[NEWS] My top 6 new dramas (January Edition)

My top 6 new dramas (January Edition)

It's January, one of the months I've looked forward to the most in dramaland. There are tons of new dramas to look out for this month, and because we've now officially started 2016, I've decided to count down my top 6 dramas this time :)
Well, then ~ let's see what the start of 2016 has to offer, shall we?

6.                                          Moorim School (2016, South Korea)

Title: 무림학교
Genre: School, romance, drama, action
Episodes: 20
Broadcasting period: Jan 11th - March 15th

Starring Lee Hyun Woo (The beauty Inside, The Con Artist) (YES, THAT Lee Hyun Woo <- hyperventilating), and VIXX's Hong Bin, Moorim School tells the story of a not so "normal". It's a school that doesn't solely focus on high academic scores, it also teaches its students virtues including honesty, faith, sacrifice and communication. Everyone from the school comes from different countries and therefore have their own stories to tell.
Interesting fact: Alexander Eusebio that plays a supporting role in this drama, is a former U-Kiss member

I wish I could put this drama a lot higher on my list, since it has Lee Hyun Woo and Hong Bin (who, if you don't know, has a hidden acting talent, at least from what I've seen in VIXX's in the making of Music video- videos) but the story sounds kind of confusing to me, and nothing that makes me go "wow! this is so epic!" but I'm not one to judge a story based on the synopsis that doesn't even tell me much in the first place, so I'll see what I think after I've watched a few episodes.

5.                                      Madame Antoine (2016, South Korea)

Title: 마담 앙트완
Genre: drama, romance, psychological
Episodes: 16
Broadcasting period: Jan 22th - March 12th

Starring Han Ye Seul (Birth of a Beauty), Sung Joon (White Christmas, Shut Up Flower Boy Band), and Jung Jin Woon (Dream High 2, Marriage Not Dating) Madame Antoine is about Ko Hye Rim, a famous fortune-teller. She is known as "Madame Antoine" and insists that she is spiritually connected to Marie Antoinette, but that part is a lie. She can see through people and read their minds using "cold reading" as a technique (a set of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, mediums and illusionists to imply that the reader knows much more about the person than the reader actually does). She dreams of having love in a romantic film. She decides to takes part in a psychological test project conducted by psychotherapist Choi Soo Hyun . His goal is to prove that true love does not exist. Coincidentally, the name for his psychological treatment center is Madame Antoine.

After months and months of postponing and delay, seems like Madame Antoine is finally going to air! It certainly helped build up the hype so I'm curious to see if the story can live up to all the expectations, the cast is certainly not lacking, that's for sure! 

4.                                             Local Hero (2016, South Korea)

Title: 동네의 영웅/Neighborhood's Hero
Genre: drama, action
Episodes: 16
Broadcasting period: Jan 23th - March 13th

The drama Starrs Park Shi Hoo (The Princess' Man), Lee Soo Hyuk (High School King Of Savy, The Schoolar Who Walks At Night), Girls' Generation's Kwon Yu Ri (Fashion King) and Jo Sung Ha (The King's Family) and is about Baek Shi Yoon, an ex-secret agent and a well-trained human weapon. Hiding his past, he buys the bar "Neighborhood" and runs it is as the owner. He gets close to the neighborhood regulars at his bar and sympathizes with their pain. One day, Shi Yoon meets a young man who works as a temporary employee, but who wants to become a police officer. Shi Yoon then decides to trains him as a secret agent and they fight together against evil.

Let me start off by saying that this is Park Shi Hoo's grand return to dramaland or actually, to the acting scene as a whole, and controversies aside, I am SUPER GLAD, he is back. The guy has some serious talent and that is what I'm judging when I watch a drama. This drama gives me some kind of super-hero-wibe and it sounds rather unique so I'm definitely going to check it out! Lee Soo Hyuk blew minds as the smexy vampire villain in The Schoolar Who Walks At Night, and I can't wait to see him kick ass as a secret agent! *_* Kwon Yu Ri stole the spotlight when she acted in Fashion King, so I hope she'll do an equally good job in this drama! Overall, cast looks epic, story sounds interesting. This is a must-check-out!

3.                                      Jang Yeong Shil (2016, South Korea)

Title: 장영실
Genre: drama, historical
Episodes: 24
Broadcasting period: Jan 2th - March 20th

Starring Song Il Gook (Jumong), Park Sun Young (Ladies of Storm), Kim Sang Kyung (White Christmas, What happens to my family?) and Kim Yeong Cheol (Life is Beautiful) the Drama follows the life of Jang Yeong Shil: a scientist, technician and inventor during the Joseon period. Jang Yeong Shil was born in the lower class but King Sejong noticed his abilities and brought him to the palace where he invented tools like astronomical instruments, iron printing press and a water clock.

A few of the main actors are veteran historical actors so this will no doubt be an amazing historical (fun fact, but Kim Sang Kyung has played King Sejong twice now, I guess the guy is just amazing as King Sejong that he keeps getting the role hehe xP). This is a pretty good drama to watch if you've seen King Sejong the great, or if you're looking for something to watch as a sort-of continuation of Six Flying Dragons and Three with deep roots!  

2.                                                 Signal (2016, South Korea)

Title: 시그널/Memories of Murder
Genre:  Thriller, Mystery, Fantasy
Episodes: 16
Broadcasting period: Jan 22th - March 12th

Starring Lee Je Hoon (Fashion King, Secret Door), Kim Hye Soo (Queen of Office) and Jo Jin Woong (Beyond The Clouds) Signal is the drama remake of Bong Joon Ho’s 2003 hit movie “The Memories of Murder” which was inspired by the true case of the Hwaseong serial murders that occurred between 1986 and 1991, which claimed the lives of 10 women ranging from a 71 year-old grandmother to a 13 year old schoolgirl. The rapist-serial killer was never caught and the case remains a mystery until this day (it's actually so mysterious that it ended up in the top 20 most notorious unsolved serial murder cases in history). In the drama, detectives from the present (Cha Soo Hyun and Park Hae Young) and Lee Jae Han, a detective from the past, communicate via walkie-talkie to solve this long-time unsolved case.

Wow, just wow. Fantasy time-travel, and thriller-mystery in one story? It's like God's Gift only more creepy because this is actually based on a true story. Fans of Gap Dong and The original movie The memories of Murder, be prepared, because this one will surely be just as amazing! *_* I know I'm definitely going to watch this as soon as it starts airing! I'm a bit sad that there won't be any Ryu Tae Oh (Lee Joon) in this version, but who knows what the drama has in store, perhaps it'll even surpass Gap Dong in epicness? Guess we'll have to wait and see ~ 

1.                                        Cheese In The Trap (2016, South Korea)

Title: 치즈인더트랩
Genre: romance, comedy, slice of life, manhwa, psychological
Episodes: 16
Broadcasting period: Jan 4th - February 23th

Starring Park Hae Jin (You Who Came From The Star), Kim Ga Eun (Monster), Seo Kang Joon (Cunning Single Lady) and Nam Joo Hyuk (Who Are You: School 2015), the drama is about Hong Sul, who returns to college after a year long break, but due to her family's poor background and hard-working over-achiever, inadvertently gets on the wrong side of Yoo Jung. He is her senior, an athletic and good looking guy, who gets good grades and has a kind personality, but also hides a dark side. From then on her life takes a turn for the worse and Sul is almost certain it was all Yoo Jung's doing. So why is he suddenly acting so friendly a year later?

This is not usually my favorite genre in dramaland, but the story sounds so damn amazing that I've been anticipating it since the beginning of time (or when it was first announced, xD)! The cast...just look at the cast! I don't see why anyone shouldn't give this drama a try! I actually even wanted to read the manhwa before it started airing, but with all the hectic stuff going on around Christmas and New Year, I didn't have time to :s Some people already call it the best drama to come out in 2016, I think it's still to early to say that, especially sine it hasn't even aired yet. But die-hard fans of the webtoon are definitely adding to the hype. Gosh, I'm so excited! -starts jumping around like a crazy high-on-sugar- bunny-  


That's it for my top 6 upcoming january dramas of 2016! What dramas are you looking forward to? Are they on this list? Leave a comment below and let me know :D