God, I love time-travel drama, and I'm crazily excited for Tomorrow With You, a drama starring Lee Je-hoon which will air first-thing next year. In addition, Scarlet Heart: Goryeo is coming out soon, so with all the time-travel to look forward to I figured I'd make a list of other shows that will satisfy me - and perhaps you - until then.
Firstly, I've got Splish Splash Love. This is a two episode mini-drama that came out early this year. It stars Kim Seul-gi and Yoon Doo-joon as a stressed schoolgirl and the king she falls in love with. The girl, Jang Dan-bi, discovers the ability to travel back in time on a rainy day, and finds herself in the Joseon era where she meets the king Yi Do. She is initally mistaken for a man and is forced to serve in the palace, but when she and the king fall in love other problems start to surface. It's a bittersweet story of a love that can't exist unless Dan-bi sacrifices her other life to stay with him, something King's advisors are desperate to ensure doesn't happen.
Faith, starring the ridiculously popular Lee Min-ho and Kim Hee-sun, is a drama set in the Goryeo era, which was about six-hundred years ago. When the King and Queen are returning from Yuan (China), they are attacked and the Queen is fatally injured. In desperation, the King addresses an old rumour about a portal to Heaven which a legendary doctor travelled through many years ago, and he sends the royal bodyguard Choi Young to travel through and find a doctor. Little do they know, the portal actually brings him to modern-day Seoul, and Choi Young kidnaps a former surgeon turned plastic surgeon and heal the Queen. When the portal closes, she finds herself trapped in the past. This isn't one of the better time-travel shows, but it's definitely gripping.
I've actually written a review of Rooftop Prince, but my opinion of the show has changed slightly since then. This is about a king (what else) who finds his beloved Queen dead and, when he and his sidekicks travel to the future by mistake, he uses it as an opportunity to find out why she died. This forces him to impose on Park-ha, an ordinary girl who just happens to be unfortunate enough to own the rooftop flat they materalise in. While I find this show charming and back-breakingly funny (seriously, it's so funny), it's also so frustrating. The murderous villain can't murder, the heroine almost died in both extreme heat and extreme cold, several plotlines go unresolved - but who cares since the romance is cute? Finally, the show has a questionable ending which you have to be a glass-half-full kind of person to appreciate. Luckily I am.
Proposal Daisakusen, or Operation Proposal, is the only Japanese drama on this list, and I've heard that the Korean adaptation isn't quite to the same standard so I refuse to watch it. This is the story of Iwase Ken, who is attending his long-time friend's wedding. Unfortunately, he's in love with her and regrets not pursuing her before it was too late. This is when he meets a fairy, who gives him the power to travel back in time and correct some of the moments where he wronged her. I'm not a fan of the female lead, I found her character annoying, but this show is worth it for Ken's journey alone. Again, the ending is kind of frustrating, so make sure to watch the special episode.
I'm really saving the best for last here with Nine: Nine Time Travels. This, and the last drama on the list, are written by the same person, who is my idol. The story revolves around Park Sun-woo, a news anchor who finds out his older brother died in the Himalayas whilst searching for nine incense sticks would grant him the power to travel back twenty years in time whilst they burn, and perhaps help him fix his past. Sun-woo manages to aquire these sticks, and starts to use them. But time-travel ultimately ruins his life when a change he makes ends up turning the woman he loves into his niece. It continues to backfire over and over again, until Sun-woo starts to wish he never found the incense in the first place. This drama is a masterpiece; the universe is intriguing, the characters are complex, and the ending is mystifying and tragic but leaves you feeling hopeful.
Finally, my favourite, Queen In-hyun's Man. Starring Ji Hyun-woo and Yoo In-na, who actually fell in love whilst filming the drama, 'Queen In-hyun's Man' is about scholar Kim Boong-do who is a devoted supporter of Queen In-hyun, who was deposed from the throne and replaced by a scheming concubine. A friend give shim a talisman to protect him from danger, but it does more than that - whenever Boong-do brushes death, the talisman throws him three-hundred years into the future. There he meets Choi Hee-jin, a no-name actress who becomes his trusted allie. They later fall in love, but the talisman soon becomes the biggest obstacle to their happiness. This drama is adorable, funny and clever. It's probably one of the best romantic-comedies of all time.
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