[Beanie Recs] Agonizing love story, please
by DB Staff
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 just finished devouring The Interest of Love and I’m looking for another drama that features a totally agonizing love line that hurts, frustrates, teases, and then ends on the bittersweet note of the OTP not together in the end. Call me crazy, but I love the pain. Got any recs for me?
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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Tags: Beanie Recs, Drama recommendations
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1 Unaspirated
May 17, 2023 at 5:07 AM
Beyond Evil? hahaha, kidding. (But also, kind of not kidding.)
Honestly the only one I can think of that I've watched might be Strangers Again. But to be honest, I liked this drama more for the discussions with fellow Beanies than for it's actual content. Hot takes galore.
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2 aicaramba
May 17, 2023 at 5:09 AM
The Third Charm -- I think it's too raw and real, I could never watch it again. And The World of the Married, blood-boilingly frustrating and agonizing!
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3 Kurama
May 17, 2023 at 5:20 AM
The Third Charm is really good and realistic.
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes will make you suffer a lot.
Que Sera Sera has characters who don't really know what they really want.
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4 jerrykuvira
May 17, 2023 at 5:41 AM
Call It Love.
My Liberation Notes. This one has three.
Strangers Again. Oooooh. This one really stretched it to the limit.
Search WWW. (One of the leads' relationship, I think Jeon Hye-jin's)
The Third Charm.
Queen Seon-deok.
Gwangaetto, The Great Conqueror (Damdeok x his first crown princess consort).
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wonhwa
May 17, 2023 at 5:52 AM
I do think Queen Seondeok takes the cake for "ooh, that didn't end well".
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Snow Flower
May 17, 2023 at 6:31 AM
I always thought that the OTP in QSD was DeokMan-YuShin rather than DeokMan- Bidam, but neither ended well...
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Seon-ha
May 17, 2023 at 6:08 AM
It’s interesting that you include Call It Love here, and I take your point. After some reflection, though, I’ve decided to interpret the final scene as them both getting one of their most heartfelt wishes: (1) alone with no one else in the world, and (2) she has received enough love to reveal her cute side. Perhaps wishful thinking…but that’s fine by me :)
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5 Snow Flower
May 17, 2023 at 6:20 AM
I'm Sorry I Love You: the OTP has so little precious time together, yet so much of it is wasted due to misunderstanding and noble idiocy. Hurts so good though...
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6 Minka
May 17, 2023 at 6:30 AM
I dropped Youth of May around episode 2, but I know this drama has the elements you are looking for, writer-nim.
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Snow Flower
May 17, 2023 at 6:31 AM
Yes!!!
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7 Minka
May 17, 2023 at 6:45 AM
OTP not together in the end… painful…
To be honest, the first drama on top of my head is Oh! Master. But the pain you might feel watching it will most likely be due to the poor storyline/script/directing. It was so bad it was excruciating to watch.
Sorry, this comment does not count as rec, but more of a warning.
I’m sorry Lee Min-ki and Na-na. I love you but…
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8 Gikata
May 17, 2023 at 7:00 AM
Just dropping by to thank everyone for your recommendations - they all will be noted to make sure I NEVER touch any of these shows)))
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Dorotka
May 17, 2023 at 9:29 AM
😄😄
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halofan68
May 17, 2023 at 9:58 AM
Ever since the trauma of Autumn in My Heart, I have Jedi mind-tricked myself such that only happy finales exist in drama-land for me. Just in case, I avoid any with autumn or winter in the title.
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Gikata
May 18, 2023 at 12:01 AM
I used to proudly claim that I'm ok with sad endings as long as they are done well, but a recent drama I loved madly concluded in such a so soul-crushing - literally! - way that it'll take a lot of time and effort to collect the remnants of my normal optimism back... Until then I'm firmly in your "HEs only" camp.
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Liadan
May 18, 2023 at 5:18 AM
Which drama do you have in mind? I'm asking, because I don't like sad endings and I always "spoil" myself to avoid them 😀
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Gikata
May 18, 2023 at 5:39 AM
Till The End Of The Moon. It's supposedly a bittersweet (lies!) open (not really) ending, but it requires self-gaslighting skills way above mine to see what we've got there as a satisfying conclusion.
parkchuna 🍉
May 19, 2023 at 4:44 PM
I started this thinking I’m ready for some agonising love stories but nope, I’m still in the happy ending camp too.
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Healer’s
May 18, 2023 at 6:31 PM
I loved Autumn in My Heart, one of my first kdramas. Personally, I think I felt it’s “better” for Song Seung Heon’s character that he jumped into that truck at the end, because if he continued living, wouldn’t it have been too hard on him? How could he have gone on? So although the ending is painful for us viewers and for their remaining family, I think it fit the drama itself.
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Suzeso
May 18, 2023 at 11:55 PM
Yep. I’m busily taking notes… of not what to watch!
I crave a happy ending, especially after a hard day dealing with other people’s drama 😩
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9 skirt
May 17, 2023 at 7:34 AM
Twenty-Five Twenty-One maybe. There is a huge uproar over the ending but I love it. I personally think it is the right ending.
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10 Nscrozier
May 17, 2023 at 7:39 AM
I just watched Twelve Nights and thought it was pretty brutal on the agonizingly frustrating meter . . .
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11 welh
May 17, 2023 at 8:15 AM
HI, BYE MAMA. You cannot root against any of the main characters. The sliver of hope was never meant to be for the OTP. The show ended in a proper way.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
May 17, 2023 at 6:26 PM
I definitely agree this is a perfect example, beyond sad.
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12 Babylilo
May 17, 2023 at 8:18 AM
- Mr. Sunshine
- Memories of the Alhambra (depending on your interpretation of the muddled ending)
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13 Dorotka
May 17, 2023 at 9:28 AM
What Happened In Bali.
Just warning, it is an old school k-melo... with a brutal ending.
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stove
May 17, 2023 at 10:38 AM
I was gonna say that. Shockingly painful.
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14 Zora
May 17, 2023 at 9:45 AM
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Need I say more?
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15 Cay_sbtgoG
May 17, 2023 at 10:33 AM
Not counting Call It Love, I realize it's been ages since I last enjoy romance in kdrama. The one that comes to my mind is Princess' Man. It's achingly beautiful. I grew attached to their forbidden love story. Call me weird but I kind of love their fierce love and their struggle and the heartbreak. It truly makes a precious love story.
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16 Ahjummaaa
May 17, 2023 at 10:38 AM
Gangnam Scandal...123 episodes of what you're looking for :)
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17 ladybug22
May 17, 2023 at 11:45 AM
Tree of heaven
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18 am1993
May 17, 2023 at 12:13 PM
Empress Ki has 2 agonizing love stories for the price of one.
Seven Days Queen (Pure agony with a more bitter than sweet ending)
Not a kdrama but the Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day might also fit the criteria. It is my personal fav bittersweet love story. Also the Chinese movie Better Days (another favourite) and the Japanese drama Soredemo, Ikite Yuku would be my other recommendations.
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19 Toodlepip
May 17, 2023 at 1:52 PM
Interest of Love. Such a frustrating ending (for me).
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20 technicat
May 17, 2023 at 3:39 PM
Immediately, I thought of I'm Sorry, I Love You with So Ji-sub and Im Soo-jung. The title just screams agonizing love story. If asked for a top ten list of agonizing love stories, I'd probably just pick ten episode from that drama.
Que Sera Sera, also already mentioned by others here, is a good one, though the ending is open to interpretation.
And then there's A Love to Kill with Rain and Shin Min-a, which I don't remember as being good, but it was agonizing, and there was a memorable kissing scene.
Finally, the movie More than Blue with Lee Bo-Young and Kwon Sang-woo.
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et865
May 17, 2023 at 6:32 PM
There is also 2 Taiwanese versions of More than Blue. There's a movie version and there's a Netflix series too. I binge watched the Netflix series in 2 days and pretty much cried through the whole thing!
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21 Alluvial_Fan
May 17, 2023 at 6:32 PM
No, nope, never again. So triggered by this thread. A simple word analysis comes up with every term associated with abusive relationships. This written by someone who sat in a parked car sobbing to Aretha Franklin's "Never Loved a Man".
Time to change the tune to I Will Survive.
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22 et865
May 17, 2023 at 6:34 PM
I don't think anyone has mentioned The Hymn of Death yet.
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23 Roriee
May 17, 2023 at 6:57 PM
I think the 2019 dramaPossessed will be right up your alley.
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24 Linarrick
May 17, 2023 at 6:59 PM
TITANIC 😉
Are we going for melo without a happy ending? Or just no happy ending in general?
It depends who you ship, but if you found yourself rooting for the ‘wrong’ guy I’d say both ANSWER ME 1994 & ANSWER 1988 would be a torturous experience. Particularly Jung-hwan’s ‘confession’ will KILL YOU. (Did not include ANSWER ME 1997 cause if you rooted for the teacher, I’m JUDGING you so hard right now)
DREAM HIGH S1
They worked so hard to be the best idols in the industry but at what cost? Love?
My LOVE FROM ANOTHER STAR & CRASH LANDING ON YOU
Both had bittersweet endings, one falls for an Alien who looks awfully like Kim Soo-hyun and the other falls for a North Korean solider who looks identical to Hyun-Bin
MY FIRST TIME
ML doesn’t get the ‘girl’. It’s about their friendship and his unrequited love.
ARCHITECTURE 101 (film)
Oh boy this didn’t age well. There are a LOT of famous actors in this and it fits your description but ummm with a big caveat, it features a lot of rapey dialogue…
SUNNY (film)
I wouldn’t say it was a torturous love, but it was the female lead’s first ‘unrequited’ love. Anyway the film is all about female friendships and one of my all time favourites
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technicat
May 17, 2023 at 9:18 PM
I really hated the ending of Architecture 101, compounded by the knowledge that the film was so popular.
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Linarrick
May 17, 2023 at 9:26 PM
Was it the ending of the past timeline or the present timeline? Either way same, but particularly in the past timeline I didn’t understand why the ML didn’t save the FL from the sleaze-bag who got her drunk and was having his way with her? Why didn’t he rescue her???
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technicat
May 17, 2023 at 9:39 PM
Yeah it was the date rape = unfaithfulness part of the "nostalgia" timeline that ruined it for me. First love, my ass.
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Linarrick
May 17, 2023 at 9:50 PM
Completely agree!
am1993
May 18, 2023 at 7:19 AM
I almost recommended Reply 1988 for the exact same reason you gave. That confession scene broke my heart harder than any of my past relationships.
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25 Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
May 17, 2023 at 7:14 PM
20th century girl has all that with a nostalgia element, in a bite sized format because it’s a film.
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Minka
May 18, 2023 at 5:41 AM
Ah yes! It was bittersweet.
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