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Balancing a mix of growing pains and triumphs, the best coming-of-age K-dramas have relatable narratives that depict a crucial moment in life for young adults. Leaving behind their childhood and gearing up to enter the real world, the protagonists in coming-of-age K-dramas experience a range of highs and lows. Many of the genre's best set its K-dramas in high school or college, with academic competition and the pressure to succeed setting up an ideal obstacle for the series' characters to push through.

In addition to finding oneself, heavily featured in these K-dramas are subplots about romance and friendship. Many coming-of-age series see protagonists in new relationships that bloom and old ones that are tested. Though many series in the genre are lighthearted, they are not without their more poignant storylines. The balance of heartbreak and happiness within these K-dramas is deftly managed, and they create narratives that are honest and ultimately relatable to audiences.

Despite the short length of her career, Go Min-si is one of Netflix's biggest K-drama stars and has been a part of many notable series. Born in 1995 in Daejeon, South Korea, Go Min-si first began her career in the film industry as the writer and director of the short film, Parallel Novel. The actress then appeared in the music video for "Sign" by Thunder, before finally making her on-screen debut in 2016.

Though she is best known for her roles in Netflix's best K-dramas, Go Min-si has found success in film. In 2018, she received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Witch. She also won Best New Actress at the 2023 Blue Dragon Awards for her role in The Smugglers. However, Go Min-si's title as Netflix's new favorite actor after Song Kang makes her a highly sought-after K-drama actress. Her career only seems to grow with every new series she releases,...

Romance K-dramas set in college allow for themes of love and coming-of-age to overlap. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo and Love Alarm both implement the popular K-drama trope of a love triangle. Go Back Couple is a romance K-drama with serious themes about life choices and struggling relationships.

There is an abundance of romance K-dramas for audiences to choose from, but those set in colleges provide something fresh to the widely popular genre. Romance is a beloved K-drama genre for its expected lighthearted tone and sweet portrayals of love. Popular settings for such relationships to develop are in the workplace and at high school, but the setting of a college campus adds another layer of emotional stakes.

A college setting in romance K-dramas makes way for coming-of-age storylines to be mixed with the focal love stories. K-dramas like Age of Youth and My First First Love address the ups and downs of early adulthood,...

Ensemble k-dramas focus on a large group of characters, leading to dynamic relationships and complex storylines. The success of an ensemble k-drama relies on giving each character an intriguing story to ensure audience investment. Popular ensemble k-dramas like "Penthouse" and "Reply" series showcase diverse storylines and interesting relationships among characters.

K-dramas have many different kinds of genres and types, and though action or romantic k-drama series can be a lot of fun, an underappreciated form of k-drama is the ensemble k-drama. An ensemble series is one that does not have just one main character, but focuses on a large group of characters. An ensemble television series could have four characters, or it could have ten. Regardless of the number of characters, an ensemble k-drama can be even better than a regular one because of its dynamic relationships, complex storylines, and overall grander scale.

The best ensemble k-dramas are those whose...