10 Most Perfect K-Dramas of the Last 5 Years, Ranked

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Published May 28, 2026, 7:39 PM EDT

Anja Djuricic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1992. Her first interest in film started very early, as she learned to speak English by watching Disney animated movies (and many, many reruns). Anja soon became inspired to learn more foreign languages to understand more movies, so she entered the Japanese language and literature Bachelor Studies at the University of Belgrade.

Anja is also one of the founders of the DJ duo Vazda Garant, specializing in underground electronic music influenced by various electronic genres.

Anja loves to do puzzles in her spare time, pet cats wherever she meets them, and play The Sims. Anja's Letterboxd four includes Memories of Murder, Parasite, Nope, and The Road to El Dorado.

The 2020s have been the most fruitful half a decade for the K-drama landscape, introducing multidimensional, multi-genre series that promise to stay a part of the genre's modern history for a long time. The only thing that has changed in the past few years is the format, with more K-dramas actively embracing shorter episodes with less filler; some hardcore fans may worry that this takes away the K-drama charm from their favorite genre, but it has shown to only make the material better.

The most perfect K-dramas of the last five years can be ranked based on their popularity, IMDb scores, viewership levels, and pop culture influence. However, none of them have a singular impact—most encompass all of these categories, if not more. Let us know if you agree and if you have personal thoughts on what the best K-drama since 2021 has been.

10 'Vincenzo' (2021)

A character holding a glass of wine in the K-drama Vincenzo

Vincenzo is one of the few K-dramas that anyone will recommend, from fans of traditional rom-com K-dramas to die-hard crime show fans; the tonal shifts in this show range from slapstick to bloodbath, and they are completely seamless. The supporting cast, including Taecyeon (as a memorable villain) and Jeon Yeo-bin, enhances Song Joong-ki's magnetic lead performance. It's one of the most popular Korean dramas on both Netflix and its original network, tvN, with an 8.4 IMDb rating and over 40K reviews.

Vincenzo follows Vincenzo Cassano (Song), a Korean-Italian mafia consigliere who returns to South Korea to retrieve a specific hidden treasure: 1.5 tons of gold hidden in the basement of a rundown plaza. However, his goal is not simple: the last few occupants of the plaza who own businesses there don't want to give up their places. Vincenzo gradually finds himself drawn into a fight against a corrupt conglomerate attempting to take over the building, rather than working with it. Despite some plot holes, Vincenzo is a flawed masterpiece that combines dark comedy, brutal violence, and courtroom theatrics.

9 'Weak Hero' (2022–Present)

Park Ji-hoon as Si-eun struggling against his attacker in Weak Hero Class 2.

Weak Hero, widely considered one of the most brutally realistic depictions of school violence ever filmed, is also based on the same-named webtoon and features comic-book-style fights in its live-action adaptation. Weak Hero has an 8.4 IMDb rating, but even more impressive is Park Ji-hoon's transformation from a fragile student to a remorseless fighter throughout the series. The fight choreography is visceral and painful and continues into Season 2; it also lived up to expectations, bringing Park back while also introducing new fan favorites such as Ryeoun and Lee Min-jae.

Weak Hero follows Yeon Shi-eun (Park), a quiet, top-ranking student who relies on his wits and quick analysis. When a confrontation with school bullies forces him to fight back, he employs his skills to strategize defense and counterattack. Throughout eight intense episodes, he forms an unlikely friendship with two other outsiders: the impulsive but loyal Ahn Su-ho (Choi Hyun-wook) and the bullied Oh Beom-seok (Hong Kyung). Together, they navigate a world in which adults refuse to intervene and violence is the only language understood. The seasons are subtitled "Class 1" and "Class 2," and while there is talk of a third season, it is unclear whether it will happen.

8 'Bloodhounds' (2023–2026)

Bloodhounds Woo Do-Hwan as Kim Gun-woo in Bloodhounds Cr. Soyun Jeon, Seowoo Jung/Netflix © 2023

Bloodhounds is one of the best K-dramas of the last five years and more, most notably because of how exciting and visceral it is. The bromance between Woo Do-hwan and Lee Sang-yi is to die for, and their physical fitness is barely evenly matched with the show's most notorious villains. In Season 1, Park Sung‑woong gets the flattering title, while in Season 2, it's none other than Rain, the global K-pop sensation who broke into acting in the 2000s. Even if you don't like action series that much, Woo and Lee carry Bloodhounds with enough heart, soul, and stomach to make the show fun for everyone in front of the TV.

Bloodhounds focuses on two young boxers, Gun‑woo (Woo) and Woo‑jin (Lee) (calling themselves Gun-woo-jin in Season 2), who compete in a boxing tournament against each other but become fast friends soon after. After Gun-woo's mother gets attacked by loan sharks led by the vicious Kim Myeong-gil (Park), Gun-woo and Woo-jin team up with Kim's former mentor to take him down. In the seconde season, Rain appears as Im Baek-jeong, the owner of an underground boxing tournament who takes all measures to get Gun-woo to fight him in the illegal ring. It's bloody, fast-paced, incredibly fun, and action that will have you gripping the chair throughout—Bloodhounds is so good.

Park Eun-bin as Woo Young-woo in Extraordinary Attorney Woo on Netflix.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo is a cultural phenomenon that has altered the way Korea talks about neurodiversity. Park Eun-bin's incredible performance earned her the Grand Prize (Daesang) at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards. The show has an IMDb rating of 8.5 and was the seventh most-watched drama in Korean television history while it aired on ENA. It is warm, intelligent, and profoundly human, and it has made people all over the world fall in love with Woo Young-woo.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo follows Woo Young-woo (Park), a brilliant autistic lawyer who graduated top of her class from a prestigious law school. She joins a top Seoul firm and is immediately thrust into office life, social politics, and case complexities, leaving her alone to deal with her social cues and fast-paced career. The show focuses on Young-woo's journey to self-acceptance, but also depicts neurodivergence on a spectrum through the introduction of other characters, highlighting the importance of diversity.

Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky

Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.

🏜️Paul Atreides

🖖Capt. Kirk

✊Princess Leia

🔦Ellen Ripley

🔥Max Rockatansky

FIND YOUR HERO →

How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.

AI absorb everything — every variable, every pattern — and move only when I know the path forward. BI read the room, make the call, and own the consequences. Hesitation costs more than mistakes. CI rally people. A cause needs a voice, and I refuse to let fear be louder than conviction. DI assess the threat, establish what needs doing, and get it done without waiting for permission. EI don't lead. I act. Others can follow or not — I'm already moving.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.

APrescience — the ability to see further ahead than anyone else and plan accordingly. BImprovisation — I'm at my best when the plan falls apart and I have to invent a new one. CConviction — I know what I'm fighting for, and that certainty doesn't waver under fire. DComposure — I stay functional when everyone around me is falling apart. Panic is a luxury. EEndurance — I outlast things. I take the hit and keep moving long after others have stopped.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.

AThe survival and dignity of my people — even if I have to become something frightening to ensure it. BThe safety of my crew — every single one of them. No one gets left behind. CFreedom — for my people, for every world still crushed under the weight of an empire. DThe truth — what actually happened, what's actually out there, whether anyone believes me or not. EThe one person — or the one memory — that still makes any of this worth surviving for.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.

AWith intensity and distance — I care deeply, but the weight I carry makes closeness complicated. BWith warmth and irreverence — I take the mission seriously, not myself. CWith directness and trust — I say what I mean, and I expect the people I work with to rise to it. DWith professional care but clear limits — I'll protect you, but I won't pretend we're family. EWith wariness that slowly becomes loyalty — I don't trust easily, but when I do, it holds.

NEXT QUESTION →

You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything.

APrepare in silence. If they won't listen, I'll be ready when they finally have to. BKeep pushing until someone listens — and if no one does, handle it myself. CBuild the case, find the allies, and make the threat impossible to ignore. DDocument everything. The truth matters even if no one believes it yet. EStop trying to convince anyone. Survive it. That's the only argument that counts.

NEXT QUESTION →

What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again.

AMy innocence — I've seen what I'm capable of, and I can't unsee it. BPeople I loved — the command chair has a view, but it's a lonely one. CA normal life — I gave up everything ordinary the moment I chose the cause. DMy sense of safety — I know exactly what's out there now, and I can't pretend otherwise. EAlmost everything — and I'm still not sure what I'm carrying it all for. But I keep going.

NEXT QUESTION →

How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours?

AI understand them deeply — and I know exactly which ones must be broken, and why. BI respect the spirit of them and bend the letter when the situation demands it. CThe system is the problem. I'm not here to work within it — I'm here to dismantle it. DI follow protocol until protocol stops being useful. Then I make the call myself. EThe rules collapsed a long time ago. What's left is instinct, and mine are reliable.

NEXT QUESTION →

When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.

ADestiny — or something that feels so much like it that the difference no longer matters. BThe people on my ship — their faces, their trust, the fact that they're counting on me. CThe belief that what we're fighting for is worth every sacrifice, including this one. DSheer refusal to let it win — whatever it is. I don't stop. That's just who I am. EI'm not sure anymore. But the road is still there, and I'm still on it.

REVEAL MY HERO →

Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…

Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.

Paul Atreides

You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.

You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you.

Captain Kirk

You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet.

You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it.
Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.

Princess Leia

You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of.

You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.

Ellen Ripley

You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.

You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there.
When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything.

Max Rockatansky

You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.

You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

6 'Moving' (2023–Present)

A girl in a yellow rain jacket in the Disney+ K-drama 'Moving'

Moving is a genre-bending superhero drama with impressive action sequences. However, the show's secret weapon is its heart and soul. It became Disney+'s most-watched Korean original soon after its premiere, and it features a talented cast including veterans like Ryu Seung-ryong, Zo In-sung, and Han Hyo-joo, as well as modern fan favorites like Go Youn-jung (a well-known name in the K-drama scene).

Moving begins in modern-day Seoul, where a group of teenagers (and high school friends) discover they have inherited superpowers from their parents, such as flight, superhuman strength, and rapid healing; the story then shifts to the past, revealing the kids' parents to be former government operatives who are pursued by the very agency for which they worked. The teens and their parents work together to survive as a mysterious killer targets them, inhabiting a story that ranges from a high-school romance to a brutal espionage thriller. Moving will return for a second season, which is expected to air in 2026.

5 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' (2025)

A young man stands next to a young woman wearing a headscarf on a boat in When Life Gives You Tangerines.

When Life Gives You Tangerines is a rare gem that has been hailed as one of the best Korean dramas ever made. It has a staggering 9.0 rating on IMDb, and Time magazine named it the best Korean drama of 2025. The series swept the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards, taking home Best Drama, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay. IU and Park Bo-gum deliver career-defining performances, and director Kim Won-seok's stunning cinematography transforms Jeju Island into a living, breathing character, becoming integral to the plot from the title to the closing credits. When Life Gives You Tangerines is a quiet, healing masterpiece with ideal slice-of-life vibes.

When Life Gives You Tangerines is set on the breathtaking Jeju Island between the 1950s and the 2000s. This epic generational drama follows a spirited island girl, Ae-sun (IU), and a stubborn boy, Gwan-sik (Park), as they fall in love and endure decades of hardship, sacrifice, family, grief, and joy. The story spans three generations, focusing on women's resilience, particularly the haenyeo (Jeju's legendary female divers), as well as the changing face of modern South Korea. The Korean title is a Jeju dialect phrase that means "You have worked hard" or "Thank you for your hard work."

4 'My Liberation Notes' (2022)

Kim Ji-won and Lee El sitting side by side on public transportation in My Liberation Notes.

My Liberation Notes is a meditation on burnout and alienation, featuring sparse but powerful dialogue and devastating, vulnerable performances. Park Hae-young (My Mister, We Are All Trying Here) won the Best Screenplay Award at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards, while the show received nominations for Best Drama, Best Actor, and Best Actress. My Liberation Notes has an 8.2 rating on IMDb, and while it's a slow burn with a heavy-ish storyline, it gets richer with each rewatch for those who indulge.

My Liberation Notes follows the three exhausted Yeom siblings, Chang-hee (Lee Min-ki), Mi-jeong (Kim Ji-won), and Ki-jeong (Lee El), who live in a rural town and spend hours commuting to and from Seoul for work; the show follows them as individuals on a painful journey to liberate themselves from family, societal pressures, and personal fears as they strive to embody their desires and discover their true selves. My Liberation Notes will help you find a silver lining while making you feel seen and heard.

3 'Alchemy of Souls' (2022–2023)

Alchemy of Souls is an epic fantasy romance with breathtaking world-building; it's a visual and narrative triumph that was shot on a special set designed specifically for the series, making it one of the most expensive and lavish Korean productions ever made. It has an IMDb rating of 8.7 and was once Netflix's most-streamed hit. The show's writers are legendary, known as the Hong sisters, who have written some of the most well-known Korean dramas, including Hotel del Luna, Master's Sun, and even the popular Netflix original rom-com from 2026, Can This Love Be Translated?.

Alchemy of Souls takes place in the fictional kingdom of Daeho, where powerful mages use "alchemy of souls," a forbidden spell that allows souls to switch bodies. Naksu (Go Youn-jung), a legendary assassin, finds her soul trapped inside the weak body of a servant, Mudeok (Jung So-min). However, she eventually becomes the secret master to Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook), a nobleman's son with hidden magical potential. They must deal with palace politics, magical duels, and a conspiracy that threatens their safety, but they also fall in love and become inseparable souls. It's often deemed a masterpiece.

2 'The Glory' (2022–2023)

Song Hye-kyo looking at something off-screen with a confused look on her face in The Glory

The Glory is a cathartic and morally complex revenge drama that caused a lot of controversy in South Korea when it premiered. Song Hye-kyo's portrayal of simmering rage and revenge is career-defining, but the show's depictions of school bullying have sparked controversy. However, it was revealed that the show's events were inspired by similar ones from real life, shedding light on the long-overlooked issue of unsanctioned school violence. The Glory received eight nominations at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards, winning three: Best Drama, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress for Lim Ji-yeon. It has an 8.2 IMDb rating and was a global sensation that is still widely talked about.

The Glory follows Moon Dong-eun (Song), a high school student who was brutally tortured by her classmates and peers, particularly those from wealthy and influential families. Dong-eun drops out of school and disappears, only to return years later as the homeroom teacher of her main bully's daughter. Dong-eun has spent her entire adult life plotting a meticulous, devastating revenge against all of them, but her method doesn't involve physical violence; instead, she gradually turns the odds against them. It is a cold, calculated revenge, but it does not glorify it; rather, it examines its motivations.

1 'Squid Game' (2021–2025)

Masked guard with a square mask in Squid Game

Squid Game may not be the highest-rated series on this list, but it is unquestionably the best K-drama released in the last half-decade due to its innovative, imaginative, and groundbreaking premise. Squid Game is Netflix's most-watched series and the first Korean drama to win Primetime Emmys, including Outstanding Lead Actor for Lee Jung-jae and Outstanding Directing for Hwang Dong-hyuk, and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for O Yeong-su. This was the first non-English television series to win an Emmy, making history, and it was the series that sparked a Korean Wave in the 2020s, but a wave that is more unique than others because it allowed for more mainstream genre blending.

Squid Game has three seasons, with the first intended to be a standalone story. In Season 1, over 400 financially desperate contestants are invited to play a series of children's games for a grand prize; however, the catch is death, as losers are literally eliminated. Seong Gi-hun (Lee), a gambling addict with a heart of gold, joins a group of misfits, including a dying old man and a defector from North Korea. While each game introduces new rules and horrors, revealing humanity's darkest impulses, we peel back the layers of the tournament, resulting in an expertly crafted critique of greed, capitalism, and money. Hwang Dong-hyuk wrote, directed, and produced the entire series, and the experience was so draining that he initially swore off making a second season—a vow that lasted only a short time.