Sometimes it's hard to find that "perfect" drama, so I want to ask for help. It's sometimes not easy to make recommendations, so I'll make this post as detailed as I can. I know that there are very many great dramas out there that are different from what I'll describe, and I'll happily watch them another time... Right now, though, I'm in the mood for something special. 

First, though, two points: 1) Please only recommend dramas that are on Netflix, Viki or YouTube! 2) Any country, but preferably Korean, Chinese or Japanese dramas. 

This is what I'm looking for:

  • Quiet, warm style, slowpaced story
  •  Romance, drama, slice of life (friendship, maybe melodrama NOT comedy/romcom)
  • Slowburn romance; friends to lovers; it's okay if it's sad
  • Adult, grownup characters, INCLUDING the ML (so no noona romance - I don't dislike it generally, I'm just not in the mood for it!!) Edit: preferably characters around 40 or older! 
  • Nice, kind, calm, mature ML 
  • Soft-toned cinematography and beautiful scenery is a plus (not a must but a huge bonus)
  • It doesn't matter what kind of ending it is (if the couple end up together or not, if someone dies, etc... I'm fine with it)
  • Modern or historical doesn't matter

Does this sound hard to find? I have watched dramas that fit this description well! Here are some examples of what I like:

  • My Liberation Notes 
  • On the Way to the Airport 
  • A Piece of Your Mind
  • Would You Like a Cup of Coffee (no romance but everything else)

I really, really want something that could give me as strong feelings as he above mentioned dramas. (Often recommended dramas that I have also watched include Meet Yourself, When the Weather Is Fine, Our Blues, Story of Ming Lan, A Dream of Splendour, My Dearest, The First Half of My Life, Should We Kiss First, Summer Strike...)

Things I DO NOT want to watch:

  • Comedy or romcom, thriller
  • Enemies to lovers/hate to love relationship, bickering couple, leads who don't get along - not a mood thing, I dislike it!
  • Childhood sweethears, reunited lovers, separated, found again...
  • Younger ML or childish ML or boyish looking ML
  • FL with a "perfect life" discovers that all is a lie and she can't even trust her husband, etc...

The types of actors I most like to looke at are people like Kim Myung Min, Iura Arata, Takenouchi Yutaka, Joo Jin Mo, Yang Shuo, Son Suk Ku... (I realise lots of MDL users are young enough to think of these people as ahjussis, but I'm not...)

Actresses I like are for example Qin Lan, Liu Tao, Kim Hyun Joo, Kim Seo Hyung, Lee Bo Young...

So... TL;DR... Please, give me a warm slowburn romance with a handsome, nice ahjussi around 40! :P 

OMG you will probably totally love 'Fake It Till You Make It'.  That's my ultimate recc for you.

 monstersnroses:

OMG you will probably totally love 'Fake It Till You Make It'.  That's my ultimate recc for you.

Thank you so much. I started it! :)

 emeraldarrows:

Tell Me That You Love Me 

Thank you for the suggestion. I have already watched the Japanese original though. 

@Lily_B


yay!!!  so excited for you!  I

The drama that immediately came to my mind reading your post is Should We Kiss First?

 LoverofGoldenHour:

The drama that immediately came to my mind reading your post is Should We Kiss First?

Thanks! As I wrote in the post, I have already watched it though.

 Lily_B:

Thanks! As I wrote in the post, I have already watched it though.

My bad! Sorry!

I’m not exactly sure if the below dramas perfectly fall into the above categories but these do have similarities to the dramas mentioned in your post. Do check them. Happy watching! :))

Recipe for Farewell 

Lie After Lie

Gibo To Musume No Blues

The Wind Blows

 LoverofGoldenHour:

My bad! Sorry!

I’m not exactly sure if the below dramas perfectly fall into the above categories but these do have similarities to the dramas mentioned in your post. Do check them. Happy watching! :))

Recipe for Farewell 

Lie After Lie

Gibo To Musume No Blues

The Wind Blows

Thank you so much!

Amidst a snowstorm of love and story of kunning palace

 nuji25:

Amidst a snowstorm of love and story of kunning palace

Thanks for the suggestions.

just fair warning.... Story of Kunning Palace is good.  It's the only 10 I've ever given out out of over 250 dramas watched.  But he is a red-flag, and isn't always the most mature.  The romance there is extremely extremely slow burn, and torrid.  There's forced kiss, throat grabbing, manipulation, and obsessiveness.  If you're down for that, this could be a good one to watch, but I'm not totally sure it meets your recc requirements.

  • Tell Me That You Love Me
  • My daughter Sooyoung
  • Find Me In Your Memory
  • Sword and the Brocade
  • Recipe for Farewell
  • Run On
 monstersnroses:

just fair warning.... Story of Kunning Palace is good.  It's the only 10 I've ever given out out of over 250 dramas watched.  But he is a red-flag, and isn't always the most mature.  The romance there is extremely extremely slow burn, and torrid.  There's forced kiss, throat grabbing, manipulation, and obsessiveness.  If you're down for that, this could be a good one to watch, but I'm not totally sure it meets your recc requirements.

Thank you! Well, the synopsis doesn't sound like it fits (" awakens in the body of her 18-year-old self"...) and the leads don't look like it (I could have been more specific, but I wasn't looking for 20-somethings...), but it does sound intriguing that it's your only 10! I'm not sure I'm down for all those things you describe though... I could watch it at some point, but right now I just really wanted to watch something very different from manipulation and obsessiveness! *lol* But I just watched episode 3 of Fake it Till You Make It, and I like it so far. :)