Same energy. Different language. These Korean, Chinese, and Japanese dramas share the exact DNA of Cross — same tropes, same emotional beats, same kind of story.
A detective with a rare supernatural ability to read memories by touch teams up with a cold but brilliant criminal profiler to hunt a serial killer whose methodical crimes seem imp…
Like Cross, it leans hard into serial killer hunt. At its core, it's about the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
An elite FBI-trained detective joins Korea's first Missing Persons Crime Investigation Unit, tackling meticulously crafted disappearance cases that reveal the dark psychology behin…
Like Cross, it leans hard into brilliant detective. At its core, it's about the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
A former genius detective, now a reclusive puzzle constructor, is pulled back into an active case when a series of murders with perfectly crafted puzzles left at each scene seems d…
Like Cross, it leans hard into brilliant detective. At its core, it's about an obsession that consumes a character completely and thrillingly. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
A detective becomes obsessed with two unsolved cases separated by a decade — a serial killer who was never caught and a case that destroyed his partner. Under the Skin is a Chinese…
Both are built around an obsession that consumes a character completely and thrillingly. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
A Korean-American woman builds an elaborate false identity as a high-society luxury brand executive, targeting the ultra-wealthy elite of Seoul. When her fabricated persona — and t…
Both are built around the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
Detectives Oh Joo-hyun and Kang Do-chang return for a second season, this time investigating a sensational murder case tied to a powerful political figure and a media empire willin…
Both are built around the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
A detective haunted by his wife's murder and a 112 emergency call center operator with extraordinary hearing team up to catch killers in real time. Every episode is a race against …
Like Cross, it leans hard into serial killer hunt. At its core, it's about the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
Guan Hongfeng and Guan Hongtao are identical twin brothers — one a police detective with an official badge, the other a fugitive wanted for mass murder. The problem: the fugitive i…
Both navigate the same emotional territory: institutional failure. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
A disgraced former detective with a traumatic past becomes the unlikely investigator when a string of high-profile murders of powerful corrupt men seems to serve a brutal, poetic j…
Both are built around the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
Three people with shattered lives — a detective whose wife was murdered, an internal affairs officer whose career was destroyed by corruption, and a crime profiler caught in the mi…
Both are built around the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
If you love Cross, start with Memorist or Missing Noir M — both share the same Crime and Thriller DNA. DramaMatch found 10 Asian drama matches total.
The closest Korean equivalent to Cross is Memorist (2020), which scores a 34% match on DramaMatch. Like Cross, it leans hard into serial killer hunt. At its core, it's about the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. The pacing is a slow-burn dread that accumulates until the weight of it is unbearable.
Asian dramas similar to Cross are available on Netflix, Viki, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Hulu. DramaMatch shows the exact streaming platform for each recommendation so you can start watching immediately.
Cross fans tend to love K-dramas because Korean drama storytelling delivers the same emotional intensity, strong character arcs, and genre-blending — especially Crime and Thriller. K-dramas often tell tighter, season-long stories without filler episodes.
got another show you're obsessed with? I can find its Asian drama match too.
find another match →Monthly picks — hidden gems, new releases, best matches. No spam.
Join 900+ drama fans — we'll notify you when new matches drop for your favorite shows. No spam.