K-dramas 2022: a year led by strong female leads

Just a decade ago, consuming South Korean series was synonymous with piracy. Today, on the verge of closing 2022, “El juego del squid (2021)” still remains the most watched series on streaming worldwide and has helped pave a solid path for the success of the productions of the Asian country that emerged during this year.

“Wow, an extraordinary lawyer”, is a great example of this furor. The story of a lawyer with autism [y síndrome de savant] He moved thousands of viewers who followed week by week his struggle to achieve the respect of his dismissive colleagues.

The novel also helped to question the contempt and childishness towards autistic people, who on social networks provided testimonials in favor of Park Eun Bin’s performance as Woo Young Woo. For now, its second season has already been confirmed for 2024 after spending several weeks in the top 10 of the most viewed on Netflix.

Although it has not been the only one that has achieved that privileged position this year. “Job proposal (Business Proposal)” is definitely one of the most unexpected phenomena of 2022. Despite its cliché and predictable script, the drama turned out to be a riveting romance with good moments of comedy that knew how to make fun of its most hackneyed moments.

The female lead, Shin Ha Ri, is the perfect Cinderella archetype: poor, humble and hard-working; and her counterpart, Kang Tae-moo, the classic deadpan, arrogant, wealthy man. But despite its overexploited characteristics on screen, the attempt to correct the sexist stereotypes that alarm in other similar productions (“Boys Over Flowers”, “Heirs”, “Secret Garden”) is evident, suppressing verbal violence, female passivity and contempt for women.

With only 12 chapters, this novel is already considered a classic among K-dramas, providing comfort and becoming a safe place for many thanks to the simplicity of its story. “We took a clichéd story, tweaked it here and there, and turned it into an emotional, detail-oriented narrative. [Por eso] This is a piece that the public can enjoy at any time with peace of mind. It does not give you headaches and is excellent for stress relief”, commented its director Park Seon-ho to The Hollywood Reporter after the success in his native country and in streaming.

And just as the public was able to dream of a romance with a happy ending thanks to this series, they also experienced a large dose of bitter reality with “Twenty-five, twenty-one (Twenty-Five, Twenty-One)”.

The series that tells the story of a first love, ensured the tears of its audience by appealing to the nostalgia of adolescence. The tragic separation of the protagonists Baek Ijin and the fencer Na Hui-do (warned from the beginning), ignited a long debate about who would be the possible villain of the relationship that culminated in an existentialist response in the most faithful style of “La La Land”. ”, something rare in South Korean programs.

A very similar drama, which aimed to bring up the same emotional stability issues as the previous one, was “That year of ours (Our Beloved Summer)”. However, thanks to a last-minute change by the scriptwriter, this production managed to be one of the most welcoming that the season leaves us.

Starring Choi Woo Shik and Kim Da Mi, the drama navigates between the present and the past through a documentary that shows the relationship of the protagonists during their student days. The filmography is a key point in the novel, since it recreates a calm and peaceful environment typical of youthful innocence.

Added to this is the complexity of the characters, who are desperate at times and charming at others. According to screenwriter Lee Na Eun, that duality stems from her personal experiences in her early relationships, so it’s understandable that so many people identified with the show.

“Looking back, my youth was clumsy and I made a lot of mistakes. When I thought about it, I had a lot of regrets and wished, ‘I wish I had done better.’ I thought of writing this drama as to give myself another chancesaid Na Eun, after the show was the most talked about in South Korea during its airing.

And moving away from romance, “The Sisters (Little Women)” is one of the productions that established a change within the entertainment industry this year. His story of entanglements inspired by the classic work “Little Women” caused a stir by testing the morality of his viewers and questioning the distribution of wealth in his country.

The plot revolves around three sisters from the Oh family: In-Joo (Kim Go-eun), In-kyung (Nam Ji-hyun), and In-hye (Park Ji-hu). Strong-willed women with their own ambitions, who must choose between their greed or a dispute with one of the richest families in Korea. The series was well received by the general public and even by international critics. The feminist overtones of the characters combined with suspense and action created a captivating and intense production of 12 episodes.

The questioning of power was also part of the plot of “Reborn Rich (Reborn Rich)”. Here, the central character is Hyun Woo, a secretary of a multinational company who is betrayed and killed by his employers. Here the real plot, which is as simple as it is intriguing: what would you do if you traveled to the past and were reborn in the body of a wealthy young man? The possibilities are endless, and the protagonist, now named Jin Do-jun, wastes no time in mourning the loss of his former life; Rather, he leverages his knowledge of the “future” to invest wisely in real estate, stocks, businesses, and technology in order to increase his wealth.

The cable (JTBC) drama was released this month and quickly became one of the most watched dramas in South Korea, reaching a 25% rating nationwide. Special merit holds the story given that it was inspired by the successful webtoon of the same name and was starred by one of the most popular actors in South Korea, Song Joong-ki (“Vincenzo”, “Descendants of the Sun”). In the United States it was released on Netflix and quickly climbed to the top positions of the top 10. It is expected that the launch on the platform will be announced. streaming at the Latin American level next year.

With the progress of the years, there is a marked tendency to embrace more complex themes beyond the classic romance stories. It seems that “The Squid Game” has allowed large production companies such as Netflix or Studio Dragon to be interested in telling stories with more complex plots and characters, such is the case of “The sisters”, “Anna” or “Juvenile Court”. Previously, these bets were made only by cable channels (JTBC, TVN, OCN), while the big broadcast networks (SBS, KBS) concentrated on family or love dramas.

This 2022 is particularly interesting because we were able to witness more directors and screenwriters interested in merging both perspectives and delivering productions with impressive audiovisual quality. Perhaps the greatest common thread among the series mentioned in this article is precisely the camera work, art direction, photography, and even animation, which helps the public to immerse themselves more in the story.

And as a last point to highlight, is that this year we were able to witness a triumph of the feminine vision [o female faze], which had been anticipated since last year. And it is evident that many female characters have been built based on a gender perspective, which helps to obtain a broader reflection on women on issues such as economic independence, job success and sexual freedom.

The progressive implementation of this approach is possible thanks to the fact that Korean series increasingly target a globalized audience, instead of only concentrating on the Asian market. For now, entertainment companies are looking for their next great success that repeats the figures of “The Squid Game”, so we can only expect great productions to emerge in this country by 2023.