Omg I was just looking thru the list of my fave dramas and realized I only loved sad dramas. Not full-on melo but those with pensive note, like Goblin. And I'm watching Chicago Typewriter and the 30s loveline is breaking my heart.

Pure Love broke me. Just thinking about it makes me sick all over again. I can't stand sad love stories - Tree of Heaven being my least favourite - because when a person loses the one they love the most it leaves a gaping hole in their life that can never be filled. That kills me.

maybe this is why i love mirrow of the witch and flowers for my life

Stories like this are my hard limit and really bad.
I have watched only :
Gaksital - Mok Dan died, but I did not care cause I wanted him to end up with Ueno Rie Goddamn it !!!
Also, the drama left it ambiguous enough if LKT died, so in my heart he's very much alive.
Mirror of The Witch - They got back together in heaven. My HEA got complete. Did not feel bad at all.
And my heartbreaking Cruel/Heartless City :(
The scene where I just knew that once his bff died in one of the most (bro)romantic thing that had ever happened in that drama, my Doctor's Son could not go on longer. They were like a yin/yang during all the series.
I still can't remember anything about the female lead, but I loved his aunt :)

There 3 are my ones and only sad endings I've watched. It will take a very strong and extremely amazing drama to join them here.

I don't mind drama with sad ending as long as it is made nicely. Jang Ok Jung is one of my fav too, although it was not 100% historically accurate, but their love story was beautiful. I cried a lot when she got her last wish to die in the arm of the man he loves, and how miserable King's life after that.

Many classic melodrama around 10 years ago had sad & tragic ending. Sometimes I miss those classics, and once in a while want to have a real sad love story with sad ending, which beautifully made.

Among the first Kdramas that I watched in early 2000s, this genre is the most popular.
I watched Autumn Story--my first second lead syndrome through Won Bin--and Winter Sonata with my mom--where mom decided to be Bae Yong joon ahjumma fans.
Though Kdrama has changed few years back (and mostly end happily now), dramas with sad ending has a special place in my heart. I cherished this genre as the one that had me addicted to Kdrama.

OMG. This catnip sounds like my cat-bath (like my anti-catnip). This is exactly the type of story that tears me to shreds and leaves me a sobbing, inarticulate mess. I can only handle sad love stories in super small doses very far part.

Honestly, I think anybody who sees this as their catnip is super strong (way more than me) emotionally and I salute you all. I don't know how you do it! Great read though. Thank you @kdramaskimchi.

Instead of going all the way, I always love that little 'save' at the end where the focus switches to living each day to the fullest because 'you never know'...
This was well done in Scent of a Woman, Marriage Contract...

Another catnip! Yay! To be honest, I heavily agree with your opinion. I like tragic romance shows since it usually grips my heart more. Happy endings are good too, but less interesting to me. In these sad types of shows, it really goes to show how their love for each other was so strong that it surpassed everything they came upon or received. In some of my favorite shows like Goblin and Mirror of the Witch, the ending of those lovelines make sense while breaking my heart into a million tiny pieces. This was a great catnip that I totally agree with.

Love them all and there are some Japanese ones I like to like 1 Litre of Tears

*too*

Wow we are soooo opposites! I always have a hard time accepting sad endings like this because it hurts really bad! There is only one show I can think of which I wished ended this way: Moonlight Drawn Over The Clouds. SPOILER ALERT: They totally ignored history, and as a history buff it made me soooo sad to see them just choose the happy ending when the kind in reality dies early. I think it would have been more moving to have them die together, or have Yoojung see him die by her side. Maybe accurate historical retelling is my catnip?

Deokman-Bidam was so sad too. I can't.

I never thought of sad endings this way ,"I feel that I saw their love for each other 'til the very end." It's horribly romantic, and I'll have to change my philosophy about sad endings now that you've opened my eyes!

@kdramaskimchi
I like how they changed Prince Ho-dong's story in Ja Mung Go.
Legend says that her father killed her for betraying her country and he, was poisoned by his step-mother so her son could become king. In the end they both died separately. The ultimate tragic love story imo.

Do u know how happy I am? I lost count how many times rewatching this drama.

Would u mind spending hours for us to fangirl about Yoo Ah In's explosive love gaze to Kim Tae Hee? ?
His gaze is piercing my heart, his adoration for her can naked me down. Ozzing smooshing sexiness !

What I like the most from their love is :
they are stand equal & smart afck. He doesnt see her just as meek lover only, he is adequating her to be in same smart headed level as him, be his partner in crime in politic. And she is willing to go down back n forth to hell with poison in her hand, just to love him as much as she can.
Dubb !!

I have a thing for sad love story too, to the point that I'd watch any drama with the premise of melo, but only if it is done right. I love angst in love story when it stays true to the story and there is emotional payofd, but not when it's done to wring more tears or beat up viewers for no apparent reason.

Oh man, there's so many!!
- "Heartless City" was more of a "Did he or didn't he come back for her?"
- "Autumn's Tale" was the first ever drama to make me feel that there was anything (emotionally) at stake-- the leads truly made me feel that one could not live without the other T.T
- "Rooftop Prince" is another that comes to mind: As in the words from someone/somewhere that I read on Dramabeans a couple of days ago: "She got to meet his reincarnation, but he went back to his own time and died alone without his love[r]..."
"Scarlet Heart: Ryeo": this has got to be the most recent one to stick--- I knew of the original China remake of the original novel, and so I also knew to set myself up for the ending that it had.... But #nope, I never was ready and I don't think anything would have helped to ready myself even if I knew that it was going to happen T.T But that goes to speak about the acting talent that is Lee Joon Gi, and yes, even IU, even when at times, I felt that she, herself, was a bit detached in her acting of Su's character XD

KIm Tae Hee performances in Jang Ok Jung is something i will be remembered. Never imagine they will be a day I'm witnessing Kim Tae Hee acting this good.
And never forget the ending of I'm sorry I love you (MISA). That drama ending wrecked me for months.

Nope. No. Definitely not. Not my catnip. EVER. This type just makes me cry buckets, I don't like crying because I'm a crybaby in real life, so I like to watch cheerful things full of happiness and sunshine.
The only crying movie I've liked till date is Hachiko. Nothing else. I remember watching a korean movie, I think it was called "a millionare's first love", I watched it an afternoon & cried the whole time.
The only sad love story that I like is the original one, Romo & Juliet, any other spinoffs, a big NO.

indeed, there is something about these types of dramas. as much as i love happy endings, i find that it is the sad endings that leave lasting impressions. the last drama i can recall that left me reeling from heartbreak was Chuno. weeks after the drama ended i was still listening to the OST and wondering why i was still in so much pain.

also...ahhhh ja myung go...

this was the show that got me hooked on jung kyung ho and also on jung ryeo-won. oh the angst...

i felt the ending was so-so. it was sad but i expected more. there had been visions of her in full warrior regalia and i was hoping to see her more in action on the battle front. if that had happened, i think the ending would have been more meaningful to me. early on, it seemed we would get to see this but it never happened (likely due to being cut short) so the ending did not satisfy very much. i remember it less for the ending, more the angst in the second half when he realizes what she chose in the end.

"This is why when I like dramas where the couple (or at least one of them) dies, because then I feel that I saw their love for each other till the very end. "
Not if they both get reincarnated and meet and fall in love again because FAITH.
I have a love-hate relationship with this catnip, if they die in the end it gives me this nihilistic feeling like I watched the drama in vain. Yet somehow I don't mind watching such stories. But definitely not often, just one or two sprinkled between my cheery rom coms.

Not much a fan of melos & sad dramas in general, ironically though Autumn Story, Winter Sonata & Stairway to Heaven tbrought me to dramaland. Haven't watched any other dramas with similar plots ever since. Probably since I think and consider dramas, my escape from real life stresses that's why I avoid sad stories nowadays.

Not my cup of tea but the only drama in which I found where the main characters did not end up together fit the story was 49 days. I've cried buckets of tears in that one and honestly, to this day, I still feel sad thinking about Han Kang and the what could have beens had Ji Hyun lived longer. Ahhh where to find a guy like him

Disappointment is often more satisfying than the fulfillment of a happy ending, so many of us prefer our desert with a note of bittersweet.

I'm sorry, I love you... That is the one sad love story that was still satisfying to watch. I remember that years ago there were quite a lot if sad ending live stories. Lots of incurable diseases etc but now it seems that dramas are a bit less bleak.

Omg that's sooooooo my catnip. I don't think it would make it cause most people like "happy" ending and whatnot. I'm just so happy it makes... when I tell my friends about those kind of drama, they're always like "are you a sadist or something" haha

This is the catnip which makes me run away from dramas, I hate crying and if I know its a melo then I don't even go near clicking its page

Jang Ok Jung??? when she drank the poison and died in his arm??

What about stairway to heaven and tree in heaven? And sad love story starring kwon sang woo and kim hee sun

one of the best sad endings was definitely Empress ki. All actors slayed. One of the best seguks ever

Ugghhh...I hate sad endings. I keep following the story all the way through anyway because I'm hoping against hope for a happy ending; and when I don't get it it makes me angry. Korean drama seems to particularly like making you cry for some reason. Do Koreans particularly enjoy crying and being sad? I'm only 1/4 Korean so I'm afraid I don't share that propensity in very large measure. I am addicted to the emotional ride though, like everyone else.

I was one of those who was crazy about Jang Ok Jung, and didn't understand the backlash it received, especially with KTH in the lead. She was rather good in this role. YAH was awesome as the king and most importantly they had chemistry, thus making their romance believable and so swoonworthy. My grouse was the character assassinations 3 quarters of the way with the otp, and ended up becoming a huge train wreck. I still have the scars from this. Otherwise, it would have been 10/10 in my books.

After watching Chicago Typewriter, I watched Jang Ok Jung because some people recommended me Yoo Ah In's sageuk works besides CT and Six Flying Dragons. It was really really sad, I couldn't watch the last episode :/ Kim Tae Hee's acting was good, surprisingly. But when she turned to an evil, her acting is meh. I'm glad she returned to that sweet Ok Jung, but still I hope they just omitted her evil parts completely from JOJ.

Jang ok Jeong is one my favorite drama. The love story was beautiful indeed.

I usually do not like sad endings but now as I get older, I kind of enjoy them if the ending is written really well and if the characters have lived a life with no regrets. I did not watch I'm Sorry, I Love You and while I pity the bittersweet conclusion of our leading couple, I felt extremely bad for So Ji-sub's character who died with his mother not recognizing him. His last meal scene was so heart-wrenching...

I remember Korean romance drama couples would mostly have a doomed fate in the beginning of the 2000s. Most of the time, it was predestined since they are in a compromising situation (enemies, siblings or sickness) yet I was thinking why the writers have such a fetish for brutally separating a couple! Yes it rings with the audience but sometimes I felt that the couple needed mercy when they have went through so much turmoil to end up together (*cough* Staircase to Heaven).

I have started checking out Chinese dramas, mainly the period ones, and a large portion of them have bad endings for the main couple. It is kind of frustrating since you invest more than 50 hours for the show and then, boom, the hero or the heroine dies. Yep the story happens in the olden times where one had to sacrifice his/her own happiness for ambition or survival but then again, I wish the writers would not give false hope through implanting near-death experiences twice or three times for the main couple...

Yes! There is a complete difference between a full on melo and just a sad drama. I love ones like this. Especially when I am in the mood for a little heartbreak...sounds weird but sometimes, I just want that heart wrenching moment. Its sort of therapeutic.

Thank you for this list of sad series, always looking for more. Always up for a good cry. I enjoy the rollercoaster of emotions, reminds me I'm still a functioning person lol

When I want or need a good cry this type of drama are the one I go to. The one that pull all my heartstrings. What a great catnip.