#1
My Dearest
A drifting Joseon nobleman and a strong-willed countrywoman meet on the eve of a Manchu invasion.
Watch on: Viki
Editorial List
Best Asian Dramas of 2023
The 2023 class — the year's standout Asian series, country by country.
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
The Long Season
A retired truck driver, his brother-in-law, and the cabbie they grew up with reopen a cold case from a long-vanished northeastern industrial town.
Watch on: iQIYI
#3
Moving
Three Korean high school students with hidden superhuman abilities discover their parents share a past that hunts them all.
Watch on: Disney+
#4
Between Him and Her
During the 1636 Manchu invasion of Joseon, two lovers are wrenched apart and survive a war that reshapes their kingdom.
Watch on: Viki, Viu
#5
Mysterious Lotus Casebook
A retired wuxia legend now travels with a portable wooden cottage and a younger swordsman, solving cases.
Watch on: Netflix, Viki
#6
Wave Makers
Inside a Taiwanese opposition party, two campaign aides juggle scandal, harassment, and an election they may finally win.
Watch on: Netflix
#7
A Journey to Love
A retired imperial assassin and a foreign envoy escort an exiled princess across a hostile border.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#8
Hidden Love
A college student finally lives in the same city as the older brother's best friend she's loved since middle school.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#9
The Knockout
Across two decades, a quiet small-town fishmonger grows into a southern China crime boss — pursued by a single relentless cop.
Watch on: Viki, iQIYI
#10
Three-Body
A nanotech researcher and a hard-edged cop investigate a wave of scientist suicides — and find a video game from another world.
Watch on: Viki, WeTV
#11
Blossoms Shanghai
In 1990s Shanghai, a young man rises through the city's booming stock-market years and the three women orbiting him.
Watch on: WeTV, Prime Video
#12
Moonlight Chicken
A late-night Pattaya chicken-rice shop owner reconnects with the man he met for one night during a power outage.
Watch on: Viki
#13
Story of Kunning Palace
After being executed in the central courtyard of the imperial palace, an empress is sent back ten years to undo her own ruin.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#14
Be My Favorite
A pop singer travels back through time to redo every wrong move he made with the boy he should have loved in college.
Watch on: Viki
#15
Death's Game
A failed suitor takes his life and is condemned by Death to live and die as twelve other people.
Watch on: Prime Video
#16
Agency
The first female executive at Korea's top advertising agency claws her way through a male-dominated boardroom.
Watch on: Viki
#17
Not Others
A nurse newly transferred to a psychiatric ward discovers there are no easy diagnoses — for her patients or herself.
Watch on: Netflix
#18
Daily Dose of Sunshine
A psychiatric ward nurse navigates her own grief while trying to keep her patients steady.
Watch on: Netflix
#19
A Romance of the Little Forest
A burned-out hotel manager retreats to a quiet Yunnan inn and meets a former tech entrepreneur rediscovering himself.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#20
Cherry Magic Thailand
A Thai office worker who reaches thirty as a virgin discovers he can read minds through touch.
Watch on: Viki
#21
Crash Course in Romance
A retired national handball player runs a banchan shop next to the office of Korea's most famous private math tutor.
Watch on: Netflix
#22
Lost You Forever
An immortal princess raised in the wilderness must choose among three men, each shaped by her in different lifetimes.
Watch on: WeTV, Viki
#23
VIVANT
A Japanese trading-firm employee on assignment in Central Asia is dragged into the middle of an intelligence operation that may involve his missing father.
Watch on: U-NEXT
#24
Last Twilight
A young man losing his sight and the broke caretaker hired by his mother fall slowly for each other.
Watch on: Viki
#25
The Sign
A Special Forces soldier with strange premonitions and a pathologist with hidden powers chase a serial killer.
Watch on: iQIYI
#26
Cooking Crush
A medical student and the engineering classmate who runs a late-night street-food cart become unlikely partners.
Watch on: Viki
#27
Dead Friend Forever
A Thai high school graduating class on a remote island vacation is hunted one by one.
Watch on: Viki
#28
Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938
Lee Yeon is sent back to 1938 Joseon and must survive long enough to return.
Watch on: Viki, Viu
#29
Castaway Diva
A teenage girl marooned on a deserted island for 15 years finally returns to civilization to chase her singing dream.
Watch on: Netflix
#30
Pending Train
A Tokyo express commuter train suddenly arrives in a future Earth nobody recognizes.
Watch on: 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.