EoTY Editor’s Choice Awards: Best Drama of the Year

It’s December, almost time for the New Year…and you know what that means! New debuts, new merchandise, new songs, and most importantly, new dramas! But before we get excited for all the new things that are undoubtedly heading our way, let’s take a step back and look at all the amazing dramas that 2010 has left us with.

Now, let begin by saying that there were over a hundred dramas aired just this past year, and each of these dramas has their own strong points. Keeping that in mind, I commend all the directors, producers, set designers, actors, actresses, etc. These dramas are the results of their hard work - working long hours to piece together an episode, filming different acts multiple time; it surely is a lot of work producing, directing, and filming dramas. That being said, there are a couple that really caught my attention, and the attention of almost every drama-lover.

Here are my top five choices for best drama of the year in no particular order. (I think every drama in this little list here is great actually.)

Dong Yi

Don’t underestimate period dramas; Korea has probably the best historical dramas I have ever seen. Running from March 22 to October 12 on MBC, this is one of the longest dramas - 60 episodes. But despite the length, Dong Yi pulled in one of the most impressive viewership ratings, staying #1 from episode 20 to the end. I started watching this drama because of Han Hyo Joo who has won plenty of awards for her acting, and Dong Yi was probably one of her best dramas. Her acting, along with her co-stars’ actings, was superb. Even at episode 30, I was itching for more. If you guys haven’t watched this drama yet, you should definitely put this on your to do list for this winter vacation.

Personal Taste

I’m sure you’re all familiar with this drama; starring Lee Minho as the male protagonist. Yes, the same Lee Minho that played curly permed hair, Goo Jun Pyo in Boys Over Flowers. I’m pretty sure him acting in this drama made many people interested; but with or without Lee Minho, this drama would have been a success. In fact, there were over 550,000 global month searches just on Personal Taste alone. The plot line was unique; the filming and soundtrack complimented the drama beautifully. It really brought out the emotion that the director wanted us, the audience, to feel. Along with Lee Minho’s acting, it was probably the reason why it brought in such great ratings -averaging around 7th overall.

SungKyunKwan Scandal

Starring the ever popular JYJ member, Micky Yoochun, KBS2 to presented us another popular period drama SungKyunKwan Scandal. Aside from the Banjun dramas that Yoochun had acted in before, this was the first official drama he has been in. He really brought out another side of him through acting in this drama - I had never known just how well he could emit that air of royalty. This drama was met with major success as it was one of the most searched term of the moth. Though it did receive great ratings in the beginning, the drama made a comeback and ended with 4th in viewership ratings. And every actor portrayed their character really well. Definitely one of the best historic dramas of the year, along with Dong Yi.

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho

My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, an SBS drama, is one of the most unique drama of the season. It was a comedy, a fantasy, a romance, all in 16 episodes. The drama was a little anime-like, pretty exaggerated, and very unreal. Most of the Korean dramas I’ve watched were realistic - this was the only drama I watched that wasn’t technically “real.” So that was a really nice change. What attracted me to this drama at first was Lee Seung Gi; I admit, I love his acting, and I just had to see this drama too. I wasn’t disappointed at all. The plot was incredibly touching and funny at the same time. And even if the beginning makes you raise your eyebrows just a little, it is a great drama to watch because you will wholeheartedly have fun watching it! Another reason why it pulled in an amazing rating of number 2 by the end of the show.

And the winner for Best Drama of the Year is…

And now for the fifth drama, which is also the drama I think is the winner for this year’s best drama. It was the one I was most attached to while watching it, and the one I was most impressed by.

Kim Tak goo, King of Baking

King of Baking, Kim Tak Goo, Baker King, all these names point to the popular KBS2 drama that aired from June 9 to September 16. There were a total of 30 episodes in all, leaning just a little towards the long side. But that didn’t stop viewers from searching it up on Google over 60,000 times a month globally! I was surprised because I have never heard of Yoon Shi Yoon or Joo Won, (for the Joo Won, this was his first drama) and I was skeptical about the baking part of the drama. Boy was I wrong. Joo Won really showed this cold side of him, but as the audience, we can see that he’s struggling with his situation. He knew every since he was young that he wasn’t really his “father’s” child, and that was probably what fueled his anger towards, almost everyone. I love how the director let us see all his internal conflicts so that even when he does something atrocious and horrible, we, as the audience, can’t bring ourselves to hate him completely. And Yoon Shi Yoon was just simply amazing. There is a reason why it received amazingly high viewership ratings, almost number 1 ranking for every single episode. The plot is unforgettable, the actors were phenomenal. The director did a great job blending in all these themes of parental betrayal, child abuse, all these psychological elements into one drama, at the same time having Kim Tak Goo’s good will and optimism shine through every hardship. This drama was beautifully acted, wonderfully directed and I enjoyed watching every minute of this drama. I can honestly say that this is one of the best dramas I have ever watched in my life so far.

So now that I’ve told you my personal list for the year, I think that all of you should go right now and watch these dramas. I promise you, none of them will be a waste of your time. So before the year ends, open your web browser to a fresh new page and type in a drama that you want to watch. Have fun watching the dramas, and remember, each drama is the result of the hard work and sweat every cast member, every set member, basically everyone. So, let’s give everyone an applause for all the wonderful drama that they produced this year! Yaay!