Learjet / Michelle's Year in Dramas 2022!

2022 was the year I really expanded my watching to dramas from more Asian countries, with even more Chinese dramas, quite a few Japanese dramas, a sizable number of Thai BLs and a couple of movies from the Philippines. There were a couple of factors that contributed to this: 1) a few excellent K dramas and a large number of mediocre dramas (in my opinion), and 2) the spread of K dramas to more platforms. Back in the day (in 2021), it was enough to have Netflix and Viki – you missed out a few dramas but not too many. Now, with Disney + and Amazon Prime etc, there is just too much content to keep track off unless you are not working and independently rich!

Because I can’t bring myself to subscribe to more than Netflix, Viki and IQiYi, I missed out on a lot of K dramas but I did watch several truly memorably K dramas from previous years – standouts included Mr Sunshine, Youth of May and Lost.

Learjet / Michelle’s top dramas of 2022

Top Korean

1. My Liberation Notes: I was sucked in within the first 10 minutes of episode 1 and was absorbed throughout. Just wonderful. And amazing character growth. Who would have thought the brother would be my favourite character by the end?

2. Our Beloved Summer: My kind of drama. I just loved the OTP, the aesthetic, the music….

3. Twenty-Five Twenty-One: I loved it. So nostalgic. I felt like I was 18 again. I thoroughly enjoyed all five of our main characters and their journeys. The last couple of episodes were difficult to watch but I think suited the drama.

4. Sh**ting Stars: Yes, it was honest-to-goodness fluff. So many couples that it was hard to keep track but I just thoroughly enjoyed it. Loved the OTP and their relationships and enjoyed the setting and side couples. Special favourites were the lawyer and journalist pairing.

5. Extraordinary Attorney Woo: I realise there are mixed feelings about this drama but I found it thought-provoking but also enjoyable. Park Eun Bin was excellent (as always), and her romance was adorable. Yes, a couple of episodes near the end appeared to be written by a totally different person who hadn’t done their research but that didn’t stop it from being number 5 on my K drama list for the year.

Top Chinese

1. Love Between Fairy and Devil: I had an intensely emotional response to this drama. Intellectually I know it wasn’t the best drama ever but the character journeys just sucked me in. The love. The sacrifice for each other. Wang Hedi looking fabulous and devilish, but also totally adoring. The music and credit images perfectly complemented the drama.

2. Reset: Compact, well-acting and gripping. I sub-stalked. I refreshed every few minutes to check what % the subs had reached. It was worth it. And the very gentle romance was very sweet. Good soundtrack too.

3. Lighter and Princess: I was completely hooked. I bought a YouKu subscription for this drama. And then I actually bought the express package to watch the final episodes early. This is NOT like me. The leads were both compelling, the music was great and the moral greyness of even the main characters really lifted this above other ‘youth’ dramas – it had a totally unique feel.

4. Love Like the Galaxy: Despite being wary of 60-odd episode historical dramas, I was immersed by this. I think both leads did an amazing job but I was interested in all the side characters as well. The romance was slow burn but really swoony and I loved seeing how they grew as people and how this affected how their relationship developed.

5. Shining for One Thing: I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was thoughtful and gently angsty. The FL was very likeable after the first couple of episodes and the ML was just perfect. Joint male character of the year with the ML of My Calorie Girl.

Special mentions: The Heart of Genius and My Calorie Boy

Top Japanese

1. Silent: finishing this Friday and available on Viki – if you are any introvert and enjoy thoughtful, deep dramas that explore human nature, why are you not watching this gem?

2. Old Fashion Cupcake: only five episodes, this beautifully concise, deep but not angsty BL/coming into middle age drama is a real treat.

3. Eternal Yesterday: totally tragic but beautiful from the first episode. I sobbed!

Special mention: First Love: Hatsukoi

Taiwanese special mention: About Youth

Top Thai

1. Not Me: a mix of thriller, social justice, romance (BL) and exploration of twinship, this was truly excellent. Not a high budget drama but they had a fantastic soundtrack sourced from all over and top tier acting from the two leads. A bit of grass-green acting from a couple of the supporting actors didn’t stop this from being one of my dramas of the year.

Special mention: Between Us and the Eclipse

Top Actress

Park Eun Bin from Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Second year in a row at the top.

Kim Tae Ri from Twenty-Five Twenty-One. She was just so incredibly convincing at all points in the several years that the story covered. She played an 18-year-old utterly convincingly despite being in her early 30s. Never over the top. Funny but also poignant.

Top Actors

Gun from Not Me. He played twins Black and White and was just a revelation.

Top supporting actress

Jenny Zeng (who played the drummer friend in Lighter and Princess and the best friend in My Deepest Dream)

She’s just rather fabulous. Hope to see her again.

Top supporting actor

Kang Hyung Suk (the roommate from Love in Contract)

Kang Ki Young (is he main or supporting? The lawyer’s mentor in Extraordinary Attorney Woo)

Am really hoping these two wonderful actors get lead roles. I’ve seen them both in several supporting roles and they’re always memorable.

Best OTP

The young couple from the C drama, My Calorie Boy. So wholesome, healthy and supportive of each other, this drama shows that an extremely muted romance that doesn’t actually come to fruition until the end can be the best! Highly recommend this drama.

Best OST (Spotify links included!)

The two dramas that I loved multiple songs from were Lighter and Princess and Love Between Fairy and Devil.

Individual songs that stuck with me:

Complicated from May It Please the Court

Christmas Tree from My Beloved Summer

Let Me Be Your Knight from Let Me Be Your Knight

My Only from Reset

Great song of unknown name from the otherwise disappointing Thousand Years for You

Special mention to the instrumentals from Love Like the Galaxy (which I can’t find anywhere)

Razzie award

Plus and Minus, Taiwanese BL: the set up looked cute – friends to lovers - but it was at least twice as long as it should have been (oh so boring near the end) and the second couple was one of the worst I’ve even seen, with an actor whose hair was his only redeeming feature. Do not put yourself through this!

Cutie Pie, Thai BL: the drama that taught me to be very discerning about my Thai picks. I don’t do smut and this show was about 35% making out, 40% filler, 20% opening, closing and in between credits and PPL segments with a little bit of plot thrown in. The pros: the production was surprisingly good, the acting wasn’t bad and the 3rd couple was adorable. If only we’d seen them for more than 2 minutes per episode. The cons: there was almost no plot between episode 4 and 10, the making out was beautifully filmed but got so, so boring and contributed nothing to the story and the dramas could have been shortened from 12 episodes to 3 if they had had one honest conversation. Plus the 2nd couple was really toxic.

~ Learjet / Michelle