Recs for Melanie

This may be my all-time favorite drama. It's just great. I already want to watch it for a third time. I love shows that really express the psychology of a story and its characters and at one point, I wanted to become a forensic psychologist who studies cults and how they operate/how to prevent them from preying on people. This show has some cult-like stuff. I'd recommend reading trigger warnings, though it's pretty tame in terms of triggers. It still deals with religious trauma. As heavy as that sounds, it's just super cool. I love the characters so much!!!

Absolutely adorable romance drama. It does get heavy at times, so be prepared to cry if you're weak like me <3

Story about a rich guy with a human allergy testing out a robot companion (not for weird reasons, I swear; he's just lonely). The robot was modeled off of its creator's ex-girlfriend and when it breaks, he asks her to stand in for a test run. The male lead is some kind of investor(?) to the robot lab (I literally don't remember). Very fluffy couple.

Joseon Era drama. Girl disguises herself as a eunuch in the palace in order to survive (I don't remember why). She ends up working for the crown prince. A lot of palace drama ensues. It has some of the most beautiful scenes I've seen in a drama. If you loved Coffee Prince, you may love this. Similar vibes but maybe less angsty? Actually quite funny and beautiful. Very cute/pretty couple. 

This show is super cheesy and fun, very Taiwanese daytime drama humor. MC is a girl who was raised as a boy for superstitious reasons. There are some martial arts and soft mafia vibes (not very gritty most of the time). Very tropey and predictable but great for when you want highly interesting drama with low stakes (I hope that makes sense). The male lead is the son of a mafia boss who disappeared. He took his place as head of the group (think Triad style mafia) and moved their focus to going clean (hence the lower stakes than you'd expect from a mafia drama). The main couple is very cute but I will admit the director really didn't want to waste ANY of the footage from them kissing. It goes on FOREVER. Incredibly embarrassing to watch with someone else. I would not recommend it unless you're very close lmao.

This is a non/low-romance crime one. The younger guy weirdly reminds me of Seungmin from Stray Kids. Another one with religious trauma and child abuse. It's pretty horrific at times, given the crimes that it surrounds, but it's very healing, too. The older MC steals someone else's book and publishes it. It's actually the real account of someone having witnessed and committed various crimes, including and centrally murder. It kind of icks me to see the first MC lie about the book soooooo much but rest assured everything will resolve. This show IS also supernatural. not sure if saying more than that is a spoiler or not. Highly satisfying watch.

Fantastic. Just amazing. You really have to be prepared to cry. No/low romance drama. There's a character in this that I think looks like I.N. and I want to know if you see it. The story revolves around a village of spirits of people who have died but not left earth. Essentially, a ghost village.  The MC is a good-hearted conman, Robinhood-style. This is another show with a fantastic array of characters that are well-fleshed-out, even if they aren't around for long. The MC can somehow see these people. He helps the secondary lead solve people's deaths. It's obviously very heartbreaking but also bittersweet. I highly recommend it.

My god possibly my most favorite couple ever. This is a dramatic historical Chinese drama and a huge win for fans of the color red and people who look good in it. Palace drama, improbable plot lines, beautiful clothes and sets, fun characters, and the most charming couple ever. In my top 5 dramas ever.

This is the one I mentioned before. It really was awesome and weirdly great for making memes, I think. It's definitely more serious and gritty than the average Thai drama. It's also a crime/protest drama about a gang that makes moves against the government). The main character is the identical twin of one of the members who is in a coma after being attacked. The twin who comes from a somewhat elite life takes on his brother's identity to find out who hurt him. The acting is just really good. They're very different from anything else I've seen them in. Couple is kind of angsty but intense and sweet. Side couple is the same but in a very different font.

Easily stays in my Top 10 dramas of all categories. It just has such a soothing and warm feeling to it. I watch this every once in a while and am always blown away by it. HIGHLY recommend. Couple is healing. (Fun fact: the actors are actually closer in age than their characters).

Quite possibly the BEST wordless chemistry and tension I've ever seen in a drama. The enemies-to-lovers trope is my weakness and the set design, styling, camera work, lighting, and music in this show are all top-notch. I love it so much. I literally can't sum up this couple.

This show battles I Am Not A Robot for first drama I show to non-drama fans. It's the first one I got my brother to watch and we both loved it. The characters are so charming, the writing funny, the wardrobe nice, and a balance of comedy and intense crime plot. This is another crime drama but it spends a lot of time in the more comedic side of crime, given our OP main character who has super strength.  The couple in this is so cute, they seem like they'd be very annoying to know. I love them.

I just adore this show so much. It does really pull at the heart strings, so be prepared. More often, it's very sweet and funny. Both leads are incredibly likeable and very refreshing. Their relationship is so interesting to me because it's like the opposite of trauma-bonding, like healing-bonding? The main character spends a week out of each month in the body of a different person (she shapeshifts into a person who doesn't exist). She's also an actress and it's had great impact on her career, having to disappear each month for an extended time. The male lead has prosopagnosia (face blindness; brain can't process facial features) which, given the female lead's shapeshifting, makes for an interesting dynamic as they're brought together for work. This couple is stupidly romantic. Cute/funny side couple with the male lead's sister and female lead's friend.

This is just a right of passage kind of show. It's very fun and also infuriating. This show was peak "the meaner he is to you, the more he likes you" era. There is a Taiwanese remake that I actually liked much more (the ML gets to have a personality beyond being mean) but the original is necessary for reference and would make watching the Taiwanese remake even more fun. The main couple is not...great. I think they frame it like they would be but I have a hard time believing that in this version. (Fun facts: I have the plush from this drama, as it was the first K=drama I ever watched.)

So I haven't actually finished this show yet (Chinese dramas are soooo long) but I love it so far. I'm a sucker for stories set in the early 20th century. So much of this show is just cute and funny to balance out the fact that they're literally fighting for their country (only Japanese media I watch from this time period is Grave of the Fireflies and there's a reason for that). This show would be absolutely pristine if not for one massive drawback: censorship. The more romantic scenes (and I just mean romantic, they aren't sex scenes or anything) have been cut. Some people are able to dig up and watch some of them, but I haven't had any luck. Their reasoning for the censorship was that too much romance in a story that focuses on the Chinese military was inappropriate. (They just don't understand what kind of propaganda I'm susceptible to or they would have left those scenes in). It actually cuts the tension of one scene in particular which would have made for a great message, but alas. The characters are very fun and likable. Fun, cute, mischievous couple.