If I had a chance to enter a time portal like they do in K-dramas, I would go back to my high school days and try to live a little more than worry less about academic validation. Just like me, numerous Gen Zs and millennials love to live their high school dreams through fictional shows. Most K-drama fans usually binge on the high school genre of the show because of the generous dollops of nostalgia it offers, reminding them of their firsts. Admittedly, for most us, high school is where you have your first love, heartbreak, and more.
It is also an experience of choosing a route and making long-term friendships, which makes it particularly distinctive and unforgettable. More significantly, it appears to us that the representation of relationships in high school K-dramas is more natural, be it friendships or other social interactions, than in college or workplace-related K-dramas.
These K-dramas, set in high schools, also let us into the lives of protagonists who are working hard, following their aspirations and leaning on one another during family issues, among other things. Some of the best parts are the tropes of enemies-to-lovers and love triangles. Add to it the outstanding production standards, fascinating story twists, and rib-tickling comedy, and you’ve got a title worth losing sleep over.
Here are a few on our watchlist that you can bookmark:
Lovely Runner
One of the most trending shows at the moment, this K-drama was adapted from a webtoon named The Best of Tomorrow by Kim Bbang. The plot follows Im Sol who is devastated by the sudden and tragic death of her favourite star, Ryu Sun Jae, a former swimmer turned K-pop idol. But amid her anguish, she magically time travels to 2008 – when Sun Jae is only 19 years old! Delighted that she has a chance to help him avert his unhappy future fate, Sol makes it her mission to change the future… and maybe find love along the way. Will her efforts to divert the course of the past prove successful – or could they have unexpected consequences?
Where to watch: Viki
Boys Over Flowers
A Korean cultural phenomenon across Asia upon its release, Boys Over Flowers was the series that cemented Lee Min-ho as a star and made K-dramas a household watch. He appears as the leader of the F4, the most elite group at a prestigious school, who gets caught up in a bullying scandal. When a girl, played by Ku Hye-sun, stands up to his bullying, he first torments her but eventually falls in love with her.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
True Beauty
Teen romance comedy True Beauty is based on the same-named webcomic. It portrays Ju-kyoung, a high school student who experiences bullying because of her facial features. Before joining a new school, she resorts to catfishing by altering her appearance by mastering the art of makeup through YouTube tutorials. Her new high school peers view her as a genuine beauty once she transfers there. The male lead Lee Suho is the only person who is aware of her secret. The love triangle between the three leads was highly concentrated in the webtoon, whilst Ju-schooling kyoung’s and her relationship with Suho were given more attention in the drama. Because it was more detailed, many folks voted that this K-drama is superior to the webtoon.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
School 2017
The third entry on this list is from the enduring School anthology series, which has aired in eight instalments since its 1999 debut. School 2017 follows a girl who dreams of being a webtoon artist and is caught up in the search of a mysterious prankster at her school. She also deals with the pressures of school while finding time to get caught up in a love triangle.
Where to watch: Zee5 (Hindi Dub) and Viki
Extraordinary You
What would you do if you found out that you were, in fact, a character in a comic? And an extra character on top of that? Change the course of the story, obviously! Eun Dan Oh is a 17-year-old high-school student from a wealthy family who suffers from a lifelong heart condition that inevitably means she will not live past her teenage years. However, when Dan Oh realizes she is experiencing long gaps in her memory as well, she comes to the unhappy realisation of another fact in her life: she is a character in a Korean webtoon and all of her actions are predetermined by the artist who draws her. To make matters worse, she discovers she is only a supporting character in the cast.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
