5 Best K-dramas of 2016 according to fans
by mary
We’ve hit the decade mark in our Best K-dramas according to fans series, where we round up the best dramas of the year according to who know dramas best: a.k.a. the fans.
2016 was the year I joined the Dramabeans team as a minion. It was the year of the Moonlight Drawn by Clouds and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo comment wars. It was the year I cried over having to say goodbye to a fictional girl squad (Age of Youth). It was the year I understood why javabeans hated comment spoilers. (Because to protect the rest of the beanies from spoilers, someone has to read said spoilers and redact them.) If you recall, 2016 was the year W–Two Worlds Apart aired. It was a stressful time to be the spoiler-police.
So much has happened since then, both in and outside dramaland, and in the beanieverse too. Some changes were for the better. Some make me yearn for ye olde days. The only thing I’m sure of is new k-dramas will come, and beanies will talk about them.
But enough asides. Here are the 5 Best Dramas of 2016 and what gave them the staying power, according to y’all:
1) The Lonely Shining Goblin
If you haven’t heard of The Lonely Shining Goblin, that’s probably because you know it as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God or simply Goblin. Whatever title you go with, everyone and their brother knows this ten-year-old drama. This fantasy-(b)romance about Gong Yoo the titular Goblin and his quest to end his immortality stays iconic for many reasons. Its recaps regularly hit the “pink icon” levels of commentary here on Dramabeans–a sign that there’s a lot of discussion within the post. Even now, ten years later, you gave it a lot of love in our call for the Best K-drama of 2016:
Jezz:
The best story had a life-and-death theme that blended with an unique folk mythology, afterlife and even reincarnation. The Cinderella complex […], the most fantastic, most breathtaking, greatest cinematography, the incorporated sense of humor, the most stunning editing, the most amazing special effects and the multiple, expensive PPLs.
too_much_tv:
Goblin is the one that stands up to a periodic rewatch[…] It’s one of those shows that combines an overall dramatic arc […] with individual episodic subplots about the various ghosts. Each rewatch reveals another performance by a supporting character that I had forgotten and have to admire.
Kurama:
It was a drama that mixed very well the romances, the friendship, the modern and Goryeo eras, the fantastic elements, Canada and Korea, etc. The OST was great! The direction was beautiful! The actors were great and had a lot of chemistry.
ryunami:
The storytelling, the breathtaking cinematography and the unforgettable soundtrack (“Stay With Me” by Chanyeol and Punch), Goblin is one of the most timeless K-dramas ever. The bromance between Goblin and Grim Reaper, along with the heart-wrenching love stories (Goblin-Eun-tak and Grim Reaper-Sunny), is something no other series has been able to match. Even after all of these years, Goblin still feels magical. I also remember making new friends with people who enjoyed this drama too.
2) Signal
Ten years ago, writer Kim Eun-hee gave us one of the most mind-blowing thrillers in dramaland. Signal tells the story of a present-day cop who comes across a walkie-talkie that allows him to talk with a detective 15 years in the past. The result is a twofer thriller that simultaneously unfolds in multiple timelines. (I remember drawing diagrams to discuss the time loops with my Twitter friends.)
Signal has since been remade in multiple languages while fans waited for a second season–alas the promised sequel is now in limbo due to recent events. Here’s to hoping it doesn’t take another ten years to figure things out. For now, let’s rehash what made Signal great:
Isa is always time travelling:
It’s one of the best thrillers with a fantasy element. A true classic that captivates from beginning to end.
Mini
Signal set the standard for mystery thrillers and after 10 years we were finally going to get the conclusion but alas things went awry.
Nirbhay:
Signal is one of the few stories where a very complex set of events with time skip could be satisfactorily explained. Lee Je-hoon and Kim Hye-soo did splendid work developing the characters step by step, episode by episode. The cinematography was also beautiful and relevant; dark, seedy, reflecting the grimness of the cases.
3) Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju
No one expected fashion model Lee Sung-kyung’s transformation as the awkward and clueless Bok-ju to steal everyone’s hearts. (Well, everyone but the doctor she had a crush on.) This gem about college athletes balancing school, friendship, and feelings gave us so many meme-worthy moments and catchphrases that stay relevant in the year 2026.
Isa is always time travelling
It’s a very endearing series, very enjoyable to watch, with a couple whose relationship begins as a friendship on her part and a one-sided love on his. […] Perhaps if I watched it now I wouldn’t like it as much, but it was one of my first Korean dramas and it gave me some great moments. I still remember the laugh I let out when Kim Bok-ju asked her nutritionist (and crush): “Do you like Messi?”
Nirbhay:
It’s a testament that though I started watching kdramas in 2022, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju featured high on popularity lists. I adored the youthful interactions of Lee Sung-kyung and Nam Joo-hyuk. Perfectly captured angst for that age. Great supporting cast with their own arcs. And though this was a 16 episode, there were no filler scenes and the writers neatly ended the story.
Mini
Weightlifting Fairy was that drama nobody saw coming but we were all obsessed with. Do You Like Messi?
empressgirl
The best sports pickup line EVER.
4) Something About 1%
There’s something about Something About 1% aka 1% of Anything. This remake from a small cable channel keeps popping up in people’s favorites list. See: Top 10 Favorite Drama OTPs.
The plot: kind schoolteacher gets favored by a chaebol grandpa to marry his difficult grandson, the couple bicker their way into love. It’s an old story, but according to fans, an old story told well deserves to be in the top 1%.
Storyenthusiast
Such a simple little story told in such an endearing way. Neither of our romantic leads are in agreement with this arrangement and yet the fall for each other anyway, plus we get to see the FL whip the ML into shape with multiple attitude adjustments until he’s following her around like an obedient puppy. This is the show that made me a fan of Ha Suk-jin and is also unique for focusing more on it’s male fashion than the female lol. One of my favorite guilty pleasures.
OldLawyer
1% of Anything remains one of my all-time favorite romcoms. It was actually a re-make of the earlier 1% of Anything. Note: The actor who played the Chaebol Chairman in that show is now playing Grandfather Yang in the currently airing Weekender Recipe for Love. He had one of the best lines in the entire show when his secretary asks him how he thinks the first date is going: “By now she has reduced him to a puddle of mush”.
Nirbhay
1% of Something is the fluff I would always recommend to romcom addicts. Full of tropes including the chaebol and the average girl and definitely a little wobbly in the first 2 episodes, this show blossomed out as it progressed. The OTP chemistry developed at a reasonable pace, the skin ship was perfect and as the OTP changed each other I had no problem in believing that these two were meant to be together. Ha Suk-jin and Jeon So-min proved that you don’t need to be A-listers to make chemistry. I also appreciated how they dealt with the breakup. I loved, loved the scene where Lee Jae-in came to ask Kim Da-hyun whether she would be willing to put up with all the shortcomings of his life to be with him and that he would repay it by being good to her in her old age. His desperation and her emotional instability were so well portrayed. This one is on my rewatch list just for the cute couple.
5) Oh Hae-young Again
🎶I remember…🎶 being there when Oh Hae-young Again happened. Seo Hyun-jin kept clawing at our hearts every week as the “ordinary” Oh Hae-young who suffers the indignity of sharing a name with the “perfect” Oh Hae-young. This show’s characters can be polarizing, but everyone agrees that Oh Hae-young taught us to love ourselves as fiercely as we love others. (Also the chemistry and OST are *chef’s kiss*.)
wonhwa
If you asked me to pick one, I’d probably go with Oh Hae-young Again. It’s not a perfect show, but Seo Hyun-jin is fantastic in the title role and I thought its focus on how our most “embarrassing” moments are often our most human and meaningful ones to be compelling. It also has a killer OST and while I know the magical realism elements didn’t work for everyone, I personally found them haunting and effective.
too_much_tv
I watched some of the others that are listed here, including Oh Hae-young Again and Dear My Friends. Both have amazing scenes in them that stay with me. The overall message of Oh Hae-young is weird. I don’t like the ML (he’s called Park Do-kyung, I checked, Eric Moon played him.) Late in the series, he’s given an absurdly traumatic backstory to justify how awful he is, and then he’s sorta killed off or not, a coma? It doesn’t change how great the spicy love scenes are though. Seo Hyun-jin is so great, Ye Ji-won is bananas, Kim Mi-kyung stole the show with her hot flashes every time she gets angry. So maybe not the best show of 2016 but it does have a lot good stuff.
Nirbhay
The OST of Oh Hae-young Again still lives on my playlist. Fabulous and fitting. […] It is by no means perfect (the early humour did not agree with me) but the characters have all stayed with me long after I have seen better works. Eric Moon and Seo Hyun-jin’s chemistry was superb. Seo Hyun-jin defined for me the ordinary Ms. Oh who just wanted to be a “better version of myself”. This was a character which I identified with. She was so vulnerable yet so strong. I loved her mother too; at points castigating her daughter and yet deeply sympathising and supporting her. Even though I am not into supernatural romances, the supernatural part added a subtle note without which the character of Park Do-kyung could not have grown. I loved how Ye Ji-won portrayed noona to Do kyung’s friend. Another storyline which never felt forced. And can I add the kisses were incendiary ;).
For another 6 dramas that made waves in 2016, check out this list of honorable mentions:
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Descended from the Sun / Descendants of the Sun
Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim
Moonlight Drawn by Clouds
Marriage Contract
Shopping King Louis
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