underrated kdrama

We all wear masks in our daily lives. A temporary worker wears a mask of an owner at a hostess bar, a girl who used to be a terrible bully back in her school days now wears a mask of a graceful lady to impress her blind date, and a director of child care center who abuses children puts on a mask of an angel before cameras. Hiding our true selves under the masks, we lead a lonely life. Today is the age of materialism, and a married couple that left love and everything behind to get what they want discovers each other\u2019s true colors under their masks and realizes that love and family matter the most.

Mask

The Pretenders

Oksusu

After an electric shock, a top celebrity (Lee Hong Ki) is suddenly able to hear a script writer's (Jung Hye Sung) thoughts. Knowing her true thoughts and feelings, he finds himself falling madly in love with her! But when he loses his ability to read her mind, would he still be able to win her heart?

"I Hate You Juliet" is a Viki Original 2019 drama directed by Kim Jeong Kwon.

I Hate You Juliet

Juliet, Where's Your Romeo?

SETTV

Can memories of true love be truly lost forever? Ren Guang Xi (Vanness Wu) has the world at his feet. The law student is the sole heir to a wealthy family business, is athletic, and blessed with great looks and charisma. His mother also has her sights set on a wife for him, the beautiful and kind He Yi Qian (Tiffany Hsu), a medical student. But instead, Guang Xi falls in love with Liang Mu Cheng (Ady An), a new employee in his school cafeteria with an infectious zest for life despite growing up as an orphan. But when a tragedy forces Guang Xi to suddenly undergo brain surgery, his mother tells Mu Cheng that he will not have any memories of his past after the surgery and forces Mu Cheng to leave him. Six years later in a rural village, Mu Cheng lives a quiet life with her son, Xiao Le (Xiao Xiao Bin). But then Guang Xi, now a high-powered attorney, arrives in the village to serve out a court-mandated community service and befriends the two with no memory of his past with Mu Cheng. Can a strangely moving piano concerto stir up the lost memories of his love for Mu Cheng and help him understand why he feels a special bond with her son?
 
“Autumn’s Concerto” is a Taiwanese drama series directed by Chen Hui Ling that originally aired on TTV from October 2009 to February 2010. Nominated for the Best Marketing Programme at the 45th Golden Bell Awards in Taiwan, the series is credited for making child actor Xiao Xiao Bin into a superstar and is the second highest-rated Taiwanese idol drama after “Fated to Love You” (2008).

Autumn's Concerto

KBS02

Jun Hwi seems like a regular office worker. But the truth is, he's actually an undercover boss who is first in line to succeed the chairman. With his stylish and dashing good looks, many women show their interest in him. However, as a man who doesn't believe in marriage, he rejects them all. He is also a strict individualist who absolutely detests being on the giving or receiving end of loss. On the other hand, Cheong Ah is a bit pathetic, barely scraping by with part-time jobs while attempting to pass the civil service exams for the eighth year in a row. A real-life youthful romance begins when Cheong Ah, a girl who is loyal to a fault, meets Jun Hwi, a self-centered 'man of the times' who doesn't believe in marriage.

Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life

Sung Nyang was born a girl but now pretends to be a boy to avoid becoming a palace maidservant. To get revenge on her enemies, she hides her true identity but gets caught up in a Yuan Dynasty conspiracy while watching over the Yuan crown prince To Gon, who was exiled to Koryo. Through a series of twists and turns, she saves To Gon, but her secret about being a woman is discovered, and she is forced to become a royal maidservant. To Gon was the rightful heir to the throne, which was stolen from him by his half-brother, who then exiled him to Koryo. To avoid being murdered, he plays dumb, but he has a fierce rage and sadness within him. He eventually returns to Yuan and becomes Emperor, and with the help of Sung Nyang, a royal maidservant, he becomes a dignified king and fights against those who are a threat to him.

Empress Ki

The Imperial Team

The frivolous prince of South Korea gets involved with the strongest North Korean special force officer at the World Officer Championship! Lee Jae Ha, the South Korean Prince, loves goofing around and has no interest in state affairs at all. Kim Hang Ah, the first female drill sergeant of the North Korean special force, dreams of finding her Mr. Right and getting married to him. Army officers from 16 countries gather for the World Officer Championship, and South and North Korea enter as one team for the first time. There, Hang Ah and Jae Ha get to share a room, but their start as a team doesn\u2019t seem smooth at all.

The King 2 Hearts

The King's Lovers Team

Jiangsu TV

During the Ming Dynasty, a young woman arrives in the capital city in search of her adopted mother’s biological son.

Yu Qi Ling (Tiffany Tang) runs into Jin Yuan Bao (Wallace Huo), the son of the powerful Jin family who works as the best sleuth in the Detective Bureau. It turns out that the kidnapping ring that Yuan Bao is investigating may be related to the thief that Qi Ling has been chasing in search of her missing brother.

But their fates become more entangled when the Empress Dowager bestows the marriage between Yuan Bao and Jiang Xiao Xuan (Gong Mi). Xiao Xuan runs away before the wedding day because she is in love with Yuan Bao’s friend, Gu Chang Feng (Huang Ming), so Qi Ling assumes Xiao Xuan’s identity and marries Yuan Bao.

Despite their constant bickering, can Yuan Bao and Qi Ling work together to find her missing brother and save the throne in the process?

“Perfect Couple” is a 2014 Chinese drama series directed by Huang Zu Quan.

Perfect Couple

MEI DAXIA

Tencent, iQiyi

A prosperous entrepreneur in modern-day China is undercut by a business partner, who tells him that he will have to take his revenge against him in another life – and then has him brutally beaten.

When he awakes, he has traveled back in time hundreds of years and now inhabits the body of a young man named Ning Yi (Guo Qi Lin).

He soon discovers that he is engaged to be married into the family of a successful cloth merchant. He also learns that he will become a matrilocal husband, which will mean he must live with his wife’s family, rather than the other way around, as per traditional Confucian custom.

At first, he is reluctant to go ahead with the marriage, and even attempts to escape. But when he meets his beautiful and charming fiancee Su Tan Er (Song Yi), he changes his mind, and the couple ties the knot.

But marrying into this family has a wide range of consequences. He soon discovers that scheming rival business rivals and dangerous bandits are planning to undermine Su Tan Er’s family.

He resolves to help his new wife, in-laws – and nation – by channeling his business acumen, knowledge of modern values...and his growing affection for Su Tan Er.

This drama was based on a novel by Fen Nu de Xiang Jiao.

“My Heroic Husband” is a 2021 Chinese drama series that was directed by Deng Ke.

My Heroic Husband

Husband is Awesome

Life is best lived through the cuisine of the world. Han Jie (Lego Li) is a heralded celebrity chef who runs a restaurant in Europe but returns to Taiwan to become a culinary teacher at Si Ping High School to fulfill his promise to his old mentor. Fang Xiao Rou (Allison Lin), the mentor’s daughter, also works as a culinary instructor at the school and immediately clashes with Han Jie on teaching and cooking. Han Jie’s best friend, Wen Zhen Yu (Duncan Chow), also teaches at the school but the two friends soon become rivals for Xiao Rou’s affections. Jiang Pei Ying (Nita Lei), Xiao Rou’s best friend and fellow teacher, also has strong feelings for her fellow colleagues. Can the four instructors keep their differences in check to share their culinary passion with their students? “Love Cuisine” is a 2015 Taiwanese drama series.

Love Cuisine

The Culinarians

Jiang Yi (Steven Zhang) is the star member and leader of a chart-topping all-male pop group. Many people think he is aloof and cold, but the truth of the matter is that he is not quite as distant as he seems. His parents separated while he was still a young boy, and this has left him and this event has left him unable to express his emotions as he’d like.

Meanwhile, the entertainment industry reporter Yu Sheng Sheng (Liang Jie) is a much bubblier and more outwardly friendly individual. Their birthdays also happen to be on the same. But when both are involved in an accident that leaves them hospitalized, they wake up to discover that they have swapped bodies! All of a sudden, the “real” Jiang Yi can walk around as “he” pleases – with a gang of paparazzi chasing after him. And the “real” Yu Sheng Sheng suddenly finds herself swamped with media attention. After they realize what has happened, they agree to work together to make each other’s lives better. But as they begin to do so, they – incredibly – start to form a romantic bond. Will the confusion ever end? And will they ever return to their “real” bodies?

“The Day of Becoming You” is a 2021 Chinese drama series that was directed by Wang Zheng.

Shows

Comments