Hey guys!

We've already hit the halfway point of 2016! If you just started watching Korean dramas or just haven't had any time until summer to watch, don't waste your time on figuring out what to watch! This list will show you the dramas you should be watching!

1. Descendants of the Sun

Descendants of the Sun (DOTS). The drama became a phenomenon in not only all of South Korea, but with international fans! Even BBC wrote an article about the phenomena that DOTS started! (read here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35888537)

The drama's popularity has not only created new South Korean love teams (Song-Song Couple, Goo-Won Couple), but also has shot all its cast into A-List stardom. In fact, the drama is so popular that there are rumors that there will be a season 2.

The drama is action packed and filled with beautiful cinematographic romance scenes with a hint of tomfoolery. It has everything any viewer would want a drama and the right amount of corniness that anyone would expect in a soap opera. If you haven't started you Korean drama journey already, Descendants of the Sun would be a great place to start.

2. Please, Come Back Mister!

Descendants of the Sun may have swept the top spot in the popularity contest between K-drama fans, but there's no doubt Please, Come Back Mister was a well-written and well-produced drama with an A-List cast. Special kudos go to actress Oh Yeon Seo for spectacularly portraying a man and actor Kim In Kwon for being able to stir up the deepest emotions in the viewer.

The drama works on the unique premise that the two main characters, who die wrongfully early deaths, are not ready to say goodbye to the living world and work up a deal to come back - Kim Young Soo as a handsome, blessed man and Han Gi Taek as a beautiful young . . . woman?! The drama is funny and charming, but the best part about this drama is its life lessons on how to live life while alive and how to continue living life after losing someone special to death. The drama is a spectacular lens into humanity.

3. Reply 1988

The third installment in the Reply series, the drama proved wrong the ever popular theory that sequels are never as good as the original. As in line with its predecessors, the drama was a popular success between domestic and international fans. The drama shared many similarities with its predecessors, written skillfully with an ability to bring nostalgia to viewers who lived through South Korean life in the last 80's and early 90's as well as make the show relatable and humanistically informative the younger generations. Like other seasons, the drama successfully recruited a talented cast of seasoned acting veterans and up-and-coming young stars. And with tradition, the show acted as a platform for its cast members to enter South Korea's A-List (Girl's Day'sHyeri, Ryu Jun Yeol, Park Bo Gum, etc). An added plus, the drama shares with its predecessors that it has an amazing original soundtrack. (must listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLoO0FSXncg)

The drama follows a group of youngsters living the height of their young lives (somehow media always makes it seem like high school is the height of an individual's young life) in the late 1980's in South Korea. Different from its predecessors, which initially concentrated on only one family and the main character's young friends, this one centers on the lives of close young friends and their own families and what it means to live in a community that soon becomes like a family.

4. Cheese in the Trap

Cheese in the Trap the drama was based on the very popular South Korean webtoon by the same name. For the most part, the drama lived up to the expectations of the book's fans. Although the drama met with some controversy near the end, I can testify as a person who watched as it aired every week, its a drama that keeps pulling you in and you'll keep wanting more.

The drama focuses on the relationship of the show's leading lady, Hong Seol, and its leading man, Yoo Jung, and the twists and turns the relationship deals with due to everyone else in their lives, like a love triangle with Yoo Jung's former best friend Baek In-Ho.

5. Another Oh Hae Young

This drama shot to popularity out of seemingly no where, however, the drama deserves the love it got. The drama was well-written and incited viewers to keep on watching. From trying to figure out what was wrong with leading man, Park Do-Kyung, played by Shinhwa's Eric, to wrestling to figure out which Oh Hae Young he would pick, it was hard not to watch each successive episode. Plus, the viewer couldn't help but feel for the show's leading lady, Oh Hae Young, played by Seo Hyun Jin, while she rested with her broken heart. Like Whitney Houston asks in her famous song, "Where do broken hearts go?" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa3tfVjGCQ8). Although I have to admit that the whole cast of the show was talented, I think it's fair to argue that the show really was carried by Seo Hyun Jin's unexpected acting prowess, or was Eric's acting so high class that he was able to make sure Seo Hyun Jin's acting shined? Either way, one of the most popular dramas of 2016 so far, Oh Hae Young Again is a must see.

6. Doctors

Doctors is already halfway into its 10-week run, and I have to say, it's more interesting than I thought it would be. I thought it would be another typical drama about doctors and love, which to some extent it is. However, I think what really carries this drama is its cast.

On one part, the chemistry between the drama's leading man and lady (Kim Rae Won and Park Shin Hye) is actually quite amazing, although they lead a love story between a former teacher and his former student, which at first can sound weird and almost disgusting, but script writers, the director, and the actors themselves make it clear that the two of them have never had more than feelings of pure love. They sell it so well that it becomes easily forgettable that their situation could be weird.

Another part of what carries the drama is the great acting abilities of the main ladies of the cast Park Shin Hye and Lee Sung Kyung. This drama is probably the first time that Park Shin Hye has a project where she doesn't play the nice girl who can't save herself. In fact, Park Shin Hye plays the complete opposite her previous roles as a former thug, who works through her hardships to be a successful doctor who is working hard to save herself. She plays a character who's more comfortable depending on herself when it comes to solving problems and repeatedly tries to push other's help away. I would say her new tough persona fits Park Shin Hye's acting style more than the weak girls she used to play. For Lee Sung Kyung, this is her first acting project since the success of Cheese in the Trap, and it once again shows that she's a talented actress that needs to be recognized. Together, Park Shin Hye and Lee Sung Kyung successfully play out the cat-and-dog relationship that keeps the story moving.

7. W

This drama just premiered last week, but it's already clear to me from the first two episodes that this drama is going to be big. Of course, there are still eight more weeks of the drama, so it could get worse from here, but I doubt it. The drama is filled with an A-List cast. It's leading man and leading lady, Lee Jong Suk and Han Hyo Joo respectively, are well-known to be great actors. In addition, the story is quite unique and addicting. The story is based on the fact that the story's leading lady, Oh Yeon Joo, played by Han Hyo Joo, is able to enter the fictional world of her father's webtoon W, where she interacts with the webtoon's main character, Kang Chul, played by Lee Jong Suk. Overall, it seems to be a drama worth all its hype.

And, there you have it! My list of the best Korean dramas of 2016 so far! Check them out! I promise you won't be disappointed!

xoxo,

Alyssa