9 K-Dramas on Netflix About Loving Yourself
Make some time for self-care ♡
The pandemic is changing all of our lives and makes us feel more apart than ever before. At the same time, it’s become more important than ever to take care of our health and wellbeing. The good news is many of us are focusing on building closer relationships with friends and family while also spending time on self-love. Here are some dramas that show characters learning to love themselves more while building meaningful relationships.
Was It Love?
Noh Ae-jeong (Song Ji-hyo) is a passionate and hardworking woman in Was It Love? However, she blocks off romance for 14 years choosing to focus on her daughter and career instead. Fate brings four potential suitors to Ae-jeong and compels her to consider her love life. Now is the time for Ae-jeong to make romance a bigger priority in her life and further build upon her happy life.
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
At first glance, people wouldn’t think the main characters of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay need to love themselves better. Ko Mun-yeong (Seo Yea-ji) is arrogant and beautiful, but she’s haunted by her mother calling her a monster. Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) is kind and gentle, but he felt deprived of his mother’s love. Both characters learn to heal and love themselves better in the process of falling for each other.
The Master’s Sun
Tae Gong-shil (Kong Hyo-jin) wakes up from a coma, unable to escape terrifying ghosts until she meets shopping mall CEO Ju Joong-won (So Ji-sub) in The Master’s Sun. When she touches him, ghosts miraculously disappear. While it seems ridiculous, Gong-shil does whatever she can to stay near Joong-won in order to avoid ghosts. Her actions end up healing both of them as she helps him solve the mysterious death of his first love. As for Gong-shil, she moves on from her once reclusive life and is able to accept her ability.
My ID Is Gangnam Beauty
My ID Is Gangnam Beauty’s protagonist Kang Mi-rae (Lim Soo-hyang) undergoes cosmetic procedures before starting university due to deeply rooted insecurities about her appearance. She becomes beautiful by society’s standards, but remains insecure because people can easily tell she’s had procedures done. Former high school classmate Do Kyung-seok (Cha Eun-woo) knows about Mi-rae’s past and loves her for who she is on the inside. Gradually, Mi-rae learns to love herself regardless of her appearance and treat herself as the precious person she is.
She Was Pretty
Ji Sung-joon (Park Seo-jun) and Kim Hye-jin (Hwang Jung-eum) are childhood friends who experience reversed fates in She Was Pretty. Hye-jin was lucky in physical appearance and economic status in childhood, but Sung-joon is the one who is attractive and rich in adulthood. Due to her insecurities, Hye-jin asks her beautiful friend Min Ha-ri to pretend to be her in her place. There’s a lot of fun hijinks, but the reunited friends realize that their connection is more important than external factors. More importantly, Hye-jin becomes more confident and believes in herself.
Still 17
In Still 17, Woo Seo-ri (Shin Hye-sun) falls into a coma and wakes up 13 years later. She has to adjust to life as a 30-year-old adult despite feeling like a teenager. On the other hand, Gong U-jin (Yang Se-jong) suffers from PTSD and extreme guilt about supposedly being responsible for the death of his crush. U-jin helps Seo-ri move on and pursue her dreams. Likewise, Seo-ri helps U-jin overcome his guilt and stop blaming himself.
Oh My Ghost
Oh My Ghost features Na Bong-seon (Park Bo-young) who is immensely shy and has low self-esteem. She can also see ghosts and experiences difficulty with getting adequate sleep. Becoming possessed by ghost Shin Sun-ae (Kim Seul-gi), Bong-seon becomes a completely different person and actively pursues men including Bong-seon’s crush Chef Kang Seon-u (Cho Jung-seok). Both women live vicariously through one another which helps Bong-seon love herself and gain confidence.
I Am Not a Robot
Kim Min-kyu (Yoo Seung-ho) has a severe allergy to other people in I Am Not a Robot. Isolated and lonely, he finds companionship with Jo Ji-Ah (Chae Soo-bin) who pretends to be a robot named Aji-3. Through their friendship and later romance, Min-kyu heals and tries to conquer his illness. The mutual nurturing helps both characters grow and helps Min-kyu escape his isolation by gaining new friends.
Beauty Inside
Beauty Inside centers on two people with rare conditions. Han Se-gye (Seo Hyun-jin) is an actress whose appearance randomly changes at certain times a month. Seo Do-jae (Lee Min-ki) has prosopagnosia which is the inability to recognize faces. Both experience difficulty accepting and living with their conditions. However, they’re able to acknowledge it as a part of their identities as they help each other and accept one another.
Watch all of your favourite K-dramas, now streaming on Netflix.
Images Courtesy of Netflix
