Hi all,

I haven't watched too much over the last few months & feeling a bit lost with no idea what is worth watching at the moment. So was wondering if I could get some recommendations please for completed & fully English subbed Dramas. 

  • Please check my completed list & dropped list. They are a little extensive.
  • My favourite Movies & Dramas.
  • Would prefer recommendations for recent Dramas. So mostly between 2015-2018. 
  • But will look at older recommendations I may have missed or have only recently been subbed. 
  • Japanese prefered; but will look at Korean or Taiwanese.
  • Chinese is ok too but no badly done dubs where they are glaringly obvious.
  • I love Dramas with romance & a bit of a mystery the most.  Also I'm a sucker for the poor girl/rich guy trope. But will consider most genres except for tragedies & slapstick or embarrassing comedy!
  • No tragic endings at all! Seriously I can't stand tragedies. So if the leads don't end up together,  die, everyone dies at the end or the ending is overall ambiguous as hell I'm out & won't enjoy it.
  • I'm fine with spoilers. Makes no difference to my watching experience at all!

Also which Winter 2018 JDramas are you liking? Is there anything that really stands out so far?

Will also consider movies too. Just no tragedies or slapstick or embarrassing comedy either. But otherwise open to most things.

Thank you. :)

Some of my personal favorites that you haven't watched (all are Japanese):

  • Date (2015 romcom; the two leads had this over-the-top personality, but I don't think they came off as slapsticky, thanks to Anne's and Hasegawa Hiroki's acting)
  • Kahogo no Kahoko (2017, labelled as romcom, but I think it's a family drama at its core; Takahata Mitsuki totally sold the character Kahoko with her superb acting, so no cringiness there)
  • Yutori desu ga nani ka (2016, comedy slice of life; I'd recommend you to watch three episodes, at least, and only then drop it if you still don't find it enjoyable)
 kura2ninja:

Some of my personal favorites that you haven't watched (all are Japanese):

  • Date (2015 romcom; the two leads had this over-the-top personality, but I don't think they came off as slapsticky, thanks to Anne's and Hasegawa Hiroki's acting)
  • Kahogo no Kahoko (2017, labelled as romcom, but I think it's a family drama at its core; Takahata Mitsuki totally sold the character Kahoko with her superb acting, so no cringiness there)
  • Yutori desu ga nani ka (2016, comedy slice of life; I'd recommend you to watch three episodes, at least, and only then drop it if you still don't find it enjoyable)

More a response to you than the original post, but I was wondering why you liked Date. No spoilers but the way it ended really bothered me. I had to add it to my list of "waste of my time"dramas.

As for original poster, I really enjoyed Fight for My Way. It's the only k drama from last year that I finished. I also recommend Another Miss Oh and Marriage not Dating. 

You've seen most of the J dramas that I have. But I really liked Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi.

Recent things I liked that have at least a bit of romance and some sort of mystery, with non-tragic endings (all k-dramas):

Circle
The Package
My Wife's Having an Affair This Week
Ho Goo's Love


@NappeunYeoja13: Idk, because it's about weird people finding out that love can't be rationalized, maybe? But I think what made me liked that drama so much was the two main characters' weirdness and their respective actor's portrayal of them. If they were played by actors with less ability, I doubt that I'd like it as much.

Anyway, I was completely satisfied with the ending and the show as a whole (I didn't watch the one-episode special). 

Because This is My First Life (Korea, 2017) - Some people thought the ending could have been better, but otherwise it's a good drama. what's refreshing about this drama is that the leads communicate most of the time so that there won't be much misunderstandings, there is no evil MIL, the female stands up for herself and learns to become even more stronger & confident in herself and her decisions/ambitions, and lastly, the drama also touches on issues like sexual assaults & sexual harassment in the workplace

Something About 1 Percent (Korea, 2016) - short, light rom-com with little to no non-sense & no cringy kiss scenes; rich ML

Shopping King Louie (Korea, 2016) - Rich ML, might also be one of the cutest male characters

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Korea, 2016) - one of the cutest & sweetest kdrama couples; this drama doesn't end like they typically do where it isn't until the last episode that the leads finally get together and then it's over; instead you get to enjoy their relationship & watch it progress from friends to lovers

The King of Dramas (Korea, 2012) - though this drama has a little bit of romance it's an atypical drama plot: the behind the scenes of dramas and how they're made. As a kdrama lover I found it insightful and entertaining to watch (I'd advise to watch it for the plot rather than the romance)

Kahogo no Kahoko (2017) this one is very lighthearted and fluffly

Live up to your name (2017) this one was one of my favorite ones from last year's batch

Fight for my way (2017) 

Sekai ichi mizukashii koi (2016)

It's not that I can not marry but I don't want to (2016)

Weightlifting fairy (2016)

Marriage not dating (2014) - this one has romance but it's also pretty hilarious. 

The Greatest love (2011) this one is not within your mentioned range but is one of my favorite kdramas so I highly recommend it. 

Korean dramas:

Movies:

@kura2ninja

I guess I thought the drama was doing something different and interesting by having the main leads end up with the second leads. When they got together it felt like a nice message about love hitting you from nowhere. But then they ruined it in the last episode. That's just my opinion.

@NappeunYeoja13: I actually  liked the second leads (not as much as the leads, of course, but well),  and was lowkey shipping the 1st male lead and the 2nd female lead. I  never really expected a deconstruction of romcom tropes like you did,  though, so when the leads got together I simply took it as a given rather than a  disappointment :)

Thanks for all the detailed recommendations everyone. I'll take a look at all of those. :)

Something About 1 Percent looks the most interesting to me right now so will definitely check that one out.

I think I may tried Shopping King Louie before not sure. I seem to already have it on my HDD, maybe give that one a shot first.

I think I also tried Sekai Ichi Muzukashii Koi but it didn't stick. I can't really remember why so I'll check it out again. 

Didn't really like It's not that I can not marry but I don't want to. But at least I watched it.

Thanks for the Kahogo no Kahoko recommendations. I really enjoyed it. :)

Not sure I'm liking Something About 1 Percent  though right now.  I can't really get behind the Grandfather deciding on the school teachers marriage options without actually consulting her at all about it!