Love Shuffle is about four neighbours, polar opposites in personality and leading very different lives. One night, the four of them are trapped in an elevator, which strikes up a friendship between them, but also a plan to experiment with love by shuffling their relationships around and seeing what happens.
Personally, it's the friendship between the main four characters that I love so much, but seeing all the potential and final relationships between all eight main characters was intriguing. Some of them were friends and some weren't, but either way Love Shuffle can be classed as a friends-to-lovers romance - just don't ask me why, or I could potential spoil some of the best plot twists of the show.
8. Twenty Again
8. Twenty Again
Twenty Again stars Choi Ji-woo as Ha No-ra, a woman who fell into a whirlwind romance at nineteen and became pregnant, which resulted in a quick marriage and a life solely focused around being the perfect mother and wife. Now, with her son about to start university and her husband eager to divorce her, No-ra realises how much of her life she's wasted and signs up for university.
Twenty Again is a great story about seizing opportunities and living life for yourself, but Cha Hyun-seok, university professor and No-ra's guardian angel, made the story even sweeter. He knew her back before her life was turned upside down - she was his first love, and he was devastated when he found out why she'd disappeared all those years ago. No-ra didn't go to university hoping she'd fall in love, but her reunion with Hyun-seok taught her so much about herself and helped her to grow as a person, which was fantastic to watch.
7. Proposal Daisakusen/Operation Proposal
On the day of his best friend Yoshida Rei's wedding, Iwase Ken is full of regret. It took him too long to realise that he loves her, and now it's too late to do anything about it. However, Ken is given one last chance when a fairy presents him with an opportunity to go back in time to all the moments shown in the wedding photo slide and maybe change his fate.
It almost felt like Rei and Ken's long time friendship had cemented the fact that they couldn't be together for most of the drama. The feelings were there, but the timing was all wrong - when Rei loved Ken, he didn't notice, and when Ken loved Rei, she had already given up. Ken's perseverance just made me want him to get lucky for a change. Whilst I don't like Rei enough for this to be one of my favourite romances, what Proposal Daisakusen said about love and relationships still sticks with me.
6. Healer
Healer is about many things, I can't even begin to describe the awesomeness of the plot. It's about how a five friends were torn apart by jealousy and murder, and how the survivors of the tragedy are dealing with their lives now. But mostly it's about a scarred night corrier with ninja skills who would be happiest on an island by himself, and how he meets a quirky reporter who saves him more than he could ever save her.
The funny thing about Healer is that Healer had to compete with himself for Young-shil's attention. On one hand, he's the mysterious faceless stranger she can't help but dream about, but he's also beside her on a day to day basis with hearts in his eyes. It's just a matter of getting her to see it.
5. I Remember You/Hello Monster
Professor and criminal profiler Lee Hyun lost his father and brother to a serial killer. He's been living in America, but when a hint comes his way that suggests his brother might be trying to get his attention, Hyun flies back and starts piecing together the clues. He joins a violent crimes team, which coincidently his stalker Cha Ji-an is a part of, and together they come closer to finding the serial killer that has so dramatically affected both of their lives.
Regarding romance, Hyun had far bigger fish to fry. The reason the romantic side of the story was so nice was that it was never angsty or melodramatic - they needed each other, they became friends, they supported each other, and then they fell in love. Usually romantic angst is dragged out, but even if that's more entertaining, in real life it would be far nicer if your most trusted confidant was also the love of your life.
4. Shopping King Louie
Louie is a rich boy who's spent his entire life secluded in France, since his grandmother is so superstitious that she thinks he'll die if he's anywhere near her. When she collapses, he makes his way to Korea, but in an accident he loses his memory, and the people who knew him assume he died. At the low point of his life, Louie meets country girl Bok-shil, in the city searching for her missing brother, and they start living together.
What I love the most about Shopping King Louie is that Bok-shil and Louie basically loved each other from day one. There were no bad beginnings - as people who both had no where to go in the world, they quickly bonded and did their best to navigate an unfamiliar world together. They wanted to give everything they had to each other, and that's what it means to be soulmates.
3. Delightful Girl Choon-hyang
When teenage rebel Lee Mong-ryong comes to town, Song Choon-hyang's life takes a turn for the worst. After a misunderstanding where Mong-ryong unknowingly drinks wine and climbs into Choon-hyang's bed, their parents decide to marry them even though they're only teenagers. The two hate this plan, so they become allies and stick together until the day they can divorce.
Although the fact that it's many, many years later that Mong-ryong and Choon-hyang are actually able to be together frustrates me, it highlight something interesting about friends-to-lovers romances. The two of them met when they were probably the most immature they could possibly be (especially Mong-ryong - I will watch this drama again and again for his timelessly funny expressions) and it wasn't until the two of them were mature that they could accept the fact that they loved each other and probably always would.
2. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo
Weightlifting Fairy is about national athletes finding their place in the world and dealing with first love. Kim Bok-joo is a weightlifter, and she's never had to deal with love before in her love, it was never on her agenda when she was a teenager. Lifting weights was her entire life until she met Jung Joon-hyung, who was once her primary school classmate and is now the bane of her existance. After falling in love with his cousin, Bok-joo had to learn how to navigate her new feelings without losing herself and her identity.
The relationship between Bok-joo and Joon-hyung felt so easy and real. When they were friends they were comfortable, and after they fell in love they couldn't get enough of each other. And that's honestly all there is to it.
1. Buzzer Beat
Basketball player Kamiya Naoki is underpaid and has no confidence in games. Violinist Shirakawa Riko can't catch a break. These two meet and become the other's first real fan, whilst trying to handle romantic relationships with other people.
Basketball player Kamiya Naoki is underpaid and has no confidence in games. Violinist Shirakawa Riko can't catch a break. These two meet and become the other's first real fan, whilst trying to handle romantic relationships with other people.
Buzzer Beat isn't my favourite romantic-comedy for no reason. These two overcome the awkwardness of being new acquaintances. It was fun watching them share everything with each other and develop their own little inside jokes. They had to learn how to rely on each other, and once they did the line between friendship and more than that started to blur. The signs were there - they didn't just want to support each other, they wanted to make each other happy.
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