The global reputation of the Korean TV industry rests on violent thrillers, historical epics like Mr. Sunshine, character-driven procedurals such as Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and slice-of-life dramas like —but straightforward romantic comedies remain the backbone of this cultural export. Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, has long been fueled by rom-coms like Full House, Coffee Prince, and Boys Over Flowers. This genre stays vital, which is why it was disappointing that 2025 hadn’t seen a major K-drama rom-com hit… until Dynamite Kiss arrived.
When it debuted on Netflix in mid-November, Dynamite Kiss made waves by breaking all the usual K-drama rom-com rules. Traditionally, the genre follows a tried-and-true formula: The first one or two episodes feature a meet-cute (or meet-hate for enemies-to-lovers stories). The middle episodes track the potential couple’s relationship growth, often spiced up with hijinks, misunderstandings, and solvable conflicts. The pair gets together around two-thirds of the way through the series, splits up in the penultimate episode, and reunites for a happy ending in the finale. This formula works—it’s produced some of K-drama’s biggest successes. But after decades of building a loyal fanbase, a little change is welcome.
Dynamite Kiss starts by rushing through the main characters’ romantic journey. Chaebol heir Gong Ji-hyeok (Atypical Family’s Jang Ki-yong) meets chronically unemployed Go Da-rim (My Dearest’s Ahn Eun-jin) in . By the end of episode one, they kiss. By episode two’s close, they’ve gone on their first date and slept together. If Da-rim’s mother hadn’t ended up in the hospital, they might have become a happy couple. Instead, Da-rim vanishes while Ji-hyeok is in the shower. He spends the next episode searching for her, while she tries to figure out how to pay her mother’s medical bills and her sister’s loan shark debt.
After this unorthodox opening, Dynamite Kiss returns to a familiar structure. In an openly contrived setup, the two cross paths again at an office. Ji-hyeok, desperate to help his mentally ill mother divorce his controlling father, takes a role at the family’s baby products company, Natural BeBe. Da-rim, eager for work and lacking experience, applies to the same company—unaware her recent romantic interest is linked to it.
Da-rim applies for a spot on a newly formed team for working mothers. Since she’s not actually a mom, she lies: She asks her best friend Seon-u (My Dearest’s Kim Mu-jun), a single dad, to pretend to be her husband. Seon-u’s young son Jun knows Da-rim as his aunt. When Da-rim starts her new job, she finds out the man she met in Jeju is her boss. And Ji-hyeok thinks the woman he fell for is married with a child—and lied to him during their life-altering first date.
2025 has been a lackluster year for romantic comedies. The most anticipated rom-coms of the year—including Potato Lab, Would You Marry Me, and Nice to Not Meet You—failed to land, due to weak chemistry, flawed concepts, or a mix of both. Rom-coms that told engaging stories, like Love Scout and My Dearest Nemesis, didn’t generate the same buzz as Dynamite Kiss, possibly because Dynamite Kiss is the only one widely available on Netflix. (Love Scout is on Netflix in select regions but in the U.S. it’s on Viki.)
But Dynamite Kiss’s popularity goes beyond its accessibility on . Powered by its bold opening and the chemistry between Jang and Ahn, the series is a much-needed rom-com hit in a year dominated by suspense thrillers, action comedies, and slice-of-life dramas. It represents a type of K-drama that, while not endangered, might become less common as foreign OTT giants reshape the TV industry . As more money flows into K-dramas , and global viewership expectations rise, more funds are going to action, superhero, and crime genres—typically favored by male audiences.
Genre diversity isn’t a bad thing; K-dramas have long excelled at mixing different genres in surprising, entertaining ways. But in chasing huge hits like Squid Game, there’s a risk of losing the focus on romance—something that’s traditionally , and underserved by Hollywood—which made K-dramas popular initially. The best rom-coms embrace romance and sentimentality unapologetically. In the U.S., such stories are mostly limited to the Christmas season, but in Korea, they’re popular all year round.
Like all TV shows (especially K-dramas), maintaining a strong start is tough. Few K-dramas fully live up to their early promise. Dynamite Kiss will end its 14-episode run next week, with the final two episodes releasing on December 24 and 25. Whether it ends satisfyingly or not, this rom-com has brought light, romantic, much-needed escapism to the end of 2025—and that matters in many ways.
