High-school dramas have a different type of craze. It is not always about being lovey-dovey with each other but also gives us a nostalgic feeling about our school days, our first crush who was completely out of our league, and helps us relive those precious moments spent with our friends. A Love So Beautiful is a Chinese drama originally released in 2017; a story about two individuals who live in the same neighborhood and go through different stages of life altogether.
Chen Xiaoxi (female lead) is the epitome of cuteness, and her bubbly nature makes the viewers fall in love with her. On the other hand, Jiang Chen (male lead) comes as a completely different individual, an introvert who gives all attention to his career. Jiang is Xiaoxi’s first love. Xiaoxi isn’t skeptical about showing her love and admiration towards Jiang, but Jiang keeps on rejecting her love and continues to play the tough male lead character in the first half of the show.
Things get spiced up when the second male lead, Wu Bosong, starts developing feelings for Xiaoxi. Jiang’s hidden love for Xiaoxi slowly starts getting recognized, and the jealousy factor pops up between the trio. The show kept the fans hooked throughout the entire time; the show got recognition worldwide for reminiscing the good old days of our lives and also portrayed the difficulties we faced while transitioning from teenage to adulthood.
10 Dramas Like A Love So Beautiful
If dramas like ‘A Love So Beautiful’ intrigue you and hit that nostalgia for your school days, do not miss including the following dramas in your next watch list. And if you haven’t already watched ‘A Love So Beautiful,’ check it out on ‘We TV’.
1. Meteor Garden
Shancai (female lead) has a poor financial background. However, her determination and hard work got her accepted to one of the most prestigious universities in China, to which only the rich kids had access. Shancai thought life was settled after she got into her dream university, but little did the poor girl know what her future held onto.
Some uncertain events involved her with F4, four boys who ruled the entire school, and messing with them equals receiving a red card. Receiving the red card was a nightmare for every student; it destroyed their whole school life and included rigorous bullying.
Things became tough between Shancai (female lead) and Ming Si (Male lead), but Shancai’s daring nature and fearlessness made him fall in love with her, which also led to creating a beautiful bond between the F4 and Shancai.
Enemies to Lover troupe has always remained superior among the viewers, especially fans who go insane when the tough-hearted rebellious male lead starts becoming soft for the female lead. ‘Meteor Garden‘ has all the emotions that you may be looking for, whether you are a sucker for the enemies-to-lover troupe, enjoy watching high school k-dramas, or love the combo when the rich male lead falls head over heels for the poor female lead.
Meteor Garden is one of the most popular C-dramas, released in 2018, inspired by the Japanese Manga ‘Boys Over Flowers.’
- Cast: Dylan Wang, Shen Yue, Darren Chen, Caesar Wu
- Genre: Rom-com, Youth
- Released: 2018
- Episodes: 49
- IMDB Rate: 7.9/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: How To Watch Meteor Garden? Streaming Details Of The C-drama
2. Reply 1998
You definitely should not miss this. Watching this one takes us back to the golden days of our lives; this drama has the energy to heal someone.
The plot revolves around five friends with five different personalities who live in the same neighborhood, starting from eating to studying together; they spent their entire childhood spending time with each other. The bond between the families was extraordinary, too, ready to help each other whenever possible.
Deok Sun(female lead) is the most outgoing; her funny personality entertains the viewers throughout the show. Deok-sun madly falls in love with Sun-woo(one of those five friends) but soon learns that Sun-Woo has a crush on her elder sister.
Truly, the entire scene was something else; rather than feeling sad for Deok-sun, her acting made the audience tear up with laughter. But the plot came when Jung-hwan and Choi-Taek fell in love with her. The show also portrayed how many changes we undergo and the character development every person has when they grow up.
- Cast: Lee Hyeri, Ryu Jun-Yeol, Go Kyung Pyo, Park Bo Gum, Lee Dong Hwi
- Genre: Rom-Com, Youth
- Released: 2015
- Episodes: 20
- IMDB Rate: 9.2/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
3. Lighter And Princess
The plot and the characters immersed the audience in the show, quite different from what we see in cliché college romance dramas. The story revolves around Sang Zhi, who belongs to a well-to-do family and gets accepted into the top university in China to pursue her career in ‘Computer Science’ On the other hand, Lixun became popular on the first day of university itself due to his blasé attitude and his golden hair color.
Their conflicting characters clash in the initial episodes; Sang Zhi forces Lixun to attend the study sessions to help her best friend Fang Zhi, the class representative. However, Lixun doesn’t seem to care about these things, as he uses all his time and energy on his laptop and coding.
But slowly, two hardworking college students united and soon started working together on college projects. Pulling up all-nighters together to win the champion prize in a competition, they started getting closer and confessed their love for each other.
Their dream of staying together and starting a startup included many hindrances, but they faced it boldly against every odd that came across their path. It gives us a clear picture of the sheer pressure every individual goes through during their college life.
- Cast: Chen Feiyu, Zhang Jingyi, Zeng Keni, Zhao Zhiwei
- Genre: Romance, Youth
- Released: November 2022
- Episodes: 36
- IMDb rate: 8.2/10
- Streaming Platform: Viki
Also Read: How To Watch Lighter And Princess?
4. The Heirs
The Heirs means inheritors, a story of a bunch of kids belonging to the elite class of Korea who are the next inheritors of their family business, and the other side of the world where some kids work dead-end jobs to support their family. As the inheritor of a large royal business in Korea, Kim Tan (male lead) lives a luxurious life and is taught all articulates to become the next successor of their family business.
On the other hand, Eun Sang lives a contrary life to the rich kids. Her mother works as a housekeeper in Kim Tan’s house, and both reside in the same luxurious house of Kim’s Family.
After returning from California, Kim Tan got admission to the same school as Eun Sang, and the typical story of the poor, attractive girl that caught the attention of the rich dude unfolds. The Heirs became one of the most-watched dramas in Korea; the craze and popularity of the respective casts subsequently increased after the show aired.
- Cast: Lee Minho, Park Sin Hye, Kim Woobin, Kim Jiwon, Park Hyung-Sik
- Genre: Romance Drama Teen
- Released: October 2013
- Episodes: 20
- IMDB Rate: 7.8/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: The Heirs cast: Where Are They Now?
5. True Beauty
The perfect High School drama not only shows romance and bullying but also inspires the youth to start accepting themselves, seek inner beauty, and give us a clear picture to choose our friends wisely.
Lim Joo-Kyung (female lead) was considered ugly according to the toxic beauty standards of Korea right from the moment she was born. Her childhood included judgments about her looks, and she faced severe school bullying.
Joo-Kyung then transfers to another school, trying to have a fresh and new start in her life; she chooses makeup as her companion to look better. Joo-Kyung started looking completely different after she mastered the skills of makeup, along with a new look. It came with self-confidence and a new personality.
The entry to her new school life was completely different from her previous school, and she got herself involved with the most popular boys in her school, Suho and Han Seo-Jun. Watch ‘True Beauty’ to see how things get spiced up between the iconic trio.
- Cast: Moon Ga-Young, Cha Eun Woo, Hwang In-Yeop, Park Yoona
- Genre: Rom-com, Highschool drama
- Released: December 2020
- Episode: 16
- IMdb Rate: 8/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: Cha Eun-woo K-dramas That Will Make You Believe In Love Again
6. Extraordinary You
Even though ‘Extraordinary You’ is the perfect high school drama to binge upon, this show relies on a fantasy world. Dan-oh(Female Lead) suddenly realizes she’s in a comic and fantasy world where she has a minimal side role, gets engaged with a rude boy, and dies early due to heart disease.
Dan-oh can’t accept her being a poor side character and goes on trying different methods to change her destiny; during her journey to change her destiny, she meets Haru (Male Lead) appears out of nowhere.
Haru looks exactly like the dream man Dan-oh visualizes and falls in love with him. But as Dan-oh goes on changing her destiny, she faces the consequences of her actions.
‘Extraordinary You’ became one of the most-watched Korean dramas due to its unique plot; fans even commented like typical K-dramas and couldn’t predict what would happen in the next episode.
Like ‘Reply 1998’ and ‘A Love So Beautiful,’ fans still express their emotions about going through the second lead syndrome because of Baek Kyung.
- Genre: Rom-Com, Fantasy
- Released: October 2019
- Episodes: 32
- IMDB Rate: 7.8/10
- Streaming Platform: We TV
Also Read: Extraordinary Cast: Get To Know The Extraordinary Actors
7. Exclusive Fairy Tale
A simple yet soft drama about two neighborhood besties. Ling Chao(Male Lead) and Xiao Tu(Female Lead) grew up in the same neighborhood and were almost the same age. Xiao Tu was 6 months older than Ling Chao and always came in protection when he was in trouble.
Xiao Tu took care of Ling Chao throughout his entire childhood and tried to fulfill the role of an elder sister to him. Ling Chao was an absolute genius but was not quite content with his life as his father left their home when he was young.
Xiao Tu’s priority was Ling Chao, but they never considered him more than a younger brother. He slowly started developing his feelings for her since she was Ling Chao’s only friend and support system.
During the last few episodes, fans were shipping these two actors because of their breathtaking on-screen chemistry, and some commented that a light drama like this helped them relax a bit from their busy lives.
- Genre: Rom-Co
- Released: 2023
- Episodes: 24
- IMDB Rate: 8.1/10
- Streaming Platform: iQIYI
8. Put Your Head On My Shoulder
Confused with her life, Situ Mo, an accounting major, wanders around what to do in her life. One day, Situ Mo’s mother forced her to leave the dorm and get shifted with her childhood friend’s son, Gu Wei.
Gu Wei was a complete introvert, quite settled in his life, and had his future planned out well; being opposite each other, they bickered around in the initial days of their stay, which was more difficult for the easygoing Situ Mo.
But staying together, they started knowing more about each other, and those little bickering turned to having a sweet crush on each other. It was unusual for Gu-wei as he acted completely differently after getting closer to Situ-Mo.
From hating to staying with each other to staying in a live-in relationship and getting married, their chemistry made fans giggle with love. This simple yet cute drama became so famous that whenever the word Chinese drama came up, fans couldn’t stop bringing about how warm this drama was.
- Cast: Lin Yi, Zing Feyi
- Genre: Romance, Life, Youth
- Released: April 2019
- Episodes: 24
- IMdb Rate: 8/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: Put Your Head On My Shoulder Cast: Where Are They Now?
9. Our Beloved Summer
The chaos that happens when two opposite characters fall in love; Kook Yeon-Su is the top student of their school who often seems cold and prefers to stay alone.
The reason behind her coldness was her childhood was filled with grief; she lost both her parents at a very young age and lived with her grandmother. Her main goal was to work hard and get settled in a good job to support her grandmother.
On the other hand, Choi Woong is like a free bird in the sky; he doesn’t care about studies and spends his days sleeping and drawing. On the contrary to Kook-Yeon Su, he ranked last in his class.
They clashed when a broadcasting company came to their school to film a documentary of the daily lives of the top and the lowest-ranked students. Their bickering while shooting the documentary was worth watching; keeping up with the theory of ‘Opposites Attract, ‘ their documentary became a huge hit in Korea.
Slowly, from being enemies, they started falling for each other. Their high school love period made fans crush them, and their chemistry made fans ship them in real life.
But it was difficult for them to maintain it as they both had quite different backgrounds. The whole drama further depicts how they reunited again; apart from romance, one common thing throughout the show was peak humor, which keeps us entertained and gives us a slice of our youth days.
- Cast: Choi Woo Sik, Kim Dami
- Genre: Rom-Com
- Released: December 2021
- Episodes: 16
- IMDB Rate: 8.2/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: Our Beloved Summer Ending Explained: YeonSu And Woong’s Love Story
10. Hidden Love
This swoon-worthy drama, released in June 2023, has taken over everyone’s feed; their adorable chemistry made the fans speechless. Sang Zhi had a crush on her brother’s best friend when she was only 13y/o, without knowing they were destined to be each other. She again encountered Jia Xu when she came to 11th grade; Jia Xu cared for Sang Zhi as a younger sister and adored her a lot.
But Sang Zhi couldn’t help falling in love with Jia Xu’s gestures and develops strong feelings for him. Jia Xu had struggles to fight for; he worked day and night to clear off his family’s debts.
With Sang Zhi’s arrival, his life transformed completely; from going through the tough days alone, he now had someone to rely on. Their support, love, and care for each other portray a perfect relationship. Their chemistry made a special place in everyone’s heart and made everyone obsessed with them. Fans keep demanding Hidden Love S2, but still, there is no news regarding it.
- Cast: Zhao Lusi, Chen ZheYuan, Victor Ma
- Genre: Rom-Com
- Released: June 2023
- Episodes: 25
- IMDB Rate: 8.7/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: 10 Dramas Like Romance Is A Bonus Book
