10 TV Shows Like From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke | The ReviewGeek Recommends

Dramas full of high school romances

Following the anime and movie adaptation of the iconic manga From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke, we are now getting a J-drama on it. And those who have been lucky enough to get drama adaptations, know that it can do more justice to the source material as we get several episodes to cover the manga chapters. 

That is exactly what we get from this Netflix original Japanese drama From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke as it follows Sawako Kuronama a friendly student who is an outcast because she looks scary and is nicknamed Sadako from The Ring. However, that doesn’t stop her from trying to make friends but to no avail.

But one day, the popular guy, Shota Kazehaya befriends her as he notices the little things she does to help her classmates. Well, if you want more such light-hearted dramas about misfits catching the eye of the popular guy and high school romances, we’ve got you. 

Well without further wait, here are 10 TV shows with a similar premise to watch if you liked From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke.


True Beauty

Similarities – Misfit protagonist, beauty, high school romance

After Ju-kyung is bullied for her bare face, she moves schools and transforms herself into a completely different person with makeup. She then becomes the popular girl at her new school and attracts the attention of all the boys including the resident bad boy Seo-joon and the perfect student, Su-ho. While she enjoys her newfound popularity, she must work on keeping her secret while her bullies look for her.


Black Cinderella

Similarities – Popular guy/unpopular girl, beauty, high school romance

A coming-of-age Japanese drama, Black Cinderella follows Kamiya, a 17-year-old high schooler who is always morose and doubts herself constantly. However, one day she decides to take a chance and enter a local beauty competition as she has always dreamt of being a beauty queen.

But the only catch is that she thinks she looks ugly and is not sure how she can enter let alone win it. However, she ends up befriending two students, Tachibana the popular guy and Shimamure, the new and mysterious boy who decide to help her out as they start falling for her.


Scum’s Wish

Similarities – High school romance

Mugi and Hanabi are considered relationship goals by their classmates as they look good together, are smart and look very much in love. However, no one knows of their deep dark secret that they are not actually in love with each other. Mugi is in love with his former middle school teacher while Hanabi has fallen for their new teacher.

To make matters worse, both teachers are in a relationship with each other. Tired of being alone, Mugi and Hanabi decide to get together and pretend that they are with their actual love.


Our Beloved Summer

Similarities – Opposites attract, high school romance

Our Beloved Summer starts with ex-lovers being forced to talk to each other after their high school documentary goes viral 10 years later. Choi Ung is a wild and chaotic artist while Kook Yeon-soo is a no-nonsense PR agent. While the viewers cannot fathom how they got together in the first place, we start seeing the beginnings of their relationship through their documentary when they were high schoolers.


My Love Mix-Up!

Similarities – Goofy protagonist, popular guy, high school romance

My Love Mix-Up! Is a hilarious Japanese BL drama which focuses on Aoki, a goofy but loveable high schooler who has one friend Aida and is always sweet to his crush, Hashimoto. One day, he borrows an eraser from her only to see that she has written Ida with a heart on it. He is heartbroken that his crush has a crush on Ida, the handsome and popular classmate.

To add to his bad luck, Ida accidentally sees the eraser in Aoki’s hand and thinks that he has a crush on him. Thinking that Aoki likes him, Ida starts trying to reciprocate his feelings while Aoki tries to clear up the confusion.


Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo

Similarities – Popular guy-unpopular girl, high school romance

Kim Bok-joo is a crass and average-looking girl with a short temper. But no one messes with her since she is a weightlifting champion. She has a love-hate relationship with the popular swimmer Joon-hyung as they constantly mock each other.

That is till she falls for his brother and tries to act ladylike. While Joon-hyung teases her, they start hanging out and he ends up falling for her. However, she can never see him as anything but a bothersome classmate as she only has eyes for his brother.


Extraordinary You

Similarities – Misfit protagonist, high school romance

Eun Dan-oh is a happy-go-lucky high schooler with a fatal heart disease but nothing can bring her down. That is until one day she realises that her actions along with the rest of her classmates are oddly robotic. She suddenly becomes aware that they are all stuck in a comic book.

To make things worse, she is a side character and must go through the motions while she watches the main characters have their meet cute and fall in love. She decides to take fate into her own hands but before that she must find the mysterious extra who is the only one not dictated by the rules of the comic book.


My ID is Gangnam Beauty

Similarities – Popular guy-unpopular girl, beauty, high school romance

Another bullied for her visuals drama, My ID is Gangnam Beauty follows Kang Mi-rae as she decides to get plastic surgery after being severely bullied for her looks in her old school. While she wants to look average and passable for college, she ends up getting the signature look from the infamous neighbourhood Gangnam which just leads to more people mocking her for her new looks.

However, Do Kyung-seok, the boy that everyone likes starts being kind to her and befriends her. While Mi-rae wonders about his ulterior motives, Kyung-seok happens to share a past with her that she doesn’t remember.


Good Morning Call

Similarities – Popular guy-unpopular girl, high school romance

Nao is a quiet high school student who likes her alone time and doesn’t like being bothered by anyone. As she moves into her new apartment for the new semester, she realises that she has to share it with the popular guy from school, Hisashi due to confusion while renting.

They decide to keep the fact that they are flat-mates a secret but of course, hijinks ensue as their classmates keep catching them together. In between all of this chaos, Nao and Hisashi start falling for each other.


Mairunovich

Similarities – Misfit protagonist, beauty, high school romance

Mairunovich is a cute drama that follows Mairu who thinks she is ugly and has no self-confidence. However, the popular guy, Tenyu takes pity on her and helps her transform herself so that she feels prettier and finds true love. This ends up changing her reputation as she suddenly becomes a popular girl with several guys falling for her. However, in all this, Tenyu stays by her side the whole time as he starts falling for her.


So there we have it, our 10 TV show alternatives to watch when you’re finished watching From Me to You: Kimi ni Todoke.

What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!

Leave a comment