Thanks for a great article @sailorjumun!
I agree with your assessment on the dramas we both watched - CLOY, Kingdom, IOTNOB, DoDo, RoY and Start Up.
I hated DoDo's ending. An absolute betrayal indeed. And PBG deserved a better drama than the bland RoY.

Thank you sailorjumun for the article. I agree with many of your points.

I love Chocolate too. It's super melodramatic, but I found peace while watching it. There are many great life lessons in the story, and the slow-burn romance was exactly what I signed up for. The cooking scenes by Ha Ji-won are all amazing. I'm think about rewatching this one sometime soon.

I also love Start-Up, The King and DoDo. I'm lucky as I stopped watching Do Do at the end of ep 13 and I think I did the right decision. Though I really wanted to finish this one as sometimes it felt like it was an incomplete watch, but I came to the conclusion that I'd rather have it as a fond memory than risking it become by all-time betrayal.

For me, however, I found Crash Landing quite bland because of some reason. It was fun while I was watching it, but I couldn't remember anything or do I have any fond feelings about it after it has finished its run. For Hi, Bye Mama I even stopped watching somewhere mid-airing. I didn't know why either, but I guess my main reason was because I couldn't stand the new wife who looked so depressed all the time.

i'm still amazed that a whole year has passed and all i remember is Pre-Covid days, before the end of January...

and now, i'm waiting for January 20, 2021...

Very good assessment, @sailorjumun! I agree with RoY - they could have done better and DoDo's ending was a big letdown. I think RoY would be chips for me - you know it's not good but you keep coming back.

START UP = Corndogs. perfect. I loved the show, even though it wasn't perfect.

And I loved the first twelve episodes of DO DO SOL SOL as well- and have never felt so angry with with a show. It really was a betrayal- not just something that felt like one.

In contrast I loved DO YOU LIKE BRAHMS? even when it put us through the emotional ringer- If I were picking a food for this one it would probably be one of those warm stews that we see so often on these shows.

I'LL SEE YOU ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY- Fried chicken- I have actually had Korean fried chicken and it is as good as advertised. A wonderful, satisfying and filling meal, just like the show.

MY UNFAMILIAR FAMILY- Bulgogi- if you have seen the show and have had Bulgogi you will know exactly what I mean.

STOVE LEAGUE- Kimchi Pancakes.

"I’ve stress-eaten, I’ve stress-binge-watched, I’ve stress-eaten-and-binge-watched — you get the picture." Haha true! Nice article SailorJumun! :D

I laughed. Record of Youth is unseasoned porridge!

Thanks, sailorjumon. Spot on the food metaphors. From which show is the last greetings photo from?

Great article about this year's K-drama foods.

@sailorjumun, you didn't mentioned Dinner Mate/Will You Have Dinner with Me and United to Accomplish One Thing/Chip-In because that's my honorable mentions. Both shows contained some varieties of any dinner foods (e.g. chickens, soups).

IOTNBO is my favorite drama of the year and a close second (or on the same level) for me as Weightlifting Fairy.

My favorites of 2020:
IOTNBO ❤️❤️❤️❤️ (10/10)
Do Do Sol La La Sol (first half) (8/10 -.+1 for Lee Jae Wook)
Tale of the Nine Tailed Fox (8.5/10)
Start Up (on the fence with this one but I still liked it) (7.5/10)
School Nurse Files (10/10 - one of my favorite Kdramas of all time as well. I loved it so much. Best male lead and best students with acne and lgbt representation)

Older kdramas that I discovered this year:
Angels Last Mission - Loved it!
Because this is my first life - Loved it!
18 Again - Loved it!
Beauty inside - dropped it!

The only Kdrama of 2020 I dropped was Record of Youth cause it sucked. Omg. I just couldn't.

I'm going back to Weightlifting Fairy because that is literally the perfect Kdrama for me. The world I was promised when I entered this realm.

My love for Bogummy wasn’t strong enough to push through till the end with RoY. See you after two years Bogummy! Dodo certainly betrayed us all and that ending puts it below than The King, or maybe they’re at the same ranking (?) 😅 for me.

Thanks for this review @sailorjumun!

As Rang said in 9Tails, "I tried everything. I tried listening to ballad songs, binge-watched dramas, and tried eating spicy food. Maybe I should change my hair colour," or words to that effect, which pretty much sums 2020 up for me. @sailorjumun you "got it" perfectly. What was there to do, but eat and binge watch, and what a great feast there was too.

As someone who hasn't seen DoDo but saw all the disappointment in the comments can someone enlighten me or link to some summary what went so terribly wrong there?
You guys really sparked my interest.

Thanks for the food theme drama comparisons Sailorjumon :)
You're spot on with CLOY & The King though I will add some scorched rice in the mountain of rice for IOTNBO :P

I'm hungry now!

Personally, I was disapointed by the big dramas like CLOY, TKEM, ROY, It's Okay or IC. They were all promising and started pretty well. But they rested a lot on their actors and not on the script. Maybe I was expecting too much.

Everything you said! Plus add in HYENA and INTO THE RING and we are in Total Agreement!

My one big takeaway from Pandemic 2020 is that so many people finally crossed the wilderness called their kitchen to actually learn to cook.

Like you, Kdramas in this bizarre and scary 2020, have provided a safe harbor to escape the chaos, ugliness and sadness. The dramas comforted just by the mere sound of the familiar Korean language, just by the appearance of the studly young Korean actor who allowed a brief walk into fantasy, just by allowing my familiar scorn at screaming banchee mother-in-laws, jealous bullying females, bellowing CEOs and more. I was drawn to positivity and warmth and goodness in plots which could temporarily transport me to a different reality. And when the episode was completed, its residue supported my re-entry Into our world’s reality. I have been tremendously grateful to Kdramas this 2020.

Thank you, @sailorjumun for your fresh take on your (mostly) favorite 2020 dramas. I thought I’d watch so many during Covid but it turns out I just ate actual junk food instead ☹️

I’m trying to think of a food that is as bland and then awful as Brahms was for me. Is there a food that’s actually depressing?

Dodo was kind of like enjoying a good meal and then getting food poisoning immediately after.

Hmmm...

Penthouse as super hot Tteokbokki. Or is that super hot chicken feet, eaten without Protective gloves?

"Do Do Sol Sol, I loved you, and you betrayed me. "

I second this.

I still feel betrayed from watching it. I think the show must end in 12 episodes instead of 16.

The Tale of Nine-Tailed Fox can be described with tteokbokki that lost its spiciness. You still eat it but just because you can't throw it away.

Thanks so much for the review! While I didn't watch a lot of these shows yet, some are saved for 2021 and some I put in the coffers of the past. The King, that is. But I do agree with what SailorJumun said, it did get better as i progressed and at least was a fun ride (mostly because of Woo Do-hwan and Kim Kyung-nam).

The King: Eternal Monarch just reminded me of bubble tea and fried chicken. Figuratively a sum-up of my feelings while watching the drama too -- all the stuff which are not good for my (mental) health. Tsk.

What an interesting comparison @sailorjumun, the DoDo = Cotton Candy (melted by my tears) is spot on, although for me it'll be a cotton candy melted by a sudden roof leaks. I am intrigued by Start-Up, haven't watched it yet amid the recommendations, hope it'll be good but yeah, only a few drama can fail the watchers like DoDo, so fingers crossed for Start-Up!

Great article. I whole heartedly agree with about Record of Youth and It’s okay to not be okay.
Record of youth looked perfect on paper but it turned out be bland and boring. I had few spices missing.
It’s okay to not be okay was a filling drama that left you satisfied.
I would add Tale of nine tailed as bag of chips. It was highly addictive and you could not stop with just one fox. It was uneven drama with plot holes but I enjoyed it completely.