If you have finished 이런 엿같은 사랑 and already miss Jang Tae-ha and Go Eun-sae, you are probably looking for Kdramas similar to Our Sticky Love, which will offer you an interesting combination of love, mystery, intrigue, and family warmth. While at first sight this Netflix show may seem like just another amnesia rom-com, it hides so many other things beneath its surface. You see, Eun-sae, portrayed by Ha Young, is actually prosecutor Go Ji-won, whose memory loss resulted from being targeted by some criminal organisation, whereas Tae-ha, played by Jung Hae-in, poses as her boyfriend.
The reason why Korean drama Our Sticky Love is especially enjoyable is because of the variety of genres included in this series. Fake relationships, a gangster’s background that poses danger to one’s life, corruption investigation, memory loss, childhood traumas, a whole small village filled with nosy yet lovable inhabitants, and in the middle of all of this, a love story between two individuals who had met in the past. Eun-sae slowly falls for Tae-ha and the other inhabitants of this village, although at first she cannot believe that it all can happen in her life.
So, if you are not ready to let go of that mix of romance, secrets, and found family yet, then here are six Kdramas like Our Sticky Love.
Romantic Kdramas Similar to Our Sticky Love
My Sweet Mobster
If you were charmed by the contrast between Jang Tae-ha’s tough gangster background and gentle demeanour, which led to your love for Our Sticky Love, then My Sweet Mobster is the perfect one for you. This series tells the story of Seo Ji-hwan, played by Um Tae-goo, who used to be a gangster before leaving all that behind to build up a successful career and run a company, and Han Sun-hwa’s Go Eun-ha, a creator of children’s content whose life starts to get entangled with his. On the surface, Ji-hwan seems to be a typical man who scares everyone around him. However, the real Ji-hwan proves to be far from scary.
The same contrast is also very much like Tae-ha. Eun-sae at first thinks that there is no way that she will fall for a gangster, particularly knowing how he had kept his past a secret from her. However, the more she knows about him, the more she realises that behind the gangster image is a man who keeps protecting Grandma Go, looks out for those who surround him, and Pil-seung while putting himself below Eun-sae’s well-being.
Both of these dramas are also about how one’s history doesn’t necessarily dictate who he or she tries to become. Tae-ha wants to leave the organisation of Sang-gil and go back to being a boxer, and Ji-hwan has already turned his back on his criminal career. My Sweet Mobster is much more light-hearted and romantic than Our Sticky Love, but if you liked the tough guy with a soft heart from the former show, then this is your choice.
The Good Bad Mother
The Good Bad Mother is an especially good selection for those who found it memorable about Our Sticky Love the fact that there was an accident, a new life, a rural backdrop, and healing emotions. This story revolves around Kang-ho, played by Lee Do-hyun, an ambitious prosecutor who undergoes a significant change after having an accident that leaves him with the mind of a child. In the wake of the accident, he goes back to his rural village and comes into contact with his mother, Young-soon.
Though the situations are not identical to Eun-sae’s, there is an evident emotional parallel. In both cases, the main characters have lived a complex life away from home, but were forced to return to an environment where life is less complex. The change of surroundings makes them reflect on the aspects of their life which they have been avoiding. The village itself also becomes part of the healing process. Eun-sae views Gujin at first in Our Sticky Love as somewhere where she doesn’t need to be.
However, the longer she remains there, the more the people of the village become important to her. Grandma Go, Song-wol, Coach Hong, Jeong-hwa, and the rest of the villagers begin to take on family roles, even before Eun-sae realises what her true identity is. Good Bad Mother has much less emphasis on love stories and much more on family, regret and emotional recovery, so do not expect anything like the Tae-ha and Eun-sae love story again. However, if you liked the emotionality of Our Sticky Love, then this is definitely one worth seeing.
Couple or Trouble
If you are looking for the drama which is most similar to the fundamental concept in Our Sticky Love, then you should go for Couple or Trouble. It is a 2006 romantic comedy where Anna Jo, played by Han Ye-seul, is a rich and arrogant woman who loses her memory due to an accident and consequently lives in an absolutely new world which contrasts with the one she lived before. The major similarity stems from the fact of the relation of the female main character and the male one, who exploits her in his own interests.
The fact is that Oh Ji-ho’s Jang Chul-soo convinces the woman to believe that he is her boyfriend and brings her to his house just as Tae-ha does with Eun-sae. The main character is unaware of the fact that her life is being built on lies, and the male lead has his own reasons to do so. But things get even more interesting once that artificial relationship begins to turn into something real. In the same way that Eun-sae finds herself becoming fond of Tae-ha and everyone else in the village, Anna Jo finds herself becoming fond of the people and the world around her, in spite of her relationship with Chul-soo.
Memory loss is used to create an independent female character, taking away everything she knows and putting her in a new place that she does not know. Couple or Trouble is much more light-hearted and funny compared to Our Sticky Love, which includes a lot of crime. However, if you enjoyed the element of amnesia and a fake boyfriend in the Netflix series, then this might be the drama you should watch first.
100 Days My Prince
Another good one to watch for fans of Our Sticky Love would be 100 Days My Prince if you enjoyed memory loss and falling in love amid a strange situation. In this drama, Crown Prince Lee Yool, played by Doh Kyung-soo, suffers from memory loss when an attempt on his life fails. As a result, he lives the life of a commoner, which brings him into contact with Hong-shim, played by Nam Ji-hyun.
This premise sets up a similar type of romantic drama like Our Sticky Love. The male protagonist does not remember an important portion of his identity, and everyone else around him knows certain things about his past which he doesn’t know. He has to live his new life while at the same time falling for someone in situations where he did not expect to fall for anyone. This is much like Eun-sae’s situation in Gujin, where she wakes up thinking that she is just another woman with a regular life when, in reality, she is prosecutor Go Ji-won.
As she spends more time with Tae-ha and the villagers, she comes to know more about her previous self, and more about who she would like to be. Surely, 100 Days My Prince offers a different kind of setting to its viewers, but if losing one’s identity in order to rebuild oneself and find love along the way interests you, this drama must be on your list.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
If the Gujin villagers were what made Our Sticky Love special for you, then Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is definitely the show for you. The drama features the life of Yoon Hye-jin, played by Shin Min-ah, a dentist from the city who comes to Gongjin, a seaside village, following some unexpected changes in her life. Here she meets Kim Seon-ho’s Hong Du-sik, the apparently jobless local man with an encyclopedic knowledge of literally everything.
The most noticeable similarity, however, isn’t the plot of the story but rather the fact that the community is an integral part of the romance. In Our Sticky Love, the relationship between Tae-ha and Eun-sae never develops in isolation from the rest of the people. The villagers keep interfering in the couple’s business, gossiping about them, helping them, misunderstanding them, and ultimately celebrating the relationship when the girl realises how much she cares about Gujin.
That’s precisely how Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha feels, as well. Gongjin is home to a community of people who always know each other’s business and manage to get into their personal affairs in one way or another. It slowly transforms into a village where the main characters get a chance to find inner peace, grow, and form unexpected connections. This series doesn’t include any gangsters or memory loss, but if what you’re looking for is a romantic K-drama with a community full of delightful side characters, this is the option for you.
Suspicious Partner
Finally, if the prosecuting lead actress and the crime investigation elements of Our Sticky Love were your favourite aspects of the series, then the drama Suspicious Partner is a good option for you. This drama centres around prosecutor Noh Ji-wook, played by Ji Chang-wook, and the trainee prosecutor Eun Bong-hee, played by Nam Ji-hyun, who end up getting involved with each other after Bong-hee gets drawn into a murder case. This is a blend of romance, courtroom drama, crime investigation, and mystery.
The link between the two dramas is provided by the prosecuting profession of Eun-sae. It is not just a story about the recovery of her memories and her romance with Tae-ha. Eun-sae was looking into Baek Sang-gil before the accident. She had even begun investigating the corrupt practices of Baek Sang-gil before losing her memory. And once she recovered her memories, she got back on track with the investigation.
Similarly, Suspicious Partner combines its romantic aspects with a hard-hitting criminal plot. The romantic relationship forms amid investigations, suspects, and secrets. This means that the romantic plot does not occur independently of the main mystery plot. It does not have the amnesia and fake-boyfriend plots found in Our Sticky Love, but it is recommended for those who would want to watch romance coupled with prosecutors and criminals.
Do you know of other K-dramas similar to Our Sticky Love that you can recommend to us?
