Intense Family Dynamics (No romance/family genres)
For titles with a strong focus on familiar dynamics/where the main relationship/bond is between family members (siblings, parent-child, etc). Basically, familiar relationships given the same love and care as romantic relationships. I mean, angst, closeness, ride-or-die, betrayal, the whole thing.
I will include titles featuring romance only if the familiar dynamic is the more important one or it's a generous 50/50. No family genre because that's too easy and will mostly focus on genres outside of comedy and slice-of-life.
- Obviously, no incest.
- Adoptive family counts.
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![The Embers]()
1. The Embers
Chinese Drama - 2025, 28 episodes
Brother crime-solving duo.
10/10. The intensity, closeness, and banter of the brothers is what prompted me to make this list in the first place.
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![Nobody Knows]()
2. Nobody Knows
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
Mother-son.
10/10. Everything I could want from a badass mother-figure protecting and saving her kid.
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![Blind]()
3. Blind
Korean Drama - 2022, 16 episodes
Adoptive brothers crime-solving duo.
AAAAAAAAAAAAa, the ANGST. I honestly could've even done with more focus on the brothers' relationship, but it was delightful nevertheless.
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![Secret of Three Kingdoms]()
4. Secret of Three Kingdoms
Chinese Drama - 2018, 54 episodes
Adoptive brothers.
Honorary mention because romance is also pretty important but imo this is a rare instance where the brotherhood and the romance were pretty well balanced. Both were given about the same level of importance.
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![Yume de Mita Ano Ko no Tame ni]()
5. Yume de Mita Ano Ko no Tame ni
Japanese Drama - 2023, 10 episodes
Twin brothers.
A bit iffy about this one because they don't interact a lot in the drama itself but they're the main characters and the whole story is about them and their bond, so.
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![Family Matters]()
6. Family Matters
Korean Drama - 2024, 6 episodes
Family (mother-child, father-child, twin siblings, grandparent-child).
Another great example of what this list is for. Family-focused but not in the family genre. Absolutely lovely family dynamics, I wish we got more of them.
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![Lie After Lie]()
7. Lie After Lie
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
Mother-daughter & father-daughter
Interesting approach and execution. Would love to see more like this
