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[Beanie Recs] A sci-fi drama that’s worth my time?


Ahoy, Beanies! It’s time to gather your collective genius for a recommendation series that features you and your drama knowledge. Each week we’ll drop a drama conundrum and leave it up to you to provide a drama rec, and the appropriate rationale behind it, be it long or short. Respond below!
 

I’m really looking forward to Glitch this weekend! I’m a big sci-fi fan, but I don’t usually look to K-dramas to give me satisfying sci-fi (heh). Are there any out there that you guys felt actually worked or were worth the watch?


Have a very particular drama itch that needs scratching? In need of a Beanie Rec? Email us at hello @ dramabeans.com and we’ll feature your topic in a future post.
 
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I enjoyed Memories of the Alhambra. The romance isn't the best thing ever, but you get lots of other great relationships and most importantly the rules of the world hold up and are internally consistent (with only a little bit of squinting) throughout. I also thought it was interesting to watch the psychological toll that the constant danger from the game had on the lead. And, Hyun Bin looks really good in indigo linen.

I also liked My Holo Love. I usually think it's fun when we have one actor playing two different parts, and I did here too. It uses plenty of well-worn story elements, but wraps it in a fun AI package and I thought the story brought up interesting questions about human connection and how it can be complemented or hindered by technology.

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I also enjoyed Memories of Alhambra. Despite the undispensable plot holes (it's a K-drama, they all have them). It's because it really is magical, pretty exciting and it is by far my favorite Hyun Bin role. The romance is overly criticized in my opinion - it serves the story, but it's not its main focus.
Other than that, I'd recommend "Circle". Almost no plot holes, really touching, and also pretty nail-biting.

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Grid is a nice one to watch. Be warned that it isn't a simple drama. You either watch with your brain turned off or your brain working at optimum speed.

The Silent Sea seems nice too.

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I second Grid. If they manage to pull off a second season, great. If not... I enjoyed what the show gave us.

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Yes to silent sea. That one had me fearing water and the moon for a week. Good classic scares.

Adding grid to my watchlist.

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The Silent Sea was solid SF with A-list actors. The writing even had some original concepts for the SF genre. I feel it was quite underrated and I hope a season 2 is released.

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I've had it on my list forever but somehow haven't gotten to it yet. I'm going to move it up farther, thank you!

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?????

Cinematography was good but story had more holes than swiss cheese.

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ditto on the cinematography. the line up was good too but it was so unbelievably draggy i couldn't believe what I was watching

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Ditto.

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Hello I think the sci-fi drama I enjoyed the most is circle with the temporarility between 2 period. It's short like 12 EP and it's really good

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I also loved Circle, I think it's probably my favorite Sci Fi Kdrama I've watched to date. However, I haven't rewatched it since it came out, so I don't know if that opinion would change on a rewatch. I just remember really enjoying it.

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Can second the Ciricle recommendation. It's fast-paced.

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I second this too. I liked it very much.

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I didn't know Memories of Alhambra is categorized as si-fi. I enjoyed it purely from a psychological point of view.

I think people who went into Grid expecting si-fi were sorely disappointed. I enjoyed it a lot as a great social commentary drama.

I enjoyed Circle. People critisize it a lot for the memory storyline, but to me

SPOILER

There is a character who doesn't remember anything from his life and a character who remembers only what his original clone knew, and they want to call each other brothers. I don't mind.

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I personally wouldn't categorise Memories of Alhambra as scifi. Like most kdramas, it's fantasy rather than scifi. Real Korean scifi is incredibly rare but getting more common thankfully.

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Unfortunately most Korean sc-fi I tried to watch were bad at science part of it. Time travel is a popular trope but is almost always done with a magic/fantasy element.

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This is accurate. Only time travel Kdramas that are entertaining, but they involve a touch of fantasy.

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Most kdrama use elements like time travel as a rhetorical element, they're fantasy rather than scifi.

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For me, Sci-fi in SK drama has a critical issue in that they are nearly always scared of the paradox. (with a few rare exceptions)

The premise is often so riveting you can't wait for the next episode...and just when we are about to get to the real crux of the story, they get scared. As they pull back it breaks you out of your suspended disbelief and from that moment it feels a normal SK drama wearing Sci-fi as a cool handbag.

Very few SK dramas are willing to follow where the Sci-fi world they created leads them. I don't know if its about not straying too far outside of standard SK drama tropes or if it is a deeper issue that the questioning sci-fi triggers (and often hinges on) cuts too close to SK norms.

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I'm glad Circle is mentioned. Though I forget many parts, I recall feeling awestruck and horrified in parts, just what sci fi should be.

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I feel like Circle got a lot of elements I consider to be classic sci-fi down pat. There was the new technology (including chips in people, which I consider very sci fi) some cloning, some aliens, and a futuristic/dystopian vibe for the society (I know not all sci-fis have a dystopian society, but I still associate them with the genre a bit)

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Circle is still the best Korean scifi show IMO

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The only sci-fi I've seen are shows were the ML is a robot, tbh. So I would say "Are you human too?" or "My Holo Love", but they're basically romcoms, imo.

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Maybe you could try "Duel". That one is more focus on the sci-fi element.

OMO, what about the beanies favorite "Melting Me Softly"? 😆

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Oh gosh I tried to watch Duel. More than once. I found the male lead's histrionics almost impossible to watch. After three attempts I've only made it halfway through episode 2 and I can't continue.

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There's the reverse in I Am Not A Robot, but it's low on the sci-fi and high on the romcom.

What about the other "favorite," Alice 🤣🤣🤣

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🤣🤣🤣

It's true that Alice is *technically* scifi so I guess the rec stands.

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Disclaimer: the above is clearly a joke.
Nobody should ever watch Alice, unless you're a masochist or want to join the Alice Survivor's Club. The only club in history we wish had less members.

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I was waiting for someone to mention Alice so I could second that choice.. 😁😁😁

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Circle was well worth my time!

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JOSEON X-FILES is still my fave historical/sci-fi drama.
https://www.dramabeans.com/?s=Joseon+X-Files

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It's a pity that a classic like Joseon X-files is only available on dodgy streaming sites. Also, I always forget it is a sci-fi show just because it's also a sageuk. Silly of me, since it does sci-fi more thoroughly and consistently than many contemporary sci-fi dramas do.

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I would love to be able to watch it on a quality site. I've heard good things about this show.

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I'm afraid I have to disagree about Memories of Alhambra. I really, really wanted to love the show. And it started out pretty good. However, as the show progressed the plot seemed to devolve... and I really couldn't stomach any of the romance. There was no buildup. It wasn't believable. For some reason I also remember wanting more form the video game world... but that might be false because I remember getting a lot of really good action scenes in there.

I WOULD love to see more Kdramas tackle the niche genre "Video Games becoming real life". There are tons of webtoons in that vein, with the popup windows and inventories and fantasy monsters etc. I'd love to see it happen.

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After reviewing my drama list, I also have to mention SF8. It's not a cohesive drama but rather a collection of mini episoes. By and large they were all VERY well done. Just little sci-fi vignettes tackling the questions of what role technology plays in our lives.

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SF8 is very good and one or two of those pieces were mesmerising

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For a show that immerses you in sci-fi concepts and themes, I definitely recommend SF8. Each episode is a different world with unique technologies that the story is built around. Some of them I wish were full-length shows that I could stay in longer! My favorite episodes were 1-3, 5, and 6. What I love even more is, while SF8 doesn't particularly resemble traditional kdramas, they also are different from Western sci-fi in that they still reflect Korean cultural values and ideas, and they seem to complicate ideas around what new technology will mean for humanity that are not all doom-and-gloom that I feel from some American mainstream sci-fi.

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I reviewed all of SF8 when it aired and its technological optimism was its defining trait.

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Highly recommend Circle. Not only is it the best sci-fi a kdrama has ever done, but it’s also pretty great by regular sci-fi standards IMO.

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I agree with this, I'm rewatching it to do a nostalgia watch review and it's just as good as I remember. What it has to say about personal and social memory is still as powerful as ever. It's so low-budget though, I wish they'd make something similar these days with the kind of budgets they have. Circle is held together with chewing gum.

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Is it legally available anywhere? I couldn't find it a while back.

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It's not, no. I can only find it Darkside.

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Sci-fi and Kdramas don't mix really well...

The Korean remake 365: Repeat The Year was good.

I liked Circle but I don't really remember now, it didn't really answer questions...

A Piece of Your Mind had a little side of sci-fi and it was great. But it was clearly more about mourning than sci-fi.

I don't like dramas when the FL chose the robot over the human. If she doesn't the human, she can be single. But the lack of questions about the future with a robot is frustrating.

The good time travel romances are more fantastic than sci-fi.

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365? I love that show to pieces but that is just fantasy. Is time travel really considered si-fi? I didn't know that.

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IMO time travel by itself does not constitute science fiction. I didn't think 365 was scifi but then again I was not the fan that others were and dropped it about halfway through.

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I think it depends on the "how". If it's a magic object like in TKEM, it's a fantasy, if it's a human who found a scientific way, it's a sci-fi like in Alice.

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Hmm... Makes sense. Hadn't thought about it that way.

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Cannot disagree more. Science and logic go hand in hand. And we know Kdramas have little logic in them. That’s the reason I don’t question much of what I’m watching these past few years. Save me from the frustration.

365: Repeat the Year was really good. It’s one of a good example of 12 packed episodes. Lee Jun-hyuk and Nam Ji-hyun were also great there. I don’t think 365 is popular tho, which is a bummer.

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Oops i meant to say cannot agree more

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Probably off topic since it's 90% romance and only a little bit of sci-fi but my love from the stars had an alien. :P

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Nope. The Muricans do it waaay better. None of the Korean SF shows convinced me.
There’s few I liked (My Holo Love, I’m not Robot), but these are not really SF, rather a love story with a pinch of SF.

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I'll take this chance to ask for a good sci fi that isn't Korean. Could be movies or dramas anything. I think I've never seen a really good sci fi.

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The best modern scifi show is The Expanse. And it's the only hard scifi I can think of that's been made in years.

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Dark: German series on Netflix. The only show I've seen that does the space-time loop well.

Reset: Chinese drama that was a hit earlier this year. Really good execution on time travel. China is pretty decent at the sci-fi genre.

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Dark is a masterpiece. I hesitate to call it science fiction but then I hesitate to give it a genre at all. It's almost entirely without standard tropes or structures. It's just - its own thing. Completely new and completely brilliant.

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The creators of Dark are coming out with a new show 1899 that's debuting on Netflix next month. I've got my eyes on it.

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Nervous. Excited. All the feelings.

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I loved Reset. The first drama in a long time where I just binged for 10+ hours. I'm not sure if I would consider it sci-fi since there wasn't a technology and science element to the time loop.

Great US sci fi i would recommend are Fringe and Person of Interest.

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This comes back to the question of what scifi actually is. Most speculative fiction these days is either sci-fantasy or straight up fantasy. Reset was fantasy. There was no scientific reason for the time loop and no logic behind it. It just was.

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Also, Severance (on Apple) and Black Mirror (Netflix)

Films: Ex Machina, Inception, Snowpiercer

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Severance is so good! I’m really looking forward to season 2!!

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plus one for Severance..
and Ex machina.
if you have HBO, you can try Westworld too.

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Severance is really good! I also second the recommendations for Dark and The Expanse. An older favorite of mine is Farscape.

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Snowpiercer is a wildly underrated film that I always feel gets overlooked for some reason. I haven't watched the TV adaptation because I wasn't sure what that could add. Snowpiercer is almost perfect.

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@leetennant
If you haven't seen Rhino Stew's youtube vid that postulates Snowpiercer as the sequel to Willy Wonka...it will blow your mind.

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Just here to plug Circle-Two Worlds. Just watch it. It’s amazing.

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“Awaken” was one of those shows that I thought I would just sample and then it sucked me in for the entire season — kind of like “Liar Game.” With “Awaken,” it seems like a normal detective drama in the beginning until things start to get weird.

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This thread is fire. I'm so excited to watch Glitch. Appreciate all the recommendations from beanies.

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