It must’ve been a lackluster year in romance and rom-com K-dramas because of the top three favorite drama couples only one came from that genre. It goes to Junho and Yoona in rom-com King the Land, which brought in buzz and ratings for the network and lots of the love for the leads even if the drama itself was just a mediocre paint by numbers storyline. Then viewers love the young couple in superhero family and action drama Moving played by Lee Jung Ha and Go Yoon Jung, followed by the parent pair of Han Hyo Joo and Jo In Sung. For those still looking for a compelling onscreen couple from a drama this year you can start with these two dramas for sure.
The teen couple was cute in Moving, but the other couples of the list had a better chemistry. It’s just Moving had a lot of success
King The Land was on the list of the bad 2023 dramas too, the chemistry between the leads being the only good thing.
My favourite was Destined With You. Their kiss scenes and bed scene were the best.
Crash Course In Romance was a nice couple, Jeon Do Yeon and Jung Kyung Ho were funny together.
My Dearest was great in the firt part, but the second was quite disapointing.
2023 was poor in great couples to get D.P. 2 with Jung Hae In and Koo Gyo Hwan in the list :p
IKR , I couldn’t even finish King of the Land. Destined with you is mu favourite too.
It is a mediocre year. Imo none sparked the period this period was taken. I dropped KTL on ep 4 cos the writing was sooo bad. Didn’t find any chemistry between the leads at all. Dropped Destined With You at ep 10 for similar reasons. Story was badly written and also did not see sparks between the couple. Maybe Im just adverse to Ro Woon and Jo Bo Ah as actors. They never have good chemistry with anybody imo. The best chemistry this year for me was DOONA. It’s stunning, heartbreaking, memorable and Suzy at her finest. She used to be another actress I shun because she keeps getting casted across big names and in big budget dramas due to her beauty and never for her limited acting. BUT something did change since she did Anna. I really respect that fact that she challenged those criticisms and bettered herself to the point that she can now be revered for her acting as well. Good job! Yang Sejong has always been reliable. Phenomenal in his rookie year (he swept alot of major awards when he started) and is always steady in bringing in both ratings and performances.
I guess it’s about taste. I found Doona! completely meh and Suzy couldn’t make me like the FL. For someone who lived the same thing, she was very superficial in her way to portray it. The PD prefered esthetics instead of story telling. The second female character was the most interesting for me and had a better chemistry with the ML.
Not good year for romcom truly. Even the airing good day to be a dog is mediocre and it nit getting aired for two consecutive weeks just piss me off.
Regardless I think there’s some good kdrama hat just aired like twinkling watermelon (youth, romance) and daily dose of sunshine (medical, psychology). Both are quite heartwarming and inspirational
I second your comment regarding Jung Haein and Koo Gyohwan. I loved them in both seasons of DP.
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Pretty sure the Dooshik-Mihyun couple came in 2nd (43 votes) and Bongseok-Heesoo couple came in 3rd (17 votes). Pretty impressive considering how little screen time Dooshik-Mihyun got and Bongseok-Heesoo didn’t even get a kiss. Happy for the success of Moving
As often, the jewels are not necessarily the dramas that get all the hype, at least that is my impression from a European perspective. The ONLY good thing about King the Love were the leads. Lee Jun Ho probably could have a stone as a partner and still develop an utterly convincing chemistry. But this drama is a prime example that this not enough, for me it was sinking like the Titanic because it simply did not have a story.
As often, for me the jewels turned out to be dramas which created much less hype. My favourites in 2023 were:
1. Love Hate You with Kim Ok Bin and Yoo Teo (the latter a discovery for me, I even went to the cinema to see Past Lives with him, also good). Excellent leads, lovely second leads, in general a good cast plus a fun story. I’ve re-watched the drama since and I am already looking forward to the next time…
2. Crash Course in Romance with Jeon Do Yeon and Jung Kyung Ho. Like LHY it comes with an entertaining story, a great cast in all roles, and the leads are just beautiful to watch on their journey!
Go Younjung actually made the list twice. Her and Lee Jaewook were chemistry fire and no surprise the audience loved them. She’s really the hottest breakout of the year. Happy to also see Hwang Minhyun and Kim Sohyun make the list. The AoS gang keeps winning.
Oh wow, i love all the AoS main cast, so that’s great news! also happy with the hyun-hyun couple inclusion, they’re personally my absolute favorite couple for this year, their visuals and chemistry are still fresh in my mind 😌
I am so happy about the Love to Hate You pairing. Back in 2009, Yoo Teo had a very brief scene with Kim Ok Bin in the movie The Actresses in which he said that she was the prettiest actress in the scene. More than 10 years later, they were finally paired up in a series together. Because I loved that movie, I watched the series just for them, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it. They were both so adorable in that movie that it made me root for their careers.
Whoops, this was supposed to be a response to @adnawch
Sigh! CP culture in K-ent is still very much alive even in action/thriller genres. LOL
Moving is my favorite 2023 drama. I don’t care any CP chemistry since that’s never been the focus of any action thriller to be a successful hit. It’s not melo romance! LOL
Feels like a lackluster year in terms of memorable kdrama pairings. Other than the couples in Moving, none stood out to me, personally.
But I’m very optimistic about the end of the year/next year’s crops of dramas. I think it’ll be another big year for kdrama OTPs a la 2016. We have Kim Soo Hyun-Kim Ji Won, Park Seo Joon-Han So Hee, Gong Yoo-Seo Hyun Jin, Kang Dong Won-Jeon Ji Hyun, Kim Woo Bin-Suzy, Park Bo Gum-IU, Jung Hae In-Park Bo Young, and so on.
Forgot about the Heirs stars with Park Hyung Sik-Park Shin Hye as well as Lee Min Ho-Gong Hyo Jin. Huge writers are also making a comeback next year. There could be another resurgence of the Hallyu wave.
You mentioned PHS and GHJ whom I like very very much. But I’m indifferent to their costars PSH and LMH. What dramas are they gonna have next year?
I didn’t finish King the land drama because the writing is so horrible. Just 5 episodes and the ML already head over heels over the girl.and what are you really doing at that hotel.maybe I’m too old for that kind of drama where rich boy good for nothing fall in love with hardworking and poor woman
King the Land had a weak script. It was in the bad 2023 Kdramas list too.
I also dropped KtL after a few eps. It’s all predictable full of old tropes. Even I was impressed by Junho in The Red Sleeve, his acting did not appear that interesting to me in KtL. I hope he will take more challenging projects so that the reputation he earned with TRS doesn’t go wasted.