The meaning of family

It's my custom list about unconventional families - found families, step-families, families not related by blood, adopted families and so on.
Some shows/movies on the list depict family dynamics - ie. two people treat each other like father and son but don't call each other that way. 

Have any recs? Leave a comment below!

mengosteen Nov 11, 2019
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  • Nobody Knows

    1. Nobody Knows

    Korean Drama - 2020, 16 episodes

    9.5

    all kinds of beautiful family-like relationships and friendships between non-blood related people; including (but not limited to): a friendship between a woman and her abused young neighbour, where they behave just like mother and son; brother-like relationship  between a boy and his driver; friendship for life from multiple teenagers; subplots like patchwork families etc.

  • To Be a Better Man

    2. To Be a Better Man

    Chinese Drama - 2016, 42 episodes

    8.5

    a man takes care of his dead best friend's daughter and mother

  • Home Sweet Home

    3. Home Sweet Home

    Chinese Movie - 2021

    8.5

    "Family is forever" - Mr. Wang
    Just watch it, can't say anything else without spoiling

  • Avengers Social Club

    4. Avengers Social Club

    Korean Drama - 2017, 12 episodes

    8.5

    three women become best friends and help each other (plus a stepson to one of them) feel the familial warmth they long for

  • The Road Not Taken

    5. The Road Not Taken

    Chinese Movie - 2018

    8.0

    depressed man picks up a woman and a child and forms a temporary family with them

  • Smoking

    6. Smoking

    Japanese Drama - 2018, 12 episodes

    8.5

    found family

  • One Second

    7. One Second

    Chinese Movie - 2020

    7.5

    enemies to family-like relationship where Zhang Yi takes care of an orphaned teenage girl

  • Reborn

    8. Reborn

    Chinese Drama - 2020, 28 episodes

    8.5

    enemies to family-like relationship where Zhang Yi takes care of an orphaned teenage girl

  • anone

    9. anone

    Japanese Drama - 2018, 10 episodes

    8.5

    found family 

  • Where the Wind Settles

    10. Where the Wind Settles

    Taiwanese Movie - 2015

    9.0

    a soldier picks up an orphaned child and raises him as his own

  • The Sand Princess

    11. The Sand Princess

    Thai Drama - 2019, 14 episodes

    8.0

    woman takes care of her best friend's child and enters a contract marriage with his brother to protect the child

  • Wonderful Nightmare

    12. Wonderful Nightmare

    Korean Movie - 2015

    8.5

    FL takes over someone else's body and has to take care of "the other" woman's family

  • Our Little Sister

    13. Our Little Sister

    Japanese Movie - 2015

    8.5

    three sisters take in their youngest half-sister

  • Banana Paradise

    14. Banana Paradise

    Taiwanese Movie - 1989

    7.5

    a man assumes identity of a dead man and takes care of his wife and child

  • Red Family

    15. Red Family

    Korean Movie - 2013

    7.5

    4 people pretend to be family for the sake of their espionage operation

  • The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

    16. The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion

    Korean Movie - 2018

    7.5

    adopted daughter

  • Beautiful Accident

    17. Beautiful Accident

    Chinese Movie - 2017

    6.0

    FL takes over someone else's body and has to take care of "the other" woman's family

  • Canola

    18. Canola

    Korean Movie - 2016

    7.5
  • So Long, My Son

    19. So Long, My Son

    Chinese Movie - 2019

    8.0
  • Adrift in Tokyo

    20. Adrift in Tokyo

    Japanese Movie - 2007

    7.5

    two guys (one older, the other younger) bond over money and form father-son-like relationship

  • The Way We Are

    21. The Way We Are

    Hong Kong Movie - 2008

    7.0

    mother and son befriend an elderly lady and form a family-like relationship with her

  • Imperfect Love

    22. Imperfect Love

    Chinese Drama - 2020, 22 episodes

    8.0

    a woman kidnaps a young girl to protect her from her abusive parents; loose remake of Mother

  • Coin Locker Girl

    23. Coin Locker Girl

    Korean Movie - 2015

    6.5

    Kim Hye Soo runs a crime organisation with her adopted "daughter" Il Young

  • Gibo to Musume no Blues

    24. Gibo to Musume no Blues

    Japanese Drama - 2018, 10 episodes

    stepmother

  • Dear Tenant

    25. Dear Tenant

    Taiwanese Movie - 2020

    8.5

    a man takes care of son and mother of his deceased boyfriend

  • Bath Buddy

    26. Bath Buddy

    Chinese Movie - 2020

    6.5

    amnesiac man becomes a "fake" brother

  • Seirei no Moribito

    27. Seirei no Moribito

    Japanese Drama - 2016, 4 episodes

    7.5

    a female bodyguard is tasked with protecting and raising a young prince

  • Go Ahead

    28. Go Ahead

    Chinese Drama - 2020, 46 episodes

  • The Dead End

    29. The Dead End

    Chinese Movie - 2015

    8.0

    three fugitives take care of a little girl

  • Kazoku Boshu Shimasu

    30. Kazoku Boshu Shimasu

    Japanese Drama - 2021, 9 episodes

  • Kotaro wa Hitorigurashi

    31. Kotaro wa Hitorigurashi

    Japanese Drama - 2021, 10 episodes

    7.0
  • Balangiga: Howling Wilderness

    32. Balangiga: Howling Wilderness

    Filipino Movie - 2017

    7.0

    a young boy picks up an orphaned toddler (warning: sad film)

  • All about Love

    33. All about Love

    Hong Kong Movie - 2010

    7.5

    4 women, 2 men and 2 infants come together to form a co-family

  • The Aobas' Dining Table

    34. The Aobas' Dining Table

    Japanese Drama - 2018, 4 episodes

    8.0

    found family; unrelated people living together (almost) like a family

  • The Long Excuse

    35. The Long Excuse

    Japanese Movie - 2016

    7.5

    father-children like relationship

  • Mamagoto

    36. Mamagoto

    Japanese Drama - 2016, 8 episodes

    6.5

    mother-son like relationship

  • Accidental Kidnapper

    37. Accidental Kidnapper

    Japanese Movie - 2010

    6.0

    father-son like relationship

  • Enjiya

    38. Enjiya

    Japanese Drama - 2021, 6 episodes

    7.5

    found family

  • Bad Family

    39. Bad Family

    Korean Drama - 2006, 16 episodes

    A group of strangers forms a foster family to help little girl regain her memory 

  • The Great Show

    40. The Great Show

    Korean Drama - 2019, 16 episodes

    A politician takes in his ex-crush's kids

  • Welcome 2 Life

    41. Welcome 2 Life

    Korean Drama - 2019, 32 episodes

    9.0

    ML takes care of his "other timeline" self's kid and wife

  • Miracle That We Met

    42. Miracle That We Met

    Korean Drama - 2018, 18 episodes

    8.0

    ML gets reincarnated into a body of someone else and has to take care of "the other" family (wife and kids)

  • Mr. Long

    43. Mr. Long

    Japanese Movie - 2017

    8.0

    an assassin and a lonely young boy become father and son

  • Lost and Love

    44. Lost and Love

    Chinese Movie - 2015

    7.5

    father searching for his long lost son and a young man searching for his parents form a father-son like relationship

  • New Face

    45. New Face

    Chinese Drama - 2020, 25 episodes

    8.5

    ML has to take care of wife and kids of a man whose identity he assumed (and more)

  • Kikujiro

    46. Kikujiro

    Japanese Movie - 1999

    7.5

    father/son-like dynamics embark on a roadtrip looking for boy's mother

  • All for Love

    47. All for Love

    Chinese Movie - 2012

    3.0

    woman finds a baby on the street and takes care of it

    disclaimer: it's rubbish and I do NOT recommend it but I put it here because it fits the theme. Watch at your own risk. 

  • Home Drama

    48. Home Drama

    Japanese Drama - 2004, 11 episodes

    8.5

    A group of people move in together and become a multi-generational big family

  • Bunny Drop

    49. Bunny Drop

    Japanese Movie - 2011

  • The Aobas' Dining Table

    50. The Aobas' Dining Table

    Japanese Movie - 2021

    8.0

    Sequel to The Aobas' Dining Table (webdrama), focuses more on friendship and coming of age rather than found family but the living arrangements from the previous part are still relevant

  • Record of a Tenement Gentleman

    51. Record of a Tenement Gentleman

    Japanese Movie - 1947

    6.5

    A widow takes in an abandoned kid

  • Princess Pearl

    52. Princess Pearl

    Chinese Drama - 1998, 24 episodes

    9.0

    an orphan girl becomes sworn sisters with a princess and gets adopted by the emperor

  • My Mongolian Mother

    53. My Mongolian Mother

    Chinese Movie - 2010

    6.5

    Set during 1960's when children from poor families were sent to Mongolia to be raised; adopted children/family not related by blood

  • Kanakana

    54. Kanakana

    Japanese Drama - 2022, 28 episodes

    6.0

    former delinquent takes care of a distant relative's neglected child

  • Nobody Knows

    55. Nobody Knows

    Japanese Movie - 2004

    8.0

    four children live on their own

  • Miracle in Kasama

    56. Miracle in Kasama

    Japanese Movie - 2018

    6.0

    young actress takes care of an old farmer; they find a wounded man and begin living together

  • Shabon Dama

    57. Shabon Dama

    Japanese Movie - 2017

    6.5

    an old woman takes in a young man who saved her life

  • Fagara

    58. Fagara

    Hong Kong Movie - 2019

    6.5

    three estranged half-sisters 

  • The Defected

    59. The Defected

    Hong Kong Drama - 2019, 30 episodes

    8.5

    subplot; one of the characters takes care of his dead friend's daughter

  • The Touch of Fate

    60. The Touch of Fate

    Taiwanese Movie - 2007

    5.5

    kind of

  • The Stand-in

    61. The Stand-in

    Chinese Drama - 2014, 60 episodes

    ML pretends to be someone he isn't; has to live with his fake wife and family

  • Third Time Lucky

    62. Third Time Lucky

    Japanese Movie - 2022

    8.0

    woman stumbles upon an amnesiac young man and decides to take him in; also features other relationships like stepmother-stepdaughter

  • Crime Family

    63. Crime Family

    Japanese Drama - 2023, 4 episodes

    6.5

    family-like dynamics

  • Bokura no Shokutaku

    64. Bokura no Shokutaku

    Japanese Drama - 2023, 10 episodes

    7.5

    romance between two men; focuses on daily life and two MLs co-parenting one partner's younger brother

  • The Rickshaw Man

    65. The Rickshaw Man

    Japanese Movie - 1958

    8.5

    father-son like dynamics

  • Homesick

    66. Homesick

    Chinese Drama - 2022, 12 episodes

    8.5

    family with a pinch of Stockholm Syndrome

  • Ototo no Otto

    67. Ototo no Otto

    Japanese Drama - 2018, 3 episodes

    7.0

    a family life of a man, his daughter, and his dead brother's husband

  • Lighting Up the Stars

    68. Lighting Up the Stars

    Chinese Movie - 2022

    7.5

    man picks up an orhpaned girl

  • Genkai Danchi

    69. Genkai Danchi

    Japanese Drama - 2018, 8 episodes

    7.0

    Stockholm Syndrome family version

  • The Kidnapping Day

    70. The Kidnapping Day

    Korean Drama - 2023, 12 episodes

  • Analog Squad

    71. Analog Squad

    Thai Drama - 2023, 8 episodes

    a group of people pretending to be family

  • Invincible Stepmother

    72. Invincible Stepmother

    Chinese Drama - 2023, 24 episodes

    7.5

    a woman transmigrates and has to take care of her "other timeline" stepchildren

  • Mei no Mei

    73. Mei no Mei

    Japanese Drama - 2023, 6 episodes

    7.5

    uncle takes in his niece

  • Daughters

    74. Daughters

    Japanese Movie - 2020

    8.0

    two friends (prepare to) co-parent a baby

  • Legally, Dad

    75. Legally, Dad

    Korean Drama - 2020, 6 episodes

    4.0

    a man "adopts" a child and her older (adult) sister; it focuses more on romance and is an adoption on paper only; not that good (I do not recommend it)

  • Like Father, Like Son

    76. Like Father, Like Son

    Japanese Movie - 2013

    7.0

    two boys got mixed up as babies and are raised by families that are not their own

  • Present Perfect

    77. Present Perfect

    Thai Movie - 2014

    6.5

    an aunt takes care of her niece

  • Making Family

    78. Making Family

    Chinese Movie - 2016

  • Shoplifters

    79. Shoplifters

    Japanese Movie - 2018

  • Broker

    80. Broker

    Korean Movie - 2022

  • Pawn

    81. Pawn

    Korean Movie - 2020

  • Be My Family

    82. Be My Family

    Chinese Movie - 2023

  • My Father Is Strange

    83. My Father Is Strange

    Korean Drama - 2017, 52 episodes

  • Everybody Say Kungdari

    84. Everybody Say Kungdari

    Korean Drama - 2019, 99 episodes

    3.0

    I 2xed through this so I don't remember details but FL takes in two kids that are not hers

  • Family by Choice

    85. Family by Choice

    Korean Drama - 2024, 16 episodes

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