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Girl falls first

looktothestars

I'm looking for the dramas where the girl falls first and the male lead doesn't until much later, or he maybe even rejected her at one point. 

Friends first is always my preference but it's not a requirement. I don't really like obnoxious female leads that pester the male lead or overly insecure ones. No Itazura na Kiss, A Love So Beautiful-esque dramas please. I really liked Unrequited Love, Fifteen Years to Wait for Migratory Birds, A Poem a Day, and Fight for My Way.

 I don't tend to like Japanese dramas or movies where it's female falls first, because the girls just tend to be so pathetic. A girl can pine for a guy and be rejected without it ruining her life, but Japanese dramas don't tend to agree with that sentiment. Korean/Chinese/Taiwanese are all good though! 

It can be a serious or lighthearted drama but I just want there to be romantic sentiment felt throughout. Long dramas are also completely fine with me. Friends to lovers and one sided loves are some of my favorite tropes, please help me find some more good options!

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dearD4NI

I don't tend to watch this trope (most of the times I do are in jdramas lol) but here are a few that I have seen:

  • Doctors (not exactly the dynamic you're looking for, they're ex student-teacher and she develops a crush on him in high school and they start dating as adults like ten years later or something i don't remember that much)
  • Melting Me Softly (disregarding the weird sci-fi logic, the romance developed as you described or at least from what i remember)
  • Rich Man, Poor Woman (the girl in this keeps her pining to herself most of the drama, and she's very intelligent with her work. the romance in this is friends/coworkers to lovers. the business is a lot of the focus of the plot)
  • While You Were Sleeping (to be honest, i don't actually remember how the romance progressed, but it's tagged with 'female-chases-male-first' so..)

Bonus:

  • Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo (i know you said no itakiss like stories, which is basically what this is, but in my opinion it's the upgraded version. i just finished it, and the writer for the drama made changes from the manga to make the female lead actually, like, have a passion for her work outside the male lead and it passes the bechdel test and shit. she is still  a kotoko-like character tho which is why i'm not recommending it above. i saw it on your to-watch list, so if you ever get in the mood for some tropey cheese keep in the back of your mind that this one isn't totally awful lol)

Female Chases Male First dramas: X

Sorry I couldn't be of more help~

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Virgolady

Touch your heart (Kdrama)

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looktothestars
 dearD4NI:
Sorry I couldn't be of more help~

You were a ton of help! I haven't seen any of those so I'm excited to try them out. And I'm down to try that Japanese drama as well. I remember seeing stuff about it before and it looked really cute. Thanks for the recommendations!

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Czakhareina

Also:

  • Lovers in Prague 
  • Another Miss Oh
  • Go Go Squid (C drama) 
  • Sweet 18 (Kdrama) 
  • Chicago Typewriter (Fantasy Kdrama) 
  • Ballad of Seodong (Long historical Kdrama) 
  • Ashi Girl (Fantasy Time Travel Jdrama) 
  • Find Me in Your Memory (Ongoing. Loving this drama so much) 
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Art T

Do you mean something like Nodame Cantabile?

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looktothestars
 Czakhareina:

Also:

  • Lovers in Prague 
  • Another Miss Oh
  • Go Go Squid (C drama) 
  • Sweet 18 (Kdrama) 
  • Chicago Typewriter (Fantasy Kdrama) 
  • Ballad of Seodong (Long historical Kdrama) 
  • Ashi Girl (Fantasy Time Travel Jdrama) 
  • Find Me in Your Memory (Ongoing. Loving this drama so much) 

Thank you!!

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looktothestars
 Art T:

Do you mean something like Nodame Cantabile?

Maybe, I haven't seen much about it but I'll give it a try. :)

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AH
  • W Two Worlds
  • Attention, Love!
  • Queen In Hyun's Man
  • Hello Monster
  • Jealousy Incarnate
  • The Master's Sun
  • Gu Family Book
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Beatrix

-Princess Hours

-Sweet 18

-A little thing called love (chinese)

-Crash Landing on you

-Doctors

-Fated to Love You

-Go go go squid (chinese)

-Itaewon Class 

-Oh my Ghostess

-Playful kiss

-Star of the universe

-Triad Princess 

-Wedding (2005)

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fanitha
  • Fated to love you
  • Suspicious partner
  • Full House
  • Oh my ghostess
  • Goong
  • Legend of the blue sea
  • Que sera sera

Japanese

  • Koi wa tsuzuku yo doko made mo
  • Buzzer beat
  • Tatta hitotsu no koi
  • Good morning call
  • You are my destiny
  • Motokare mania
  • Survival wedding
  • Kahogo no kahoko
  • Nodame cantabile
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Jei Yu

If you're okay with web drama, the 4th season of "Love Playlist" has this plot, although just the side story (main story is about ex lovers who met again). So here's how it goes: Haneul (the male lead) is in love with his best friend Pureum. He confessed and got rejected. Jimin (played by Kim Saeron) keeps joining group dates because she's been searching for the guy who helped her during her interview. It so happened that that guy is Haneul. After seeing him again, she realized that she has a crush on him. Soon, Jimin was befriended by Pureum and so they became a group of three. So, Jimin likes Haneul who likes Pureum.

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Little Cherry

My Princess

Prime Minister and I 

Another Oh Young

My name is Kim Sam Soon

Wedding

Warm and Cozy 

Playlist season 4 Second Couple

She was Pretty 

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ree
 looktothestars:

You were a ton of help! I haven't seen any of those so I'm excited to try them out. And I'm down to try that Japanese drama as well. I remember seeing stuff about it before and it looked really cute. Thanks for the recommendations!

that jap drama. i read the manga. it cringed me out so you may not try

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looktothestars
 Rio Shuri:

that jap drama. i read the manga. it cringed me out so you may not try

Oh yikes, if it's too much like the manga then I'll definitely drop it. I really hate cringey kotoko-esque characters. But if they made enough changes then it could be a cute premise. Thanks for the heads up. :)

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