Who doesn’t love that tension between the characters who are always fighting yet on the verge of realising they love each other? Nothing screams romance like a good enemies-to-lovers story, especially in K-dramas. We asked Nigerians what their favourite ones are, and here’s what they had to say.
Praise Edrah
I love Wang So and Hae Soo from Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. They had such a wonderful love story, and I loved witnessing their growth. I particularly enjoyed how they helped each other become the best version of themselves.
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Coltan
I don’t think I’ve watched a lot of K-dramas with the enemies-to-lovers trope. Maybe I’m just too focused on the part where they fall in love to remember. But, my favourite would be Hometown Cha Cha Cha, which also happens to be my favourite K-drama of all time. Hye-jin and Du-sik weren’t exactly enemies at the beginning, but they didn’t really get along because they had very different outlooks on life. But as they spent more time with each other, they became genuine friends. There was so much depth in their conversations, all the tiny gestures of love were present. both Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah did a stellar job with their roles. And it wasn’t just focused on them as the main leads, it was a story about everyone in the town, the side characters gave the series so much depth. Really, I could talk about why Hometown Cha Cha Cha is the best k-drama ever made, all day.
Also Gaus Electronics, which I just finished watching. It’s a workplace drama and these characters were actually proper enemies oh. I started watching it because I saw a tweet that said it was really funny, and truly it is. I’m yet to watch the last two episodes, but it’s already one of my favourite k-dramas. I love Kwak Dong Yeon. If you saw him in Vincenzo, you do too. It’s very typical enemies-to-lovers stuff — fake girlfriend, fake relationship, and before you know, it all becomes real. The part where Baek Ma Tan got up from his father’s house just to go and experience poverty is something else.
Rane
My favourites are Hometown Cha Cha Cha, Her Private Life, Scarlet Heart Ryeo and Touch Your Heart. Hometown leads went from always fighting to “I’ve lived 34 years without you, but each day seems to last forever since I’ve met you”. Every single character had depth, and they all loved each other, weirdly. I liked Her Private Life because it was giving office romance. She fell in love with the boss she hated, and everything else was just funny and lightweight. Scarlet Heart was great. Historical dramas always have umph.
Kokai
In no particular order: Alchemy of Souls — Mu Deok-i and Jang Uk were using each other when they fell in love; Shooting Stars — the superstar male lead picked on the female lead who accidentally sent a PR letter about his dick size. I love a great “funny with a nice ending” enemies-to-lovers story.
Zaynab
My favourite enemies-to-lovers K-drama is Our Beloved Summer. In most K-dramas the male lead always bullies the female lead until they end up liking each other, but that’s not the case here. Choi Ung was kind and gentle to Yeon Su even after she broke up with him in a horrible manner. The cinematography was beautiful, and the female lead was a strong character.
Athena
I’m a sucker for comedy and rom-coms, but good ones only occur when the actors have chemistry. I want to see the hate, jealousy, sadness or misunderstanding in your eyes, and I want to see it slowly change to love. My favourite of them all is Semantic Error. Chu Sangwoo and Jang Jaeyoung’s height difference? It was too cute. They made me wish I was one of the characters.
They were so sweet and fluffy that I almost had diabetes.
