And if you're looking for an easy and fun series instead:
Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab: Three books about an adopted prince who can travel between dimensions, specifically four different versions of London. He meets a girl from our version of London who tags along with him to put aside a magic object he shouldn't have smuggled from one world to the next.
Lunar Chronicles: Four books plus a novella collection. Fantasy/scif-fi retelling of four fairytale romances intersecting to form one plot - Cinderella is a cyborg, Red-Riding-Hood flies spacecrafts, Rapunzel grew up in a satellite and Snow-White's kingdom is on the moon.
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steifvater: Four books. If you love bromance, that is basically the plot. Modern setting where four boys and one girl from very different backgrounds set off to find the lost tomb of a Welsh King in a forest, said to grant the finder's wish. But the real heart of the story is the home this cast of characters have in each other.
Sure, no worries! Since I'm not sure precisely what you're looking for, I'll give a batch with a bit of description so hopefully you can find which seems up your alley ^^
Here are some easy/fun standalones:
Half A Soul by Olivia Atwater - Gives Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle vibes. Very short (but concise) read too, like 230 pages if I remember correctly.
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Basically Your Name meets Final Fantasy
Vicious by V. E. Schwab - Super fast-paced crime fantasy of enemies who were once best friends now trying to kill each other with non-linear storytelling. This one is technically a trilogy BUT the first book reads like a standalone because that's how it was originally written and can therefore be read like so - I highly recommend it be read that way.
And Then She Vanished by Joseph Bridgeman - Time travel in the same style that the animanga Erased is. I think this one is also a series but I read the first book as a standalone because all loose ends introduced in the one book are tied up already by its end.
Wow it was a surprise to see book-related things here lol, but for me it's definately Powerless and The Cruel…
There are all sorts of tags for these games so figured I'd use one in a random way ^^
And nice. Cruel Prince is one of my faves too (sitting with ROTE, Gentlemen Bastards and Raven Cycle). Jude and Cardan's growth as individuals, their relationship that slowly builds alongside that, the modern vs older style language depending on who is speaking or where characters are, all the double-meanings and Jude as an unreliable narrator having readers trusted to read between the lines so often. It's a wonderful series <3
For over a decade my answer was 2005's Hana Yori Dango and it wasn't a contest because I didn't even like any of the other versions I'd seen before or after it (anime, Kdrama, 2018 Cdrama).
. . . loyalty where? Finished the Thai version last week. It hijacked my brain. Has become my favourite with so much ease.
I don't get second-lead syndrome no matter how much I personally love the second-lead character because who the characters end up with generally makes sense for the characters.
Everything else? WAY too dramatic for me to handle xD I swear one crazy emo scene would happen and I'd be like "watch, the next one will top it" and then it WOULD hahah.
At last I understood what it means when directors say "someone is too pretty to be a good actor"
See I normally agree with this.
But Eun Woo surprised me here. I started watching this mostly because of his pretty face if I'm being honest. The last thing I expected was that I'd ever HATE his character at some point. But for a portion of the story . . . that's what actually happened. All thanks to his acting. Threw me off in a way I didn't want it to . . . but in a good way.
are you people here serious? this is one of the most boring dramas I've ever watched, the kpop guy is also cringe
It is on the slower side. And the melodrama is high in this one. Just a matter of what you're into really.
I don't actually normally like these kind of stories. I loved it and might even rewatch it in the future. But I wouldn't go out of my way to find other stories like it. Because I'm not the target audience generally speaking.
I stopped thinking about the show after I finished but one thing keeps bothering me: Seon Jae WOULDN'T commit…
Oh, I missed that detail, woah. May have zoned out more than I realised. Still don't like how the story shifted from that type of plotline to a random villain. But in that regard, it's totally just a me-thing then and not on the show.
At least that's one issue I had with it solved. Thank you. (this one kept bothering me even after I finished it xD)
This should have been a normal rom-com. The time-traveling hurt the series SO much.(plenty plot-holes, awful handling…
I stopped thinking about the show after I finished but one thing keeps bothering me: Seon Jae WOULDN'T commit suicide? He never delivered her mail that day . . . he wouldn't injure his shoulder, quit swimming, join a band and so on?
Guuuuys, I don’t get it. I don’t get why MDL went nuts over this when it was airing.
I’m 8 episodes in. It’s sweet. But it’s not doing anything for me either. The two main characters have no chemistry. The compelling narrative around a life-changing accident and a suicide is quickly replaced with one about avoiding a random, 2D villain. Said narrative has several shallow messages involved. I like the girl but for being in her 30s her stupidity is baffling. I like the guy but the constant focus on his crushing isn’t enough. There’s no showcasing of character development. At times the pacing is jarring. The humour is childish. Why are the rest of the characters even there cause this feels like a two-person show.
I get when a cute rom-com becomes THE drama that’s hyped up. But not when it has this many flaws. Lovely Runner is fine as a casual passtime. That’s it.
This would've been better if it went in chronological order. Switching back and forth from a present day tense…
It was fine for me.
- Two timelines means there's two stories I want answers to, keeping me engaged. - Getting answers to them simultaneously re-contextualises both of them as the series progresses which is cool.
2 
4 
Loved these characters so much, both as individuals and as a duo <333
- Take a nap
- Read a book
- Listen to music
- Clean/organise something
Hopefully one of the seven piques your interest~
Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab: Three books about an adopted prince who can travel between dimensions, specifically four different versions of London. He meets a girl from our version of London who tags along with him to put aside a magic object he shouldn't have smuggled from one world to the next.
Lunar Chronicles: Four books plus a novella collection. Fantasy/scif-fi retelling of four fairytale romances intersecting to form one plot - Cinderella is a cyborg, Red-Riding-Hood flies spacecrafts, Rapunzel grew up in a satellite and Snow-White's kingdom is on the moon.
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Steifvater: Four books. If you love bromance, that is basically the plot. Modern setting where four boys and one girl from very different backgrounds set off to find the lost tomb of a Welsh King in a forest, said to grant the finder's wish. But the real heart of the story is the home this cast of characters have in each other.
Here are some easy/fun standalones:
Half A Soul by Olivia Atwater - Gives Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle vibes. Very short (but concise) read too, like 230 pages if I remember correctly.
Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Basically Your Name meets Final Fantasy
Vicious by V. E. Schwab - Super fast-paced crime fantasy of enemies who were once best friends now trying to kill each other with non-linear storytelling. This one is technically a trilogy BUT the first book reads like a standalone because that's how it was originally written and can therefore be read like so - I highly recommend it be read that way.
And Then She Vanished by Joseph Bridgeman - Time travel in the same style that the animanga Erased is. I think this one is also a series but I read the first book as a standalone because all loose ends introduced in the one book are tied up already by its end.
And nice. Cruel Prince is one of my faves too (sitting with ROTE, Gentlemen Bastards and Raven Cycle). Jude and Cardan's growth as individuals, their relationship that slowly builds alongside that, the modern vs older style language depending on who is speaking or where characters are, all the double-meanings and Jude as an unreliable narrator having readers trusted to read between the lines so often. It's a wonderful series <3
. . . loyalty where?
Finished the Thai version last week. It hijacked my brain. Has become my favourite with so much ease.
I don't get second-lead syndrome no matter how much I personally love the second-lead character because who the characters end up with generally makes sense for the characters.
Who Are You 2015 did not make sense!!
Everything else? WAY too dramatic for me to handle xD I swear one crazy emo scene would happen and I'd be like "watch, the next one will top it" and then it WOULD hahah.
Gonna have to pass on it sadly.
But Eun Woo surprised me here. I started watching this mostly because of his pretty face if I'm being honest. The last thing I expected was that I'd ever HATE his character at some point. But for a portion of the story . . . that's what actually happened. All thanks to his acting. Threw me off in a way I didn't want it to . . . but in a good way.
Just a matter of what you're into really.
I don't actually normally like these kind of stories. I loved it and might even rewatch it in the future. But I wouldn't go out of my way to find other stories like it. Because I'm not the target audience generally speaking.
Now hurry up and give us a date so I can start counting down the days xD
At least that's one issue I had with it solved. Thank you.
(this one kept bothering me even after I finished it xD)
Edit: Wasn't a plothole.
The time-traveling hurt the series SO much.
(plenty plot-holes, awful handling of themes)
Natural chemistry.
I don’t get why MDL went nuts over this when it was airing.
I’m 8 episodes in. It’s sweet. But it’s not doing anything for me either. The two main characters have no chemistry. The compelling narrative around a life-changing accident and a suicide is quickly replaced with one about avoiding a random, 2D villain. Said narrative has several shallow messages involved. I like the girl but for being in her 30s her stupidity is baffling. I like the guy but the constant focus on his crushing isn’t enough. There’s no showcasing of character development. At times the pacing is jarring. The humour is childish. Why are the rest of the characters even there cause this feels like a two-person show.
I get when a cute rom-com becomes THE drama that’s hyped up. But not when it has this many flaws. Lovely Runner is fine as a casual passtime. That’s it.
- Two timelines means there's two stories I want answers to, keeping me engaged.
- Getting answers to them simultaneously re-contextualises both of them as the series progresses which is cool.