Five Favourite Female Friendships
Bromances in dramaland seem to get all the love and hype sometimes, but we love a great sismance when we get one. Unfortunately, women in Kdramas are too often pitted against each other. It’s sometimes hard to find a truly great friendship that can stand the test of 16 whole episodes. Last week I checked out the new drama Thirty Nine with the other Certified Noonas. The sismance is strong with that one, and while it might be a bit early to put it in the favourites list, it is definitely a strong contender. In honour of this new drama, we’re taking a look at the favourite female friendships mentioned in our most recent #KdramaChat.
In February’s KdramaChat, our Drama Unnie asked about everyone’s favourite Kdrama sismances.
Most of the answers aligned with my own favourites, making this a quick and easy list 😜
1. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
The Swag Sisters from Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo are a perennial favourite when it comes to female friendships in a kdrama. If you’ve every heard a drama fan say “su-wag” in a very particular way, you can probably guess that they are a fan of these girls. If you’ve never watched the drama, it tells the story of a group of Olympic hopefuls attending an athletic college. You can probably guess from the title which sport the girls compete in 😉
One of the big pros of this drama are that these female athletes eat food. A lot. Many of the girls’ scenes together revolve around eating copious amounts of food as any muscle-building athlete does. On the downside, none of our main 3 look like they could actually lift any weight of note 😅
2. Be Melodramatic
This is the only one on our list today that I have not personally watched. However, Be Melodramatic comes so highly recommended from those who’ve watched it that I feel pretty comfortable adding it to the list.
It’s the story of three 30 year old best friends, one of whom is a single mother. The drama explores their work lives and relationships and I have never heard a bad opinion of the show. To be honest, it has been on my plan to watch list since the posters first came out, but I just never seem to find the time. I think I’m going to have to make the time this year.
3. Search:WWW
The award for least searchable drama title goes to Search:WWW (just kidding, there’s also XX 😜). This drama was advertised as a hot noona romance about a one night stand that becomes something more. And while it is that, the relationships between the three frenemies is what really grabs everyone’s attention.
The story focuses on 3 women who work for two different internet search sites. The main character leaves one company to move to a position across the street with her competitors. It’s like if Google and Bing had offices across the street from each other… pretending that Bing was actually competitive 🤭 The women have a sort of office friendship platonic love triangle thing going on and it really adds a great dimension to an already very watchable drama.
4. Hello My Twenties/Age of Youth
This is another drama that is incredibly beloved. With two separate seasons, there are plenty of episodes to spend with this group of college aged roommates. The drama begins with a new girl moving into an apartment shared with 4 other girls. She does not initially hit it off well with the rest of them. There seems to be a mystery surrounding the previous tenant, and as the story unfolds, the girls grow closer together.
My personal relationship with this drama is somewhat troubled. I’ve tried it twice, and the second time I really did appreciate the different characters and their relationships with each other. It’s a complex and interesting friendship. However for some reason it just never really stuck with me and I wound up setting it aside. That’s okay though. Not every drama is for every watcher. It doesn’t mean they aren’t still great dramas!
5. Because This is my First Life
This is the drama that I have watched more times than any other drama. I literally watched every episode 3 times a week as it was airing. One time when it dropped on Viki despite having zero subs available. Second time once the subs were complete enough to actually follow the plot. And then a third time while I waited for the next episodes to come out. I was a mess 😆
Because This is my First Life is the story of 3 young women navigating their friendship and their very different love relationships. It is just so well written and realistic in many ways. One girl winds up in a contract marriage when a case of mistaken identity confuses her roommate situation. Another is living with her long time boyfriend just waiting for the day that he will be successful enough for them to get married. The third struggles with loads of misogyny at work and a casual sex friend who wants to be more. They each have different career and life goals and I really enjoyed seeing three such different friends sticking together.
Honorable Mention: Thirty Nine
As I mentioned earlier, Thirty Nine is a currently airing drama, so it might be too soon too call, but so far I am 4 episodes in to this drama and I love their friendship so much. Fair warning however, this isn’t an easy drama to watch. I’ve cried in almost every episode. Basically the first scene of the first episode is showing a funeral with a voice over letting you know that one of them has died. So be forewarned, the subject matter is heavy.
Despite that, it is also a funny and heartwarming drama. The friendship between 3 women who have been friends for over 2 decades is so refreshingly realistic. They fight with each other, and call each other out, but also enjoy each other’s company, and have each other’s backs in a fight. It’s wonderful so far and I am hopeful that it will continue along the path of excellence.
Interested in hearing more of my thoughts on Thirty Nine? Check out our recent episode of Certified Noonas
Looking for more dramas with great female friendships? I took a look at the way women are often grouped together in threes over here
And I recapped the first episode of How To Be Thirty last year. This drama is one of my personal favourites when it comes to female friendships.
Join us for our next #KDramaChat on March 7th at 8pm est over on Twitter
