Cruel City (2013)

1. Action/thriller
2. Revenge
3. Bromance
5. Better characterisation
6. Fight scenes
7. Side romance is sizzling
8. Jung Kyung Ho is hot in this!

The best noir drama with hotness loaded. Story keeps you on edge throughout the series. Badass drama!!!

Bromance in this one is epic! Same mafia/gangster plot and characters. Even though Cruel city is more noir , I think it's worth a watch if you like bromance central violent plots

They both involve crime, action and hidden identity and both dramas are pretty intense.

Both feature a woman falling in love with a bad guy who she shouldn’t like…………………….

Both have this suspense feeling and the past/present thing (main characters knew each other in the past) aaand in both dramas are handsome guys!

Adult serious thing.
Both have dark, bitter, cruel atmosphere.
Must watch for noir lover.

Both dramas have 2 strong parallel leads whose characterizations are really well done.

Both are also noir/crime drama.

A bit different genre wise, Final Life has a more scifi element and Cruel City is very much a noir gangster story but the similarities are in how neither of these shows are without flaws but they get to you and don't let go. Both are more bromance heavy. Both have phenomenal action. Both have messed up characters with traumatic backstories. Both will leave you a crying mess.

both have anti-hero male leads
both MLs want revenge
strong FL

- Both deal with gangs
- Both have leads conflicted about their life involved in the black market
- Coin locker girl doesn't have the romance aspect as much

Similar Noir Crime Vibes

Male Lead that can fight

Both became who they were to bad circumstances or events in life

Revenge based drama

Both dramas have Two friends who fought gangsters and police corruption
they tried to protect and save each other from the cases they are involved in
The korean drama has more fight scenes and side romantic story
not sure about the chinese one yet

- Both mains are undercover agents
- Rookie Agent is set in a different time period, it's interesting contrasting them
- Romance is a side story in both, it is less present in Cruel City
- Both mains are in the police force
- Both highlight the sacrifices made by undercover police and their tough lives

Both shows feature undercover agents who were betrayed by their handlers and led astray. The Male Leads suffer from an identity crisis, wherein they have been playing a role for so long, they no longer know who they are.

The Female Lead in Undercover, however, has a bigger and more important role than the Female Lead in Cruel City.