Sometimes we all need to sit back and relax... And watching dramas that don’t tax your emotions or pull at your heartstrings – like those in this collection – is a good way to do just that!

Healing Dramas

Lee Yeo Reum (Seolhyun) is a young woman whose career and life are going very well: She has just been awarded permanent contract status at work, and she has a boyfriend she likes very much. But work is starting to get stressful, and then she is hit with a double whammy of misfortune. Her mother dies in a tragic accident just moments after she is dumped by her boyfriend. Feeling utterly dejected and burned out, she decides to quit her job, head to the seaside, and do absolutely nothing for a while – at least until she can recharge her batteries and recover mentally.

She moves to a small seaside village named Angok. And it is here that she meets An Dae Beom (Im Siwan), a stuttering librarian who also has his share of skeletons in the closet. Many years ago, he was a math prodigy with a bright academic future ahead of him. But circumstances have forced him away from the big city and the scholastic life. What will happen when these two lost souls meet – and will a spell of “doing nothing” in this small town really cure their ills?

This drama was adapted from the web-based cartoon (webtoon) series by Joo Young Hyun.

“Summer Strike” is a 2022 South Korean drama series that was directed by Lee Yoon Jung.

Summer Strike

🍃 Let Me Be Lazy Team 🍃

Living as a loner his entire life, Jae Shik (Jin Goo) has never bothered to worry about anyone other than himself. Constantly short on cash, he has no scruples when it comes to making money. Whatever the job, whatever the scheme, he’s ready and willing to take it, so long as it pays off in the end. So when an opportunity to score some serious cash presents itself, he doesn’t let it pass him by. Little does he know, the decision to do so will change his life forever.

Too young to understand the tragedy that has befallen her, Eun Hye (Jung Seo Yeon) has no idea that her life has changed forever. Both blind and deaf, Eun Hye has one in the world willing to step in to care for her; at least not until Jae Shik arrives. Hoping to collect a hefty sum as the caregiver of a disabled child, Jae Shik willingly takes on the role of Eun Hye’s “father”. But life with Eun Hye turns out to be very different than what he imagined.

Finding ways to communicate with Eun Hye, the walls Jae Shik has built around himself slowly begin to break down. Learning to care for someone other than himself, both Jae Shik and Eun Hye’s lives are changed forever. But will this change be enough to keep them together once the truth behind his actions is brought to light?

A touching story from start to finish, “You are So Precious to Me” is a 2021 family drama film directed by Lee Chang Won and Kwon Sung Mo.

You're So Precious to Me

My Lovely Angel Team❣️

Fearless emergency service worker Kang San Hyeok (Park Hae Jin) is blighted by memory gaps. But when his rescue work leads him to a seemingly enchanted forest, he starts discovering clues about his childhood. He also meets Jeong Yeong Jae (Jo Bo Ah), a passionate young surgeon who has just begun a residency in the forest. As they spend more time in the woodland, they feel a strange bond drawing them together. Could their pasts somehow be intertwined? Will they learn the truth in this forest? And could it bring them to love? This 2020 South Korean romantic drama was directed by Oh Jong Rok.

Forest

Mysterious Forest Team

Fuji TV

As high school students, Tsumugi Aoba (Haruna Kawaguchi) and So Sakura (Ren Meguro) shared a keen interest in music. With their interests so similarly aligned, it was only natural for a friendship to blossom between them. Over time, that friendship developed into something deeper, a relationship that might have come to last a lifetime, if not for So’s sudden change of heart.

Calling their relationship off without any warning or reason, So not only broke Tsumugi’s heart, but his immediate disappearance afterward left her completely crushed. Eight years later, Tsumugi may occasionally wonder what happened to So but has, in all other ways, moved on with her life. Now living in Tokyo, Tsumugi works part-time at a large music store where she is free to completely immerse herself in the music she loves so dearly. Perfectly happy with her life, Tsumugi might have eventually forgotten about So completely, if fate hadn’t decided their paths needed to cross once again.

Noticing So at work one day, Tsumugi musters up the courage to approach him, only to find that in the eight years since they last spoke, he has almost completely lost his hearing. With sparks of their old flame beginning to reignite within her heart, will Tsumugi find a way to solidify her place in So’s now-silent world?

A story of fate and second chances, “Silent” is a 2022 Japanese romance drama directed by Hiroki Kazama.

Silent

The Sound of Love Team

Hunan TV, Mango TV

Xu Hong Dou (Liu Yi Fei) is a woman who has worked in the hotel industry for most of her adult life. She is every inch the big-city woman, but her life hits a sudden bump in the road. Her best female friend has died, sending her life into a tailspin. Her work starts to suffer. And rather than continue to soldier on in the city, she decides to take a break from the high-paced urban lifestyle in a remote village. She heads out to the village of Yun Miao, near Dali, in Yunnan Province – in search of peace and quiet.

She soon discovers that life in an agricultural village is not quite as idyllic as she had imagined – navigating fields full of animal droppings and mud isn’t something she is used to! But she soon finds a sort of equilibrium. And she meets a group of fellow big-city types who have also decided to flee the big city in search of a more tranquil way of life. One of these individuals is named Xie Zhi Yao (Li Xian). Yun Miao is his hometown. And he has quit a well-paid job to start a tourism business that showcases Yun Miao. Xu Hong Dou soon realizes that she can put her own hotel industry knowledge to good use by helping him. But as they begin to work together, Cupid appears determined to bring them together! Could they find love in this quiet little village?

“Meet Yourself” is a 2023 Chinese drama series that was directed by Ding Zi Guang.

Meet Yourself

The Windy Team

Yong Gu (Ryu Seung Ryong) is the father of a six-year-old daughter (Kal So Won) – but he also has a neurological condition that means his own mental age is also six years. When a terrible accident appears to have killed a young girl, he rushes to try to help her by giving her CPR. But onlookers believe that he has sexually assaulted the child and then killed her. He is arrested and charged with the child’s murder and assault and when a court finds him guilty, he is imprisoned.

In the prison, he pines for his beloved daughter and is ostracised by his cellmates, who are outraged by the notion of having to share a cell with a child molesting murderer – unaware that he is actually innocent of the crime. But when he bravely steps in to save the life of So Yang Ho (Oh Dal Soo), a powerful gang leader, the cellmates start to realize that Yong Gu is actually a very tender-hearted, innocent, and misunderstood individual. They plot to help reunite him with his daughter – even if it means smuggling her into the prison!

“Miracle in Cell No. 7” is a 2013 South Korean movie that was directed by Lee Hwan Kyung.

Miracle in Cell No.7

The Miraculous Prisoners

Ja Geum Soon (Go Doo Shim) was born in 1930 in what is now North Korea. When the Korean War broke out in the 1950s, she escaped to what is now South Korea – and was torn away from her husband and young child. She dreamed of being reunited with them, so she founded a hotel that she hoped would become a metaphorical lighthouse – and bring her lost family back to her. This hotel became the successful Nakwon hotel chain.

Now, Ja Geum Soon is approaching the end of her life, and she dreams of being reunited with the grandson she has never met: Im Moon Sung. Her ever-faithful assistant Jung Sang Cheol (Sung Dong Il) hatches a plan to help bring peace to the old woman before she dies – he will hire an actor to pose as Im Moon Sung. He seeks out Yoo Jae Heon (Kang Ha Neul), a struggling stage actor who has been playing a North Korean soldier in a theater performance. Yoo Jae Heon agrees. He is told to pose as a defector who has come to visit the old woman for a while before attempting to return to the North. However, it soon appears that he has bitten off more than he can chew. He also crosses paths with Park Se Yeon (Ha Ji Won), Ja Geum Soon’s granddaughter – the woman who is running Nakwon...and has vowed not to allow it to fall into anyone else’s hands!

“Curtain Call” is a 2022 South Korean drama series that was directed by Yoon Sang Ho.

Curtain Call

🎭 Lighthouse Keepers 🎭

Youku

Indifferent to the things most people crave, namely fame, fortune, and a thriving social life, botany professor Zhuang Yu (Vin Zhang) is interested in only one thing: his research. Having dedicated his entire life to the research and cultivation of sweet wormwood, Zhuang Yu cares for nothing else. So singularly focused on his work, it comes as no surprise that he would be devoid of social graces, which is how he came to break the heart of Yu Mei Ren (Esther Yu).

Having grown up in the countryside, Mei Ren and Zhuang Yu’s paths often crossed. After harboring a crush on Zhuang Yu for quite some time, Mei Ren finally worked up the courage to confess her feelings, only to have them completely rejected. Heartbroken, Mei Ren moved on with her life, eventually graduating from university with a doctorate in ornithology; but even as the years passed, she never forgot the pain Zhuang Yu had inflicted on her young heart.&nbsp;

Weary of the pressures that come with a life dedicated to scientific research, Mei Ren eventually decides to pursue a different route. Now a fashion blogger, Mei Ren is surprised when her path once again crosses with Zhang Yu. Having never forgotten him, Mei Ren is determined to use this chance to exact her revenge but the harder she tries, the more she finds herself falling for him. Has fate given her a second chance to win this botanist’s indifferent heart?

An adorably sweet love story, “A Romance of the Little Forest” is a 2022 Chinese romantic comedy directed by Cai Cong.

A Romance of the Little Forest

🌿The Botanists🌿

Growing up in a small remote village in North Gyeongsang Province, Jung Jun Kyung (Park Jung Min) has spent his entire life all but cut-off from the world around him. With a deplorable lack of usable roads running in and out of his village, the only real way for Jun Kyung and the rest of the villagers to get anywhere is to walk along the railroad tracks that run through the town. With an unpredictable train schedule, such trips are dangerous at best and far too often, they end in horrifying tragedy.

The son of an engineer, Jun Kyung has often wondered why no train station exists in his village. Now in high school, Jun Kyung has taken it upon himself to turn his lifelong dream of a village train station into a reality. By writing endless letters to the President, asking for permission to build a train station in his tiny village, Jun Kyung is convinced that it’s only a matter of time before the station is built. But things don’t quite work out the way he planned. On the verge of giving up, Jun Kyung finds renewed determination after befriending his classmate, Song Ra Hee (Yoona). A firm believer in pursuing dreams, Ra Hee gives Jun Kyung the inspiration he needs to keep going.

Finding fresh inspiration and a renewed sense of determination, Jun Kyung and the village residents set out to turn this one dream into reality. Do they have what it takes to make this single dream come true?

Based on a true story, “Miracle: Letters to the President” is a 2021 drama film directed by Lee Jang Hoon.

Miracle: Letters to the President

✨Miraculous✨Team 

TV Asahi

Togoku Kyosui (Nozomu Kotaki) is the owner and manager of Rokuhodo, a traditional Japanese tea house. A tender-hearted soul with a fondness, his tea-making skills are without equal. But he struggles with making tasty food to complement his brews – so decides to enlist the help of some kindred souls to make Rokuhodo a success. He turns to his old school friend and talented cook Tokitaka Nagae (Shono Hayama) to help out in the kitchen.

Also helping out at the tea house is Gregorio “Gure” Valentino (Saeki Daichi), a masterful coffee expert who learned his trade in Italy. Rounding out their number is the shy buy incredibly talented pastry chef Tsubaki Nakao (Ryusei Onishi). Clad in their kimonos, they make a very distinctive team – and are always at hand to listen to their customers’ troubles, even offering some helpful advice along the way. But while fixing other people’s problems is important, so is trying to resolve their own personal issues!

The drama was based on a long-running manga series of the same name that debuted in 2013 and was authored by Yu Shimizu.

“Rokuhoudou Colorful Days” is a 2022 Japanese drama series that was directed by Yuki Saito, Keisuke Shibata, and Eriko Sato.

Rokuhoudou Colorful Days

JTBC

Cellist Hae Won (Park Min Young) is warm-hearted but has closed the door to love after a number of unhappy experiences.

She lives in the capital but has grown tired of big city life – so one day decides to return to her hometown, a small village in the countryside, far away from the hustle and bustle of Seoul.

Returning to the countryside helps her regain some inner peace, but when she meets small, independent bookstore owner Eun Seop (Seo Kang Joon), her life – and outlook on love – begin to change bit by bit.

Eun Seop lives his life at a much slower pace than most of the people Hae Won knew in Seoul. Little by little, the two find themselves attracted to one another...

Will Hae Won find room for a little intimacy in her life? Can she learn to trust Eun Seop? And can the pair find love in the idyllic South Korean countryside?

“I'll Go to You When the Weather Is Nice” is a 2020 Viki Original drama series directed by Han Ji Seung.

I'll Go to You When the Weather is Nice

The warm-hearted team

Nozue (Takeda Kouhei) is a 39-year-old office worker. He is also decidedly stuck in a rut. Life has become mundane. His career is going nowhere fast, and he has never had thoughts about getting married. The grind of this mundane and grey way of life has taken its toll on him and depression is setting in. Another thorn in his side is Togawa (Kimura Tatsunari), his 29-year-old office junior. Despite the fact that Togawa is the older man’s subordinate, he is cold and unpleasant with Nozue.

However, deep down, Togawa actually has a strong sense of respect for his senior – and even feels romantic attraction toward him. Fate intervenes when one day, they both end up in a pancake shop that is a hotspot for young, attractive women. They end up spending more time together at this unusual venue – and starting to enjoy one another’s company more and more. At first, Nozue is confused by Togawa’s sudden attempts to make him happy. But little by little, the duo starts to hear Cupid’s call. Could true love be on the horizon for them?

This drama was based on a manga novel of the same name by Sagan Sagan that was released in 2021.

“Old Fashion Cupcake” is a 2022 Japanese drama series that was directed by Kato Ayaka.

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