Pre-face: I am a lazy bum and tend to only watch dramas that are available on Netflix because it's convenient for me, so this list is biased to the shows that were most easily accessible to me and it's 100% possible that I completely missed an amazing drama because it wasn't easy for me to stream.
Also, yes I know 6 is an odd number to choose, but well... I couldn't choose between two for the final fifth spot so, here we are.
source6. Little Women - This show acting like it is based on the beloved Lousia May Alcott book is perhaps the best joke of 2022. Because WOW, I do not recall the March sisters getting involved with a secret society that involved major financial crimes and also murder. But, you know, even though it has basically nothing to do with the source material, it was still a super fun and WILD ride. Also Wi Ha-joon is really sexy in it.
source5. Business Proposal - The cutest little romcom that ever was. Our Heroine is a food scientist who agrees go on a blind date in her friend's place and act crazy in order to scare off the potential suitor. Except oops, the potential suitor is her boss! AND he's very eager to at least pretend to be getting married in order to appease his grandfather. Wacky hijinks ensue. As a bonus, the secondary romance (which consists of said friend who was avoiding the blind date and the boss's secretary) is SUPER CUTE.
source4. Our Beloved Summer - Yes I know this began airing in 2021, but it didn't finish until 2022. And since I tend to save up dramas until they're just about finished and then watch all the episodes, as far as I am concerned, this is a 2022 drama! The secondary characters are all pretty 'meh', but I love the central couple SO much that this drama had to make my list. The set-up of the show is that 10 years ago, the two leads starred in a a documentary where the highest and lowest ranked student in a high school were paired up, as a sort of exploration of what made them different. Of course, they were total opposites, but at the conclusion of the documentary, they dated for 5 years until they had a painful break up. Now, 5 years later, 10 years after the first documentary, their lives cross paths again and the documentary producers want to make another film. It's a show is about how our pasts shape us and how people can move on and heal together.
source3. Alchemy of Souls - I'm not going to pretend like this is a perfect show. I've noted my complaints in What We're Watching posts, but in spite of its flaws, Alchemy of Souls is massively popular for a reason. It's just so much fun to watch! And it's totally immersive in its world building. This is a fantasy show set in a world that is heavily inspired by the Joseon era but there's magic and manicures and pretty makeup. Honestly the plots of this show are too complex to sum up in a few sentences, but I'll do my best. The basis of the show is the idea that a certain kind of (forbidden) magic allows a person to swap bodies with another. When a magic assassin uses this magic to swap bodies with an unsuspecting blind woman in order to evade the Mage Police, a series of events kicks off that could change the fate of the world.
source2. Tomorrow - Brief word of caution: This show deals a LOT with suicide and the episodic nature of the show means it's often a rather overly simplistic and also a generally old-fashioned view of suicide. But if you can accept that is how it's gonna be on the show, then this is a REALLY good drama. It follows a team of Grim Reapers, known as the Crisis Management team, whose job it is to prevent people from dying by suicide. What made
Tomorrow great was the balance between episodic storytelling, where we get to know characters such as a Korean War veteran who has lived in poverty with PTSD since serving his country and a Korean woman who was a so-called "comfort woman" (aka she was forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military), and more serialized storytelling through which we explore the stories of the 3 members of the Crisis Management team.
source1. Extraordinary Attorney Woo - This drama follows a brilliant young woman with autism embarking on a career as a lawyer. The legal cases are genuinely interesting and serve as a way to explore the main characters which keeps them from feeling too clinical. It's also just really fun to watch the lead use her mind and analytical skills to find solutions to legal problems. The leads are charming as fuck and the secondary characters are great too. This is the perfect drama to curl up with on New Year's Day imo!
ONTD: what are the top dramas of 2022 in your opinion? Or honestly, just top dramas that you watched in 2022! Didn't have to air in 2022. I'm not the boss of you. https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/124975439.html
