Historical and fantasy dramas are great for people who look for something different from the typical rom-com genre and have a profound interest in ancient culture, and they appeal to people by representing their unique way of dressing themselves and talking more formally and respectably.
‘Joy Of Life is a historical Chinese Drama originally released in November 2019 and serves in the genres of Politics, Time Travel, History, and Rom-Com. Fan Xian is the son of two famous political persons. However, he lives with his grandmother in a small town but is born with a special ability to remember things of the modern world.
The real deal begins when he goes to the capital to uncover some truths about his life, where he also meets Lin Waner and falls in love with her. Certain incidents made him rethink his life goals of just casually enjoying his life. He further gets into a dilemma about whether he should just remain the same and continue enjoying his life or start taking action toward changing his goals and life.
Apart from the typical history and ancient culture, this show runs on humor. Fans were quite satisfied with the plot and loved the story delivery, with no exaggeration. The fun and humor elements acted like the cherry on the cake for the drama.
Some fans even expressed they couldn’t keep calm and had high anticipation and hope for ‘Joy Of Life S2’. While waiting for the most awaited season, you can include the following dramas in your list and continue enjoying the ‘Joy Of Life.’ If you haven’t already watched ‘Joy Of Life,’ then do check it out on ‘We TV.’
Also Read: 13 Based Historical Korean Dramas To Watch
List Of Dramas Like ‘Joy Of Life:
Alchemy Of Souls
The word alchemy means magic, and the whole drama revolves around the intertwining of souls.
It is a power-packed story about twisted fates and magic, quite different from what we see in Historical dramas. The leads happen to reside in an imaginary place like Daeho. Naksu is a powerful assassin who decides to switch her soul using the Alchemy of Souls, and her soul gets connected with Mu-deok’s body; as a result, Naksu loses all her power.
Mu-Deok, in real is blind and runs a shop in Daeho, but due to the intertwining of their souls, she finally can see things and somehow gets involved with Jang Uk [Male Lead]. Jang Uk was able to recognize Naksu due to the mark in her eyes and asked Mu-dock to be his master so that he could regain his powers.
Alchemy of Souls was highly appreciated by fans due to its perfect execution and inclusion of humorous scenes, and fans drooled over the pairing and chemistry between Mu-dock and Jang Uk. In short, it is a perfect combination of romance, fun, history, and fantasy. This drama is also followed by Season 2, which expands the storyline and chemistry between the protagonists.
- Cast: Lee Jae Wook, Jung So Min, Go Yoon Jung, Hwang Min Hyun
- Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Action
- Released: June 2022
- Episodes: 20
- IMDB Rate: 8.8/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Mr. Queen
The perfect one for those who want to give historical dramas a shot but feel they are boring. The name Mr. Queen may seem a bit odd to some, but the whole drama is about a modern-day man, Jang Bong Hwan, who works as a chef in a famous hotel. Suddenly, one day, he meets an unfortunate incident, and time travels back to the Joseon era.
This time, he wasn’t a man, but his soul transformed inside the body of Parasite Movie Ending Explained: What Happened To The Kim Family? Cheorin, the wife of King Cheoljong. Confused by the whole thing and scenario, Jang Bong tries to figure out what happened to him and eventually tries many methods to go back to his old life.
King Cheoljong falls in love with Jang Bong, who thinks of him as the queen. Jang Bong avoids falling in love with the king at first, but his current reality of being a queen couldn’t stop him from falling for the king.
Will Jang Bong be able to go back to his current self, or will his soul forever reside in the body of the queen? The best way to satisfy your curiosity is to include this drama in your next watch list.
Actress Shin Hye-Sun gained massive popularity for her role in Where is Lupin Filmed? The French Series Production Locations, and this drama captivated viewers’ attention for its amazing storyline and mostly for its funny scenes, which made fans giggle with laughter.
- Cast: Shin Hye Sun, Kim Jung-Hyun, Seol In-ah
- Genre: Rom-com, Fantasy
- Released: December 2020
- Episodes: 20
- IMDB Rate: 8.6/10
- Streaming Platform: We TV
Also Read: Mr. Queen Cast: Don’t Miss Out On Their Hilarious Chemistry
Hwarang
Hwarang is typically set up in the period of [Silla], which was ruled by Queen Jiso. Afraid of the nobles who were quite in power and were supposed to snatch over her throne and introduce the bone rank system, she set up a young group of boys known as Hwarangs who were trained in a way to protect the kingdom,
Moo Myung, a member of the Hwarang group, came to Silla with a different objective. Moo Myung’s best friend was tragically killed, and Moo Myung happens to blame King Jinheung for his best friend’s death.
King Jinheung was Queen Jiso’s son and was forced by her mother to live under a different identity and name him Ji-Dwi. Unaware of this fact, Myung developed a good relationship with Ji-dwi, and their brotherly relationship and moments were worth watching. They ruled the entire hwarang team with their bond.
It was a complete irony for Moo Myung, who had no idea about who Ji-Dwi was. The story also shows a love triangle between the leads and the actors who did a supportive role, too, did an excellent job in making the show a hit and famous.
- Cast: Park Seo Joon, Park Hyun Sik, Go Ara, Kim Taehyung Of BTS, Go Ara
- Genre: Rom-Com, Comin Of Age Story
- Released: 2016
- Episodes: 20
- IMdb Rate: 8/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: Park Seo-Joon Net Worth
Tale Of Nokdu
The story depicts a young man who is on a mission to find the person behind his family’s death. While following one of the assassins who killed his family member, he went inside a village that was specially made for women.
To find the culprit behind the murder, Nokdu disguises himself as a pretty young girl and stays in the village for the time being. As a man, it was difficult for him to stay with a bunch of ladies, but his acting and appearance didn’t give a chance to the villagers to doubt him.
Nokdu shared a room with Dong Ju, who was being trained to become a Gisaeng who was on a mission to take revenge on the king’s son.
The initial episodes were quite funny to witness when Nokdu changed his voice and started wearing the dresses worn by women to find the mystery and reason behind his family’s death.
As time passed, Nokdu’s identity was revealed, and they started developing feelings for each other. This drama shows light and beautiful romance between the leads. However, things get heated up when Dong Ju comes to know that the real son of the king is Nokdu.
- Cast: Jang Dong Yoon, Kim So Hyun, Kang Tae-Oh
- Genre: Rom-Com, Historical
- Released: 2019
- Episodes: 32
- IMDb Rate: 7.8/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
100 Days My Prince
This story is about Lee Yul [The Crown Prince], who has a very traumatic past due to his father’s actions. He was forced to marry the crown princess and continues being resentful towards his father, who was responsible for the destruction of his childhood love family.
Lee Yul’ thought his childhood love Yi-Seo and her family were dead, but he had no idea that Yi-Seo and her brother escaped to another village and were still alive.
Lee-Yul was being followed and was supposed to get killed, but he somehow escaped from the mishap and lost his memories. Everyone thought Lee Yul was dead, but in reality, after losing his memory, he stays in an unknown village as a commoner. But little did he know that he was destined to meet his childhood love, Yi-seo, who changed her identity to Hong Shim, who got married eventually.
- Cast: Do Kyungsoo, Kim Seon-ho, Han So-hee
- Genre: Rom-Com, Historical
- Released: 2018
- Episodes: 16
- IMDB Rate: 7.8/10
- Streaming Platform: We TV
Also Read: Exo D.O Net Worth: How Much Does The 100 Days In My Prince Star Make
Rookie Historian
It is a story about a powerful, strong female lead, Hae-Ryung, who is an example of a perfect feminist. Previously, females were quite undervalued, but Hae-Ryung was the opposite of what females were like. A 26-year-old strong female who is quite educated in comparison to her peers.
She wasn’t interested in marriage and continued to gain knowledge in history, although almost every time she was looked upon for being a female historian, she had an interest in serving poor and underprivileged people.
On the other hand, Yirim [Male Lead] lived alone in an isolated village and was also a famous novelist who wrote romance novels under the pen name of Maehwa, and he was quite famous among the female population.
The whole drama further states how they fell in love mostly with the main lead, Cha Eun-Woo, for showcasing his fun side, which was very rare to see for K-drama fans. However, fans expressed they expected a much more romantic element, while others were quite content with the whole plot being a light drama.
- Cast: Cha Eun Woo, Shin Se Kyung,
- Genre: Rom-Com, Historical
- Released: 2019
- Episodes: 20
- IMDB Rate: 8.1/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: Best Cha Eun-Woo Dramas That Will Make You Fall In Love Again
The Untamed
The Untamed is one of the most famous Chinese dramas, which is adapted from a popular novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi. The story is about Wen Wuxian and Lan Wangji. The two of them were set to fight against the Wen clan, who happened to be the reason for all the misfortunes and murders in their village.
The two of the main leads were quite the opposite and, however, joined their hands together to protect the weaker clans.
While the two young lads were in the process of protecting and fighting for the clans, in an unfortunate situation, Wen Wuxian went missing for around 16 years but returned and again joined hands with Lan Wangji to continue their operation together.
Moreover, regarding the plot, the chemistry between the two male leads made the fans quite content. The way they portrayed their emotions, trust, and friendship set the bar high for the drama fans.
The Untamed is often explained as a drama that is perfectly executed and written.
- Cast: Xiao Zhan, Wang Yibo
- Genre: Fantasy, Friendship, Mystery
- Released: 2019
- Episodes: 50
- IMDB Rate: 8.8/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
The King Eternal Monarch
The story shows two parallel worlds, that is, 1994 and 2019. Lee Gon’s [Main lead] father, who was the kind of Kingdom of Corea, was brutally killed by his own brother, and Lee Gon himself was stabbed by his uncle to acquire the famous flute, which had supernatural powers.
However, Lee Gon gets saved by an unknown person at that time who also leaves some clues regarding her identity but the magic flute containing the supernatural powers breaks into two pieces, and each of them remains with Lee Gon and his uncle.
In search of the person who saved him, he time travels to 2019 through the forest using the flute, and he finds things are quite different than they used to be. He then meets his lady love, Tae-eul, who saves Lee Gon from the tragedy.
But the story doesn’t end here; and Lee Gon finds his murderer uncle, who has been hiding in the parallel world, and continues to find and seek revenge on him.
- Cast: Lee Min-ho, Kim Go-Eun, Woo Do-hwan
- Genre: Romance, Fantasy
- Released: 2020
- Episodes: 16
- IMDB Rate: 8.1/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
Also Read: Who Is Lee Min Ho’s Girlfriend? Take A Look At The Actor’s Dating History
Lovers Of The Red Sky
The story is about a painter and an astrologer who was born on the same day. Cheon Gi, also known as the first female painter of their time, gets involved with the astrologers who were destined to be together to trap the demon god.
The whole plot revolves around the Dan Dynasty. Cheon Gi’s father was a painter who did a famous painting to trap the soul of the Demon god Mawang[God Of Death]. Ha Ram, the male lead, was born with the energy of water and was asked to give his support for the rain-making rituals.
Ha-Ram met Cheongi when he came to perform the rain-making ritual. These two made many pleasant memories with each other, but an unfortunate situation happened during the rain-making ritual when the Portrait in which the Demon God was captured got burned and entered into Ha-ram’s Body.
However, they met after years and fell in love again with each other. They further joined their hands together and planned to save their palace from the evil Demon God.
- Cast: Ahn Hyo Seop, Kim Yoo-Jung
- Genre: Romance, Fantasy
- Released: 2021
- Episodes: 16
- IMDB Rate: 7.6/10
Mr Sunshine
It is a story about a young boy, Choi Eugene, who flew to the United States after the death of his parents and again returned to Korea to carry out a mission and fell in love with the aristocrat’s daughter, Ae-Shin.
Mr. Sunshine became the 6th most popular drama in Korea and received one of the highest ratings in history. There are several reasons why this drama became everyone’s favorite historical drama, starting from the cinematography, the well-executed plot, relationships, romance, and the chemistry between the leads and the acting portrayed by the leads.
It is also well known for its traumatization, where the main leads drifted apart due to the death of the main lead. Although fans were completely hooked on this drama, they still expressed how it would have been much better if they had kept the main actor alive.
- Cast: Lee Byung Hun, Kim Taeri
- Genre: Romance, Historical
- Released: 2018
- Episodes: 24
- IMDB Rate: 8.7/10
- Streaming Platform: Netflix
