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Korean dramas similar to Train and The Ghost Detective

AshesandDust

The thing I really loved about both dramas was how we just knew that the two leads loved each other. We did not have any grand Confession scenes (not that I dislike them but just not in the mood for them right now), but we could see how much the ML and FL loved and cared for each. I mean they were ready to die for each other. They never say "I love you" to each other but we see it every time they look at each other, every time they protect each other and this was somehow more meaningful to me than the most romantic dramas. The chemistry and the romance was beautifully subtle just the way like it

Another thing both shows had in common was the forbidden aspect to the love story. They had to fight so many elements to get their happy ending. They fought death to be with each other. But we had no excessive show of love from the leads to distract from the main plot. The love story was incorporated in such a way that it made you soft and yet never took away from the plot. 

Both were action/thrillers which is my preferred genre. I really don't like comedies or rom coms. 

So basically I would like a show with a really subtle love story where the chemistry is there, the desperation to be with each other is there but it's left up to us interpret the rest. We know they love each other and it doesn't have to be stated because it's obvious. 

Some shows that might be recommended like Voice, Stranger, Signal, kairos, my mister, law school, sell your haunted house, save me, circle, Liar game, Vagabond, Memories of the Alhambra, I have already watched them and loved them alot (this is off topic but I'm so salty that lee jin wook isn't back as do kang woo in voice 4, I was hoping they would bring him back since i loved his chemistry with lee hana)

Please don't recommend Vincenzo, I dropped it after 4 episodes and it's not the kind of show im looking for.

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Lou

So for action & thriller;
Taxi Driver - This is more towards the action part but there are thriller parts too. It hints at a  subtile romance story + the actor that plays the male lead is the same one as the one from Signal :)

Very similar to Signal and Train
Tunnel - Very similar to Signal and Train. Follows a Tunnel that has a pathway to a different time. Has a romance story + good cases.

More thriller less action: 
The Lies Within - Very subtile romance part, awesome case.

Children of the lesser God - after the 4th episode this is absolutely gripping. Good chemistry too

Justice - the main leads used to be in a relationship however that is over now. Still they work together, still got chemistry going on but its subtile.

Nobody Knows - amazing thriller. Does not have romance though. 

Missing: The Other Side - supernatural theme, subtile chemistry, interesting cases.

Are you open to other dramas that are not from korea? If so these might be something for you;

The Kidnapping Game - A chinese drama that has 12 episodes. It follows 2 people who make a pact and a murder case. A forbidden romance, a gripping case, a shocking end.

Burning Ice - The best chinese thriller if you ask me. Has 12-episodes + romance story  and a 2nd that is very subtile and has more of the one you like. The story itself is so absolutely amazing. 

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AshesandDust

Thankyou for taking the time to recommend so many shows!

I have actually watched lies within and nobody knows but I did not mention them here since I didn't think they fit what I wanted 

Children of a lesser God I've heard about, that the main leads have chemistry but I was hoping for something like train and ghost detective where along with chemistry we kinda know that they are in love without having it spelt out (I hope I'm making sense?)

I did start tunnel but I think the problem was that I started it right after signal and I could immediately see which show was superior. Might give it another go now that it has been a year since I watched signal.

I do plan on watching Taxi driver but my sister wants to watch it with me and she has exams so I'm kinda watching stuff till she's done with her exams and we can watch it. 

Funny thing is I just downloaded missing the other side since it has great reviews. Is there a FL though? I heard there's no fl so I was going to watch something without romance and have another show with subtle romance to kinda balance it out lol:P I don't watch heavy romance so subtle romance is all I need most of the time. 

I wish there were more shows like train and ghost detective where the ost and the eyes did the talking and confessing  :P

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Lou

Then definitely try "Justice". It plays a lot around with glimpses and hidden themes.

"Missing: The other side" revolves around 2 male characters and both have someone they either are in a relationship or work together. The one with work would fit into those subtile stories.

Now that I think of it
Mad Dog - this drama might also be something for you. There are lots of hidden glances and subtile things going on between the female lead and the male lead. 

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samenai

Check if these suit your taste
Awaken  
Terius Behind Me 
Zombie Detective 

Alice , I’ll add it too since I felt it’s ending is kinda similar to Train. But that’s expected when you deal with stuffs like time travelling or parallel universe.This is one of my favorite drama, but because of it’s controversial setup it received some backlash. Kinda funny.

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AshesandDust
 Elite:

Check if these suit your taste
Awaken  
Terius Behind Me 
Zombie Detective 

Hey thankyou for the recs! 

I've seen awaken, never felt any chemistry between the male lead and the female lead. Even though the male lead is one of my favourite actors (loved his acting in hot stove league) I simply could not feel any chemistry between him and the female lead. The sibling bond though, that was beautifully shown.

Terius behind me was more on the lighter side, I kinda skimmed through that one (the nose bumps were really cute though) . Same goes for zombie detective though I haven't seen that one but from the trailers it looks like it's more of a comedy and i prefer shows with a more serious tone 

As for Alice  I actually meant to watch it but people keep bashing it so i dunno...People said bad things about ghost detective too but I still liked it. Shall I give Alice a try?

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AshesandDust
 Lou:

Then definitely try "Justice". It plays a lot around with glimpses and hidden themes.

"Missing: The other side" revolves around 2 male characters and both have someone they either are in a relationship or work together. The one with work would fit into those subtile stories.

Now that I think of it
Mad Dog - this drama might also be something for you. There are lots of hidden glances and subtile things going on between the female lead and the male lead. 

Ooooh justice sounds nice, I think I'll start that. I tried mad dog, it didn't really click for me though. I seriously appreciate you taking your time to recommend these :)

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samenai

Alice left with unanswered questions. But as I said, If time travel/parallel universe is the base of your plot things might get messy and hard to explain since these are things of theory. A lot of people didn’t like it simply because the show didn’t pair up their favorite couple. Don’t expect a complete ending, don’t judge based on the couple you’ll be rooting for. I don’t watch dramas based on people’s review, at least not the one from MDL. Varieties of people and so is their view and preferences.

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AshesandDust
 Lou:

Then definitely try "Justice". It plays a lot around with glimpses and hidden themes.

"Missing: The other side" revolves around 2 male characters and both have someone they either are in a relationship or work together. The one with work would fit into those subtile stories.

Now that I think of it
Mad Dog - this drama might also be something for you. There are lots of hidden glances and subtile things going on between the female lead and the male lead. 

Okay so I went ahead and watched bits and pieces from some of the shows you recommended and children of a lesser god clicked for me, will be starting that now. Thankyou for the recs!

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AshesandDust
 emaureeng:

My Heroic Husband (2021) - fantasy, time travel. Different because the ML is a re-imagining of a cartoon action businessman character into the body of someone who looks like a fool, in ancient times. Develops into more of an actioner in the second half.

Thankyou for taking the time out for the recommendation! Unfortunately I haven't been able to get into C-dramas. Tried a few but just didnt click for me (I really liked the movie better days though) but I really appreciate this :)

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AshesandDust
 Elite:

Alice left with unanswered questions. But as I said, If time travel/parallel universe is the base of your plot things might get messy and hard to explain since these are things of theory. A lot of people didn’t like it simply because the show didn’t pair up their favorite couple. Don’t expect a complete ending, don’t judge based on the couple you’ll be rooting for. I don’t watch dramas based on people’s review, at least not the one from MDL. Varieties of people and so is their view and preferences.

I heard there was something about incest too...I dunno I might try it. MdL has been wrong when it comes to some of the shows I really enjoyed so I might give it a try. I do like it if the couple I'm rooting for ends up together lol :P I mean it's the world of make believe I want my happy ending  :')

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samenai
 Vampirehunter007:

I heard there was something about incest too...I dunno I might try it. MdL has been wrong when it comes to some of the shows I really enjoyed so I might give it a try. I do like it if the couple I'm rooting for ends up together lol :P I mean it's the world of make believe I want my happy ending  :')

That Incest part wasn't clearly answered. Or I'll say because time travel was involved, it's hard to come into conclusion of the relationship between involved characters. The director/writer didn't put a full-stop and kind of left it to the viewer's imagination.
I find it funny, people are pissed just because of an incest flag but they'll go on and watch dramas with immoral affairs, cheating involvement between MC's and won't bat an eye.
I'll put an end to my rant here :)

On topic, most of the recommended dramas under Train's Recommendations section looks interesting.  I already have Life on Mars  and Nine: Nine Times Time Travel  on my ptw list, was halfway through The King: Eternal Monarch,  but currently on hold. 

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Lou
 Vampirehunter007:

I heard there was something about incest too...I dunno I might try it. MdL has been wrong when it comes to some of the shows I really enjoyed so I might give it a try. I do like it if the couple I'm rooting for ends up together lol :P I mean it's the world of make believe I want my happy ending  :')

There is no incest. I was watching it when it aired and yeh people suddenly where all about incest but there is truly none. But that does not help the drama.
The only good thing about Alice was the acting and the background OST. The story was all over the place. It made no sense. I would not recommend it

There is a drama following a similar line called AI, Her. It has 3 episodes so far. It was supposed to get an additional 3 episodes but they would need to go to spain for that and well corona came in between. Still the first 3 episodes can be seen as a complete arc.
That one is really good and interesting. Very futuristic and mysterious.

Terius Behind Me - This one is a fun one. Its not a super dramatic thriller and can absolutely not be compared to Train or Signal, but its a fun watch with cute scenes between the leads. 

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AshesandDust

@Elite (sorry I'm unable to directly reply to your comment since MDL says its too long lol), I did go into the recommendation list for train but the titles there are mostly about the similarities between plot rather than the dynamics between the characters. I'm not necessarily looking for parallel world dramas or fantasy. Mainly looking for shows where the leads had beautiful love story without any intimate scenes or confessions of their undying love. Rather than that we get a deep look into their feelings from they way they protect each other, trust each other and look at each other (with a beautiful ost to help along the way). That is what made me really love both train and ghost detective. I watched both shows for their plots but the soft chemistry between the leads was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. And what I absolutely enjoyed was that we viewers knew that they loved each other but the makers did not add long scenes of romantic declarations since that would have taken away from the high stakes situation in the plot. Would have sort of decreased the dark and gritty atmosphere of both shows. And there was so much angst between them! (Also something there in voice s2 and s3). So I guess to sum it up, rather than similar plots, I'm looking for similar tone.

The king has lee minho and I do not think much of his acting. I know people love him and that's fine but I tend to stay away from his shows (even though I'm a huge fan of both kim go eun and woo do hwan). Plus I did watch bits of the king from when it was airing and people were posting clips on Instagram, I would say that train tackled the concept better.

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