9 K-Dramas To Check Out If You Like Time Travel

How many times have you heard yourself wonder if you could turn back the clock? It’s exciting and scary to think that you could travel through time and change the blueprint of your fate and is an intriguing concept. From a young man who travels back in time to avenge his death in the future or a young woman who meets her deceased boyfriend in an unknown past, K-dramas have given us a fascinating world of time travel. If you want more K-dramas with this kind of concept, check out these dramas below!

“18 Again”

Hong Dae Young (Yoon Sang Hyun) is 37 and resentful of everything around him. He is frustrated with deep anger issues, and his personal and professional life is a mess. Dae Young’s wife Jung Da Jung (Kim Ha Neul) wants to leave him and has filed for divorce, his boss has sacked him, and his children don’t know what to make of him. Dae Young looks back at his past, the time when he was the shining star on the basketball court and wonders if he could only go back to those days of glory. When he finds himself as the 18-year-old Dae Young (Lee Do Hyun) but in the present day, he realizes that he could well have a second shot to relive his life again.

This drama strikes a chord with many since everyone has that one stage in life where we wanted to reassemble our lives differently. Start now, start afresh is the message. Lee Do Hyun is great in his portrayal of the young Dae Young as he gets the tone and character on point.

“A Time Called You”

An adaptation of the hit Taiwanese drama “Some Day or One Day,” the time slip romance “A Time Called You” tells the story of Han Jun Hee (Jeon Yeo Been), a woman grieving the passing of her boyfriend Yeon Jun (Ahn Hyo Seop). Mourning his death, Jun Hee is also wrecked by guilt and unable to find closure. One year after his death, she receives a cassette player. As she hears the haunting strains of “Gather My Tears” by Seo Ji Won, she finds herself miraculously traveling back in time to 1998. Jun Hee wakes up in the body of her doppelganger, a high school student named Kwon Min Ju. She meets her fellow student, the cool and confident Si Heon (Ahn Hyo Seop), who looks exactly like her late boyfriend. She also meets the reticent and introverted In Gyu (Kang Hoon) and realizes how the three are entangled in a strange fate.

“A Time Called You” is a bit confusing and takes time for one to get the hang of what’s happening, but it scores high on its performances by Jeon Yeon Been and Ahn Hyo Seop. Jeon Yeon Been is a chameleon in the way she switches in and out of playing the two personalities of Min Ju and Jun Hee, and Ahn Hyo Seop is endearing and tugs your heart in his portrayal of Si Heon.

“Reborn Rich”

Revenge has many shades to it, and sometimes it comes wearing a familiar face. Yoon Hyun Woo (Song Joong Ki) is the faithful secretary to an influential conglomerate family. He is treacherously killed after being wrongly framed for embezzlement, but Hyun Woo is reborn as the family’s youngest son Jin Do Joon (Song Joong Ki), and he remembers everything that had been done to him. As he calculatingly plots his revenge, he uncovers secrets as well as things about himself and the family he was born into.

“Reborn Rich” has several plot twists, and method actor Song Joong Ki’s innate ability to make reel look real was once again affirmed in his portrayal of Hyun Woo/Do Joon. He, along with actor Lee Sung Min, bring a dynamic onscreen partnership.

“Mr. Queen”

Handsome, somewhat obnoxious, yet immensely talented chef Jang Bong Hwan (Choi Jin Hyuk) is the star cook in the kitchens of the Blue House, the presidential home. When he meets with a freak accident that takes him to the Joseon period, he finds himself trapped in the body of the queen, Kim So Yong (Shin Hye Sun). Not only is he stuck in a time and place away from his modern world, but he is also trapped in a body that’s of the opposite gender. So Yong starts behaving uncharacteristically thanks to Bong Hwan’s spirit, which spells trouble for royalty. And as So Yong whips up a culinary fare in the royal kitchens, Bong Hwan’s nosey nature leads her to discover several secrets within the palace walls.

“Mr. Queen” is a laughing riot and owes a lot to the impeccable comedic timing of Choi Jin Hyuk and Shin Hye Sun, which is on point.

“Tomorrow With You”

Yoo So Joon (Lee Je Hoon) travels into the future by riding the subway. This also helps him read the future as he discovers that a woman named Song Ma Rin (Shin Min Ah) will meet her death in a car accident. He decides to look her up and save her, and that is how the the two also end up meeting. As he takes it upon himself to rescue her from her violent destiny, what he has not been able to predict is that his fate is entwined with hers as he falls in love with Ma Rin.

The brilliance of Lee Je Joon comes to the fore again in this time traveling drama, and the sizzling chemistry between Shin Min Ah and Lee Je Hoon is so effortless that it makes this show a perfect watch.

“The King: Eternal Monarch”

Lee Gon (Lee Min Ho), the King of Korea, is troubled by memories of his traumatic past. He has been witness to his father’s violent death. However, the only memory he retains is that of an identity card of a woman named Tae Eul (Kim Go Eun) before he is saved. Lee Gon soon discovers a portal which leads him to another world, modern-day South Korea. It’s here that he encounters the woman he is looking for, Tae Eul, who is a detective in Seoul. He also encounters doppelgangers of people he knows and witnesses how fate and timelines can be manipulated across dimensions.

This drama is confusing to say the least, but Lee Min Ho’s enigmatic charm, the scorching chemistry between him and Kim Go Eun, as well as the bromance between him and Woo Do Hwan will keep you engaged.

“Queen In Hyun’s Man”

Art often imitates life, which is exactly what happens with actress Choi Hee Jin (Yoo In Na). Portraying a queen of the Joseon dynasty in her new show, Hee Jin does not realize that reel will merge into real as she encounters a Joseon-era scholar named Kim Bung Do (Ji Hyun Woo), who is trying to reinstate a queen in the kingdom with the same name. Sparks fly, and a love story develops as they find the mysterious talisman is Kim Bung Do’s method of supernatural transportation.

“Queen In Hyun’s Man” is a no-fuss watch. The mash-up between the medieval and modern world is well narrated, and the chemistry between the stars is cute.

“Scarlet Heart: Ryeo”

Go Ha Jin (IU) is heartbroken after a breakup. One day, she happens to save a child from drowning but finds herself sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean. Ha Jin is mysteriously swept back in time and is now inhabiting the body of a 16-year-old girl named Hae Soo in the Goryeo dynasty. She falls in love with the gentle prince Wang Wook (Kang Ha Neul). However, when the cold and lonesome prince Wang So (Lee Joon Gi) falls in love with her, things take a complicated turn.

“Scarlet Heart: Ryeo” is a bittersweet tale of love and longing. As the characters battle deception, lies, and betrayals, your heart will ache along with theirs. IU’s, Lee Joon Gi’s, and Kang Ha Neul’s splendid performances hold the fort. And the awesome OST and storyline are bound to tear you up.

“Splash Splash LOVE”

This one is another drama that entwines contemporary times with the past. Dan Bi (Kim Seul Gi) is a teenager who is struggling with math in the present day but finds herself as a math scholar in the Joseon times. On the day of the dreaded CSAT exams, she finds herself in the Joseon period, all thanks to splashing into a puddle. It is here that she ends up meeting King Lee Do (Yoon Doo Joon), who becomes so enamored by her that he proclaims his undying love.

This two episode-long series is a feel-good show. It’s comforting to watch as it highlights the stress of present day times and shows how a little consolation can go a long way to help.

cr: Soompi