This article mentions suicide.
Netflix’s new thrillerFriendly Rivalryis gripping and intense from start to finish, and fortunately, it is not the only great thriller K-drama about revenge, love, and betrayal. Based on a webtoon of the same name by Song Chae-yoon and starring Lee Hye-ri as Yoo Jae-yi and Chung Su-bin,Friendly Rivalryfocuses on Woo Seul-gi, a teenager who transfers to the prestigious Chaehwa Girls' High School. The students at the high school come from wealthy families, are insanely competitive, and are willing to do anything to become the best.
While not a streaming original,Friendly Rivalryhas joinedNetflix’s long list of K-dramasand found great success worldwide.Given thatFriendly Rivalryfocuses on intense academic competition and rivalry between students, K-dramas with similar themes are the perfect ones to watch after seeing the Korean series. Fromcoming-of-age K-dramasto thrillers, there’s no shortage of Korean TV shows with a similar setting toFriendly Rivalrythat audiences can delve into.
Hierarchy
Cast
Hierarchy is set in Jooshin High School, where the top 0.01% of students dictate law and order. This film explores the disruption caused by a secretive transfer student who challenges the status quo within their elite realm.
Hierarchymight just be the perfect show for fans ofFriendly Rivalry.Written by Chu Hye-mi, the teen drama centers around students at Jooshin High, an academy where the children of Korea’s top 0.01% go to school. Similar toFriendly Rivalry’s Chaehwa Girls' High School, Jooshin prides itself on providing the best quality education to its elite students.AlthoughHierarchy’spremise was interesting enough, the K-drama received mixed reviewsfrom critics and audiences alike.
Hierarchydoesn’t bring anything new to the genre and fails to set itself apart from K-dramas that have the same themes.It instead tells a story which focuses on the elite class in Korea that has been done countless times before, and in some ways, better. Despite its shortcomings,Hierarchy’s high school setting, storyline, and characters are something that those who likedFriendly Rivalrywill enjoy. It might not be as intense asFriendly Rivalry, but it offers enough material to keep it entertaining.
Bitch x Rich
Bitch X Rich follows Kim Hye-in, who transfers to Cheongdam International High School after witnessing a murder. There, she encounters Baek Je-na, a bully with ties to the crime, as they navigate the complex social dynamics of their new environment.
Set at Chungdam International High School,Bitch X Richfollows Kim Hye-in, a student who transfers to the school for the rich after witnessing a murder. While there, she encounters Baek Je-na, a person who is suspected of the aforementioned murder. Hye-in and Je-na begin to engage in a battle of wills until one of them ultimately loses.
She and Je-na, the most powerful and feared student at Chungdam International High School, begin to engage in psychological warfare.
The characters inFriendly RivalryandBitch X Richhave similar backgrounds and stories. Like Seul-gi, Kim Hye-in is a poor student who transferred to an elite high school (albeit under different circumstances). She and Je-na, the most powerful and feared student at Chungdam International High School, begin to engage in psychological warfare.If you enjoyedFriendly Rivalrybecause of Seul-gi and Jae-i’s dynamic, thenBitch X Richshould be your next watchdue to how intense Hye-in and Je-na’s relationship is.
Cheer Up!
Cheer Up! is a South Korean television drama that focuses on the challenges faced by a cheerleading club within a high-pressure educational system. Premiering on July 09, 2025, the series explores themes of friendship, ambition, and resilience amid academic and personal pressures.
Starring Han Ji-hyun and Bae In-hyuk, thecollege romance K-drama,Cheer Up!Follows Do Hae-yi, a poor student at Yonhee University who joins the school’s cheerleading squad. Unlike her squadmates, Hae-yi is in it for the money and not necessarily for sportsmanship. She and the team’s captain, Young-woong, don’t get along, and their dislike for each other turns into a rivalry. Eventually,Hae-yi and Young-woong sort out their differences, and their relationship evolves from being enemies to lovers.
AlthoughCheer Up!is mostly focused on sports and not academics, its themes of ambition, rivalry, and personal struggles are similar toFriendly Rivalry’s. Its school setting and complex characters are something that people who enjoyedFriendly Rivalrybut are looking for a teen K-drama that doesn’t have academic competition at its core can enjoy.Cheer Up!’s love story is another way it’s different fromFriendly Rivalry, but it adds to the charm of the K-drama.
Class Of Lies
Class Of Lies: This drama follows Ki Moo-Hyeok, a successful lawyer whose career falters due to a high school murder case. To restore his reputation, he infiltrates the school as a temporary teacher, uncovering hidden secrets alongside Ha So-Hyun, a dedicated P.E. teacher deeply invested in her students' welfare.
Gi Moo-hyeok is a lawyer who is down on his luck after being fired by his firm and losing his license.Determined to set things right, Moo-hyeok assumes a fake identity and gets a job at the elite Chunmyung High School to investigate the murder of one of the students there.Class of Lies’ murder mystery and power struggle themes are similar toFriendly Rivalry.
UnlikeFriendly Rivalry, one ofClass of Lies’ primary protagonists isn’t a student.Despite this difference, the mystery and high school setting of the K-drama can be a huge draw for fans ofFriendly Rivalry.Class of Liesalso features a group of students who hold all the power at the prestigious high school and control everyone there.
Law School
Law School is a South Korean television series that follows the turbulent lives of students and professors at a prestigious law school. Featuring Kim Myung-min as Yang Jong-hoon, a stern professor, and Kim Bum as Han Joon-hwi, a top student, the series delves into their entanglements with a murder case and the subsequent quest for justice. The show combines elements of legal drama and mystery within an academic setting.
Set in Hankuk University Law School,the legal K-dramastars Kim Myung-min, Kim Bum, Ryu Hye-young, and Lee Jung-eun.Law Schoolcenters around Yang Jong-hoon, a former prosecutor turned professor. Jong-hoon’s fate changes when another professor at the law school is murdered, and he and his students have to solve the case.
LikeFriendly Rivalry,Law Schoolfeatures intense academic competition between the university’s best students.The characters in the K-drama are also similar to those inFriendly Rivalryin that one of them comes from a poor background, while the others want to succeed at all costs. Law School’s college setting, murder mystery, and conspiracy are the Korean series’ biggest draws. The K-drama delves into how the pressure to succeed can corrupt even the most morally upright people, which is a theme thatFriendly Rivalryalso explores.
Extracurricular
Extracurricular follows a group of overachieving high school students, Miriam, Derek, Ian, and Jenny, who excel academically and participate in various extracurricular activities. In their spare time, they secretly engage in meticulously planned and executed murders, blending their exemplary public lives with a hidden, dangerous pastime.
Released in 2020,Extracurricularfollows Jisoo, an intelligent and top student who runs an illegal business to save for his college education. Jisoo’s life turns for the worse when Gyu-ri finds out about his covert business and decides she wants to be part of it.As Gyu-ri and Jisoo interact, they are forced to make risky decisions to support themselves.
One of the best things aboutFriendly Rivalryis its dark themes. Similarly,Extracurricularalso explores the dark side of ambition and the consequences of trying to survive in a competitive and thankless system.Extracurricular’s morally ambiguous characters and drama make it one of the best coming-of-age K-dramas that fans of the genre can appreciate.
Pyramid Game
Baekyeon Girls' High School operates under a ruthless popularity ranking system known as the “Pyramid Game,” where students vote monthly to determine the social hierarchy. Those receiving the lowest votes become targets for brutal bullying. New transfer student Seong Su-Ji, played by Kim Ji-Yeon, arrives and quickly finds herself at the bottom of the pyramid, subjected to severe harassment. Refusing to be a passive victim, Su-Ji fights back, leading a rebellion against the oppressive system and striving to dismantle the cruel hierarchy that governs the school.
Based onPyramid Gameby Dalgonyak, the K-drama stars Kim Ji-yeon and Jang Da-ah. When Seong Su-ji transfers to Baekyeon Girls' High School, she expects to have a quiet academic life until she graduates. Unfortunately, she discovers that the students at her high school participate in a sinister game called the Pyramid Game.In the Pyramid Game, students vote for who is the most popular among them, and the loser gets tormented by her classmates.
Similar toFriendly Rivalry,Pyramid Gameexplores themes of bullying at a prestigious high school.
Pyramid Gameoffers a unique take on the teen drama genre.Similar toFriendly Rivalry,Pyramid Gameexplores themes of bullying at a prestigious high school. Su-ji, like Seul-gi, tries her best to ensure that she isn’t tormented by her classmates by climbing the social ladder.Pyramid Game’s characters and intense premise are undoubtedly the K-drama’s biggest draws.
Revenge of Others
Revenge of Others follows Ok Chan-mi, who transfers to Yongtan High to investigate her twin brother’s mysterious death. Suspicious that Park Won-seok did not commit suicide, Chan-mi meets Ji Soo-heon, a witness, and uncovers a vigilante targeting bullies, potentially tied to her brother’s fate.
Revenge of Othersis a coming-of-age K-drama with a twist.After the death of her twin brother, Ok Chan-mi transfers to his former school in order to find out if he really died by suicide. While there, she gets entangled with Ji Soo-heon, another student facing difficult circumstances. Together, Soo-heon and Chan-mi work to bring justice to students who are preyed on.
Revenge of Othersis a combination of everything that makesFriendly Rivalrysuch a great K-drama.It includes a competitive academic environment, moral dilemmas, and characters that have to make difficult decisions. What results is an engaging storyline that delves into dark themes but with a revenge storyline.
SKY Castle
SKY Castle is a South Korean television series that delves into the lives of four women living in a luxurious residential area. The series explores their relentless efforts to secure the highest academic achievements for their children, often at great personal cost. Through their ambitions and the pressure of societal expectations, SKY Castle provides a critical lens on education and family dynamics in South Korea.
SKY Castleis one of thebest Korean dramas of the past decade.The critically acclaimed Korean TV show follows upper-class women living in a prestigious neighborhood and the lengths they will go to ensure that their husbands and children are the best of the best of the best.SKY Castleunflinchingly shows what happens in South Korea’s elite families and what the wealthy do to succeed.
WhileSKY Castle’s main characters are not students, the academic pressure that their children face is almost the same as that ofFriendly Rivalry. The high-stakes K-drama explores how high expectations placed on students can negatively affect them.SKY Castle’s complex plot, twists, complex characters, and elite high school are perfect for fans ofFriendly Rivalry.
Friendly Rivalry
Friendly Rivalry is a high-teen mystery thriller released in 2025. It explores the intense dynamic between teenage girls navigating a fierce survival competition, presenting a relationship more challenging than the rigor of academic entrance examinations.
