Asian Dramas Like NCIS: Hawai'i

Same energy. Different language. These Korean, Chinese, and Japanese dramas share the exact DNA of NCIS: Hawai'i — same tropes, same emotional beats, same kind of story.

2021 TV Show Crime Drama Procedural
10 Asian Drama Matches
16 eps MBC Action Crime Drama

A pragmatic detective, a fiery firefighter, and a sharp paramedic are thrown together by circumstance and forced to work as a team across jurisdictions none of them were trained to…

If you loved NCIS: Hawai'i's ragtag group of people who slowly become each other's whole world, The First Responders delivers exactly that. At its core, it's about the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. Same warm and engaging energy throughout.

Where to Watch

MIU404

28% match
11 eps TBS Japan Thriller Crime Drama

The Mobile Investigative Unit 404 consists of two detectives who couldn't be more different: Ibuki, who acts on instinct and charges at problems head-on, and Shino, who thinks four…

If you loved NCIS: Hawai'i's ragtag group of people who slowly become each other's whole world, MIU404 delivers exactly that. At its core, it's about loyalty tested until it breaks — or proves it won't. The pacing is tense enough to make you watch through your fingers.

Where to Watch

Bloodhounds

20% match
8 eps Netflix Action Thriller Crime

Two young men with exceptional combat skills become loan shark collectors to fight back against a predatory lending empire that is destroying ordinary people's lives. What starts a…

If you loved NCIS: Hawai'i's ragtag group of people who slowly become each other's whole world, Bloodhounds delivers exactly that. At its core, it's about loyalty tested until it breaks — or proves it won't.

Where to Watch

Connection (2024)

20% match
14 eps JTBC Thriller Action Crime

A police detective becomes addicted to drugs after being unknowingly exposed, and investigates a drug cartel from the inside while battling his own dependency.

Both are built around questions of who you really are under the person you've been told to be. The pacing is tense enough to make you watch through your fingers.

Where to Watch
12 eps Netflix Action Crime Thriller

An audacious heist of the newly formed Unified Korea Mint: a masked crew of desperate people, each with nothing left to lose, takes hundreds of hostages and demands the impossible …

If you loved NCIS: Hawai'i's ragtag group of people who slowly become each other's whole world, Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area delivers exactly that. At its core, it's about the complicated, consuming love and damage that only family can deliver. The pacing is tense enough to make you watch through your fingers.

Where to Watch

Cashero

19% match
12 eps ENA Comedy Action Crime

Bankrupt and three years behind on everything, Chul-su discovers he has accidentally acquired a superpower: physical contact with money reveals its hidden history — fraud, launderi…

Like NCIS: Hawai'i, it leans hard into case of the week. At its core, it's about questions of who you really are under the person you've been told to be. Same warm energy throughout.

Where to Watch
16 eps JTBC Crime Thriller Drama

Detectives Kang Do-chang and Oh Ji-hyuk return to investigate a case that links a cold-blooded murder to a high-profile politician with the connections to bury it. The sequel deepe…

Both are built around loyalty tested until it breaks — or proves it won't. The pacing is tense enough to make you watch through your fingers.

Where to Watch

The Worst of Evil

18% match
12 eps Disney+ Crime Thriller Action

Detective Park Joon-mo goes deep undercover into the most dangerous drug syndicate operating across Korea, China, and Japan — a criminal empire bridging three countries. To gain th…

Both are built around questions of who you really are under the person you've been told to be.

Where to Watch

Insider

18% match
16 eps KBS2 Crime Thriller Action

Kim Yo-han is a promising judicial trainee sent undercover inside a maximum-security prison to expose an illegal gambling ring run by powerful inmates. When his cover is blown and …

Both are built around questions of who you really are under the person you've been told to be.

Unnatural

18% match
10 eps TBS Japan Thriller Crime Drama

Mikoto Misumi is a forensic pathologist at the Unnatural Death Investigation Laboratory — a fictional body that investigates deaths too strange, too suspicious, or too politically …

If you loved NCIS: Hawai'i's ragtag group of people who slowly become each other's whole world, Unnatural delivers exactly that. At its core, it's about the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it.

Where to Watch
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Asian Dramas Like NCIS: Hawai'i: FAQ

What K-drama should I watch if I like NCIS: Hawai'i?

If you love NCIS: Hawai'i, start with The First Responders or MIU404 — both share the same Crime and Drama DNA. DramaMatch found 10 Asian drama matches total.

Is there a Korean version of NCIS: Hawai'i?

The closest Korean equivalent to NCIS: Hawai'i is The First Responders (2022), which scores a 28% match on DramaMatch. If you loved NCIS: Hawai'i's ragtag group of people who slowly become each other's whole world, The First Responders delivers exactly that. At its core, it's about the pursuit of justice in a system that was never built for it. Same warm and engaging energy throughout.

Where can I watch Asian dramas like NCIS: Hawai'i?

Asian dramas similar to NCIS: Hawai'i 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.

Why do NCIS: Hawai'i fans like K-dramas?

NCIS: Hawai'i fans tend to love K-dramas because Korean drama storytelling delivers the same emotional intensity, strong character arcs, and genre-blending — especially Crime and Drama. K-dramas often tell tighter, season-long stories without filler episodes.

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