Recommendations

Different setting: university vs. office
Both involve a love triangle
Mature 19+ scenes; one night-stand
Focus on multiple couples

Both are a lifelong friendship that turns to romance with the FL older than the ML and always getting him into trouble as children. Both have funny flashbacks to their early childhood, and both MLs are more quiet while the FLs are bolder. The leads' parents are also very close.

Both are close childhood bickering friends to romance stories with a similar warm feel and school setting.

I felt some Kill Me, Heal Me vibes while watching Link. They both have severe childhood trauma centered mysteries, a touch of fantasy, and emotional healing and closure from past trauma. Link, although a great drama, was unfortunately unable to capture the amazing charm and chemistry that Kill Me, Heal Me radiates.

Both are more unusual xianxia dramas in which the FL is surrounded by several men who each love her in their own way including a demonic and somewhat dangerous protector (Xiang Liu reminds me quite a bit of Sha Qian Mo).

Both dramas are about the FL entering a fake world which is a mix of a novel and VR elements, and falling in love with the ML there.

Not sure about the similarities however Once Again really is a great drama full of different topics and elements based on relationships, family every slice of life that you could think of. An overwhelming sense to agree or disagree with the characters honestly a fat rewatch.

The dynamic between the couple in The Forbidden Flower reminded me of the couple in Aishiteiru to Ittekure. In both dramas a youthful female lead with an outgoing, vibrant personality quickly falls for and pursues an older man with a quieter more reserved presence (in Aishiteiru to Ittekure the male lead doesn't speak because he's deaf; in The Forbidden Flower he's just a more introverted personality and man of few words). Both dramas stood out to me for the how natural the actors felt together, especially something about the physicality of their interactions. The storylines aren't particularly similar; The Forbidden Flower is more melo (and has an unfortunate sideplot that interrupts the main storyline) while Aishiteiru to Ittekure is quite uneventful through much of the drama (can border in boring); but both have mostly mellow, down-to-earth atmosphere.

There's a similarity I'm premise — the female lead is wealthy and sheltered, due to serious illness in her teenage years she's on the cusp of adulthood having never truly lived. She falls for a working class man and a quietly melodramatic romance (by which I mean the storyline is melo but neither the tone nor plot is over-the-top) ensues. The Forbidden Flower focuses less on the class difference and adds the additional element of a large age gap, with a middle-aged male lead.

In terms of atmosphere, there are some similarities and some differences. Both have moments of unrestrained youthfulness but also of moodiness and emotional poignancy. Tatta Hitotsu no Koi is more consistently bittersweet and melancholic in tone, while The Forbidden Flower has some unfortunate tangents into more typical contemporary C-drama romance territory with the secondary and supporting characters. It also has a sultry aspect that focuses on the physical attraction between the leads that Tatta Hitotsu no Koi lacks. I felt they had some kinship between these drama in visual language as well — waterfront scenery and vibrant sunsets, though The Forbidden Flower leans more into the vivid colors and Tatta Hitotsu no Koi is more urban.

Nirvana in Fire: Wind Blows in Chang Lin is the second season of Nirvana in Fire series. Both dramas are epic historical strategies and take place in the same dynasty (different times).

Nirvana in fire: Langya Ban is the first season of Nirvana in Fire series. Both dramas are epic historical strategies set in the same dynasty (different times).

Set in the Northern Song dynasty, the story follows Sheng Ming Lan, an unfavored concubine-born 6th daughter of an official. After losing her mother at a young age, Ming Lan is raised by her paternal grandmother. Growing up, she learns to hide her true genius self and use crafty and cunning methods in order to survive the tough conditions where family members are plotting against each other and where no actual familial love exists.

She then meets Gu Ting Ye, the second son of a rich marquis household, who is supposed to inherit wealth from both the parents and a noble title. Unlike Ming Lan, Gu Ting Ye is straightforward with his actions and never hides his true self, causing him to fall victim to all the planning and plotting against him, where he ends up losing everything.

Ming Lan and Ting Ye join forces, and through cunning schemes and daring endeavors, they both rise in position and work to obtain justice from those that have wronged them.

Both are set within the world of a historical game with the FL trying to accomplish a task to return to the real world.

Both are set within the world of a historical game with the FL trying to accomplish a task to return to the real world.

Both are set within the world of a historical game with the FL trying to accomplish a task to return to the real world.