Recommendations

Political revenge dramas where the male lead returns after many years away to avenge a wrongdoing that left them the sole survivor of their family. The leads are smart and pragmatic, and both these dramas are stunning in their scope of acting and cinematography.

- running a restaurant/café together

- moonlight chicken also has fkt in it as side characters and their characters are very important to the plot but they're not a couple here (they do hint smth starts between them in the last ep)

- gaipa (khao's character in mc) has almost the same plot as lynx (khao's character in cfc)

-the ML in mc also have a pet cat

-great acting and chemistry in both

**differences are moonlight chicken is on the more heavier side with absolutely no hint of comedy while cfc is pretty light fluffy and a romantic comedy

I don't know how this was missed cz here we have similar dynamics between the leads prapai and sky. Its just that the trauma is different.

Here fort is a green flag and pete is someone who is afraid to love so it's pretty similar except in love in the air the trauma is sexual abuse but here its family abuse which leads to fear of love

Both dramas are set between 60s to 90s or early 2000s, both have a very similar vibe and if you loved either of these you'll definitely love the other

I watched this show 8x and will continue re-watching it. It's a complete show, it has family dramas, revenge, politics, comedy, romance & action. The cast are doing their job so well that you feel their chemistry is solid. Their acting is superb especially Zhao Lusi. The director did an amazing job of making sure all the cast portrays their rule to their best ability because it truly an amazing show! The story line is a bit far from the novel but due to the actors & actresses acting, it's okay or more than okay! This is the show that I started to become Zhao Lusi's fan, she is an excellent actress.

After rising star magistrate Lu Jiang Lai is brought down by a past wife-murder case, he’s left injured, amnesiac, and on the run, only to be rescued by Rong Shan Bao, the Tea King's cunning daughter. Once rivals, she hides his identity and demotes him to a stable boy to exact revenge. As Lu Jiang Lai plays along to survive, he becomes entangled in the Rong family’s high-stakes search for a son-in-law. Amid power plays and hidden agendas, he and Shan Bao engage in a battle of wits that slowly turns into something deeper.

After rising star magistrate Lu Jiang Lai is brought down by a past wife-murder case, he’s left injured, amnesiac, and on the run, only to be rescued by Rong Shan Bao, the Tea King's cunning daughter. Once rivals, she hides his identity and demotes him to a stable boy to exact revenge. As Lu Jiang Lai plays along to survive, he becomes entangled in the Rong family’s high-stakes search for a son-in-law. Amid power plays and hidden agendas, he and Shan Bao engage in a battle of wits that slowly turns into something deeper.

After rising star magistrate Lu Jiang Lai is brought down by a past wife-murder case, he’s left injured, amnesiac, and on the run, only to be rescued by Rong Shan Bao, the Tea King's cunning daughter. Once rivals, she hides his identity and demotes him to a stable boy to exact revenge. As Lu Jiang Lai plays along to survive, he becomes entangled in the Rong family’s high-stakes search for a son-in-law. Amid power plays and hidden agendas, he and Shan Bao engage in a battle of wits that slowly turns into something deeper.

After rising star magistrate Lu Jiang Lai is brought down by a past wife-murder case, he’s left injured, amnesiac, and on the run, only to be rescued by Rong Shan Bao, the Tea King's cunning daughter. Once rivals, she hides his identity and demotes him to a stable boy to exact revenge. As Lu Jiang Lai plays along to survive, he becomes entangled in the Rong family’s high-stakes search for a son-in-law. Amid power plays and hidden agendas, he and Shan Bao engage in a battle of wits that slowly turns into something deeper.

After rising star magistrate Lu Jiang Lai is brought down by a past wife-murder case, he’s left injured, amnesiac, and on the run, only to be rescued by Rong Shan Bao, the Tea King's cunning daughter. Once rivals, she hides his identity and demotes him to a stable boy to exact revenge. As Lu Jiang Lai plays along to survive, he becomes entangled in the Rong family’s high-stakes search for a son-in-law. Amid power plays and hidden agendas, he and Shan Bao engage in a battle of wits that slowly turns into something deeper.

It is about childhood friends, somehow want to reconnect in both series
And one of the main lead, was terminally ill in both series
Generally, same vibe

East Palace is similar to Takryu (The Murky Stream) in that both are set in a harsh Joseon-era world shaped by danger, corruption, and hidden power, focus on characters forced into perilous roles beyond ordinary life, and build tension through mystery, moral struggle, and survival, with the series emphasizing atmosphere, character-driven development, and the cost of confronting overwhelming forces rather than light romance or idealized heroism.

Both films are heartfelt romantic dramas that explore deep emotional connection and personal growth through love and communication, focusing on how the protagonists navigate relationships that challenge them to open up, understand each other beyond surface level, and grow into themselves rather than just a simple love story. Hear Me: Our Summer follows Yong-jun, a young man who finds new direction and emotional depth as he courts Yeo-reum using Korean Sign Language and learns to care deeply for her and her sister, creating a tender, intimate, and character-driven romance that’s grounded in personal discovery and heartfelt interaction — much like Secret: Untold Melody, which uses its fantastical/mystical twist to deepen emotional stakes and the bond between the leads rather than relying on typical romantic tropes.

Both films blend romantic emotion with a strong element of fantasy and mystery that shapes the characters’ journeys rather than relying on ordinary relationships alone — Secret: Untold Melody (a romantic fantasy about love caught in a time-bending paradox between a piano prodigy and a mysterious woman) focuses on love intertwined with supernatural/temporal mystery, while Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned follows a boy who disappears into frozen time and returns as an adult, creating a mysterious bond with the girl who believed in him and forcing her to confront truth, belief, and emotional connection amid an unbelievable situation.

Both dramas feature central characters who are thrust into dangerous, high-stakes battles against powerful systems and corruption rather than living peaceful lives — in Payback: Money and Power, a group of people including a savvy money trader and a prosecutor fight a corrupt money cartel colluding with the law and risk everything to bring justice in a world of greed and powerful enemies, blending crime, action, and suspense with personal motivation and calculated retaliation, while in All In the lead rises through the gambling underworld and confronts betrayal, revenge, and the harsh realities of his world with grit and resolve.