When I initially began watching 첫 사랑을 위하여, I did not think that the series would take up residence within my heart the way that it did. The series is more than just romance; it is recovery, family, and the small opportunities that the world allows us in order to rebuild. Seeing Ji-an, played by Yeom Jung-ah, endure in order to save her daughter, seeing Jeong-seok, played by Park Hae-joon, find love again, and feeling the pain and warmth of Cheonghae Village brought introspection into my own world and my own relationship.
And honestly, as the series is about to end, I was searching my browser for Kdramas similar to Love Take Two because I was not so prepared to say goodbye to that feeling.
Korean drama Love Take Two is so special because of the way it shows the angst that feels genuine. Not just romance or sweet dialogue but intense emotion, dysfunctional family lives, and just how much love wounds us before making us whole. What was so striking in the Hyo-ri and Ji-an relationship was the mother-daughter dynamics. No idyllic love, but true, and I was reminded how dysfunctional but beautiful a family is.
This is not the first time that I have been hooked on a storyline like this, and here are some of the other dramas that share the same vibe of second-chance stories, flawed families, small towns, and characters with scars but who continue loving. If you experienced the same with Love Take Two, the following are the seven dramas that gave that same sense of warmth, heartache, and recovery.
Kdramas Similar to Love Take Two
When the Camellias Bloom
I will never forget watching When the Camellia Blooms for the first time. Gong Hyo-jin is so endearing as Dong-baek, the single mum who is attempting to bring up her son in the critical town that you find yourself rooting for the actress. Kang Ha-neul was so earnest in the role of the lovable but competent policeman Yong-sik that I beamed at every scene he was in. Their romance was in no way glamorous but profoundly genuine.
This drama was just so similar because the single mothers were so strong, loving, and deserving of happiness. Both Ji-an and Dong-baek were women who were shunned in society, but the strength and the underlying hope that they had propelled them forward. The experience of watching this drama was the same warmth and pain as watching Love Take Two.
Our Blues
Our Blues is a drama that truly feels like life itself. With a star-studded cast including Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-ah, Kim Woo-bin, Han Ji-min, and Uhm Jung-hwa, every story on Jeju Island carried its own weight. Each character had struggles—love, family, regrets—and every episode felt like a small window into someone’s soul. I cried, I smiled, and I reflected on my own relationships while watching.
In the way that community and rehabilitation blended, this was like watching Love Take Two. Just as the village of Cheonghae was a refuge for Ji-an and Jeong-seok, the island was that place where all the people in Our Blues would face their wounds and be healed. If you loved the blend of family bond, romance, and village heart, you will be enveloped in this one with the warmth of that blanket.
Hi Bye Mama!
There are very few dramas that have broken me like Hi Bye, Mama! Did. Kim Tae-hee is Cha Yu-ri, the mother who dies under tragic conditions but returns as a ghost for 49 days in order to keep her child from harm. Lee Kyu-hyung is her husband, who’s remarried, and the way he performed his mixed emotions only made the story more heartbreaking. Hi Bye, Mama was the show that brought tears to my eyes more or less every episode, but in the absolute best therapeutic manner.
Watching Hi Bye, Mama! Stirred the same hurt that Ji-an’s acts of sacrifice in Love Take Two stirred. Both mothers carry so much on their shoulders despite how the world is not always kind to them. These narratives, in my book, are perspectives that testify to how strong and selfless the love of mothers is, and that is the reason I will always be recommending watching it to everyone who loves the story of Hyo-ri and Ji-an.
Go Back Couple
There is something so raw and emotional in Go Back Couple. Jang Na-ra and Son Ho-jun act as the married pair whose relationship is crumbling after the buildup of resentment over the course of many years. They somehow end up in their university lives with the chance of redo. Jang Na-ra specifically gave so much of an emotional performance that I ended up crying along with her.
Like Jeong-seok and Ji-an in Love Take Two, Ban-do and Jin-joo find that the world may be merciless, but that doesn’t mean that what they loved is gone. Witnessing them recall, forgive, and reconcile with one another brought the same bittersweet effect that watching Ji-an learn how to be open again brought. It’s complicated, messy, and hopeful at the same time.
My Unfamiliar Family
This drama felt so close to reality that it was almost painful to watch at times. The role of Eun-hee, the family-holding-together daughter who sees long-buried family scandals come to the surface, is played by Han Ye-ri. The supporting casts, including Chu Ja-hyun, Kim Ji-seok, Shin Jae-ha, and Jung Jin-young, were so convincing in their roles that I often felt that I was viewing the tale of some real family.
It immediately brought back Ji-an and how badly she clashed with Moon-hee in Love Take Two. Both series demonstrate how family relationships aren’t effortless—they hurt, disappoint, and swing back again. I felt, in the end, some sort of catharsis, like I’ve experienced that with them too, just as I did with Ji-an and her mother.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
You just crave that sense of being part of a drama that felt like home, and that’s what Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha gave. Shin Min-ah is Yoon Hye-jin, the perfectionist dentist who moves from the big city to the fishing village, and stealing the spotlight is Kim Seon-ho as the warm-hearted handyman Hong Du-sik, who just does whatever. Theirs was one of the purest couples I’ve seen.
If you think of Cheot Sarangeul Wihayeo, I think of this series, too, because both series portray the way the small-town atmosphere is balm in healing the wounds you didn’t know you had. Ji-an was fortified in Cheonghae Village just as Hye-jin was in Gongjin. If you like the blend of romance, community, and subtle emotional scenes in this series is home.
Welcome to Samdal-ri
Lastly, in Welcome to Samdal-ri, Ji Chang-wook is Jo Yong-pil, the weatherman who stayed in his hometown, while Shin Hye-sun shines as Jo Sam-dal, the fashion photographer who returns to Jeju after the collapse of her Seoul-based career. They were so perfect together, and the story of the first loves reuniting after being apart for so long was so emotional.
What I was so touched by in this story was how much I felt like I was reliving the experience of Love Take Two. The beach village setting, the warm community, the homecoming story of rediscovery of both family and romance—it all felt like the story of Ji-an and Jeong-seok. It’s warm, sensitive, and reassuringly therapeutic in the absolute best way, and I found that at the end of this, I felt exactly the same as I felt when I watched First for Love.
All of these Kdramas like Love Take Two, have flawed but lovable characters, hurt but healing narratives, and scenes that haunt us long after the credits. so if this series has touched you like it touched me, then you’re ready for the following dramas.
