r/asiandrama Jul 23 '25

Discussion Where Asian Dramas and Visual Novels intersect: Asian FMV Games (Spotlight)

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13 Upvotes

Hi r/asiandrama !

For those who don't know me, I am a huge fan of East Asian dramas and culture, which is why I helped create and promote the Drama Addicts discord to help spread the joy that is Asian Dramas. In the past year, I have discovered another medium, that combines two interests of mine: Asian Dramas and Visual Novels, and that medium is Asian Full Motion Video Games.

I wanted to take some time to share with you all about this medium, as I figure some folks here may end up liking it, and I will stick around to answer any questions or give recommendations as well. I have also created a subreddit for this genre, which you can find linked below.

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To start, what are Asian FMV games?

Asian FMV games are interactive movies that can be played on Steam or Epic (there may be a couple on mobile too). They will play out like a normal drama, but you can make choices throughout the story that impact the outcomes of the drama. They have existed since the 90s (especially in the horror and mystery genre), but in the past 2 years have exploded in China and Korea for romantic dating simulators, mystery thrillers, and historical fiction.

These games are often indie works, but are more often now involving real actors, directors, and studios. They normally range between anywhere from 3 to 12 hours long for a single route. And these games are normally sold for about 6 to 20 dollars USD (averaging about 10 USD). They primarily come from China, but recently more Korean studios have been getting involved as well. There are over 60 Asian FMV that have released just in the past 3 years.

Many of the tropes found in Asian FMV are a mix of what you might find in Asian Dramas and Japanese Visual Novels, as they are greatly inspired by both.

What are some examples?

For those looking for lighthearted romantic comedy that isn't meant to be taken too seriously here are a couple recommendations:

Five Hearts Under One Roof (Korean) You run a share house left to you by your parents.
Don't Fool Me Beauties (Korean) You start working at a remote onsen hotel as your first job.
Master of Love (Korean) After a recent breakup you are brought 10 years back to change your fate.
Love is All Around (Chinese) Deep in debt, you flee to a new town to start a new life.
Hello Love: 18 Again (Chinese) After an accident, you wake up to relive your college years.
Knowledge or Know Lady (Chinese) You are the first male student at an all girls university.

If you are interested in pursuing men, there are not as many options that support English, but a few include:
Love Too Easily (Korean) After a drunk night out, all you remember is a kiss, but who did it?
HSHS (Chinese) You started your first job as a live broadcast assistant, but surrounded by attractive men.

There are numerous more serious FMV that have released as well, that normally focus more 70/30 on the mystery/thriller compared to romance, these include:

Vanity Fair (Chinese) You are a failed movie director, but how far would you bend your values to succeed?
Game of Fate (Chinese) You have invented time travel, but what repercussions does its use entail?
Breaker of Fatalism (Chinese) The fate of three worlds is in your hands in this modern wuxia fantasy.
Cellveillance (Chinese) Asked to spy on an apartment to pay your debts, do you report what you find?
Breakout 13 (Chinese) Discover the horrors of a correctional institute and break free.

More studios have also been experimenting with historical fiction and fantasy:

My Journey (Chinese) This does actually support Eng. You time travel to the past and influence the world.
Conquer the World (Chinese) Attempt to restore the Ming, overthrow the Qing in this historical drama.
Underdog Detective (Chinese) Under the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, live as a slum dwelling detective.

These are all just some limited examples of what is available in the Asian FMV world. Many are more indie, but the quality is increasing with each release, and they are still many funny and interesting titles to give a try. If anyone is interested in specific recommendations feel free to ask below.

I have also created a subreddit specifically for following Asian FMV's called r/AsianFMV where I try to post updates every few weeks or so on what is new in the Asian FMV world. If this medium sounds interesting to you all, I would love to see some of you all there :)


r/asiandrama Apr 22 '25

Community Join the Drama Addicts Discord Server!

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1 Upvotes

r/asiandrama 3h ago

Question Need your best suggestions. Help me!

2 Upvotes

Hey girlies.....

I have been a k drama and totally a total romance fool girl!! But recently due to my education I have not seen any..... And there are too many ongoing dramas out there.....

So I want your best suggestions.... Feel free to suggest

I'm sharing a few of my recent drama

Queen of tears

When life gives you tangerine

Perfect crown

Can this love be translated


r/asiandrama 17h ago

Video 📌NOTE: This edit is not for kids [ ONLY Above 18]

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14 Upvotes

Drama name: First frost [ C-Drama] 🤗💯


r/asiandrama 4h ago

Question Chinese drama

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1 Upvotes

I would like to know what chinese or korean drama is this video as I want to watch it


r/asiandrama 12h ago

Video MAIN TRAILER OF DRAMA MERRY BERRY LOVE STARRING JI CHANG WOOK & MIO IMADA COMING ON OCT 7 ON DISNEY+ WORLDWIDE

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4 Upvotes

r/asiandrama 8h ago

Question Help me find an old historical drama

2 Upvotes

I remember watching this one historical drama back in 2016-2017 on TV the quality looked a bit older so i'd assume it was produced from the early 2000s to 2015s.
I remember the FL was of low status and became empress/queen then her husband "cheated" on her or should i say took 2 other concubines after her one of them was the FL's close friend she was kinda evil i think? the other concubine was weak and emotional i don't remember much about her.
some events/scenes I remember:
-one of the 3 women i mentioned died from a carriage crush
-the FL used to live with her close friend together as maids (?), and the empror/king saved her once there from an accident or idk something that involved a rainy night
-during the Empress/queen ceremony/wedding or birthday (can't really remember) she was offered a hairpin by her husband that made her really happy
-The FL/empress was a wise and likeable character but she was pitiful and looked very sad throughout the show. She got pregnant and had a child (a boy and a girl, not really sure about the girl maybe she only had 1 child -?-)
-the 3 women had their own palaces (idk what they are called specifically) but the Empress/queen and the first concubine (who was her close friend) used to run into each other often, probably had multiple fights, whereas the second concubine had her "palace" really far from the two so they didn't meet a lot.

Idk if it was a korean, japanese or chinese but its between korean and chinese

anyways that's all i remember i tried so hard to search up this drama online but i always failed to find it. I REALLY really want to watch it again because i was extremely obsessed with it and i lowkey don't remember the ending so it's making me even more curious and eager to find it


r/asiandrama 14h ago

Video Love lost farewell thee

1 Upvotes

Interesting show, searching for this one ..it is sett in the 80s. With the woman mistreating the factory manager


r/asiandrama 16h ago

Recommendation Request Recommend High school, or modern, or second chance at love cdramas

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1 Upvotes

r/asiandrama 1d ago

Discussion 🔥 SEPTEMBER 2026 IS PACKED WITH NEW KOREAN DRAMAS!!!!!! 🇰🇷📺

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3 Upvotes

r/asiandrama 1d ago

Question kitamura kazuki

2 Upvotes

Early 2000s my Japanese teacher let me borrow some tapes with some random Japanese stuff on it, and I remember watching part of some type of drama I'm not really sure what was going on since you know of course there was no subtitles on a VHS... but, I just remember the actor he took off his wedding ring and the camera slow motioned the moment if I can remember correctly. then there was another Asian actress which might have played his wife in the show - she had that 1990s Vibe look to her. I Google it, I think it was :kitamura kazuki? and I'm not sure if the drama was called Tokyo friends? but I don't think it was--- but I'm not really sure I'd have to see if I can somehow find that old mini tape that I had transferred it to 🤔 and maybe this post will make some sense! I'm trying to find that drama, but for the life of me I can't think of what it was called I thought it was him- but maybe I'm mistaken on the actor... Is there an actor that looks very similar to him? Cuz at the time I'm assuming he had to be in his early twenties when he did that drama but yeah I have no idea on how to go about watching it I wanted to see more of the drama unless it was a movie I don't even know... 🫠 if I happen to find that little tape maybe I'll update this post or follow up on it I don't even know how to go about finding what I'm talking about 🫠


r/asiandrama 1d ago

Recommendation Request Turkish dramas of forced marriage where they actually end up falling in love (secondary couples too please).

2 Upvotes

I just finished s1 of Taşacak Bu Deniz only for the secondary couple ISO AND FADIME and omg, I cannot get enough of them, they’re are basically enemies of enemies families who hate each other very much and are forced to marry due to some circumstances and plot reasons, they never stop fighting and bickering but they ultimately fall in love with each other, like head over heels in love.

I’m looking for similar stories, and I’ve come to learn that these type of stories mostly come from secondary couples in turkish series, so please don’t hesitate to recommend me anything and everything!!

My only conditions are: they end up falling in love with each other, BOTH OF THEM, not only one of them. I also don’t mind if it’s old or with 1000+ episodes, I don’t care, I just want the plot of two characters forced to marry but slowly very slowly falling in love.

I’ve watch:

-O Hayat Benim. Characters are Arda and Efsun, they truly loathe each other, and they’re both villains in the series, she forces him to marry and he hates her more but ends up falling for her in the end.

-Siyah Beyaz Aşk (main leads) he forces her to marry him to save her life.

-Hudutsuz sevda (Leyla and Yavuz)

-Fatmagul (main leads).

-My favorite one ever: Hayat Şarkısı (main leads). She’s basically crazy af and he hates her for real in the beginning for a lot of things she’s done but ultimately ends up falling crazy in love with her. Also the secondary couples (his brother has been in a forced marriage for years with Zeynep who might seem like a villain at first but gets her redemption arc and they fall in love for real).

I stopped watching these below because I just didn’t feel the vibe:

-Hercai
-Sila
-Yemin
-Adini sen koy
-Kan Çiçeklari

Thank you!!


r/asiandrama 1d ago

Discussion List dramas that start off great but little things make it hard to finish?

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0 Upvotes

r/asiandrama 1d ago

Recommendation Request Drama with rich Female Lead treats quite poor ML badly/humilate Ml because of ml's background.

3 Upvotes

i want to watch a drama with the theme where a rich FL treats quite poor ML badly but ML takes it in and doesn't express emotions and later on FL realizes her mistake and then falls in love with the ML. Try to win over ml heart.

Fl-She must be arrogant, selfish etc.

Ml-He must be kind hearted, helpful.

I have tried to search for this kind of theme but couldn't find one.

I watched Crash landing on you,my dearest nemesis


r/asiandrama 1d ago

Video Firefighter x Doctor Love ❤️ 💯

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8 Upvotes

Drama name:Fireworks of My Heart ❤️ [C-Drama] 💯🤗

[SPOILER] 📌

>! Contains spoilers - watch at your own risk !<

🎬 Edit by me


r/asiandrama 1d ago

Recommendation Request Need more stuff like Fight for my Way

3 Upvotes

Yesterday I've finished Fight for my Way and I absolutely adored it!

They were just so cute together the chemistry was off the charts. Ive really enjoyed the childhood friends to lovers and the constant bickering relationship.

I also really liked that overall it was just a feel good show with a straightforwardly progressing romance with barely any angst and lots of displays of affection/actual couple screentime.

If you know of more shows with such dynamics, please recommend them here. Thank you very much.

My watch history:

Twinkling Watermelon, 18 Again, Reset, Go back Couple, Undercover High School, Weak Hero Class, Moving, Teach you a Lesson, Signal, Deaths Game, Mr Queen, Kingdom, My Perfect Stranger, Love Next Door, Happiness, Agent Kim Reactivated, Still 17, Its Okay Not to be Okay, Come and Hug me, My Strange Hero, Because this is my first Life, Fight for my Way


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Recommendation Request Cdrama or jdrama recs wanted please!

5 Upvotes

I am looking for a contemporary setting drama that is heavily atmospheric with artful cinematography and well acted. Would maybe prefer romance but it doesn’t have to be. I have only seen the twdrama Someday or One Day before and the jdrama First Love.


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Recommendation Request Recs? Taiwanese dramas similar to Autumns Concerto

1 Upvotes

Hey guys,

I recently re-watched one of my favs Autumns concerto on netflix and it was so nostalgic and lovely. It's insane how much chemistry the leads have (sad they never dated irl lol) but wished for more love scenes.

Anyone have any similar shows to recommend? Must have good ending and just be really romantic.

thanks!


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Discussion Why is Older Dramas so hard to find?

6 Upvotes

I am writing this to rant really. My issue is that all older dramas from 10, 20 years ago are so hard to find these days. I was watching Bow See Chompoo, which is a Thai lakorn but it only goes up to ep 7 and it’s so hard to find the rest. I feel like all the websites I used back in the day to watch older k-drama, whether it be Korean Thai, Chinese etc, are gone but I don’t understand the gate-keeping. Who exactly benefits from this 20+ year old dramas??? Like I get if it’s more recent, but some of the dramas I watch are older than me 😩😩. I am just so frustrated….

Rant over ig 😭

If anyone wants to plug me, dm me pls 🫶🏽


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Recommendation Request Can anyone recommend some Chinese dramas for me to watch?

5 Upvotes

It could be adventure, romance, school life, comedy, etc. Please give me some recommendations.


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Video 😩🥹💯❤️

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7 Upvotes

Drama name: Hidden love ❤️ [C-Drama]


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Recommendation Request taiwanese dramas

8 Upvotes

hello!!

does anyone have recommendations for taiwanese dramas that use easy language? im starting learn mandarin, and want to learn specifically using taiwanese dialect and accent. thank u so much!


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Recommendation Request What do you wish you could know about a drama or its cast that Google doesn't tell you?

5 Upvotes

I'm curious about something as a drama viewer.

When you start watching a K-drama, C-drama, Thai drama, J-drama, etc., there's usually plenty of basic information available online — cast, plot, release date, episodes, where to watch, etc.

But what is something you actually want to know about the drama or the actors that you can't easily find through a normal Google search?

It could be anything — something about the actors, their interviews, why they chose a role, how a project came together, behind-the-scenes context, what happened after a drama, questions you wish someone would ask them, etc.

Basically: what makes you curious but is difficult to find a proper answer to?

I'd love to hear what other drama fans genuinely want to know.


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Question [ Removed by Reddit ]

1 Upvotes

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]


r/asiandrama 2d ago

Discussion 20F

1 Upvotes

Just finished Love in Tokyo — anyone else watched it?

Recently finished this one and really want to discuss it with someone who's seen it. A few things I'd love to talk about.

Would love to hear other people's take, especially if you've watched other similar dramas to compare it with.