If you know me then you know that I’m a huge nerd. I track the shit out of everything that I do so that I can keep track of what I’m spending my time on. When I was reading a hundred books a year, I tracked what I was reading, what genres I was reading the most and least of, and now that I’m really into watching k-dramas, as you can guess, I tracked my k-drama watching.
This is the second year of me watching pretty much all Korean dramas and I’m pretty sure that this blog is going to turn into my little k-drama blog so please look forward to that. When I first started watching k-dramas, I binge-watched dramas back to back to back. I never watched any of the dramas that were airing weekly but 2021 changed that. This last year, I mostly watched the newer dramas that were airing new episodes every week. I’m pretty sure I’ll be following that same format in 2022 as I like having episodes to look forward to.
Anyway, let’s break this year down, shall we?
Quick Stats of the Year
Dramas Watched:: 54 | Episodes Watched: 637
Favorite Drama: Racket Boys | Least Favorite Drama: Nevertheless
The Breakdown
By Month
January: 3
February: 4
March: 4
April: 1
May: 4
June: 3
July: 4
August: 10
September: 4
October: 8
November: 4
December: 3
I spent less time binge-watching shows even though I was always watching shows. I watched the most shows in the month of August, did I finish all of those shows? Nope, but I did try to. In April, I only watched one show but that makes sense since I was knee-deep into watching the anime Haikyuu around that time. So I averaged around 3-4 shows a month. That’s not bad.
By Genre
Contemporary: 29
Drama – Suspense: 8
Dystopian: 1
Fantasy: 8
Historical: 5
Horror: 2
As you can tell, I really enjoy modern-day storytelling so a huge chunk of the dramas that I watched this past year was contemporary. I love romantic comedies, high school romances, college romances, and just all of the romances. I do take brief breaks to watch dramas, crime thrillers, and some horror stuff so it’s not all sunshine and rainbows or anything like that. I’m wondering if that theme will carry on into the new year since I’m a lot more into horrors, fantasies, and historicals lately. I guess I’ll see…
By Source
Disney +: 0
iQiy: 2
Netflix: 25
Viki: 29
Most of the shows that I’m watching are on Viki. I do watch a fair share amount of dramas on Netflix but it’s not surprising to me at all that I watched the most shows on Viki. I’m making my monthly subscriptions well worth the money I’m spending on them and I’m good with that.
Overall, I didn’t really have a goal for how many shows I wanted to watch last year. My vibe was more, do what I want and I watched a good mix of shows that were quality ways to spend my time so I’m not mad at all.
Here’s a look at my favorites and least favorites of the year…
My Favorites and Least Favorites of the Year
Favorite Dramas
These are my top shows of the year. I adored and enjoyed each of these so much. Racket Boys was such a wholesome show that I looked forward to every week. Taxi Driver made me cry a lot but I really came to love the Rainbow Taxi crew, most especially Kim Do Ki and I’m looking forward to season 2. The Uncanny Counter was another show that I enjoyed every minute of. I can’t wait for the second season.
Least Favorite Dramas
I tried to watch all three of these shows and failed. I couldn’t connect with the characters, I hated what was going on in the show and I felt pretty confident that they weren’t for me pretty early on so I quit them all. Yeah, just not my jam.
Favorite Characters
Kim Do Ki from Taxi Driver
Yoon Sae Bom from Happiness
Lee Dam from My Roommate is a Gumiho
There were quite a few characters that I loved this year but these three were my top 3 favorites. I adored each of them for different reasons. Kim Do Ki’s story was a hard one but man, the person he was in Taxi Driver and seeing him care for those that couldn’t care for themselves and throw himself into danger left and right to make the bad guys pay just..gah. I loved him. Yoon Sae Bom was the girl version of Kim Do Ki. She had a strong moral compass and she did what was right no matter how unpopular that made her. I loved her relationship with Yi Hyun and Seo Yoon and I loved how fiercely she loved and cared for them. Lee Dam wasn’t a fighter like Do Ki and Seo Bom but she loved and cared for her loved ones just as fiercely. I loved that she wasn’t perfect but she tried to do right by everyone. I just loved her to pieces.
Honorary Mentions: Yi Hyun from Happiness, Chief Hong from Hometown Cha Cha Cha, and Choi Taek from Reply 1988. I loved all three of these guys.
Least Favorite Characters
The Building Rep from Happiness
Joon Young’s Mom in Uncontrollaby Fond
Yoo Jin’s brother in Just Between Lovers
I spent a lot of time wanting to smack the shit out of these three characters. The Building Rep in Happiness for being a piece of shit human who didn’t care about anyone or anything but keeping secrets. Joon Young’s Mom in Uncontrollably Fond made me want to throw hands every single episode she was in and don’t even get me started on Yoo Jin’s brother in Just Between Lovers. Just…I hated all three of these bitches with a fiery rage of a thousand suns.
Favorite New to Me Actors of 2021
Favorite New to Me Actresses of 2021
I always know you’re good for giving me new k dramas to put on my radar so I’m happy you’ve kept track of them all so I don’t have to do the work! I already had Racket Boys on my list (it’s a long list) but Taxi Driver and The Uncanny Counter I don’t have on there so I will definitely be checking those out too. Hopefully you watch a lot more shows this year so I have more recs.
Hey, I live to serve. LOL! I’m trying to find a balance between watching kdramas and getting back into the groove of reading. Wish me luck though! Haha.