Stuff for Kriss to Watch

bl - fantasy, mind reading, super powers

this one is on your watchlist already but it's very cute and has a thai remake that's a little longer and has more details, but it was really adorable

joseon, political corruption, romance, amnesia

this has d.o. in it and he's, imo, a really good actor. this is a cute romance but has some pretty dark political shit going on too

fantasy, magic powers, soul-swapping

this and the second part were really good, but can be confusing in parts but it all makes sense in the end

bromance, familial abuse, rich student vs poor student

this has park ji hoon from wanna one in it and he's such a good actor, but this deals some with social classes and the search for happiness and love/friendship and acceptance

superpowers, time travel, mind reading, bullying, manipulation, parasite-esque, death

basically it's about a family with superpowers and the time travel made my brain hurt a little trying to keep things straight, but it was honestly such a good, healing drama. it's deals with dysfunction within families, found families, deception and obsession with our past mistakes. 10/10

bl - actors, cohabitation

two actors cast in a bl tasked to live together to improve their working relationship...

bl - university students, beauty standards, misunderstanding, film students

i love this drama and it still comes to mind every once in a while. basically a former ugly duckling trying to keep his past self hidden from his peers pisses off the wrong person who exposes him and the out of reach cool guy he wants to be like secretly likes him

bl - friends to lovers, foodies, food trauma

one of my favorite dramas in the entire world, it's so cozy and healing, i think about it all the time.

familial abuse, fallen idol, secret identities, deserted island survivor

this one has N in it (he's so good too) and is essentially about a girl who tries to escape her abusive father to go to seoul to meet her idol after winning a radio contest but she's shipwrecked when the ferry capsizes and then is found like 12 years later and ends up getting to meet with her idol afterall who's fallen from grace and they forge a connection. it has lots of plot points and i really liked it.

bl - animals as humans, reincarnation, pet death

this is probably one of the weirdest dramas i've ever seen but i'm lowkey obsessed with it. basically the very lonely ml's dead dog and cat come back across the rainbow bridge as humans. like it makes me feel a little weird how much i like it when i really think about it lmao but idc

bl - fantasy

this has an interesting concept - takes place in a world where some people only see the world in grayscale and have a probe (like a soulmate kinda) that gives them the ability to see in color 

bl - surfing, college students, trauma

i liked this a lot, it's a very healing kind of drama, deals with past trauma and growth

fantasy, main character becomes aware of being a character in a book

this has rowoon in it (he's a good actor ok) and i really like the concept, where the characters become aware that they are characters in a book/manhwa and are at the mercy of the author

bl - over the top acting, unlucky ml, lucky ml, university students

this was very cute, but as one of the first japanese dramas i've ever seen i was a little floored at the exaggerated way they act, but it's still adorable

bl - writers, editors, publishing business, gaslighting, manipulation

this will probably make you see leo in a new light lmao. it's not the best drama i've ever seen, but it's interesting. it also has karam who had some kind of scandal (talking to/interacting with japanese adult stars as an adult himself is apparently cancel-worthy) but he's in a new group now i think....

fantasy, immortality, death

this has IU in it and she's such a babe/badass. very strong female lead. basically the hotel is a stop that the dead make before moving onto the afterlife.

fantasy, monsters, warrior priests

this is some like ancient dark magic shit that i had to watch with patty cos i didn't think i could watch it alone but it has cha eun woo as a cute catholic priest with a magic sword he uses to kill monsters and i ended up liking it a lot

bl - amnesia, manipulation

i'm a little iffy on if i can morally like this or not, but i thought it was well done

bl - music, high school students, internalized homophobia, death, bullying

i haven't finished this one yet, but it's been good so far. reviews are mixed because some feel that some of the bullying/homophobia is romanticized but thus far i haven't felt like it was romanticized - acknowledged yes, but not romanticised, but it's possible it's concentrated to the last 2 eps??? edit: i finished this and the last 2 eps are so rushed that i feel like i missed something. i feel like there should have been maybe an additional episode that addressed how taeyi resolved his issue but i don't want to spoil anything so i'll just say i ended up liking this but it's by no means a perfect drama

bl - cohabitation, childhood friends, friends to lovers

two childhood friends who are separated in middle school end up sharing a flat when their mothers discover they're going to the same university. it's so cute, but boys are so dumb, so there are a couple of frustrating miscommunication moments.

bl - high school, misunderstanding, also some ott acting

this is the one with ren from snow man in it, no kiss (i think i can't remember for sure) but very cute

bl - high school students, slice of life

i think this one felt pretty true to life to me,  a jaded by love kid moves to a new town and meets someone his age who he befriends and then ends up falling for, but who isn't on the same page

cross-dressing female, joseon, political corruption

i cried a lot watching this, but it's so good and rowoon is in it

bl - mafia, crime family, innocent bystander, age gap, head trauma, memory loss

this poor kid just trying to go to school to be a doctor so he can support his sister and father ends up being taken hostage by a wounded criminal in his own apartment and ofc they fall in love

bl - slice of life, friends to lovers

this has felt like one of the more true to life stories i've seen when it comes to bls and it's kind of heartbreaking and gutwrenching in parts but so well done it's one of my faves

this is a very, VERY dark, very loose retelling of louisa may alcott's little women. it's murdery, gaslighty, and i had to pause it several times while watching to get my bearings, but in the end i really loved it - not enough romance tho, tbh

bl - university students, slice of life, multiple couples

you don't have to have seen the first season for this one to make sense and i like this one better, there's some dark elements to it, but i really loved it

bl - idek, fantasy, simulation, immersive game, death???

i am still confused about this so i probably need to watch it again, and it has some dark elements, but is still a very good drama

time travel, death, serial killer, secret crush, disability, angst, high on the noble idiot trope scale

this drama has the best OST i've ever heard (idk goblin comes close ig). every drama trope you can think of is explored in this drama. it's a cute love story with a side of serial killer. i swear to god i'm always duped by these dumb romances. i think i'm just going to get a love story but it ends up having some dark, mudery aspect to it. the time travel doesn't fuck with your head too much in this one, it's pretty straight forward.

bl - struggling restaurant owner and his employees, slice of life, past trauma, disability

this is the first thai bl i watched and i think it was a good one to start with. an older man (30s lmao) owns a corner chicken rice shop that is struggling after covid and he's trying to keep from going out of business while developers buy up all the buildings around him, plus he's taking care of his sister's kid and he doesn't have time or feel deserving of love after a past trauma, but a drunk customer might change his mind

religion adjacent, demons, god-esque character, murder, manipulation, past lives

i haven't finished this so i might have a different opinion later, but so far so good. i keep thinking these romances are just going to be romances, but no. there's a more sinister, murdery plot behind the scenes. i love all the characters, it's got funny moments, the ml is adorable and so full of himself, the fl is a badass and takes no shit. also you like the theme song already.

bl - tw: dentistry lol, bar/restaurant owner, multiple couples, dental phobia

a guy with a dental phobia falls for his dentist lol - it's very cute, though

vigilante, political corruption, hidden identity

a set of twins have a connection that lets them feel each other's pain when they're within a certain proximity, when his brother ends up in a coma, the other one takes over his life to try to find out what happened to him and get revenge

bl - older characters, foodies

two lonely dudes who aren't dating anyone take each other on dates so they can have the couple experience without the commitment  - this is one where i feel the synopsis has almost nothing to do with what the drama is actually about

bl - time travel, death, age gap (kinda)

this one will gut you, set you on fire, run you over and throw you off a cliff, but it's so good

omnibus, jeju island, found family, teenage pregnancy, depression, death

this is one giant trigger warning, i cried a lot watching this one, but it's SO GOOD

bl - game designers, childhood connection, misunderstanding

this is so cute 10/10

bromance, prison life, manipulation, prison politics, drug use, criminal acts

this is genuinely one of the funniest dramas i've ever seen in my life and the acting is top notch. so so so so good. famous baseball player goes to jail for a year for beating the shit out of a guy who was trying to assault his sister and his childhood bestie ends up being a guard at the prison.

chaebol, parasite-esque, classism, marriage/divorce, death, small town hero, illness, memory loss

the OST is the best, tbh, but the drama is really good, too. it gave me parasite vibes so you would probably like it. tw: brain cancer (but no death from it). ice queen fl and golden retriever ml. lots of misunderstandings and noble idiot tropes, but it really is so good.

period piece, neighborhood family, slice of life

i really liked this and hyeri is in it and she's the cutest, there's lots of angst as you would expect from high school boys and girls growing up together from the time they were very small

reincarnation, death, murder plot, misunderstanding, disability

a woman has been reincarnated 19 times and remembers all her past lives, even though she isn't supposed to, and vows to find the boy from her 18th life 

bl - college students, enemies to lovers

jaechan from dkz is in this one

amnesia, rich ml, poor fl

i laughed so much watching this, seo in guk is such a fucking gem

bl - high school, sports, enemies to lovers

this has the leader and maknae from omega x in it, they're very cute and such good actors, but there's no kiss

bl - childhood friends to lovers, secret crush, rich ml, poor ml, misunderstanding

zuho from sf9 is in this one, idt there's any kissing, but i could be misremembering

fantasy, gumiho, reincarnation

you don't have to twist my arm to watch anything with lee dong wook in it but this is a pretty spectacular drama if you like folklore

time travel, music, disability

a child of two deaf parents with a deaf older brother finds himself back in time with his high school aged father who was hearing at the time and realizes he knows nothing about his family. this will hurt, but in a good way.

bl - misunderstanding, artist ml, manipulation

this is the one with gongchan in it and it's a really good drama but has some heartbreaking moments

bl - found family, adopted-brother to lover

i always get a tiny bit of squick with family stuff even if they're not blood-related but this was so good. it's hard to know what the age gap here is, but  at least for the main couple idt it's more than like 7/8 years. the side couple makes me side-eye but they're not the focus so i just chose to ignore it.

bl - university students, secret crush, enemies to lovers

yu is japanese and has a few songs on youtube, but this is a taiwanese drama so my brain glitched a little when his character and his father spoke to each other in japanese for the first time lmao

legal corruption, mystery

this was such a good drama, and i think it's kind of underrated because i've never heard anyone talk about it. but it has a strong female lead and she's amazing