Missing ‘Bon Appetit, Your Majesty’? These 11 Time-Travel K-Dramas Will Fill the Gap
Escape 2025 vicariously through these time-travel K-dramas
By Hana Lee -
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There is just something about time-travelling dramas that is intriguing. Perhaps it’s the idea that one could have an experience that no one in their era could have. Or perhaps it’s the idea of a do-over, or ability to change the future. Whichever concept tickles your fancy, you might enjoy these 12 time-travel K-dramas that centre on time travel, from going back centuries to the Joseon dynasty, to a five-year difference that might seem minuscule, but proves that every little action has consequences.
1. Bon Appetit, Your Majesty
In case you haven’t already binged it, this one’s fresh out of the oven, and recently just concluded. The time-slip K-drama stars Im Yoon-a (of Girls’ Generation fame) as French-trained chef Yeon Ji-yeong, who gets transported to the Joseon era. She has to whip up dishes to impress King Yi-heon (Lee Chae-min), who is notoriously picky about what is served to him. Surprisingly, he enjoys her cooking and asks him to prepare his meals from then on. She uses her knowledge of French cuisine to create fusion meals that he has never encountered, and it seems that in this instance, his stomach is also the way to his heart. Be prepared to get hungry while watching this because the foods shown are on another level.
Bon Appetit, Your Majesty is now on Netflix.
2. Mr Queen (2020)
When it comes to adding time-travel dramas to your watchlist, you cannot skip Mr Queen. It’s similar to Bon Appetit, Your Majesty in the sense that both are modern-day chefs who got transported back in time. The difference is, in Mr Queen, the chef is male (Choi Jin-hyuk), and he possesses the queen’s body (Shin Hye-sun). Imagine the chaos when a supposedly demure queen suddenly acts like a modern-day dude. That’s exactly the scene you will witness throughout this 20-episode drama. Now, 20 episodes might seem a bit long for a series, but you'd best know that it doesn’t feel draggy at all. And as someone with a short attention span thanks to TikTok and Instagram Reels, that basically means this drama is worth watching.
Mr Queen is available on Netflix.
3. Again My Life (2022)
I was looking forward to this drama because Lee Joon-gi never fails to deliver, and I was right. This drama revolves around the story of Kim Hee-woo, a prosecutor who got killed while trying to take down a politician. However, instead of dying, he time-travelled back to when he was a student. He lives his life all over again, and vowed to take down the man who gave the order for his death. He enlists the help of Kim Hee-ah (Kim Ji-eun), the daughter of the chairman of a conglomerate, to rise through the ranks so he can seek revenge.
Again My Life is available on Viu.
4. Marry My Husband (2024)
You might have seen snippets of this drama on social media, even if you haven’t watched it. The drama follows the story of Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young), a cancer patient who was murdered by her husband and his mistress, who is her best friend. On the brink of death, she goes back in time to before they got married. As she now knows the true colours of the adulterous couple, she comes up with a plan to ensure that they marry each other, so that her best friend would go through the same suffering as she did when she married the man.
Marry My Husband is on Prime Video.
5. Lovely Runner (2024)
One of the biggest K-dramas of 2024, this was the drama that catapulted Byeon Woo-seok to fame. It revolves around the story of a woman (Im Sol, played by Kim Hye-yoon), who is a fan of Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok), and seeks solace in his music after an accident left her wheelchair-bound. Following the news of his suicide, she goes back in time and vows to change his destiny — and hers. She is transported 15 years back in time, when they were both in high school. The chemistry between Woo-seok and Hye-yoon is so good that they picked up the Best Couple Award at the APAN Star Awards last year. The drama also won multiple accolades at various award shows.
Lovely Runner is on Netflix.
6. Familiar Wife (2018)
Cha Joo-hyuk (Ji Sung) is a bank employee who has been married for five years. Unfortunately, his marriage is anything but peaceful. He finds himself questioning his choice of marrying his wife (Han Ji-min) as they prove to be incompatible through their years of living together. This thought further roots itself in his mind when he meets his first love, who showers him with care and concern. He makes a wish for a different destiny, and wakes up to a brand new life, where his wife is now a stranger, and his first love is his spouse.
Familiar Wife is on iQiyi.
7. Sisyphus: The Myth (2021)
If you have the habit of watching dramas on fast-forward, this isn’t the one for it. The plot is complex and layered, and in fact, I was confused when I watched it and had to rely on the good people on the Internet for explanations. It stars Cho Seung-woo as Han Tae-sul, an engineer, physicist, and co-founder of a company. One day, he meets Kang Seo-hae (Park Shin-hye), who is actually from the future. She warns him of a nuclear war that will happen in the future, which he and his company indirectly enabled. Although he initially doubts her words, he realises that his brother’s death could be a conspiracy related to this. The pair decides to work together to prevent the war and find out who is behind it. Not gonna lie, this drama is my Roman Empire because I randomly think about it sometimes and watch specific scenes, but it’s not a drama I would binge-watch from start to finish because it’s pretty intense.
Sisyphus: The Myth is on Netflix.
8. Go Back Couple (2017)
This time-travel K-drama revolves around a couple, Ma Jin-joo (Jang Na-ra) and Choi Ban-do, who are married with a son. They are both unhappy; Ban-do struggles with his job while Jin-joo is a housewife who feels neglected. The pair eventually reaches a breaking point in the relationship, but surprisingly, they find themselves back in time to when they were 20 years old. They decided to do what current them couldn’t do: enjoy themselves. At the same time, they decided to make different decisions that would ultimately affect their families and friends.
Watch this on Netflix, Viu and iQiyi.
9. Twinkling Watermelon (2023)
Ha Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun) is the only person who can hear in his family — the rest are deaf. He is a fan of music, and hopes to be a guitarist one day. While he spends his day as a model student, his nights are spent practising with his band. When his father finds out, he disapproves and they have a falling out. One day, he visits a store that sells mysterious musical instruments and gets transported back to 1995. He meets the younger version of his father, Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun-wook), and Yoon Chung-a (Shin Eun-soo). He befriends Yi-chan and forms a band called Watermelon Sugar. He also meets Choi Se-kyung (Seol In-na), whom Yi-chan has a crush on, but realises she might be hiding something. Eun-gyeol takes this time to understand his parents, including their dreams and regrets.
Twinkling Watermelon is on Viu.
10. 18 Again
While this is not a time-travelling drama per se, protagonist Hong Dae-young (Yoon Sang-hyun) goes back in time in terms of appearance. Let us explain. Dae-young is married to Jung Da-jung (Kim Ha-neul), and they have twins who are in high school. They seemingly have a happy marriage, but Da-jung suddenly files for divorce one day. Just when Dae-young thinks things couldn’t get worse, his children start ignoring his existence, and he also loses his job. He makes a wish to go back in time and fix everything — and he was given half that chance. He wakes up to find himself in the body of his 18-year-old self (Lee Do-hyun), but mentally, he is still 37. He uses an alias to enter his twins’ school and finds out there were many things about them he didn’t know, and those could be the cause of his failed relationships.
18 Again is on Netflix, Viu and iQiyi.
11. Times (2021)
As a writer, I was first intrigued when the summary said the drama would centre on two reporters. But the storyline made me stay: it follows the story of two reporters — one living in 2015 and another in 2020 — who discovered that they can contact each other through a phone call. The reporter in 2015 is Seo Jung-in (Lee Joo-young), the daughter of the future president of South Korea. She works with the 2020 reporter Lee Jin-woo (Lee Seo-jin) to prevent his death, but they realise every change they did would change the future.
Times is on iQiyi.
12. Signal (2016)
I can’t tell you the number of times I have rewatched this drama, and judging from how everyone is looking forward to season two, which is reportedly in production, that should be a testament to how good the series is.
It follows the story of a criminal profiler in 2015 (Park Hae-young) and a relentless detective in the 1990s (Jae-han), who realise they can communicate across time using a walkie-talkie. They exchange information to solve serial murders, but realise that they be uncovering a bigger secret that might lead to Jae-han’s disappearance. It stars Lee Je-hoon as Hae-young, Cho Jin-woong as Jae-han, and Kim Hye-soo as Je-hoon’s team leader and Jae-han’s mentee. The cases covered in the show are inspired by real serial murders that happened in South Korea.
Signal is on Netflix.