Are You Hardcore Drama Watcher? Or The New One? Neither Are Problem! Because These 15 List Are Worth Watching
Embark on an enchanting journey into the captivating world of dramas with our curated list of the top 15 must-watch dramas. From heart-fluttering romances to gripping thrillers, these shows offer a diverse array of genres and storytelling that have captured the hearts of audiences worldwide. Join us as we delve into the realm of dramas, where each series promises an unforgettable adventure filled with laughter, tears, and moments that will linger in your memory long after the final episode.
So... here is the list!
1. Twinkling Watermelon (2023)
| Korean - MDL rating: 9.2 |
Synopsis
In 2023, Eun Gyeol is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) high-school student, but he has a passion for music. During the day, he is a studious model pupil, but at night, he rocks out as a guitarist in a band. But when he stumbles across a strange yet alluring music store, he goes hurtling back in time to 1995.
Here, he comes face to face with his father, Ha Yi Chan – as a high schooler! Yi Chan takes Eun Gyeol for a lunatic when the latter calls him “dad”. Worse still, it looks like Yi Chan has a crush on an icy cellist named Se Kyeong – not his future mother, Cheong Ah!
In a bid to put things “right,” Eun Gyeol joins a band fronted by his future father. But will this be enough to help Eun Gyeol bring his future parents together... and will he ever get back to the 2020s?
(Source: Viki)
2. Move to Heaven (2021)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
Han Geu Roo is an autistic 20-year-old. He works for his father’s business “Move To Heaven,” a company that specializes in crime scene cleanup, where they also collect and arrange items left by deceased people, and deliver them to the bereaved family. When Geu Roo's father dies, Geu Roo's guardianship passes to his uncle, ex-convict Cho Sang Gu, who is a martial arts fighter in underground matches. Per the father's will, Sang Gu must care for and work with Geu Roo in “Move To Heaven” for three months to gain full guardianship and claim the inheritance. Eying money, Sang Gu agrees to the conditions and moves in. (Source: MyDramaList) ~~ Adapted from the nonfiction essay "Things Left Behind" by professional trauma cleaner Kim Sae Byul.
3. Weak Hero Class I (2022)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
Yeon Shi Eun is a model student who ranks at the top of his high school. Physically, Yeon Shi Eun appears weak, but by using his wits and psychology, he fights against the violence that takes place inside and outside of his school.
(Source: Asianwiki)
~~ Adapted from the webtoon “Weak Hero” (약한영웅) written by SeoPass (서패스) and illustrated by Kim Jin Seok (김진석).
4. Hospital Playlist S2 (2021)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
Everyday is extraordinary for five doctors and their patients inside a hospital, where birth, death and everything in between coexist.
(Source: Netflix)
5. Nirvana in Fire (2015)
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| Chinese - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
In sixth-century China, the Emperor of Great Liang orders the unjust execution of his brother-in-law Marshal Lin Xie alongside the Lin family, his 70,000 army soldiers, and Crown Prince Qi. Secretly surviving the massacre is Lin Xie's son, Lin Shu, who undergoes medical treatment that changes his appearance entirely and leaves him in a weakened state, unable to ever perform martial arts again. Lin Shu changed his name to Mei Chang Su and later became the chief of the pugilist world and established the Jiangzuo Alliance.
Twelve years later, Mei Chang Su returns to the capital with a secret plan after being sought after by Prince Yu and Prince Xian during their fight for the throne. He decides to covertly assist Prince Jing, the unfavoured son of the Emperor, and wisely rids the court of all scheming officials.
(Source: MyDramaList)
6. Moving (2023)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
Kim Bong Seok, Jang Hee Soo, and Lee Gang Hoon, seemingly typical high school students, bear extraordinary inherited powers. Bong Seok can fly, Hee Soo possesses exceptional athleticism and rapid injury recovery, and Gang Hoon wields uncanny strength and speed. As they conceal their gifts, their parents fight to shield them from exploitation by others, navigating a delicate balance between secrecy and protection.
(Source: MyDramaList)
~~ Adapted from the webtoon “Moving” (무빙) by Kang Full (강풀)
7. Flower of Evil (2020)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
Although Baek Hee Sung is hiding a dark secret surrounding his true identity, he has established a happy family life and a successful career. He is a loving husband and doting father to his young daughter. But his perfect façade begins to crumble when his wife, Cha Ji Won, a homicide detective, begins investigating a string of serial murders from 15 years ago. Ji Won notices changes in Hee Sung’s behavior and begins to wonder if he could possibly be hiding something from her.
(Source: MyDramaList)
8. Alchemy of Soul (2022)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
Set in a fictional country called Daeho that does not exist in history or on maps, it is about the love and growth of young mages as they overcome their twisted fates due to a forbidden magic spell known as the "alchemy of souls", which allows souls to switch bodies.
It follows the story of an elite assassin named Naksu, whose soul is accidentally trapped inside the weak body of Mu Deok—Jang Uk's servant from a powerful and noble mage family in the country. The young master of the Jang Family, Jang Uk, holds a dark secret about his scandalous birth. He wants the formidable assassin to help change his destiny.
(Source: Soompi; The Korea Herald)
9. Hospital Playlist (2020)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
The stories of people going through their days are seemingly ordinary but actually special at the hospital, a place known as the microcosm of life, where someone is being born and someone's life meets its ending. The five doctors are long-time friends of 20 years who started their undergrad in 1999 in the same medical school and now are colleagues in the same hospital and have a band together.
(Source: Korean = Naver || Translation = YeoNiverse at MyDramaList)
10. Reply 1988 (2015)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9.1 |
Synopsis
Five childhood friends, who all live in the same Ssangmundong neighborhood of Seoul, lean on each other to survive their challenging teen years and set a path for their futures. Sung Deok Sun struggles for attention as the middle child in her poor family while also carrying the burden of her 999th ranking in school. Kim Jung Hwan only has a one-track mind for soccer, even after his family becomes rich overnight. Sung Sun Woo is the perfect student, student council president and a caring and dependable son in his family. Ryu Dong Ryong is a geek who knows more about girls and life than the rest of his friends, but his poor academic score prevents him from being able to go to college. Choi Taek is a genius baduk player who dropped out of school to go professional. As the group of friends gets into and out of mischief around the neighborhood, what experiences from these memorable times together will they carry with them into their future lives?
(Source: Viki)
11. Reset (2022)
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| Chinese - MDL rating: 9 |
Synopsis
An unexplainable phenomena finds college-going student, Li Shi Qing, trapped in a never-ending time loop where she is always stuck on a public service bus which is due to explode, bringing death & destruction to not only herself but to all on board.
Desperate to find a way to escape not only the time loop but her tragic fate, Shi Qing inadvertently drags fellow bus passenger Xiao He Yun into the time loop as well. Together they try to find a way to alter their fate by ensuring the bus arrives safely at its destination, but attempting to do so proves anything but easy.
(Source: MyDramaList)
~~ Adapted from the novel "Kai Duan" (开端) by Qi Dao Jun (祈祷君)
12. Hidden Love (2023)
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| Chinese - MDL rating: 9 |
Synopsis
Sang Zhi falls in love with Duan Jia Xu, the boy who often comes to her house to play games in her older brother's room. He is five years older than her. Sang Zhi had a crush on Duan Jia Xu when she was young, but they lost contact with each other for some reason. After she graduates, she joins the university in the city he is in, and during their day-to-day intimate and close interaction, they slowly fall in love.
(Source: Chinese Drama Land YouTube)
~~ Adapted from the web novel "Secretly, Secretly; But Unable to Hide It" (偷偷藏不住) by Zhu Yi (竹已)
13. Joy of Life (2019)
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| Chinese - MDL rating: 9 |
Synopsis
Fan Xian is born in the ancient empire of Southern Qing with memories of the 21st century. He lives in a rural town as the illegitimate son of the Minister of Finance, raised by his grandmother. His mother, Ye Qing Mei, was once a celebrated inventor and the founder of the Overwatch Department, the country's spy network but was killed shortly after her son was born. Fan Xian has since been protected by a blind martial arts expert, Wu Zhu, his mother's bodyguard. He learned martial arts and the art of poison as a child, also assisted by his knowledge from the 21st century.
After an assassination attempt, he decides to venture into the capital to find out more about his mysterious mother and why anyone would want to kill him, as he perceives himself to be an unimportant person. He also wants to know why he has memories of a sharply different era. In the capital, he accidentally meets Lin Wan Er, the sickly illegitimate daughter of Princess Royal, and falls in love with her. Unbeknownst to him, she is the woman the emperor chose for him to marry so that he would be the new overseer of the Royal Treasury, an institute Fan Xian's mother established in the palace and currently handled by Princess Royal.
In the capital, however, he gets entangled in the intrigues of the Emperor and the two Princes, as well as the Overwatch Department, leading to him questioning his whole identity and inducing him to find his true life goals, abandoning his original intention to just "enjoy life".
(Source: Wikipedia)
~~ Adapted from the web novel “Qing Yu Nian” (庆余年) by Mao Ni (猫腻)
14. My Mister (2018)
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| Korean - MDL rating: 9 |
Synopsis
Park Dong Hoon is a middle-aged engineer who is married to attorney Kang Yoon Hee. However, his life is not that happy as he has two unemployed brothers, Sang Hoon and Gi Hoon, who rely on him. Moreover, his wife is secretly having an affair with CEO Do Joon Yeong, his current boss and college junior.
Receiving an unexpected bribe one day, Dong Hoon notices that his co-worker Lee Ji An witnessed the incident. Ji An is a young part-time worker at Dong Hoon's company who is drowning in debt and left alone to take care of her ill grandmother. Dong Hoon then gets entangled in his brothers' struggle to get back on their feet and the company's internal rivalry between the company's CEO and the people opposing him. All the while, unaware that CEO Joon Yeong wants to get rid of him and that Ji An is working for him.
(Source: MyDramaList)
15. 1 Litre no Namida (2005)
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| Japanese - MDL rating: 9 |
Synopsis
15-year-old Ikeuchi Aya is an ordinary girl, the daughter of a family who works at a tofu shop, and a soon-to-be high schooler. However, odd things have been happening to Aya lately. She has been falling down often and walks strange. Her mother, Shioka, takes Aya to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a terrible disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat.
(Source: DramaWiki)
~~Adapted from a diary of Kito Aya (木藤 亜也) "1 Litre no Namida" (1 リットルの涙) , who suffered from degenerative disease and died at the age of 25.
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