Romance! (Dramas)

[Side plot] Like, literally, that was the kind of side plot that was only gradually revealed and that absolutely broke my heart.

[Main plot] Rich boy with a heart transplant falls in love with a forest ranger!

There are honestly a lot of good things about the show apart from the romance part. The scenery and message are beautiful to a degree that it made living in a hut in Northern Thailand seems like an appealing way of life, even for a bug and heat hater like me.

[Side plot] Popular guy refuses to believe that the girl he has a crush on could turn into a zombie.

If you look at it logically, the guy was super reckless. But man, I shipped it so hard. "Bite me, not yourself" all the way.

[Main plot] Young businessman who refuses to be indebted to anyone is rescued by a girl who believes she is from Venus, so he moves to the riverside where she lives to pay her back. 

It's even wackier than it sounds and I loved it so much.

[Main plot] Awwwwwwwwwww. Enemies to lovers is already great but forced to be enemies but secretly friends to lovers? Even better. 

[Main plot] A teacher and a night club scout meet! 

This was made in the 90s, so upon rewatch there were some pretty messed up things. But the angst and the chemistry just works somehow.

[Main plot-ish?] People who you don't think will end up together end up together and I sat there like, ohhhhhhhhh!

[Main plot] Terminally ill screenwriter meets the actor she used to be in love with. Sweet but sad!

[Side plot] Woman trapped in an unhappy marriage meets a student who instantly worships her because she's badass. I love that part so muchhhhhh. They had so many good scenesssssss.

[Mostly side plot] Local boy sees a girl no one else can see and tries to stop her from killing people, or so he thinks. 

What I loved about it was that the drama technically focuses on other people and their issues, so the ML and FL at first barely had any scenes together. That added a lot to the addictive factor.

[Main plot] Duo of competent police people fake engagement to rent a nice apartment and then find themselves in the middle of a zombie outbreak. 

Romance was really just a small part and I would have loved the drama without it. But ohhhh man, they had some really good scenes.

[Multiple mains, so technically main plot but feels like side plot] Girl cheats on her boyfriend with his friend. They're arguably not great people (at first?) but ohhhhhh, the chemistry.

[Not actually canon] ... but hear me out. It was a woman running a restaurant and the cook who works for her and they were like super close and even if it would have never led to anything, I still could have watched 40 more episodes of them hatching out plans.

[Main plot] Chemistry worked for me.

[Side plot and one-sided] Daughter of the evil fire empire and second son of the good ice people who have a really odd relationship in which they're supposed to hate each other but don't? Count me in!

I literally only watched the drama for the SML and SFL. There was nothing else I cared about in the drama and if you consider how long this thing was, I held out pretty well. Do I regret it? No but I can't say I was super happy with it either.

[Main plot] A young widower has to take care of his sun. Then, one day in the beginning of the rainy season, his wife return.

Ok, that admittedly sounds like a horror movie. But this wouldn't have been remade so often if it wasn't a great story.

[Side plot] Boy living in a haunted house meets a ghost. This whole drama was a weird comedy but the dynamic was super cute.

[Side plot] because it was all about marriage but not so much from a romantic but a practical point of view. But the guy with OCD and the woman who actually suffered because she was too popular just were cute together.

[Main plot] A stubborn architect meets a doctor and they don't get along.

I loved how the ML just seemed like a total douche at first and how that also was exactly what the FL thought of him. But then they both bent just enough to make it work.

[Main plot] Businesswoman is sick of relationships with men who have complexes because of her status and decides to keep a young guy as a pet.

Sounds like porn but isn't. 

 [Side plot] mafia violence! literal torture! lots of crying! self-harm! codependency! 

This is a ship with so many red flags/triggers, if anything, enjoying this possibly means that there's something seriously wrong with me. But man. The angst. The tenderness between the heavy violence. This ship sliced open something in my heart. It's the kind of story I don't wish on anyone IRL but in fiction it works so wellllll.

[Main plot] Woman accidentally quits her job to work for the startup advertisement agency of a really arrogant guy.

Kinda misogynistic upon rewatch in 2021 but the chemistry still works.

[Main plot] Woman turns 30 without ever having been in a relationship and accidentally sleeps with the young intern in her office.

[Side plot] Photographer falls for a suicidal girl (or that's what I think it was about? All I remember is that I loved them)

[Main plot] Popular boy meets introverted girl. Sounds cliché, starts cliché and then hits you over the head with some heavy stuff. 

[Main plot] Local chef transmigrates into the body of a Joseon noblewoman and finds himself getting married to the king.

Look, the ending sucked. I thought this was the bravest Korean prime time drama ever but then they copped out, But everything else was perfect.

[Main plot] Korean idol accidentally starts working for the owner of a wrestling organization.

[Main plot] Woman accidentally brings comic character to life.

This was honestly just so sweet.

[Main plot] Woman who had to give up her dreams to raise her brothers meets a coworker with a secret.

Man. That whole drama was just sweet. 

[Side plot] This was one of those cases where I was just DYING for them to end up together but I don't think they did? Because the plot was focused on other, more important things? Idek.

[Main plot] Tbh, I thought that the ML was an idiot. But the romance still worked and I just really wanted things to work out for them.

[Main plot] Hockey player and office worker date but not really until and then they both get confused.

Idk, Pride is just a staple for romance. Kimutaku is good in this type of role and Takeuchi Yuko is always great.

[Side plot] Girl pretending to be an internet celebrity ends up with the person I thought she wouldn't end up with but then the drama proved me wrong and I loved that ending so much.

[Main plot] Spunky reporter meets a cook who is very rude and related to a murder case. Started simple and then ripped my heart out of my chest. 

[Side plot] It didn't actually lead to anything but there were some scenes that just got me way too excited.

[Main plot] Rich girls falls for poor guy. 

[Main plot] It's kinda weird to admit that this worked for me because so many people hate the drama.

[Side plot] A young king and his trusted (alcoholic) sidekick going to war! 

[Side plot] Older woman lives with her younger boyfriend, who is an aspiring musician but also lazy af. I just loved those two and they had some really touching scenes near the end.

[Main plot] Screenwriter accidentally falls into her own script and is now getting married to a guy who she knows plans to kill her.

I would have watched the drama for the hilarity and social commentary alone but the FL and ML were so good together, ahhhhh.

[Side plot and not canon in the drama I guess? But I read the novel and there they end up together in the end, so there you go] In order to save the school, local school nurse had to leach energy off a grumpy teacher. 

[Main plot but censored] Is there anyone who hasn't seen this? I have to make a confession though. It's maybe because I went in with zero prior knowledge but except for the two mains and their interaction, there wasn't much else I cared about in the drama.

[Main plot] Woman kills her fiancée and puts him in a freezer. The next morning, he walks into the kitchen as if nothing happened.

This isn't romance and the whole plot was messed up. But somehow, it worked in the end.

[Main plot] Tbh, I didn't actually like the FL so much but I was very on board with the ML being happy and the chemistry was right.

[Side plot] Successful woman falls in love with a taekwondo instructor who happens to be the best friend of her sister whom she abandoned when they were little.

Arguably not a great drama unless you love old-school melodrama. But man, I loved the FL and I just wanted her and the guy to be happy.

[Main plot but censored] It's still amazing that the makers got away with this. This is at times more romantic than official romance.

[Main plot] Popular guy is tasked to turn weirdly introverted goth into a beauty.

Honestly, this was probably 80% me just loving the FL.