#1
A Lifelong Journey
A working-class Chinese family's fortunes track the country's transformations from 1969 to today.
Watch on: Viki
Editorial List
Best Asian Dramas of 2022
A look back at the dramas that defined the post-pandemic comeback year.
This list is curated by the DramaSeek editorial desk and ranks 30 titles. Each entry below is a real, fully reviewed drama or film with its own dedicated page — synopsis, cast, ratings, and where-to-watch information. Inclusion isn't decided by audience rating alone: we factor in cultural footprint, craft, rewatchability, and contribution to the genre.
If you're new to the category, start at #1 and work your way down. If you're a returning fan, scan the list for titles you haven't yet caught. For broader recommendations beyond this list, see our long-form drama discovery handbook.
#2
My Liberation Notes
Three siblings stuck in their parents' suburban home form a "liberation club" — and the youngest meets a stranger she asks only to "worship" her.
Watch on: Netflix
#3
Extraordinary Attorney Woo
A brilliant young lawyer with autism navigates a high-powered Seoul firm and her first complicated romance.
Watch on: Netflix
#4
Silent
Years after they broke up, a high-school sweetheart appears at her train station — having lost his hearing in the years between.
Watch on: Viki
#5
Under the Queen's Umbrella
A pragmatic queen wrangles five misbehaving princes through a brutal succession contest.
Watch on: Netflix
#6
The Glory
A bullying survivor spends two decades plotting precise, devastating revenge against the classmates who tormented her.
Watch on: Netflix
#7
Alchemy of Souls
In a fictional kingdom where mages can swap souls, a noble heir takes a powerful assassin as his teacher.
Watch on: Netflix
#8
Weak Hero Class 1
A bullied honor-roll student uses his wits and physics-class problem solving to outfight his tormentors.
Watch on: Viki, Viu
#9
A Dream of Splendor
A Song-era teahouse owner travels to the capital to recover her missing fiancé and crosses paths with a celebrated court official.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#10
Reset
A college student and a video-game tester are stuck reliving the same Beijing bus explosion until they find a way to stop it.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#11
Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty
A pair of Tang-era investigators travel the empire solving impossible cases.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#12
The Blood of Youth
Four young swordsmen with secret pasts cross paths in the wuxia world's most dangerous taverns.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#13
First Love
A first love picked up across two decades, told in fragments through Sapporo winters and Tokyo cabs.
Watch on: Netflix
#14
The Eclipse
A model student-prefect and a mysterious troublemaker investigate the curse rumored to plague their elite school.
Watch on: Viki
#15
My School President
The shy student council president has a crush on the captain of his school's struggling boy band.
Watch on: Viki
#16
Twenty-Five Twenty-One
During the IMF crisis, a teen fencer befriends a young man whose family was ruined overnight; their relationship deepens across the late 1990s.
Watch on: Netflix
#17
Reborn Rich
A loyal employee murdered by a chaebol family wakes up reborn as the family's youngest grandchild — and slowly plots the takeover.
Watch on: Viki, Viu
#18
Love Like the Galaxy
A neglected daughter raised by relatives reunites with her hard-edged general father — and meets the prince who has secretly admired her for years.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#19
Heroes (Joy of Life Prequel)
Wandering swordsmen, hidden princes, and martial sects collide in the most populous wuxia ensemble of the streaming era.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#20
Old Enough!
Tiny Japanese children attempt their very first solo errands, filmed with absurd and tender intimacy.
Watch on: Netflix
#21
Summer Strike
A burned-out Seoul office worker quits everything and moves to a tiny coastal town.
Watch on: Viki
#22
Love Between Fairy and Devil
A small flower fairy accidentally swaps souls with the heavens' most feared demon king.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#23
Business Proposal
A researcher fills in for a friend on a blind date — and accidentally ends up dating her own CEO.
Watch on: Netflix
#24
Little Women
Three poor sisters stumble onto a 70-billion-won slush fund tied to one of Korea's most powerful families.
Watch on: Netflix
#25
Lighter & Princess
A guarded computer-science prodigy and the bright junior who refuses to leave him alone build a romance through a decade of code.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#26
Tomorrow
A team of Underworld grim reapers dedicated to preventing suicides hire a half-human assistant.
Watch on: Netflix
#27
Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow
Three years after the soul shifter chaos, the surviving mages confront a buried secret that could undo their kingdom.
Watch on: Netflix
#28
Big Mouth
A small-time lawyer is mistaken for a notorious con man and forced to play the role to survive prison.
Watch on: Disney+
#29
Anna
A working-class woman steals her wealthy employer's identity and slowly becomes the lie she tells.
Watch on: Coupang Play
#30
Falling Into You
A college pole vaulter reconnects with the talented and reserved high jumper who once tutored her in physics.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
How we rank these titles
DramaSeek's editorial lists are not pure aggregations of user scores — those are useful but tend to flatten cultural context. We factor in the show's audience reception, its place within the genre's history, and how it stands up to a rewatch. We also weight more heavily for titles that are still legally streaming in major regions, since this is a where-to-watch guide first and an archive second.
The list above is updated as new titles enter the catalogue and as streaming-rights deals shift. Bookmark it and check back periodically for the current state of the field.