MUST WATCH: Some of the Best Women-Centric K-dramas

Looking for K-dramas to binge-watch this Women’s month? Well, Prime has you covered with some of the best women-centric Korean dramas. From decade-long friendships to well-built careers to conglomerate life to motherhood, these women-led dramas explore women’s vast experiences at every stage of life. These characters were brought to life by both veteran actresses making their comebacks to the small screen and also up-and-coming rookie actresses who are just starting out but have proven themselves in the acting industry. As women suffering from over-dependency are often depicted in Korean dramas, it is such a refreshing moment to meet ladies who genuinely portray the type of girls K-Dramaland rarely delves on. One thing’s for sure in this review, all of these K-dramas scream: WOMEN !!!

Be Melodramatic / Melo is my nature (2019)

Starring: Chun Woo-Hee, Jeon Yeo Been, Han Ji-Eun

Be melodramatic presents a not-so-melodrama plot as it displays light-hearted and highly relatable stories among 3 friends in their thirties. The show is anchored around three women, Im Jin-joo, Lee Eun-jung, and Hwang Han-joo, a drama writer, documentary director, and marketing team head at a drama production company.

Its humor and moments of sincerity make this drama incredibly charming that you can’t help but fall in love with these women as they show their equally unique personalities. It touches on multiple progressive themes and is layered with empowering messages. The show is consistently a breath of fresh air until the last episode. Just like any great coming-of-age show, its ultimate appeal lies within the dialogues, monologues, and the presentation of the characters. With its themes, references, hilarious scenes, a relatable story, and a lovable cast, Be Melodramatic is highly recommended. I daresay that it’s one of the most underrated K-Dramas of all time! You can watch this rare gem on Netflix!

Search WWW (2019)

Starring: Lim Soo-Jung, Lee Da-Hee, Jeon Hye-Jin

Set in the world of strong-willed women executives powering the top web-portals of South Korea, Search: WWW celebrates women driven by their careers. This show takes the audience to the cunning and complex world of working behind websites. This Kdrama takes on the exciting challenge in the portrayal of a career woman. It is centered with 3 powerful yet also flawed female leads, which brilliantly depicts their aspirations, varying morals, and courageous choices. This drama also goes to show that stories written by women hit different.

Bae Tami, who basks in her independent glory takes on a challenge to join her company’s competitor after she gets fired for making a choice based on her morals. She’s equally intelligent, clever, and ambitious. The incredibly entertaining, and judo master Cha Hyeon, whose love for dramas defeated all odds, and made some of us scream sana all as her favorite actor becomes her boyfriend. She has shown how executives too can have some fun and have a well-balanced work and personal life. And Song Ga-Kyung worked and has overcome her tough life. She soared high in defeating it with painful sacrifices along the way. I loved how they fully fleshed out each woman from their backstories to the current year as it made me admire them more, not to mention the stellar office outfits! It was most definitely refreshing to see women being the center of this drama in new ways. Another notable workplace drama to add to your list, Search: WWW is available on both Viu and Netflix!

Mine (2021)

Starring: Lee Bo-Young, Kim Seo-Hyung

Led by the all-women main cast and creators, Mine is a drama about strong and ambitious women who overcome societal standards and prejudice to discover what is rightfully theirs. This glamorous, high society murder mystery features sisters-in-law who navigate through the challenges and demands of conglomerate life. The story is focused on Seo Hee Soo (Lee Bo-Young), a former A-list actress and the wife of the second son of Hyowon Group and Jung Seo Hyun (Kim Seo Hyung), the ever-so elegant wife of the Hyowon Group’s eldest son.

What’s so lovable about this story is how instead of the typical trope in conglomerate-related shows of two women pitted against each other, it’s a new story of the close relationship between the two leads. The roles are played excellently by the veteran actresses. They equally look gorgeous in their glamorous outfits, spectacular jewelry, and magnificent homes.

Another amazing thing about this drama is the groundbreaking role of the first lesbian lead character in a Kdrama. Jung Seo Hyun slowly grows into a character who accepts and affirms her sexual identity. Seo Hee Soo defies all the judgment from being a stepmother. Both of these women, along with other characters in the drama, have broken the traditional views of women. Mine is truly about unconditional love, the challenge and courage to truly embrace your identity, and the difficulties faced by women who overcome what life throws at them. These women do everything in their power to take back what is theirs. This new twist on a high-society Kdrama, Mine is available on Netflix.

Hello, My Twenties / Age of Youth (2016-2017)

Starring: Han Ye-Ri, Han Seung-Yeon, Park Eun-Bin, Ryu Hwa Young, Park Hye-Soo.

Hello, My Twenties is a retrospective youth drama that revolves around the lives of 5 young women: Han Ye-Ri, Jung Ye-Eun, Song Ji-Won, Kang Yi-Na, Yoo Eun-Jae.

This creative show is about 5 women who live in a shared house. They all come from different walks of life and different backgrounds. Like most roommates who share a room or living space, they develop strong friendships, laugh and cry together, and argue and make up. The beauty of this show lies in the friendship of the 5 girls. It depicts the strengthened bond of the girls while living together.

The sassy girls and their friendship take the audiences, especially women, back to their fond and life-affirming memories. It makes you reminisce about your memories with your friends.

There are touching moments that might tug at your heartstrings, some incredibly hilarious moments that get you laughing out loud, and even some thought-provoking moments. In short, this show has just about everything. The 5 women have a special chemistry that should definitely not be overlooked. Each brings something special to the table, but it's those moments when they are truly looking out for each other as well as being there for each other that demonstrate the true power of the show. This lighthearted K-drama about friendship is on Netflix!

Sky Castle (2018)

Starring: Yum Jung-Ah, Yoon Se-Ah, Oh Na-Ra, Lee Tae-Ran, and Kim Seo-Hyung

With powerful performances by its female-led cast, the show is not only the second-highest-rated cable show of all time, but it also depicts different types of mothers with different types of parenting styles, and will leave you pondering on school systems that focus on prestige.

With the fathers being successful doctors and lawyers, the mothers put all their best efforts for their children to get into the most prestigious universities in Korea. They all fight tooth and nail to make sure their children will get the best, and be the best. It was brilliant to see how flawed to perfection each character was in the show. The women are the core of this show and you will get to see different types of mothers. You may even see your own mother in one of these women. You get to see the micromanaging mother, the new/first-time mom who's still confused on how to parent so tries to follow people around her, the chill type of mom, and an overprotective mother. Overall, these mothers only want what’s best for their children, but at what cost?

What makes this show even more interesting and 10 times more thrilling is the “villain” of the show, Coach Kim Ju-Yeong, played by Kim Seo Hyung. Another Kim Seo Hyung drama is on this list and this only goes to show the range of powerful women she portrays on screen. Each mother on the show gave a stellar performance.

Sky Castle is a nail-biting, hair-pulling, finger-wagging experience for any viewer, with some bits of dark comedy thrown in. Each episode will leave you wanting for more and will make you reflect on what is really important in life. Despite how exaggerated some parts of this show will seem, the core plot really hits home. This power-house and brilliantly crafted drama is available on Netflix and Viu.