Tackling just as diverse an array of topics and genres as any medium, K-dramas have always been a flexible source of entertainment well before they became dominant among global audiences. While one may commonly associate K-dramas with romances like Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha or thrillers like Squid Game, the medium has long been far more than those still mystified by its 2021 boom. Naturally, one tried-and-true setting for countless K-dramas has been that of high school and college.
But once again, one should prepare to be pleasantly surprised by the variety of school K-dramas out there. Some involve metamorphic social journeys from outcast to icon, while others involve tackling the numerous systemic issues gumming the works and, in many cases, threatening the well-being of students and teachers alike. Just like any other genre, school K-dramas can reach some truly absurd premises, but the best advice continues to always be to allow whatever bonkers stories to unfold, as many of the best are reliably gems needing only a few episodes to leave their audiences utterly hooked.
15
Live On (2020)
A Teen-Drama show With Plenty Of Mystery
The coming-of-age drama Live On follows Baek Ho-rang (Jung Da-bin), a high school student who joins the school’s radio broadcasting club to hunt down the anonymous person who is threatening to expose her secrets. With its intriguing plot, Live On transforms the teen-drama show into a high-stakes mystery as the protagonist Ho-rang navigates friendship and love.
Live On also delves into how social media influencers like Ho-rang navigate their privacy and safety while maintaining an active digital persona. Jung Da-bin’s brilliant portrayal of Ho-rang, a young girl determined to find her cyberbully, makes her a compelling and sympathetic lead character who propels the show forward.
Live On keeps audiences entertained with the overarching mystery, lovable friendships, and the romantic tension between Ho-rang and Ko Eun-taek (Hwang Min-hyun), the perfectionist leader of the broadcasting club. Live On is an easy and entertaining watch that could’ve been elevated if the show added depth to the characters and themes.
14
Love Alarm (2019-2021)
Explores Love And Its Implications In The Digital World
Love Alarm is the quintessential love triangle teen K-drama set in a high school. The romance series is set in a world where a mobile app alerts users if anyone in their vicinity has romantic feelings towards them. Love Alarm is a surprisingly unique K-drama with a riveting blend of teen drama, romance, angst, and mystery.
It is a K-drama that forces audiences to explore what it means to love in the digital world.
Despite appearing like a generic romance-focused K-drama, Love Alarm has hidden depths and explores the ethics of an app that exposes people’s romantic feelings, privacy concerns, and the impact of social media on society. The portrayal of the titular app as becoming entrenched in South Korean society and its subsequent social ramifications gives the show a dystopian feel.
Love Alarm doesn’t shy away from the ethical implications of having social media become a huge part of life, love, and society. While the show initially suffered from a slow start, Love Alarm found its tone. It is a K-drama that forces audiences to explore what it means to love in the digital world.
13
Notes from the Last Row (2026)
A University Professor’s Tale Of Obsession And Manipulation
There are plenty of great school-themed K-dramas focused on love, self-actualization, and battling systemic issues. But when a show reels in Oldboy and I Saw the Devil star Choi Min-sik, one can reasonably expect a more transgressive psychological thriller in which one gives into their own misguided presumptions as a teacher clinging to relevance.
Heo Mun-oh (Choi Min-sik) is a Korean literature professor who, constantly reminded of his failure to become an established novelist unlike his peer, Kim Su-hun (Huh Joon-ho), only to find inspiration as he takes a promising student, Lee Kang (Choi Hyun-wook) under his wing. But as Mun-oh soon learns, Kang’s stories, as dark as they are, paint a more sinister picture the further Mun-oh is drawn in, especially with the growing connections to his own life within.
But Kang’s stories have an eerie manipulative element to them the further they’re unraveled, and the more Mun-oh learns about what goes into writing them. It becomes a slow-moving train wreck, one which Mun-oh can’t help but watch, only to become invested in seeing it go off the rails as this deeply fascinating postmodern story unfolds in just six episodes.
Extraordinary You is a fantasy romance K-drama about a high school girl who realizes she’s an extra in a comic book and sets off on a mission to change her fate. After Eun Dan-oh (Kim Hye-yoon) discovers that she’s an extra character whose destiny is having a life-threatening heart disease and being engaged to someone who hates her, she takes matters into her own hands and challenges her circumstances.
Dan-oh unexpectedly repeatedly runs into a nameless extra, who she later names Ha-ru (Rowoon) and the two slowly gain awareness and fall in love. Extraordinary You stands out from other K-dramas with its usage of creative visual storytelling to distinguish the world from the comic world.
The stylistic differences ensure that the show remains easy to follow as it flips between worlds. Unfortunately, despite a strong premise, incredible visuals, and passionate romance between the leads, Extraordinary You suffers by becoming repetitive and slow throughout the 32 episodes.
11
Reply 1997 (2012)
The Original Show That Inspired Two More Versions
Reply 1997 is the perfect K-drama for lovers of K-pop and teen dramas. The first series in the Reply anthology, Reply 1997 follows a group of six friends living in Busan across two timelines, from their school life as 18-year-olds in 1997 and their present-day lives as 33-year-olds at their high school reunion dinner in 2012.
The romance comedy K-drama explores the fan culture that blossomed in the 1990s as K-pop grew popular through the eyes of a teenage Sung Shi-won (Jung Eun-ji). Reply 1997 secured itself as a beloved K-drama with its LGBTQ+ representation, realistic and heartwarming portrayals of friendship, lovable characters, and hilarious comedic moments.
By jumping between two timelines, Reply 1997 built suspense and revealed information through flashbacks, keeping the show fresh and compelling. While the mystery of present-day Shi-won’s partner had a disappointing conclusion, the grounded friendship between the main characters throughout the years solidified the show as one of the best high-school K-dramas.
10
True Beauty (2020)
A Must-Watch K-drama That Doesn’t Minimize The Struggles Of High School
True Beauty is a coming-of-age romance K-drama following Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ka-young), a new high school student who was relentlessly bullied at her previous school for her appearance and transforms herself for the new school. Ju-kyung masters her makeup ability and is able to convince her new classmates that her new look is completely natural and hides her real face.
Armed with her transformed appearance and confident personality, Ju-kyung navigates her new life in school and a love triangle between two former friends, Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo) and Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-youp). While the K-drama True Beauty can be criticized for being predictable and filled with classic tropes, it artfully succeeds in exploring important themes of self-love and self-acceptance.
Moon Ka-young’s skillful portrayal of Ju-kyung made it easy to relate to her struggles with self-esteem, and her inspiring strength and kindness made her a badass K-drama female lead. With strong themes and compelling characters, True Beauty is a must-watch K-drama that doesn’t minimize the struggles of high school.
9
Go Back Couple (2017)
A Married Couple Wake Up In Their 20s Again
Go Back Couple is a thought-provoking K-drama that follows a married couple struggling with adulthood and daily life. As their professional and personal lives deteriorate, their relationship begins to fall apart as well. Choi Ban-do (Son Ho-jun) and Ma Jin-joo (Jang Na-ra) get a chance to fix their relationship after they wake up and find themselves in the past as 20-year-old university students.
Ban-do and Jin-joo are given a chance to relive their youth and reconsider their relationship as they travel to the past. Ban-do and Jin-joo’s relationship is a beautiful ode to the complexities of love and relationships.
Go Back Couple starts bleak as audiences witness the couple’s lives and marriage falling apart, however, the K-drama is also filled with heartwarming and joyful moments as Ban-do and Jin-joo learn to become a better couple. The touching tale of love in Go Back Couple perfectly encapsulates the intricacies of romance and relationships and the joys of navigating young love.
8
Our Beloved Summer (2021)
Strong And Realistic Character Relationships
The slice-of-life romantic K-drama Our Beloved Summer revolves around exes who are forced to reunite after a documentary they filmed 10 years ago goes viral. Our Beloved Summer is a tale of young love gone wrong and has one of the best romance tropes, enemies to lovers. The bickering exes’ tumultuous relationship is a constant source of entertainment and enjoyment, as Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-soo’s (Kim Da-mi) bad breakup leaves them at odds with each other.
Our Beloved Summer is a fun and hilarious adventure, elevated by the chemistry between Ung and Yeon-soo. The series follows the exes who learn to heal from past trauma and open up to each other, and their realistic and tension-filled relationship makes them a unique K-drama couple.
Our Beloved Summer has a simple plot and story and focuses on building strong and realistic character relationships instead of relying on plot twists and forced conflicts. With the intriguing couple who fell in love and fell apart when they were younger at the center of the focus, the K-drama solidifies itself as an entertaining and lighthearted show.
7
Pyramid Game (2024)
Driving The Mental & Physical Scars Of High School Life To Literal Extremes
In a pretty dire yet also upsettingly uncommon microcosm of South Korea’s systemic crisis surrounding bullying, Pyramid Game may hit close to some.
School life is rough enough without adding in a more overt interpretation of what happens when one sinks to the bottom of the barrel in terms of popularity, as this series features its monthly popularity vote, turning those ranking the lowest into targets for campus violence.
Pyramid Game is more than just being about fighting back. It’s about careful strategy, alliances, and understanding those surrounding Seong Su-ji (Kim Ji-yeon), a transfer student who starts at the bottom of the totem pole, as she realizes survival means moving up to the top of the pyramid, and whether she can topple it for good.
6
Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)
One Of The Highest-Rated Dramas In Korean TV History
Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a bittersweet coming-of-age K-drama that stole the hearts of audiences and became one of the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable TV history. The romantic K-drama follows the trials and tribulations of a young couple balancing their relationship and career.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One tells the story of the couple as flashbacks to 1998 show how the students met, began to fall in love, and how the couple’s relationship deteriorated over the years. Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a beautifully romantic K-drama that doesn’t prioritize having a happy ending over having a meaningful and realistic conclusion.
The relationship between Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri) and Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk) finds closure years after it ends, making the finale a love letter and farewell to their relationship. Hee-do and Yi-jin’s incredible onscreen chemistry solidifies them as one of the best K-drama couples, making their ending even more bittersweet.
