Recommendations

Similarly under-rated and under discovered but an excellent addition to the Chinese BL league of greats. Great in that they’re speaking to the historical period they’re embedded in but also making reference to the big questions about human societies and intimate relations we face in life today.

Committed more to substance than style, an ensemble cast where the significantly meaningful character arcs are more than 10 deep and there’s no way you’re missing the final episode as it maintains viewer emotional investment throughout.

I might actually now add Nirvana and Fire to this list of similarly rewarding but under-watched complex and brilliantly narrated Chinese dramas among BL enjoyers

Very sophisticated emphasis on fathering, mental health and trauma among the male characters and demonstrates how care - both collective and individual is the path to healing

both drama is set in the qing dynasty and both the female leads time travel back to the qing dynasty. both are light hearted

Both center on students facing injustice and internal growth, but take very different paths. Weak Hero Class 1 is darker, more grounded, and emotionally intense, while Study Group keeps things lighthearted, flashy, and fun — proving that not every fight for self-worth has to be grim to be meaningful.

Both explore justice and moral conscience through different lenses. While Vigilante dives into the psychology of vengeance and lawlessness, Officer Black Belt focuses on growth, redemption, and the realization that justice isn’t just about strength — it’s about responsibility and becoming the kind of person who can uphold it.

Lots of scheming.
FL's get a second chance.
Smart and cunning leads.

Both *The Double* and *Story of Kunning Palace* explore themes of regret, revenge, and rebirth through strong female leads who get a second chance to rewrite their fate. In both dramas, the protagonist dies after betrayal and wakes up in the past, determined to correct past mistakes and punish those who wronged her. Each woman hides her true emotions behind intelligence and manipulation while navigating court politics and love entanglements. The stories combine palace intrigue, emotional depth, and moral ambiguity, showing how power and survival often come at a personal cost — even when given a chance to start over.

Male leads disappear from female leads' life after briefly dating in high school.
Later, female leads have begun dating an old friend, when male leads suddenly reappear in their lives.
They soon learn the secret reasons behind their disappearances- WS ML has memory loss, S ML has hearing loss.

Both titles explore the professional world of architecture through the lens of Thai sapphic women while navigating their career dreams, struggles, and relationship journeys

Romance plot set in dessert/bakery shoppes.
Leads start with a bickering dynamic.
Male lead falls for female lead first.
Additional love interests in the form of supporting characters.

Shared universe with same actors in both. A new story with one of the couples from I Promise I Will Come Back

Dream a Little Dream is about a boy learning Khon dance - it's a gentle introduction, as he learns so do we, wrapped in a lovely family drama.

Master of Khon Thai is a documentary about the tradition and practitioners of the highest and most esoteric form of Khon. If you're not familiar, Dream a Little Dream is better to begin with. Both are worth watching IMO.

Following the similar storyline of the two leads being related by adoption, both leading female characters are kicked out for false accusations and then taken in by an older man. Their relationship slowly develops later & the domineering personalities of the MLs are very similar.

Both drama are about the swap of a marriage after reborn.
One is about 2 sister that swap their marriage, after both where not happy with their previous life.
The other is about a woman that is willing to marry the "deceased" Third Master, after her finacé was caught with another woman.
In both dramas the new married main Lead couple have to work together to find their best ending.

They are both thrillers featuring male twins as the main characters.
In both shows, there is a "good" twin and a "bad" twin who fight each other.

General trope of FL abandoning the scumbag ex for the ML but set up is very different.

Similarities:
- Zhong Zheng plays a "green tea" male lead (i.e., playing victim to annoy the ex and get the FL's attention)
- ML hides his true identity as a rich heir and pretends to be a poor student
- ML is head-over-heels for FL from the start and has held a long-standing crush on them
- FL is pretty strong and capable; isn't one to accept mistreatment
- FL is from a wealthy background and offers to "sponsor" ML (before finding out ML is even wealthier)
- "Regretful" 2ML

Differences: Re Wen Yu Xin vs Fated to Love You
- College Romance vs Age-Gap Romance (Office Worker vs College Student)
- Both leads have loving family members and sole heirs vs FL deals with internal family conflict/corporate power struggle