r/KDRAMA 2024 Drama Challenge

Challenge # 1 : A drama that shares a filming location with The Heirs 

Location : Yeouido Hangang Park

Completed : April 15, 2024

Thoughts : I liked this season better than the 1st one. I thought the conclusion was good. The series should've ended here. Season 3 was a huge mess.

Challenge # 2 Wheel of chance : tropes : character gets a haircut during the drama

Challenge # 3 Wheel of chance : common scenes : riding subway / at the subway station 

Challenge # 4 Wheel of chance : product placement : jewelry

Product Placement : ML gives FL a ring (episode 10)

Completed : July 1, 2024

Thoughts : I'm not a fan of LJS but I watch all of his dramas because all are remarkable. This one didn't disappoint as well. It is enjoyable to watch. The villain is the best actor. Bae Suzy is beautiful but her acting is bland.

Challenge #5 Wheel of chance : Korean culture highlight : fortune telling or shamanism ritual

Challenge # 6 Wheel of chance : no. of people in poster : 3

Completed : Jul 3 2024

Thoughts : Short but good. Great to watch if 16 episode drama fatigue sets in. The story is quite common but well executed. The kid actor is so good, and I liked the relationship between father and daughter. The ML and FL have an okay chemistry.

Challenge # 7 A drama that started airing in your birth month

Challenge # 8 Title includes a character's name

Challenge # 9 With a character who is an artist (visual or performing)

Character : 2nd FL (Min So-yeong) is a ballet major/ballerina

Completed : Jun 5 2024

Thoughts : I was reluctant to watch this because the plot is similar to Familiar Wife which I didn't like. I'm so glad I gave it a try, the story is very well written especially between the mother and daughter, the conflicts about marriage are realistic and both lead actors nailed their roles. The side characters are fun to watch too with their own side stories. And this is the only drama I've watched where both second leads are likeable.

Challenge # 10. A drama where a game is played

Game : Indoor Baseball (Ep. 1), Janggi (Ep. 2)

Completed : Apr 29 2024

Average drama, overrated because of the popularity of KSH and KJW. This is a typical makjang with a lot of cliche to move the story forward. And the pathetic SML had more screen time than the lead couple. This is probably unpopular, I thought the chemistry between KSH and KJW is bang average. Both had better chemistry with their previous on-screen partners.

Challenge # 11 A drama where a character wears a sports team uniform or watching a game

Uniform: Dong-man (Park Seo-jun) wears a taekwondo sports uniform

Challenge #12 Revolves around group of friends, focus on their friendship

Friendship : The main characters are a group of friends

Completed : Mar 11, 2024

Thoughts : This is one of the best kdramas I've watched. I don't know why I only watched it now. This definitely belongs to my Top 10 of all time.

Challenge # 13 : With an OST by a kpop group member

Challenge # 14 Featuring an actor or actress who debuted before 2000 

Actress : Song Hye-kyo

Completed : Jun 9 2024

Thoughts : This is unpopular, but I didn't like this as much as other people did. The plot is just average imo and unlikely to happen irl, the twists and turns are so predictable, and favors the FL way too much. The acting of the villains is superb though.  The romance between FL and ML was so unnecessary, they had no chemistry.  And Song Hye-kyo's acting is so bland

Challenge # 15 with childhood flashback scenes

Flashback scene : ML and FL were childhood secret friends

Completed : Jul 15, 2024

Thoughts : This is a good watch if you want to relax and take a break from long or stressful kdramas. 

Challenge # 16 LGBTQ character

Challenge # 17 Not a direct translation of the Korean title

Title : the Korean title means Noona Who Buys Me Food when translated to English

Completed : Jul 6 2024

Thoughts : After putting it on hold for a few months, finally I was able to finish it. I liked the first half of the show, the second half is just average. The mother of FL will probably go down in history for me as the most annoying character. I loved SYJ and JHI together, their chemistry was overflowing.

Challenge # 18 A drama in which characters celebrate a special day 

Special Day: Seri's birthday in North Korea

Completed : May 27 2024

Thoughts : I just did a rewatch because of Queen of Tears. And I would say this is still way better than QoT imo.

Challenge # 19 A drama in which characters takes a special trip

Challenge #20 A drama chosen at random from your plan to watch list

Challenge # 21 A drama set in a rural/non urban location

Challenge # 22 A drama with a chaebol character

Character :  Family of ML is chaebol

Completed : July 20, 2024

Thoughts : This drama surprised me, I didn't think it would be that good. I enjoyed the story and the relationship between ML and FL, they had great chemistry together. The story was fun to watch, and the cases that they solved were interesting. I am already looking forward for S2. This is the best drama of 2024 so far for me.

Challenge # 23 A drama with a character who works for the government

Government worker : Detective Park Yeong Han

Completed : Jul 15, 2024

Thoughts : I don't know why this isn't more popular. The story is well balanced. Unit 1 is fun to watch. The cases are all interesting as well as the way they solved them. I also loved the minor romance plot

Challenge # 24 - 3 or more banchan (side dishes on the table)

Challenge # 25 A drama where a character wears a long wool coat

Challenge # 26 A drama found by searching existing recommendations

Recommended by MDL

Completed : Jun 9, 2024

Thoughts : Disappointing. What was supposed to be a mystery revenge turned out to be a pointless love triangle. Mediocre acting and FL had no chemistry with both men imo.

Challenge # 27 A drama with a main character that is over 40

The main characters who played as parents are over 40

Completed: May 13, 2024

Thoughts : Kind of similar to The Penthouse, the parents here are obsessed about giving their kids the best education as they believe it would set them up for a good life. And we have the evil tutor who would do anything to get her students to the top. There is a minor romance, friendship between neighbors and family drama. Overall, I liked it.

Challenge # 28 A drama with a multigenerational cast

Challenge # 29 A drama from the Sageuk genre

Completed : Jul 10, 2024

Thoughts : Fun to watch. The story and the characters are very well written, the actress who played as Queen is hilarious. This is similar to the story of Go Princess Go wherein a man is transported back in the past in a body of a Queen. And then he started to change history and met the King. Then there's the usual scheming between the Queens and the Councillors of State. I've read that a lot of people didn't like the ending, but I did. 

Challenge # 30 A drama with an episode which received more than 10% overall viewership ratings from Nielsen.

Challenge # 31 A drama that has been reviewed in one of our past Spotlight On posts

Challenge # 32 A single episode drama

Completed : Jun 14, 2024

Thoughts : About childhood friends who are secretly attracted to each other. And then we have the transfer student from Seoul who is verbal about his feelings for the FL. This is a good watch, and I liked the conclusion the writers made it so realistic.

Challenge # 33 A mid to long form drama

Duration : 24 hours (1 hr 30 mins per episode)

Challenge # 34 A drama with less than 500 watchers on MDL

351 watchers before I watched

Completed : Jun 6, 2024

Thoughts : Short but sweet and heartwarming. 

Challenge # 35 A drama that is at least 10 yrs old

Challenge # 36 A drama featuring a truck of doom