By Mathis Ferrut | TV journalist, people, reality TV
Passionate about the world of media since a young age, television has no secrets for him. Loft Story, Star Academy, Secret Story, les Ch’tis, les Marseillais… He is a veritable encyclopedia of reality TV. He is also a fan of sport (particularly football and Paris Saint-Germain), cinema, series and music. He listens to everything and his playlists surprise many!
Korean dramas are often based on romance. But discover the best of them, whose theme is not a love story. It’s neither Sweet Home nor Squid Game, but it’s also available on Netflix!
Teaser Squid Game saison 2. © Netflix
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K-dramas have attracted the attention of international audiences for a number of reasons, one of them undoubtedly being the development of romantic storylines – most often depicted with great sweetness and purity.
However, when it comes to Korean dramas, we can expect plenty of gripping storylines in every possible genre; successes like Squid Game and My Name prove it! This is why our colleagues from the Brazilian site AdoroCinema have compiled a list of the five best K-dramas that do not revolve around romance – first place is a masterpiece!
5) Beyond evil
For those who love detective stories, this one is gold! Beyond evilavailable on Rakuten Viki, follows Lee Dong Sik (Shin Ha Kyun), who 20 years ago was a brilliant and respected detective in the field, until a mysterious case involving a serial killer upended his personal and professional life.
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4) Hellbound
Hellbound is a South Korean supernatural horror series broadcast on Netflix. In the plot, people receive predictions about when they will die – and when this happens, the “angel of death” appears before them and brutally murders them in front of everyone. As a religious group attempts to use this event to manipulate society, the police launch an investigation into this new sect that is forming.
3) Pachinko
The story of Pachinko is vast, spanning four generations of a Korean family who settled in Japan in the early 20th century. The plot revolves around Sunja, a 16-year-old girl from a family of modest origins, who helps her mother run a boarding house.
One day, she meets Hansu, a mysterious man in his thirties, involved in illegal businesses in Korea and Japan. She quickly falls in love and eventually becomes pregnant. When she discovers that Hansu is married with three daughters, Sunja disowns him and marries Baek Isak, a tubercular pastor who arrives ill at the boarding house and whom she and her mother take care of.
The young woman leaves for Japan in search of a better life with Baek Isak, but what follows is a struggle for survival, where Sunja faces xenophobia, fear, violence and sentiment of non-belonging which follows all generations of his family.
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2) Mine
With a very serial plot, Mine follows Jeong Seo-hyeon (Kim Seo-hyung) and Seo Hee-soo (Lee Bo-young), two wealthy women who try to find their true selves, freeing themselves from the prejudices of the world.
Seo-hyeon is elegant, intelligent and rational, married to the first heir of the Hyowon group. Hee-soo is an actress who gave up her career to marry the second heir of traditional society. Prisoners of a life of ambition and glamour, they must fight to prevent the web of family secrets from destroying their happiness.
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1) My Mister
In the plot of My Mistertwo people who don’t know each other are going through a difficult period in their lives. On the one hand, 20-year-old Lee Ji An (IU) works for a company that oppresses her, while being tormented by a loan shark.
On the other hand, Park Dong Hoon (Lee Sun Kyun), a 40-year-old man who works as an engineer in an architectural firm while experiencing difficulties in his marriage, which explains why he spends most of his time with his mother and brothers and sisters. Unexpectedly, their lives intersect, giving rise to a friendship where they find comfort in each other and the strength to bear life’s burdens.
The series is available on Netflix and Prime Video.
Article written in collaboration with our colleagues from I love cinema.
