by Ashu, June 26, 2022
91

Hello lovely people of MDL! So I saw this YouTube video once - and I thought why don't I make a drama version of this ? So here I am! Full credit for inspiration and the format go to the person that made the video! Let's begin the recommendations now, and let's hope y'all find something interesting! Let's begin without any further ado!


Drama that's bizarre but weirdly good

Frankenstein no Koi

 
It's a sci-fi story which is a bit obscure because the main character is kind of a mushroom tree lol. Many didn't even watch completely because it was too weird or "gross" for them. Most people consider it an average one, but to me, it was an absolute fun watch when I watched it years ago. The story even starts bizarrely, I mean he makes mushrooms ? It's a super fun and heart-warming drama. It weirdly made me cry because how humane the drama was. It's kind of a retelling of the original Frankenstein story, and it's so beautiful 'cause it is kind of the journey of Frankenstein (our protagonist) learning to be humane, and be in love, and being accepted by the society as a human.


Intimate, beautiful story that'll move you and make you feel deeply

Navillera

It's a beautiful wholesome story about a 70-year-old man wanting to suddenly learn ballet from a 23-year-old ballerina. It's intimate because it sort of addresses different types of problems people go through in different faces of life. It's beautiful because it's a story about an old man trying to do what he always wanted to, discovering his passion despite his age, working hard for it. It's such a touching story, in my opinion.

 

Something to watch on a flight

Enjiya

I don't want to say much about its story since it potentially spoils it, but it's basically a found family story where all the members kind of scam people in order to help people, but also gain money since they are human too and need it. I mean, it has to be something short and fun and this seems like the best choice for me but that's because I like dark humour. 
I know many aren't fans of that, so the second option would be To. Jenny, it's a short and sweet drama special with great songs and as little skinship as possible cause you know you'd be watching it in public lol.


Heart-tearing and moving classic

1 litre no Namida

The name explains the drama in itself. It's a story about a 15 year old girl getting an incurable cruel disease, and since it's based on a true story it just makes you cry...a lot more than 1 litre of tears. Her journey is just sad to even watch. It's the story of her coming to terms with her illness, and still finding the courage to live with her head held high, and making her dream of helping other people still come true despite her illness. It's the story of people who support her through that journey, and how they themselves change as persons by supporting her. So yeah, it's a classic tear-jerker.


Lighthearted with romance and strong female friendships

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

It has such a cute and healthy couple, and the whole "swag" gang was so fun and memorable! The reason why they are so cute, i think, also comes from the fact that the female lead is very tomboyish due to her profession and all, and she's definitely physically stronger, but has a very feminine cute side too. Same with the male lead, he may seem like a loser at first, but he too has a masculine side lol. And it's a classic friends-to-lovers story so it's fun to see them both as couple and best friends. They are just super cute and healthy.


Feel-good, lighthearted, makes you smile

Higuma

It's set in a world where bears live like humans, and it follows the story through the eyes of one cute and clumsy kuma (bear) about his daily life and the problems he faces. It's such a sweet drama, I was smiling throughout it. It's super cute. I can't describe in words how cute it is! It's a "healing" drama, so the drama's whole purpose, and it does it very well. 


Multiple characters focus - coming of age - a slice of life and a hint of fantasy

Hikaru no Go

Based on a manga. I've not read the original work but I've heard it's a very faithful adaption, some say it's even better than the original work so that's a compliment. It's basically a story about a boy who encounters a ghost like being who wants him to learn and play go with him. It's basically a story about go which may seem boring at first, but man does the awesome execution of the drama makes it interesting. This drama is perfect for you, it has all the elements you ask for. Although its main character gets most of the screen-time, the show spends a lot of time exploring each character's story and all that, even supporting characters that had very much less to do with the original story. It's a very character-driven drama but its story is not boring at all. Their friendships are precious too. Everything just fits your description haha!


Makes you feel alive again

Project S: Skate Our Souls

Because it's a story about a protagonist who wants to die, the story and the other characters make you want to live again and again in this beautiful world. It's just a story about a clinically depressed teenager meeting and befriending people he never would've if it wasn't for his depression, and it's just the whole journey of him overcoming. It's super beautiful and sad and tragic but so worth it in the end.


"I want to walk by a body of water, enjoying the day peacefully and somehow that peace is broken"

Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko

The protagonist finds out that the world he's living in is a BL world and everyone is gay, so his dreams of getting a girlfriend shatter when he finds out that not only a girl is not at all available in this world, but he has to save himself from other gay men and has to continue to be a "mob" in this world. It's not exactly the same scenario but the protagonist just wants a simple peaceful life but keeps getting irritated and intervened because of everyone being gay around him lol. It was a fun watch.


Makes you happy and feels like summer

Wednesday 3:30 PM

It's a cliche story of a girl wanting to win her ex back through fake dating her best friend, it literally has all the tropes combined but it's a simple, short, cute drama that feels like summer.


Immersive

 Bad Genius (2020)

Like the name suggests, it's a story about a genius who provide cheating services on a large scale to earn money. I always loved the movie so when I heard the announcement of a drama adaptation, I knew that I was never gonna watch it cause they'd definitely ruin the story by stretching it to 10-15 episodes, but my god was I wrong. When I did start watching it because of my friend's recommandation, I was in love. I was so immersed into the world, I never felt bored and I liked it better than the movie lol. It's a really enjoyable thriller.


Hokuto

It shows the story through the eyes of a murderer so that's different. I think this is another drama you should go blind on since it's only 5 episodes long, so it's hard to say anything about it without spoiling it, but do brace yourself to see some raw cruel reality.


Living in nature and connecting with the earth

Bokura wa Kiseki de Dekite Iru

It's a story about a university lecturer who teaches ethology, which means animal behaviour, and he's so enthusiastic about his job that he makes even the students not interested in the subject interested in them. He's very quirky and lives life to the fullest, he kind of reminds me of Aamir Khan's character from 3 idiots. Anyways, the drama is not only about his quirkiness, it's so much more and it's hard to describe it in words. I think it's a must watch for all human beings, even though it might not be a lot of people's cup of tea in terms of entertainment since it's pretty slow, but man the stuff it talks about is very humane. This is such a soothing drama, so motivational and inspiring. It has a good amount of nature too.

 

                                                                        A drama for 16 & 17 years old

Hormones : The series

17.3 About a Sex

It's made for people of that age and all the three seasons cover different kinds of people of that age. I rarely ever relate to characters in dramas, let alone a teen drama, but in season 3 of Hormones, I even found 2 characters I could relate to. Plus it consists of a variety of issues people this age could face, from as small as sport event organisation to domestic violence, while also making it entertaining.
I feel that every teenager should watch this drama because it's very educational about the topic of sex, without being too explicit that it's uncomfortable, while also being entertaining. Their target audience is teenagers, and to educate them about the variety of topics that comes within sex with their as ignorant characters, they want the audience to slowly learn more with the characters and it does a pretty good job. I think it's so essential to be watched by teenagers because many of us don't get sex education, and even if we do, it's not that good and doesn't tell us about the important stuff this drama tells most of the time.


Atmospheric Neo-Noir

Extracurricular

It's a story about high-school students doing crimes and trying to hide them and get away with them all. It's a good one watch enjoyable show with neo-noir kind of atmosphere since it's a thriller from Netflix, so yeah. 


Found family trope

anone

When i first started watching this drama, I wasn't sure what direction it wanted to go to for like first 2-3 episodes, but it had interesting characters so i sticked around, and then i realised that all these interesting characters with different traits and different backgrounds are gonna live like a family, I was in love. It's definitely one of my most favourite found family. It doesn't have a describale story in it. Just watch it and see how weirdly calm, thought-provoking and wholesome it is. 


Melancholy and beautiful

Soredemo, Ikite Yuku

It's a story about the sorrow of two families over an incident. One of the preparator's and one of the victim's and it's like the whole journey of their relationships and feelings. It's just so beautiful yet so sad. It's still one of my most favourite drama till date. The dialogues are famous, beautifully written, filled with melancholy. The acting by everyone is absolutely beautiful and almost every scene is a sad one. It's just a really really good drama.  

 

Money game

Liar Game

A super honest girl gets technically and subtly forced to play a money game and it's yeah basically a very fun money game. Way better than Squid Game. It's an oldie but goldie. It might look stupid to some, but it's definitely a fun watch especially if you are new to money games and all that. Definitely that kind of drama that you should binge watch on a weekend for just pure entertainment.

 

A drama saying that the world is hell with no hope

Byakuyako


See, I can give an overview of the story of this drama, I can, but I can't cause nothing can describe the bloody mess that this drama is. It's just such a messy story and so many things happen in it. I think it'd better if you just straight up watch it going blind and getting shocked at everything that's happening. I knew this gonna be dark but when I watched it, my god I really didn't expected it to be *this dark*, rather I just didn't expected that any drama could be this dark. The main characters are… criminals basically and nothing's going their way…nothing's going anyone's way. Everyone is sad and world is hopeless really. 

 

An abusive/toxic romantic relationship but no glorification

Last Friends

This is one of very first jdrama but I still very much loved it, how they showed domestic violence in the drama. Usually when domestic violence is shown in my country's movies, it's always about when the couple are in a marriage 99% of the time which is not a bad thing per say, but I really liked how in this drama we got to see domestic violence in a relationship where they are not married yet. They also tried to show the abuser's side of the story and tried to understand why he does what he does, and again not gloryfying but understanding. The drama talks about some other taboo as well so yeah. 

 

A realistic romance drama with mature leads and as less cliche as possible

It's Okay, That's Love

It's a story about a psychiatrist and a writer becoming kind of enemies, then housemates and then lovers, and it may sound and look cliche at first, but please give it time cause there's lying an incredible story behind it. It's really hard to find stories where they show realistic people with flaws falling in love. The main couple of this drama are both successful in their fields, mature, they DO communicate their feelings and they both have flaws and accept each other's flaws. Their different personalities complement each other. They are both witty and so their interactions are fun to watch. Till this day I consider this drama the best romance I've seen. The kisses are good too unlike the ones in other kdramas.

 

A drama about infedility but again no glorification

Hirugao

Infedilty is a controversial topic. Whether it's talking about it or portraying it in media, people just tend to ignore it cause they don't want to cause drama and wars. Cheating is considered to be close to a sin and yet more than half of the human population has done it once. Why ? We have a very little good portrayal of infedilty in media where it's not glorified but understood, where they explore this "why?" This drama is the perfect portrayal of infedilty I've ever seen in my screen yet. It doesn't glorify the acts the characters do. The protagonist of the drama herself in the beginning considers cheating to be the biggest sin in life and that she'd never do something like that, but she still ends up doing it. That's the story. It deeply goes into the psyche of different people who cheat for different yet similar reasons. Plus it's not a just philosophical or social experiment kinda drama that's boring, it's hella entertainment with witty dialogues and great acting, and the background music is fire! 

 

If you just want to laugh uncontrollably

Eulachacha Waikiki

I don't think i need to give an overview of the story since the drama is soooooooo popular. Honestly it's just a drama that made me laugh uncontrollably, so yeah that's why I'm reccomending this. I won't say it's impossible to make me laugh but it is kinda hard to make me laugh this hard that the drama did. My mom genuinely thought I had gone crazy cause I was laughing so loudly while watching this so, I made her watch and then she started laughing hard too. Till this date, it's one of her favourite dramas.


That's all the recommendations for today! Part 2 is already in the making so please look forward to it! I hope you guys were able to find something you are interested in! You can comment more specific requests for part 2 if you want! I'm thinking of making similar things for movies too so yeah. 
The credit for all the images and gifs is in pictures itself, just click the gif and it'll take you to its owner. The posters are from MDL. 
Thanks for reading! Have a nice day !



Edited by: SumiTheCat (1st editor)