Best Korean Drama 2011

This drama is depicted from famous and well-known manga anime "City Hunter" by Tsukasa Hojo, supported by lead actor Lee Min-Ho who plays as Koo Jun-Pyo in Boys Over Flower.

A real life story of the South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan and his cabinet visited Martyr's Mausoleum in Yangon. Straight after they arrived, the bombs went off which resulted of destruction of the venue and sixteen people died. Two agents, Lee Jin-Pyo and Park Mu-Yeol survived the blast and they're spies in an anti-North Korean unit.

What else can I say about this drama? Fantastic story, amazing characters portrayal from its actors with so many unexpected and cliffhanger scenes; City Hunter is definitely my #1 Korean Drama of the year. I'm hooked from the first episode, from the scenes where young Yoon Sung had to endure so many hardships due to harsh training from his step-father whose his first and last life mission is to kill all five politicians which caused his best friend and 20 other innocent people died in 1983.

Then, few years later, Yoon Sung who's now a professor, works as an IT professional in a Blue House (the government's IT department). He becomes City Hunter who will put all these politicians in jail, but he doesn't want to reveal his identity. And he falls in love with bodyguard Kim Na Na which makes his City Hunter work becomes extremely difficult to carry.

Lee Min Ho as City Hunter? Amazing, fantastic! And the other actors? They're portraying their characters well. I don't know how many times I had to clinch my hands when I see so many heart-wrenching scenes and yelling to the screen hoping that Kim Na Na won't die, that she won't leave him, that Jin Pyo won't intervene on City Hunter's secret mission!

Definitely the best drama of the year!

Number of Episodes: 20
Original run: May 25, 2011 -- July 28, 2011 on SBS [In place of slot of 49Days]
Main Cast Members: Lee Min-Ho as Lee Yoon-Sung, Park Min-Young as Kim Na-Na, Lee Jun-Hyuk as Kim Young-Joo, Hwang Sun-Hee as Jin Soo-Hee, Goo Ha-Ra as Choi Da-Hye
Rating: TBA; You can check the Highest Rating so far here
Where to Watch City Hunter? DramaFever and Hulu

Image Credit: Asian Media Wiki

Drama about a wealthy guy who run a luxury shopping mall and falls in love with a stuntwoman. With the help of a mysterious person from a secret garden, their life's changed upside down but in the end, they discover each others' painful past experiences and make sacrifices along the way to help each other overcome the challenges in their lives.

Secret Garden is currently my #2 best Korean Drama of 2011. I love its simple storyline which emphasizes the difficult life Gil Ra Im had to endure ever since her father passed away (after heroically saved his future lover, Joo Won) and her agony after knowing that Joo Won falls in love with her. Moreover, the switching-body twist really made this drama stood out from the rest.

Number of Episodes: 20
Original run: November 13, 2010 - January 16, 2011 on SBS
Main Cast Members: Hyun Bin as Kim Joo-Won, Ha Ji Won as Gil Ra Im, Yoon Sang-Hyun as Oska, Kim Sa-Rang as Yeun-Sul
Highest Rating: 38.6% (Episode 20)
Where to watch Secret Garden: DramaFever and Hulu

Image Credit: Asian Media Wiki

Romeo and Juliet storyline; The Princess' Man portrays a story of a forbidden love between son (Kim Seung Yu) whose father (General Kim Jong So) was killed by father (Grand Prince Su Yang, later on became King Sejo) of the woman (Lee Se Ryeong) he loves.

Kim Seung Yu initially thought Lee Se Ryeong was Princess Gyeong Hye; and he felt betrayed after knowing that she was not the real princess. But his love to her is unbreakable, these two lovers have to go through harsh treatment and separation; Lee Se Ryeong even leaves the palace (after her father ascends to the throne), so she can be together with Kim Seung Yu.

If you love Sageuk and mellow drama, The Princess' Man is definitely for you. This is a very sad drama. I cried watching every single episode. I don't want to spoil you with the ending, but I really love the ending! The Princess' Man is currently my #3 Korean Drama of the year.

Number of Episodes: 24

Original run:
July 20, 2011 - October 6, 2011 on KBS2; Wednesday & Thursday 21.55KST
August 10, 2011 - TBA on KBSWorld; Wednesday & Thursday 22.00KST

Main Cast Members: Park Si Hoo as Kim Seung Yu, Moon Chae Won as Se Ryeong, Song Jong Ho as Shin Myun , Hong Soo Hyun as Princess Gyeong Hye, Lee Soon Jae as Kim Jong Seo, Kim Young Chul as General Sooyang / Grand Prince Su Yang and later on King Sejo, Lee Min Woo as Jungjong , Jung Dong Hwan as King Mun Jong, Lee Hyo Jung as Shin Sook Joo

Highest Rating: 24.9% [Nationwide] based on AGB Nielsen | Full list of The Princess' Man Rating based on TNS Media

Image Credit: The Princess' Man Official Site

Protect the Boss is a drama about family politic, love and sacrifices.

No Eun Seol who had to go through difficult life journey finally got a job at DN company. She didn't know that her boss, Cha Jihun is a childish immature boss who ends up falling in love with her. Cha Jihun's cousin, Cha Muwon with his mother have ambition to take over DN company. And Cha Muwon also loves No Eun Seol.

As Eun Seol doesn't want to hurt both Jihun and Muwon, she tries her hardest to hide her feeling. But as Cha Jihun's secretary, she helps him to recover from his deepest dark moments (which made him suffers from panic disorder). As time passes by, she realizes that she slowly falling in love with Cha Jihun. But she asks both Jihun and Muwon to try to understand her and if they want to get her love, try to enter into her life. Protect the Boss is currently my #4 Korean Drama of the year. The love between Eun Seol and Jihun are amazingly portrayed by the actors Ji Sung & Choi Kang Hee. There are so many beautiful scenes of Eun Seol and Jihun, I can't pick my favorite scene.

She has similar love experience with Nayun. Several years ago, both Jihun and Muwon also loved the same woman, Nayun. But Nayun rejected both men. Now, she realized the mistakes she made and came back to their lives to earn their loves back.

Nayun and Muwon have a cute love journey, kinda childish but funny! Still remember their karaoke scene and hot kiss scenes.

Muwon's mother and Nayun's mother have ambition to take over Jihun's father company.

Previous Rumor Title: Last Secretary / The Boss Has Changed

Number of Episodes: Original 16, extended to 18

Original run: August 3, 2011 -- September 29, 2011 on SBS (Replacing City Hunter); Every Wednesday & Thursday 21.55KST

Main Cast Members: Choi Kang Hee as No Eun Seol, Ji Sung as Cha Jihun, Kim Jaejoong as Cha Muwon, Wang Ji Hye as Seo Nayun, Lee Hee Won as Yang Hayoung

Protect the Boss Rating Highest Rating: 17.8% (Nationwide) [Episode 5] | 20.5% (Seoul) [Episode 5] based on AGB Nielsen | Full list of Protect the Boss ratings

Protect the Boss SBS Official Website

Protect the Boss Official Twitter Account

Protect the Boss Official Youtube Channel

Image Credit: Protect the Boss Official Site

Drama about a famous rising action star who falls in love with a former pop idol whose life in in turmoil after her popular idol group disbanded and her solo album failed to compete in the market. He meets with her coincidentally in a gas station and their journey starts from there.

A romantic comedy drama written by Hong Sisters who write Boys Over Flower and My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, this drama's main lead actor character is similar with the other Hong Sister's dramas; arrogant, annoying and doesn't care about other people's feeling. What makes me hooked to this drama is the fact that Cha Seung-Won (who is famous from his previous roles such as City Hall and Athena) portrays his character brilliantly, he's arrogant, tough, but can be really funny and cheeky too!

As big fans of few Korean stars, sometimes I intrigued with how the entertainment industry works in South Korea. My favorite stars work extremely hard and sometimes it's saddening to hear that they don't earn as much as they work for. Most of them are under particular entertainment agency and I've heard plenty of harrowing story about bad & mismatch agency who only gives 5% of the overall profit to their stars.

Through Best Love, we can see couple of "behind the scenes" acts of the entertainment agency. It's amazing the way they protect their stars, even not allowing them to fall in love and ask them to fall in love with certain people in order to boost their popularity!

Honestly, Best Love is my #5 best Korean drama this year, not only because of the storyline, but also because of Cha Seung Won! His portrayal of Dok Ko Jin is truly fantastic. Never knew a man who always played in action drama can pull off a great comedic acting!

Number of Episodes: 16
Original run: May 4, 2011 - June 23, 2011 on MBC
Main Cast Members: Cha Seung-Won as Dok Ko-Jin, Gong Hyo-Jin as Gu Ae-jung, Yoon Kye-Sang as Yoon Pil-Joo & Yoo In-Na as Kang Se-Ri
Highest Rating: 17.4% [Nationwide] (Episode 16); 21.2% [Seoul] (Episode 16)
Where to Watch The Greatest Love? DramaFever

Image Credit: Asian Media Wiki

Drama about a woman who's given her second chance to live by the Scheduler (who sort-of-like an Angel who's trying to take the dead's person soul into their final destination) if she can find three people who genuinely shed tears for her. Before her accident, she lived in a perfect world, but she didn't realize that it's extremely hard to find these three people as she has to live in someone else' body.

I'm not a big fan of melo-drama, however, 49Days attracted me initially because of Bae Soo Bin. But as the drama progresses, I'm hooked with the fact that in life, sometimes we never realize that there are not many people who're willing to shed tears for us! The storyline is great and it makes 49Days my #6 best K-Drama in 2011. And it also made me realize that there are so many people who seem to have a perfect world, but inside their hearts, they're actually in pain.

Number of Episodes: 20
Original run: March 16, 2011 - May 19, 2011 on SBS
Main Cast Members: Lee Yo-Won as Song Lee-Kyung, Nam Gyu-Ri as Shin Ji-Hyun, Jo Hyeon-Jae as Han Kang, Bae Soo-Bin as Kang Min-Ho, Jeong Il-Woo as Scheduler, Seo Ji-Hye as Shin In-Jung
Highest Rating: 19.9% (Episode 20)
49Days Official Youtube Channel: Check out all your favorite 49Days Videos (Making of, Trailers, etc) on 49Days Official Youtube Channel

Image Credit: Asian Media Wiki

The Drama about six students at Kirin High School of Art who are pursuing their dreams. Sam-Dong discovers his musical talent when he enters the school and falls in love with beautiful Bae Suji who dreams to be the best violist. Jin Gook also falls in love with Bae Suji, a talented dancer and dreams to be a superstar. Becky who always competes with Bae Suji and the exchange student, Jason, a foreign student who is a gifted dancer. And Eria, a popular teen superstar who dreams to have a normal school life in Kirin Hight School of Art.

Follow these six students' journey as they dream high and work hard to achieve all the visions & dream!

Number of Episodes: 16
Original run: January 3 - February 28, 2011 on KBS2
Main Cast Members: Kim Soo-Hyun as Song Sam-Dong, Bae Suji as Ko Hye-Mi, TaecYeon (2PM) as Jin-Gook, Eun Jung as Yoon Becky, Wooyoung as Jason, Yoon Young-Ah as Eria, IU as Kim Pil-Suk
Highest Rating: 20.7% (Episode 16)

Image Credit: Asian Media Wiki

You've Fallen For Me aka Heartstrings is a melo-youth-drama portraying a story about love, friendship, musical dreams and hope. Lee Shin is a musically talented guy who is studying at university majoring in modern music. With his friends, he joins a band called "The Stupid" and he's the vocalist & guitarist of this band. He is an extremely passionate person, especially in music; but unfortunately, he doesn't care about anything else beside music.

Lee Kyu Won is also musically talented, her grandfather is the top Korean traditional singer and he has a dream to make her precious outgoing granddaughter to be the traditional musical genius in 10 years time. Kyu Won is a student in the same university as Lee Shin, but she's majoring in the traditional music and focuses herself in this area. She meets with Lee Shin when The Stupid band performs and through several opportunities, she frequently meets up with this young man and starts to fall in love with him.

Number of Episodes: 15
Original run: June 29, 2011 - August 18, 2011 on MBC
Main Cast Members: Jung Yong Hwa as Lee Shin, Park Shin Hye as Lee Kyu Won, Song Chang Ui as Kim Suk Hyun, So Yi Hyun as Jung Yoon Soo, Kang Min Hyuk as Yeo Joon Hee, Woori (Kim Yoon Hye) as Han Hee Joo, Lee Hyun Jin as Hyun Ki Young
Highest Rating: 7.6% (Episode 1) [Nationwide] Based on AGB Nielsen | Full list of You've Fallen For Me Episode Rating
Where to Watch You've Fallen For Me? DramaFever

Image Credit: You've Fallen For Me Official Site

This drama's story is like a fairytale story. Lee Sul is a college student, she dreams of becoming a princess. One day she receives assets from President of the Daehan Jonghap Group and with the approval of 50000 people, she becomes a princess. Hae Young, who is the President's grandson is assigned to teach her the rope to manage the company, and he falls in love with her due to her sincerity and her involvement with the community works. Their love journey is not smooth as they have to fight against the strong-willed Yoon Joo whose dream is to take over the company by marrying Hae Young.

This Cinderella-like story is funny and so romantic.

Number of Episodes: 16
Original run: January 5, 2011 - February 24, 2011 on MBC
Main Cast Members: Song Seung-Heon as Park Hae-Young, Kim Tae-Hee as Lee-Sul, Park Ye-Jin as Oh Yoon-Joo, Ryu Su-Yeong as Nam Jung-Woo
Highest Rating: 22.7% (Episode 4)

Image Credit: Asian Media Wiki

Drama about lies which brought two people together. It's a story about Ah Jung who one day meets with So Ran (wife of her ex-lover, Jae Beom). Ah Jung tells her that she's married.

The day before, Ah Jung who has a tough day at work, went to a club. She met with Sang Hee (Ki Joon's younger brother). Ki Joon (whose parents passed away when he was a teenager) went looking for her brother. He missed his brother by couple seconds and he ended up met Ah Jung who collapsed because she had too many drink. He took her to a hospital and paid for her bills. The next day, after Ah Jung tells lies that she's married; she meets with Ki Joon to repay for her hospital bill. But she's nervous and spill juice all over his sweater. She collapsed out of embarrassment and Ki Joon took her to a hotel. Her friends saw them together and believe that they are married.

So, will she end up marrying this guy? Follow the journey of two strangers who accidentally meet but have to pretend that they're married! Hilarious yet romantic drama.

Number of Episodes: 16
Original run: May 9, 2011 - Current on SBS
Main Cast Members: Kang Ji-Hwan as Hyun Ki-Joon, Yoon Eun-Hye as Kong Ah-Jung, Sung Joon as Hyun Sang-Hee, Jo Yun-Hie as Oh Yun-Joo, Ryu Seung-Soo as Chun Jae-Beom, Hong Soo-Hyun as Yoo So-Ran
Highest Rating: 11.7% (Episode 12) [Seoul] | 9.3% (Episode 10) [Nationwide] Based on TNS Media
Where to Watch Lie to Me?: DramaFever & Hulu

Image Credit: Asian Media Wiki