[Beanie Recs] Fish out of water cuteness
by DB Staff
Ahoy, Beanies! It’s time to gather your collective genius for a recommendation series that features you and your drama knowledge. Each week we’ll drop a drama conundrum and leave it up to you to provide a drama rec, and the appropriate rationale behind it, be it long or short. Respond below!
Don’t judge me if I’m already obsessed with Once Upon a Small Town — it’s got me itching for more fish-out-of-water themed stories. Any good recs outside of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha? Cuteness is mandatory.
Have a very particular drama itch that needs scratching? In need of a Beanie Rec? Email us at hello @ dramabeans.com and we’ll feature your topic in a future post.
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Tags: Beanie Recs, Drama recommendations
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1 jerrykuvira
September 8, 2022 at 8:23 AM
1. Navillera.
2. Racket Boys.
3. Kiss Sixth Sense(Not so sure about this one).
4. Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung.
5. If You Wish Upon Me.
6. Mr. Queen.
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2 Midnight
September 8, 2022 at 8:39 AM
My Fellow Citizens
Switch
My Strange Hero
Deserving of the Name
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mmmmm
September 8, 2022 at 10:06 AM
A big YES to Live Up to Your Name!
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3 Kurama
September 8, 2022 at 8:45 AM
Racket Boys : It was in the countryside and all the kids were cute!
I guess Do Do Sol Sol La Sol meets the criteria, but I won't recommend this one.
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4 Reply1988 - Mother Bean (DB Wooga squad)
September 8, 2022 at 8:49 AM
1.Shopping King Louis - memory loss
2. Page turner - life changing event
3. The best hit - fantasy time travel
4. Miracle 2022 - status change
5. Splish splash love - time travel
Ghost doctor fantasy
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5 miso
September 8, 2022 at 9:03 AM
Crash Landing on You - can't get more fish-out-of-water than a South Korean Chaebol in North Korea and NK soldiers in the South!
Legend of the Blue Sea - very literally fish-out-of-water.
Time-travel sageuks - Rooftop Prince and Live Up to Your Name - though your mileage may vary with these.
Thrillers like Tunnel and Life on Mars also have a fair bit of fish-out-of-water shenanigans given the time-travel aspect. Though they're probably not high on cuteness as such.
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OldLawyer
September 8, 2022 at 12:08 PM
I immediately thought of LEGEND OF THE BLUE SEA as well.
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6 Elinor Lies
September 8, 2022 at 9:15 AM
Touch Your Heart aka Reach of Sincerity. Celeb actress working as - not just pretending to be - a legal secretary. Yoo In-na and Lee Dong-wook. Cuteness for miles. I actually dropped this because the sugary cuteness was too much for me!
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Unaspirated
September 8, 2022 at 9:56 AM
Haha, I watched this immediately after watching My Ajusshi. I knew what I was getting into, but after the much heavier drama, I just wanted a cotton candy (sugary fluff) drama to switch things up, and boy did it deliver! It's not one I'll revisit, but I thought it did a good job at what it was trying to do.
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Nal
September 8, 2022 at 1:16 PM
You dropped it? Too much sweetness in this case is good for your health 😆
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7 Unaspirated
September 8, 2022 at 9:53 AM
Crash Landing on You is just the best, and all kinds of fish-out-of-water as folks have previously said. I love that you have it going first in one direction as most of the action is in the north, and then it switches halfway through to have characters out of place in the other direction!
I'll also recommend Live Up to Your Name, because I will never not recommend LUtYN when it is even slightly relevant. Kim Nam Gil exudes cuteness beautifully in this role (that scene on the beach? I die.)
I'd also say 100 Days My Prince delivers on this pretty well. Poor Prince Yul who has never had to work a day in his life trying to be a peasant and totally failing at it while also falling in love with his wife? Super cute.
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Reply1988 - Mother Bean (DB Wooga squad)
September 8, 2022 at 10:05 AM
Yes Live up to your name has to be mentioned I remembered it and then forgot to add before I pressed send. I agree the two way process works in both live up to your name and Crash landing. I have yet to watch 100 days my prince but surely he doesn’t abandon her once he gets his memory back🥺 if he doesn’t then she would be the fish out of water in the palace.
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Unaspirated
September 8, 2022 at 10:29 AM
Not to spoil too much - he does the absolute opposite of abandoning her, but there are Circumstances. So we don't get a lot of palace time for our leading lady.
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Unaspirated
September 8, 2022 at 10:35 AM
And, I forgot to add, the FL is not originally a peasant either, but she's been living as one for a while, so she's got it down. But she actually comes from a noble family, so way fewer shenanigans in the other direction. (You get all this info in Ep 1, so I think it's okay to share it, haha)
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Reply1988 - Mother Bean (DB Wooga squad)
September 8, 2022 at 10:43 AM
Thank you I am adding it to the watch list. I think I started it but there was lots of killings when they were children and as I don't do violence I just worried it would be like that all the way through and dropped. That may be another historic drama though but it was you saying she was from a noble family that made it ring a bell.
Unaspirated
September 8, 2022 at 11:06 AM
@reply1988, yes the first episode is when the coup happens, and there are still some violent parts after that, but it calms down significantly, so I think you'd be fine to skip those sections and not miss much story.
8 mmmmm
September 8, 2022 at 10:05 AM
The only ref that came to my mind is the FL (UEE) in Ojakgyo Brothers. I have a fond memory of that show and UEE is cutest with her baby chubby cheeks.
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9 Ayan
September 8, 2022 at 10:15 AM
One of my favourites, Come back Ahjussi! A body swap comedy with a lot of heart.
Another would be Spring turns to Spring, its campy and hilarious.
Surely You're beautiful is the ultimate Fish out of water?
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10 hmwtx
September 8, 2022 at 11:15 AM
When the Camellia Blooms is kind of related to Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha in that the woman (in this case, single mother) moves to a new town and starts over... but I got bored in the middle of it and fast forwarded a lot, so not really sure how much "cute" is available in this one.
I've always considered Hotel del Luna to be a fish-out-of-water tale, in that the only main character who is not already dead (the ML) is afraid of ghosts yet is running a hotel full of them. Again, this one isn't exactly "cute," but I liked it. Lots of people didn't, though.
As for "cute" - CLOY scene where the NK fanboy meets his SK drama idol is the very definition of "cute." I dare you to try to watch that scene without smiling at him.
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11 Tizzy
September 8, 2022 at 11:18 AM
Crash Landing on You is my fave. And Rooftop Prince is cute too!!!!!
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12 welh
September 8, 2022 at 11:18 AM
To me, a "fish out of water" story has to have the protagonist in a situation where he/she is totally out of their element, either physically, emotionally, mentally, skillfully (talent) or all of the above. Then he/she has use what inner strength to adapt and succeed.
I think the best of this genre is SPIRITED AWAY. Chihiro is sullen, whiny, and afraid 10-year-old girl who suddenly gets trapped as the only human in a bathhouse in the spirit world. She has to become brave and self-sufficient enough to return home. In her journey she encounters many cute monsters and situations. Still my favorite anime of all time.
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13 CasualDramaFan
September 8, 2022 at 12:44 PM
Recommended:
Queen In-hyun’s Man: Swoony romance and smart, sweet male lead. What more do you need?
Mystic pop-up bar: Great story and root-worthy family.
W: Watch up first 8 episodes only. Absolutely exciting.
Extraordinary you: Quite the fun ride
Try at your own risk:
Scarlet Heart: It does not end well
Faith: Essential for LMH super fans.
King: the eternal monarch – If only men riding horses and drawing sword in modern day Seoul is your thing and (Woo Do Hwan)
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Tizzy
September 8, 2022 at 4:56 PM
Oooh, I forgot about Queen In-hyun’s Man. Love that drama
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FormAnOrderlyQueue
September 8, 2022 at 8:15 PM
Yeeeeees for Eun-seop trying to stay awake while the king does economic policy with the PM in TKEM - a moment of WDH brilliance there. (And annoyingly interrupted by some essential kimchi PPL....) Come baaaaaaack to dramaland WDH - where are yooooooou?
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14 aida
September 9, 2022 at 12:45 AM
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15 ninidolpin 🐬
September 9, 2022 at 2:12 PM
We can add stories with "male/female characters who pretend to be someone else" to the list
Example:You are beautiful...
Secret Garden: body changing events
The witch's dinner: A witch discovering her talent
Good Maneger : bring a selfish thief whom everyone see as a life-saving angel 😇
Bleach: This one is a j-movie, a fantasy about a human who suddenly became Grimripper
My libberation notes: A man who works in bars came to country side
Tomorrow: Again becoming Grimripper without preparations
Spies who loved me:Your husband tured out to be a spy, why would you do?
Happimess: this one is not cute
manhole
Mask
Chocolate
D-Day:The world is literally ruined ,not cute
49days:cutness and a ghost story
I am not robot:From today, you are a robot
Be with you: traveling to the future
Thirty but seventeen: I was 17 years old, I slept yesterday and now I am 30
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ninidolpin 🐬
September 9, 2022 at 2:14 PM
Oh and I like to add Zombie Detective.A zombie awakens and hardly can move. A zombie wha came to live in a city among human.
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16 ar_arguably romantic
September 9, 2022 at 5:04 PM
I love this when mixed with someone getting amnesia like 100 Days My Prince, Haeundae lovers, Fantasy Couple, Zombie Detective,
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