Women are divine creatures. Women are awesome. You know what else is awesome? K-dramas with strong female leads–that’s our new standard. 

If you love watching powerful women take care of business, all the while upholding bad bitches status, please, take a seat and grab a snack. I’ve got some women leading K-dramas to share with you.

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Summary

This women leading K -drama is marvelous, unprecedented, and exhilarating. It swept me off my feet and I have not felt the ground since. From the writing to the color-grade to the cinematography, every single aspect of this drama is brilliant, especially, ESPECIALLY the plot. I was super impressed with the story and the meticulous effort in even the smallest details. This show stood out significantly because it’s different from anything I’ve seen before.

Female Leads

First off, the lead roles are all played by women. All three of them. They are all intelligent, intimidating, headstrong, and beautiful women who are the higher ups in the tech world. They drive Rolls Royces, drip or drown is their mantra–no seriously, their wardrobe is quite sumptuous–and my favorite part is that men work for and cater to them. Personally, I had never seen any drama executed in this manner. The women lead the entirety of the show in the space where we usually see men dominate. It was extremely refreshing to watch.  There was never any point during the drama where I felt unsatisfied with how the storyline was going. I was kept on my toes and entertained. The tension, the drama, the laughter, the butterflies… This drama gave me EVERYTHING. IT IS SO DAMN GOOD. I will never get over this for as long as I live.

Another reason I love this drama so much is that it’s never about love between lovers. Yes, the love storylines are present. However, they’re supplemental, not essential. The men in this show are literally just hanging out and vibing. They don’t interfere with the women’s work. They support the women and stay in their lane, as they should.

Hotel Del Luna

Let me tell you: this is an absolutely stellar piece of work. Watching this was an adventure. Everyday, I wish I could go back to the time when I first started watching it so I could experience it all over again. How dare they write and produce a show LIKE THIS. 

It stars I.U.

This drama stars I.U., AKA the love of my life. She literally does no wrong and all angles are her good angles. An angel on Earth. Okay, enough about I.U. and more about the drama. This one is more for my fantasy loving girlies, with a little bit of spookiness added in for some razzle dazzle. I.U. plays an ill-tempered, materialistic hotel owner Jang Manwol, who suffers from rapacity and narcissism. Jang Manwol is the CEO of Hotel del Luna, a hotel for ghosts that exists in between our world and the afterworld. She’s not in that position because she did something great in her past life and was rewarded that role; it’s actually the opposite. She committed a heinous crime in her past life and being anchored to that hotel is her punishment in the afterlife.

And Jang Manwol!

It’s so fun watching Jang Manwol because on the surface she comes off as stern and aloof. But as the show progresses, we start to see the layers of her character unveil and one can’t help but to grow more fond of and sympathize with her. She’s a lot to unpack and the journey to her core is extremely satisfying. Jang Manwol is easily my favorite fictional character of all time. She’s hilarious, witty, powerful, kind (may be hard to believe at first), protective of her people, smart, unmistakably fearless, and the list goes on and on. I think why I love Jang Manwol so much is in the way she cares for and loves her people, she does it in a tough love manner and that’s how I operate as well, so in that similarity I was able to understand her character on a deeper level. 

The Comedy

Another thing I want to mention about this drama is the comedy, it’s actually hysterical because Manwol literally fights against ghosts and demons to protect Gu Chansung (Yeo Jingoo), her love interest, and his way of protecting her as a non-magic yielder is by scolding at her for being financially irresponsible and managing her appalling financial habits. 

Anyway, please watch this drama, it’ll be the best 16 hours of your life and will invoke all existing emotions in you, possibly even the ones you’ve never felt before. And once you’ve experienced this drama, please say thank you I.U. as she played this role flawlessly for us. After you’ve expressed your gratitude for I.U., please stream eight (produced by and feature SUGA of BTS *screaming*) by her on Spotify. 

SKY Castle

Summary

SKY is an acronym used to refer to the three most prestigious universities in South Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. The castle is the exquisite neighborhood families of alumni reside in. The premise of this show is basically parents are willing to do anything and everything to get their kids in the top school. It sounds so simple, but when you watch it, the simplicity quickly transforms into unimaginable complexity, all the while giving you a small glimpse into the reality behind closed doors: all the masked corruptive effort such as bribery and mental abuse. 

This show is in its own league because it covers quite a serious topic that affects the majority of the younger population. Although it’s been dramatized a bit, it makes valid points and shines light on a dark subject that needs to be addressed sooner or later. 

Execution

The execution is flawless and the production is literally perfect in every aspect. Listen, I took one (1) production course in college so trust me, I know what I’m talking about. The plot is bat shit crazy you guys and I couldn’t be more happy with the cast. 

The ladies are badass

The ladies of this show did what they needed to do. They came. They saw. And they conquered the hell out of it. Their acting is the most top tier shit I have ever seen and experienced. Their anger, their fears, their vulnerability, their tears; the acting is so superb to the point that I was able to somehow submerge myself deeply in those emotions to almost give myself a first-hand experience, like I was also in those situations myself.

I wish there was a way I could properly articulate how much I appreciate the acting using colorful words, but there’s no way. This is something you have to watch to know what I’m talking about. I remember I cried a lot along with the actresses because they went above and beyond just acting. They embodied the emotions in the story in such a way that their acting, paradoxically, seemed so authentic and pure, and those emotions are so authentic and pure that they pierce through the lens and TV screens. 

The villain

I was terribly afraid of villain Kim Joo-Young (Kim Seo-Hyung), yet I couldn’t hate her. She is so complex and there are many layers to unravel of her character. Joo-Young has a default grim expression. She rarely smiles, and when she does, it’s so empty and cold and not to sound dramatic but I just shivered at the thought of her smiling. She has such a force to her, you can’t help but feel uneasy whenever she’s around–or in my case, whenever she was on screen. That’s how well Seo-Hyung played this character. 

The ladies in SKY Castle rewrote my criteria for a good drama. I’m never settling. And also, this show lent me a new perspective on the education system. Although it takes place in Korea, the events seem realistic and general enough to happen here in America. I mean, we’ve had the college admissions cheating scandal come to surface, and I’m sure that’s just a fraction of it, but that’s besides the point. Watch SKY Castle, you will thank me for it.

And that concludes my fan-girl session over bad ass women in K-drama. If you give any of these a watch, please let us know on Twitter @GeekGalsCo how you liked it!

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Featured image credit: tvN