Cover As far as bizarre K-dramas go, ‘Chicken Nugget’ takes the proverbial cake. (Photo:IMDB)
As far as bizarre K-dramas go, ‘Chicken Nugget’ takes the proverbial cake. (Photo:IMDB)
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Whether a romance between a woman and a shape-shifting pet, a robot boyfriend or a knife-covered antihero, these K-dramas push the boundaries of storytelling, sometimes resulting in unexpected success
You always have to suspend disbelief when watching Korean dramas. While K-dramas focus more on contemporary issues, not everything is based on fact. And it’s not about Hong Hae-in’s fatal cloud cytoma diagnosis being fiction. You wonder how Korean office workers eat a sub for lunch every day or how romantic leads always seem to have met in childhood.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. K-dramas have long been known for their innovative storytelling, but some series take creativity to another level with their truly bizarre premises. While these dramas might sound strange on paper, they often manage to captivate audiences with their emotional depth, humour, suspense or just plain eccentricity. Here’s a look at some of the weirdest K-drama plotlines and how they played out on screen.
Also read: 6 K-drama product placements that are impossible to miss
1. ‘Welcome’ (2020)
At first glance, Welcome seems like a heartwarming slice-of-life drama, but its plot is anything but ordinary. Graphic designer Sol-ah (Shin Ye-eun) takes in a stray cat, only to discover that it can transform into a human (Kim Myung-soo / L). In an attempt to depict loneliness and the need for companionship, Welcome picks up on the idea that pets provide unconditional love. However, a romance between a woman and a shapeshifting pet can be a bit too much for some.
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2. ‘Strangers From Hell’ / ‘Hell Is Other People’ (2019)
Taking a much darker approach, Strangers from Hell follows Yoon Jong-woo (Im Si-wan), a young man who moves into a suspiciously cheap apartment complex in Seoul, only to realise his neighbours are deeply disturbing potential murderers. This psychological thriller is based on a popular webtoon, and Lee Dong-wook delivers a chilling performance as sadistic dentist Seo Moon-jo. It’s intense for a series, but the eerie and unsettling nature of the drama was a major draw. Strangers From Hell was a critical and commercial success.
Read more: K-drama dark heroes: 8 characters that we love (despite their flaws)
3. ‘My Absolute Boyfriend’ (2019)
A woman falling in love with a humanoid robot is no longer the novelty it appears to be. There’s Her and Ex Machina, after all. However, the popularity of this theme, no matter how possible it may be in our current environment, doesn’t make it any less strange. My Absolute Boyfriend revolves around Da-da (Bang Min-ah), a makeup artist who accidentally activates a high-tech robot boyfriend named Zero Nine (Yeo Jin-goo).
The show is based on a popular Japanese manga, yet viewers found it difficult to connect with the characters, and the romance between a human and a programmed AI lacked the emotional pull needed to make it engaging.
4. ‘I'm Not a Robot’ (2017-2018)
Proving that a robot romance is less rare than we think, here’s another one. I’m Not a Robot is a more successful take on the artificial intelligence romance trope. Kim Min-kyu (Yoo Seung-ho) is a wealthy man who is severely allergic to human touch—this detail is the most bizarre aspect of the plot. After a hardware issue in their advanced humanoid robot threatens its financial prospects, scientists enlist Ji-ah (Chae Soo-bin) to pretend to be an automaton in the service of Min-kyu. This, predictably, leads to a love story.
Despite the odd premise, the drama won audiences over with its charming leads and heartfelt moments. Perhaps because, despite appearances, Ji-ah is still a human falling in love with another human.
5. ‘My Holo Love’ (2020)
Continuing the theme of AI-driven romance, My Holo Love follows Han So-yeon (Ko Sung-hee), a lonely woman who begins interacting with “Holo”, a cutting-edge AI hologram designed to provide service and companionship. However, things become complicated when she meets Holo’s real-life creator, who looks exactly like her virtual assistant. The drama plays with themes of technology, love and isolation, but while it had its fans, it never quite reached mainstream popularity.
6. ‘I Picked Up a Celebrity on the Street’ (2018)
In this dark comedy, Lee Yeon-seo (Kim Ga-eun) accidentally knocks out a celebrity (Sung Hoon). Believing she has killed him, she panics and kidnaps him. Once he regains consciousness, she finds herself in an awkward hostage situation, trying to cover up what she thinks is a crime. The drama’s awkward premise had the potential for humour, but its inconsistent tone and odd pacing fell between laughter and cringe.
7. ‘Blade Man’ (2014)
Blade Man follows Joo Hong-bin (Lee Dong-wook), a man who, due to unresolved emotional trauma, literally grows knives from his body whenever he gets angry. This Wolverine-like quality is a metaphor for inner pain and healing. However, the execution was too absurd for many viewers. Despite its unusual premise, Blade Man gained a cult following for its unintentional comedy and melodramatic performances. Besides, Lee Dong-wook manages to sell everything he’s in.
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8. ‘Chicken Nugget’ (2024)
One of the most absurd K-drama plots in recent memory, Chicken Nugget is a sci-fi series about a woman named Min-ah (Kim Yoo-jung) who accidentally steps into a mysterious machine and transforms into a literal chicken nugget. Her father (Ryu Seung-ryong) and an employee (Ahn Jae-hong) scramble to turn her back into a human while uncovering the machine’s secrets. Based on a webtoon, this surreal comedy blends satire, mystery and deadpan humour. While undeniably strange, its quirkiness and talented cast make it an intriguing and fun watch.
9. ‘The Beauty Inside’ (2018)
Actress Han Se-gye (Seo Hyun-jin) is hiding a secret: once a month, she physically transforms into a completely different person—new age, race, gender, everything. This condition lasts for a week, which makes maintaining a public image and private life, well, complicated. Fortunately, there’s a man out there for her. Enter Seo Do-jae (Lee Min-ki), a stoic airline executive with prosopagnosia (face blindness). He can’t recognise faces—except hers, no matter who she looks like.
The show is wildly implausible, but it handles its surreal premise with surprising tenderness, using the transformations as metaphors for identity, acceptance and emotional intimacy.
10. ‘Cinderella With Four Knights’ (2016)
What if Cinderella moved into a mansion full of hot, emotionally unavailable chaebol heirs and was paid to make them less bratty? That’s the premise. Eun Ha-won (Park So-dam), a plucky high schooler, ends up living with three rich cousins and their equally attractive bodyguard—but she’s forbidden from dating any of them (cue tension). A meddling grandfather, evil stepmother and secret birth stories round things out. The plot is a sugar rush of K-drama tropes, but Park So-dam grounds it with charm.
11. ‘Nail Shop Paris’ (2013)
A woman disguises herself as a man to work at a mysterious all-male nail salon. But the employees might be supernatural creatures who help clients solve emotional and personal crises. There are gumiho (nine-tailed fox) elements, love triangles and nail art tutorials. It’s a genre buffet: gender-bending, fantasy, workplace drama, romance, magical realism—all in under 10 episodes. It often feels like three K-dramas fighting for screen time, but that’s part of the chaotic appeal.
12. ‘A Good Day to Be a Dog’ (2023)
By day, she’s a beautiful high school teacher. By night? A literal dog. Hae-na (Park Gyu-young) is cursed to turn into a dog whenever she kisses someone—and can only break the curse if that person kisses her again as a dog. She accidentally kisses her cold, dog-phobic coworker Jin Seo-won (Cha Eun-woo), who may hold the key to her freedom.
Just because a K-drama is weird does not mean it’s bad. This show leans all the way into the absurdity with a straight face, which makes it even better. Puppy love with puppy problems? Cute.
13. ‘The Potato Lab’ (2023)
There are many ways to explain the silly plot, but Wikipedia does it best: “The series is about a woman obsessed with potatoes swept away by a principled man like a tornado potato”. Essentially, potato-obsessed potato researcher Kim Mi-kyung (Lee Sun-bin) loses her potato-researching firm to a new director, So Baek-ho (Kang Tae-oh), who runs the company in a style completely different from her methods. Who knew potatoes could power so much chemistry?
