[Beanie Recs] Dramas about fangirling
by DB Staff
Ahoy, Beanies! It’s time to gather your collective genius for a recommendation series that features you and your drama knowledge. 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.
I’m watching Lovely Runner (and loving it so far!), but it got me thinking about how much fun it is to watch fangirls doing what they do best. I especially loved the bedroom all decked out with idol gear. Can you recommend other dramas where fangirling is a central part of the story? I think I’ve only seen Her Private Life and Reply 1997.
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 Seon-ha
April 17, 2024 at 5:19 AM
Nuthin' like the fangirl style of Jang Hee-ryung as Baek Da-hye in Sh**ting Stars. She's utterly adorable living out her fangirl fantasies of clooooosely working with the heart-throb Gong Tae-sung...while also being really good at her job!!
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HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
April 17, 2024 at 7:47 AM
She's probably the most adorable fangirl ever. She kept it together better than I would have in her shoes!! 😂
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23new2kdrama🫘🌱 ❤️WDH❤️
April 17, 2024 at 9:28 PM
Great example!! Her role in the show is so interesting.
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2 Springs
April 17, 2024 at 5:32 AM
In Healer, Chae Young Shin is a fangirl for Yoo Ji Tae as a reporter and Healer.
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Seon-ha
April 17, 2024 at 5:53 AM
She also had a poster of Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci on her wall, as a testament to one of her career role models !
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bong-soo
April 17, 2024 at 6:03 AM
Good memory. I forgot that.
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
April 18, 2024 at 10:30 PM
👋🏾Welcome back to the comments, great example.
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3 Bunny Sonaki
April 17, 2024 at 5:50 AM
The only one coming to mind other that what fellow beanies mentined and the ones you watched is Heveanly Idol. But it is a hot mess, at best.
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4 panshel
April 17, 2024 at 5:56 AM
Search: WWW Cha Hyeon (Lee Da-hee) fangirls over her favorite actor Seol Ji-hwan (Lee Jae-wook) and buys a gorgeous subway ad (the railway system, not the fast-food restaurant) for him with a message that will make you cry. Also, Bae Ta-mi (Im Soo-jung) was a "national producer" for her one-pick on Produce 101 Season 2 and cries over the "Nayana" piano version like all fangirls do.
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Soyesterday
April 17, 2024 at 7:17 AM
Cha Hyeon's reactions to every episode of "Whats Wrong With My Mother-in-Law", was one my favourite things about Search WWW.
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jillian
April 17, 2024 at 11:31 AM
Cha Hyeon and Ji Hwan's story is my fave of the series. LDH is absolutely adorable inbher fangirling here.
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5 Midnight
April 17, 2024 at 6:33 AM
There are a lot of normal fangirling/fanboying in any show that features an actor, writer, idol, reporter, chef, or any other successful/prominent job.
But Wild Romance takes fangirling to a whole other level! 😄
The whole family are fans of one baseball team, and fierce anti-fans of the leader of the rival team. Their dedication to their bias, and their commen sense, and how these affect their lives are shown in a very hilarious, intriguing, and shrewd way.
P.s. for my friend @reply1988: it's also a kinda psychological thriller.
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Midnight
April 17, 2024 at 6:40 AM
**Common sense
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Reply1988 -❣️Mother Bean❣️
April 18, 2024 at 10:33 PM
🫶Thank you for the heads up.
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6 latebloomer
April 17, 2024 at 6:51 AM
Castaway Diva. Mok-ha is Ran-joo's biggest diehard fan.
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7 zindigo
April 17, 2024 at 6:54 AM
Her Private Life is the drama that immediately comes to mind.
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zindigo
April 17, 2024 at 6:55 AM
Oops, just noticed it was mentioned in the original post!
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8 Gum Shoe
April 17, 2024 at 7:02 AM
1% of Something. Dada is a fan of Jisu, an up and coming singer. It’s more of a fan plus noona/mentor relationship, which is sweet, loyal and supporting.
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9 Aunt Tim
April 17, 2024 at 7:03 AM
Does Reply 1997 count?
The H.O.T-Sechs Kies fan wars were always hilarious and I will never forget that one episode where the whole auditorium went completely silent when both groups didn't win the grand prize😂
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Gikata
April 17, 2024 at 10:56 AM
I'm as much fed up with this franchise and its milked to death "who's the hubby" premise as everyone else, but Reply2012 could've do a second round on iconic fandom battles with a very shocking result... just sayin'.
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panshel
April 17, 2024 at 11:04 AM
Busker Buskered.
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Gikata
April 19, 2024 at 5:39 AM
Cherry Blossom Zombie nickname for the song forever sends me))) It's not in the charts rn btw - did the dominance ended after a decade finally?
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10 HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
April 17, 2024 at 7:45 AM
In Man to Man, the FL is the successful fangirl of the sort of SML/second lead who now works as his manager. The FL is an intense fangirl, but the fun of the drama is all about that hilarious bromance between the ML (Park Hae-jin) and second ML (Park Sung-woong)!!!
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Seon-ha
April 17, 2024 at 8:03 AM
Um, Hopeful? I have literally never heard of this drama. I mean, I've not heard of all dramas, but... 😂 I went back to look at the recaps here on DB and there I see @jillian and @alasecond and @spazmo and @lordcobol ... lots of known Beanies! Must have not been so great??
Any thoughts as to why it flies under the radar, so to speak? Because it's titled like a drama living on the shady-side of BL? 🤣
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alasecond
April 17, 2024 at 8:54 AM
oh yeah.. leads had no chemistry... and it wasn't exactly the BL kind of bromance.. but strictly bro type of bromance .. however wasn't as great as say Goblin ML-ML chemistry
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Babylilo
April 18, 2024 at 8:55 AM
“No chemistry” is exactly what I wrote in my notes after dropping the show after four episodes. Also, “Stupid story, annoying characters.” 😝
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alasecond
April 18, 2024 at 9:26 AM
ya FL was a turnoff and too bad because this was the drama that came after the cheese in trap fiasco with tvn and park hae jin
Midnight
April 17, 2024 at 9:17 AM
I don't know if M2M was the first show to ever be completely ruthlessly roasted on DB, but I sure always remember it as "The Roasted One".
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HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
April 17, 2024 at 10:19 AM
Ok so it's not GREAT, but if you want to see Park Hae-jin and Park Sung-woong doing comedy (I do) in a very weird spy thriller comedy (yes thank you), then it might be worth your time! I wasn't on DB at the time so was unaware of the roasting, and got to enjoy myself while watching. The drama might not be great, but the cast sure is! It's currently on Netflix US (and I think I saw it on Tubi)
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HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
April 17, 2024 at 10:20 AM
And about the no chemistry between FL and ML - yep, none; don't watch it as a romance. This is a comedy action thriller BROMANCE. 😂
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Unaspirated
April 18, 2024 at 5:05 AM
I had a great time watching this drama too! But the FL was a major drawback for me. I didn’t even mind that they had no chemistry at first because she was so annoying and the ML was faking being into her anyway - but I kinda wish it had stayed like that? When I think back on it though, I remember the fun more than I remember the things I didn’t love.
too_much_tv
April 17, 2024 at 10:45 AM
I think it does live on the shady side of BL! I watched most of it. I liked it, but I didn't finish it.
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jillian
April 17, 2024 at 11:29 AM
The main draw of Man to Man for me was the bromance. I felt bad for the FL.
Its a good casual watch but sadly forgettable.
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LaurenSophie
April 17, 2024 at 6:11 PM
I watched it a while back and it's a perfectly satisfactory time waster. The concept and some of the action sequences feel very Western-movie inspired to me. Kind of James Bond + Michael Bay meets kdrama tropes and conventions.
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LT is Irresistibly Indifferent and reminded of the slow march of death
April 17, 2024 at 10:16 PM
PMO and all I think M2M's front half is hilarious because it's about a genre clash between the male lead who think he's in a spy drama and the female lead who thinks she's in a romcom.
The show was way more tongue in cheek than people give it credit for and is full of re-enactments and references to other dramas. The back half kind of loses its way and it's never going to be listed as the world's greatest drama but it's a fun watch.
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Blue (@mayhemf)
April 17, 2024 at 8:38 AM
I dropped because the leads had no chemistry. I can these these two having a good bromance.
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spazmo
April 17, 2024 at 11:43 AM
okay, i keep saying the FL was supposed to be GOONEY, Over the Top and totally swooned by Park Hae Jin - as was Park Sung Woong!! it was hilarious to me, and the big twist at the end was the unlikely clincher for me!
the turnaround from the very very serious PHJ was sweet and funny at the same time.
i LOVED this drama - might be the only one!!
*winks*
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HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
April 17, 2024 at 11:56 AM
I'm glad I'm not alone in having enjoyed this drama!!!!! It really was such fun!!!! Park Hae-jin was very funny in this 😄 That scene where he's trying to spy on Sung-woong and the FL pickpockets him and he's so nonplussed and affronted that she was able to do that still makes me laugh thinking about it!
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 28, 2024 at 6:31 AM
He thinks of himself as extremely professional ... and then comes this *assignment*. Hee.
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tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 18, 2024 at 4:02 PM
I loved it too! It was hilarious.
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HopefulRomantic 🦋 Tigermoth 🦞
April 18, 2024 at 4:12 PM
🥳🙌
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 28, 2024 at 6:31 AM
👌💃
🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 28, 2024 at 6:46 AM
Might be a party of four - you, Hopeful, @enriquequierecagar and me!! 🍻 🥂
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technicat
April 17, 2024 at 9:19 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed Man to Man except for the last episode, rewatched it several times (except for the last episode). Made me a Park Sung-woong fan, so his comedic chops in Unlock My Boss wasn't a total surprise.
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 28, 2024 at 6:24 AM
That bromance was better than most Korean BLs. 🙀😊👏
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11 korfan
April 17, 2024 at 8:18 PM
The show that comes to mind is Secret Garden. While fangirling is not a super central part of the story, the main female character Gil Ra-im is a fan of idol-oppa, Oska. I even remember her having "Oska socks". Heh!
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 28, 2024 at 6:22 AM
That was fun also when she cooks for and makes heart eyes at Oska ... only she's in the ML's body and its Hyun Bin. 🙃♥️
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12 technicat
April 17, 2024 at 9:23 PM
In God's Gift: 14 Days, the daughter's fangirling is key.
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13 23new2kdrama🫘🌱 ❤️WDH❤️
April 17, 2024 at 9:26 PM
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14 Isa is always time travelling
April 18, 2024 at 12:11 AM
It's not a central part of the story but it has its relevance:
In Hometown Cha Cha Cha the cafeteria owner's daughter is a fangirl of a fictional idol group called DOS (later the two idols go to the town to participate in a variety show).
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technicat
April 19, 2024 at 12:44 PM
oh, that's a good one!
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15 tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 18, 2024 at 4:18 PM
1. The Best Hit.
The ML is a big fanboy of himself. He's an idol, then he travels in time and becomes his own fan. Kinda.
2. W.
The FL and her boss are fangirls of the ML. The ML... does sports.
3. Tantara (the entertainer).
The FL fangirls over the ML or SL. I don't remember. This one is in the music industry too, but they were a indie band and managers... Tbh, I don't remember.
4. Cheese in the Trap.
The SL goes full on sasaeng on the FL. 😂 It counts? He literally was EVERYWHERE. Wouldn't leave her alone.
5. Jealousy Incarnate.
I think the FL is fan of the ML and the SL is fan of the FL.... Something like that.
They're anchors.
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Isa is always time travelling
April 19, 2024 at 12:54 AM
LOL with your synopsis of The Best Hit and W 😅😂😂
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tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 19, 2024 at 1:03 AM
I know these are the most misleading synopsis ever written, but I was only trying to keep them on point and spoiler free. 😂
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🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 28, 2024 at 6:18 AM
I do wish Yoon Shi-yoon gets to read your synopsis for The Best Hit. 💃♥️👌
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Midnight
April 19, 2024 at 1:44 AM
Lol at W 😂
Spoiler alert:
In Jealousy Incarnate the sl wasn't a fan before knowing her in person. He only recognized her from the weather program and she was so happy that she was recognized saying that people don't take any notice of the weather forcast girl, that he later pretended to be her fan. That is actually one of the reasons I don't like him, he was never sincere, even though he really loved her.
End of rant,
Lee Hwashin stan.
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tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 19, 2024 at 2:12 AM
I did my best with W. 😂
Jealousy Incarnate:
Oh! Sorry! Tbh, my memory is trash, so I don't really remember much. But I think that I remember him being extra nice to her, and he would help her feel better when the other guy was kinda cold towards her. But I get what you mean.
(maybe I'm remembering that wrong too. Sorry if the ML wasn't cold or anything).
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Midnight
April 19, 2024 at 3:18 AM
Don't be sorry, the ml is a total point of controversy! I'm one of his very few fans!
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tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 19, 2024 at 10:54 PM
Oh, I didn't know.
I remember people disliking the love triangle and the FL, but I didn't know people disliked the ML.
alasecond
April 20, 2024 at 3:30 AM
i have a technical question though..
would ghostbusters be counted as fans of ghosts
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alasecond
April 20, 2024 at 3:31 AM
they chose this profession out of sheer awesomeness of the ghosts and fascination for the ghosts no?
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alasecond
April 19, 2024 at 11:06 PM
For W, add " .. The ML...does sports. And, he is a cartoon"
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tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 20, 2024 at 2:30 AM
That's what I wanted to keep spoiler free. 😂
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alasecond
April 20, 2024 at 3:29 AM
not a spoiler... it is literally the synopsis everywhere :D ...
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tabong is ironing the crosswalk
April 20, 2024 at 3:35 AM
It's for the people that don't read synopsis because they feel like spoilers (aka. me). 😆
16 Goyangi and the Camel Crickets
April 18, 2024 at 8:36 PM
Chicago Typewriter! Jeon Seol is a major fan of author Han Se Joo.
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17 🌸 Seeker 🌸
April 28, 2024 at 6:57 AM
The Harabeoji in The Business Proposal is a fan of the
fictionalmakjang drama Be Strong, Geum-hui.Also Ahn Yo-na in Kill Me, Heal Me fangirls over Omega.
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