Short Series Dramas Worth Watching

A Korean web series about two people with mental illness and friendship.

Approx 11.5mins 8 episodes = 93.5 mins (1.5 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqqQvcAR1H0kaXi7EALIju6m6yo4KHqkM

A Chinese fantasy romcom drama about a comic book character that usually plays a secondary villain is accidentally thrust into a romance story as the heroine. Despite playing an innocent pityful character, she cannot help be herself in the unusual circumstances she finds herself in. Thus leading to unpredictable effects to the story.

9 min 24 episodes = 216 mins (3.6 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuOfQkK1bWo

A light Japanese workplace romance drama. After a female air traffic controller assists a male pilot during a difficult landing, he decides to seek her out in order to express his gratitude. The show depicts the kinds of situations a pilot and an air traffic controller have to deal with and how it affects their decisions. Very insightful and unique.

About 49 mins 8 episodes = 392 mins (6.5 hours)

Korean school bullying and revenge drama. The action sequences and the friendships take the story to another level. Art!

40 min 8 episode = 320 mins (5.3 hours)

A Korean short length series about a resident who was saved from committing suicide by a girl in his class. But soon after she committed suicide herself. 10 years later he finds it hard to forget about her when he unexpectedly finds himself back in the past and hopes this time he can save her.

15 mins 10 episodes = 150 mins (2.5 hours)

A Chinese romance mystery drama with a fantasy premise. A talented painter, Shi Qi, gets her faced swapped with the daughter of the chancellor, Shen Qin, in order to avoid a marriage to the general, Xiao Han Sheng. Although the general has his suspicions for the reason behind his marriage being political, his impression of his now wife make him unsure. This fast paced drama has many wonderful sweet and suspenseful elements.

10 mins 18 episodes = 180 mins (3 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kycrNwEQOeU&list=PLSIJismKOisH8TB76jsv898F-Utl04rPi

A Korean youth drama on mental health and friendship. The male lead is suffering from depression and is suicidal. There are some triggering scenes but it is not graphic in nature.

Average of 16.5 mins 6 episodes = 98.5 mins (1.5 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azfE3prdNFw
https://youtu.be/D8HYVFKPZmg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSrZw1VXfm8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xpva-tXh_C0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtj2G5FGsd8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3RWX8dEf34

A Japanese horror series. A woman moves into an all women cheap apartment complex where a strange phenomenon occurs. The words the residents speak begin to come true, but at a price.

24 mins 10 episodes = 240 mins (4 hours)

A Thai mystery/thriller drama filmed vertically. 4 friends wake up in a strange bar with no memory of how they got there and what happened. The first 4 episodes are the same incidents but from the perspective of each friend.

Average 24 mins 8 episodes = 192 mins (3.2 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlLqWAfAm4&list=PLCUIsYHYpxJNi67I7ZXrBtIXQ8WG0Zn7x

Korean web series. 3 high school friends are bullied relentlessly and how each handle the situation. Deals with fatphobia and Islamophobia.

9 mins 5 episodes = 45 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbmattKVoUw (all 5 episodes in 1)

A Korean psychological thriller. Everyone in a high school begin to go crazy over a new social media app that starts as an invite only application. This exposes the social hierarchy and bullying that takes place. But no one knows who developed it and why.

15 mins 8 episodes = 120 mins (2 hours)

A Korean sci-fi mystery comedy drama. An unpopular kid finds a phone one day and discovers an AI girlfriend on it. When he tells his friends about her, bullies take the phone from him and start taunting him. But the AI girl actually approaches them and says she is really his girlfriend.

12 min 2 episodes = 24 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2Crg9c_Fdw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjGBRdePJPg

A Korean romcom. A woman working at a crisis call center is diagnosed with a terminal illness. With only 3 months to live she wishes to experience romance with her dream celebrity. So she decides to hire an actor that resembles him to reenact some of her actor's iconic romantic scenes with her and be her pretend boyfriend in exchange for money.

15 mins 10 episodes = 150 mins (2.5 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4RThg6_a8I&list=PLPDp64hKoP_gtnkagLyb9Eqdn5Bsjiw80

China's fictional historical romcom. A woman who owns a garment shop and a doctor fall in love not realising that both are also assassins on the side. They try to keep their secret identities secret while maintaining their relationship. A fun series with the only negative point being the poorly translated English subs. Still worth watching.

Under 12 mins 18 episodes = 216 mins (3.6 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPlgH1OaPlE&list=PLViYFBpsVqhcPGUr9RHrqJieNYEUe7CsN

A Korean Friends to Lovers drama. A girl dislikes going home because of problems between her parents and asks her friend, who is about to get enlisted into the army, to go on a trip with her.

7 mins 3 episodes = 21 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0enEvNpnj4g&list=PLqqQvcAR1H0nBU4T24szrrVK5VGnqbFS7

A Korean time travel romance drama. A woman comes into possession of old photos and begins to recall her high school love who committed suicide on her birthday. When she begins to burn them, she finds herself back in high school again.

20 mins 16 episodes = 320 mins (5.3 hours)

A Taiwanese BL romance drama set when COVID19 lockdowns were in place. A Japanese man and a young Taiwanese man meet each other through video calling.

7 mins 10 episodes = 70 mins (1.16 hours)

A Korean series about growing up, friendships and romance. A strong sismance bond is depicted.

20 mins 12 episodes = 240 mins (4 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoiNzJZ5zGY

A cute Korean Mystery Romance Series. A young woman gets drunk and kisses someone. She can't remember who it was but it was good enough for her to try to find the person based on a few clues that she does remember about them.

14 mins 12 episodes = 168 mins (2.8 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdtNjnkNce8&list=PLeVXSI2bL51-jvZvmEtzjYqoivvoKfvmj

A Korean drama on the friendship between two high school boys. Sweet, funny and entertaining.

4 mins 10 episodes = 40 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62pPBZFUfOA&list=PLV_xmNeraP0lk0vvbteFe7eT35Q2QnmxJ

A Korean drama about a North Korean defector who transfer to a school and his attempt at making friends. A sweet story.

7 mins 3 episodes = 21 mins

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzdkicu_Ljg
2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1rDTu_ODp8
3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2dmlGDBq5c

A Korean GL romance series. Two girls meet and are paired together for a project for their psychology class. They have to be each other's girlfriends but they don't seem to get along.

Average of 6.5 mins 4 episodes = 26 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxVW4unY1gU&list=PL_wBhmJHUwXRco0J2M4DNNq9M-gE31Ya1

A Korean supernatural mystery series about a seemingly ordinary high school class of boys except there are 21 students instead of the 20 on roll. It's a cute series with some funny scary elements. Although listed as  horror, it isn't really scary so it's watchable even if you are faint of heart.

20 mins 8 episodes = 160 mins (2.6 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6-E9DBhIXo&list=PLvevT9zTA8VmTTLinB-99SDONtM1LXW8N

A Chinese romance drama. The female lead is raising her sister's son. His grandfather sends his other son, the male lead, to take custody of and bring back the child. It's a sweet story.

5 mins 31 episodes = 155 mins (2.5 hours)

A Korean slice of life drama about a girl with agoraphobia (fear of going outside) finding a puppy that got into her home. Very cute and simple story.

14 mins 2 episodes = 28 mins

1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbZi-1NtLYs
2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l6NWRMYrAM

A Korean drama about self-worth. Good message.

10 mins 6 episodes = 60 mins (1 hour)

Korean sci-fi drama. A father ends up leaving a humanoid robot with his adult kids and disappears. The brother and sister try to adjust with having a teenage robot sibling.

15 mins 6 episodes = 90 mins (1.5 hours)

Korean romance drama. A young man who loves to cook develops a crush on an Indonesian student and decides to woo her by preparing lunch for her every day.

Although I am adding this to the list, it is hard to find English subs for this show at the moment. I watched it by translating the Indonesian subs to English. I hope more of an interest develops and English subs can be added.

8 mins 3 episodes = 24 mins

A hilarious Chinese web drama about a gambler who ends up in a contract relationship with a general with incredible fighting skills and strength. It's a fun watch and not to be taken too seriously.

4 mins 28 episodes = 112 mins (1.86 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dCtOZpRvQY&list=PLFJjLqGr7BvdyvjdhthlMQHuRPKiJq-YE&index=1

A Japanese remake of the Korean drama. A woman discovers the ability to travel back in time to the point when her school friend committed suicide and attempts to prevent it.

24 mins 10 episodes = 240 mins (4 hours)

A cute Korean romance drama. A boy's crush and most popular girl in school suggests they start a contract relationship.

13 min 15 episodes = 195 mins (3.25 hours)

A suspenseful Chinese drama about a man in debt who steals a mobile from a pawn shop and joins an unusual game. He runs into 11 versions of himself. The series is expected to have another season. The OST is amazing.

5 mins 6 episodes = 30 mins

Chinese romance. A princess is forced to hide her identity and marry her family's killer in order to get revenge. She ends up entangled with his son.

~ 2 mins 30 episodes = 60 mins (1 hour)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcWqjArfi2lmiqvFz7-XrkuQQ98mU8DiQ 

A Korean romance drama. A female celeb has a hard time reading fan letters. A single father of a sick child decides to pretend to reply to his daughter's mail as her favourite celebrity and it all goes wrong when the news of the letter goes viral.

85 mins 4 episodes = 340 mins (5.6 hours)

A Korean friends to lovers romance drama.

9 mins 3 episodes = 27 mins

https://youtu.be/P2dSOlciKmo

PTW

Chinese romance drama. Female lead whose father unexpectedly passes away and goes blind due to trauma tries to find out the truth behind her father's death. The male lead shows up as a bodyguard hired by her father. It's mystery, action and romance mixed into one.

12 mins 30 episodes = 360 mins (6 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mldXP4YJppY&list=PLyX_50Z72L2zvf-jGZZaV7UP5hIYGBDO8&index=2 

Chinese time loop drama. The female lead realises she and the male lead have some connection where if he dies, she will die too and the loop restarts from the time of their first meeting. She is also concerned about reviving her master through the use of special ingredients while trying to understand who the male lead is and what he is after.

10 mins 32 episodes = 320 mins (5.33 hours)

https://youtu.be/XTW4f4S7Tfc?si=NNml3V5ZhAxPN8zk

Korean school BL romance. Both male leads are like brothers since childhood. One moves into the other's home due to certain circumstances and struggles with the crush he has developed on the other boy.

20 min 6 episodes = 120 mins (2 hours)

Vertically filmed Chinese romcom. FL hears that the ML, who was her school crush, has gone bankrupt, she offers to look after him if he stays with her. Meanwhile her family is forcing herin to an engagement with the Duan family.

2 mins 85 episodes = 170 mins (2.8 hours)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22MSIUvq8q0