I can't believe how many shows I started and didn't finish this year! I used to finish almost everything, even the most ridiculous stuff, I just couldn't leave a drama unfinished. Maybe it's normal to become pickier when you get to know something better and the novelty wears off. Still, I'm surprised at myself for not finishing dramas (yet) even though I really like them, e.g. Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, Jealousy Incarnate or Bring it on Ghost.
I feel like 2016 was a good year for individual characters that I loved even when the show around them had flaws e.g. (I'm not good with names)
male: Louie, Nam Jun-Ki, Mr Soundeditor, Mr Game CEO Tiger, Lee Young Oh
female: Gong Shim, Dada, Bok Sil, the Weighlifter Fairy and her besties, the Mermaid (potentially), Oh Hae-young, Ms Temper

Yes!! I have been waiting for this. I watched 13 current dramas in their entirety this year (5 more that I dropped halfway, and a lot that weren't from this year).

W: Two Worlds- 0000
Signal- 000
Entertainer- 00
Marriage Contract- 000
Goblin- 0

Well, I'm glad to read I'm not the only one that dropped several dramas this year (and I've watched lots from other years, plus C-dramas). Otherwise my 6 beans would look very pathetic... I am enjoying Lobster and Goblin, but since they're still airing I'm not counting them.

Completed shows:
Descendants of the Sun
Beautiful Gong Shim
Page Turner
Cinderella and Four Knights
Drinking Solo
Moon Lovers

Beans:
Beautiful Gong Shim 0
Page Turner 00
Drinking Solo 0
Moon Lovers 00

I've got 10 beans to give away:

Jealousy Incarnate – 4 beans - a total gem. Best show this year and in my eternal list it takes second place right behind Secret Love Affair.
I always liked Cho Jung Seok, but now I adore him. He gave us the best male lead ever in a Kdrama. Complicated, layered and perfectly acted.
(Those talking about a stalking Pyo Na Ri should remember the different cultural background. My Korean teacher explained to us, that ‘no’ is never ‘no’ in the beginning. One has to resist to not appear too easy. And it would be imaginable to say 'no' even 10 times and then finally agree. Unheard of for us Western viewers, but apparently in the Korean context acceptable. Also, those talking about sexual harassment towards Lee Hwa Shin in the first eps should stay miles away from his Oh My Ghostess.)

Signal – 3 beans - so different and so good

Marriage Contract – 3 beans - it made me cry buckets. And I don’t tend to cry easily. Mr. Grumpypants and Uee acted their way deep into my heart. After it finished I was unable to watch another drama for months. They raised the bar.

Finished, but no beans for:

- Moonlight Drawn by Clouds – sugary cute in the beginning, a little boring later, frizzled out towards the end. Did the same amount of close-ups and deer eyes like Moon Lovers, but the audience forgave it here. The magic of Park Bo Gum.

- Let’s Fight Ghost – wasn’t offended by the age gap. It was okayish.

- Cheese in the Trap – it could have become a sensation… and then things and screen time for actors happened.

- Another Oh Hae Young – I think I liked it while watching, although to me it was over-hyped. But now I sit here and don’t remember what it was about. Also, Eric. Not a fan of his acting. (But his cooking. Although he is soooooo sloooooooow. Who calculates potatoes like this? Boy, the staff is hungry too! They’ll gobble it up! To me he seemed like a person on a constant diet. Which he likely is.)

Dropped:

- W

- Cinderella and the 4 Knights

- K2

- Moon Lovers – I still need to watch the last 2 or 3 eps. Maybe it will never happen. What a missed opportunity!

- Woman With a Suitcase

-Shopping King Louie/Louis – couldn’t watch the first ep. But I am willing to give it another try, because I read so many good things about it. I just need time to pass to let the memory of Jealousy Incarnate fade a little.

- Drinking Solo

- Beautiful Gong Shim

- Lucky Romance

- Wanted

- Master God of Noodle

- Mirror of the Witch

Hate Watches aka I'd love to take beans away:

- 1% - badly hidden under a thin sugar coating waited tons of misogynistic crap. Several forced kisses were supposed to be sold as romantic, a male lead saying: ‘I don’t care what you say, I do what I want anyway.’ is NOT swoon-worthy. I know I am alone against the whole fandom, but I don’t care what you say, I hate it from the bottom of my heart anyway.

- DotS - really, really bad

Still watching...

well I have completed or still watching 18 dramas if I don´t count the re-watches (if the times I have watched IRY counted...! oh boy!)
I will give:
Entertiner - 1 bean (because the show tried hard)
Beautiful Gong Shim - 1 bean (for the first half and Namgoong mins´ oddball act only)
Come Back, Ajussi - 2 beans (for Lee Honey)
Bring It On, Ghost - 2 beans (team ghost and team Soondae)
Signal - 5 beans. But never stop trying!
Police Unit 38 gets 7 beans. Wait, I thought I was giving 7 beans? Where are the 7 gold bars I had the Goblin make for me? DRAT!!!
Shopping King Louis gets a catalog of all the bean varieties so he can order the best ones and pay for them too, cause he is rich enough to do so. I am not confident I can pick them well enough.

So I am embarrassed... jaja I have like no social life. I was an intern doctor for half of this year and the other half I've been a rural doctor for social service... and I have watched 34 korean dramas aired this year and 7 taiwanese dramas aired this year, 2 japanese dramas aired this year, and I've watched 10 old dramas. :( I just realized that I really didn't see much of my friends this year... ( as a rural doctor I live in the clinic so I have to attend emergencies throughout the night and sometimes I don't fall asleep til' 3 am and I wake up at 7 am soooo there really is too much time... and I am procrastinating on my thesis. like BIG TIME)
so bean distribution (34) I'll do hearts because I don't have the bean icon
1) shopping King LOUIE- ????
2) Signal ?????
3)Moon Lovers- ?????? (yes i loved it even more than signal flaws and all... sue me ?)
4) Marriage contract ????
5) Comeback Ahjusshi ???
6) Legend of the blue sea ????
7) five children ??
8) Beautiful Gong Shim ??
9) Fantastic ???
10) Uncontrollably Fond ?

I can't believe it's been a year since the first Bean Count - I feel proud to have been part of the first audience!

This year I've watched:
Signal,
Cheese in the Trap,
Come Back, Ajusshi,
Shopping King Louie,
Jealousy Incarnate,
1% of Anything,
Moonlight Drawn by Clouds,
Police Unit 38,
Oh Hae-young Again,
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju,
Five Kids,
Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim,
Legend of the Blue Sea,
The K2,
Page Turner,
Descended of the Sun

That gives me sixteen beans, when we include the ones I haven't finished.

Signal: 4
Moonlight Drawn by Clouds: 3
Shopping King Louie: 4
1% of Anything: 2
Five Kids: 1
Jealousy Incarnate: 1
Page Turner: 1

Oh, if only I had more beans!

Out of curiosity, would you get two beans for watching a 50-episide drama as opposed to a drama of half the length? I would think because it takes twice the time and essentially a longer period of dedication that longer dramas earn you more beans.

I have barely seen any Kdramas this year! Wow! 1% of everything gets all my Kdrama beans. However, I saw lots of Cdramas and Tdramas, so I am giving them Pandas and Formosan Monkeys (I googled popular animals in each of the countries because my emoji's are limited). Here goes:

Cdramas I've watched:

1. When A Snail Loves?????
2. Love Me if You Dare ??
3. Shan Shan Comes to Eat (rewatch)?
4. Imperial Doctress
5. One Smile is Very Alluring
6. You Are My Sunshine (Director's Cut)
7. Scarlett Heart 2
8. Thinking of You Lu Xiang Bei

Tdramas:

1. Better Man (Tdrama) ?????
2. V-Focus?
3. Murphy's Law of Love??
4. Someone Like You ??
5. Refresh Man ?
6. Prince of Wolf
7. Taste of Love ?
8. Swimming Battle
9. Summer's Desire
10. Fall in Love with Me
11. Love Now
12. Happy 300 days

Cdramas Dropped:
My Amazing Boyfriend
Rookie Agent Rogue
Tea Love
Scarlett Heart 1

Tdramas Dropped:
Devil Beside You
Autumn Concerto

So I have 12 beans and I am going to give them to:

3 - Signal
4 - Jealousy Incarnate
2 - Oh Hae Young
1 - Police 38
1 - Mirror of the witch
1 - Shopping King Louis

Guys, what about SPLISH SPLASH LOVE??

How come there's no love for Drinking Solo?

It's been an odd, but interesting year for me. I watched one show I loved (Six Flying Dragons - I know DB counts it as last year but it finished in March), two shows that I found intriguing and original but that couldn't quite land their endings (Pied Piper & Age of Youth), one small, lovely show that could be a bit stiff and cliched at times but had a strong sense of through line and purpose (Memory), two shows that started out great up but ended up in a pile of muddled plot and character choices (Cheese in the Trap and W) and one show that everyone else loved but that did nothing for me (Signal). I'm also currently watching Goblin and thoroughly enjoying it, although I'll freely acknowledge that the cast is a huge part of the appeal. With my 8 beans, I'd currently give 5 to SFD, and one each to Pied Piper, Age of Youth and Memory.

Aw. I only have 7 beans coz I dropped most of the dramas this year. I give all seven to Dragons.

Signal-3
Marriage Contract- 2
Mirror of the Witch-1
Bokju-1 (I'd give you more but you know what they say, "It's not over 'til it's over" There's still a risk of this going downhill. I hope not.)

Not counting currently airing dramas (which I don't think should be counted anyway) I've watched 81 dramas, specials, and Kmovies this year. 15 Movies (way down for some reason) and 12 Specials in that total. So 54 dramas for the year so far, also down for me this year. Of those listed above, the ones I dropped were 4, all the rest I finished (happily or unhappily).

Signal, Jealousy, Age of Youth, Dear My Friends, The Good Wife, Memory and Marriage Contract top the list for me as to quality of programing. Production, acting, etc were all terrific and the feels from them OTT.

For the sheer pleasure of enjoyment week to week, 1% tops my list, followed by W, Cheese, and the 2 Moons.

So much fun with all the dramas this year that I've lost track at the moment of how many I actually watched.

What I do remember is that particular standouts were (in no particular order):

- On The Way To The Airport
- Jealousy Incarnate
- Moonlight Drawn By Clouds

And seriously, one of these days I'm going to have to restart Signal. ...... I stopped at episode 2 way back when!

What an impressive bean count with colors and even pie chart. Thanks Mary and DB staff. :)
I completed 23 dramas and dropped 6... MDL has the details. Since I watch so much its easier to keep track in there.

I enjoyed Signal so much that I completed it in 1 weekend, and the downside, I don't remember much of the details. I had to go back and read DB recaps for refreshing my memory. Others, I watch weekly so stays in the memory for a long time.

I love love love Goblin at the moment ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Shopping King ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Signal❤️❤️❤️❤️
W ❤️❤️❤️
OHYA ❤️❤️❤️
Moonlight ❤️❤️❤️
Lucky Romance : ❤️

I always love these end of year reviews, and the Bean Count is a lot of fun! I also love seeing what everyone in the comments has to say. (So happy to see EVERYONE pretty much luuurved Signal!) Also, thanks Mary for the lovely interactive charts!

As for MY bean count, I have 14 beans. I thought I'd actually have more, but then I went back and looked and saw that I dropped 11 shows in 2016 (!!!) and never got around to finishing 2 more (Moonlight Drawn by Clouds and W - Two Worlds). Oy. Here's what I watched and how I distributed my beans. (I tried to be nice and not give all my beans to Signal!)

+Signal 000 -- favorite drama of the year and ever!!!
+Police Unit 38 000 -- Seo In Guk and conning is the best crack
+Shopping King Louis 00 -- Seo In Guk and puppiness is the best crack
+Weightlifting Fairy 0 -- so relatable and real
+Oh Hae Young 0 -- different and deep and just plain weird
+Romantic Doctor Kim 0 -- this is the first medical drama I've been able to stick with
+Legend of the Blue Sea 0 -- Jo Jung Suk is the best cameo of all time and Lee Min Ho needs to stick to comedy
+Descendants of the Sun 0 -- if I'm being honest, my favorite thing about this show was the soundtrack but not when it actually played at all the wrong moments
+Cheese in the Trap 0 -- first 12 episodes were excellent so I will forget the last 4 didn't happen

+Gong Shim N/A -- absolutely loved Namgoong Min but the show doesn't hold up now that it's over
+Come Back Mister N/A -- fun but a hot mess
+Entertainer N/A - I will watch Ji Sung in anything but what a mediocre show
+Cinderella & 4 Knights N/A -- blargh and ick
+Lucky Romance N/A -- *shudder* Ryu Jun Yeol couldn't save this tragedy

My favorite was shafted, so I just had to throw all my beans into the mix as well!! Happily, my list is very similar to LollyPip's! ^_^

Shopping King Louis - 8
Signal - 4
Moonlight Drawn by Clouds - 2
Jealousy Incarnate - 2
Weightlifting Fairy - 1
W - Two Worlds - 1
Police Unit 38 - 1

I have the same taste in dramas as Lollypip. Cool.

For the year end review, can you guys throw in Splash Splash Love from last year? hehe I know it's a drama special but I'd be all over that review. lol

I have 38 beans (it was a busy year drama-wise).

After conferring with my k-drama spreadsheet, I'll divide them out as follows:

Signal - 6

Shopping King Louis - 5
Oh Hae Young Again - 4

Age of Youth - 3
Goblin - 3
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds - 3
Legend of the Blue Sea - 3
Weight-lifting Fairy - 3

Descendants of the Sun - 2
On the Way to the Airport - 2
Five Children - 2
Laurel Street Tailors - 2

I have dropped (paused maybe more of an appropriate term) so many popular dramas this year:

W = did a marathon on it and got to the part where he got back to his own world so I stopped there for some reason.
Oh Hae Young Again = couldn't get into it at the time so shelved it.
Cheese in the Trap = I dropped it even before the whole debacle happened. I honestly can't remember why I dropped it really. Oh wait, I remember now. I got so hooked on Produce 101 that I stopped watching dramas all together for a while. lol
Jealousy Incarnate = I was in one of those testy moods and I interpreted her actions as cheating and I didn't like it ergo.. poof.
Descendant of the Sun = gave it the old 4 episode try but could not get into it.
Moon Lovers = one of those dramas that I just forgot to keep watching. lol
Drinking Solo = could only take so much of Mr. High Quality. Totally unrealistic male lead.
On the Way to the Airport = another one I kinda just forgot to keep watching. The atmosphere of this drama was so low key perhaps.
Come Back Ahjusshi = lost interest when I realized I was not laughing at anything anymore.

I think I rate 20 beans. I'm rigging the election by giving myself beans for everything that technically qualifies but not voting for anything that hasn't finished yet.

9 Signal
4 Bring It On Ghost
3 W
2 PU38
1 Louie
1 OHYA

Ooh this is fun

I have 15 measly beans to give away. I loved Signal and it really does deserve to be drama of the year but no shame that I actually enjoyed 1% of Something more lol. There's something about that fluffy goodness that made me nostalgic for when I was watching my first kdramas almost 15 years ago.

With that said,

1% of Something- 4 beans
Dear My Friends- 3 beans
Weightlifting Fairy- 2 beans
Signal- 2 beans
Age of Youth- 1 bean
Goblin- 1 bean
My Wife Will Have an Affair- 1 bean
Romantic Doctor- 1 bean

For some reason, I couldn't get into or finish the popular dramas of this year, Jealousy Incarnate, W-2 Worlds, Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, Moon Lovers, Descendants of the Sun, Uncontrollably Fond...

Haven't started on Legend on the Blue Sea yet. Watched a lot of small and feel good dramas this year (maybe because this year had a lot of suckage). Maybe I'll tackle the big ones next year lol

I think I've seen episodes of most of the dramas on this list (with the few notable exceptions including Memory and Pied Piper). Since I dropped a lot of them, however, I only have about 12 beans. I enjoyed quite a few shows this year, but seven were a cut above the rest (in my opinion), though I haven't finished four of them yet (Jealousy Incarnate, My Dear Friends, Six Flying Dragons, and Signal). However, based on the episodes I have seen, I would argue the following:

Best Realistic/Slice-of-Life Drama: My Dear Friends
Best Youth/School Drama: Age of Youth
Best Melodrama: The Good Wife
Best Political/Legal/Cerebral Thriller: Police Squad 38
Best Action Adventure: Six Flying Dragons
Best Romantic Comedy: Jealousy Incarnate
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy: Signal

Admittedly, I basically fit the categories to the shows I liked. Since Six Flying Dragons does not qualify based on the period it aired, I would award two beans to each of the other series. I have to stress, though, that the series above are among some of the best Korean dramas I've seen.

Also, it would be fun to vote for the best K-drama trends of 2016. Personally, I was a big fan of the random cameos (too many to list), the random dance sequences (Oh Hae Young Again, Jealousy Incarnate, Weightlifting Fairy, Let's Drink, etc.), and the ridiculous/hysterical fight scenes (Police Squad 38, Let's Drink, Shopping King Louis, Jealousy Incarnate, etc.).

A bit annoyed/saddened that "W" or "Descended from the Sun" got a higher score separately than "Mirror of the Witch" and "The Good Wife" combined...

I mean I get whyyyyy, but MOTW and TGW were such strong shows throughout their whole run with fantastic actors and story development and high stakes I sincerely cared about.
While W was an amazing concept (yay pushing boundaries), but filtered out in the later half of the show. DFTS was great in characters/actors but fell short in storytelling or development of literally any kind.

SHAME SHAME *in the voice of the nun from Game of Thrones*

Which beanie watched the most shows?

Man, I thought I had done this in 2015, but I can't find my post... I might have to go back and figure out how many dramas I watched back then.

I bet I watched even more dramas this year than before.
(I only watched like 2 old shows this year) probably because there were so many new dramas that appealed to me.

My Result: 13 2016 completed dramas plus 3 currently airing ones: Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim, Goblin, and Entourage! I would love to give a bunch of beans to RDTK, but I'll leave it out since it's not finished yet. :(

In order of air date:
Remember—Son’s War
One More Happy Ending
Signal - 4
Page Turner - 2
Entertainer
Oh Hae Young Again - 3
Beautiful Mind - 1
Wanted
Police Unit 38
W - Two Worlds - 1
Age of Youth - 1
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart: Ryeo - 1
This Week, My Wife Will Have an Affair - 2

Now I wish I had more beans. xD

I love the new bean chart btw! Awesome job, mary! ^^

I actually live watched a lot more dramas this year so, yay! I get to play 19 beans including currently airing dramas RomDoc and LoTBS. I find myself like everyone else here, it's definitely not easy assigning beans since I enjoyed them all up to a point. My almost 1 beans came down to W, Cheese, OHYA and LotBS. My like of W, Cheese and OHYA did a 180 during its course so I forced myself to finish, while LotBS I'm hanging on by a thread because of JJH. Hoping that Goblin continues to be cracktastic, then I will give them all the beans next year!

Signal - 4
Age of Youth - 3
Dear My Friends - 2
Squad 38 - 2
Shopping King Louie - 2
My Wife will have an Affair - 2
Moonlight Drawn By clouds - 2
W
Cheese in the Trap
OHYA
K2
Bring it On Ghost
Moon Lovers
DoTS
Please come back Ahjussi
Jealousy Incarnate -1
Uncontrollably Fond
Legend of Blue Sea
Romantic Doctor - 1

Hey! What if I have read every recap of a show but failed to watch it somehow, can I still have a bean??

Didn't watch many dramas but the ones I watched and finished were damn good..... or not.

Finished dramas 2016:

W: Two Worlds- 00

This is one of the dramas which started out strong but didn't know how to actually finish the plot in a believable and not-confusing way in the end. Still one of the better dramas this year

Signal- 00000

Mystery drama done right. Time as the biggest enemy. Likeable characters. Perfect from beginning to end.

Moonlight Drawn By Clouds - 00000

Fusion sageuk done right; believable love story done right, some modern k-dramas should take notes in how a dude should act; cinematography is beautiful (the nonsense some people here are talking about that MDBC had as much close-up as Moon Lovers but was forgiven due to Park Bo Gum... uhm bitter much?); beautiful OST used in the right way

Plot is basic but the focus is on the love story, so yeah... deal with it.

Descendants of the Sun - no beans

Plot? What plot?; Pretty to look at but basically no plot and the character felt fake.

Moon Lover - no beans

Plot? What plot?; Pre-produced mess with terrible editing; most expensive flopped drama this year most likely; cinematography felt out of control, especially with those close-ups

Not yet finished airing 2016:

Goblin- 0

Gong Yoo is rocking the show. I like the 2nd couple better than Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun. OST is terrible and cheesy. But the cinematography saves a lot.

Started airing 2015 and finished airing 2016:

Reply 1988 - 00000

A show with real characters and a heart.

I believe that a lot of good drama to watch and recaps by DB but to questioning why OHYA becomes top 3 is a little bit weird (?) hahahaha...

Well, this drama won 2016 tvN Best Content Award, Drama. Both of main leads got Best Roco King & Queen. Also it has highest audience rating for a tvN Monday-Tuesday show.

Talk about the step in a scale of value or quality, OHYA cuts above the average rom-com confection.

A stellar performance from Seo Hyun Jin, so raw and honest. Since acting isn’t Eric’s primary job, he gave a solid performance as Park Do Kyung.

The chemistry... unfathomable!