My Mister was so good. That's honestly the main reason why I'm currently so intrigued by Call It Love. Very similar vibes.

While I've not necessarily gone the melo route as I got older, I've noticed that I definitely enjoy more slice-of-life shows than I did before. When I was younger, they mostly seemed boring and mundane compared to the escapism offered by bombastic and colorful, romantic comedies. However, growing up and being plagued by everyday stressors has made me more appreciative of realistic, attainable on-screen harmony and happiness, and the preciousness of and/or gratitude towards small things.

I really liked this kind of dramas too!

I liked slow story focused on characters, their feelings, their actions and their consequences.

Human Disqualification is the only one I didn't like in this list. At the end, I was still trying to understand what happened... it was really not clear. I got bored with Just Between Lovers, the sickness trope was too much.

I love healing melos but this genre suffers from some problems. Firstly since it is heavy, its also extremely underrated and unpopular. These shows don't necessarily bring high ratings and can mostly be seen as the writer's passion projects. Also I remember there once used to be many healing melos when I guess it was the "in" thing for a while but most would turn out to be romcoms wrapped in slice of life clothing. But I guess the biggest problem for me really is that there's one excellent show in the genre, My Ajusshi which is hard to beat. Not that others don't retain any value but there's going to be an inevitable comparison. Not even My Liberation Notes can hold up against it.

That picture of Won Jin-ah and Junho immediately sent the image of a Kangaroo momma and its kid in her pouch to my brain. Kinda warm and cozy.

...the stories that really reel me in and stick with me are the quieter ones that get to the heart of what it means to be human...Mix that deep healing journey with a quiet, restrained tone, and I’m a goner...
Sometimes, it’s the quietest stories that hit the hardest.
I reckon with both.

I loved MLN. It was very good with establishing the human connection before romantic. There are quite a number of kdramas that hit this kind of theme for me to the core, so I can't really pick this or that. I've not really seen something that tops My Liberation Notes with its silence so it remains on my top spot. Marriage Contract scores it for me with the melo with the romance or vice versa.

Thank you @quirkycase for such a wonderful article. You wrote it so well. And yes, sometimes it’s the quietest dramas that hit us the hardest.

I thought I was drawn to the same type of dramas that you described, but apparently I only watched 3 of all the shows you mentioned (My Ajusshi, Just Between Lovers, Weather) and only liked 1 of them (Weather). I don’t like shows that are too depressing, I guess.

Another one that came to mind is Chocolate. I know the death toll scares some, but the setting is indeed a hospice! I think the way the leads warm up to one another is beautiful and Ha Ji-won is a force to reckon in it.

I also think music plays a big role in making a good show a great one, and music in these quiet, understated and healing shows is mostly so good. I can still recall many songs/tunes I heard from all the three shows I mentioned earlier. I think the music from these shows stick in my head far longer than the ones in livelier shows.

I'd love a Healing Melo but I've never found any to be great. Yes, I have watched My Mister. It was close but not great. I've also tried every drama on the main post. If anyone know of any good examples please post them. Unless Mad for Each Other was in that category, but I think it's more romcom than melo.

I'm not completely against healing stories and powerful simple messages, nor do I have an attention span of average TikTok era kid to necessarily need some stronger genre stimulants to enjoy a show, but pure melos, especially korean pure melos? NOPE. Just nope. If I want to get a proper close look of how and why life sucks, I can just open the window.

Understated and/or underrated healing dramas (about human grief, loss, regret or purpose):
CHOCOLATE: Terminal illness is always a sad, hard subject, but the show gave patients a chance to live their life the best they could and send off with family in respectful ways.
HI BYE MAMA: Lingering loss and regret can be a terminal anchor around a person's neck (psyche), but this one allowed everyone to come to grips with the tragedy and come to terms with it so people could move on and live.
HOTEL DE LUNA: Speaking (unconventionally) of allowing people move on from past their regrets, the gateway to the afterlife was filled with conflicted souls grieving for their family, friends and self-pity.

My Ajusshi is in a league of its own, and possibly my all time favorite show (a regular rewatch), but Heart to Heart also comes to mind (only seen it once, can't find it anywhere). And I wouldn't call Healer an understated melo, but it has elements of...healing.

I do love this genre, and dramas in this genre are far few in between. I never used to watch romcoms until I started watching kdramas, which is later in life!
I loved My Mister to bits. No dramas has come close to this one. It was just perfect. I enjoyed Human Disqualification too. My liberation notes was great for most parts.
JBL, Come and hug me was wonderful too.
I like such pensive dramas, and such dramas rely a lot on direction and actors in addition to writing. Most of the times, I find the cinematography and acting to be exceptional in such dramas.

I agree with all these picks (although I'm one of about three people who didn't much care for JBL and has never seen "My Mister"), and for me, "Brahms" and "My Liberation Notes" best exemplify this genre. Even though the overall pace was languid and thoughtful, every second felt meaningful and pleasurable to watch. There was such obvious care in each shot, and the slightest look or gesture developed the characters more than pages of dialogue in some dramas.

I would also put "Secret Love Affair" in this category as it has the same feel and energy of these other slice-of-life melos.

Obviously, I like my melos with at least some romance; "Call it Love" looks promising so far.

Even though this would probably be characterized as more of a psychological romantic thriller, from about ep. 8 until just before the tragic last few moments, "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" felt very much like a healing melo to me.

"Unfamiliar Family," "Come and Hug Me," and "Chocolate" all fit the definition as well, but I didn't love, love, love them like I did these others.

I haven't watched many of these. I need to try A Piece of Your Mind when I'm in the right mood.

I think My Ahjussi is one of those dramas that after breaking your heart actually puts it back together again. The end left me feeling light and happy.
JBL.....I loved that hero. Definitely the most prickly marshmallow.

I really resonate with your point about dramas with the right atmosphere. Though, as someone who struggles to ‘casually watch’, I’ve always found I’ve got to be a) in the right mood to begin watching a healing melo and b) prepared to sift through all the emotions post watch, because else I either can't bring myself to start it or bear the weight of all the emotions post-watch. I suppose that's because, when it’s done well, this genre always imprints deeply on me - whether it’s because of the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been taken on, or even just because the ‘healing’ aspect of it is just that heavy kind of melo sweetness that settles a bit too deep into your heart and forms a bit of an ache - but it takes a bit of an effort for me to shake that feeling off. Like with a Piece of Your Mind (which I tried to start a few and only really fully watched and appreciate it much later when the natural calling came and my mood was in a certain place), it was sweet and healing but the journey left me feeling really heavy, contemplative and well, melo, for a long time after. I didn’t hate it - I like being in a deeply introspective mood just with my emotions whirling around sometimes, but it takes a toll to pull yourself out from it and then go to your 9-5 job the next day or even just to interact with family & friends normally right after.

Almost always though, for me, what drives the vibes of a healing melo home is the OST and most of my favourite OST songs do come from this genre! Like there's this one track from the Just Between Lovers that really just amplified the melo in the show for me and it still instantly puts me right back in that mindset if I listen to it at any given time now.

Also to add to your list and the suggestions already given by people below, I'd also say Doom at Your Service (sort of?), The One and Only, Moment at Eighteen (MY FAVOURITE though, the ratio of healing to melo is skewed a tiny bit more towards the melo side) and If You Wish Upon Me.

I love Do You Like Brahms?! Watched it for the first time during the holidays in January and have rewatched again already. All the characters were so real and grounded. A favorite Kdrama for sure.

Although it suffers from an overabundance of plot threads (did we really need gangsters?), Fermentation Family is an older show that very much fits this mold. It's about a big city chef who goes home to run her family's traditional restaurant and all of the broken, lonely people who end up there. When it focuses on those folks quietly bonding over food, it's absolutely lovely.

Thank you@quirkycase! This was a treat to read and reflect on beloved dramas. As someone who has worked hard on healing my own wounds so I can live joyfully with scars, this genre just resonates and inspires me.
Okay, but please don't hate me, but I just can't get into My Mister. I have tried several times to watch when I was in the right mood and can't get past the first two episodes. I admire IU as an actress and understated melo/slice of life is my FAVORITE genre (Moment at 18, Piece of Your Mind, Just Between Lovers, Would You Like a Cup of Coffee, Find Me in Your Memory, You Are My Spring. All leave me with a content sigh. ).
I think the pain is just too much and I care too much? Maybe?
Any advice? I know I am missing out.

I have watched several dramas which are tagged as "melodrama", but if I have to add "healing" to the equation, I guess only It's Ok to not be Ok, Just Between Lovers and My unfamiliar family fall into that category, being the last my favorite.

I'm looking forward to starting My Myster because of all the praise everywhere :)

Quirkycase, thank you for this thoughtful and insightful post. I also find myself increasingly drawn to stories of healing as I’m getting older. I especially like ones with bittersweet and/or open endings, which to me seem to better reflect life as it really is.

I adored My Ajusshi for all the reasons you stated. Many of the others people have already mentioned are among my all-time favorites: A Piece of Your Mind, My Liberation Notes, Just Between Lovers, and Do You Like Brahms. I can’t seem to find Human Disqualification on any legitimate service available here in the US; can anyone steer me in the right direction?

To the shows I think have already been mentioned here I would add:
It’s Okay Not to Be Okay
It’s Okay, This Is Love
Kill Me, Heal Me
You Are My Spring
Because This Is My First Life (I would put two of the relationships in the healing category.)

What I don’t like are shows that throw in the “traumatic past” trope in a way that doesn’t add anything to (or even diminishes) the drama. The forced marriage of rom-com and serious drama usually doesn’t work for me. For example—I really liked Secretary Kim, but I would have liked it a lot more without the whole childhood trauma plotline.

Lost souls finding love and healing in each other is my catnip too! (Well, one of them). Time to rewatch Just Between Lovers!

30 but 17 is a great healing romance.

Thanks for this lovely, thoughtful, and beautifully written essay. We share a preference for those dramas that heal through their beauty, writing, and healing story lines. Good dramas make me a better person - the eternal optimism of Park Bo Gum's character in 'Encounter' and the instinctual kindess of Kang Tae-Oh in 'Incredible Attorney Woo' - remind me of how I would like to be, how I should be.

I was happy to see kind words about 'A Piece of Your Mind' which despite it's lack of success locally and being cut-off prematurely at 12 episodes remains one of the most poetic dramas ever filmed.

While I can't imagine I will ever watch 'Squid Games,' I am grateful for the aesthetic of kindness and healing in my favorite dramas.

I haven't really delved into the healing melo subgenre yet, although I have plenty on my to-watch list. I did watch My Mister, but that was for different reasons, and while it's definitely melo, I never really thought of it in terms of healing before.

The closest to a healing melo I've gotten (and enjoyed) is Hometown Cha Cha Cha. It's decidedly Not melo, lol, but it is very healing, and I found the whole thing to be very soothing to watch.

@QuirkyCase & Others - re: kdrama for adults
After reading the essay and the comments, may I recommend:
••https://ki**asian.li/Drama/Alone-In-Love @720 (2006)
•https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alone_in_Love
•https://asianwiki.com/Alone_in_Love
[•https://mydramalist.com/profile/lesle]
•https://mydramalist.com/2346-alone-in-love