IMDb reveals top-rated TV shows of 2025 so far as Korean dramas and genre fiction dominate global viewership

Why has When Life Gives You Tangerines topped IMDb’s 2025 ratings and what does it signal about global viewer trends?

IMDb, the internet’s largest repository of entertainment ratings and reviews, has published its Top TV Shows of 2025 (So Far), drawing from the weighted feedback of millions of global users. According to data covering premieres from January 1 through June 16, 2025, the highest-rated series of the year is When Life Gives You Tangerines—a Korean-language Netflix drama that has broken cultural barriers to resonate deeply with international audiences. The show surpassed global competitors like Amazon’s Invincible, The Pitt, and Disney’s Andor, showcasing the ascendancy of Asian content on Western-dominated platforms.

The ranking, which is based on IMDb’s widely recognized 10-point rating scale and filtered by a minimum of 20,000 votes per show, signals a cultural shift. Shows originating outside the U.S. are increasingly occupying top spots in global fan and critic charts, a trend that has been intensifying since the breakout success of earlier Korean titles like Squid Game and Extraordinary Attorney Woo.

Institutional observers believe IMDb’s rankings often foreshadow award-season contenders, acting as a bellwether for future Emmy or BAFTA nods. The inclusion of fresh properties alongside returning critical favorites underscores both the renewal of franchise storytelling and the rise of cross-border originals.

How do IMDb’s user rating mechanics influence the popularity and ranking of international series like Korean dramas?

IMDb’s rankings rely on a combination of raw average scores and weighted adjustments to account for vote patterns, demographic bias, and voter reliability. Each title must receive a minimum number of ratings—typically over 20,000 for annual rankings—to qualify. In 2025, two entries (When Life Gives You Tangerines and The Pitt) have already penetrated IMDb’s all-time Top 250, a chart usually dominated by long-running or critically acclaimed legacy shows.

That When Life Gives You Tangerines has secured the #1 slot in 2025, and concurrently claimed the #74 position in the all-time list, indicates unusually high global consensus. Meanwhile, The Pitt, an American drama centered around institutional betrayal and small-town paranoia, has entered the Top 250 at #42, becoming a rare case of a new show outranking decade-long favorites in less than six months of air time.

Korean dramas have grown consistently in international reach due to their emphasis on emotionally layered storytelling, cinematic visuals, and socially grounded themes. Institutional reviewers say the success of Tangerines follows the well-documented surge of Korean soft power, aided by Netflix’s aggressive licensing and dubbing infrastructure.

What genres and production studios have dominated IMDb’s 2025 top 20 rankings so far?

IMDb’s top 20 list for the first half of 2025 reflects an eclectic genre mix—dramas, animated superhero series, noir thrillers, and high-concept science fiction. Alongside Netflix’s Tangerines and Amazon’s Invincible, animated adaptations like Solo Leveling have also gained strong traction, particularly among younger demographics. Studio-based properties such as Disney+’s Andor and Daredevil: Born Again continue to pull reliable franchise attention.

Of the top 20 shows, over half are platform-exclusive originals, reaffirming the trend of siloed content ecosystems in the streaming wars. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV+ all have multiple entries, with Amazon-backed series (Invincible, The Pitt, American Primeval) taking up three of the top ten positions.

Critical storytelling formats ranged from psychological horror (MobLand) to prestige mystery (Dept. Q) and period epics (1923). The presence of series like The White Lotus and The Studio in later slots suggests continued interest in satirical and industry-insider storytelling.

Why have Invincible and The Pitt emerged as standout American shows in IMDb’s 2025 mid-year rankings?

Amazon’s Invincible, an animated superhero drama based on Robert Kirkman’s comic series, retained strong momentum in its third season, thanks to voice performances from Steven Yeun and Sandra Oh and mature plot arcs that distinguish it from Marvel/DC counterparts. The series ranked second, trailing only Tangerines, and demonstrated how serialized animation can continue to attract both genre loyalists and mainstream viewers.

More surprising is the emergence of The Pitt, which debuted earlier this year as a psychological thriller following institutional coverups in a post-industrial American town. Its ascent to #2 in 2025 and #42 in IMDb’s all-time chart has surprised even streaming analysts, who see it as a rare case of critical acclaim aligning with fan enthusiasm in near real-time.

Analysts suggest both titles reflect a viewer preference for narrative density, multi-layered character arcs, and themes that resonate with contemporary anxieties—be it systemic rot (The Pitt) or existential identity (Invincible).

Which new global titles are breaking into IMDb’s long-standing Top 250 TV shows list in 2025?

Traditionally, IMDb’s Top 250 TV Shows has been the domain of long-running series with cult or critical followings. For a new release to enter the list within months of debut is rare. As of June 2025, only two new shows have accomplished this feat: When Life Gives You Tangerines and The Pitt. Their respective entries at #74 and #42 underscore unusually high early performance.

Analysts interpret this as a disruption of traditional ranking lag cycles, where acclaim builds over seasons or years. These entries also affirm IMDb’s global voter base is increasingly responsive to narrative novelty and emotional impact, irrespective of language or genre origin.

Industry insiders are monitoring whether other top 2025 entries like MobLand, Solo Leveling, or American Primeval could also transition from year-topper status into the all-time charts by the end of Q4.

What institutional value does IMDb’s annual ranking offer for marketers, producers, and streamers?

While not a direct proxy for Nielsen ratings or internal viewing figures, IMDb’s user-vote system has become an important soft metric for evaluating international appeal, award-season momentum, and streaming stickiness. Studio marketers use it to forecast merchandising demand, while producers track it as a proxy for social proof.

Titles such as The Studio, which won the Fan Favorite Ensemble STARmeter Award at SXSW before its critical peak, exemplify how IMDb’s predictive value extends to future award performance. The show now ranks #17 for 2025, demonstrating how early fan acclaim can precede institutional recognition.

Streaming platforms also monitor IMDb rankings for mid-season renewals, global licensing decisions, and cross-territory promotion. High IMDb ratings often correlate with algorithmic boosts across Prime Video, Netflix, and other integrated ecosystems, enhancing discoverability for shows that might otherwise be drowned in content saturation.

What does the 2025 IMDb list indicate about future television content strategies and audience expectations?

The 2025 mid-year snapshot from IMDb showcases an industry increasingly shaped by cross-border storytelling, genre fluidity, and data-driven feedback loops. The prominence of Korean drama, animated adaptation, and original thriller formats affirms that global audiences are gravitating toward high-emotion, high-stakes programming.

Content strategists expect this trend to intensify in H2 2025, with international co-productions, limited-run prestige formats, and genre hybrids continuing to dominate the release pipeline. The consistent popularity of psychologically intense, serialized shows implies viewers favor complex emotional narratives over episodic escapism.

As Tangerines, The Pitt, and Invincible lead 2025’s storytelling landscape, industry watchers anticipate more aggressive investment in international talent pools and AI-curated production cycles aimed at harnessing sentiment data for faster greenlighting decisions.