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In South Korea, Hyosan High School, a girl is bitten by a rat infected with a deadly virus.  This virus turns human beings into zombies.  Madness spread throughout the school as the virus attacks everyone.  The students are trapped at Hyosan High.  The city is in chaos as the virus is transferred from one person to another.  Who will save them?

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A divorced and indebted chauffeur is invited to play a series of children’s games for an opportunity to earn a large cash prize.  When he accepts the offer, he is brought to an unknown location.  He finds himself among 455 players who are also in huge debts.  As they compete with each other, who will survive to win the 45.6 billion won cash prize?

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A paragliding mishap drops a South Korean heiress in North Korea.  She meets a North Korean army officer, who tries to protect her and hide her.  After a series of events, they fall in love.

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A woman dreams of finding success in Korea’s Silicon Valley like Steve Jobs.  As a young entrepreneur, this is no small feat for her.  However, she has the companionship of key people – her genius first love, a wealthy investor and a confident industry insider.  Will she be able to reach her dream and be with her true love?

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The King of the Kingdom of Korea discovers a pathway into a parallel world – the Republic of Korea.  He crosses the mysterious gateway and enters the Republic of Korea, teaming up with a detective from the Republic.  Together with the detective, they work to stop an evil man from gaining control of the kingdom and wreaking havoc in both worlds.

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All of Us Are Dead (2020) k-drama series utilizes the zombie genre to focus on worldwide societal issues as well as issues unique to South Korea.  Some examples are the following:  school bullying, academic stress, feminism and women athletes in South Korea.

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Squid Game (2021) k-drama series resembles The Hunger Games.  Both stories show a group of people performing dangerous tasks for survival.  However, Squid Game k-drama series is special in revealing the darker side of human nature.  The players in Squid Game eventually choose to participate in the games.  Though killing of other participants is optional in Squid Game, the players choose to kill other players in the end.  Why?  They have more to gain as the prize money increases with more players dying.  These players has to confront the horrors of watching their fellow team mates (friends) die in front of them.  Yet, they still choose to return to the Squid Game.

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This k-drama series is a modern day Romeo and Juliet story.  It depicts of a forbidden love as the female billionaire and CEO lead lives in South Korea and the male North Korean Special Forces Unit Captain lead resides in North Korea.

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Start-up (2020) k-drama series is a remake movie.  The original story is quite geeky.  However, the makers of South Korean drama series Start-up are capable and innovative.  This k-drama series has become interesting as it revolves around business dreams and a love story.

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It is a one of a kind k-drama.  Its sci-fi story on parallel worlds takes several twists and turns, making the viewers think and connect the dots.

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An Evaluation:  What makes it a good k-drama?

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An Evaluation:  What makes it a good k-drama?

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Relatable Appeal:  This is not any simple high school based drama.  It establishes connections to present day society.  It may look like a fictional zombie outbreak.  Yet, it establishes evident parallels to the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic.  It also points out the issue of cyberbullying, which is real in the world today.

Unique Storyline:  The story revolves around a group of high school students trying to escape from the zombie attacks.  During the entire crises, the students use their combined strategy skills and innovative skills to ward off zombies and call for rescue.

Emotional Appeal:  The viewers will experience the fear of these high school students as they try to escape the multiplying zombies.  On top of that terror, they will encounter the adolescent insecurities confronted by the story characters.

Good Selection of Actors and Actresses:  The cast of this k-drama series is a combination of South Korea’s outstanding actors, gathering both new and veteran actors to the drama.

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An Evaluation:  What makes it a good k-drama?

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An Evaluation:  What makes it a good k-drama?

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Relatable Appeal:  The audience can sympathize with the characters as they represent socio-economic classes of different types.  They know that money and power run the world.  There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor.  The society is being overpowered by capitalism.  As such, people will do anything to obtain and maintain financial security.

Unique Storyline:  The drama uses a very simple concept – children’s games and converted it into a detailed reflection of societal problem.

Emotional Appeal:  This k-drama series brings viewers into an emotional journey as each character reveals his own life story.  Each character is in great debt, making him part of the Squid Game.  How did each character reach his state of debt?  As his story unfolds, the audience will feel “what the character feels”.

Good Selection of Actors and Actresses:  Its main actor, Lee Jung-Jae, is well-known.  He has been in the show business since 1993 and has portrayed various roles in different genres.  Its supporting cast is one of good combination.  Park Hae-soo is a familiar face in some action-thriller series and hilarious series.  On the other hand, Jung Ho-yeon, a fashion model, is quite new in the acting field.

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An Evaluation:  What makes it a good k-drama?

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An Evaluation:  What makes it a good k-drama?

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Relatable Appeal:  The love story is the main focus of this k-drama series.  However, the viewers can link different plotlines to real world happenings.  Take, for instance the feud of the South Korean heiress and her siblings over family business.  This kind of feud does happen in real life.  Another example is the love of the North Korean army officer for his brother, who suffers an unjust death.  This kind of sibling love likewise exists in this world.

Unique Storyline:  The drama uses the borders of North Korea and South Korea to test the love of a couple.  They are no ordinary couple.  One is a South Korean chaebol heiress.  The other is a North Korean special officer.  Their family backgrounds are quite extraordinary.  With this main storyline, other sub-storylines are embedded in it.  These are the following:  love for sibling, arranged marriage, traitorous act in the army.

Emotional Appeal:  Viewers will experience a number of glorious moments as the main characters develop their romance.  They will laugh and cry together with the main leads.

Good Selection of Actors and Actresses:  The main actress, Son Ye-jin, brings beauty and elegance to the series.  She is known as the queen of melodrama in South Korea over her twenty years of acting career.  On the other hand, the male lead, Hyun Bin, is one of South Korea’s top star.

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An Evaluation: What makes a good k-drama?

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An Evaluation: What makes a good k-drama?

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Relatable Appeal:  The viewers can associate themselves with the characters as they struggle with their start-up businesses.  As they watch the characters run and maintain their start-up businesses, the viewers will discover the realistic elements of this series.  In the present-day world, young entrepreneurs struggle with their start-ups.  These entrepreneurs will do anything to make their businesses grow and stay alive.

Unique Storyline:  Though this k-drama series is a remake of the original story, its storyline about two sisters competing with each other is astonishing.  Its plot is thorough and interesting.  It provides the audience insights about start-up businesses.  It includes all the terms, processes and how things work in the technological industry.  It demonstrates how start-ups can make bad decisions that can destroy everything because these people fail to notice the tricks.

Emotional Appeal:  This k-drama series brings the audience into an inspiring journey as each character confronts his personal and work problems.  As each character copes with the hardships of start-ups and love life, the audience will join them in their emotional upheavals and uproars.

Good Selection of Actors and Actresses:  The male lead Nam Joo Hyuk, a South Korean model and actor, has the skill set to portray a different kind of K-drama hero.  He has to put himself into the shoes of a nerdy character, who is not confident and has no good fashion sense.  On the other hand, the female lead Suzy Bae, a South Korean singer, actress and model, has the ability to play the role of a clever, happy, determined and ambitious woman.

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An Evaluation:  What makes a good k-drama?

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An Evaluation:  What makes a good k-drama?

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Relatable Appeal:  If the viewers are undergoing similar situations, they can see through the eyes of the main characters.  The story revolves around instances of betrayal, mourning and hardships.  The main character’s parents died when he was young.  He had to face all the hardships and bear all the responsibilities at a young age.  The viewers can imagine and empathize with the main character’s situation as these instances of betrayal, mourning and hardships are common life occurrences.

Unique Storyline:  This K-drama series is interesting and challenging.  As it is a story of parallel worlds, it makes viewers pause and think – “Which world is this?  Is this Kingdom of Corea or Republic of Korea?”  There is a lot of jumping back and forth in time, making viewers sharpen their brain while watching.

Emotional Appeal:  Viewers will take a 360 degrees journey as the main character time-travelled to reset the past.  They will experience the various conflicts of the two worlds and the time-travel scenarios.  They will be pushed into questioning the characters as well as feeling “what the characters feel”.

Good Selection of Actors and Actresses:  Its main actor, Lee Min Ho, is one of South Korea’s most influential actors.  He has performed in multiple Korean dramas.  His aura suits his role.  On the other hand, the female lead, Kim Go-eun, has dual roles, namely a relentless police inspector and a criminal.  She was able to carry out the dual roles to its optimum performance.

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This zombie k-drama series is highly thrilling and addictive.  There is non-stop action, coupled with a few dramatic scenes.  There is great character building.  The different plotlines are introduced and unfolded in an appropriate pacing.  It will definitely keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

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The story of Squid Game (2021) is highly relevant to our present day society.  The characters of Squid Game (2021) are all so driven by their debts that they are all so willing to sacrifice anything.  It resembles a system in our society, known as loan sharking.  It is a system that will keep people in a perpetual state of debt.  Viewers will be able to relate to the issue presented in Squid Game (2021).

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This is a story about love across borders.  However, it becomes exciting because of its layered backstories, deep friendships and various inter-dynamics among the characters.

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This k-drama series takes a different turn.  It focuses on career building with a light dose on love life.  It points out that passion and dream are not the sole ingredients in career building.  It also requires commitment and tenacity as there is a need to convert opportunities and ideas into action.

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This time travel k-drama series has been described as confusing for some people.  However, it is actually a good mind exercise of trying to keep track of the two different worlds.  As one watches, he has to be alert – “Oh, what world is the character in now?”  It sharpens the minds of viewers.

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