In this list, we are talking about the K-dramas that deal with death. Death might be a sensitive and triggering topic for some people. However, death is connected to life and is not something we can escape. These K-dramas show us how to deal with death and loss.
1. Tomorrow
This series revolves around the life of a young man named Choi Jun-Woong. While looking for a job, he faces a severe accident that leaves him in a coma. While in a coma, he meets two grim reapers named Koo Ryeon and Lim Ryung-Gu. They form a team whose aim is to stop people from taking their own lives. Choi also joined the team. This is a beautiful K-drama that deals with a lot of complex subjects that are often time taboo in society, such as sexual assault, mental health issues, body dysmorphia, etc. This series might be a complicated watch for a few. However, they deal with these sensitive topics carefully and gracefully. Death is a prevalent theme in this series, despite this, they portray life as worth living.
2. Hi-Bye Mama
This series follows the life and death of Cha Yu-Ri, a loving mother, wife, and daughter. When we start the series, Cha Yu-Ri is already a ghost; despite this, she tries her best to be beside her daughter and look after her as a spirit. Yu-Ri is a beautiful soul who is kind and loving. Above all else, she loves her daughter. Her one wish is to become human again and hold her daughter again. Her wish is miraculously granted, and she becomes human for forty-nine days before passing on. This series is like a gut punch and will probably leave you in tears after each episode. Death is a prevalent theme in the series, but so is love. This series shows the depths a mother can go to for her child and shows that even after death, love remains immortal.
3. Hotel Del Luna
This series revolves around the life of Jang Man-Wol, a feisty woman who runs a mysterious hotel named Hotel Del Luna. This Hotel is not for ordinary human beings but for spirits. This Hotel often acts as a resting stop for ghosts before they cross over to the other side. Jang and her ghost team keep the Hotel running smoothly. Through the series, we are introduced to these spirits, and we get to learn about their lives as humans and how they died. Death is a prominent theme in this drama.
4. Hospital Playlist
The one place where death and life go hand in hand and are very prominent is a hospice. This drama revolves around the lives of the patients, doctors, and nurses at a major Hospital in South Korea. In particular, it follows the lives of five doctors: Chae Song-Hwa, Lee Ik-Joon, Ahn Jeong-Won, Yang Seok-Hyeong, and Kim Jun-Wan. This series has a lot of moments that will break your heart. It shows us that life is fragile, and we must spend time with the people we love the most before it is too late. It also shows us that death does not show discrimination in those it picks. Even though it is gut-wrenching, certain moments in this drama make us appreciate lives and our health.
5. Move To Heaven
This series follows the life of Han Geu-Ru, a young man who has Asperger syndrome. He works alongside his father as a cleaner. They run a business named Move To Heaven, where they clean up and organize the earthly possessions of people who have passed on. After the death of his father Han is left in the care of his uncle named Cho Sang-Gu. Cho tries to keep the business going and takes care of his nephew. This is a heartbreaking series that deals with death and how to deal with grief and loss.
6. Mystic Pop-Up Bar
This drama revolves around a weird food cart called the Ssanggab Cart Bar. This mysterious bar is only available on the rooftop of a particular building and is also open at night. This is no ordinary food cart, as it serves both the living and the dead. Night after night spirits and humans come to this bar to heal from their problems and to eat.
7. Rain Or Shine
This series follows the lives of various people who are grieving from the loss of their loved one in a mall collapse accident. We mainly follow Lee Gang-Doo and Ha Moon-Soon. Lee Gang-Doo was an ambitious young man who wished to become a well-known soccer player. He had unfortunately lost his father in an accident, and this caused him to change. He lost his dreams and ambitions and prefers now to live his life in solitude. Ha, Moon-Soon had lost her sibling in the same accident. She suffers from guilt and is learning how to cope with grief. When Gang-Doo and Moon-Soon meet each other, they start to heal slowly.
8. If You Wish Upon Me
This drama revolves around the life of Yoon Gyeo-Rye. Despite having a tough life and upbringing, he struggles to live a healthy and everyday life. He decides to start working at a hospice. In this hospice, he deals with a lot of different people. Death is a significant theme in this drama.
9. Goblin
This series follows the life of a young girl named Ji Eun-Tak. She, unfortunately has been acquainted with death since she was a child. As a young girl, Eun-Tak had unfortunately lost her loving mother. She is also targeted by a Grim Reaper since she was born, and Eun-Tak has the remarkable ability to communicate and see ghosts. She is also known as the Goblin’s bride. The Goblin, who is also named Kim Shin, is cursed to be immortal. This drama has a lot of comedic moments however death is a prevalent theme throughout the drama.
10. Chocolate
This drama revolves around the romance between Lee Kang and Moon Cha-Young. Lee Kang is a successful neurosurgeon. On the outside, he appears to be cold-hearted, and stone-faced however he is a kind person. Moon Cha-Young is a chef; she met Lee Kang when she was a little girl and was inspired by him to become a chef. They meet each other and start to fall in love in a hospice. Death and loss are a very prominent theme in this love story.
