Cover It may not seem like it but ‘Lovely Runner’ wasn’t always the crowd favourite it is today. Check out other K-dramas that got a second wind. (Photo: IMDB)
It may not seem like it but ‘Lovely Runner’ wasn’t always the crowd favourite it is today. Check out other K-dramas that got a second wind. (Photo: IMDB)
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When it comes to K-dramas, ratings measure the moment, but cult followings measure true impact
In the age of streaming, the idea of a “flop” K-drama has changed. Low ratings on Korean TV no longer mean failure. Sometimes, it just means the audience found it elsewhere. Global platforms like Netflix, Viki and Viu have transformed the afterlife of K-dramas. A show that struggled with single-digit Nielsen scores in Seoul can trend years later on TikTok edits or Reddit fan threads, gaining a second life as a cult favourite. These are the K-dramas that lived quietly at first but became loud in memory—beloved, dissected and shared long after their finale aired.
In case you missed it: 10 underrated K-dramas that deserve your attention
1. ‘Lovely Runner’ (2024)
Above A time-slip romance that turns fangirl devotion into destiny, as a heartbroken fan travels back to save the idol who once saved her.
On paper, Lovely Runner is a time-slip romantic fantasy about a fan trying to save her idol from tragedy. But its emotional clarity and character-driven stakes gave it life. Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), once an aspiring film director, is paralysed after an accident, while Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), a top idol haunted by pressure, ends his life. Sol is transported 15 years back to 2008, trying to change his fate without losing herself. The drama’s slow burns, recurring motifs (umbrellas, watches, “loserism”) and layered worldbuilding made every twist landing with weight.
Despite modest domestic ratings, Lovely Runner gained cult status through social media. The hashtag #OneYearWithLovelyRunner trended as fans commemorated its anniversary. Internationally, it charted strongly on Viki and TVING, and critics praised it as one of 2024’s best romances.
2. ‘My Liberation Notes’ (2022)
Above A meditative, slow-burn portrait of urban loneliness, following three siblings and a mysterious stranger as they seek liberation from the quiet despair of everyday life.
This is not a high-stakes thriller—with no bomb, no villain, no massive twist, but it’s one of the most quietly devastating K-dramas in recent memory. Yeom Chang-hee (Lee Min-ki), Yeom Mi-jeong (Kim Ji-won) and Yeom Ki-jeong (Lee El) are siblings stuck living in the rural village of Sanpo, commuting daily to the city for jobs that feel hollow. Enter Mr Gu (Son Suk-ku), a cryptic outsider working at their family’s sink factory, who becomes intertwined in their lives. Pauses and internal monologues fill the show, and even its emotional revelations arrive in silence.
In Korea, My Liberation Notes rated modestly (its first-episode rating was around 2.9 per cent, peaking at 6.7 per cent) but found a renewed life on Netflix, debuting in the Global Top 10 for non-English television. Over time, it became a cult favourite among fans who praise its realism, cinematography and emotional restraint. Essays, Tumblr posts and critical reappraisals helped recast it not as a slow show, but as a subtle masterpiece.
3. ‘Just Between Lovers’ / ‘Rain or Shine’ (2017–18)
Above Two survivors of a tragic accident find healing and love in each other’s scars in this tender, melancholic romance.
Here’s a drama whose central power lies in grief’s aftermath. After a construction accident kills many, Moon Kang-tae (Lee Junho) suffers survivor’s guilt, while Ha Moon-sowon (Won Jin-ah) survives physical injury and dreams deferred. They meet again, haunted by trauma and emotional scars, forming a fragile bond based on pain and healing—not simplistic “you saved me” tropes. Its pacing and subdued visuals may have limited broadcast momentum, but streaming audiences discovered its tenderness later. Today it’s often cited in “healing drama” lists and rewatched by viewers seeking catharsis.
4. ‘Chicago Typewriter’ (2017)
Above A haunting blend of past and present, where a bestselling author and his ghostwriter relive their intertwined fates as freedom fighters in 1930s Seoul.
Yoo Ah-in plays Han Se-joo, a bestselling author haunted by writer’s block; Im Soo-jung plays Jeon Seol, his ghostwriter and unexpected muse. But beneath the modern romance lies a haunting: in the 1930s, under Japanese colonial rule, the two were freedom fighters whose unfinished story bleeds through time. A mysterious typewriter becomes a bridge between eras where art, memory and rebellion intertwine.
Mixing jazz-age melancholy with literary symbolism, it’s more Murakami than mainstream melodrama. Initially slow to catch on, it gained international recognition years later on streaming platforms. Fans now trade theories on reincarnation and symbolism in Reddit threads, calling it a “literary ghost story in disguise”.
5. ‘Be Melodramatic’ (2019)
Above Three 30-something women in film and TV navigate career chaos, breakups and existential dread in this witty, meta take on modern womanhood.
You would be hard-pressed to believe that Be Melodramatic took a while to gain its reputation. Three women in their 30s, writer Im Jin-joo (Chun Woo-hee), documentary director Lee Eun-jung (Jeon Yeo-bin) and marketing exec Hwang Han-joo (Han Ji-eun), navigate love, loss and the creative industry. It’s meta and self-aware: a drama about making K-dramas, spiked with sharp humour and genuine vulnerability. Its slice-of-life realism, natural dialogue and queer-coded subtext didn’t draw ratings gold but built a passionate cult audience.
After airing, its script became a case study in screenwriting circles, and countless TikTok and Instagram clips resurrected its quotable scenes (“Let’s not be fine, let’s be honest”). Critics later hailed it as ahead of its time—a millennial classic about burnout and friendship.
6. ‘Hyena’ (2020)
Above In this razor-sharp legal drama, two morally ambiguous lawyers—played by Kim Hye-soo and Ju Ji-hoon—clash and spark in a world where justice is negotiable.
Jung Geum-ja (Kim Hye-soo) is a cutthroat lawyer who hunts the elite, while Yoon Hee-jae (Ju Ji-hoon) represents the establishment she despises. Their chemistry, which is half rivalry, half seduction, fuels a sharp critique of class and power. It’s equal parts Suits and Shakespearean sparring. Despite solid acting, its tonal whiplash and genre shifts confused casual viewers, but it later found loyal followers who loved its unflinching portrayal of a woman wielding intellect as a weapon. The show became a feminist touchstone online, with YouTube tributes dissecting Kim Hye-soo’s wardrobe, monologues and moral ambiguity.
7. ‘Run On’ (2020)
Above A former athlete and a translator fall into a slow, deliberate romance that unfolds as gracefully as its dialogue on language and connection.
Former sprinter Ki Sun-gyeom (Im Si-wan) meets film translator Oh Mi-joo (Shin Se-kyung) in a slow, tender romance defined by language barriers and emotional literacy. It’s a drama about people learning to speak—not English or Korean, but honestly. Their relationship unfolds through long walks, awkward silences and mutual understanding. When it aired, its ratings were lukewarm, but Netflix’s algorithm gave it a global second wind. Fans fell for its quiet intelligence, minimalist cinematography. It’s now beloved by “slow burn” fandoms for proving love stories can simmer, not shout.
8. ‘Hwarang’ (2016)
Above A glittery sageuk starring an idol-studded cast, it follows a band of elite youth warriors in the Silla dynasty caught between politics, loyalty and first love.
A star-studded historical romp with Park Seo-joon, Park Hyung-sik and BTS’s V, Hwarang followed a group of elite youth warriors in the Silla dynasty. The plot is part political intrigue, part coming-of-age bromance. Critics dismissed it as pretty-boy pageantry with uneven writing, but time has softened that verdict. Fans now celebrate it as the ultimate “himbo sageuk”, admittedly a charming mess filled with chaotic energy, loyalty and hair flips. Years later, TikTok edits of the cast’s glow-ups and behind-the-scenes antics reignited nostalgia.
9. ‘Doom at Your Service’ (2021)
Above A terminally ill woman falls in love with the literal embodiment of doom, creating a swoon-worthy fantasy about fate and impossible love.
When Tak Dong-kyung (Park Bo-young), a woman given 100 days to live, accidentally wishes for the world’s end, she summons Myeol-mang (Seo In-guk), the personification of Doom itself. It sounds overwrought, yet the show’s sincerity and chemistry grounded its celestial premise. Between moody lighting and mythic metaphors, it delivered existential musings wrapped in fantasy romance. Ratings lagged, but international fandoms seized on it, translating scripts, analysing its theology and turning lines into digital poetry. Fanfiction archives and fan-art communities keep Doom at Your Service alive, transforming a once-niche fantasy into an enduring emotional favourite.
10. ‘Strangers from Hell’ (2019)
Above A psychological horror about a young man moving into a grim Seoul goshiwon, where every neighbour hides something unspeakably sinister.
Im Si-wan plays Yoon Jong-woo, who moves into a cheap urban dorm and finds neighbours with nightmarish habits. Lee Dong-wook plays Seo Moon-jo, a plastic surgeon with chilling intentions. The psychological horror is relentless but nuanced; it’s not about gore, but unease, paranoia and the unravelling mind. It didn’t dominate charts, but among fans of horror and noir, it's displayed under “must-watch” status—early in the wave of darker K-dramas gaining cult traction overseas.
11. ‘Prison Playbook’ (2017–18)
Above A star baseball player lands in prison and finds unlikely friendship and redemption in this darkly funny, deeply human slice-of-life drama.
Song Kyung-soo (Park Hae-soo), a baseball star, receives a short prison sentence. In prison, he forms unexpected bonds with former idol Ki Ho-sub (Jung Kyung-ho), psychotic cellmates and a drama writer. The mix of humour, melancholy and humanity felt unconventional. Originally seen as the underdog successor to Reply 1988, it never hit blockbuster ratings—but its fans loudly disagree. It’s now often ranked among the best ensemble K-dramas for its emotional range.
12. ‘Through the Darkness’ (2022)
Above Based on real events, this gripping procedural follows Korea’s first criminal profiler as he peers into the minds of serial killers to stop the next crime.
Based on the memoirs of Korea’s first criminal profiler, this thriller stars Kim Nam-gil as Song Ha-yeon, who establishes the country’s first profiler unit in a time when profiling was taboo. He partners with detective Cha Soo-youn (Kim So-yeon) to track serial offenders. The show’s restrained intensity, moral ambiguity and grounded tone limited mainstream buzz, but among fans of crime dramas, it’s now deeply respected. Though not as famous as Signal, Through the Darkness is often referenced as a turning point for Korean dark procedural dramas.
13. ‘Eulachacha Waikiki’ / ‘Welcome to Waikiki’ (2018)
Above A group of broke, chaotic friends run a failing guesthouse, turning everyday disasters into laugh-out-loud comedy gold.
Set in a shabby guesthouse run by three broke dreamers—Dong-gu (Kim Jung-hyun), Joon-ki (Lee Yi-kyung) and Doo-shik (Son Seung-won)—Eulachacha Waikiki marries absurdist humour with surprising tenderness. From exploding mattresses to a baby left behind by an ex-girlfriend, everything that could go wrong does. What could’ve been another forgettable sitcom became an underground hit thanks to its fearless physical comedy and perfect comedic timing. Though its domestic ratings were modest, it built massive word-of-mouth momentum online, particularly on Reddit and TikTok, where its funniest scenes circulate as “pure serotonin” edits. Over time, it’s become a go-to easy rewatch.
14. ‘Tempted’ (2018)
Above A moody, modern retelling, where a revenge plot among privileged youth spirals into heartbreak and ruin.
Loosely based on Les Liaisons Dangereuses, this moody youth drama follows Kwon Shi-hyun (Woo Do-hwan), a wealthy playboy who makes a cruel bet to seduce Eun Tae-hee (Joy) and make her fall in love. What starts as manipulation spirals into genuine affection, guilt and self-destruction. It is a dark portrait of how privilege and pain can warp young love. The drama struggled with ratings in Korea, where viewers found its tone too heavy and its leads too young for its themes. But once it landed on Netflix and Viki, Tempted took on fresh life in Latin America, Southeast Asia and even Eastern Europe. Woo Do-hwan’s tortured antihero became a Tumblr fixation, inspiring endless fan edits and moodboards captioned “the softest tragedy disguised as a teen show”.
Sasha Lim-Uy Mariposa is a lifestyle journalist who is known for her food writing. Based in Manila, she also covers entertainment and dining, as well as a broad range of topics. She was the former digital editor at Esquire Philippines and was the digital managing editor at Spot.ph, and now writes for the different Tatler Asia markets as a contributing writer for T-Labs.
