If you are tired of watching romantic kdramas or you want to get a grip on your daydreaming after watching so many romantic dramas, anyone can get swayed by those rom-com dramas with the rugged good looks, the love-struck promises, and a chivalrous man who’d cross the lands for you, or you are never into romance. If you’re looking for Korean dramas with little to no romantic element, regardless of the reason, you’ve come to the right place.
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Here Are The Top 15 Best Non-Romantic K-dramas
We have covered here the best possible Korean dramas that aren’t particularly romantic. If you are in the mood to watch something thrilling, mysterious, suspenseful, horror-filled, or eye-grabbing, then this list of K-dramas is for you.
1. Vincenzo
- Episodes: 20
- Release Date: February 20–May 2, 2021
A story of Park Joo Hyeong, who had been adopted by an Italian family when he was eight years old. He is now an adult and works for the Mafia as a consigliere under the name Vincenzo Cassano. He has disagreements with the mafia organizations, and when a conflict breaks out between them, he flees to South Korea, where he gets involved with attorney Hong Cha Young. She is the kind of lawyer who will do everything it takes to win a case. But eventually changes her attitude and joins Vincenzo Cassano in the fight for justice.
2. All Of Us Are Dead (2022)
- Episodes: 12
- Release Date: January 28, 2022
All of Us Are Dead follows an outbreak of a virus that occurs at Hyosan High School. Students who are infected quickly turn into zombies who devour humans. Students battle for their lives while attempting to escape from school. The students are desperate to get out of school and will do anything to avoid turning into zombies. This drama will definitely give you chills down the spine.
3. My Mister
- Episodes: 16
- Release Date: March 21, 2018
My Mister is a drama about an underprivileged and indebted young woman who is trying to remain alive while caring for her deaf, ailing grandma and working a part-time job. Her unexpected friendship with one of her similarly miserable superiors is scrutinised and manipulated by their coworkers, friends, and dysfunctional families. They come together, forging new relationships, keeping pieces of themselves hidden but ultimately mending one another’s old traumas, despite the weight of their existence.
4. The Penthouse
- No. of episodes: 48
- No. of seasons: 3
- Release Date: Oct.2020 –Sep 2021
The Penthouse is set in a luxury high-rise building with 100 floors. The 100th floor is the most luxurious one, and everyone in the apartment wants to live on the 100th floor. A series of events started happening when a girl died after falling from the penthouse. In order to keep their apartment prices high, the club members get rid of her body. This drama is full of suspense and a series of murders, one after another.
5. Sky Castle
- Episodes: 20
- Release Date: November 23, 2018 – February 1, 2019
Sky Castle is the name of a wealthy private town in which rich doctors and professors reside. The drama depicts the ins and outs of how noblewomen ensure that their children attend the best universities in the world. It’s a comedic satire drama that takes a detailed look behind the scenes at the materialistic goals of Korea’s upper-class parents, who are adamant about turning their family into a line of physicians and attorneys from father to son.
6. The Uncanny Counter
- Episodes: 16
- Release Date: November 28, 2020 – January 24, 2021
The Counters, who work as noodle shop employees during the day and as demon hunters at night, have extraordinary skills to hunt out bad spirits who prey on humanity.
7. Sweet Home
- Episodes: 10
- Release Date: December 18, 2020
Sweet Home follows the story of a boy (Song Kang) who shifts into a new apartment after the death of his family. In his new apartment, he starts to witness frightening things, like humans turning into monsters. Now he and the neighbors struggle to survive. Turn off the lights and feel the chills of this steamy horror drama.
8. Kingdom
- No. of seasons: 2
- No. of episodes: 12
- Original release: January 25, 2019.
The first season of Kingdom is set during Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, three years after the Imjin War, and follows Crown Prince Lee Chang and his servants as they come across an abnormal plague that resurrects the dead. During his probe into a developing political intrigue and reports of Joseon’s death. In the middle of the turmoil and death, Chang encounters allies who try to stop the virus from spreading deeper into the province in the city-state of Sangju, only to learn that the plague has already been adopted.
The second season continues amid Lee Chang’s battle to protect his people from the plague and his dynasty from the manipulations of the powerful Haewon Cho clan, which is hiding a deadly secret.
9. Taxi Driver
- Episodes: 16
- Release Date: April 9 – May 29, 2021
Taxi Driver follows the story of Kim Doki, who graduated from the Navy School and became an officer of the UDT (Underwater Demolition Team). His mother was murdered by a serial killer, after which his life changed. Kim Doki is currently a deluxe taxi driver and works for a rainbow taxi company. The company is not an ordinary taxi company. The company offers a special “revenge call” service. If the customer asks for revenge, Kim Doki and the staff will provide the service.
10. My Name
- Total Episodes: 8
- Release Date: October 15, 2021
My Name follows Yoon Ji-woo (Han So-hee), whose father passed away suddenly. She longs for revenge on the man responsible for her father’s death. Ji-woo Yoon works in the Dongcheongpa drug club. Choi Moo-jin (Park Hee-soon), is the boss of a drug gang. To uncover the cause of his father’s death with Choi Mu-jin’s help, Yoon Ji-woo enlists in the police and becomes a mole in a drug trafficking gang. Yoon Ji-woo was assigned to the drug investigation team of the National Police Agency. Her partner is detective Jeon Pil-do (Ahn Bo-Hyun).
11. Happiness
- Episodes: 12
- Release Date: November 5 –; December 11, 2021
Happiness is a thriller drama set in a newly built apartment where a deadly infectious disease starts to spread. The apartment got sealed by the government authorities and is under martial law, the residents struggle to survive and commit grave crimes in order to survive.
12. Squid Game
- Episodes: 9
- Release Date: September 17, 2021
The Squid Game is a survival drama where 456 people who are highly in debt are invited to play a children’s game, and the one who wins all the games will be rewarded with a large cash prize. The drama starts with a man named Seong Gi Hun, who is a gambler who is highly in debt and a divorced father who lives in a small apartment with his mother and daughter.
13. Money Heist Korea Joint Economic Area Part I
- Episodes: 6
- Release Date: June 24, 2022
In “Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area” brilliant strategists and robbers with varying personalities and skills battle against exceptional variables during an unprecedented hostage robbery set against the backdrop of the unification of the Korean Peninsula. It is a remake of the popular Spanish thriller drama ‘Money Heist.’
14. Tomorrow
- Episodes: 16
- Release Date: April 1 – May 21, 2022
Tomorrow follows the story of Choi Jun-woong (Rowoon), who was involved in an unfortunate accident while struggling to find a job tomorrow. As a result, his path intersects with the gods of death, Goo Ryun (Kim Hee Sun) and Lim Ryung Goo (Yoon Ji-on), who work together to save the lives of people attempting suicide, and eventually Choi Jun Eun becomes the youngest member to join their team.
15. Again My Life
- Episodes: 16
- Release Date: April 8, 2022
Again My Life follows Kim Hee-Woo (Lee Joon-Gi) who had the lowest academic grades in his high school. Kim Hee-Woo enrolled at a university and subsequently passed the bar exam after putting in a lot of effort. Now he works as a dedicated prosecutor. He is killed by an unidentified man while investigating possible corruption involving a politician named Jo Tae-Seob. However, Kim Hee-Woo wakes up and discovers that he is alive again He unexpectedly gets a second chance to fight for justice.
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