When I hear someone say they don’t like K-dramas, I automatically believe they don’t love good things, unapologetically (don’t blame me, blame it on the perfection of K-dramas). That’s because I don’t see what’s there not to love, and I am sure I don’t have to mention those things again. However, one thing I have never mentioned is how K-dramas don’t rely on trope and genre variability alone to remain versatile because just when you think they are out of ideas, boom! You discover them in another form of amazingness.

For instance, do you know some of our beloved K-dramas are either spin-off stories of Manhwas (Comics) or mainly of other series? Spin-offs are any narrative work derived from an existing work, and they focus on different aspects of the original work. (Note: Not a second part).

While K-dramas can influence the productions of different spin-offs like other series or reality shows, let’s focus on the spin-off series. Here are 5 dramas and their inspired Spin-off series.

No Gain No Love: Spice up our love

No Gain No Love is the original series, which tells the story of Son Hae-young (Shin Min Ah), a woman who got married because she didn't want to lose money, and Kim Ji-wook (Kim Young Dae), a man who became her husband because he didn't want to cause harm which aired for 12 episodes. Then comes ‘Spice Up Our Love’, a 2 episode spin-off that tells the story of the second lead couple in another dimension. It’s the story of an R-rated romance web novelist named Nam Ja-yeon (Han Ji-hyun) who unexpectedly transforms into Seo Yeon-seo, the female lead of her novel, and gets caught up in an erratic romance with Kang Ha-joon (Lee Sang Yi), the novel's male lead.

Currently, it’s the latest in all spin-offs and you will love it!

Strong Girl Do Bong Soon: Strong Girl Namsoon

Strong Girl Bong Soon was that 2017 supernatural 16-episode series we all enjoyed. A story of a lady (Park Bo Young) with superhuman strength who works as a bodyguard for a young CEO (Park Hyung Sik). In what seems like a second season at first, the series came back with another 16-episode spin-off in 2023. This time it was the story of Gang Nam-soon (Lee Yoo-mi), who also has superhuman strength, who is in search of her long-lost family and gets involved in a drug case after their reunion.

If the original series caught your heart, I am sure the spin-off will (that is, if that has not happened yet).  

Stranger: Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard

The original series ‘Stranger’ was a two-season series that aired in 2017 and 2020 subsequently. Generally, in both seasons of the original work, a prosecutor (Cho Seung-woo) who has almost lost the ability to feel emotions, with the help of a gutsy female detective (Bae Doona), tackles a strange murder case amid political corruption. In a Spin-off that aired in 2024, the second lead comes back as the main lead and he is assigned to the case of the murder of a high school girl and begins a dangerous tightrope walk between his intuition as a prosecutor and his instincts as an opportunist.

‘Stranger’ was worth our time, so ‘Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard’ won’t break the streak.

Hospital Playlist: Wise Resident Life

Hospital Playlist, the original series, was another two-season series that tells the struggle story of five doctors in their forties. While its first season aired in 2020, the second one was released in 2021. A yet-to-be-released spinoff ‘Wise Resident Life’ tells the story of the hospital lives and turbulent friendships of young obstetrics and gynecology residents who proudly enter the unpopular department in an era of low birth rates. The series was supposed to air in 2024 but got postponed indefinitely but it is sure to air soon, so anticipate!!!

Love Playlist: Dear M

Love Playlist is a 4 season series that revolves around a group of college students as they learn about the joys and sorrows of relationships and breakups. It’s more of a coming-of-age series and I will call it something interesting for the youth. Its spinoff ‘Dear M’ is another story that follows the university life of four students at Seoyeon University as they search for "M" — the writer of a community article, and it aired in 2022.

While you will need to watch the original work of some spinoffs to be able to understand them better, some can just stand as independent series, which is which? I will leave you to find out for yourself.

Have you always heard about K-Drama spinoffs or this is your first time?