After seeing When Life Gives You Tangerines, I honestly believed that no K-drama could break me so completely again-until 미지의 서울 came along. This was not merely a series of storytelling. It hit me through its characters, through their unspoken hurt, and through the unspoken battle that they waged day after day. Some shows are designed to be enjoyable. Some are created to flee. And then there are Kdramas like Our Unwritten Seoul that turn into a mirror of our inner struggle, a hand reaching out when we’re too afraid to speak of the things that are destroying us within.
Before I proceed to the suggestion of other Kdramas similar to Our Unwritten Seoul, I will simply say this much—if you have not seen this drama yet, go do it. Seriously, if something is going on in your life, and you have no clue what to do with it, then watch this drama. It won’t solve everything, but it can provide you with answers. It did for me.
The series, directed by Park Shin-woo and starring Park Bo-young in dual roles as the twins, alongside Park Jin-young and Ryu Kyung-soo, deals with heavy themes of mental illness, burnout, sisterhood, and meaning-making in life. And even though the last two episodes will not be out until this Saturday and Sunday (June 28 and 29) on Netflix, the series has already had a deep impact.
The story is about twin sisters who are identical in appearance but polar opposites in personality. Mi-ji is free-spirited, wild-hearted, but with no hope in life. Mi-rae seems like a professional woman who has herself “together” and in control, but in her head is drained, cracking under the pressure of all the expectations and their own silent pain. When Mi-ji comes to visit her sister in Seoul and finds out her sister is considering suicide, she takes over her sister’s life — literally. And then there’s the twin switch suffering pain, identity, and the legacies of silent pain, and the series touches on something raw and real that is hard to shake.
Kdramas Like Our Unwritten Seoul
Who Are You: School 2015
This is a standard teen melodrama that delves into identity and self-esteem to an incredibly profound degree, so it’s one of the most emotionally impactful and one of the best kdrama like Our Unwritten Seoul. It features Kim So-hyun, Nam Joo-hyuk, and Yook Sung-jae. The story follows identical twins Eun-bi and Eun-byul, who were separated as children but, having overcome a tragedy, traumatised and bullied Eun-bi takes the place of her twin sister so that she could begin anew in a new school.
The emotional depth of seeing one sister live in the shadow of another, yet struggle to survive with honour. Kim So-hyun’s double cast is subtle, as fascinating in vulnerability as she is in power. Like Yoo Mi-ji, Eun-bi is not acting — she’s grasping for a sense of where she fits in a world that continues to hurt her. And if Our Unwritten Seoul shattered your heart with its small emotional fissures, then so will Who Are You: School 2015.
My Liberation Notes
Life is never black and white, and sometimes the greatest of feelings are quiet, and that is what we get in My Liberation Notes. Kim Ji-won, Son Suk-ku, Lee Min-ki and Lee El lead this very contemplative drama, about three siblings who live on the rural outskirts of Seoul and are burning out on emotions, meaninglessness and the pressure of society. This drama is about emotional numbness, slow-burning of finding oneself and quiet desperation for more.
It’s capturing the same feeling of seeking meaning from a point of view of adult burnout and longing. Even Kim Ji-won’s Yeom Mi-jeong seems to be channelling Yoo Mi-rae with her quiet burnout, and her relationship with enigmatic Mr. Gu is a stabilising one for both, so if you are looking for a subtle romance kdrama like Our Unwritten Seoul, then this one is for you. Here also the romance story is not bright and bubbly, but here it is a gentle, aching journey to (real freedom).
Also Read: Cuntdown Review: Strong and Explosive Start That Hints at Bigger Things Ahead
Our Blues
Why Our Blues is so rightfully in a recommendation is not just that it runs deep emotionally, but that it is speaking to real people and real quiet wars. In the backdrop of the idyllic Jeju Island, the drama is a pastiche of tales sewn together, where each and every tale still explores loneliness, healing and unspoken sorrow that so many carry.
Starring Kim Woo-bin, Shin Min-a, Han Ji-min, Lee Byung-hun and others, the drama completely nails vulnerability. Our Blues is all about discovering your own light (metaphorically), and it does not revolve around its characters suddenly improved luck; everyone gets their turn at emotional clarity, which is essentially the same as the twin trajectories of Mi-ji and Mi-rae. Shin Min-a’s journey as a single mom doing her best and Kim Woo-bin’s efforts as her unspoken support system are particularly poignant. It’s about second chances, community healing and the quiet strength we so often underrate in ourselves.
Mask
The emotional pull of Kdramas such as Our Unwritten Seoul attracted us, and that’s what Mask does as well. It will keep you on the edge of your seat with its lively identity-switching soap opera. Park Soo-ae, Ju Ji-hoon star alongside Yoo In-young, Yeon Jung-hoon and others.
While the entire setup of the story is melodrama, the feelings are so realistic; Ji-sook’s struggle of living a lie and losing oneself is so accurately a reflection of Yoo Mi-ji’s struggle of feelings as soon as she takes on her sister’s disguise. Soo-ae is playing on fear and toughness with every scene. And Ju Ji-hoon as Min-woo provides emotional ballast to an affair based on lies. Mask reveals how living another’s life can reveal the things we mostly keep hidden, even from ourselves.
The King’s Affection
Although this drama is set in Joseon times, this pearl of a story shares the same motifs of identity, sacrifice, and repressed grief. The melodrama, acted by Park Eun-bin and Rowoon, is Lee Hwi’s story of a woman who must impersonate her twin brother’s identity when he passes away in order to preserve her family’s legacy of royalty.
Gender disguise, isolation and the sweet spell of falling in love when no one else is in on it, create a rich emotional terrain. Park Eun-bin gives career-best performances as a woman who’s too afraid to live, but who wants to be strong. Rowoon’s sympathetic performance as Ji-woon, a royal tutor who begins stripping away her reality, offers a love interest obligated to show deference, not sweeping feelings. It’s a story of yearning — for love, identity, for freedom — whose emotional resonance transcends its historical context.
With its final two episodes airing this weekend, this drama still has plenty of its story to share, but the emotional weight of the ground it’s already covered is apparent. The characters feel lived-in, pain is real, and their small victories feel yours. Whether twin sisters, shattered identities or quiet redemption, each of the dramas on this list struggles with something just as searing.
