Both of these korean BL miniseries focus on a grounded romance story between a young reserved chef and a disillusioned celebrity/celebrity-hopeful seeking respite. In these stories, the romance presents inspiration to both leads as well a conflict originating from the leads' different personalities.
Doona and To My Star are two series I could never get tired of rewatching. Both feature the grumpy x sunshine trope with an idol who's on hiatus due to a controversy. In one, the lead ends up living with him as roommates, and in the other, she lives just one floor below. And the angst with "stop using me because you're bored" trope hits hard in both??
similarities:
- korean bl
- miniseries
- cohabitation (the rich lead is forced to live with his love interest)
differences:
- “roommates of poongduck 304” is 8 episodes while “to my star” is 9
- “roommates of poongduck 304” has the tenant-landlord relationship trope
- “roommates of poongduck 304” is an office romance
- in “to my star,” the rich lead is a famous actor while in “roommates of poongduck 304,” he is the son of a businessman
- “to my star” has the grumpy/sunshine trope
- in “to my star,” the rich lead struggles with anxiety
- there is a sequel to “to my star”
- “to my star” deals with heavier themes and the color palette is darker in comparison to “roommates of poongduck 304” which is fairly lighthearted and funny
- korean bl
- miniseries
- cohabitation (the rich lead is forced to live with his love interest)
differences:
- “roommates of poongduck 304” is 8 episodes while “to my star” is 9
- “roommates of poongduck 304” has the tenant-landlord relationship trope
- “roommates of poongduck 304” is an office romance
- in “to my star,” the rich lead is a famous actor while in “roommates of poongduck 304,” he is the son of a businessman
- “to my star” has the grumpy/sunshine trope
- in “to my star,” the rich lead struggles with anxiety
- there is a sequel to “to my star”
- “to my star” deals with heavier themes and the color palette is darker in comparison to “roommates of poongduck 304” which is fairly lighthearted and funny
- both are bls
- both are fluffy (though half a kiss is much shorter, so it's fluff to the core)
- both have super cute relationships between the leads
- both vaguely revolve around food as a plot mechanism
to my star is a drama as opposed to a short film, so there is much less development in half a kiss and half a spice, but it's still very fun, and has a similar happiness to it that to my star does.
- both are fluffy (though half a kiss is much shorter, so it's fluff to the core)
- both have super cute relationships between the leads
- both vaguely revolve around food as a plot mechanism
to my star is a drama as opposed to a short film, so there is much less development in half a kiss and half a spice, but it's still very fun, and has a similar happiness to it that to my star does.