We wrap up an unusual drama year with our annual poll. What were the highs and lows of 2021? We polled more than 150 drama watchers to find out
The Best
It’s that time of year when we try to wrap everything up in a nice little bow and deliver it to you as an uncomplicated gift. Here it is! Your year in Kdrama! Sometimes it’s an easy and uncomplicated process. But 2021 was an unusual drama year and this was reflected in the end of year poll.
This year had a lot of contenders for Best Drama and comparatively few for Worst Drama (unlike last year when the contenders for worst almost outweighed those for best). And yet, no single drama stood out so much that its win was a fait accompli. If anything, I could use this year’s poll results to name three winners for Best Drama – even four. The vote was so evenly spread that I was starting to be concerned that one wouldn’t pull away from the pack at all.
Nonetheless, one finally has. Despite serious competition, Move to Heaven has been voted the Best Drama of 2021. It was also The One That Made You Cry The Most. So perhaps this year was in need of some catharsis.
Only 14 per cent of voters selected the moving drama about trauma cleaners as Best Drama. In a year where the vote was so split, this was enough to propel it ahead of Vincenzo (12%) and Beyond Evil (10%). Run On had a strong start and picked up the pace early on but slowed down near the finish line to end at nine per cent. But with so few votes between these dramas, I could have easily been announcing a different result.
Favourite Drama was equally fraught with Run On, Racket Boys, Red Sleeve Cuff and Mr Queen all in the mix till the very end. But it’s the operatic, mobster drama, Vincenzo that flicked a lighter at its kerosene-drenched opponents and walked away with the prize. Once again, the field was neck and neck for most of the polling, with Vincenzo finally coming across the finish line (albeit with only 10 per cent of the vote). Run On and Mr Queen were in second place at 9 per cent with Racket Boys and Red Sleeve Cuff at 8 per cent. These all represent a small handful of votes.
Run On may not have crossed the finish line for the main categories but it easily outpaced its competitors for Best Romance (22%) and for Most Underrated (22%). Close behind it was brilliant workplace dramedy On the Verge of Insanity, with one in five (20%) voters thinking it was the year’s most underrated drama.
This year we also asked you about the best OTP that wasn’t. With 55 percent of the vote, Law School‘s adorable non-romance between Joon-hwi and Sol A was the clear winner.
If Move to Heaven made the majority (46%) of you cry the most, Mr Queen was The One That Made You Laugh the Most, with more than one third of the vote (36%). Shin Hye-sun’s portrayal of a modern man in a Joseon Queen’s body may have made voters laugh but it impressed them as well. She got almost half the votes (48%) for Best Female Actor.
While voters were evenly split as to their best and favourite, it was not so for the other categories. Vincenzo took out Best Villain with a conclusive 40 per cent of the vote and was also voted The Most Stylish with an impressive 63 per cent.
One in four voters (26%) also thought that Vincenzo’s lead, Song Joong-ki was 2021’s best actor, although 1 in 5 (19%) voted for Shin Ha-kyun’s award-winning performance in Beyond Evil as well as Jung Hae-in’s impressive turn in D.P. as well.
The Worst
If the result of the Best Drama award was unclear it was just as tight for the worst. In a year without a splashy Ji Chang-wook disaster, voters were split between Oh My Ladylord, Doom At Your Service and Sisyphus the Myth. In the end, it was Oh My Ladylord (19%) that pipped the other two at the post, although with 17 per cent of the vote, Doom At Your Service was not far behind. JTBC’s big-budget attempt at a 10th Anniversary Special, Sisphyus fell flat, with 15 per cent of voters thinking it was the worst drama this year.
With the global phenomena that was Squid Game, it’s probably not surprising that one third of voters (32%) thought it was the most overrated. What is potentially more interesting is that there was a sizeable group who thought the most overrated was Hometown Cha Cha Cha (27%).
Nevertheless, it was Nevertheless that scooped the award for Worst Romance with three in ten (29%) thinking Butterfly Tattoo was a bad idea. Nevertheless also just managed to scrape in (26%) Worst Ending from competitor Oh My Ladylord (25%), although with one vote between them, who’s to say one is worse than the other.
Well – I guess that would be the clear majority (57%) who voted Nevertheless The One with the Best/Worst Internet Meltdown. Although I think this is the first year it’s been won for an OTP ending up together.
The Most Important Award
It was a difficult decision we forced you to make but you made it.
I can finally reveal that Vincenzo won the inaugural (only) award for Best Lighter with a clear majority (54%) in what was a strong drama year for Lighters. Voters this year may not be able to choose their best and worst dramas, but they have a strong unified opinion on lighters.
The Results
How did your favourites fare? Did democracy work again?
Best Drama
Winner: Move to Heaven
Special Mention: Vincenzo, Beyond Evil, Run On
Author’s Pick: Beyond Evil
Favourite Drama
Winner: Vincenzo
Special Mention: Run On, Mr Queen, Racket Boys, Red Sleeve Cuff
Author’s Pick: Vincenzo
Worst Show
Winner: Oh My Ladylord
Special Mention: Doom At Your Service, Sisyphus the Myth
Author’s Pick: Doom At Your Service
Most Underrated
Winner: Run On
Special Mention: On the Verge of Insanity
Author’s Pick: Mad For Each Other
Most Overrated
Winner: Squid Game
Special Mention: Hometown Cha Cha Cha
Author’s Pick: Move to Heaven
Best Male Actor
Winner: Song Joong-ki (Vincenzo)
Special Mention: Shin Ha-kyun (Beyond Evil), Jung Hae-in (D.P.)
Author’s Pick: Shin Ha-kyun (Beyond Evil)
Best Female Actor
Winner: Shin Hye-sun (Mr Queen)
Author’s Pick: Shin Hye-sun (Mr Queen)
The One That Made You Laugh The Most
Winner: Mr Queen
Author’s Pick: Vincenzo
The One That Made You Cry The Most
Winner: Move to Heaven
Author’s Pick: Navillera
The One With the Best Villain
Winner: Vincenzo
Author’s Pick: Vincenzo
The One With the Best Romance
Winner: Run On
Author’s Pick: You Are My Spring
The One With the Worst Romance
Winner: Nevertheless
Author’s Pick: My Roommate is a Gumiho
The One With the Romance That Should Have Been But Wasn’t
Winner: Law School
Author’s Pick: Law School
The One That’s the Most Stylish
Winner: Vincenzo
Author’s Pick: Inspector Koo
The One With the Best Ensemble Cast
Winner: Hospital Playlist 2
Author’s Pick: Racket Boys
The One With the Worst Ending
Winner: Nevertheless
Special Mention: Oh My Ladylord
Author’s Pick: Devil Judge
The One With the Best Internet Meltdown
Winner: Nevertheless
Author’s Pick: Oh My Ladylord
The One with the Best Lighter
Winner: Vincenzo
Author’s Pick: Vincenzo
Based on your choice of Inspector Koo as Most Stylish, are you sure you wouldn’t rather have a yellow sparkly tracksuit?
🤣🤣🤣 I’m wedded to the blue sparkly tracksuit. Just in time for Christmas I hope.