3rd Anniversary - Bromance vs Romance

[stroppyse]

It feels as if the bromance(s) in some dramas are better written and more engaging than the romance(s) in those dramas.

 

Of course, there are some dramas that are all about bromance. The dramas that specifically come to mind are 'Prison Playbook' and 'Hospital Playbook'. PP was purely about bromance, while HP had some romance in it along with various ships, but honestly, the drama was fine as it detailed the long-term friendships of its main cast members.

 

Prison Playbook

 

Hospital Playbook

 

 

Then there are dramas which mix romance and bromance. Some dramas that come to mind are 'My Country' and 'Tale of the Nine Tailed'. In both of these dramas, it could be argued that the bromances far outshone the romances. In the case of TotNT, Season 2 basically dropped the romance in favor of exploring the relationship between the fox brothers in more depth.

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? What are some of your favorite bromance dramas?

[SilverMoonTea]

If ever a bromance need to become romance, I need this couple... haha...

 

 

Crash Course Romance bromance was cute, and towards the end I don't really care about the main / secondary romance haha..  Btw Geon Hu actor really cute, hope he got more roles in future. 

 

 

This one is consider bromance or real romance idk 😅😂

 

 

[mademoiselle]

I definitely ♥ bromance over love triangles so I'll do this one first! Not a lot of bromance come into my mind at the moment but the first one had to be:

 

I Remember You / Hello Monster (2015)

Such an underrated KBS drama but so worth the watch. Seo In Guk & Park Bo Gum had me hooked as the long lost Lee brothers. A mystery crime drama about serial killers. What's different about this is the show isn't even trying to conceal who the serial killer may be. They blatantly let you in who it is and then explore how they become a psychopath and make you sympatheize with them and think "hey, maybe they aren't so bad as long as they are not provoked!" Anyway, it was, in memory a really good performance by actors Seo In Guk, Choi Won Young, Park Bo Gum and EXO's D.O. (his first debut too). Seo In Guk is like a housewife and loves to clean and cook at home even though he's the famous crime profiler outside and Bo Gum is the stone-cold *ahem* lawyer who loves getting pampered by Hyung. Hahaha!

 

Tales of the Nine-Tailed 1938 (2023)

Ok, a more recent one now. Tales of Nine-Tailed 1938 is all about Lee Yeon (Lee Dong Wook) and Lee Rang (Kim Beom), and occasionally Goo Shin Joo. 

 

Navillera (2021) - Song Kang & Park In Hwan 😭

An unexpected friendship/bromance. Even seeing the GIF puts me in tears again. I can't... 🥹

 

Honourable Mention:

Racket Boys (2021)

Bloodhounds (2023) - Woo Do Hwan & Lee Sang Yi

He is Psychometric (2019) - Park Jin Young & Kim Kwon

My Country (2019) - Yang Se Jong & Woo Do Hwan

Memories of the Alhambra (2018) - Hyun Bin & his secretary 😭

Prison Playbook (2018) - Park Hae Soo & Jung Kyung Ho, Jung Kyung Ho & Kim Kyung Nam, Jung Hae In & Lee Kyu Hyung (the kindergarteners!)

Goblin (2017) - Gong Yoo & Lee Dong Wook

Reply 1998 (2015) - Ahn Jae Hong & Ryu Jun Yeol

===

 

@SilverMoonTea Hahahahaha that's cheating! Seo Kang Joon x 2. But I actually have one too!!

 

Duel (2017)

Yang Se Jong (Sung Joon) vs Yang Se Jong (Sung Hoon)🤭😆

Edited August 14, 2023 by mademoiselle

[Tofu]

@mademoiselle Haha! I don't know if Duel counts. 

 

I think it's best for me to focus on dramas that either aired or I rewatched this year. Otherwise, my list would be long because I definitely enjoy bromances more in dramas. 

 

Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 (Korean)

I don't think any other bromance this year can match the level of the fox brothers for me.  

 

My Country: The New Age (Korean)

I've rewatched this drama at least once a year. There's so much to this drama. I loved everything about Hwi's and Seon Ho's friendship and rivalry. In spoiler tag is a one of my favorite FMV of just how complicated this bromance is. 

Spoiler

 

 

Silent (Japanese)

These two....what do I even say about them? I must had cried so much when Minato (right) said he just wanted his best friend, So, to look back when he called his name. For context, So is someone who lost his hearing and disappeared short after. This was a wonderful drama and while this part was just a brief moment in the drama, it made so much impact. 

 

When I Fly Towards You (Chinese)

I'm usually not a fan of youth dramas, but this one was good. This friendship started when they were in highschool and even though they all went to separate colleges, they stayed in touch. Can you tell who in the friendship is the dramatic one? LOL!

 

 

[mademoiselle]

4 hours ago, Tofu said:

@mademoiselle Haha! I don't know if Duel counts. 

Aww why not? They grew up as siblings. In all honesty, I only did it because @SilverMoonTea puts 2 x Seo Kang Joon . I ceased the moment to include my fave YSJ's drama. Hahaha!

 

4 hours ago, Tofu said:

There's so much to this drama.

Share your thoughts.

Edited August 15, 2023 by mademoiselle

[Chocolate]

This is very difficult. None come to mind 😭😂

 

 

Edit:

 

This is very nice GIF. I shall try S2 because of this lol.

23 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

Tales of the Nine-Tailed 1938 (2023)

 

Oh yes, these were good.
MOTA - I bawled too.
PP - I worried when one of them was going to change cells. Where else can you get such good cell mates.
Goblin - I think this one wins. Their chemistry is even obvious in real life.

23 hours ago, mademoiselle said:

Honourable Mention:

Memories of the Alhambra (2018) - Hyun Bin & his secretary 😭

Prison Playbook (2018) - Park Hae Soo & Jung Kyung Ho, Jung Kyung Ho & Kim Kyung Nam, Jung Hae In & Lee Kyu Hyung (the kindergarteners!)

Goblin (2017) - Gong Yoo & Lee Dong Wook

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by Chocolate

[ssteph]

Yeo Rim/Gu Yong Ha & Geul Oh/Moon Jae Shin (Sungkyunkwan Scandal) 🤣

 

 

 

[stroppyse]

8 hours ago, ssteph said:

Yeo Rim/Gu Yong Ha & Geul Oh/Moon Jae Shin (Sungkyunkwan Scandal)

 

Yes! This was an ultimate bromance. I loved how Yeo Rim's one true love is really Geol Oh despite YR's reputation for being a ladies man, while GO is always seemingly pushing YR away despite putting up with YR, and in a way that he doesn't allow others to get close to him.

[40somethingahjumma]

Seeing all those pictures of Lee Dong-wook brings to mind Bad and Crazy. As the title suggests, that was one nutty show but the bromance was definitely strong in that one with Wi Ha-jun as K. It's an odd choice given the nature of their relationship but there's no denying their onscreen chemistry.

 

Of course the ultimate bromance drama for me is Prison Playbook. DIfferent character combinations worked very well. Jun-ho and Jae-hyuk. Hanyang and Jung-woo. Jae-hyuk and Crony. Jae-hyuk and Jung-woo. Min-chul with everyone especially Valjean. Jae-hyuk and the prison guards. Just a fantastically written ensemble show. Of course from the same writer, Racket Boys. The boys were adorable and the team dynamics there were so good as well.

 

Park Sung-woong with Park Hae-jin in Man to Man was pretty good. Park Sung-woong with Jung Kyung-ho in the K adaptation of Life on Mars was also a barrel of laughs.

 

I also liked the bromance in Cafe Minamdang between Seo In-guk and Kwak Shi-yang. 

 

Most of my favourite K drama bromances come from crime shows. But perhaps that's stating the obvious. 

 

Speaking of Park Hae-jin, one of my favourite bloody violent testosterone-filled crime shows will have to be Bad Guys. I've watched it back to back at least 3 times. The bromance there is pretty strong with Ma Dong-seok, Do Jong-hyuk, Park Hae-jin and Kim Sang-joong (one of my favourite ahjussis).

 

I'll give Circle a plug because it is also a really good but underrated show. Yeo Jin-goo and Kim Kang-woo.

 

With C dramas... drum roll... of course Nirvana in Fire. Mei Changsu and Jingyan.

[rocher22]

I liked the bromance in Mr.Sunshine    

 

 

 

 

soompi