2026 dramas I'm watching
I keep asking y'all for advice on what dramas to watch so I thought I'd post about what dramas coming out this year I have, in fact, been watching.
Already finished:
Dare You to Death - Thai thriller BL with two cops chasing down a serial killer. The thriller side of this is rather fun and kept me watching, but the investigation is handled pretty terribly. The cops' romance is sooo sappy and yes it does keep interrupting their investigation, like they will start flirting at the crime scene EVERY fuckign time. 3/5 to me, I could go higher for the sake of camp but I am trying to maintain standards and this show is fairly ridiculous.
Glory in Shadows - Chinese historical minidrama about a woman who marries into the family of a great general and gets involved in his toxic family drama. I'd give this like a 2/5, it was fun to watch but I don't remember anything about it honestly.
Reverse - Korean thriller drama (8 episodes) about a woman with amnesia and her very shady fiancee. I'd give this a 1/5, it honestly just kept disappointing me. The thing is I always want to love shady couples and when a show doesn't really deliver on them, it's really rather sad. For real shady couple times, I'd recommend Flower of Evil or the movie Recalled. I'd rewatch either three more times before rewatching this.
Riding on the Wind - VERY short Chinese historical minidrama about an emperor and a painter in his court who wants to murder him. High levels of bromance but I'm getting pickier about bromance bc I've watched a lot of BL lately and acquired standards. Not to say I hate all bromance now, but like... you have to commit one way or another. Heavy queer subtext all the way only barely held back by censorship can be committing. So can simply portraying a deep and passionate but platonic relationship. But this show just isn't doing it either way. I'll still give it a 3/5 bc for such a short show it did have quite some wild moments and some lovely art.
Wu - Thai supernatural thriller with a shaman of sorts and a dude who's possessed by a demon. This is actually good bromance; much as I would ship Pete and Niran, they also convince me as platonic soulmates (of the soulbond variety) (I do still ship them though). The supernatural aspects were really cool! I also liked the evolution of the political thriller side of the plot - at first I was like "why is this show treating protesters like the enemy" but by the end I was like "I see, so they were actually heading towards a place of the protesters having a point." Thai dramas are actually less likely to let me down in these areas than many other TV shows. 5/5 from me off the top of my head, I could drop it down to 4 if I watch better shows this year but this is the best one I've finished thus far.
Out of all of these, I really only recommend Wu. But the only one I would ANTI rec is Reverse, otherwise, eh, the other three are... fine. (If I had to pick a second rec, Dare You to Death.)
To be clear! I have finished other shows this year (some of which were excellent), they just didn't come out in 2026.
Currently watching:
Mr. Kill - Thai thriller drama, only 3 episodes out so far. I started watching it yesterday and so far I think it's really good! Not the most realistic police work perhaps, but very whumpy vibes. Our MC is a comic book artist whose comic book is being copied by a serial killer. This is another bromance drama (bromance between MC and the cop investigating the case) and I am greatly enjoying it.
Payback - Thai BL drama with an actor who joins a large agency with the goal of getting revenge on their top actor. I kind of expected this to be more knives and less Skip Beat, but I am still enjoying it a lot. Sun's deadpan facial expressions just get me every time. He is so bad at acting (the character, not the real life actor lol). The love interest is a wealthy and influential director at said acting agency; the two have great sexual chemistry but I don't know that I'm convinced they share a real emotional connection. They flirt, they intrigue each other, they banter, they power play, they show occasional moments of vulnerability.... it's all very fun, but is it romance? As a person who likes watching a weird situationship as much as any romance, I'm good either way.
Sin and Love - Korean BL minidrama with a (very light) side of thriller. Ohhhhhh man. I binge watched the first few episodes of this and honestly, trash. Will I watch the rest? Yes, absolutely. IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE. But I love the pathetic cop-undercover-as-a-nightclub-owner (for some reason we're pretending this is, like, as hardcore as going undercover in a gang) and his weird sadistic boss. Insane vibes here.
The East Palace - Korean historical/supernatural drama (8 episodes). What if a palace was super haunted and you were a shaman dragged in to solve all its problems by a cold and ruthless king? Wouldn't that suck? Okay but seriously, very interesting vibes here. For a historical drama, it's very fast paced and matter of fact, maybe the Netflix effect (you see this in Netflix kdrama thrillers often too). I love the shaman's dynamic duo with the king's secret daughter, but why are so many ppl on tumblr saying it should be a romance? I need m/f platonic dynamic duos in my historical dramas much more than m/f romance, thanks. Also the special effects are great, the ghosts and other spirits are amazing, and the spirit realm is especially very atmospheric and cool. Currently I'm halfway through this and definitely wondering where it's going next.
I'd recommend any of these as of now, but obviously I would bc otherwise I would not still be watching. Whether they will stick the landing remains to be seen.
On-hold/dropped:
The First Jasmine and Pursuit of Jade - I'll just shove these two historical cdramas together bc my feelings were very similar. Pretty much liked the female leads! Thought they were maybe a little too perfect but that is okay! The male leads were fine but just not that interesting! The plot seemed to be going places but I was only there for the vibes! I wanted to care more about the romance than I did and ultimately it's just down to my mood, I don't think I care much about m/f romantic subplots right now in general. Both of these are just on hold for me, I might very well pick them back up, but I just sort of lost interest for the time being. I will say I got 15 episodes into Pursuit of Jade and only 8 into The First Jasmine (out of 40) so make of that what you will.
Yesterday - Thai toxic BL drama. I was really into this when it had sort of a dual timeline going of the slow-burn relationship present and the toxic relationship breakdown in the future. But then the present caught up with the future and everything was toxic all the time, and I got kind of bored. Will I finish it? Uh. Maybe. I don't know. I'm only halfway through, and if the last 5 episodes are all about brooding and angst and misery then I don't know if I'm here for it. It's reminding me of the last few episodes of To My Shore except with less twists and turns to keep things interesting... if anyone's finished this, pls tell me how the second half goes to help me make my decision.
I also sort of tried to watch Love Between the Lines and Unveil: Jadewind, but I only got 3 episodes in before figuring they just weren't for me so I have no real insight on them.
To watch in the near future:
Broken of Love
Don't Be Too Emotional
Fifties Professionals
Girl Rules
Overdo
Swords Into Ploughshares
The Apartment Job
The Edge of the Horizon
The Legend of Rosy Clouds
The Prosecutor's Proposal
Probably a bunch of others, okay, my to watch list is very long so this is just the essentials.
And that is my current status with 2026 dramas. What are y'all watching? Anything you'd recommend (or warn me away from lol)?
