https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwms9WUgyl4

Revenge dramas and ill-fated romance

Oasis is the latest melodrama set in the dangerous period of 1980 South Korea as the country fought for democracy. This time has become an inspiration for a lot of hard-hitting K-dramas and Oasis is no different. It starts out with three friends living their life in a sleepy town till an incident has Du-hak going to prison, while the other two, Cheol-woong and Jung-shin going their separate ways.

However, they cross roads again when Du-hak is freed while Cheol-woong a student protestor is forced to become a prosecutor to get out of a life debt. Full of plot twists and satisfying revenge plans, this overwhelming K-drama made us wish it never ended. So, if you are looking for more such period dramas with revenge, betrayal, lawyers messing up and ill-fated romance, you’ve come to the right place.

Well without further wait, here are 10 TV shows with a similar premise to watch if you liked Oasis.

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Youth of May

Similarities – 1980s, turbulent time, melodrama, ill-fated romance

Pretty much like Oasis, Youth of May though set during the Gwangju Uprising, doesn’t actually focus on the politics. Instead, it showcases how the situation even affected normal civilians and destroyed relationships. Youth of May follows Hwang Hee-tae, a medical student from an affluent family who is forced to go on a date with an heiress.

However, the heiress, a secret protestor decides to send her friend, the nurse Myung-hee to deter him. But to all three’s surprise, Hee-tae and Myung-hee fall in love.

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Lawless Lawyer

Similarities – gangsters, hidden agendas, revenge, lawyers

If Oasis’ Du-hak had trusted himself more and Cheol-woong less and become a lawyer himself, he would probably turn into Sang-pil from Lawless Lawyer. A gangster turned lawyer, Sang-pil lives in a crime-infested city and decides to use unconventional means to fight the powerful people who think they are above the law. He teams up with Ha Jae-yi, a righteous lawyer who wholly trusts the system of justice and law but is kicked out after an incident.

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My Name

Similarities – Gangsters, hidden agendas, revenge, ill-fated romance

Despite her father being a gangster, Ji-woo looks up to him and loves him. Unfortunately, after he is murdered, she gives herself to her father’s boss in exchange for becoming a powerful gangster and avenging him. But as she becomes an easy target for the lecherous thugs in the gang, she decides to infiltrate the police force after she learns that it is a cop who killed her father.

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Born Again

Similarities – 1980s, fate, love triangle, false accusation, melodrama

In the 1980s, three people live very different lives but after an incident, they are reincarnated again in the present day with links to their past life. Ji-cheol who had an evil father and was framed for some murders he didn’t commit is reborn as a medical student and falls for a woman named Sa-bin.

Hyeong-bin, a detective who is a hopeless romantic and engaged to Ha-eun is reborn as a prosecutor and believes evil is genetic. As for Ha-eun, she had a fatal disease and is reborn as Sa-bin who is an archaeologist and finds some mysterious human remains.

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One Spring Night

Similarities – Melodrama, love triangle

Single dad Yoo Ji-ho lives a simple life, running a pharmacy while taking care of his son with the help of his parents. Jeong-in is a straightforward woman who has stopped believing in love as she is stuck in a loveless relationship with her fiance.

After a pity party, she stops by Ji-ho’s pharmacy to cure her hangover and rushes to work. As they end up meeting on coincidence several times, sparks fly. However, both have their own baggage stopping them from doing anything about it.

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Why Her

Similarities – revenge, false accusation, lawyers

The uppity and ruthless Soo-jae is a big-time lawyer who has no time for any nonsense as she neatly puts everyone in place and goes about her business. However, an incident has her firm forcing her to retire from the public eye and take a break as a teacher at a law school. She ends up befriending the student Gong-chan but unbeknownst to her, they share a painful past that he cannot forget.

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Vincenzo

Similarities – Gangsters, revenge, lawyers

The Korean consigliere, Vincenzo Cassano is forced to go back home after his don dies and the next Italian mafia successor tries to have him killed. Back in Seoul, Vincenzo looks for ways to unearth a room full of gold he had helped the Chinese mafia hide under the Geumga Plaza. As he tries to tiptoe around the occupants, he is pulled into their problems as the vicious Babel Group seizes the building illegally and also puts his gold at risk.

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Big Mouth

Similarities – Gangsters, revenge, false accusations, ill-fated romance, lawyers

Park Chang-ho, a small-time lawyer who only talks big and is nicknamed ‘Big Mouth’ seems to have hit big when the town’s mayor decides to rope him in to handle a huge conspiracy. However, he ends up biting more than he can chew and crosses the powerful defendants who decide to teach him a lesson.

He is thrown in jail but before the defendants’ minions can kill him, news spreads that he is the influential and clever criminal ‘Big Mouse’. Getting a respite, Chang-ho must now find a way out to clear his name while looking into the Big Mouse rumour.

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Snowdrop

Similarities – 1980s, melodrama, turbulent time, ill-fated romance

While Oasis only showed us a glimpse of the NSA’s participation in the Gwangju Uprising, Snowdrop takes a more direct route with this political romance. Lim Su-ho is a North Korean spy sent from his party to capture a South Korean professor but is caught in the crossfire and is forced to hide in a girls’ hostel. However, he ends up falling in love with Young-ro who mistakes him for a student protestor and does her best to help him.

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Money Heist: Korea  – Joint Economic Area

Similarities – Gangsters, hidden agendas

If you enjoyed the tactics and strategies Du-hak and Yeo-jin were spinning for their ulterior motives in Oasis, then Money Heist: Korea is for you. Like its original Spanish counterpart, it focuses on a bunch of small-time thieves who hope to live a good life after this one big job as they plan to steal from Korea’s mint.

But with it being set in a future where the North and South have united, the Professor who is the mastermind behind the heist has a hidden agenda which could very well ruin everything.

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So there we have it, our 10 TV show alternatives to watch when you’re finished watching Oasis.

What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!