The female leads I’ll never forget? Easy!
Cha Young-jin (Nobody Knows): Masterfully portrayed by Kim Seo-hyung, Young-jin is at once the cool slick no-nonsense detective the world sees, and a compassionate, loyal woman who will stop at nothing to protect her little friend. Not only is she a competent police-officer (a rare breed in the dramaverse), she has layers and layers of character to her outside of that. Nobody Knows was incredible in general, but it wouldn’t have stolen my heart the way it did without Cha Young-jin.
Makabe Keito (Shiranakute Ii Koto): Oh, Keito! Ambitious, brazen, opportunistic, persistent, skilled, cheeky, wonderful Keito! Yoshitaka Yuriko shone every second she was on screen in this drama, and the heroine she created was so deliciously lovable that I had to know how her story played out. Once again, we have a woman very competent at her job with layers and layers of character outside of that (I’m noticing a theme).
Noh Ae-jung (Was It Love?): I’m gonna remember this one for all the wrong reasons. I have no ae-jung for Noh Ae-jung. She’s a terrible mother, a terrible PD, and a terrible person. Even the best actress in the world couldn’t make such a fundamentally awful character likeable, so I have to respect Song Ji-hyo for even trying.