The best wholesomeK-dramasare guaranteed to make audiences smile. They feature amusing friendship dynamics, beautiful romantic relationships, hilarious antics, and heartwarming moments, making them the perfect comfort watch. Wholesome K-dramas make for an incredible watch with their low-stakes plots, compelling characters, and refreshingly honest and grounded explorations of humanity. These wholesomefeel-good K-dramasresonate with their audiences with their heartfelt storylines and relatable characters.
Despite tragic events and dark backstories being acommon trope in K-dramas,wholesome K-dramas can balance heart-wrenching moments with optimistic plot arcs. From sweet romances in small towns to comedy shows revolving around a lovable group of friends, there is no shortage of entertaining wholesome K-dramas that can tug on your heartstrings without being overwhelmingly dark and serious.
Racket Boys
Cast
Racket Boys (2021) follows a group of middle school students who form a badminton club in a rural village. Coached by a former badminton star, they navigate the challenges of adolescence, competition, and camaraderie. The series delves into their personal growth and the community’s support, reflecting the cultural and social dynamics of rural South Korea.
Racket Boysis a sports comedy series that revolves around an underfunded and struggling middle school badminton club and its teenage members.The sports K-drama tells the classic tale of an underdog team that learns to work togetherand trust each other as they navigate school and badminton competitions. As the three-player badminton team grows and begins to enter competitions, their bond with each other deepens, along with the small rural town’s sense of community.
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There is no shortage of beautiful and heartfelt moments inRacket Boys,each scene featuring Grandma Oh-mae (Cha Mi-kyung) and the badminton players is overwhelmingly sweet.Racket Boys’depiction of the tight-knit communities formed in rural areas and the bond between the young athletes makes it a wholesome and entertaining watch that can make anyone smile.
Twinkling Watermelon
Twinkling Watermelon is a South Korean television series that follows the lives of a group of high school friends who form a band. As they navigate the complexities of adolescence, they encounter challenges, build relationships, and discover their passions. Featuring a mix of music and drama, the show delves into themes of friendship, ambition, and self-discovery.
Twinkling Watermelonis a coming-of-agetime travel K-dramathat follows a young boy living a double life as he travels through time after an argument with his father, and meets his teen father in the past. The talented student and musician Ha Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun) is the only hearing person in a family of deaf people,after traveling back in time he becomes entrenched in his dad’s teenage antics and joins his band.
Throughout the series, Eun-gyeol learns about his parents Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun-wook) and Yoon Chung-ah’s (Shin Eun-soo) lives when they were teens. The reason behind the drastic difference between teen Yi-chan and adult Yi-chan, played by Choi Won-young, is an intriguing mystery. However,Twinkling Watermelon’sportrayal of Eun-gyeol friendship with his father’s younger self is the K-drama’s highlight and is heartwarming to witness.
Reply 1988
In 1988 Seoul, five childhood friends navigate adolescence in their tight-knit neighborhood. Deok Sun struggles as the middle child, Jung Hwan fixates on soccer despite newfound wealth, Sun Woo excels academically, Dong Ryong, a lovable geek, faces academic challenges, and Taek, a baduk prodigy, leaves school to go professional.
The coming-of-age K-dramaReply 1988is the third and final installment of theReplyanthology series.Reply 1988stands out from other installments by not only focusing on the group of friends, but also focusing on their parents' relationships with each other and the bond between the neighbors. Theslice-of-life K-dramafollowsthe lives of five childhood friends living in the same neighborhood as they growand navigate their teen years together.
Reply 1988is a wholesome friendship-centric slice-of-life K-drama that boasts an honest and grounded portrayal of the beauty of the mundane moments in life.
Reply 1988is a wholesome friendship-centric slice-of-life K-drama that boasts an honest and grounded portrayal of the beauty of the mundane moments in life. The K-drama gives its romantic relationships, friendship dynamics, and familial bonds time to develop and grow on screen, making it a beloved wholesome show filled with lighthearted moments.
What Comes After Love
What Comes After Love follows Hong, who experiences a profound relationship with Jungo while studying in Japan. After a heartbreaking separation, they unexpectedly reunite five years later in Korea, exploring themes of love, loss, and reconciliation.
What Comes After Loveis a romance melodrama K-drama based on the novelThings That Come After Loveby Gong Ji-yeong and Hitonari Tsuji. The K-drama series revolves aroundthe love story of a Korean woman, Choi Hong (Lee Se-young), and a Japanese man, Aoki Jungo (Kentaro Sakaguchi). Hong and Jungo meet in Japan and fall for each other, until a rough breakup results in Hong moving back to her home.
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What Comes After Love’sportrayal of Hong and Jungo’s relationship across two timelines highlights how their relationship got its start, what issues resulted in their breakup, and their attempts at reconciliation five years later. The romantic K-drama tells the tale of second chances through the lens of Hong and Jungo’s emotional relationship journey.
Mystic Pop-up Bar
Mystic Pop-up Bar is a South Korean fantasy drama series that follows a mysterious late-night food cart run by a woman and her part-time assistant. The pair offer customers a chance for respite and counseling through their dreams, serving both the living and the dead equally. Released in 2020.
The fantasy K-drama seriesMystic Pop-up Barrevolves around the titular pop-up bar run by the temperamental and combativebar owner who is tasked with settling the grudges haunting 100,000 souls, or she will be sent to hell. The bar owner Weol-ju (Hwang Jung-eum) joins forces with Han Kang-bae (Yook Sung-jae), who has the unique ability to make people confess the truth whenever they are in physical contact with him and her loyal partner Chief Gwi (Choi Won-young).
Despite the timer ticking down, threatening to send Weol-ju to hell if she fails to settle 100,000 grudges, thesupernatural K-dramais able to maintaina lighthearted and humorous tone. The compelling trio of Weol-ju, Kang-bae, and Chief Gwi is the highlight ofMystic Pop-up Bar,and witnessing them build a rapport and work together throughout the show makes for a wholesome and thrilling show.
Yumi’s Cells
Yumi’s Cells is a South Korean television series based on the popular webtoon of the same name. The show follows Kim Yumi, a ordinary office worker, and her brain cells, which are personified as individual characters, as they navigate her emotions, thoughts, and relationships. The series explores themes of self-acceptance, love, and personal growth.
Yumi’s Cellsis acharming romance K-dramarevolving around the titular character Kim Yumi (Kim Go-eun), a woman whose animated brain cells control her actions and emotions. Similar toInside Out,the K-drama utilizes animated brain cells to showcase how the lead character is processing her emotionsand feelings, and how it impacts her actions and behavior.
Yumi’s Cellsfollows Yumi after her love cell falls into a coma due to a tragic heartbreak and the revival of the love cell after she meets the kind and earnest game developer Goo Woong (Ahn Bo-hyun). Yumi and Woong’s adorable burgeoning relationship along with Yumi’s lovable brain cells navigating the complexities of love and adult life in a heartwarming and grounded examination of life and love.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a South Korean television series starring Shin Min-a as a pragmatic dentist and Kim Seon-ho as her free-spirited counterpart. The narrative unfolds in the seaside village of Gongjin, where personal and professional lives intersect in heartwarming and often humorous ways. Directed by Yu Je-won, the series explores themes of community, love, and personal growth amidst picturesque coastal scenery.
Set in a gorgeous idyllic seaside town,Hometown Cha-Cha-Chais a romantic slice-of-life K-drama series following a reputed and talented dentist as she moves from Seoul to the village of Gongjin. The skilled dentist Yoon Hye-jin’s (Shin Min-a) spontaneous decision to open a dental clinic in Gongjin isn’t an easy journey, and she initially struggles to form a bond with her fellow residents.
However, she ends up forming a strong bond with the village’s resident handyman Hong Du-sik (Kim Seon-ho), and forms a tight-knit community with the residents of Gongjin. Themasterpiece K-dramafocuses onthe lives of the romantic leads Hye-jin and Du-sik along with the lives of the Gongjin residents. The beautiful romance between Hye-jin and Du-sik and the heartwarming friendship between Hye-jin and Gongjin’s grandmothers cementsHometown Cha-Cha-Cha’sstatusas one of the best wholesome K-dramas.
Welcome To Waikiki
Welcome To Waikiki (2018) is a South Korean television series that follows three struggling men who run a failing guesthouse in Itaewon and encounter various comedic situations as they strive to achieve their dreams. The series stars Kim Jung-hyun, Lee Yi-kyung, and Son Seung-won, whose characters aspire to become a film director, an actor, and a writer, respectively, while dealing with life’s unexpected challenges and surprises.
Welcome to Waikikiis a chaotic and hilarious comedy K-drama series that follows a friend group of three young men struggling financially and embarking on a mission to turn a failing guesthouse into a profitable venture. The lives of Kang Dong-gu (Kim Jung-hyun), Lee Joon-ki (Lee Yi-kyung), and Bong Doo-sik (Son Seung-won) are thrown into further chaos after a single mother and her baby visit the titular guesthouse.
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Welcome to Waikikiis one of the best K-drama comedy shows, with its unique blend of slapstick comedy, banter between the three friends, and heartwarming and genuine character development. DespiteWelcome to Waikikiprimarily being a slapstick comedy,the characters and premise are deeply rooted in reality and relatable. The show’s blend of poignant and hilarious moments makes it a belovedfeel-good K-drama.
Hospital Playlist
Hospital Playlist is a South Korean television series that follows the lives of five doctors working at a hospital. It explores their personal and professional struggles as they navigate the challenges of their jobs and personal relationships. The series delves into themes of friendship, love, and growth as the characters face various medical cases and personal struggles.
Hospital Playlistis amedical K-drama seriesrevolving around a group of five doctors working together at the hospitalwho first became friends while studying at medical school. As a slice-of-life K-drama series,Hospital Playlistfollows the lives of the doctors outside the hospital as well. The scenes where the doctors unwind and relax by rocking out in band practice showcase the close bond between the doctors that goes beyond the walls of the hospital.
Hospital Playlistisfilled with medical drama, compelling romances, and heartwarming friendshipsas the five doctors navigate their hectic personal and professional lives. With a delightful and entertaining mix of thrilling medical drama and poignant scenes between the doctors and their patients,Hospital Playlistis a wholesome K-drama that can bring both tears of joy and sadness to the audience’s eyes.
Dear My Friends
Di-eo Ma-i Peu-ren-jeu, released in 2016, centers on a group of friends navigating the complexities of love and family life in their later years. The film explores themes of self-discovery and the enduring bonds that challenge and delight them in their twilight years.
Dear My Friendsis a beautiful and moving K-drama series that follows an elderly group of friends as they live their lives and deal with issues. The comedy K-drama series providesan honest and genuine exploration of youth, aging, friendship, relationships, and life.Dear My Friendsfollows Park Wan (Go Hyun-jung), a translator writer in her thirties who gets roped into documenting her mother, Jang Nan-hee (Go Doo-shim), and her mother’s friends' lives.
Each character inDear My Friendshas a distinct personality and backstory, and every single relationship dynamic between the lead characters is unique, special, and compelling.
Each character inDear My Friendshas a distinct personality and backstory, and every single relationship dynamic between the lead characters is unique, special, and compelling.Dear My Friendsbalances heartwarming scenes with heart-wrenching scenes, making athought-provoking and poignant K-dramathat leaves a mark on viewers.Dear My Friendsis a wholesome and beautiful K-drama that reminds audiences to live life to the fullest and that every moment counts.
