Copyright Screen Rant
Queen of Tears has skyrocketed in popularity since its 2024 release, but there are countless underrated K-dramas that deserve just as much recognition. Following Kim Ji-won’s Hong Hae-in, Queen of Tears centers on a failing marriage revitalized by a life-changing diagnosis. It’s widely regarded as a K-drama masterpiece thanks to its talented cast, beautiful cinematography, and downright devastating plot points. The Queen of Tears ending left many viewers feeling bereft, but there are plenty of amazing K-dramas that can fill the void. Whether you connect with the drama, romance, or overall tone of Queen of Tears, other series may resonate with you even more. These K-dramas are so well-crafted, they deserve a second look — especially from Queen of Tears fans. Lovely Runner (2024) A K-Pop Fan Time Travels To Save An Idol's Life Lovely Runner follows two characters, Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok) and Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), across multiple timelines. In the beginning, Sun-jae is a K-pop idol who tragically dies, while Sol is his biggest fan who regrets her forgotten dream of being a film director. To save his life, Sol travels back to 2008, when they were both 19 years old. Im Sol realizes her life is cosmically entangled with Rye Sun-jae, as they were neighbors in adolescence, and one of his biggest songs was, unbeknownst to Sol, about her. The two make an amazing K-drama couple, and Lovely Runner adds enough comedy, tragedy, and heart to ground the romance in rich storytelling. Healer (2014-2015) A Violent Night Courier Falls For A Corruption-Exposing Journalist Healer is over a decade old, but it remains one of the best thriller K-dramas thanks to its timeless themes of life, love, and the endless pursuit of truth. Chae Young-shin (Park Min-young) dreams of being a renowned journalist, but she finds herself stuck writing tabloid pieces when she crosses paths with the titular “Healer,” Ji Chang-wook’s Seo Jung-hoo. A well-trained fighter, Healer was hired to protect Young-shin, but the pair fall in love while seeking justice for a series of murders. Their investigation is a captivating mystery that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat, but Healer also ends with a call to action: continue seeking answers and fighting for what’s right, regardless of the cost. The Red Sleeve (2021-2022) Based On Real Events From The Joseon Dynasty There have been myriad period piece K-dramas focused on the Joseon Dynasty, but The Red Sleeve has already become one of the most popular. Based on the real King Jeongjo and Royal Noble Consort Ui-bin Seong, the drama follows the contentious relationship between Yi San (Lee Jun-ho) and Seong Deok-im (Lee Se-young) as they navigate palace politics. The romance’s biggest obstacle is the setting itself; given their positions in life, Deok-im had to choose between a life of freedom but without Yi San or a life as a concubine. Meanwhile, Yi San feels compelled to prioritize his duty as the king above all else, including love. The Red Sleeve was a bittersweet story of sacrifice and responsibility. Marry My Husband (2024) A Miserable Woman Hand-Tailors An Alternate Reality To Escape Her Misfortune In this unique time-travel K-drama devoted to revenge, Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young) tries to rewire her history after finding out about her husband’s infidelity amidst her battle with cancer. With the help of Yoo Ji-hyuk (Na In-woo), who also traveled back in time, Ji-won orchestrates a new reality where her husband marries the woman he initially cheated with. Marry My Husband has a compelling approach to the butterfly effect, implying that regardless of external variables, some things are set in stone. The husband always cheats, the mistress always kills, but Kang Ji-won manages to change her fate and escape the cruel life she had in the original timeline. My Mister (2018) Two Mistreated Souls Cross Paths My Mister has become a cult classic in recent years, thanks to the gripping performance by Lee Ji-eun/IU as Lee Ji-an and Lee Sun-kyun as Park Dong-hoon. Both are outcasts at the beginning of the drama, but in drastically different ways. Park Dong-hoon is extremely successful, but he has no family, as even his wife is cheating on him. Conversely, Lee Ji-an is forced into a life of crime because she’s her grandmother’s sole caretaker. Both are beaten down by the world, whether figuratively or literally, but Lee Ji-an’s job to spy on Park Dong-hoon inadvertently saves them both. My Mister is a rare K-drama with a perfect ending, but the build-up is just as captivating. Vincenzo (2021) A Mafia Consigliere Unravels A Massive Conspiracy Vincenzo is one of the most popular revenge dramas ever released, but it has a shocking amount of depth. There is violence and gore galore, but the plot following a mafia lawyer actually hinges upon nuanced social issues, like sexual harassment, affordable housing, and the danger of wealthy monopolies. Similarly, the eponymous Vincenzo (Song Joong-ki) is an exceedingly complex character. Despite arguably being a K-drama villain himself, Vincenzo uses extreme violence and criminal activity to fight against corruption and the much more villainous Babel group. Vincenzo’s no Superman, but his actions do err on the side of a vigilante just as much as a mafia member. Vincenzo operates purely in grey morality, which makes it a fascinating yet challenging watch. Hotel del Luna (2019) A Purgatorial Hotel Run By Ghosts, An Immortal Owner, & A Human GM Some may overlook Hotel del Luna as a simple K-drama starring a K-pop idol, but Lee Ji-eun/IU’s work as Jang Man-wol is nothing short of spectacular in this supernatural romance. Due to the sins she committed in her life, Man-wol was cursed to run the eponymous Hotel del Luna for lost souls, trapped for over a thousand years. When Koo Chan-sung (Yeo Jin-goo) appears as the hotel’s newest human manager, he and Man-wol gradually fall in love, but Hotel del Luna’s romance poses an existential dilemma by the end of the series. Man-wol has to give up Chan-sung in order to pass on to the afterlife, but the love they shared lingers after the bittersweet ending. Flower of Evil (2020) A Detective Spirals After A Murder Case Gets Too Close For Comfort Flower of Evil is a one-of-a-kind K-drama wherein the mystery and romance are perfectly intertwined. Cha Ji-won (Moon Chae-won) is one of the best K-drama detectives as her murder investigation leads her to unravel her husband’s years of deception — originally posing as Baek Hee-sung, her husband’s true identity was Do Hyun-soo (Lee Joon-gi). The real Baek Hee-sung (Kim Ji-hoon) awakes from his coma and goes on a murderous spree, but Do Hyun-soo struggles with trying to be a good person for his family. To wrap up the story, Flower of Evil uses the amnesia cliché incredibly well to ensure Ji-won has a divisive but undeniably happy ending. Twinkling Watermelon (2023) A Time-Traveling Guitarist Tries To Change His Father's Fate Twinkling Watermelon seems like a wholesome K-drama, but its story is marred by tragedy and generational disconnect. After his father forbids him from pursuing his dream of being a musician, Ha Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun) travels back in time and starts a band with his father and the other teenagers he meets in 1995. Eun-gyeol tries to prevent an accident that causes his father to lose his hearing, but there’s nothing he can do to change his fate. Yet, upon returning to the future, he finds that their band was enough to keep his father’s love of music alive, and Ha Eun-gyeol is free to follow his aspirations as a guitarist. Doom At Your Service (2021) A Young Editor Curses The World After Being Diagnosed With Brain Cancer By far, Doom at Your Service is the best K-drama to watch for fans of Queen of Tears. Tak Dong-kyung (Park Bo-young) discovers she has terminal brain cancer and, in a fit of drunken rage, wishes for the world to end. A unique K-drama grim reaper, Myeolmang (Seo In-guk), appears to answer her prayer.
