The old amnesia plot device isn’t new, but it’s something that K-Drama fans have come to love (to hate, sometimes). While it’s a trope, I must admit that many scriptwriters do an admirable job of keeping viewers guessing as to what will happen next. Here are some of our favorites:
This series is one of the latest K-Dramas to focus on amnesia. A female classical musician (Kim Se-jeong) has witnessed a murder — but she can’t remember what happened. Is it because she’s the culprit? Or was she so traumatized by what she saw that she truly blocked it from her brain? She finds that she’s able to get some sleep when a tone-deaf vocalist (Yeon Woo-jin) starts singing to her every evening. In many ways, he becomes the antidote for her memory loss.
Unrequited love is at the core of this period piece, which centers on a prince and the aristocrat girl he is in love with. Because of palace policies, he isn’t allowed to marry her. Knowing how much the boy who will become king loves her, the Queen Dowager orders the girl to be killed. Instead, a shaman arranges for her to temporarily “die.” When she awakens years later, she has no memory of her former past. The adult characters are beautifully portrayed by Kim Soo-Hyun and Han Ga-In, who deftly get all the emotions across. One of the best K-Dramas around, the story unfolds beautifully and gives viewers the satisfaction of watching the couple cautiously piece together their history.
There is a lot going on in this Korean series and the last few episodes are ones that you want to savor. The series starts off with a psychiatrist (Hwang Jung Eum) who accepts an offer to treat a high-profile richie rich guy (Ji Sung) who will inherit a conglomerate. He has a past that he is trying to unlock. Childhood trauma made him shut down and create six personalities to tackle the aspects of his life that he can’t face. As the story unfolds, it’s clear that she has a secret history that she can’t remember either. Since this is a K-Drama, viewers just know that they had interacted during their younger years. The way the story is told is both funny and heartbreaking, with some stellar acting by all parties. When it becomes clear why he feels guilt over a childhood friendship he could not protect, you will be hardpressed not to cry along.
A stunt woman (Ha Ji-Won) falls in love with a spoiled chaebol (Hyun Bin) who is handsome, but obnoxious. An elitist who looks down on her because she’s poor and uneducated, his outlook on life changes as he realizes that being born into money doesn’t make you a better person. While he’s rich and good looking, he has more oddities than she does. Because of a childhood accident, he refuses to ride elevators and has a fear of being trapped in small spaces. Though he’s a full-grown adult, his family members refuse to tell him what happened to him in the accident. While his brain had shut down that part of his life, he works towards piecing together his memories so that he can begin the healthy process of dealing with his past.
You can watch all these dramas and more by subscribing to KOCOWA. What are some of your favorite K-Dramas, where memory loss is part of the storyline? Sound off in the comments below!
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