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Help! Any recs for a "crack/ highly addictive" romance drama like "Healer" or "Ten Miles..."

Jess4163 Author

I'm on another futile hunt for a crack drama after just finishing "Healer"...still having withdrawal symptoms and desperately wish there were another 100+ episodes featuring Jung Hoo and Young Shin adjusting to being a couple with lots of good jealous scenes, lol (a girl can dream, right). The last drama that had me in this state was "Ten Miles Peach Blossoms:" Masterpiece romance that got me obsessed with lead couple, Ye Hua and Bai Qian. 

So, now I'm curious about what other romantic dramas have that "crack" or "it" factor similar to "Healer" or "Ten Miles..."? One where the drama has a direction and with the exception of daily/weekend dramas, doesn't require the FF button (the story doesn't just go nowhere), features a squeal-worthy OTP, and is highly addictive (leaves a void in your heart upon finishing).

After much thought and contemplation, here's my top list of crack/highly addictive dramas with squeal-worthy OTPs, plots with direction (for most of the drama), and hot male leads:

Ten Miles Peach Blossoms

Healer

New Tales of Gisaeng

Be Strong Geum Soon

Shining Inheritance

Love O2O

Hana Yori Dango (2005)

Roy Leh Sanae Rai (2002)

Sawan Biang (2008)

All About Eve

Autumn Tale

Winter Sonata

Meteor Garden I (2001)

All of the ones listed above deprived me of sleep/sanity because of how addictive they were and turned me into a loony fangirl due to the OTP. Plus, the male leads were all ultra attractive and utterly fixated on their female counterparts (lol, realized all dramas listed had either the hero falling first or it's sort of mutual, but the hero is much more aggressive/takes more initiative -I'm a sucker for this trope).

What are everyone else's romantic crack dramas with this criteria? I'm desperate to find another "it" and "out of the ballpark" drama...help  and thanks :)

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CherryBunny

I have a whole list dedicated to dramas like this! 


https://kisskh.at/list/jLlKYpM1



Maybe one will catch your eye. (*^_^*)

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nela

These are my favorites.. Hope you'll like them too.

Weightlifting Fairy

Descendants of the Sun

Coffee Prince

Sungkyunkwan Scandal

I am not a Robot

Just Between Lovers

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Jess4163 Author
 CherryBunny:

I have a whole list dedicated to dramas like this! 


https://kisskh.at/list/jLlKYpM1



Maybe one will catch your eye. (*^_^*)

Thanks! Which of the ones on your list are romance heavy with a fixated male lead?

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CherryBunny

Most of them except for The Guardians and Triangle. 

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Czakhareina

Totally understand your love for Healer. Healer is definitely my top romance of all time. When it was airing, I went everyhour-everyday listening to OST, watching BTS, and refreshing daum/nate/weibo/DC gallery for updates. And when it was all done, thankgoodness dramabeans was also in a Healer high, so they posted translated articles of Writer Song Jina, plus the drunk podcast they did. The withdrawal after the dramas was the ultimate for this me.

I am so in the boat of Yehua-Bai Quian. I've loved Mark Chao since Black & White, But it was definitely Ten Miles of peach Blossoms that made me obsessed with him. hahaha I am so loving him and Yang Mi. their chemistry was through the roof.

And I so love your list, all of those are some of my faves too. just top notch addicting dramas. And  I especially love that you have New Tales of a Gisaeng, Meteor Garden and Shining Inheritance listed. Not that many people would list those as their crack drama. They were mine crack high  too

I mean I personally feel like Meteor Garden started it all for me, but for some people they would opt for Boys Over Flowers. Personally the korean version was sorely lacking something to make me like or much more obssessed with that drama, I am more into the Meteor Garden and Hana Yori Dango. But totally agree with New Tales of a Gisaeng, that dramas was definitely addicting with Damo and Sarang.

Anywya i have been planning to watch Be Strong GeumSoon, but I kept putting it off.I guess I should check that out now. And i will definitely check those two Thai dramas. 

For recommendations, that I think fits your description as addicting with ML falling first and being obssessive with FL, are:

  • Autumn Concerto - Taiwanese Drama
  • Bu Bu Jingxin - chinese drama
  • Greatest Love - Korean Drama
  • Kill Me Heal Me - Korean drama
  • Reply 1997 - Korean drama
  • Love Now - Taiwan daily drama, so its long but totally worth it.
  • Kleun Cheewit - Thai drama, that is a lot like the korean Secret in plot, but I liked the female lead in this drama better. way stronger
  • A Girl and Three Sweethearts - recently watched this japanese drama, and it totally had e with Kento
  • Others, same trope, and I like them, yet not as addicting as the others for me:
    • Monstar
    • Falling For Innocence
    • Fated to Love You (taiwanese drama)
    • Discovery of Romance
    • Something about 1% (2016 version)
    • Five Children - not the main leads/couple, but the supporting coupling nd story of Sangmin- Yeontae. The guy in this drama is the one who is lead in New Tales of a Gisaeng.
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Angel

Experienced the same thing for Eternal Love and Healer, so I thought I could recommend my other favorites as well: Moonlovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo and Kill Me, Heal Me!!!

Also, check out A Love So Beautiful, Sound of the Desert, Because This Is My First Life, It's Okay, That's Love, You Who Came From The Stars, Fight For My Way, Another Oh Hae Young, and Queen In Hyun's Man AND see if you can find something that you like!

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JoanneSmith

I second Autumn Concerto and offer additionally  Love Me If You Dare and kdrama Fated to Love You.

 

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Jess4163 Author

Thanks so much everyone for these suggestions! It's so hard to find that "crack" drama that has an amazing OTP and also features a plot that keeps moving. So many dramas these days feature plots that don't really go anywhere and just feels like "a bunch of disjointed scenes" thrown together to take up air time. I really want romance dramas that have a tight, cohesive plot and an amazing OTP. I know this is a tall order...

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Jess4163 Author

Czakhareina , I totally agree that BOF, the Korean version was the worst adaptation -I had such high hopes too when it first started airing because Koreans are usually so good at churning out emotional love stories. It ended up being a mess for me and I gave up after the 6th episode as soon as the lead's sister broke out into several flips/cartwheels in the middle of the street. Lol, it's like the creators were more concerned about trying to make certain scenes more explosive than previous versions rather than working to ensure the overall tone/story is balanced and coherent. 

Definitely watch "Be Strong Geum Soon," as the love story btw the leads was so good: Full of heart-wrenching emotional angst (the good kind)!!! The chemistry was stellar and the male lead so in love with the female lead...it's a daily drama though, so be prepared to FF through some side character plots.

As for the Thai dramas, be prepared for controversial scenes like rape and kidnapping by the male leads. Both dramas feature them as they're sort of a staple in the Thai drama genre known as "slap/kiss." If that's a deal breaker for you, then stay away. Otherwise, both dramas got me into Thai dramas (known as lakorns) and are highly addictive, featuring leads with explosive chemistry. 

In addition, I would also highly recommend "Game Rai Game Ruk" as another addictive drama with a stellar OTP and a hero who's over the moon for his heroine (in an extremely hot, alpha way). His love is so palpable that even when he's hurting her, you can clearly tell he's hurting himself much more. I love addictive dramas featuring chemistry-ridden OTPs and a hero who can't live without the heroine...they're truly my kryptonite, lol!

Here's my favorite mv of "Game Rai Game Ruk": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1rjMYsgY6A

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Jess4163 Author

I've watched "Autumn's Concerto" in the past and agree that it was a very good and pretty addictive drama, but was disappointed that the second half focused more on the kid and court cases rather than the romance. I just wasn't really a fan of how the love story progressed: Would have liked to have seen the amnesia-ridden hero fall hard for the heroine all over again, but that didn't really happen (he gained back his memories before all that can occur). He also kept using the kid as an excuse and hid his affections for her more often than not. So, the overall romance ended up disappointing me. 

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fanitha

Totally agree on your feelings on Healer!!! That drama was awesome, and I still love it and also wish there where 100+ episodes more. Every episode was interesting and the mix of love and suspense (on the backstory) made it really interesting.

I second:

  • Just Between Lovers (OTP is also amazing and there's so much love in here, every episode is worth it)
  • Kill Me heal Me (I watched this one about the same time I watched Healer and I loved both almost the same!!)
  • The Greatest Love (Here also the male lead falls in love first, one of the best Hong Sisters' dramas)
  • It's Okay that's Love (this one also has suspense on the background story and it's very interesting the first episode is kind of slow but after that everything keeps you interested)

I will also add:

  • Live up to your name (very endearing male lead!)
  • Mars (since you like Meteor Garden it won't bother you that this one is kind of old, but the plot is totally worth the watch)
  • We married as a job ( don't know if you are interested in jdramas but this one was one of the best of 2016!)
  • Soratobu Kouhoushitsu (also a jdrama, I think this drama is underrated is a slow burn love story)
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Jess4163 Author

Thanks guys for taking the time to post and please keep these recs coming! It's so interesting reading up on other people's favorite romantic "crack" dramas. There are a few I haven't even heard of...

In addition, another highly addictive drama featuring leads with awesome chemistry and a male hero who's crazy about the heroine is the Chinese remake of a makjang Kdrama, "Jang Bori is here" called "Because of Meeting you."

I never bothered to watch the original Korean version because the main leads didn't draw me in (also, didn't find the male lead to be attractive), but this Cdrama remake is incredible: Besides the main leads' larger than life chemistry, everyone in the cast fit their roles and gave standout performances. The directing and music were all on point and the entire drama was hugely addictive -has that "IT" factor.

Of course, knowing me, another huge reason I watched it was because of the male lead's unconditional love for our leading lady: He was relentless in his pursuit and never gave up on her once he came to terms with his feelings. It also helps that both the actor and actress are very talented and skilled at acting. Even though the lead girl plays a sort of mary sue-ish character, she incorporated a sassy wit to her character and made me love her portrayal. I love both of the leads and will watch pretty much any drama of theirs in the future.

I first watched them in another youth drama called "15 years of waiting for migratory birds" and was sad that they didn't end up together (though I also loved the male lead, I felt the secondary guy had better romantic chemistry with the girl). This drama fulfilled that wish in spades and gave the pairing so many scenes together. I pretty much died and went to heaven...

Even if you can't stand the evil secondary girl, watch it for the main leads because the central focus is on their love story and it's developed very well with plenty of details. Plus, there's a huge payoff at the end and the evil girl is utterly destroyed. If you've watched parts of the original Korean version, you should know what to expect. Besides her, I didn't hate anyone else in this drama and emphasized with them. You can just FF the evil girl's scenes if she becomes too unbearable. Trust me, the leads make this drama!!! I highly highly recommend this and hope the leads work together again in another drama in the future.

Here's my favorite short mv of the OTP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEc5djo9UUk

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missjb21

Que Sera Sera....

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shiroyukineko

After TMOPB, the next drama that got me going cray cray is A Love so Beautiful -https://kisskh.at/24644-a-love-so-beautiful

Story is about a high school girl who likes a handsome, smart guy who happens to be her neighbour, classmate and childhood friend. She literally did everything in her power to make him like her back... her antics are simply irresistibly cute and funny.

Check out this trailer to get a feel of the drama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQqwcph1uwY

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