5 iconic K-dramas adapted from Japanese manga

As Korean dramas continue to surge in popularity throughout the world, the shows sometimes draw inspiration from the literary works of other countries.

Many K-dramas have been adapted or taken inspiration from Japanese manga, which has become a worldwide phenomenon. The series has been presented in a new light while keeping the original narration or storyline intact. The five iconic K-dramas that have been adapted from Japanese manga are mentioned below:

Boys Over Flowers
City Hunter
Playful Kiss
Parasyte: The Grey
To The Beautiful You

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5 K-dramas adapted from Japanese manga: Boys Over Flowers, Playful Kiss, To The Beautiful You, and others

1) Boys Over Flowers

Featuring Korean drama Boys Over Flowers cast (Image via Netflix Website)

Where to watch: Apple TV, Netflix, WeTV, Viki, iQIYI, Hulu, iflix, AsianCrush, Tubi, and Prime Video

Cast: Gu Hye-seon, Lee Min-ho, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Bum, Kim-joon

The Korean drama Boys Over Flowers is adapted from the manga of the same name, authored by Kamio Yoko. It follows the story of a poor girl, Geum Jan-do, who belongs to a poor family. They have a dry-cleaning shop.

However, she gets admitted into the prestigious Shinhwa High School due to an incident. At the new place, she encounters the most powerful group of four boys, F4. She gets entangled in a love triangle with Joon-pyo and Ji-hoo.

2) City Hunter

Featuring Lee Min-ho (Image via @actorleeminho/Instagram)

Where to watch: SBS

Cast: Lee Min-ho, Park Min-young, Lee Jun-hyuk, Kim Sang-joong, Hwang Sun-hee, and others

The thriller and action K-drama City Hunter revolves around a talented MIT graduate, Lee Yoon-sung, who works for the international communications team in the Blue House.

He has a hidden motive to avenge the five politicians who were responsible for his father's death. He is backed by Lee Jin-pyo. It is adapted from the manga series of the same name by Hojo Tsukasa.

3) Playful Kiss

Featuring Playful Kiss cast (Image via Rakuten Viki website)

Where to watch: Apple TV, Rakuten Viki, Prime Video, AsianCrush, and Tubi

Cast: Kim Hyun-joong, Jung So-min, Lee Tae-sung, Hong Yoon-hwa

Playful Kiss is adapted from the manga series Itazura na Kiss, authored by Tada Kaoru. It revolves around a clumsy high school student, Oh Ha-ni, who has a crush on a model student, Baek Seung-jo.

However, Seung-jo has a cold personality and rejects her love proposal. Subsequently, Ha-ni's house crumbles, and she and her father move into Seung-jo's house. Subsequently, she gets an opportunity to be close to her crush.

4) Parasyte: The Grey

Featuring Parasyte the Grey cast (Image via Netflix Website)

Where to watch: Netflix

Cast: Jeon So-nee, Koo Kyo-hwan, Lee Jung-hyun, Kwon Hae-hyo, and others

Parasyte: The Grey is adapted from the manga series Kiseiju, authored by Iwaaki Hitoshi. It revolves around the story of a parasite who fails to take complete control of Jung Soo's body.

Hence, they have to co-exist in the same body and protect each other from any danger. Meanwhile, the leader of The Grey team, which aims to mitigate the parasites from Earth, works for the cause. Simultaneously, Seol-kang continues his search for his missing sister.

5) To The Beautiful You

Featuring K-drama To The Beautiful You cast (Image via Rakuten Viki)

Where to watch: Rakuten Viki and Kocowa

Cast: Sulli, Choi Min-ho, Lee Hyun-woo, Kim Ji-won, and Seo Joon-young

The comedy and romance K-drama To The Beautiful You revolves around the story of student-athletes who develop a close bond during training, emphasizing camaraderie rather than competition.

Jae-hui moves to South Korea with the aid of Tae-jun to help him restart his career after he suddenly announces retirement. It is adapted from the manga series Hanazakari no Kimitachie e, authored by Nakajo Hisaya.

The other K-dramas to be adapted from the manga series include Liar Game, Cantabile Tomorrow, and more.

About the author

Kirti holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism & Mass Communication and has been a Kpop writer at SK POP since 2022. She has been following Kpop and Kdramas since the last 6 years and but has worked in the genre only in the last 3-4 years donning several several caps - social media intern, copywriter, article writer and academic writer.

Kirti likes to pen down insightful features based on Korean dramas, especially the 'Ending Explained' categories. It gives her the satisfaction of creating the most authentic content rather than simply replicating what media outlets generally do.

Her process of creating content is time-consuming, yet methodical; she prefers to use original sources of information, which in her case are Korean outlets. She watches entire episodes, writes them down, cross-checks/fact-checks the details/event timelines off the web and eventually creates her copy.

Kirti likes Lee Je-hoon, IU, and Kim Seon-ho since she feels that their dramas are inspiring and have good plotlines. When she is not writing about K-dramas, she can be found watching them.

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Edited by Prem Deshpande