Cassandra series poster
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December 12, 2025


The year 2025 witnessed remarkable diversity and creativity in the drama industry outside the borders of Hollywood, as Asian and European series emerged that were able to impose themselves on viewing lists and critics’ nominations.

While Korea, China, and Japan continued to present works that blend romance, mystery, and science fiction, with a focus on developing interesting characters and plots that are intertwined with human feelings and dramatic tension. Productions characterized by elaborate cinematography, bold texts, and focused narratives emerged in Europe.

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This report represents an attempt to monitor the most prominent artistic works of 2025 outside the American market, starting with the Korean drama that topped the drama scene this year.

Korean drama is at the forefront

Among the most attention-grabbing Korean works is the series “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” which received a rating of 9.1 points on the IMDb artistic website and ranked 67th on the list of the best 250 series in drama history.

For those who love drama that simulates moments of daily life and personal and family history, this series achieves a perfect harmony between all of that. The work tells the story of life spanning generations on Jeju Island from the 1960s until now, making it a life saga full of feelings, experiences, and human maturity, and not just a romantic drama.

The scenario succeeded in balancing nostalgia for the past, realism, and social conflicts, and was crowned with poignant scenes that made the viewer emotionally involved with the story, while the acting performances – especially from Park Bo Gum and IU – were strong, and this showed the depth of the characters and their dreams and justified their positions in the face of life’s challenges.

It is noteworthy that the series was successful on a public and international level, as it ranked very high on the lists of the most watched on the Netflix platform, while it won many awards, including Best Drama Series, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.

In the historical fantasy category, and also from Korea, the series “Good Morning Your Majesty” shines, which tells the story of a contemporary chef who travels through time to the Joseon era, and finds herself forced to use her cooking skills to ensure her survival and gain the sympathy of the king.

The work had an innovative idea and an unusual combination of different dramatic categories that combined history, romance, time travel, and culinary art with some comedy and a political background. This makes it an ideal choice for those looking for an enjoyable drama that is not devoid of depth.

Viewers praised the mature acting performance and the chemistry that brought together its heroes, and most importantly the high quality with which the cooking scenes were presented, and this helped it become the most watched work on the Korean TVN channel. Because of this overwhelming success, and despite the series being shown last August, its makers announced the start of preparation for a second season.

China: The Legend of Zhang Hai

From China, we chose the series “The Legend of Zhang Hai,” which combined historical drama, fantasy, and political conflict, as it revolves around a child who loses his family in a mass massacre and then disappears for many years before returning under a new name in search of revenge and uncovering conspiracies within the ruling palace.

The work was characterized by mystery and an ascending dramatic narrative with sharp and rapid changes, which made the viewer a constant state of suspense throughout the episodes. The directing and cinematography were also characterized by becoming a visually enjoyable experience in light of the effects that were used and the accompanying costumes, decor, and elements of Chinese heritage appropriate to the targeted era, while critics praised the depth of the performances of both Xun Shao and Zhang Jinji in embodying the psychological conflict of the characters.

With the work being shown in more than 190 countries, it quickly achieved millions of views, which was accompanied by followers’ attempts to analyze the plot and exchange theories and explanations via social media platforms.

The best European series of 2025

Moving to Europe, we nominate from Spain the series “Furya”, which received a media sensation, attracting the attention of critics and the public because it dealt with bold issues such as discrimination, social justice, ambiguous relationships, and psychological violence, by tracking the lives of several marginalized women.

The series dealt with the stories of 5 women from different social and professional backgrounds, each one experiencing her own struggle: betrayal by a husband, loss of a job, marginalization due to age, expulsion from a home, and professional decline.

In a moment of explosion, they all decide to revolt against injustice, while anger becomes a motivation to demand justice and dignity, even though the series does not offer heroic revenge, but rather revenge that carries a degree of fragility and humanity, which makes it closer to a cry against a real reality and not an exaggerated fantasy.

The work mixed realistic drama and black comedy, and was like a choir in that it did not focus on a single character, but rather shed light on stories that intersected, allowing various human experiences to be presented from different angles.

Visually, the series maintained a specific dramatic mood, as image, colors, and rhythm combined to serve the state of anger and internal tension that plagued the characters.

Finally, from Germany, we nominate two series, the first of which is “Black Forest Crimes,” which was characterized by an atmosphere of European mystery as a result of the events taking place between the forests and the German countryside, which gave the viewer a sense of isolation.

The work relied on a focused plot lasting 4 episodes, during which it reviewed a story that actually took place years ago about the disappearance of two young women in the Black Forest, the subsequent investigations and the attempt of police officers to trace the clues of the crimes and analyze them forensically to find the perpetrators.

The series is suitable for fans of crimes and true stories that are characterized by brevity and quick flow, focusing on the main event without additional filler or sub-dialogues. The storytelling was calculated without cheap shocks or exaggerated violence. However, the artistic elements combined to create a majestic and disturbing atmosphere at the same time, which served both the drama and the crime.

The “Cassandra” series takes us to the frightening world of technology (Al Jazeera)

As for the second, it is the “Cassandra” series, which takes us to the frightening world of technology, where the artificial intelligence assistant (Cassandra) wakes up years after her work stopped in one of the smart homes in Germany after a new family came to live there. She soon decides not to act innocently and manipulate the strings around her to force the family not to leave her behind no matter what happens.

The series consists of 6 episodes that combine horror and thoughtful suspense while highlighting family drama. It did not focus only on the idea of ​​fear of machines, but also presented other psychological elements that made it more than just a horror series.



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