 |
| From left, posters for the period romance "Our Blooming Youth," the fantasy rom-com "The Heavenly Idol," and the rom-com "Love to Hate You" / Courtesy of tvN, Netflix |
By Lee Gyu-lee
February is expected to be filled with series of various genres, ranging from period and romantic comedy to action.
TvN is debuting two new series next month, the period romance "Our Blooming Youth" and fantasy rom-com "The Heavenly Idol."
The period mystery romance series, set to premiere on Feb. 6, revolves around Lee Hwan (Park Hyung-sik), a cursed crown prince, and Min Jae-yi (Jeon So-nee), a woman from a prominent family.
Hwan becomes the crown prince after his older brother dies. On the night of his coronation, he gets a mysterious curse. On the other hand, Jae-yi is an obedient, devoted daughter engaged to a member of a higher-ranking family to save her own family's honor. But when her family is murdered four days before the wedding, she is accused of killing them.
Desperate to exonerate herself, Jae-yi asks Hwan to help prove her innocence and in return agrees to help him break his curse.
The series is led by Lee Jong-jae, whose previous work includes the 2018 period rom-com "100 Days My Prince" and is written by Jung Hyun-jung, who scripted the 2019 romance series "Romance Is a Bonus Book."
The fantasy comedy series "The Heavenly Idol," based on the web novel of the same name, will follow the highest priest named Lembrary (Kim Min-gue) from a fictional world, who wakes up in the body of K-pop singer Woo Yeon-woo.
A mysterious incident brings him to a completely new world and identity as a member of a struggling, not-so-popular K-pop group. While trying to find the truth behind the incident and find his way back to his realm, Lembrary navigates the cutthroat world of K-pop with the help of the group's manager, Kim Dal (Go Bo-gyeol).
The series, which will start airing on Feb. 15, is directed by Park So-yeon, who previously took part in the 2020 drama series "Graceful Friends," and is scripted by newcomer Lee Cheon-geum.
 |
| A scene from season 2 of SBS' crime action series "Taxi Driver" / Courtesy of SBS |
Netflix is also set to debut the romantic comedy original series "Love to Hate You" on Feb. 10.
The upcoming series is about an attorney, Yeo Mi-ran (Kim Ok-vin), who hates losing to men, and A-list actor Nam Gang-ho (Yoo Teo) who distrusts women. When they make a deal with their friends to date each other, the two find themselves in an unexpected romance.
Director Kim Jeong-kwon, whose previous work includes the 2020 drama "Lie After Lie," joined writer Choi Soo-young, who wrote the 2018 rom-com "My ID is Gangnam Beauty," for the series.
Season two of SBS' hit crime action series "Taxi Driver" is finally coming out on Feb. 17.
Based on the popular webcomic "The Deluxe Taxi," the series revolves around a taxi company that offers to take revenge on behalf of clients. Led by the owner Jang Sung-chul (Kim Eui-sung) and driver Kim Do-ki (Lee Je-hoon), a group of people takes matters into their own hands to seek justice against criminals, even if it means committing illegal acts like hacking, theft, abduction and assault.
The new season will pick up the story where the last left off and show the team coming across different clients and helping them with the injustices they face.
The series welcomes new director Lee Dan, who co-directed the 2021 rom-com "Our Beloved Summer." Writer Oh Sang-ho who co-scripted the first season penned the new season.
![[INTERVIEW] Choi Min-sik, Lee Dong-hwi on creating Korean-style noir with 'Big Bet'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/8b795a8f6b42492db4e8fdc47e9abd8d.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
