Adding Up The Year's Best Noona Romances

With the latest noona romance, "High School King of Manners," ending this week it may be time to review the best noona romances of the year.

"High School King of Manners" quickly became one of our favorites because of the sweet relationship between the quirky characters. Despite the age difference they were so well suited to each other. Lee Ha Na's character would never have fallen for Seo In Guk's 10-year-younger character if she had known he was a high school student. When they first met, he was pretending to be his older brother and acting as the director of a corporation. She was his office junior and later his secretary. But they were so well matched. Despite acting like a high school student even when in the office, he quickly became soul mates with the sweet, somewhat immature secretary she played.

Before that drama aired, our favorite noona romance couple was Sung Joon and Kim So Yeon in "I Need Romance 3." She was not only older than he was but when they were children she babysat him and changed his diapers. That was hard for her to overcome when they met again, even though she was then a home shopping channel executive and he was a successful musician. Still, his undying devotion to his first love won her over in the end and it won us over too.

The steamiest noona romance this year took place between Yoo Ah In and the 20-year-older Kim Hee Ae. The age gap between them was huge and she was married, but when they played the piano together, those differences melted away and it was obvious they were meant for each other.

Then there was "Witch's Romance." Uhm Jung Hwa played a 39-year-old investigative news reporter and Park Seo Joon played the 25-year-old who fell for her. While their love was at times a little less believable, his character's persistence did make you want them to overcome the odds. And the love they shared helped them to heal the pain that love caused them in the past.

Last but not least, there was "You Who Came From The Stars." It's only last because its qualification as a noona romance is debatable. Kim Soo Hyun is really 26 and Jun Ji Hyun is really 32. But in the drama, he is 400+ years old, as he is an alien and landed on earth during the Joseon era. So, while he might be able to call her noona in real life, in the drama, she was his centuries older oppa.

Which is your favorite noona romance? Let us know.