Cover Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk in ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’, one of the best K-dramas that depict the joys, heartaches and growing pains of youth (Photo: tvN)
Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk in ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’, one of the best K-dramas that depict the joys, heartaches and growing pains of youth (Photo: tvN)
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From ‘Reply 1988’ to ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’, these K-dramas about the joys and pains of youth capture first loves, lifelong friendships, big dreams and the moments that shape who we become
Growing up is rarely as simple as getting older. It can mean falling in love for the first time, finding friendships that feel like they will last forever, discovering what you want to do with your life—and learning, sometimes painfully, that things do not always go according to plan. The best coming-of-age K-dramas understand that youth can be both exhilarating and uncertain, filled with big dreams and even bigger disappointments.
From the nostalgic neighbourhood bonds of Reply 1988 and the first-love heartbreak of Twenty Five Twenty One to the career struggles of Record of Youth and the historical tragedy of Youth of May, these K-dramas explore the many joys and pains of growing up, proving that some of life’s most defining moments happen before we have everything figured out.
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1. ‘Reply 1988’ (2015)
Above Almost four decades on, ‘Reply 1988’ remains a quintessential coming-of-age K-drama
You can’t talk about the joys and pains of growing up in K-dramas without mentioning tvN’s Reply 1988. The beloved series follows five families in the close-knit neighbourhood of Ssangmun-dong, centring on the everyday lives of their teenage children—Sung Deok-sun (Lee Hye-ri), Choi Taek (Park Bo-gum), Kim Jung-hwan (Ryu Jun-yeol), Sung Sun-woo (Go Kyung-pyo) and Ryu Dong-ryong (Lee Dong-hwi)—and what it means to come of age in late-1980s Seoul.
The K-drama captures everything from deep-rooted friendships, first loves and complicated love triangles to sibling rivalry, academic pressure and family struggles. More than a nostalgic trip back to the 1980s, it explores the bittersweet transition from adolescence to adulthood, when friendships begin to change, dreams take shape and the people who once seemed like a permanent part of your life start moving in different directions.
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2. ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’ (2022)
Above ‘Twenty Five Twenty One’ turns the heartbreak of first love into one of K-drama’s most aching coming-of-age stories
Where Reply 1988 shows us what it means to grow up in the late 1980s, Twenty Five Twenty One takes us to the late 1990s, against the backdrop of South Korea’s IMF financial crisis. The K-drama tells the love story of spirited fencing prodigy Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri) and Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk), a young man whose family has fallen into hard times. As they struggle to make sense of the road ahead, the two form a deep friendship that gradually becomes a defining relationship in their lives.
But Twenty Five Twenty One is about far more than first love. The K-drama explores ambition, friendship, family, failure and the uncertainty of stepping into adulthood. As they face setbacks and make choices that pull them in different directions, the series arrives at one of its most devastating truths about growing up: sometimes the people who mattered most were never meant to stay.
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3. ‘Our Beloved Summer’ (2021)
Above In this Netflix hit, Choi Woo-shik and Kim Da-mi play high school sweethearts coming to terms with their past
In Our Beloved Summer, high-school sweethearts Choi Woong (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-su (Kim Da-mi) reconnect in adulthood, forcing them to revisit the relationship they thought they had left behind. While its second-chance romance is at the heart of the story, the Netflix K-drama is also a tender reflection on growing up and moving on.
Woong and Yeon-su have changed since their teenage years, carrying new ambitions, insecurities and regrets, yet neither has completely let go of their past—or each other. Through their messy reunion, Our Beloved Summer lands on a quiet truth: growing up isn’t about leaving your younger self behind—it’s about understanding the person you were and making peace with the experiences that shaped you.
4. ‘Twinkling Watermelon’ (2023)
Above A time-travelling detour gives Eun-gyeol a chance to know his parents before they became parents in ‘Twinkling Watermelon’
In Twinkling Watermelon, Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun)—a talented high-school student who secretly pursues music despite being a CODA (child of deaf adults)—mysteriously travels back in time to 1995, where he gets the chance to meet his father, Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun-wook), and his mother, Yoon Cheong-ah (Shin Eun-soo), long before they become the parents he knows.
Thrust into their world as they chase their childhood dreams, Eun-gyeol forms the band Watermelon Sugar and becomes part of their youthful world. Along the way, he learns about first love, friendship, ambition and the complicated expectations that families place on one another. Most importantly, he develops a deeper empathy for his parents, seeing them as people—and understanding the lives they lived before he was part of theirs.
5. ‘Record of Youth’ (2020)
Above Park Bo-gum, Byeon Woo-seok and Park So-dam navigate ambition, rejection and self-discovery in ‘Record of Youth’
There is a particular kind of uncertainty that comes with being young and trying to make it in a world where talent does not always translate into opportunity. Record of Youth follows aspiring actor and model Sa Hye-jun (Park Bo-gum), his longtime friend and fellow model Won Hae-hyo (Byeon Woo-seok) and make-up artist An Jeong-ha (Park So-dam) as they try to establish themselves in South Korea’s competitive entertainment and fashion industries.
For Hye-jun, every step forward comes with the possibility of being knocked down, while Hae-hyo must contend with the advantages and expectations that come with his privileged background. Jeong-ha, meanwhile, is focused on building a stable career and carving out her own space in a cutthroat field. Their different circumstances reveal the uneven realities of growing up: the excitement of discovering what you want from life can exist alongside rejection, insecurity and the pressure to prove yourself.
6. ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo’ (2016)
Above ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo’ reminds viewers that part of the joy and pain of youth is that you don’t have everything figured out just yet
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo centres on Kim Bok-joo (Lee Sung-kyung), a talented collegiate weightlifter whose life revolves around training, competitions and the tight-knit friends she has made at her sports university. Then there is Jung Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk), a competitive swimmer whose playful teasing gradually turns into something more. Between demanding training schedules, crushes, friendships and the pressures of competitive sport, Bok-joo finds herself weighing what she actually wants, beyond the expectations placed on her.
What makes the K-drama such a joyful celebration of youth is its affection for the awkwardness of growing up. Bok-joo has moments of insecurity about her appearance and her identity as an athlete, but she also discovers the freedom that comes from being surrounded by people who accept her as she is. Slowly, she learns to trust her own choices and embrace the things that bring her joy, even when she doesn’t have everything figured out.
7. ‘Fight for My Way’ (2017)
Above ‘Fight for My Way’ reminds viewers that growing up doesn’t always go according to plan—and that's okay
Fight for My Way, a beloved K-drama about growing up, is about four longtime friends whose lives haven’t quite turned out as planned. Former taekwondo hopeful Ko Dong-man (Park Seo-joon) is stuck in a job he doesn't love, while his childhood friend Choi Ae-ra (Kim Ji-won) dreams of becoming a television announcer despite working at a department-store information desk. Their friends Kim Joo-man (Ahn Jae-hong) and Baek Seol-hee (Song Ha-yoon) are also trying to find their footing in work and love.
What makes Fight for My Way so resonant is its belief that a detour isn’t necessarily the end of the road. As Dong-man, Ae-ra and their friends navigate career disappointments, financial struggles, romance and the unpredictability of adulthood, they learn that perhaps growing up isn’t about ending up exactly where you thought you would. If you trust the journey, life can take you exactly where you’re meant to be.
8. ‘A Hundred Memories’ (2025)
Above Two young women’s friendship endures amid dreams, romance and the realities of 1980s Seoul in ‘A Hundred Memories’
A Hundred Memories, which takes viewers back to 1980s Seoul, offers a clear-eyed look at the hopes and hardships of young women trying to build a better life. Kim Da-mi plays Go Young-rye, a smart and determined bus attendant who works to help support her family while dreaming of going to university. Her best friend, Seo Jong-hee (Shin Ye-eun), is a lively new colleague at Cheon-A Transportation who longs to escape her troubled home life.
While the K-drama takes on the class divide and a gut-wrenching love triangle, its portrayal of deep female friendship is where it truly shines. Even as Young-rye’s and Jong-hee’s dreams, circumstances and feelings for Han Jae-pil (Heo Nam-jun)—the affluent son of a department-store owner—threaten to pull them apart, their devotion to one another endures. In the end, A Hundred Memories is a powerful reminder of the friendships that hold us together through life’s hardest moments.
9. ‘Youth of May’ (2021)
Above Lee Do-hyun and Go Min-si star as young lovers whose future is threatened by the events of the 1980 Gwangju Uprising in ‘Youth of May’
The K-drama traces the story of Hwang Hee-tae (Lee Do-hyun), a medical student who returns to Gwangju, and Kim Myung-hee (Go Min-si), a nurse who has been supporting herself and her family. Their lives intersect in the spring of 1980, when a chance meeting develops into a romance just as political tensions in the city begin to escalate.
Watching Hee-tae and Myung-hee make plans for their future while the world around them becomes increasingly unstable is what makes their love story so tragic. Their relationship is filled with the ordinary joys of youth—falling in love, making plans and imagining a life together—but those hopes are tested by violence and circumstances far beyond their control. By placing a tender love story against one of the darkest chapters in modern Korean history, Youth of May shows just how fragile youth can be, and how devastating it is when young people are denied the chance to grow into the futures they imagined.
Whether it is first love, lifelong friendship, a long-held dream or the painful realisation that life rarely follows a straight path, these K-dramas about the joys and pains of youth remind us why this stage of life remains such a compelling chapter to revisit. Their stories celebrate the people we become, the people who shape us and the moments we carry long after growing up is over.
Maggie Adan is a content writer, editor, and strategist with extensive experience across print, digital, and social media publishing. Formerly editor-in-chief at K-Zone Philippines, Summit Books and Content Lab, she has written lifestyle stories covering everything from entertainment and travel to beauty and wellness. A storyteller at heart with a keen editorial eye and a passion for narrative, she contributes to various publications and helps brands create and curate content for their social media platforms.
