29 December 2020

Oppa's Noona List (Dec 2020)

We're all for equality. So if there's a Noona's Oppa List, we should also make an Oppa's Noona List. Here are Oppa's most favorite noonas, arranged by how much he loves them. 

1. Son Ye Jin

Oppa started watching K dramas later than me. But the moment he saw Son Ye Jin, there was just no turning back for him. 

Oppa joined me when I rewatched Crash Landing on You. We loved Ye Jin for her very natural acting. She was a credible snobbish heiress but we also felt her pain and loneliness from being ignored by her family. 

Our love for Son Ye Jin was sealed after we watched her on Something in the Rain

To date, Oppa still watches the music video of Save the Last Dance for Me every night with our little boy because that's how much we love Ye Jin. 

We also loved Ye Jin in The Last Princess where she played the role of the almost-forgotten last princess of the Joseon Dynasty. 


We're missing Son Ye Jin and we hope to see new shows and/or movies from her. 

2. Jung Yu Mi

We discovered Jung Yu Mi by accident. We saw her on tvN once when we were watching TV while having dinner. I can't remember if it was on her drama Live or her variety show Summer Vacation.

We were not able to follow Live closely but we managed to watch majority of the episodes of Summer Vacation. We loved how pretty and flawless yet down-to-earth Yu Mi was. She was a very kind and helpful noona to Choi Woo Shik. 

We also loved her on Train to Busan where she played the role of the pregnant woman who was one of only two persons who survived that horrible train ride. 

We tried watching The School Nurse Files and while we were too scared to finish it, we still love Jung Yu Mi and we can't wait to watch her movie with Gong Yoo, Park Bo Gum, Choi Woo Shik, and Bae Suzy. 

3. Song Hye Kyo

I was still in my Hyun Bin addiction phase when Oppa first laid eyes on Song Hye Kyo. 

Oppa watched Worlds Within with me to indulge my love for Hyun Bin. 

And while Oppa did not really love the show, he loved Song Hye Kyo enough to finish watching it with me. 

Oppa loved Hye Kyo even more after watching her on Descendants of the Sun where she played the role of a doctor who fell in love with a Special Forces Alpha Team commander, Capt. Yoo Si Jin (Song Joong Ki). 

And while we were not exactly fond of Encounter, we watched it nonetheless because of Song Hye Kyo and Park Bo Gum. 

And of course we had to watch Full House to make Oppa a full-fledged Song Hye Kyo fan. Who can forget her very cute rendition of The Three Bears song? 

Hye Kyo has been quite inactive the past few years and we can't wait for her comeback. 

4. Park So Dam


We've heard of Park So Dam through the Academy Award winning movie Parasite.  

But we had put off watching the film for a long time so we first saw her on Record of Youth, her most recent drama with Park Bo Gum. 

And while everyone on the show apart from Park Bo Gum appeared to have been relegated to supporting roles, we still loved So Dam's heartfelt portrayal of Ahn Jeong Ha. 

We loved So Dam so much that we finally pushed ourselves to watch Parasite where she played the role of the daughter of the parasite family who pretended to be an art tutor. She played her devious and scheming character so well. 

We managed to watch some of her 3 Meals a Day episodes and we just found more reasons to love Park So Dam. She's so game for anything, which is something you won't usually see from popular actors like her. 

5. Jung So Min

Jung So Min is another one of our accidental finds. 

We chanced upon her while watching random shows on tvN. The drama was Because This is My First Life. The show actually seems interesting and we've included it in our to watch list. 

She has another show on tvN right now, Hundred Million Stars from the Sky/The Smile has Left Your Eyes. We're inclined to watch it too because of Jung So Min's impressive acting. She's the type of girl whom you might not notice right away but she grows on you as time goes by. We hope to finally have the time to finish watching all of the episodes of one of her dramas. 

6. Kang Han Na


We were not that familiar with Kang Han Na either. 

So we initially thought that we were watching her for the first time on Start-Up.

But after researching, Oppa found out that we actually saw her first on Record of Youth where she had a cameo as Park Bo Gum's co-host during the awards show. 

We loved her as feisty In Jae on Start-Up and we'll definitely be watching out for Kang Han Na. 

7. Han Hyo Joo

Han Hyo Joo was another surprise find for us. 

We were clueless about her until we chanced upon her on Hometown Flex when she visited her hometown in Cheongju. 

And while we have yet to watch any of Han Hyo Joo's dramas, we've grown fond of her because she seemed so simple and nice. 

8. Kim Go Eun

Kim Go Eun was another accidental discovery for Oppa. 

We saw her while watching my favorite Jung Hae In on Tune in for Love

We were so impressed with her natural acting and we know we should watch more of Kim Go Eun. 

9. Kim So Hyun

Oppa discovered Kim So Hyun while he was researching about the best dramas to watch. 

He chanced upon Love Alarm and that's how we ended up watching Kim So Hyun. We liked her there and we're looking forward to the second season of the show. 

We loved Kim So Hyun so much that we decided to watch another one of her dramas, Radio Romance, which unfortunately, did not work for us. 

We also enjoyed watching her on The Last Princess as the younger version of Son Ye Jin's character. Although we feel that she resembles Go Ara more than Son Ye Jin.  

10. Bae Suzy

We've always been curious of Bae Suzy because a lot of people seem to love her. 

We decided to watch Vagabond to finally satisfy our curiosity. To be frank, however, we could not understand what the fuss was all about after watching the show with its disappointing ending. 

Fortunately, we gave her another chance on Start-Up and now we know why she's well-loved by many. Her very natural acting as Seo Dal Mi was very impressive. 

It's a bonus that Suzy sings really well too. 

11. Gianna Jun/Jun Ji Hyun

I've watched Gianna Jun before in My Sassy Girl

Oppa just saw her recently when I rewatched the movie and he liked her right away. 

The cool thing about Gianna Jun is that she can hack both badass and sweet roles. You'll surely fall in love with her bully yet endearing character in My Sassy Girl. 

12. IU/Lee Ji Eun

Among all of the noonas on this list, it's probably IU that we know the least (aside from Han Hyo Joo). It's embarrassing to admit that we have not watched any of her shows yet. 

We know she's really popular but we only had the chance to watch her when she visited House on Wheels

But IU is so special that she deserves a spot on this list even if we have yet to get to know her fully. We love her voice so much that we've classified her songs as those that you listen to when you want to chill while driving or lounging on the beach. We hope to finally have the time to watch one of IU's dramas soon. 

13. Go Ara


We first watched Go Ara on Reply 1994

We loved her portrayal of the very funny and cute Na Jung. Her big, sparkling eyes are just so adorable. 

We liked her so much that we decided to watch her show Ms. Hammurabi, where she played the role of a young, idealistic, and upright judge.

We also enjoyed watching her as Gu Ra Ra in her most recent drama, Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol

And while none of her other shows and characters seem to match how great she was on Reply 1994, we still love Go Ara and we look forward to seeing more of her. 

14. Kang So Ra

Oppa was curious about Kang So Ra because she was Hyun Bin's ex-girlfriend. He feels that they have the same taste in women since they both liked Song Hye Kyo and Kang So Ra (and me? haha.). 

We're currently watching her on Warm and Cozy with Yoo Yeon Seok. 

And while the story is making us dizzy with how confusing and repetitive it is, we're hanging on because we're fond of the lead stars. 


Oppa would like to put a disclaimer that this list is subject to change as we watch more K dramas and movies. :)