Find Yourself [China]
I have a soft spot for Noona romances, and this totally qualifies. Objectively, Show has some thoughtful nuggets that lifts it above the average guilty pleasure drama, but it was honestly the OTP chemistry, and Song Wei Long’s brand of youthful, intent smolder, that had me lapping this up.
Review is here.
Goong / Princess Hours
This one’s a sentimental favorite of mine, because Goong was my gateway drama. There’s something about the music that just sucks me into this drama world. And watching the cold prince melt in degrees, towards our warm girl, always makes me squee. 😍
Review is here.
Hana Kimi (2007) [Japan]
Such nonsensical, slurpable fun. This show makes me laugh, because it’s so silly. I mean, a high school that only accepts boys based on their looks? Tee hee. That will never grow old, for me. 😆But also, Oguri Shun’s brand of smolder really works for me, in this show, and I could completely understand why our female lead would go to such lengths, to go undercover as a boy, for his sake.
Healer
I think Healer’s an excellent show in many ways, but the reason it feels like a guilty pleasure to me, is because I melt into a puddle at so many of the OTP interactions; Ji Chang Wook and Park Min Young are so natural together! And also, there’s the thing where I swoon every time Healer casually parkours off a building. 🤩
Review is here.
Jang Ok Jung, Live In Love
Lots of people didn’t like this show too much, but when I watched only the OTP bits and fast-forwarded through literally everything else, this turned out to be solidly enjoyable, and quite delicious, even. Yoo Ah In as a young, smitten king? Yes, please.
Flash Review is here.
Just You [Taiwan]
This show is not objectively good, and is even rather draggy in spots, but overall, I found this fun, breezy and enjoyable, because Puff Guo and Aaron Yan share excellent chemistry. Also, I just liked looking at the Aaron Handsome, heh.
Flash Review is here.
Let’s Eat
Let’s Eat is a solidly good show, but it feels like a guilty pleasure to me, because I just like ogling all the food. Out of the 3 seasons, this first season has the best food p0rn. They truly nailed what it looks like, to eat deliciously. And the food really does look wonderful. I could ogle this show all day, ha. 😋
Flash Review is here.
Marriage Not Dating
I think this one’s objectively good, but it somehow feels like a guilty pleasure, with all the contract relationship hijinks, that, if memory serves, includes a healthy serving of secondhand embarrassment. Also, Yeon Woo Jin and Han Groo are so natural together, that it sometimes made me feel like I was a voyeur peeping at a real-life couple. That’s probably also why this feels like a guilty pleasure. 😅
Review is here.
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds
Show does get more serious in its second half, but I happily slurped up this one, because Park Bo Gum and Kim Yoo Jung are so cute together. Also, I spazzed every time Park Bo Gum turned on our Crown Prince’s cheeky smirk, or his intense smolder. 🤩
Review is here.
Mr. Queen
I think Show’s very solid, but there’s a guilty pleasure vibe about watching this, probably because I can’t help but root for the OTP, even though my brain protests that technically, our female lead is really a man inhabiting a woman’s body. Yes, it can be problematic when analyzed in an objective manner, but while watching these two burn up the screen together, I really didn’t care about being analytical or objective, heh.
Review is here.
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho
Yes, it is a little dated, and yes, it can be tropey, but it’s mostly breezy and feel-good, and Shin Min Ah is the cutest, most adorable gumiho that Dramaland’s ever seen. I just like watching her. 🤩 And also, the Fox Rain song really gets under my skin.
Open Threads are listed here.
My ID is Gangnam Beauty
Objectively, neither Cha Eun Woo nor Im Soo Hyang act that well, in this show. But there’s a BOF-flavored cracky quality to this that I really enjoyed. I just loved the idea of the aloof boy actually being really decent and nice, and never hesitating to step in to save the awkward female lead, when she’s bullied by others.
Flash Review is here.
Noble, My Love
This one totally qualifies as a guilty pleasure show. It’s sooo tropey, but I still found it very watchable, because I found the OTP chemistry pretty good, and I also thought Sung Hoon did a nice job of his leading man smolder.
Flash Review is here.
Pasta
I figure this qualifies as a guilty pleasure, because logically, Lee Sun Gyun’s Chef is too shouty and chauvinistic for a good chunk of the show, and Gong Hyo Jin’s character is too unabashedly smitten with him. But somehow, when I watched this way back when, I lapped it up happily, and then watched it again. There’s just something breezy about this show that appealed to me. Plus, Lee Sun Gyun’s velvet voice is just gorgeous. 😍
Queen In-hyun’s Man
Show’s actually really solid, but there are admittedly some logic gaps in its narrative, particularly towards the end. Maybe because there are some logic gaps, this feels like a guilty pleasure to me? I think Yoo In Na is as cute as a button in this, and also, Ji Hyun Woo’s smitten gazes were all real, since he legit fell for Yoo In Na, while filming this. Squee!
Review is here.
Save Your Last Dance For Me
This one’s a sentimental favorite as well, since Save Your Last Dance was my second kdrama. Young Ji Sung looking all fresh-faced and handsome; double amnesia, so that he falls for our female lead Eugene not once, but twice; an ear-wormy OST with dizzying violin crescendoes; I simply couldn’t get enough, even though Show got draggy in its second half. 🤩 I’d totally watch this one again.
School 2013
Show is objectively very well-written, so it’s something I’d recommend even if we weren’t talking about guilty pleasure dramas. This one’s a guilty pleasure for me because I was so, SO smitten with the bromance between Lee Jong Suk and Kim Woo Bin. I felt thoroughly hypnotized by the strength, depth and intensity of their bromantic connection. I’ve seen this twice, and would totally watch it again.
Review is here.
She Would Never Know
I think Show is really well done, so again, this isn’t one of those shows I enjoyed in spite of its patchy quality. I’ve got it as a guilty pleasure show because I was just so taken by the OTP connection in this. And, I definitely flailed all over the place, because I found Rowoon so swoony in this. 😍 (Words I never thought I’d say, but y’know, he’s just so much dreamier in this, than in Extraordinary You. 😍)
Review is here.
Splash Splash Love
Logic-lite, and so, SO cute. I wish this little drama special was longer. Doo Joon as a smitten king, and Kim Seul Gi as the time-traveling high-school girl who charms him, just really worked for me. Of course it doesn’t make sense that she’d be able to time travel just by jumping into a puddle. But who cares, when that time slip involves a swoony king and a cute romance to go with? 🤩
Flash Review is here.
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
This totally qualifies as a guilty pleasure drama for me, because, to be honest, I hated – like, really hated – Show’s sense of humor. I found the humor way too crass and insensitive. But, I couldn’t stop watching, because Park Hyung Sik and Park Bo Young are ridiculously adorable together, and their chemistry is so very sparky, and Park Hyung Sik’s smitten gazes are so dangerously molten.
Review is here.
Sungkyunkwan Scandal
Show has some weaknesses – like how Park Min Young doesn’t do a whole lot more than flash her winsome smile a lot – but I just love how fun this one is, as a fusion sageuk. The music’s so breezy, and the bromance between Yoo Ah In and Song Joong Ki is great. Crazy Horse and Yeorim, foreva. 🤩🤩
Review is here.
Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms [China]
Ahhh.. Peaches. It was a bit of a slow burn at first, but this whole idea of gods and goddesses falling in love, which allows for emotions that are literally built up over a millennia, is so swoony to me. Our OTP has some seriously crackly chemistry, and, well, if I’m being brutally honest, I also just liked gazing at Mark Chao, who’s ridiculously, knee-bucklingly charming in this. 😍
Flash Review is here.
Terius Behind Me
The spy-jinks are pretty lame in this, but So Ji Sub is so pitch perfect in this, that I just couldn’t get enough. I love that he’s a badass spy, and also, at the same time, an awkward dorky dude who somehow manages to get himself entangled with the adorable kids next door. This show was my excuse to soak in the So Ji Sub awesome, which is why it’s on this list.
Flash Review is here.
The King Loves
I don’t actually think Show itself is objectively amazing, but with my Hong Jong Hyun appreciation lenses on, and Show’s decision to let him get the girl, even though he’s actually the second lead, I couldn’t slurp this up fast enough. Not only does he look very handsome in the gorgeous hanboks and the mane of glory, his character is also really sweet and loyal. 😍
Review is here.
The Last Empress
The blithe makjang hijinks that Show revels in, is why this show is on this guilty pleasure list. Some of the logic stretches are almost insulting, and Show could have done better with landing the ending, but the makjang was so breathlessly delightful, that I had a grand ol’ time anyway.
Flash Review is here.
The Moon Embraces the Sun
Objectively speaking, there really isn’t all that much to Show’s narrative, and Han Ga In doesn’t do much more than open her eyes really wide all the time, but I was addicted to this, because I couldn’t get enough of Kim Soo Hyun‘s sexy regal smolder.
Review is here.
The Romance of Tiger and Rose [China]
A lot of the time, the details don’t make much sense in this show, and neither do the characters. But, I thought Zhao Lu Si was very cute as our modern scriptwriter who’s somehow gotten stuck in the drama world of her own creation, and I thought Ding Yu Xi was suitably Ken Doll-esque, as the handsome male lead in her drama world. I found the premise fun, and the OTP, very cute together. Great for a mindless marathon.
Flash Review is here.
You From Another Star
An alien professor who falls for a top star in spite of himself, is just the sort of ridiculous premise that makes for a guilty pleasure watch. Jun Ji Hyun is wonderfully hilarious as she leans into the physical comedy, and Kim Soo Hyun‘s an excellent foil for her, playing the stoic alien, whose more poignant layers get revealed as we get deeper into our story. Show had me firmly and breathlessly by the heart, during my watch.
Review is here.
You’re Beautiful
Nonsensical retro fun. Park Shin Hye’s a novice nun who goes undercover in a boyband, to fill in for her suddenly incapacitated twin brother, and of course she’d fall hilariously, awkwardly in love with the leader of said boyband. Suspension of disbelief is required in spades, but Show is so much fun, the music is so ear-wormy, and Jang Geun Suk’s pout is so iconic, that it doesn’t even matter. 😂
IN CLOSING
I hope this list of shows gives you some new titles to add to your drama plate!
If you guys have more guilty pleasure dramas to recommend, please feel free to share them in the comments below. Sharing is caring, and we could all use a greater selection of guilty pleasure dramas to choose from, wouldn’t you say? 😉
Thanks, you guys.
Smooches. ❤️
~kfangurl
Let’s watch some drama!
POST-SCRIPT:
1. If you feel that I missed anything, or if you have your own insights that you’d like to share with the rest of us, do tell us about it in the comments!
2. Do you have a question of your own? Drop me a comment here or on the Dear kfangurl page, or send me an email!
