A Crash Course In K-drama Romance
Crash Course in Romance is the latest romantic K-drama airing on Netflix. With a touch of mystery and lots of drama throughout, this has been a thoroughly enjoyable series.
If you’ve finished watching this and are looking for alternate shows, fret not! We’ve combed through the archives and saved you the hassle of having to try and find something similar with our top 10 picks for alternate viewing.
Of course for all the shows we’ve reviewed, we’ve also added a handy link so you can check out our full thoughts on that series and see if it’s something you want to invest your time with.
So without further ado, we present 10 TV shows that should whet the appetite when you’ve finished streaming Crash Course in Romance.
Crash Landing on You
Similarities – Chemistry Between Leads
Who knew an innocent paragliding incident would cause such a stir in the world of K-Dramas. Crash Landing On You has been dubbed by many as 2020’s crowning jewel. It’s also arguably the gateway drama that attracted a whole new crowd of people to experience Korean dramas thanks to Netflix’s desire to showcase more of these wonderful shows.
Crash Landing On You manages to effortlessly blend romance, action and comedy together into one heady cocktail of delight.
It’s a show that manages to constantly surprise with every episode, featuring twists and turns that leave you speechless, in tears, elated or even all three! While some may bemoan the ending and long for a second season, this K-Drama successfully crash lands onto our list for all the right reasons.
You can read our thoughts on Crash Landing On You in our full season review here!
Twenty Five Twenty One
Similarities – Chemistry Between Leads
A show can live or die by its ending. As we’ve seen with disasters like Game Of Thrones, the quality that preceded a closure can fall to the wayside and amount to nothing if you don’t stick the landing.
While Game Of Thrones plummeted nose-first onto the runway, exploding into a million pieces, Twenty Five Twenty One wobbles, loses a wheel and just about manages to make it down intact, albeit with shaky passengers and a lot of worried looks.
While Twenty Five Twenty One is a solid coming of age story, it’s also a fun and light-hearted affair for most of the story too. For every tear jerking moment, there’s another laugh out loud segment or a silly quip involving Hee-Do and her friends… the same cannot be said for the ending, which is the only reason this may be a bit of a subjective pick!
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
Similarities – Comedy & Romance
A proper coming-of-age story, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo sprinkles some serious fairy dust across this lovable Korean drama.
With an uplifting narrative about a group of college athletes fighting for their dreams, the story starts slowly before evolving into a memorable feel-good narrative. There’s some great character work achieved here and across the season all the characters grow and evolve in a realistic way.
It helps too that the chemistry between the lead characters is excellent and backed up by an equally impressive supporting cast. It’s a great entry point for anyone looking to dive into Korean dramas and the effortless comedy emanating through the series is hard not to fall in love with.
Crazy Love
Similarities – Small Town & Romance
Crazy Love is a romantic comedy K-Drama which follows the love story between Noh Go-jin, a popular math instructor, and his secretary, Lee Shin-a.
Noh Go-Jin is also the CEO of GOTOP education and despite not having gone to university, he has managed to excel thanks to his high intelligence and charisma. However, one day he starts receiving death threats.
Lee Shin-a is an introvert and has always had a quiet presence around her boss and colleagues. After a year of working, Noh Go-Jin starts to get recognized by her colleagues but unfortunately she finds out she doesn’t have long left to live.
One Spring Night
Similarities – Romance
If Wen’s possessive ex messing it up for him and Jim had you trying to tear your hair out but wanting more of such heartbreaking romances, then tune into One Spring Night. An accidental meeting between the young and single father Yoo Ji-ho and Lee Jeong-in, a committed woman leads to love at first sight.
This has Jeong-in reassessing what it means to love as she must make a choice between dating someone who has a child or continuing in a loveless relationship with her current boyfriend who could care less about her.
When the Camellia Blooms
Similarities – Romance & Mystery
After a bit of a shaky start, When the Camellia Blooms really grows from strength to strength over the chapters, with the story starting in Onsang as we see single mother Dongbaek arriving with her baby boy to open a bar, The Camellia.
Struggling to fit in, she faces many challenges over the years mostly revolving around raising her child and running a business. When local police officer Hwang-Yong-Sik falls deeply in love with her, he does everything in his power to win her over.
To complicate matters, Dongbaek’s ex-boyfriend, and famous baseball player, Kang Jung-Ryeol appears back on the scene, while a serial killer called the Joker threatens the peace of the community.
One of the strongest selling points of When the Camellia Blooms comes from its story and loveable characters. While the narrative is quite simple, the blending of different genres makes this one so enjoyable and easy to watch.
You can read our thoughts on When The Camellia Blooms in our full season review here!
Business Proposal
Similarities – Small Town & Romance
Business Proposal follows the life and romantic mishaps of GOFood researcher Shin Ha-ri. When she goes on a blind date in place of her best friend Jin Young-seo, Ha-ri is surprised to find herself face-to-face with the CEO of GOFood, Kang Tae-moo.
To save face, Ha-ri introduces herself as Geum-hui. What follows is a series of hilarious deceptions, misunderstanding, and a fan-favorite romantic trope: the fake-dating scenario.
Tae-moo and Ha-ri/Geum-hui agree to a fake relationship in order to appease Tae-moo’s meddling grandfather, GOFood Chairman Kang Da-goo (Lee Deok-hwa).
What begins as a small-scale deception gradually snowballs into a large and entangling web of secrets, as well complicated feelings neither Ha-ri nor Tae-moo wants to admit to.
The K-drama is bolstered by a charismatic cast of characters. Kim’s and Ahn’s chemistry is one thing, but the entire cast has a charming synergy.
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim
Similarities – Chemistry between leads
Based on the webtoon remake of the novel “Kimbiseoga Wae Geureolgga”, on paper What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim has little in the way of redeeming or original features. It feels very much like a simple romantic comedy on paper, playing out in formulaic fashion.
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim is the perfect example of why you should never judge a book by its cover. Between the glimpses of our lead character’s dark past, the real kicker with Secretary Kim comes from the characters.
Sometimes a group of actors come together and just have that X-factor to produce something magical and this is one such example. The main characters are incredibly likable, there’s some wonderful humour and both leads have excellent chemistry that help elevate this simple rom-com into something so much more profound and enjoyable than it otherwise would be.
You can read our thoughts on What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim in our full season review here!
Hometown Cha Cha Cha
Similarities – Romance & Drama
Hometown Cha Cha Cha is a light, breezy k-drama; a show rife with romance, comedy and light bites of drama. It’s the perfect small town weekend treat and an undeniably fun watch from start to finish.
The main premise is pretty straightforward and revolves around a woman named Hye-Jin. She’s a dentist from Seoul, but a series of unfortunate events see her wind up in the small seaside town of Gongjin. Once there, she immediately finds herself an outsider and struggles to fit in. When she decides to open a dentistry, it only exacerbates issues. Step forward “Chief Hong” Du-Sik.
Du-Sik is a handsome and suave man who’s officially unemployed but undeniably a busy man. He helps out all the different residents and gives Hye-Jin some sound advice. As one may expect, the duo start to grow closer together and across the episodes each grow and evolve over time.
Like a warm cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night, Hometown Cha Cha Cha will warm you right the way down to your core. This one’s a must-watch folks!
You can read our thoughts on Hometown Cha Cha Cha in our full season review here!
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol
Similarities – Drama & Mystery
Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol is a romantic comedy with touches of slice of life and healing themes integrated. It’s often funny, full of heartwarming and heartbreaking segments and topped off with a lovable, memorable cast of characters.
Fronting the lines are Go Ara and Lee Jae-Wook who portray Ra-Ra and Joon respectively. The former is a rich princess with everything she could ever ask for. After her groom runs out at the altar and her Father suffers a tragedy, Ra-Ra descends down a slippery slope to bankruptcy with nothing but her lovable dog Mimi to her name.
If you can go into this one with a bit of an open mind and expect a polarizing ending from the off, Do Do Sol Sol is well worth checking out.
You can read our thoughts on Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol in our full season review here!
So there we have it, our 10 TV show alternatives to watch when you’re finished with Crash Course in Romance on Netflix!
What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!