My friends!

It’s that time of year again — when we pause, look back on our 2025 drama adventures, and realize… wow, we really did have a lot of feelings™. 😂

Welcome to this year’s End-of-Year Patreon Awards. What started years ago as a casual suggestion in our chat corner has grown into one of the warmest things we do together as a community. 🥲

Each post is written by a member of our Patreon community, sharing their drama year in their own voice — with heart, humor, honesty, and plenty of feels.

If you’ve missed earlier entries, you can find them here: Natalia, Kumari, Ele.

Today, MC is sharing her drama year — and it’s especially impressive given how full her schedule has been this year.

One thing I’ve realized is that MC and I have very similar drama sensibilities, except that she’s also often drawn to thrillers (something I venture into less often 😁). So if your taste tends to overlap with mine, there’s a good chance you’ll find plenty here to resonate with.

If you like MC’s style and want to know what she thought about dramas last year, you can check out her post here!

And if you’re curious about something a little different, MC also wrote about her trip to Korea — a trip she took while still recovering from a broken toe, no less! 😱 You can read that here.

I hope you guys enjoy!

~ KFG ❤️

Hi!

I’m MC and I’ve been doing this for a couple of years.

Before I start, I want to say that I’m so grateful to KFG for always allowing us a space here to write aka mess up / lower the standards on her blog!

Fun facts about me:

• I started watching Kdramas in 2013 (introduced to a family weekender drama – those 100 episode shows with ALL of the tropes – Amnesia! Poor girl rich boy! Disapproving parents! Slaps! White truck of doom!) by my mother-in-law – we still discuss dramas to this day!) But I (almost exclusively) watched Asian dramas from 2017 or so, sparked off by Descendants of the Sun. How has it been ~8 years!

• I remember stumbling across The Fangirl Verdict early on in my drama watching journey and kept trying to remember the name of the blog (and forgetting it). Finally, I bookmarked it and de-lurked on KFG’s A Love So Beautiful review and the rest, they say, is history….

• There are basically 2 sides to me, the MC that loves romance and slice of life dramas… but occasionally Thriller MC emerges and loves all the thrillers, especially crime dramas.

• My list of dramas that I’d like to watch (what I call my good intentions list) is basically never ending… I am not a time and space bender like ABV, Sean, Gloria so I definitely cannot watch as many shows as them. But I did manage to finish a good 45 shows including a few non-Asian dramas (see the list of shows right at the end of this post, if you’re curious). And I do watch a mix of shows from 2025 and from years before.

Ok, that’s a lot about me… now let’s get to the awards!

1. Best Drama

So, this one took me by surprise.

I had watched When Life Gives You Tangerines earlier this year and absolutely loved it (and sobbed my heart out) – the sheer epic scale of the show, yet the show never loses focus on the individuals and their growth and pain in our story world.

Plus, it spoke so much to me personally about relating to my parents and in laws, and about being a parent too. It was all set to be my one and only Drama of the Year, ranked with My Mister (which is very high praise from me, as I consider My Mister to be one of the best TV shows I have ever watched).

But then. You guys. KFG kept raving about You And Everything Else. I had good intentions to get to it – and when I did, I was absolutely blown away by how thoughtfully written it was, with such careful characterisation and display of each character’s inner world and emotions.

It was honestly a much smaller story world than Tangerines but it went so deep.

Kudos to the writing, directing and acting team, who were brave enough to bring this show of messy relationships and complex emotions to life.

So…. I’m going to cheat by awarding Best Drama to both When Life Gives You Tangerines and You And Everything Else – they are both wonderful and I can’t choose!

Other contenders:

• Our Unwritten Seoul

• Way Back Love

• A Calm Sea And Beautiful Days With You

2. Best Hidden Gem

Time to gush over Way Back Love which I must thank KFG for. If she hadn’t recommended this show, I would have missed out and what a pity that would have been.

I had been in a drama slump (I was watching documentaries, reality tv, American dramas which I hardly do nowadays – that shows how bad a slump I was in) but this show singlehandedly brought me back to dramaland again.

I thought “ok just 6 episodes let’s give it a shot” and by end of ep 1 I was hooked and eventually gave my heart to it.

This little show packed such an emotional punch and delved into what it means to live and love amidst death, guilt and regret. So good that I wish I could go back in time and rewatch it for the first time.

Other contenders:

• Oh My Ghost Clients/ Pro Bono (granted Pro Bono is still airing but it vibes very similarly to Oh My Ghost Clients) – for being so heartwarming and poignant (and thought provoking) with its cases of the week

• Always Home, which is a sweet coming of age C-drama that isn’t afraid to go into some difficult topics

• Catsody War (a 1-hr special) which touches on deeper topics than just a separation (and it reunites the Splash Splash Love co-stars Kim Seul Gi (!!!) and Yoon Doo Joon!)

3. Best OTP

I’m going to kind of cheat by awarding Best OTP to different kinds of OTPs:

Here’s to Gwan Sik and Ae Sun (When Life Gives You Tangerines), for showing me how to love and stay committed through different seasons of life, with its joys and pains. Also, shoutout to Gwan Sik, for a lifetime of quiet dedication and love to his one and only Ae Sun and his family (especially in a patriarchal time…)

But who could forget the adorable and adorkable Takimasa and Natsumi (A Calm Sea And Beautiful Days With You) – I basically had a huge grin watching them fall in love with each other. This is contract marriage done right!

Other contenders:

• For cracky, crackly, electrifying couples – Love Scout and When The Phone Rings’s couples were so good that I forgot to breathe and I feel my screen about to burn up. Unfortunately, both became a bit too sweet and mellow and the crack subsided towards the end.

• For saccharine sweet couples, I also want to talk about When I Fly Towards You – Rang Rang and his Su Zai Zai were so darn stinkin cute (and I can’t believe I took so long to watch this show!)

4. Best Actor

I honestly think the actresses were stronger this year. But I’m still awarding this one to Seo Kang Jun, who blew me away in Undercover High School and Are You Human Too.

Other contenders:

• Park Bo Gum and Park Hae Joon (When Life Gives You Tangerines)

• Yoo Yeon Seok (When The Phone Rings)

• Ji Chang Wook (The Manipulated, especially in the early few episodes)

• Han Seok Kyu (Doubt)

5. Best Actress

Again, this was a last-minute switcheroo. Park Bo Young (Our Unwritten Seoul) had it in the bag, for playing both Mi Ji and Mi Rae (and playing Mi Ji pretending to be Mi Rae and Mi Rae pretending to be Mi Ji) – and in doing all 4 personas, bring out their nuances so well that I didn’t need their outfits/ hairstyles to differentiate them.

But then. You And Everything Else came along. Both Kim Go Eun and Park Ji Hyun did an incredible job – but I’m giving this one to Park Ji Hyun, who bravely took on the challenge of portraying the difficult-to-love Sang Yeon with all of her wounds and pain and made her so very human.

Other contenders:

• Kim Go Eun (You and Everything Else, Yumi’s Cells 1 and 2 – this year was my Kim Go Eun year and I’m not mad about it. I wanted to squeeze in The Price of Confession but alas time did not permit. But I still intend to get to it, hopefully in 2026!)

• Park Bo Young (Our Unwritten Seoul)

• IU and Moon So Ri (When Life Gives You Tangerines)

6. Best New Actor/ Actress

There’s no doubt about this (pun pun) – it has to be Chae Won Bin (Doubt). She played Jang Ha Bin to perfection – sneering, sulky, calculative and manipulative, all under a façade that constantly kept me wondering if she was evil.

7. Best Villain

Again I’m going to cheat by awarding this to 2 villains – Kim Shin Rok’s Chairwoman Seo Myeong Ju (Undercover High School) and Go Hyun Jung’s Jung Yi Shin (Queen Mantis). Both were creepy and unhinged (in the best way).

8. Best OST

This isn’t a drama but you just HAVE to give it to the show that swept the entire globe, right? Here’s to Kpop Demon Hunters – the IT show for 2025, where its fictional bands ruled the charts and the entire world danced and sang to it.

Fun fact – my favourite song from the soundtrack isn’t Golden but How It’s Done, Your Idol and Soda Pop (yes I like the Saja Boys…) but my favourite lyric has to be “fit check for my napalm era”. So witty!

Other contenders:

• Full OSTs: Yumi’s Cells, You And Everything Else, Our Unwritten Seoul, Way Back Love

• Specific songs: Test Me – Paul Blanco (Love Scout), All I Want Is You – Seungmin (Would You Marry Me), 春满 and 故城雪 (The Prisoner of Beauty)

9. Show With The Funniest Scenes

Undercover High School – while I didn’t love it all the way, I still think Episode 4 has some of the most epic episodes ever – I laughed so hard my husband came out to check on me. That dancing montage (and the song!) and the ending of the episode!! I still grin when I think of it.

Here are the links for your enjoyment:

• A clip of them dancing for his recruitment (with spoilers, watch only if you’ve already watched this show)

• Then watch the BTS of them dancing and singing – it’s hilarious (and it’s the full song!)

• The scene where she does a house visit (with spoilers, watch only if you’ve already watched this show)

10. Favourite Character

There were many great characters in the year but I wanted to give a special shoutout to Our Unwritten Seoul’s Bun Hong (Ho Su’s mother). If you know the story you’d know what a wonderful mom she was – dedication and commitment despite the hardships.

11. Razzie

If you’ve been around the blog long enough and read the reviews (or Patreon notes), you would have known it was Good Boy. I’m sorry – I wanted to love it but the all the money was spent producing ever more exciting action scenes that seemed to stretch FOR EVER AND EVER…. And almost nothing went into writing.

What a shame and a waste of the cast. The best thing about Good Boy (for me) was Lee Sang Yi’s hot bespectacled, fencing hero.

Shows watched (as of 27 December 2025)

2025:

1. A Calm Sea And Beautiful Days With You (Japanese)
2. Always Home (Chinese)
3. Catsody War / The Cat Custody War
4. Good Boy
5. Dynamite Kiss
6. Good News (Korean movie)
7. Karma
8. Kpop Demon Hunters (English/ Korean movie)
9. Love Scout
10. Love Untangled (Korean movie)
11. Marry My Husband (Japanese)
12. Mobius (Chinese)
13. Nine Puzzles
14. Oh My Ghost Clients
15. Our Unwritten Seoul
16. Queen Mantis
17. Romantics Anonymous (Japanese-Korean)
18. Secret: Untold Melody (Korean movie)
19. Tempest
20. The Best Thing (Chinese)
21. The First Night With The Duke
22. The Manipulated
23. The Prisoner of Beauty (Chinese)
24. Undercover High School
25. Way Back Love
26. When Life Gives You Tangerines
27. When The Phone Rings – started in 2024 and finished in 2025
28. Would You Marry Me?
29. You and Everything Else

Non-2025:

1. 20th Century Girl (Korean movie)
2. Are You Human Too
3. Cinderella at 2am
4. Doubt
5. Flex x Cop
6. Reset (Chinese)
7. Spice Up Our Love
8. When I Fly Towards You (Chinese)
9. Yumi’s Cells season 1
10. Yumi’s Cells season 2

Currently Watching:

1. Flower of Evil
2. Pro Bono
3. Sniper Butterfly (Chinese)

Non-Dramas

1. GBRB – Reap What You Sow
2. Million Dollar Secret
3. The Devil’s Plan (season 2)
4. The Residence
5. The Thursday Murder Club (movie)
6. GBRB – Love Pops Joy Pops

Dropped:

1. Chief Kim/ Good Manager
2. Confidence Queen
3. Don’t Dream It’s Over / Jealousy Incarnate
4. Mercy for None

Ok I’m finally done! Hope you all enjoyed reading this – wishing you a wonderful 2026 filled with great shows!

~MC

✨ About the End-Of-Year Patreon Awards

This post is part of our annual community tradition, where Patreon members share their drama year — favorites, surprises, disappointments, discoveries, and everything in between. 💛

These EOY reflections are one of my favorite parts of the year, because they show just how thoughtful, funny, and passionate our little community is.

If you’d like to join us for watch discussions, episode notes, voice notes, and next year’s EOY Awards, you’re very welcome to check out Patreon! 🥰

KFG ❤️