K-Dramas to Watch This September 2020
Stock up on your snacks and drinks because this September will get you chasing after at least one K-Drama among the multiple noteworthy series debuting this month. September is seriously swamped with good shows, so it’s important to get picky with the K-Dramas you choose to follow. Without further ado, let’s get to it!
Record of Youth
Image: Netflix Singapore
Sa Hyejun (Park Bogum) and Won Haehyo (Byeon Wooseok) are childhood friends who are both models breaking into acting. While working, they meet An Jeongha (Park Sodam) who is a budding makeup artist. Coming from different backgrounds, they each have contrasting ordeals and family situations. All three encounter love, trials, and friendship as they experience youth.
What sets Record of Youth apart from other romance dramas is its subdued and easygoing vibes from the trailer. Hopefully, these vibes translate over to the actual drama series because who needs unnecessary drama when you can coo over Park Bogum in another heart-fluttering series? Park Sodam of Parasite fame is also taking on the role of the female lead, making Record of Youth an eye-opener for those unfamiliar with her outside of the Academy Award-winning film.
Airing: Debuts on September 7, airs every subsequent Monday and Tuesday on TVN
Streaming source(s): Netflix
Image: JTBC
More Than Friends
Replacing Graceful Friends’s timeslot is JTBC’s romcom More Than Friends, starring rising actress Shin Yeeun and former WANNA ONE member Ong Seongwu.
Lee Soo (Ong Seongwu) and Kyung Wooyeon (Shin Yeeun) have held a crush on each other for over 10 years, owing to a misunderstanding. In the present, Wooyeon is a calligrapher and is unable to get into a relationship because she cannot forget about her unrequited first love. One day, Lee Soo, now a photographer, reappears in her life again along with Oh Junsoo (Kim Dongjun), who is the CEO of a publishing company and is seemingly perfect in every aspect.
The prominent tones of More Than Friends are mostly playful and simple. The premise is rather run-of-the-mill, but the promising cast makes up for that. The main leads are all on an upwards trend in their careers and have a decent following from their previous works. Whether or not More Than Friends will be the breakout drama for them is something we have to wait and see. If nothing else, the visuals of the cast are certainly worth giving this drama with the “missed-connection” trope as its central plot point a shot.
Images: Netflix Singapore
Ahn Eunyoung (Jung Yumi) is a school nurse with special powers who sees supernatural Jellies that are invisible to everyone else. She takes it upon herself to rid the school of the Jellies, only succeeding by the breadth of a hair every encounter. Fortunately, she discovers that holding hands with Hong Inpyo (Nam Joohyuk), the classical Chinese teacher who is also the heir to the school, recharges her energy, allowing her to better fight the Jellies. The two become inseparable in this special relationship as they join forces to defend the school.
The School Nurse Files is a quirky fantasy series directed by Lee Kyoungmi of Crush and Blush and The Truth Beneath, and written by Chung Serang who authored the original award-winning novel that the series is based on.
The humorous tension between these two awkward characters who are thrown together by circumstance is going to make the series a whole lot of fun to watch. Also, as you would have noticed by now, the premise of The School Nurse Files is one of the more interesting ones in this list. Besides, watching Jung Yumi fend off colorful Jellies with a rainbow sword and a BB gun? Sign us up! With just the trailer below as a reference, you can be sure to be treated to vibrant and flashy action scenes that will keep your eyes glued to your screens.
Airing: Debuts on September 25, new episode up weekly
Streaming source(s): Exclusively on Netflix
Private Lives
Images: JTBC
Another highly anticipated K-Drama from JTBC is Private Lives with its lineup of big names for its leads. It will be taking over Was It Love?’s Wednesday-Thursday timeslot.
Private Lives revolves around con artists mobilizing all their techniques to disclose the nation’s major “private life.” Cha Jooeun (Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun), is one of such said con artists who scam people with her deceptively sweet and innocent looks to get by in life. On the flip side, Jung Bokgi (Kim Hyojin) is a professional con artist who sits in the top one percent amongst all con artists and is fully capable of tricking people of her trade. For the males, we have Lee Junghwan (Go Kyungpyo), a mysterious team manager at a major company himself, while Kim Jaewook (Kim Youngmin) is another ambitious con artist who is also Jung Bokgi’s business partner.
This series is actor Go Kyungpyo’s first project following his discharge from military service and Kim Hyojin’s return to the small screen in eight years. For Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun, this series may very well be a defining point in her career as an actress. Despite multiple acting gigs before this, the character Cha Jooeun is on another level—challenging and capable of solidifying her status as an actress if she manages to do well. This series is also raking in tons of publicity and comments on the leads’ chemistry and viewers can look forward to enjoying this on-screen when it airs. One last noteworthy point of Private Lives is how uncharacteristically driven the female characters are as depicted in the teasers as opposed to the typical K-Drama. If you enjoy some femme fatale action, this K-Drama is a must-watch.
Airing: September 16, every Wednesday and Thursday on JTBC
Streaming Source(s): To Be Confirmed
Alice
Images: SBS
We were not lying when we said September is stacked—SBS’s Alice marks actor Joo Won’s comeback since his release from military service back in February 2019.
Alice is about an emotionless detective named Park Jingyeom (Joo Won) who learns about the existence of time travelers. He comes from the future through a device called “Alice” in his pursuit to uncover the identity of his mother’s murderer. However, he also discovers a genius physicist named Yoon Taeyi who looks exactly like his dead mother (Kim Heesun) amid his investigations.
The stark contrast in the mood of the two teasers is a clear indication of the drama’s great potential. While Kim Heesun’s teaser is comedic and heart-warming, Joo Won’s teaser leans towards the serious side. The gravitas of the core time paradox conflict is delivered wonderfully even though it’s not fully understood, which makes all the more reason to look forward to this drama. Moreover, Kim Heesun playing a double role will be worth the anticipation. It would be interesting to see how Alice will fare in fleshing out more complex issues like time travel and balancing it with delicate, emotional scenes of the mother and son.
Airing: Every Friday and Saturday
Image: JTBC
18 Again
18 Again is based on the classic American movie 17 Again back in 2009 that starred Zac Efron. It is a story of a man named Hong Daeyoung (Yoon Sanghyun) who is on the verge of a divorce finding himself back in his body when he was at the prime of his life 18 years ago. He then changes his name to Go Wooyoung (Lee Dohyun), ready to live his new life. Meanwhile, his wife Jung Dajung (Kim Haneul) joins the workforce as an anchorwoman after dedicating her earlier years raising their 18-year-old twins. Daeyoung realizes that he doesn’t truly want to divorce and attempts to gain Dajung’s affection back.
While 18 Again looks promising, the concept of old-guy-trapped-in-young-body isn’t fresh or original by any means. The Dude In Me (2019) is a recent Korean movie that explores this same trope with a different premise. If you are hesitant to spend hours watching this series, a good suggestion would be to check out the above or the American version that this K-Drama is based on.
Image: Netflix Singapore
If you are strapped for time and only have time to spare for a quick movie, we’ve got just the recommendation for you. #Alive tells the story of a mysterious virus outbreak that suddenly spreads throughout modern-day Seoul and rapidly grows out of control. People struggle to stay alive when the unknown infection causes victims to eat each other, turning them into zombies.
Oh Junu, played by Yoo Ahin, and Kim Yubin, played by Park Shinhye, struggle to survive from those infected with the virus. They are trapped alone inside their apartment complex without access to cellular data, Wi-Fi, text, or phone calls. Their only source of information about the outside world is the news on TV and what they can see from outside their apartment windows. Junu and Yubin are polar opposites and cope with different methods; Junu utilizes technology while Yubin incorporates more traditional items like camping tools and telescopes to survive. With their different specialties, the pair work together to stay alive.
If you’ve enjoyed the Train To Busan films (the first one in particular), then #Alive will definitely be right up your alley. The leads are prominent figures with acting chops that can be trusted. Fans of horror and thriller should not miss this.
Airing: September 8
Streaming source(s): Exclusively on Netflix
Let us know in the comments what K-Dramas you’re adding to your watchlist!