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dramashii · 1 year

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A 2022 Recap: A run through of all the dramas I’ve seen this year

2022 is finally coming to a close. Just like any year, there were some great dramas, while there were also others that should have never left the drawing room.

I laughed, fell in love, got frustrated, and cried many times for the past 12 months. I had some epiphanies and learned some new things (e.g. the best way to solve your problems is to live in a coastal town).

I consider 2022 a decent drama year for me. I have managed to finish 44 dramas which helped me reached my goal of completing 300 dramas before this year ends.

I wished I could write longer reviews about each drama but I genuinely forgot about most of them by this time of writing. Anyways, here are the 44 dramas I watched and my short commentary on them. (Disclaimer: This list is subjective. These are only my opinions based on my experience while watching these shows.)

1. Melancholia (Kdrama, 2021)

You+Me=Love. This drama made math really interesting. However, I wished this wasn't romance at all.

2. The Red Sleeve (Kdrama, 2021)

The most heartbreaking part of this drama was knowing the lead characters at some point existed in history.

3. Our Beloved Summer (Kdrama, 2021)

Everything about this show was amazing: the aesthetics, music, and the chemistry between the leads.

4. Twenty-Five Twenty-One (Kdrama, 2022)

Iconic.

5. A Business Proposal (Kdrama, 2022)

Reminded me so much of old-school romcoms therefore, I was obsessed.

6. Reset (Cdrama, 2022)

Interesting and unique time travel/time loop drama.

7. The Bad Kids (Cdrama, 2020)

Watched this for the hype but I was kind of confused at the end.

8. Soundtrack #1 (Kdrama, 2022)

Friends to lovers supremacy.

9. Shining for One Thing (Cdrama, 2022)

Tries to answer the question: "If one thing had been different, would everything be different today?"

10. Dali and the Cocky Prince (Kdrama, 2021)

Solid romcom where both leads were rich.

11. Crazy Love (Kdrama, 2022)

Everything about this drama was crazy: the leads, the side characters, the plot but I didn't like this kind of crazy.

12. You Are My Heartbeat (Thai Drama, 2022)

Expected my heartbeat to go crazy watching this, but it really didn't.

13. The Oath of Love (Cdrama, 2022)

The key takeaway from this is that Xiao Zhan looks really good in modern clothes therefore he needs to do more modern dramas.

14. Sword Snow Stride (Cdrama, 2021)

Wuxia.

15 Who Rules the World (Cdrama, 2022)

Okay but the second half went downhill. Yang Yang needs to do more costume dramas.

16. Tomorrow (Kdrama, 2022)

Too simplistic approaches to mental health.

17. A River Runs Through It (Cdrama, 2021)

The one-sided love story went on for too long.

18. Love All Play (Kdrama, 2022)

Cute but it dragged.

19. Sh**ting Stars (Kdrama, 2022)

Interesting concept of having the story set in the entertainment industry but this was boring.

20. Woo Ri the Virgin (Kdrama, 2022)

I haven't watched a drama this bad for so long.

21. Bloody Heart (KDrama, 2022)

Bloody amazing cinematography but the story dragged because they kept replaying the same scene in different angles. Rooted for the villain.

22. Kiss Sixth Sense (KDrama, 2022)

They need to cast older actors and actresses in romcoms because the chemistry here was great. I didn't really like the ending though.

23. A Dream of Splendor (Cdrama, 2022)

One of my favorites from this year!

24. Dear M (KDrama, 2022)

Waited long to see this, was disappointed in the end.

25. Link: Eat, Love, Kill (KDrama, 2022)

Incorporated too much genre in one drama that the execution failed.

26. Love Like the Galaxy (Cdrama, 2022)

Red flags everywhere the biggest one being Li Bu Yi.

27, Love Between Fairy and Devil (Cdrama, 2022)

Xianxia drama of the year!

28. Big Mouth (Kdrama, 2022)

The second half wasn't as good as the first half. The ending was awful.

29. Today’s Webtoon (KDrama, 2022)

Should have been a 12 eps drama instead.

30. Animals (Jdrama, 2022)

Short but enjoyable.

31. Love in Contract (KDrama, 2022)

Got me out of a drama slump but this was a train wreck.

32. Lighter & Princess (Cdrama, 2022)

Objectively not the best, but I was obsessed over this during its whole run that I bought a Youku subscription.

33. New Life Begins (Cdrama, 2022)

Cute.

34. Bulgasal: Immortal Souls (KDrama, 2021)

Interesting concept but the writing just didn't make it work.

35. Snowdrop (Kdrama, 2021)

Decent.

36. Cheer Up (KDrama, 2022)

Went into this thinking it will be a cute youth drama but that weird mystery-thriller and love triangle ruined my watching experience.

37. May I Help You (KDrama, 2022)

1st half>2nd Half.

38. The Day of Becoming You (Cdrama, 2021)

Good body-swapping romance drama.

39. Summer Strike (Kdrama, 2022)

I was promised healing but the last 1/4 of the drama had a different tone from the rest.

40. Love In Time (Cdrama, 2022)

Interesting concept but mediocre.

41. She and Her Perfect Husband (Cdrama, 2022)

I wished they continued to show that mature relationship the leads had in the beginning until the end, but alas the last 10 eps happened and it just wasn't it.

42. Extraordinary Attorney Woo (KDrama, 2022)

An extraordinary drama about an extraordinary lawyer trying to find her place in the world. One of the best this year!

43. Rainless Love in a Godless Land (Taiwanese Drama, 2021)

The best thing about this drama is the title. Also, very unique and thought-provoking.

44. Alchemy of Souls Season 1 (Kdrama, 2022)

Might be the most interesting Hong sisters' fantasy drama yet.

#drama recap #drama review #asian drama

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dangermousie · 3 years

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2020 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2020; if I had to make a post about all the cdramas I watched this year, I would still be doing it in three months...

Overall it’s been a fairly decent cdrama year (certainly better than the very lacklustre kdrama year.) It’s no miracle that 2019 was (so many excellent dramas!) but overall pretty solid.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

44 The Legend of Jing Yan - the worst cdrama I have seen this year, and possibly the worst drama of 2020, period. The hero and heroine were both uncharismatic, incapable of acting and saddled with such shrilly moronic characters, the only suspense was how they haven’t both perished long since from forgetting to breathe. Nor was anyone in the rest of the cast much better; the screenplay was written by a lower mammal and the cinematography was the best a third-rate wedding cinematographer could offer. Stay the HELL away from this one.

43 Unicorn Girl - the only unicorn about this bland yet irritating piece of pap was the fact that I was supposed to believe the leads are hockey players.

42 Autumn Cicada - I like spy stories, Allen Ren, and Republican Era settings. I can tune out Communist propaganda with the best of them. Yet, the propaganda ate the story to such a degree that there was nothing left; pre magic change Pinocchio was less wooden then this narrative.

41 You Complete Me - no you do not.

40 Skate into Love - the only positive thing I can say about this is that at least it’s better than Unicorn Girl, if for no other reason that only one of them is supposed to be a hockey player.

39 Irreplaceable Love - how do you make a story about fake siblings with a mad mother falling for each other boring? I don’t know, ask the makers of this.

38 Eternal Love Rain - I hate to rain on their parade, but these two actors cannot act, have about as much chemistry as a piece of bread, and are trapped in a story perfect for entertaining the mental abilities of the leads of Jin Yan.

37 For Married Doctoress - ummmm, you could do worse I guess. It only made me break out in mild hives. The sadistic ending did make me laugh though.

36 Dance of the Sky Empire - why you get Xu Kai and waste him in this insipid mess of a story is beyond me.

35 Love Designer - it’s inoffensive except to my sense of entertainment. There is nothing wrong with it but oh God is it bland.

34 Love a Lifetime - It felt like a lifetime watching this, but I didn’t love it. The story is incoherent, the actors have no chemistry and it’s all an epic waste of time.

33 Love is Sweet - so sweet it gave me diabetes. I like Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu, but there is literally no plot. I don’t need to sink into a plotless morass to watch pretty people engage in PG-rated make-outs. I am an adult with access to stronger stuff if I am thus inclined, though to be fair they could get x-rated and I still wouldn’t be able to sit through so many episodes of plotlessness for that.

32 Fake Princess - I love Zhao Yi Qin, but the guy needs to pick better projects. The female lead in this one has the voice and personality that can strip paint but the story is also doing nobody any favors.

31 The Changan Youth - I lost my brain checking this out. I had to go and read a dense treatise on medieval coinage or Mayan farming to try to recover it.

30 My Dear Destiny - kinda cheesy fun. It honestly shouldn’t be as low except it really feels like community theater.

29 Handsome Siblings - why is the Nic Tse version so good and this one so bad? True mystery for the ages. Chen Zhe Yuan is the sole reason this isn’t lower, because that kid tries SO HARD to make this drama bearable and almost succeeds. I can’t wait to see him in Sha Po Lang which actually will give him something to do.

28 In a Class of Her Own - see my comment on The Changan Youth. But at least Song Weilong is gorgeous to look at.

27 General’s Lady - inoffensive, pretty and so utterly pointless.

26 The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion - those two leading actors are a no go to me but at least they considerately acted with each other instead of ruining two dramas for me. It’s very pretty though.

25 Jiu Liu Overlord - it’s a mess and I bailed, but I placed it this high merely due to the fact that Lai Yi finally gets a leading role and he’s sexy as fuck and I am shallow. Whoever styled Bai Lu should never work again except at a circus, however.

24 Cross Fire - not my genre and Luhan will always look too much like my cousin for comfort, but it’s a surprisingly gripping and dark drama. I liked it!

23 God of Lost Fantasy - if you want to watch a mediocre wuxia/xianxia, this is not a bad choice. Probably better than Legend of Fei actually, because at least it doesn’t have an A-list cast to waste and gives us Sheng Yilun himbo and shirtless.

22 Renascence - the insane cuts (it went from 70 eps to 36!!!) made a fairly cheesy story into a total mess. But I had a good time until I finally bailed mainly because of the male lead (Chen Zhe Yuan yet again carrying a not-good 2020 drama on his shoulders; the guy should be nicknamed Atlas) and the insane but in a fun way story. The female lead (both the character and the actress) were not up to par but oh well.

21 Legend of Fei - only this high because objectively there is nothing I disliked it. But there is nothing I liked either. The most uninspired drama on the list. If you could eat cardboard, this is what it would taste like.

20 Ever Night 2 - compared to EN1, it’s a waste of film. On its own merits, it’s not very good (the cast replacements are uniformly inferior and Dylan Wang is so wrong for Ning Que I cannot even put it into words; the script is useless.) But it had some parts I loved so very VERY much (all the shippy stuff was perfection) so I don’t feel too bitter.

19 Castle in the Sky 2 - a lovely if not too complex fairy tale. It is inferior to its prequel because it doesn’t have Zhang Ruo Yun who elevated it, but it’s still a solid bit of fun.

18 The Great Ruler - it’s very high fantasy, very pretty, and surprisingly involving.

17 (tie) Legend of Two Sisters in the Chaos - the secondary couple steals the show but the rest is not too bad if not too involving.

17 Legend of Awakening - a solid bit of fun with a seriously BDSM streak (theme this year apparently - but come on, the lead’s powers only activate when he’s in extreme pain!) It’s a bit generic and the costuming is done by a blind person, not to mention the OTP is a NOTP, but the rest of relationships (romantic and platonic) are wonderful (I live for the found siblings story in this one) and I like most of the characters.

16 Consummation - a rare modern cdrama I liked; a sweet coming of age story (and love story) even if wrapped in a pretty weird virtual reality concept.

15 Oops the King is in Love - this is how you do a low budget, sweet, silly piece of fluff. Our heroine pretends to be a eunuch and crosses paths with a powerless young king and they are adorable, even more so than the drama.

14 Song of Glory - pretty solid, though draggy and I didn’t love the toothpaste filter. But A+ cast, excellent leading couple chemistry, Li Qin being a BAMF and a leading man (Qin Hao) who is actually an adult.

13 And the Winner is love - objectively kind of a mess (and the heroine has the brainpower of a gnat), but the OTP chemistry is excellent and Luo Yunxi fighting and flirting with a fan as finally a leading man is worth the price of admission.

12 Miss S - snazzy and snappy and stylish and whatever else starts with S.

11 Eternal Love of Dream - I don’t know if it would work for you as well if you weren’t a hardcore shipper for this OTP in Three Lives but I was and this was such a darling, wonderful, shippy delight; plus I love this type of high fantasy.

10 (tie) Maiden Holmes - solid and sweet and a wonderful OTP. Proves that functional doesn’t have to mean boring. If you watch one cross-dressing drama this year make it this one.

10 Qin Dynasty Epic - srs bsns history epic. I am not far into it but it’s so good and smart and visually stunning (if you love battles, this one is for you.)

9 Love Lasts Two Minds - I adored this so much more than I should objectively have, but it’s so beautiful (and no I am not just referring to Alan Yu’s face) and the OTP has wonderful chemistry and the story is solid, and the whole trope of her memory being wiped but falling for him all over again while he’s constantly and utterly devoted is a fave; plus he’s in pain and semi-dyng for most of it so sluuuurp (happy ending, don’t worry)

8 To Love - yes, a modern drama is this high! But it involves intensity, tragedy, genuine adults and sexiness that is Lin Gengxin. And there is an actual plot and darkness OMG!

7 Legend of Xiao Chuo - so beautiful, so fun, so full of gorgeousness of Shawn Dou. Plus, Liao is a rare setting for a cdrama and there are a lot of characters and stories I liked a LOT. Less ship content than I wanted but more than I expected.

6 The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so so delightful. I was literally laughing out loud. I have no idea if it will work as well if one isn’t a seasoned watcher of period cdrama/reader of web novels, with bonus for watching/reading Goodbye My Princess, but it was a complete delight for me (and yes, I shipped for real, as well. Best of both worlds.)

5 Twisted Fate of Love - Jin Han gets a leading period drama role! And he’s enjoying it to the hilt, excellent as a smart, twisty bastard who is also charming and so madly in love with heroine. Sun Yi is beautiful and tough and her chemistry with JH is on fire, the story never drags, and it’s so twisty and fun and just awesome.

4 Love In Between - the most underrated drama on this list. It has no big names or big budget, but it’s wuxia that’s clever, driven, tragic, hopeful and so beautifully shot. Three separate (amazing) OTPs, a leading man who is so not typical (a doctor who cannot fight and who never acquires this ability) and who is intense and smart and damaged, a heroine who puts her quest ahead of her emotions, an unhealthy degree of involvement by yours truly. This is a drama Fei should have been.

3 Love and Redemption - such a lovely, addictive, utterly romantic fairy tale. I was obsessed with it for a reason. All the tropes you love and some you didn’t know you did, a star-crossed OTP to the nth power (and a secondary OTP I hardcore love), a twisty yet coherent plot, some insane chemistry and so much whump and hurt/comfort they must have bought blood packets in bulk.

2 Go Ahead - yes, I can’t believe it either. A contemporary slice of life cdrama made it this high on my list. But the way it feels so real, the found family perfection, the characters I love and loathe, the perfect cherry of a wonderful OTP that hits my narrative kinks on top, and just a perfect storm of loveliness all around with this one.

1 The Wolf - is that any surprise to anyone who’s checked out this tumblr for the last couple of months? Tragic, intense and gorgeous; so romantic and angsty and passionate it made me lose my mind (though some of it was gone the moment the camera panned to Darren Wang) - all my favorite tropes and then some; this is a drama that may not be perfect but it is 100% and then beyond perfect for ME.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The Wolf - I have seen objectively better cdramas; even this year. But it has been literal years since I have been this hardcore obsessed, this utterly pleased, this emotionally catered to and devastated at once. A beautiful dark fairy tale that manages to own me despite the storytelling gaps due to censorship, it took me for one of the biggest emotional roller coaster rides of my drama watching career. Visually gorgeous, poetic, intense, and so romantic it took my breath away, this is not just my favorite cdrama of 2020, it’s my favorite drama this year period, and the one cdrama this year to make it into my permanent Top 10 cdramas list.

WORST DRAMA

Legend of Jin Yan - see my write up for it for why as I refuse to waste more time on this stupid mess.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Wolfie, The Wolf - he is such a haunted, tormented, complex, dark mess; loving and violent, severely damaged and with a hidden yearning softness, longing and aloof. And the amount of charisma and sheer masculine sex appeal Darren Wang brings to the role is insane and not something I see much of in a cdrama. Plus, that character arc with its rapid fall and slow painful redemption is A++++

Runner Up: Sifeng, Love and Redemption - has a male lead ever loved more utterly and selflessly, suffered more thoroughly and beautifully, and managed to have such chemistry with both his leading lady and his leading man (that his leading lady temporarily turned into) at once? The answer is no.

Almost made the cut - Feng Xi, Twisted Fate of Love, Han Shuo, The Romance of Tiger and Rose, Qing Ci, Love in Between.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Qian, The Romance of Tiger and Rose - so funny, so much the reason this drama was such a delight. I adore her beyond words.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Murder Daddy, The Wolf - I am sad the censors robbed us of seeing him die on screen. He was fully human but nonetheless managed to be the worst monster in a drama full of literal ones.

Ling Xiao’s Mom, Go Ahead - I hate her so much I don’t want to look up her name. She abused the kid, the disappeared and came back to abuse him some more. I mean she literally gave her child mental health issues. She is the WORST.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xing’er x Wolfie, The Wolf - are you kidding me? Who else could it ever be for me? They destroyed each other and saved each other, sworn enemies and childhood lovers, soulmates and epic messes, they couldn’t live with or without each other. The longing, the passion, the intensity, the angst, the epicness. LIKE THERE ARE NO WORDS!!!!

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Si Yuan, Shen Manqing, Love in Between - I loved them as much and often more than the main OTP. So much angst and passion and a happy ending! She is a seeming sect darling (except the sect is horrible and also sexist so her only worth is as a marriage candidate) and he’s an information broker who is actually one of the members of a destroyed sect that’s blamed for the massacre of her family. That chemistry and yearning is insane. The scene where she touches his face when he’s unconscious was in serious running for my favorite scene of 2020.

NOTP

Legend of Awakening - I have never seen a couple that didn’t just have no chemistry but exhibited actual revulsion towards each other before watching Chen Feiyu and Cheng Xiao try to act as lovers in this one. It was almost entertaining to be honest.

FAVORITE SCENE

It’s a tie and both are from The Wolf. One is a sequence where Wolfie marches to the walls alone, seeking death at Xing’er’s hands and the whole sequence with the battle and rescue follows. The other is the intercut between Xing’er going to her wedding and Wolfie going to his execution, and the auto-da-fe being intercut with her wedding.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Wolfie, The Wolf - Ummm have you seen this tumblr lately, it’s basically a drool shrine to the man.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yelü Yansage, The Legend of Xiao Chuo - I have loved this actor since The Myth and he continued to competently steal every scene he was in.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

To Love - come out of the coma, dammit!!!!!!!

NEEDS A DIRECTOR’S CUT

The Wolf - duh. It started out as 59 eps and got cut to 49. I reaiize some stuff is never gonna get put in due to censorship, but some of the stuff that got cut got for time reasons because they were deluded and hoping to get a TV broadcast so ep count had to be under 50. I mean I doubt the censors would care if they kept scenes of Wolfie building her a swing or whatever. I really really want a director’s cut the way Goodbye My Princess did even if like with GMP it’s only three extra eps. Hell, I will take extra three minutes, as long as those three minutes are Darren Wang shirtless or with a sword. Ahem.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

The Song of Glory - it’s a fairly solid drama but honestly it didn’t need to be as long as it was and kind of got draggy and I got lost interest. (I could have gotten snarky and said all the dramas I didn’t like needed scissors taken to them in their entirety but decided to play nice.)

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

There are a number of dramas I could complain about with regard to this (hi there, darling The Wolf!) but this award goes to Renascence - poor Renascence was never going to be a masterpiece, but it had the potential to be a bit of good cheesy fun until it had its run time cut by more than half and became an incoherent piece of insanity.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Dumb shrill innocent heroine who can’t tie her shoes - see basically all the cdramas I didn’t like this year.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Male lead torture - I mean it’s always open season on that in cdramas, but between Love and Redemption, The Wolf, Love Lasts Two Minds, Love in Between and so on, it was a banner year!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Legend of Fei - what a waste of that cast; what a waste of our finite time on this Earth. What a waste of my intelligence to hope for something better and stick with it for a dozen eps. I have had stale wonderbread that had more personality than this drama.There is absolutely nothing that stands out about this drama in any way, from half-dimensional characters, to actors who are sleepwalking, to a plot that moves at the speed of an arthritic snail, to uninspired cinematography and direction, to lack of any chemistry between anyone in the cast. If paint-by-numbers was done by a group of particularly linear robots, it might come across the same way as this drama.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

The Wolf - honestly, I did not expect it to come out AT ALL EVER let alone to become my favorite drama of 2020. I was not familiar with the leading man (hahah), I liked Li Qin but wasn’t yet obsessed with her, and Xiao Zhan was excellent in The Untamed but I was hardly going to follow him from drama to drama (and I don’t do SLS any way.) And the trailer was enjoyable but unlike seemingly everyone, I didn’t think it was going to be some epic masterpiece. And then it came out and while it wasn’t objectively an epic masterpiece, it pulled out all the favorite tropes, shippy and narrative kinks from the deepest darkest recesses of my id. And I fell harder than I have in years.

2020 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

None. Covid Year gave me PLENTY of time

BEST NON-2020 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2020

Novoland Eagle Flag and Joy of Life - they are in my Top 10 dramas from anywhere now. They are quite different except being smart and giving me protagonists to obsess over.

ETA: Also The Untamed because @idlewilds3 pointed out I actually watched it in 2020 even though I didn’t think so because this hellyear has lasted about three decades.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2021

I am gonna limit it to dozen and leaving out ones that aren’t necesarily supposed to air next year (Joy of Life 2, Love in Flames of War, Novoland Princess from Plateau.)

Monarch Industry, Novoland Pearl Eclipse, Silk Washing Stream, Dream of Changan, Sword Snow Stride, Wu Xing Shi Jia, Ancient Love Poetry, Immortality, The Long Ballad, Mirror Twin Cities, The Imperial Age, Fall In Love

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skullsandwineglasses · 3 years

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My Girlfriend is an Alien Review

I don’t normally review modern romance dramas because first of all, I’m more or a xianxia/wuxia/historical drama kind of person so I don’t watch too many modern dramas in the first place, and second, when I do watch modern dramas, I choose the simple, fluffy kind, so there’s not much to critically review anyway. I mainly watch them between dramas to cleanse my palate.

But I finished MGFIAA yesterday and I have thoughts, mostly good ones.

1. First Impressions

I was really skeptical about this drama at first. It’s a rich guy CEO/poor girl drama, and I normally hate that trope. The last CEO dramas I watched were Boss and Me and My Sunshine 6 years ago, but that was because I wanted to watch Zhao Liying and Tang Yan respectively.

But, after reading comments on reddit about how people thought MGFIAA was Wan Peng’s best comedic work so far, I decided to take a leap of faith and gave this drama a shot. I went into the drama mostly blind and had no expectations. I had just finished You Are My Hero and My Little Happiness, both dramas in which the FL and ML have different careers (which is a dynamic I really like), so I wanted to watch something completely different that would prevent me from comparing it to these last 2 dramas.

The drama starts of kinda meh. The FL uses her alien powers to save the ML from a car crash. The ML is a stereotypical alpha male CEO. Nothing too surprising or enticing yet. But the scene that sealed the deal for me was when the FL starts stealing and trying on clothes while window shopping at the mall. Wan Peng was just gorgeous and glowing in that scene. And then the next scene that confirmed it for me was when the FL freezes time, but the ML is unaffected by it and he sees her for the first time but is unsure if he’s hallucinating or not. After that scene, I decided to stick with the drama to see what all the hype was about.

2. Simple, sweet, no-non-sense plot

There’s only one plot line in the drama, which is the romance between the main leads. There are no supporting couples or subplots. All supporting characters are either helping the leads get together, or are plotting against the leads, so everything directly relates back to them. I really like this because it makes the story more focused on just one storyline and one couple.

This is different from most dramas where it’s common to have a subplot with a supporting couple. My Little Happiness had a supporting couple whose plot line was completely separate from the main leads, while You Are My Hero had two supporting couples, which dragged out the drama.

I suppose this is because Wan Peng and Hsu Thassapak were not that popular at the time, so the plot could be more focused on them to promote them. On the other hand, when you have a drama where the leads are already popular, the production team will try to leverage that popularity to bring attention to lesser-known up-and-coming actors in the supporting roles. I remember how Yang Zi and Deng Lun had less and less screen time towards the end of Ashes of Love, and Tang Yan and Luo Jin also didn’t have much screen time in The Way We Were, and Yang Mi used Eternal Love to help promote the actors under her agency, like Dilireba (although Yang Mi managed to keep the drama mostly focused on her storyline).

3. Comedy

Despite being a sitcom comedy, this drama didn’t make me laugh out loud like some scenes in my Little Happiness and You Are My Hero did, but there were a lot of scenes where I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot because of some of the adorably awkward antics the FL and ML did. They also mock the CEO romance genre in some scenes by exaggerating the trope, which was amusing (but still cringey) to watch, but I guess that was the point.

However, I will admit that there were some outright cringey scenes that were hard to watch. A recurring plot point was the the FL’s fascination with the male body and pheromones. So sometimes, she can’t help herself and reaches out to touch the ML’s abs. This plot point works because she’s an alien who’s curious and doesn’t know better, but the second hand embarrassment you still feel is strong nevertheless. I think physical clinginess just makes me really uncomfortable in general.

The kiss scenes were very PG, probably because Hsu Thassapak is married with kids, but there are a lot of innuendos in the dialogue and physical comedy.

4. Acting

Wan Peng is effortlessly adorable and bubbly, and the voice acting really helps sell that as well. (The voice actress, Qiao Shi Yu, who dubs her is the same one who usually dubs Zhao Liying and who also dubbed Yuan bingyan in Love and Redemption. I think the voice actress is often used for cutesy characters. Wan Peng has a much lower voice, which I already guessed when I saw pictures of her. She gives off a vibes of someone who would have a low voice).

Hsu Thassapak has a chiseled face that looks too sculpted, and so I was skeptical about whether he would be able to emote, but he actually carried the emotional scenes quite well. Again, the voice acting also really helped. Hsu Thassapak has a higher voice than his voice actor, who I think also dubbed Luo Jin in Princess Weiyoung.

Wang You Jun was great at playing the ML’s younger brother and love rival. I was surprised to learn that he’s actually younger than Wan Peng because his acting felt mature (even though he’s character isn’t).

5. Story Originality

I can’t make an assessment of how original the story is because they do rely on a lot of predictable tropes, but I can say that it was well-executed. It’s not easy to insert fantasy elements into a modern drama and make it believable, but I was on board with the ridiculous premise. Not only is the FL an alien, but the ML has a type of amnesia where he forgets all the women he meets whenever it rains. And yet, I was hooked and invested against my better judgement.

6. Overall Impression

8/10. The drama is exactly what is says it is, so I can’t really complain. The plot progresses logically, even if there are some frustrating moments, but you can understand why the characters made the choices they made. It will take you some time at first to get used to the outlandish premise, but after the first 2 episodes, you’ll be rooting for the FL.

The FL’s character is also reminiscent of xianxia dramas where the FL has no idea what romantic love is (e.g., Love and Redemption, Love and Destiny), and slowly learns how to love. I’m apparently a sucker for that trope, so it was actually quite easy for me to fall for this drama, despite being initially skeptical about it.

#my girlfriend is an alien #外星女生柴小七 #cdrama #wan peng #hsu thassapak #万鹏 #cdrama review #romance

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linxuelian · 3 years

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Wuxia/Xianxia BL drama - Holy Son of the Fox Spirit (灵狐圣子): Review and recommendation

Hurrah! Classes haven’t started yet, so I went ahead and watched this! \(≧∀≦)/ It’s pretty entertaining, so I decided to recommend it to others who don’t actually realize it’s a BL movie.

Titled “Holyfox Sun” on Youtube by its official channel, Penguin Pictures, the Holy Son of the Fox Spirit is a two-part movie about a fox fairy who meets a handsome prince and falls in love with him.

In terms of narrative, it’s a pretty straightforward movie. The film starts with a backstory about the Fairy Fox clan, who are at odds with the Wolf clan. Now, if you’re familiar with Asian folklore, fox fairies (or any type of animal fairy, really) are magical creatures who can take on a human form after cultivating enough. it’s just that the main character, Lu Bai, starts off as a fox fairy with zero ambitions and average talent.

This changes when he’s selected by a magic stone and sent down the mountain to look for a legendary warrior. He’s injured during the journey and rescued by this particularly handsome fellow:

Who also happens to be the very guy he’s looking for.

The rest of the show unfolds like a fairy tale. The prince is a really nice guy with a good heart, and takes Lu Bai to the castle where he... does somewhat ambiguously shippy things with him.

Tell me if that smile doesn’t say it all.

If you’re hungry for a bit of spice to cut through all the tooth-rotting sweetness, it’s even got a semi-discarded Little Mermaid-esque subplot which is supposed to add a bit of angst and drama to the main couple’s budding romance.

So if you’re into the whole sad-lonely-little-fox-whose-prince-has-no-choice-but-to-marry-by-the-emperor’s-decree shebang, this is probably your cup of tea.

The other thing that’s also very charming about this show is that even with a large enough budget (the directors appear to be from Tencent Pictures), it’s still got all those wonderfully over-the-top cheesy elements we know and love in most Xianxia and Wuxia movies that we’re happily familiar with.

For one, it’s got the corny twenty-five cent special effects:

The corny evil villain laughter:

Adorable, fuzzy animals:

Fake plastic grass:

And vibrating swords:

But what’s really to like in the film, in my personal opinion, are the camera angling, panning and zooming styles which are pretty breathtaking at times.

Although the camerawork is a little shaky to an extent, likely to get the “raw and realistic” Cloverfield-a.k.a.-modern feel during moments like battles and confrontations, what the team does make up for in terms of camera stability are some gorgeous aerial views, a slightly bolder use of weather choices such as natural rainfall, and panoramic scenes, including an interesting choice of fish-eye lenses from time to time.

Although the costuming, makeup application and styling isn’t the best or the most elaborate, they do make pretty good use of the textures available on the set.

The battle scenes are also particularly exciting:

They probably borrowed that skillset from their various warring period dramas, which adds quite a bit to the film in terms of the whole Wuxia martial chivalry warrior man feel. For a show that’s a simple story about a human and a fox spirit getting together in the end, the addition of these small things to it adds an extra layer of enjoyment - it’s not terribly tame, at least.

All in all, the show is not bad; it’s pretty enjoyable and for a stock BL movie, it does have a bit of heart even if the execution’s rather off at times. Like its low-budget comedic predecessor, it’s pretty tongue-in-cheek too and doesn’t try too hard to make things too grand or too realistic; rather, the focus is just really in the simple story it’s trying to tell, with some sweet, pretty elements added to the medley for a fairytale vibe.

If you’re interested to watch it, it’s available on Youtube via Penguin Pictures, an official channel affiliated to Tencent.

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4_eS0H5OhI

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC68hmwZRMU

These two movies are a prequel to a BL series called “My roommate is a fox fairy”, set in the modern era about a thousand years after the end of the second movie.

Tencent is the animation label behind Scumbag System and Mo Dao Zu Zhi, also known as the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

Other Xianxia/Wuxia/Xuanhuan/Ancient China BL drama recommendations:

🌸 Love is More Than a Word - a BL series set in ancient China about a naive and illiterate magistrate and a lawyer with a hidden past

🌸 Men with Sword - a Wuxia BL series about several kings and their subjects

#bl drama #bl series #chinese bl #series recommendations #c-drama #xianxia wuxia bl drama #period drama #boys love #ancient drama #holyfox sun

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shenmeizhuang-blog · 6 years

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Do you have any cdrama suggestions for a baby beginner? I think Empress of China is the most famous one I’ve heard of but I’m curious about others too!

B-baby beginner? No, my friend, when it comes to cdrama, we simply throw you into the pit…

Just kidding! Although, for a myriad of reasons, being a Chinese drama fan outside of Asia without a hold of the language is admittedly rather difficult (so to the “international” cdrama fandom: you guys rock!).

Unfortunately, your answer did not really help me narrow down my answer after all. I believe Moonlight Drawn By Clouds, your recent fave, is very romance-centric, but I feel like everyone tends to vacillate in their mood, preferring super romantic escapism one minute and demanding tight storytelling the next. Anyway, I’ll stop rambling and actually get to the point:

personal recs, in general*

I just couldn’t really “categorize” these?

peace hotel (2018): currently in the midst of watching this still, but I’m really enjoying this! honestly. especially with how the female chars (most of the chars are written.) it’s this mix between super suspenseful espionage and really cathartic humor. the plot twists are also so !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

let’s shake it! (2017): alien crashlands to the tang dynasty! it’s super cute and quirky, but there’s also a strong, coherent plot and some angst in the latter parts. definitely one of my faves of last year, though it’s punny sense of humor doesn’t always get through. it’s also very appreciatively meta ;) the subs apparently aren’t complete, as my friend complained to me, but I personally find the language real simple

medical examiner dr. qin (2016): the interactions between the crime-solving trio are gold. also, like the only modern show here?? (as you can tell, I am really mostly a period show watcher.)

go princess go (2015-16): it’s really low-budget and cracky, but trust me, there’s a reason it went viral. zhang tian ai does feel like the saving grace a lot of the time though, and I didn’t exactly give it a high score, but it just might be your thing. who knows?

nirvana in fire (2015): i don’t think it’s the best c-drama ever, unlike a lot of people on this site, but it’s still a very solid show. I also find it a lot more shoujo than most fans—it’s really not just a revenge-political drama—but when it was emotionally gripping, boy, it was emotionally gripping.

wuxin: the monster killer (2015): technically only season 1—I have yet to see s2—but weirdly enough, I found the poignant ending especially fitting. just assume from the title? yue qiluo is one of the more interesting villains out there, and gosh I just adore yueya so much

bu bu jing xin (2011): extremely poignant, complex look into polymagy/patriarchy during the qing dynasty from the lens of time-traveller zhang xiao who takes the identity of court lady ruoxi. even if you don’t ship any of the romances, it is so worth it for pretty much everything else. but if you do, obviously also an extremely heart-wrenching watch. a lot of people’s first cdrama.

schemes of a beauty (2010): lots of spying, secret chambers, poison, women control the men.

*I would want to recommend The Legend of Zhen Huan and The Glory Of Tang Dynasty, but they’re 76 episodes and 92 episodes long, respectively. Content-wise, it’s also stuff that requires lots of trigger warnings, and overall just not for the “baby beginner”. Battle of Changsha is definitely shorter, and a definite recommendation, but also just not for the “baby beginner.”

no dubbing

(Peace Hotel, Battle of Changsha, NiF, Medical Examiner Dr. Qin)

the advisors’ alliance (2017) + growling tiger, roaring dragon (2017-18): a mix of no dubbing and some dubbing. it’s a pretty creative to take the viewpoint of sima yi in this three kingdoms historical piece. I feel that it’s rather accessible to viewers, honestly, and the production values are great on this one.

nothing gold can stay (2017): only 4 eps in—it’s very solid so far (74 eps though, but I would say quite mainstream and easy to watch)

ten miles of spring wind can’t compare to you (2017): do I really want to rec this though? in the end, I really did wish I had someone to vent about this to and discuss with about, because in a lot of ways this really did give lots of food for thought. let’s just say that our three main chars are deliberately rather fatally flawed…and I still feel rather ambivalent about how to feel about this. (the first 10-15 eps are super cute, meta, adorable but also with great sexual tension and then it sort of goes to melodrama but anyway…) you could at least practice your chinese? it is harder than the average modern cdrama, given how pretentious qiu shui can get

shoujo period romances

We all have a soft spot for these :’)

sound of the desert (2014): just yesterday, there was quite a lot of discourse on this show on my dash, interestingly. female lead xin yue (liu shi shi) is raised by a wolf pack, though she eventually enters the capital city sometime during the han dynasty. she does at first fall for a crippled, broody flute player played by hu ge (imo one of his more lackluster roles) but it’s her chemistry with HAWT general wei wuji (eddie peng

female prime minister/legend of lu zhen (2013): again, freakishly sizzling chemistry. it focuses more on lu zhen rising up the ranks as lower-level female ministers, but mostly still very very romance-centric. (the otp falling-out in the last 10 eps or so was kind of stupid, I will admit, and also 200% all on gao zhan but it had such a strong addictive quality to it.)

gong/jade palace lockheart (2011): I haven’t seen Boys Over Flowers/the Japanese original/any official remakes of whatever that is, but a lot of people have called it Boys Over Flowers + modern girl time travels to the Qing Dynasty + 9-prince succession conflict during Kangxi’s reign. it was rather stupid and petty at times, but it’s more comedic and the romance is super addicting. I don’t care about the half-bald Qing queues at all, and this is actually one of the only roles that I’ve found Feng Shaofeng attractive in. (yes, it is possible to love bbjx and enjoy this)

Oh yeah, and all these end all happily and fairytale-like. None of the above would qualify as my “faves” at all, but all are very accessible to someone unfamiliar with cdrama and love the Romance and the Pretty.

others (I found rather lackluster or dropped): Perfect Couple, The Eternal Love (very popular among international audiences, but not for me), General and I, Oh My General

wuxias/xianxias

This is just going to be an embarrassing amount of childhood nostalgia. Like, literally, with the exception of the first one, I watched all of these in elementary school, with varying amounts of rewatching in between. The recent wuxias and xianxias just haven’t been to my liking. (I could get into how NiF takes lots of wuxia elements but I would just confuse you a lot so, strictly on the more fantasy/action side of things here.) I simply haven’t watched Eternal Love/Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms (very, very popular) at all. I’m sorry.

vigilantes in masks/strange hero yi zhi mei (2011): I believe the international equivalent is “Iljimae”? It’s like Robin Hood, sort of, but mostly Liu Shi Shi’s Yan Sanniang is so amazing here.

chinese paladin 3 (2009)

return of the condor heroes (2006)

chinese paladin (2005)

lotus lantern (2005)

also 武林外传, which is 80 eps, but kind of more like a wuxia sitcom way back in the day. there’s in-show ppls, tons of modern references, etc. and also like lots of satire/social commentary. I did a rewatch (of brief clips ofc, I don’t have that much time) recently, and realized I missed so much when I watched it with the family back then. (I’m kind of embarrassed about the more lewd references…lol…)

*line break*

Whew! Anyway, the takeaway is, there is a lot of stuff to choose from, and I definitely left out a lot of stuff. There’s also a lot of modern cdramas. This answer might clarify about those shows.

(that being said, I really personally would not recommend empress of china. I mean, aside from 96 eps, just 2 eps in I could tell it was going to be an unsubstantial mess >_

#cdrama #recs #answers #replies #next time i'll just link this or smth

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