Non-Romantic (mostly friendship or plot-driven) dramas

I definitely really enjoy the psychological vibes to this. It's not exactly extremely thought-provoking or completely original, but I love the characters and their interactions a lot. 

honestly this show has so many things I don't even know where to begin. It does have romance but it's so sidelined and overwhelmed by everything else that its just ???? It's a mash of action, crime-solving, more action, schemes, and just a whole bundle of things that somehow actually work very well together.

bad guys fighting worse guys. The trio has good friendship and there's a lot of action. 

bodyguard and bodyguards, kinda similar to a police procedural but there's definitely a lot of human interactions and figuring out human intentions. Not psychological per see, but a lot of slice-of-life vibe.

def recommend if you're into action/team/life stories

(highly rec the 2nd season too)

heart-warming, slice of life story. If you love those warm happy life lessons or want a break from all the heavy stuff, this is definitely The One. The story is continuous so it's not one character per ep; instead, it's the lessons that they discover along the way. 

Also if you love nature or fun/weird facts, this one is full of them. 

Uncovering the past, action, friendships (bro), team

100% brainpower show. good humor, good characters, bit psychological (human nature) but it's not dark. Guy joins a game to save his girlfriend who got trapped. Runs into a lot of big brain games against other players (team vs team, player vs team, player vs player).  

highschool friendship. Honestly, don't go in with any expectation or whatever. Don't bother with any synopsis. Just watch it. 

fantasy, wuxia genre - I love the plot twists & big brain-ness (albeit it's not perfect but it's pretty good). There's some slight romance but if you tell urself that she's just his little sister, it's very easy to ignore bc that's basically how he treats her anyways. Lots of action & fancy stuff, highly rec if you're looking for action/suspense vibes

psychological show with boi genius and the police (mainly his police friend). Solve crimes but does uses some brain power. However, S1 focuses mostly on the crimes that happened to the ML that made him who he is. Full of twists though and the story is really intriguing. Season 1 is completely serious but S2 has added humor so you should watch both. 

Supernatural-ish, dude got shot in the head so he can see things. A bit dark? but honestly it's not dark and gruesome dark, it's more like you will never expect any pink unicorns while you're watching this but you won't expect any decapitated heads either. It's more like this intriguing supernatural vibe that has you on edge.

Wonderboy, his cool af brother and his childhood best friend vs. an evil organization. It's not dark or bloody or anything like that but it's not fluffy and light either.  It's a good mixture. If you're tired of gritty crime shows or pink unicorn romcoms but still want your daily dose of detectives and (very light) romance, this is your show. 

Really love the friendship b/w them and how they became this one big family. Kinda typical Japanese police procedural but I mean, u can neve have too much of it. 

(the 2nd one isn't as good bc the ml kinda got suddenly rlly aggressive??)

Dream-ish, crime, procedural, the bigger picture, friendship. A dude gets hit in the head and woke up in the past where he goes to work as a police. 

this is one of the best family-centric drama I've seen! The family is established and there's no romance and weird triangles stuff like that trying to sneak into the drama. It's funny yet emotional at the same time without making either cringe-worthy or uncomfortable. The characters are all concrete and realistic and the dialogues are amazing as well. The way the characters develop is also wonderful as it's a gradual process rather than spur of the moment. 

(this and Nirvana 2 are both good). Historical drama, focuses on plots, corruptions?, and it has really good friendship b/w the characters. 

the demon hunting trio: the priest, the boi who's a taxi driver??? and a detective. Thriller and definitely engaging throughout. Would rec if you're even the slightest bit interested. I was engaged throughout and didn't skip a single second for most of the episodes. 

you think the cover makes it all loveydovey with innuendos of a love triangle but not the slightest, at least not in this edition. It's just intelligent ppl being intelligent in a game.  Kinda thriller and very enjoyable, esp bc of ML's sharp intellect

5 kids growing up; its more about family + hardship than actual romance of the individual siblings

government-type drama, not entirely political but more of how government and society works. Kinda thriller type drama. Highly recommend. It's only 6 eps so the pacing is good and you really can't miss anything due to the number of technical terms.

terminal illness bad guy (but not bad bad guy, u know) tries to do some last good to save his family by going against his former friend. Highly rec if you want some good twists and memorable characters. Also highly rec for the big brain stuff; I love action shows, but having violence not be the solution for once is kinda refreshing (though not to say there's no action-y stuff here, but it's mostly big brain time for our ML)

Republican-era, the action is nicely executed and the characters are all full of interesting back-stories. I think I really love the ML and the way he looks, bc he's not like the typical extremely handsome kinda ML. Instead, there's something gruffy (but good-looking) about him that makes him perfect for the role. 

That aside, the romance is nonexistence but there's still very strong family element. You'll come to love even the alleged bad guys because of the human-way they're portrayed. 

Police, Revenge type of movie. IMO very well done and emotional. Romance is simultaneously the backbone of the film and nonexistent bc its revenge

psychometric guy can see the past by touching other people and things with his hands - solves a kidnapping case with the police - the relationship between the 2 ML is pretty nice

esport, strong friendship (no romance), OP ml (i think the author ships allYe or something srsly)

oh god can I just say I really loved this one? This is like, one of the best family feels + crime-solving drama I've ever seen. If you enjoy the father-son relationship and the general family bonding feel but also want some tension and action in the form of crime-solving and time-traveling, this is for you. I feel like it's definitely well-developed in that I suspected almost everyone. 

guy who works in forensic. case-style drama, kinda cliche at times but also fresh in some sense that I can't really put into words. Not a lot of romance but it's definitely acceptable. FL isn't a hindrance and while she doesn't seem to be there other than for the ML, she's a very nice support and character. Also father-son-ish feelings

Criminals, kinda vigilantes-ish vibe but def a bit dark and violence FYI.

Office life. Nepotism trouble but while the ML feels incompetent in the beginning, he is far from it. There's nothing 'special' about the ML and the way it's portrayed feels very realistic. If you're looking for quality character development as well as life lessons, this is it. 

typical japanese positive-energy show about friendship. However, I really love this one because it's not extremely cringy, over-the-top, and the games are actually pretty interesting at times.  I'm also a sucker for friendship so yeah there's that.