Crossing the barrier of culture and languages, some particular kinds of stories touch our hearts and make them heavy. We get connected with the story so much that we can feel every emotion, we smile when the characters smile or cry when the characters cry. Emotional dramas allow us mostly to connect deeply with the storyline and the characters who feel like old friends, offering glimpses into the joys and sorrows of life. They sometimes become our teachers who give us the best lessons of our lives. And for this purpose I will give you the must-watch most emotional Kdrama list. Here in my writing, I am going to highlight some of the most emotional dramas that will compel you to understand the real ups and downs of life.
Criteria for Selection a drama as an emotional one
Before listing the most emotional dramas let us make a brief list of the criteria of a drama that makes a drama a successful emotional piece. Those are:
- Complex Characters
- Strong Bonding or Relationship
- Universal Themes
- Touch on Real-life Experiences
- Focusing on personal challenges or struggles
- Memorable Moments
- Tear-Jerking Scenes
- Unexpected Plot Twists
- Music That Enhances Emotion
- Visual Storytelling
- Fan Response
- Lasting Emotional Impact
These are the basic things that make a drama successful as a heartbreaking one that directly leaves an impact on our lives or in our hearts.
10 Emotional Dramas Guaranteed to Make You Cry
Are you ready to have a good cry and mourn for a particular drama or a drama character for life? Then have faith in me, I am going to help you.
Let’s make a shortlist of 10 heartbreaking dramas that will make you cry for sure.
Shortlist:
- Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
- The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
- Hi Bye Mama
- Youth of May
- Snowdrop
- The Red Sleeve
- The Good Bad Mother
- The Empress Ki
- All of Us Dead
- May I Help You
Now let’s discuss these dramas and you decide whether these dramas are good to watch.
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
Cast: Lee Joong Gi, IU, Kang Ha Neul, Nam Joo Hyuk, Baekhyun, Jisoo and others.
Episodes: 20
When a mysterious sun eclipse happens Hae Soo, a girl from modern day Seoul finds herself in the Goryeo era miraculously. She finds herself as a princess. She meets so many people there as her family, friends and even her relatives. When she starts adopting herself in ancient times she meets Wang Soo. Wang Soo is the 4th prince of Goryeo. Everyone fears him because of his appearance and because he is so cold and he never smiles. But Hae Soo brought a different side of Wang Soo out, she fell in love with this cold man. She made him smile and made him live his life fully. The other characters had their own story to tell, but when everything was going well through hardships and joy, suddenly Hae Soo came back to the present day before she could understand a thing. When she comes back she forgets everything that happened back there in Goryeo.
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)
Cast: Seo In Guk, Jung So Min, Park Sung Woong, Go Min Si and others.
Episodes: 16
A detective who is pissed off with his job because of corruption now wants to leave his job. He is currently obsessed with a murder case that happened and was covered up with the upper-class people of his society. He has a younger sister who is a calm and soft type of person. She falls in love with a person who is a red flag, I mean he is rude and arrogant. But the detective suspects the boyfriend of his sister as a murderer of that particular case he is obsessed with. The love of the lovers is so pure and they try to protect each other by doing their best. But alas! God eternally separates them from each other.
This drama is also known as Hundred Million Stars From The Sky.
Hi Bye Mama (2020)
Cast: Kim Tae Hee, Lee Kyu Hyung, Go Bo Gyeol
Episodes: 16
Cha Yuri was a pregnant woman who loved her husband and her unborn baby, she was loved by her husband too. When she was 9 months pregnant she met with a tragic accident that caused her death but fortunately, her baby was saved. Five years passed but the whole time Yu Ri tried to come back to life. She somehow managed to reincarnate as Gang Hwa’s wife who she previously was. She is granted a 49 days process of reincarnation to decide if she wants to live in the earth or come back to heaven. But when she goes back to earth she sees her husband is already married and all of them are now a happy family. But she chooses her husband’s happiness over her longing.
Youth of May (2021)
Cast: Lee Do Hyun, Go Min Si and others.
Episodes: 12
This drama is set in the 80’s and focuses on a love story between a medical student and a nurse. Hwang Hee Tae is a medical student, not only that he is a pride of Gwangju as he topped his medical entrance exam. He falls in love with Kim Myung Hee, who is a nurse. An avid pro-democracy activist friend of Hwang Hee Tae insisted on opening an illegal hospital to give shelter to the activist students. One day an incident happens and a factory worker meets an accident, in exchange for the cost and sends the worker to his hometown, Hee Tae needs to attend a meeting. His father sends a meeting partner, and by chance, it happens to be Myung Hee. Here for the first time they meet and soon fall in love with each other. But ultimately their love meets a tragic end.
Snowdrop (2021)
Cast: Jung Hae In, Kim Ji Soo and others.
Episodes: 16
Lim Soo Ho is a North Korean agent who came to South Korea for a mission. In South Korea, he disguises himself as a student who is preparing for a master’s thesis in the Department of Economics. On the other hand, Eun Yeong Ro is a fresher in the Department of English Literature at Ho Su Women’s University. She is the daughter of the director of the ANSP.
Without knowing each other’s identity both of them fall in love at their very first sight. But as you can say the happy ending of both lovers is next to impossible. And exactly that happened they lost each other and one of them met their doom.
The Red Sleeve (2021)
Cast: Lee Jun Ho, Lee Se Young, Kang Hoon and others.
Episodes: 17
Yi San is the crown prince, who dreams of being a kind and benevolent king. On the other hand, Sung Deok Mi is a court lady who is a free spirited girl, she wants to live her life with honor and do whatever she wants to do. Everything was going well but suddenly the king died and the crown prince could not accept it so he developed a trauma. Deok Mi helps him to overcome it, staying together all the time, both of them fall in love with each other. After the crown prince becomes the king, he wants to make Deok Mi his royal concubine. But even though Deok Mi loves the king she refuses this offer because the life of a royal concubine is not so smooth, again if she becomes a concubine she can not live her life of her own will. But ultimately Deok Mi becomes the royal concubine
The Good Bad Mother (2023)
Cast: Lee Do Hyun, Ra Mi Ran, Ahn Eun Jin and others.
Episodes: 14
Young Soon is always so strict with her child, Kang Ho, because as a single mom she suffered a lot in her life, and she wants her son to be a strong man. Here Kang Ho actually becomes a cold and strong man. He is a successful prosecutor now. He lives far from her mother, taking her as a bad mother. One day an unfortunate thing happens, Kang Ho Meets an accident and his brain becomes like a child again.
In this situation, he comes back to his mother and starts living with her. This time he understands why his mother is always strict to him, He realizes that his mother is not a bad mother at all. Now in Kang Ho’s suffering days Mi Joo comes forward to help him along with his mother. Mi Joo is the childhood friend and ex-girlfriend of Kang Ho. She is a kind and gentle-hearted person.
The Empress Ki (2013)
Cast: Ha Ji Won, Joo Jin Mo, Ji Chang Wook and others.
Episodes: 51
Ki Seung Nyang is a woman who belongs to Goryeo. Later she was sent to Yuan when she was a child with a group of tribute women. Her mother was brutally killed while escaping, but Ki Seung Nyang somehow managed to escape and disguise herself as a boy. As a disguised man, she had great patriotism and bravely served Goryeo. She fell in love with Wang Yoo. But her lover Wang Yoo forcefully sent her to Yuan court. There she meets Emperor Ta Hwan, and later she marries him and finally he becomes her true love and a true supporter. She is now the Empress of Yuna Court. With her power she directly influenced the politics of Yuan. But her life journey was not so smooth, her story will for sure make you cry for a good time.
All of Us Are Dead (2022)
Cast: Yoon Chan Young, Park Solomon, Cho Yi Hyun, Park Ji Hu and others.
Episodes: 12
The drama is set in a high school that is located in Hyosan city. In that school, a science teacher does an experiment to help his son from being bullied. But he accidentally makes a virus that turns humans into zombies. Soon it spreads all over the city and the government of the country becomes worried and tries to get rid of it. But they forget about the high school where a lot of students are struggling to survive. All the students who are alive in this situation know that they are destined to die today, but still they try their best to live and to go back to their families, even though they do not know if their family is alive or not. As all the students have their own inner story whether it’s their friendship or feeling that is more than friends, the parting of them is surely heartbreaking.
May I Help You (2022)
Cast: Lee Hye Ri, Lee Jun Young and others.
Episodes: 16
Baek Dong Joo is a student as her father knows, but she secretly does a job in a funeral parlor. She keeps it a secret from her father because her father doesn’t want her to do such work. But Dong Joo can not leave her job because she wants to help the deceased people. Dong Joo has a special power, with her touch the deceased people temporarily wake up. Those people tell her about how they died and tell her about their life and struggles. It’s obvious that they can not accept the fact that they are no more. Dong Joo makes them understand what happened to them. She willingly relays their last message to their family. One day Dong Joo meets Kim Tae Hee and both embrace their flaws and fall in love with each other. I am sure every episode of this drama will make you cry and will make your heart heavy.
Honorable Mentions
If you like all these dramas above then I will gladly mention some more dramas that will make you cry for sure, no matter how strong you are. And those are:
- Uncontrollably Fond
- Kill Me Heal Me
- Goblin
- Mr. Sunshine
- My Mister
- Hymn of Death
- It’s Okay To Not Be Okay
- Radiant
- More Than Friends
- Come And Hug Me
Have you ever thought about why most people tend to like emotional dramas? Or why do these dramas are often called stress relievers? It’s because they give us a life lesson, they make us understand the depth of every relationship. Emotional dramas make us feel different types of feelings, whether it’s crying over a particular character’s breakdown or the joyful moments of life.
Many dramas deal with love, care, friendship and even sacrifice or hardships of human life which is relatable to every viewer. They make us feel alive with all those feelings that we actually feel watching an emotional drama. This kind of drama often contains some effective and iconic dialogues that get stuck in our minds forever.
In my opinion, emotional dramas are the best genres to watch whenever and wherever you like. Because sometimes we really need some reality check and these kinds of dramas are really the best option. That’s all for today, make sure to watch these kinds of dramas even if this is not your favorite genre, because I am sure if you start watching emotional dramas you will find one of your favorites here.