7 K-Dramas With Focus On Friendship Rather Than Romance
Let’s enjoy those sweet budding moments.
Sometimes it feels like K-dramaland is filled with romantic series and if you are not into love stories, you have to watch horror or thrillers. Well, it only seems that way. In reality, South Korean television has created many heartwarming slice-of-life shows where romance is non-existent or reduced to a subplot.
If you're looking for a good friendship story, here are seven great examples.
Be Melodramatic (2019)
IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
The series follows the ups and downs in the lives of three 30-something best friends who all work in television. The relationship between the protagonists is wonderful, supportive and realistic.
Because This Is My First Life (2017)
IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
The show is romantic, about a couple of young people who agree to a marriage of convenience, but they are primarily friends, and both have a colorful group of buddies with different perspectives on love and marriage. A lot of screen time is devoted to the cute, supportive interactions between them.
Dear My Friends (2016)
IMDb Rating: 8.2/10
The story of an aging group of women and their friendship, told mainly from the perspective of the daughter of one of them, is extremely heartfelt and touching. It makes you reflect on your own life, no matter how old you are.
Age of Youth (2016-2017)
IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
A two season slice-of-life drama about five girls who end up living together in a sharehouse. It has some romantic subplots, but at its core it is a story of bonding over the pains and challenges of youth.
Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
The coming-of-age story of a fencing prodigy and her classmates is set in 1998 and has a lot of enjoyable aspects about it. There is a romantic storyline, but the focus is on the friendships between the teens and the sweet moments they share.
Hospital Playlist (2020-2021)
IMDb Rating: 8.8/10
This two-season K-drama follows five doctors in their forties who have been friends since medical school, run a practice together, and have their own band. The friendship on screen feels real and warms the heart.
Twinkling Watermelon (2023)
IMDb Rating: 9.1/10
A boy raised in a family of deaf people suddenly travels back to 1995, where he meets his own father and joins a music band with him. The bromance between father and son is hilarious, and the budding friendship between mother and father is incredibly sweet.