Best On-Screen Siblings
I love filial relationships portrayed on-screen, especially siblings. Here are my favourite sibling relationships in Asian film and TV. Just in case you're a sucker for that too.
PS Recommendations literally forever welcomed. :)
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1. Olá, Monstro
Korean Drama - 2015, 16 episodes
Lee Hyun recalls childhood memories that bring him back to Korea from abroad in search of answers in connection to the murder of his father and disappearance of his younger brother years earlier.
The siblings are at the centre of this series. The acting and chemistry between them is just excellent.
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2. Tudo Bem Não Ser Normal
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
Series about Moon Gang Tae, a psychiatric nurse, as he moves, with his older brother Moon Sang Tae, back to his hometown after many years.
The sibling relationship is just excellent here. It's so central to the characters. It's a great drama and the sibling relationship really just holds it together like glue.
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3. O Conto da Raposa de Nove Caudas
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
Lee Yeon, a nine-tailed fox, searches Seoul for his first love while he eradicates creatures that should not be there.
The relationship between Lee Yeon and his half-brother carry this show through. It was far more interesting than the romance for me personally and pulled me through the drama. It's a great, and complicated, sibling relationship.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7s9pHnIH9E or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvnkFbEq2yg
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4. Ele é Psicométrico
Korean Drama - 2019, 16 episodes
Lee Ahn aquires the ability to see the memories of a person or object by touching them when his parents die in a fire when he is a child.
This is not a biological sibling relationship. His guardian is like an older brother to him. It's a close bond between the characters that the story largely centres around.
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5. Meu Irmão Irritante
Korean Movie - 2016
Doo Yeong is a professional judo athlete. He has lost both parents and has one older brother, from whom he is estranged. When he is injured in a judo accident his brother gets parolled from prison to look after him.
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6. O Indomável
Chinese Drama - 2019, 50 episodes
Wuxia drama. BL-turned-bromance cause Chinese censorship exists.
Story centers around Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji after they discover a secret inadvertantly together during their school days. Hyjinks ensue.
Both leads have really great, fleshed out sibling relationships. Lan Wangji has a great, supportive relationship with his older brother. Wei Wuxian has an adoptive brother and sister, who he is very close to. There is also a great brother-sister relationship between two supporting characters, Wen Ning and Wen Qing.
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7. Jornada Fatal
Chinese Movie - 2020
This is a side story to The Untamed. It follows the relationship between Nie Huaisang and his older half-brother Nie Mingjue.
This is truly wonderfully written. I love their relationship a lot.
Warning though: the CGI is really, really not good and the costumes and set feel very cheap. I loved it cause I'm a sucker for loyal/important/complicated siblings in stories, but if stuff like cheap set and costumes as well as bad CGI bothers you it honestly might be a bit too much for you.
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8. Na Direção do Amor
Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes
An athlete complicates his life and career as his intolerance for injustice leads him to clash with powerful people.
Siblings are not at the centre of the story but there's multiple sibling relationships and they appear enough (and I like them enough) for it to be included on this list.
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9. Meu Príncipe Por 100 Dias
Korean Drama - 2018, 16 episodes
The crown prince gets seriously injured and suffers amnesia and gets taken in by the Hong father and daughter. According to a law the crown prince passed, the daughter must marry. So she proposes he and her get married.
The daughter has an older brother. While the sibling relationship is a background one in the runtime, it's central to the lives of both the characters and is very loving and loyal.
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10. Academia de Ótimos Homens
Thai Drama - 2019, 8 episodes
Female lead Love has a crush on a boy Vier, who attends an unusual all-boys school. She saves a unicorn and makes a wish. The wish results in her becoming a boy, a roundabout way of satisfying her wish to meet Vier.
Love's brother attends the same school. There is great development in their relationship.
(PS this drama is aimed at teens and is pretty wacky tbh. But I find it hilarious and I really like the quirks. Also the acting is just excellent, so that helps. CGI could be better, but what can you do lol.)
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11. My Sister
Chinese Movie - 2021
A young woman loses her parents and, somewhat unwillingly, becomes the guardian of her much younger brother.
This is a complicated sibling relationship. But it's honest and raw and explores the conflict between filial duty and indiviual freedom and desires. It's such a good and moving film.
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12. Eu Não Sou um Robô
Korean Drama - 2017, 32 episodes
It's about a man who is allergic to humans who ends up buying a robot AI that is uncannily human-like.
The female lead lives with her older brother, his wife and their child. She has a sometimes fraught relationship with her brother. But they have each other's back (mostly, when it counts).
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13. O Rei das Compras Louis
Korean Drama - 2016, 16 episodes
It's about a young chaebol who loses his memory in a car accident meeting a young woman who is from the countryside who is looking for her younger brother who ran away from home.
The female lead is very dedicated to her brother and his wellbeing. There are also non-sibling relationships that give off major sibling energy vibes in my not-so-humble opinion.