A unique premise might be a needle in a haystack nowadays. It’s often a lot more about the execution and delivery than the premise, though K-dramas are great at taking a “what if?” to another level. However, their what-ifs deliver some compelling television, and finding the most unique premise among Korean dramas is a fun challenge.
Very often, something considered unique is also subjective. The premises that really break the mold, combine genres in unexpected ways, and make audiences continue coming back for more are the real winners here. By that criterion, here are the 10 best K-dramas with the most unique premises, ranked by originality, though the ranking order—as well as choosing only ten—was pretty tough.
10
‘Flower of Evil’ (2020)
Starring Lee Joon-gi and Moon Chae-won
Flower of Evil has a somewhat expected trope, as “hidden past” is a common plotline in numerous K-dramas. However, the dynamic of a detective unknowingly being married to her prime suspect, including the psychological cat-and-mouse games that unfold within the marriage she finds more or less perfect, is a thrilling and very unique setup for a crime thriller and some melodrama to boot. Flower of Evil is one of the most lauded crime K-dramas, and it has twists and turns during many points in the show.
Flower of Evil follows Hee-sung (Lee Joon-gi), a jewelry maker who is married to homicide detective Ji-won (Moon Chae-won). They have a beautiful daughter, and their family is harmonious, but then a murder occurs in the same way that hasn’t been seen in years. With cold cases resurfacing, Hee-sung’s name comes up, and Ji-won starts suspecting him. However, the truth is much more twisted than she could imagine. This bold twist could have been a disaster, but it worked out, and the drama was a massive success. Interestingly, Lee and Moon starred together in the Korean version of the American series Criminal Minds.
9
‘Crash Landing on You’ (2019–2020)
Starring Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin
Crash Landing on You is one of the most romantic K-dramas ever made, and with romance, Korean showrunners really love to go all out. For Crash Landing, they consulted North Korean defectors and natives so they could faithfully depict life in parts of the mysterious country. Of course, there is glamorization and some fiction in the narrative, but the depiction of romance budding between two people who are taught to be enemies is pretty much a melodrama driving point and a unique premise. Also, the fish-out-of-water scenario applies to both leads, not just one – the lost heiress ends up in a rural part of North Korea where they live with essentials only, and the soldier must break his duties and help someone in need.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Crash Landing on You is about a Seoul heiress and businesswoman, Se-ri (Son Ye-jin), who goes paragliding near the capital one day and gets blown towards the DMZ during a storm. She ends up in North Korea, near the border, where the dashing but stern Captain Ri (Hyun Bin) finds her. He hides her in his village home while figuring out a way to get her back to Seoul, and they bond and fall in love during her stay. The show is incredibly romantic and the chemistry between the leads is palpable; unlike many K-romances where the leads are hot and cold, Son and Hyun have an intense attraction that is obvious from the very first moment. I guess the couple getting married IRL wasn’t surprising to anyone.
8
‘The Uncanny Counter’ (2020–2023)
Starring Jo Byeong-kyu, Yoo Jun-sang, and Kim Se-jeong
The Uncanny Counter is definitely a unique K-show; it blends mundane, everyday life with high-stakes supernatural action, going from a chill day to a sleepless night in no time. The protagonists are quirky, interesting, funny, and deep, and the charming and original combo of running a noodle shop by day and being a demon hunter by night is made all the more interesting because of them. Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets a cozy Korean restaurant.
The Uncanny Counter is about demon killers called Counters, who are trained to hunt down demons by being granted supernatural abilities and superhuman strength. Three Counters, Mo-tak (Yoo Jun-sang), Ha-na (Kim Se-jeong), and Mae-ok (Yeom Hye-ran), run a noodle shop by day, which they use as a front for their nighttime demon hunting. The Counters capture evil spirits that have escaped the afterlife for a chance to gain immortality, and their duty is to stop the spirits, though that doesn’t always prove to be easy. The series was based on a webtoon called Amazing Rumor, and it became the highest-rated show ever on its native broadcasting channel.
7
‘Goblin’ aka ‘Guardian: The Lonely and Great God’ (2016–2017)
Starring Gong Yoo, Kim Go-eun, and Lee Dong-wook
Image via Hwa&Dam Pictures
A K-drama with a pretty tragic ending, Goblin, also has a pretty unique premise. Goblin is sometimes also known as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, though many fans refer to it as Goblin (it’s also shorter). And while sci-fi/fantasy K-dramas and fantastical elements are common in Korean series, the specific mythology that’s been woven around the Goblin, the Grim Reaper, and the rules that define their existence and interactions with humans are rich, detailed, and somehow uniquely and distinctly Korean. This contributes to Goblin feeling overall grandiose and melancholic, yet often funny and grounded.
Goblin follows the titular goblin, Kim Shin (Gong Yoo), who was a decorated military general in the Goryeo dynasty era and was cursed to live for centuries. His curse includes a massive sword that lies in his chest (which is not seen with the human eye), and it can be lifted when he finds his human bride, someone who can pull out the sword. Goblin Kim Shin lives with the Grim Reaper (Lee Dong-wook), who can’t remember his past life experiences; Kim Shin also meets Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun), a 19-year-old who can see ghosts and summon him. The trio spend time under one roof, and we discover their quirks, similarities, and differences in an unusual story that is also heartwarming and a bit sad.
Goblin
- Release Date
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December 2, 2016
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Jo Hyun-sik
Batch 21 Grim Reaper
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-
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Lee Dong-wook
Grim Reaper / Wang Yeo
6
‘Signal’ (2016)
Starring Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo, and Cho Jin-woong
Signal is one of the K-dramas that’s simply perfect from start to finish. It has a unique premise that blends sci-fi and thriller seamlessly, and it’s a great show for anyone, not just fans of K-dramas. The show introduces a time-travel element, but not through a time-traveling machine, but a walkie-talkie that connects the past and the present. There are strict rules of engagement with it, too: it works only at specific times, and the speakers can’t choose who initiates the conversation. This creates tension in a police procedural and explores cause and effect across decades.
Signal follows criminal profiler Park Hae-young (Lee Je-hoon), who wanders a cold-case crime scene one night in 2016 and finds an abandoned walkie-talkie. The device turns on, and Hae-young hears the voice of detective Jae-han (Cho Jin-woong), who’s been missing since 2000. Hae-young joins forces with Jae-han’s former co-worker, detective Cha Soo-hyun (Kim Hye-soo), who’s been looking for Jae-han for a long time. The story helps the detectives solve cases together, but Hae-young and Soo-hyun also look for clues about Jae-han’s disappearance. This show is intense and exciting throughout its entire run; highly recommended viewing.
5
‘Mr. Queen’ (2020–2021)
Starring Shin Hye-sun, Kim Jung-hyun, and Choi Jin-hyuk
Mr. Queen is one of the most brilliant K-dramas ever made, partially because it’s fun and ridiculous, featuring genuine laugh-out-loud moments, and in other parts because of its unique premise. It’s kind of hard to explain without context, so here goes: Blue House chef Jang Bong-hwan (Choi Jin-hyuk) is arrogant and careless; after a pursuit goes wrong, he falls off his home’s balcony and ends up in the pool below. A woman in a Joseon-era dress comes from under the water and kisses him, and he wakes up the next morning as Queen Cheorin of Joseon. His internal monologue is in his own voice, but his body is female, and of female royalty, at that.
This premise is wild, but it works really well, especially since Choi does an incredible job of delivering ridiculously funny lines without even having a body to mirror them. Instead, Shin Hye-sun, who plays the Queen, acts out the monologue with perfect acting and comedic timing. Bordering on slapstick, her performance is the best in the series by a mile, though the rest of the cast is pretty hilarious, too. As Chef Jang tries to go back to his own time, his modern, male brain and spirit occupy the 19th-century Queen’s body and soon start mixing with her own feelings and memories.
4
‘Kingdom’ (2019–2021)
Starring Ju Ji-hoon and Bae Doona
Kingdom is one of the most popular K-dramas on Netflix and definitely one that helped popularize South Korean shows and programming internationally. Until 2019, K-drama fans used streaming sites like Viki, but now, Netflix, Disney, and Amazon fund their own K-drama productions and have hundreds readily available to stream. Kingdom is unique for its combination of the Joseon dynasty era’s political plots and fights for the throne with the always popular zombie virus plot. It’s the first historical zombie thriller of its kind, fast-paced, clever, and brilliant.
Kingdom is set in the 17th century Joseon Korea, where the king has died, but the officials refuse to publicly deliver the news because he’s been struck by a unique plague that keeps him alive while his vitals are dead. His son, Crown Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), decides to uncover the source of his father’s mysterious illness before it spreads and avoid political conspiracies made against him by those vying for the throne instead of him. Bae Doona joins him as the kingdom’s physician and expert on the plague. Kingdom has incredibly badass characters and a thrilling plot, and its two seasons can be easily binge-watched in a day.
Kingdom
- Release Date
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2019 – 2019
- Directors
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Kim Seong-hun, Park In-je
3
‘Squid Game’ (2021–2025)
Starring Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, and Gong Yoo
Squid Game is the K-drama hit that won over audiences domestically and worldwide, even earning its main cast Golden Globe nominations (and one win, for Oh Yeong-su) and three SAG wins. The show is an incredible phenomenon, and it’s still a popular theme for Halloween parties, game nights, and parodies. Squid Game wouldn’t be as popular if it didn’t have a unique and interesting premise; though the “death game” plot isn’t new, Squid Game uses that to juxtapose innocence and nostalgia with brutality and sharp social commentary.
Squid Game follows Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a divorced father with a gambling debt. He’s invited to enter a tournament at an undisclosed location, where he can fight to win a large cash prize. When he arrives, though, he sees there are 455 other players, and the games are from their childhoods. However, failing the games means death, so players have to be very careful. Squid Game is exciting and makes people binge-watch the entire series because of how addictive it is. People often talk about how they would play the games, and there was even a reality TV spin-off (people weren’t killed, of course) that allowed folks to try themselves out at it.
Squid Game
- Release Date
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2021 – 2024
- Network
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Netflix
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Lee Jung-jae
Seong Gi-hun / ‘No. 456’
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Jeon Young-soo
Game Guide
Starring Kim Hye-yoon, Rowoon, and Lee Jae-wook
Extraordinary You has an extraordinary premise; it’s a unique show that takes us on a journey through the life of a high school student, Dan-oh (Kim Hye-yoon), who quickly realizes she’s a character in a manhwa, a romantic comic book. She isn’t the lead or someone important, either—she’s just a side character, an extra who has a very tragic and one-dimensional storyline. This meta-narrative is great on paper but can be difficult to execute; Extraordinary You‘s showrunners managed to do it in an inventive, likable, and clever way.
Extraordinary You help Dan-oh become aware of her predetermined fate, and she rebels against that storyline and the comic’s creator, seeking out another “aware” character to help her. This is a brilliant idea that can encourage people to potentially explore their own participation in the story of their life; understanding we have free will and nothing is always pre-written. Extraordinary You can also be a story that encourages viewers to take life into their own hands.
1
‘W: Two Worlds’ (2016)
Starring Lee Jong-suk and Han Hyo-joo
W: Two Worlds also has a comic book that came to life premise, but its meta narrative takes it to another level. It shifts between the real world and the comic book world very often and has specifically developed rules that govern them both. Though charming and romantic, the show’s premise tends to get existential, too, especially when the comic book characters begin interacting with their creator. This mind-bending sci-fi/fantasy series is highly original and unpredictable, challenging audience expectations. It was critically praised for its premise and storytelling.
W: Two Worlds follows Yeon-joo (Han Hyo-joo), the daughter of Seong-mu (Kim Eui-song), author of a famous comic book titled W. When Seong-mu disappears, Yeon-joo goes to his studio to investigate his disappearance but gets pulled into his comic book, W, and its fantasy world. There, she meets the comic’s protagonist, Kang Cheol (Lee Jong-suk), a billionaire athlete who is trying to find the real killer of his family. The two develop feelings while helping each other, and the narrative takes sudden twists and turns.