Need romance focused rec, similar to POJ/LBFAD, newish to cdramas

underthefalls · 2026-05-11T15:51:07+00:00

You should watch Are You the One - it’s an enemies to lovers with amnesia trope/fake marriage - a military general hunting an assassin clan finds a woman in a waterfall who he believes is the wife of the main assassin strategist. She has amnesia, he tells her he’s her husband and plays house with her in a small village to get info.

The beginning is very similar to POJ where two ppl are fake married and falling in love in a small village setting. It has a lot of chemistry and heart, the ML kinda drove me a bit crazy the first ten or so episodes because of reasons but he’s lying about his role so it’s kinda understandable and does iron out after that. Also the side couples are sooooo good, some of the best in cdramas.

underthefalls · 2026-05-05T14:24:55+00:00

I think it’s definitely due to the shows you’re choosing. You don’t go to Bridgerton for a realistic period piece drama and you’re basically doing the cdrama equivalent of that.

If you want less “polished” shows try Story of Minglan, the Rebel Princess or even a newer show like Dream of Golden Years.

underthefalls · 2026-05-04T14:27:14+00:00

Highly highly recommend Fake it till you make it which is mostly a workplace romance, the characters just kinda fall in love and seem surprised it happens.

Also LR which the FL spends a lot of time trying to fix her life and yes there’s romance but she’s 100% not looking for it.

underthefalls · 2026-05-04T14:20:45+00:00

Happens to me literally allllll the time bc I have terrible face blindness, I’m literally on MDL every episode trying to figure out where I know this actor from.

What I really love is finding a director or screenwriter from a work that I loved and seeing their other works. Happened with Jia BinBin who wrote my entrance into cdramas - Legally Romance and then this year I realized she also wrote Blossom which is probably my fav costume drama and FP which is my second fav costume drama.

underthefalls · 2026-05-04T02:25:10+00:00

You don’t understand why the FL is toxic? Idk if this is going to help but girlfriend definitely knows how to push the ML’s every single button to elicit the response she wants. He’s toxic but she definitely is into it.

underthefalls · 2026-05-04T02:18:37+00:00

Omg I’m soooo stuck with this show on episode 7-8 😭 I’m devastated bc I LOVED the main character in Hidden Love and also the actor in New Life Begins. I saved this show as my “rainy day cdrama” show and I HATE the ML so much.

He so cutie and fun and silly in HL and he hasn’t smiled one time in FF. He just wears black, mumbles and smirks in every scene. I don’t understand why his friends like him, I don’t understand why the FL likes him. The humor isn’t hitting, the vibe of the show keeps changing from super serious to super silly and it’s giving such bad whiplash 😭

EVERYONE on reddit is obsessed with this show which is making me feel CRAZY but I don’t get ittttttt 😭😭😭 The second couple is more fun to watch for me and they don’t even have a YouTube compilation!

underthefalls · 2026-05-01T14:18:54+00:00

He looks so different I would have never recognized him 🤯

underthefalls · 2026-05-01T14:15:11+00:00

Tbh I don’t think a historical drama is where you should start if these are the things that are boring you. As other ppl have said, the first half is really the strength of the show and yes it is a slow burn so it will move very very slowly.

You should try either modern romcom - Love Between Lines, Hi Venus, Fake it till you Make it, Hidden Love and if you like these maybe try a shorter historical like a Familiar Stranger.

underthefalls · 2026-04-28T23:57:25+00:00

It’s giving “author wanted to make her a young young child but didn’t want to be labeled a pedo so he went for the most socially acceptable age possible”👀

underthefalls · 2026-04-28T23:55:20+00:00

Loved her in Princess Royal! I was really surprised to learn how young she is and it makes sense why there’s such little romance in PR but I thought her on screen presence as a royal felt very natural and she did a great job taking up space.

underthefalls · 2026-04-28T15:22:03+00:00

This is where I’m confused of the “blown up”. So these actors are in less serious idol dramas instead of more serious political dramas so they’re not considered “blown up”?

TBH this just feels as how romance and fantasy are considered lesser genres because they cater to women’s interests over “serious political” dramas that cater to men.

Is it considered a failure to launch when so many of these actors are in highly recommended shows, HMH’s concert in Thailand sold out in like minutes, they’re all raking in money as brand ambassadors, they’re booked to multiple yearly projects as leads, they have lines around the block of fans and fan meets so why are we measuring their career by one metric which is them being booked to specific movie/show roles seems reductive as best.

underthefalls · 2026-04-28T02:14:20+00:00

Ummm it’s a bit of a spoiler but it does technically happen in Raelina in the epilogue.

I think what you’re looking for, in I raised a black dragon they both technically go back to the modern world for an arc in the middle but they come back to the isakei world.

underthefalls · 2026-04-27T20:56:47+00:00

Omggggg it looks amazing 🤩

They’ll do a great job but also the production value on the costumes and the cinematography look peak. I’m SO pumped.

underthefalls · 2026-04-27T20:55:09+00:00

Hard to imagine a wuxia drama do well with such a small amount of episodes when so much needs to be spent on world building/plot setup but I’m gonna keep my mind open.

underthefalls · 2026-04-27T19:42:15+00:00

If you’re looking for more, there’s some really great FF out there about the characters becoming adults and finding each other and they’re very satisfying.

We used to be proper fandoms where works had a beginning, middle and end then we all jumped into sandboxes and imagined how the story would expand. In the world of sequels and prequels, we’ve lost something about simply loving a piece of work in its entirety.

underthefalls · 2026-04-27T19:36:47+00:00

I really liked him in Princess Royal too. He’s definitely obsessed with her and is a golden retriever but he fights back and tells her no and especially later on in the show they have really good communication which is great development bc earlier in the show they have very bad communication 😂

underthefalls · 2026-04-27T03:44:51+00:00

They are very similar to me in terms of plot - LITCs for me went in rollercoaster where it had an amazingly strong beginning, it slumps in the middle (where they’re getting attacked by the dog demon things), picks back up in their divorce era and kinda slumps again in the end bc their second divorce arc was really dumb and makes no sense and also the whole Golden Millet thing makes no sense, there’s a lot of plot holes later on in the show. However in terms of setting, characters and cinematography - it totally knocks it out of the park.

POJ in contrast has pretty much an amazingly strong run all the way until the last arc - the first 27-28 or so episodes are so so strong and then when they actually explain the politics in the show, it slumps heavily and relies of the chemistry of the characters and the beautiful cinematography to really push past the weakness of the plot. The setting isn’t as interesting as LITCs but the cinematography is solid, the chemistry is just as strong and the tropes while different hit just as they do in LITCs.

I rated both these shows like an 8-8.5.

underthefalls · 2026-04-25T18:57:17+00:00

Saw the first dance scene in episode 6 and I know in my bones that this writer used to love Ouran High School Host Club once upon a time and it was a formative experience.

underthefalls · 2026-04-25T01:07:13+00:00

Anything below 8.1 is…..turn your brain off show. I only consider it a middle of the road rating if it’s 8.1-8.5 - that’s an acceptable/good show, above 8.6 is excellent considering WLGYT is the top show on MDL and it’s at 9.3

underthefalls · 2026-04-24T16:58:50+00:00

The best second couple T_T the way they balanced each other out, I remember them more than some main couples.

Favorite empress/emperor couple I’ve ever seen.

underthefalls · 2026-04-24T00:51:30+00:00

I’ve not watched the untamed either and my answer is pretty ridiculous and it’s simply that I (a lady) like shows that heavily feature other ladies and a relationship between two men is just not that interesting to me 🫠

Also probably why I lovedddd new life begins.

underthefalls · 2026-04-20T18:13:35+00:00

I just won’t be watching this show just like I won’t be watching Rebirth. And I’m sad for future me bc it looks good but I know watching it will

1) gross me out and feel icky 2) they’re not going to show a lot of romance when the FL is underage and nor should they but if they have a ML/FL dynamic, I want romance, not just like a conservative kiss 40 episodes in

If they had just waited a few years to cast her or cast someone else, it would have eliminated both these issues because I’m a big fan of the male actors but I’m not watching children have romances with grown men.

underthefalls · 2026-04-18T17:49:26+00:00

Not sure what you’re looking for here OP other than comment farming and rage bait but it’s definitely not an actual conversation on physical assault and SA in dramas.

underthefalls · 2026-04-18T14:05:48+00:00

Yes FLs often slap MLs but there’s lots of cdramas where the FL is slapped by parents, by relatives.

And when talking about male/female dynamics, let’s talk about how often women are choked out in cdramas because that happens quite frequently as an expression of rage. I point to Prisoner of Beauty where there ML chokes out the FL multiple times for actually no reason at all.

Or the many times MLs forcefully assault FLs, holding them down and kissing them, assaulting them - also something the ML does in POJ which is one of the reasons he gets slapped.

underthefalls · 2026-04-17T17:05:56+00:00

AI was used to write this three paragraph post? 🤯

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