All the Upcoming KDramas You Should Keep an Eye On

August and September are proving to be fruitful months in the K-Drama industry, many, in fact, the titles that have captured the viewers' interest, both for what concerns ongoing Kdramas and upcoming Kdramas.

Listing them all in this article is impossible, but I included the ones that are going more viral, being it for the cast, the chemistry between the actors, or their exciting plot.

The first title on the list is also one of the two Kdramas in this article, released on Netflix.

Mask Girl is a unique product; everything, from the cast choices to the plot and themes touched by this series, separates Mask Girl from all the titles you have watched before. Sadly, I only have watched the first episode, but it has already managed to make a long-lasting impression on me.

The protagonist is 28-year-old office worker Kim Mo-Mi, a young woman whose dream of becoming a performer has been crushed in middle school due to her "insufficient" looks. Despite her talent and her passion, her ambitions were never taken seriously by anyone because of how deeply connected attractiveness and talent are in the music industry, especially in South Korea.

This constant rejection and the feeling of doom due to her unsatisfying job brought the protagonist to the decision of starting a "second life" online where she, under the pseudonym of Mask Girl and wearing, precisely, a mask, live streams provoking and sexy performances.

Whatever balance she initially manages between these two "personalities" soon gets threatened due to suspicious messages she receives after her latest performance and other unexpected events she has no control over.

In the cast as Kim Mo-Mi is Lee Han-byeol, an almost unknown actress who fully proved her hidden talent in this role, Ahn Jae-Hong, famous for his role in Reply 1988, here as her mysterious colleague Joo Oh-Nam.

Mask Girl is based on a successful Naver webtoon, written by Mae-mi and illustrated by Hee-se, released between 2015 and 2018 and counts 7 episodes. What are you waiting for? Go watch Mask Girl!

Completely different from Mask Girl, this time we are talking about a fantasy high school Kdrama which is currently halfway through its release on Disney+, Moving.

Among the ongoing Kdramas, this one captured everyone's attention both for its unique plot and the great chemistry the two main actors show throughout the episodes, but what does Moving talk about? Three apparently regular high-school students have inherited their parents' unique powers: Kim Bong-Seok can fly, Jang Hee-Soo is not only extremely talented in sports, but she also has an incredible regenerative ability. Finally, Lee Gang-Hoon has both super strength and speed.

These young teenagers try to hide their abilities at best. At the same time, their parents also struggle to protect them, their fear probably motivated by their past collaboration with Korean secret services, which they all abandoned to try to live a normal life.

Will they manage to live a normal life, or will they end up entangled in things bigger than they could imagine? To find the answer, you must add this title to your list of unskippable ongoing Kdramas!

In the cast, Go Youn-Jung in the role of Jang Hee-Soo, who recently got a lot of recognition for her interpretations in Sweet Home and Alchemy of Souls Part 2, Lee Jung-Ha in the role of Kim Bong-Seok, who recently acted in Nevertheless and Run On, and finally, as Lee Gang-Hoon the actor Kim Do-Hoon who got some deserved recognition thanks to his role in Today's Webtoon.

This series is based on a webtoon of the same name by Kang Full.

The recent Kdrama starring much beloved Hwang Min-Hyun in his first role as a protagonist, after his success in Alchemy of Souls, where he played Seo Yul, is getting a lot of attention from fans and Kdrama fans. My Lovely Liar is more than halfway through its release schedule, with twelve episodes available on Viki for international fans.

The story revolves around the two main characters, Mok Sol-Hee, a young woman who was never really able to enjoy a normal life due to her power of understanding when one is lying by simply listening to them talk, a power which, of course, hindered forever her ability to trust other people, on the other side Kim Do-Ha. This mysterious and taciturn young man has been falsely accused of murder without being able to prove his innocence.

Their meeting can be no less than destiny, don't you think? Without a doubt, you have to add this title to the list of ongoing Kdramas to watch, if not for the plot, at least for the great chemistry between the two characters Kim So-Hyun and Hwang Min-Hyun played.

A great mystery-romance international fans can watch on Viki.

Sitting between the list of ongoing Kdramas and the one of upcoming Kdramas is the fourth series I want to discuss, Destined with You. Only four episodes of this series have been released on Netflix as of now.

This series is not exactly set in a "normal" reality but is part of that fantasy-modern genre many Kdramas on this list, and not, seem to have mastered.

One day, Level 9 (the lowest level) civil worker Hee Hong-Jo accidentally comes into possession of a strange wooden chest, and the key to lift a curse cast on the successful and attractive lawyer Jang Shin-Yu.

This curse has been ruining not only his life but that of his family for generations in the form of an unexplainable sickness they cannot get rid of. For this reason, the destiny of these two characters gets inevitably entangled, causing more and less predictable effects on their lives.

In the role of Hee Hong-Jo is Jo Bo-Ah, recently in the much beloved Tale of the Nine-Tailed and Military Prosecutor Doberman, and SF9's Rowoon, or Kim Seok-Woo, who many will remember for his recent series Tomorrow and for another fan-favorite Extraordinary You.

What more can you want from a series? Add this to your list of upcoming Kdramas!

I will keep the recap as spoiler-free as possible for those of you who haven't seen the first season yet.

Uncanny Counters season 1 starts off when one of the "counters," in other words, people who have fallen into a coma that, after being contacted by the spirits of Yung (a sort of Limbo), gained supernatural powers that allow them to fight off evil spirits, dies while trying to capture a powerful evil spirit.

Right after, we see the spirit of Yung, who was connected to him, running hazily among humans in search of a new "host" and ending up in the body of the protagonist, who was strangely not in a coma. So-Mun then joins the team, formed by three other counters: Ga Mo-Tak (who is strangely connected to his past), the young Do Ha-Na, Chu Mae-Ok (who becomes almost like a mother to him), and Choi Jang-mul (who doesn't usually fight with them but supports the counters financially).

Throughout the series, they will have to face both demonic and human enemies and conflicts with their Yung counterparts, but they will fight with all their might, becoming as close as a family and, in the end, winning.

Season 2 starts with an apparently peaceful moment in the counters' life. However, new powerful enemies arrive in South Korea after having caused havoc in China and will threaten their lives by irreparably affecting the lives of those closer to them.

I will say no more about this new season besides the fact that many surprises are on the horizon, a new counter and a new-old encounter from Ha-Na's past.

In the roles of the counters as for season 1, Jo Byeng-Kyu as So-Mun, who you might remember from SKY High, Yoo Jun-Sang as Ga Mo-Tak, who you might have seen in Alchemy of Souls, Kim Se-Jeong as Do Ha-Na, who gained a lot of recognition thanks to her role in Business Proposal, Yeom Hye-Ran as Chu Mae-Ok, recently in acclaimed The Glory and lastly as Ahn Suk-Hwan as Choi Jang-Mul, recently in The All-Round Wife and lastly the new counter, Na Jeok-Bong played by Yoo In-Soo, who has gained much popularity thanks to Alchemy of Souls and The Good Bad Mother.

Some very well-known faces also in the roles of the evil "guys", Kang Ki-Young, who received much love in Extraordinary Attorney Woo, here plays less lovely Hwang Pil-Kwang, and Kim Hieora, who recently played despicable drug-addicted Lee Sa-Ra on The Glory, as Gelli Choi.

The Uncanny Counter is also based on a webtoon, Amazing Rumor, by Jang Yi.

This one is definitely a must-watch among recent Kdramas. It has just been concluded, so you can quickly add it to your Netflix marathon for the weekend.

Another second season on the list, and the second title in this article that has been released all at once, so you can watch it all in one go on Netflix.

The first season of D.P., which literally means Deserters Pursuit, followed the story of a team of soldiers in 2014 who, as the name suggests, are responsible for tracking down other soldiers who have escaped from their military duty.

The story focuses on the duo formed by Private Ahn Joon-Ho and Corporal Han Ho-Yeol, characterized by two really different attitudes toward their job. The first is rather cold and detached, and the second one has a bizarre personality, a mix of comedy and empathy, but soon they both become increasingly involved in the lives of those they are investigating.

The season delves deeply into the problems connected to the Korean military, where bullying and hazing are way too widespread and often perpetrated equally by superiors and other soldiers.

The season ended with a big accident that shocked both the characters and viewers, and after a two-year gap, season two was finally released!

In season two, we found Ahn Joon-Ho and Han Ho-Yeol busy in their pursuit of deserters, focusing this time on the rampant corruption inside the military and LGBTQ+ discrimination among soldiers. Another season deeply rooted in reality which captured both viewers and critics.

For both seasons, there were two main characters. The first one is Ahn Joon-Ho, played by Jung Hae-In. You might have recognized this actor from Prison Playbook, Snowdrop, or While You Were Sleeping. The second lead is Koo Kyo-Hwan, who plays Han Ho-Yeol. He recently took part in the K-drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo.

Like other titles on the list, the series is based on the webtoon D.P Dog's Day created by Kim Bo-Tong and is based on the author's experience in the military.

This is one of the hardest to digest among the ongoing and upcoming Kdramas in the article, but the story also needs to be watched. What are you waiting for? Go stream it on Netflix!

Twinkling Watermelon, also known as Sparkling Watermelon, is among the only two upcoming Kdramas to which I wanted to dedicate an entire section.

The series is scheduled to start on the 25th of September and will be broadcast every Monday and Tuesday on tvN, so it will be available on Viki for international fans.

The series follows the story of Eun-Gyeol, who, despite having both deaf parents, was born not only with no hearing impairment but also with an incredible musical talent.

During the day, he is a diligent high school student, but plays the guitar in a band at night. One day, while visiting a strange music shop, he ends up being transported back in the past. He will meet new interesting people and form a band called Watermelon Sugar with them. He will also have the chance to meet the younger version of his father.

Ryeoun, who recently appeared in The Secret Romantic Guesthouse, will play the role of Eun-Gyeol. Choi Hyun Wook, who you might remember from Weak Hero or Twenty-Five Twenty-One, will play the role of Yi-Chan. Seol In-Ah, recently in Business Proposal, will play the role of a cello prodigy, Se-Kyung. Lastly, Shin Eun-Soo will play the mysterious deaf student Cheong-Ah. She was recently in Summer Strike.

Among the upcoming Kdramas of this season, this one made an impression on me because the plot may give life to a really nice mixture of high school drama, fantasy, and heavier topics. 

The second one of the upcoming Kdramas on the list will also be released on Disney+ at the end of the month, specifically on the 27th of September, on Disney+. The genre this time, though, is entirely different, no high school light-hearted romance but instead an up-and-coming gangster-thriller series with a great cast, but let's take a look at the plot first.

Set in the 90s in Seoul, The Worst of Evil follows police officer Park Joon-Mo, who, in the police effort to stop a drug trade that connects South Korea, Japan, and China, infiltrates one of the most prominent criminal organizations.

Soon, he will find out that his wife, Yoo Eui-Jung, has also volunteered to participate in this undercover mission and that she has a mysterious past connection with the organization's boss, Jung Gi-Cheol. Park Joon-Mo will have to try his best to expose the organization and protect his wife.

In the cast, as mentioned before, some great names, starting with Ji Chang-Wook, who just recently took part in The Sound of Magic and Lovestruck in the City, in the role of Park Joon-Mo, Wi Ha-Joon, who you might remember from Squid Game, Little Women and Bad and Crazy, as Jung Gi-Cheol and finally Im Se-Mi, recently in Duty After School, as Yoo Eui-Jung.

It's really one of the most promising upcoming Kdramas of this season. I can't wait to watch it!

Listing all this season's new ongoing and upcoming Kdramas would have been impossible, so many titles didn't make it to the slate above. I mainly chose what to include based on viewers' interests and my own preferences.

That said, I would like to include two upcoming Kdramas that are still worth mentioning.

The first one is Arthdal Chronicles: The Sword of Aramun, a follow-up of 2019 Arthdal Chronicles, which, despite mixed reaction, gained a lot of attention for being the first series of this genre and with this setting in the South Korean television landscape.

The first season sets the story in a fantasy rendition of the bronze era and is loosely based on the story of Dangun, founder of the first Korean Kingdom, Gojoseon.

The second season is set eight years after the events of the first one and sees the addition of Lee Joon-Gi and Shin Se-Kyung to the cast.

The Sword of Aramun will premiere on the 9th of September.

The second and last of the upcoming Kdramas in this article is The Day, based on a novel of the same name, which follows the story of Kim Myung-Joon, a man who is desperately looking for money to pay for his daughter's operation and, for this reason, ends up kidnapping 11-year-old Choi Ro-Hee, the daughter of a wealthy family. Because of an accident, the young girl loses her memory and initially thinks of him as her true father. What makes things even worse is that the poor man tries to take her back home but, to his shock, finds out that both of her parents have been killed. When she slowly regains her memory, things will get even more complicated.

The Day will premiere on the 13th of September.

September will surely be a month full of surprises for Kdrama fans, with titles suited to every taste and new emerging actors and well-known names in the industry!

Let me know in the comments if any of the upcoming Kdramas I've listed has got your attention, if you will be starting to watch any of them, if they are worth the time, and what are, on the contrary, the titles I've forgotten that you think I should have mentioned.