In celebration of its 21st anniversary, Joy News 24, a high-level entertainment economic magazine, conducted a survey from October 13 to 19, asking viewers about the best Kdramas of 2025, variety shows, films, actors, and singers who shone in 2025.
The survey included 110 specialists in the field, including entertainment and broadcast company staff, film and content producers, and entertainment reporters. The results were presented by category.
K‑drama is the focal point of increasing interest in Korean culture. Beyond local audiences, Korean dramas have gained a global following and established themselves as a distinct genre. Interestingly, instead of trying to meet the needs of global audiences, works that blend Korean settings, themes, and culture with distinctive Korean sentiment succeed in the global market. Works selected by local viewers for their high quality have also achieved success in the global market.
The dramas When Life Gives You Tangerines and Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, which embodies the essence of Korean cuisine, captured the attention of industry professionals, ranking first and second in the “Best Dramas of the Year” survey. Here is a summary of the top 7 survey results:
- When Life Gives You Tangerines – 48 votes
- Bon Appétit, Your Majesty – 18 votes
- The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call – 10 votes
- You and Everything Else – 9 votes
- Our Unwritten Seoul – 7 votes
- Such an Intimate Traitor – 3 votes
Several other dramas, including The Light Shop, Queen of Crustaceans, Resident Playbook, and Squid Game Seasons 2 & 3, received two votes each.
Other mentioned series included: My Troublesome Star, Low Life, A Hundred Memories, Haunted Palace, Hyper Knife, Nine Puzzles, My Youth, Heaven Ever After, Jeongnyeon, and Aema.
Meanwhile, When Life Gives You Tangerines, a Netflix production, tells the life story of the rebellious girl Ae‑Sun (played by IU), born on Jeju Island, and the “iron man” Gwan‑Sik (played by Park Bo-gum), over four seasons. The drama received enthusiastic responses and wide acclaim thanks to writer Im Sang‑choon’s distinctive humane narrative style, moving dialogue, unique characters, the precise direction of Kim Won‑sok, and the passionate performances of the actors.
The series Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is a fantasy-romantic comedy about survival, centered on chef Yoon Ji‑Yong, who time-travels to the past and meets King Lee Hyun (played by Lee Chai-min), a man of refined taste. The series achieved a 4.9% rating in its first episode and continued its sharp rise. The final episode reached a record 17.1% rating (Nielsen Korea nationwide), breaking its own record. This is not only the highest rating for tvN this year but also the highest among all mini-series aired in 2025.
Comments from Korean internet users on theqoo:
- “I also watched When Life Gives You Tangerines and Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, they were really fun.”
- “I’ve only watched three so far: When Life Gives You Tangerines, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty, The Trauma Code.”
- “Eunjung and Sangyeon ㅠㅠㅠㅠ became the drama of my life.”
- “Recommendation: Eunjung and Sangyeon, Such an Intimate Traitor.”
- “When Life Gives You Tangerines and Severe Trauma Center.”
- “By the way, it’s such a pity that Squid Game 2 & 3 got only a few votes.”
- “Bon Appétit, Your Majesty”
- “When Life Gives You Tangerines”
- “Yes, indeed When Life Gives You Tangerines is the best.”
- “Our Unwritten Seoul!!”
- “Our Unwritten Seoul was really good.”
- “The Light Shop was okay but a bit disappointing.”
- “Our Unwritten Seoul became the drama of my life.”
- “When Life Gives You Tangerines, Our Unwritten Seoul, Eunjung and Sangyeon — but among the four, I think Our Unwritten Seoul is the best for me, seriously watch them all.”
What do you think?
