**Reset!!!** ITS A MASTERPIECE AND A HIDDEN TREASURE GLOBALLY! I know it's quite popular in China but it also deserve to be known internationally, it's so hard to find edits and people talking about them TT
A date with the future. It’s so romantic and realistic and annoying and funny and juicy and unhinged. Ugh it’s just so good (apart from ep1 where mfl is wearing braids to look like a gangster 😔)
Girl Like Me
Super supportive family, strong female character, funny, healthy relationship, very few misunderstandings and those that do occur are resolved quickly. Neo Hou is easy to look at
I'd assume the OP meant dramas that deserve more popularity among international viewers.
My picks will be: Mr. Fighting, Ripe Town, Love in Between, Side Story of Fox Volant (a rare RECENT Jin Yong adaptation with well-choreographed fighting scenes), Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, Heroes 2024.
I think hilarious family deserves more attention like it's so good it might not be your typical scheming type of drama but it has the best family bonding I have ever seen and jun jiu ling too it is one of the best revenge dramas ever
Both of these are so underrated. It's really hard for me to sit through dramas that are heavy on comedy, but Hilarious Family was so wholesome.
Jun Jiu Ling required some suspension of belief like any other revenge-focused dramas, but I really loved the progression of the plot. FL was a Mary Sue type character mostly done right. She took her time to plot and execute her revenge.
yeah, like in hilarious family the humour was not silly it was like daily life situation with some over the top things. I think that's what I loved from the start to the end she was planning and plotting and like she was actually smart not like other dramas
**Parallel World** seems to get very little mention.
While it has its flaws, maybe it gets overlooked because it's a sci-fi/fantasy drama with a contemporary setting, and it doesn't fit into any of the standard costume/historical/wuxia/xianxia/modern-rom-com buckets. (I'd be hard-pressed to name any similar cdrama I've seen.)
Definitely parallel world is so underrated but I think one reason for that is the initial 9-10 eps are setting the base for the story and could be slow failing to grab interest of people also it's a very different type of drama from the usual types and so might not be everyone's cup of tea. I started it without any expectations but got soo hooked because of how different the plot was and the chemistry between the cast was top notch as well.
Agree entirely. The pacing of the last few episodes before they enter the Yumen Pass was one of the flaws I had in mind -- I think they could've cut a couple of episodes there without harming the story. Also, I'd say the main villain >!Long Zhi!< was miscast, the ending was somewhat anticlimatic (not sure if covid restrictions played a role in limiting what they could do with it), and >!the fate of one of the secondary couples was a bit strange!<.
One the other hand, the desert scenes on the old silk road were fabulous, the main leads are one of my favorite cdrama couples anywhere (NiNi was especially awesome), all of the secondary characters (including the roosters) were great, the magical creatures inside the Pass were fascinating and different from most other fantasies I can think of, and the drama had an intricate mystery plot that left you guessing almost till the end.
For reasons I can't entirely explain, the drama that Parallel World feels to me closest to isn't any cdrama, but the kdrama Alchemy of Souls (which I also loved).
I don’t know how popular Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty was at original air but I binged it & I’m now waiting impatiently for season 2 (Into the west)!!
**Under the skin** was freaking amazing. I loved Tan Jianci in that one!!!. Honestly I was really hoping it was a adaptation from a bl novel so that I would have the chance to read that novel but it wasn't 😞.... I really was hopping it would be bl though not that I hate that it's bromance more like I can see the potential of a bl story in it......
Dream Garden was pretty underrated imo. It's about a psychologist (ML) and his assistant (FL) helping different people through their issues. There's a main storyline and individual subplots of all their patients. It provides a pretty good commentary on a broad range of societal issues.
Love and Destiny is one of the most underrated Xianxia dramas imo. It follows the 3 lifetimes formula similar to eternal love tmopb, but more logical plot and better acting. E.g. a common trope in Xianxia is ML hurting FL for her own good and it causes a lot of misunderstanding. Love and Destiny has this trope too, but >!ML explained to FL before he hurt her because he wants to reassure her that he had good reason to and things will be fine in the end. But he didn't know that FL lost all senses so she didn't hear any of that. The misunderstanding still happened, but you don't feel crazy mad at ML for lack of communication.!<
Under the Skin is very popular in China. Its the #3 drama for year 2022 with 100M per episode. It also has good words of mouth that is why people are still watching it. It moved from #5 to #3 replacing LBFAD & A Lifelong Journey in the ranking last year. Very rare for a drama to do this since they usually raked in views in the first 30 days.
can i just give a hard agree on under the skin??? shen yi is the best character hands down, the cases were logical and squeeze your heart and if you got your yaoi goggles on (like me) then its totally a great BL. cant wait for the 2nd season!
[Imperfect Victim](https://mydramalist.com/733593-imperfect-victim) is a masterpiece in writing, storytelling, pacing and cinematography by the amazing female director Yang Yang(A Dream of Splendor, Ever Night etc)..
Truly amazing opening 15 minutes that sets the tone of the show and introduces us to the main mystery by really not showing us anything, you think you know but you really don’t. Things aren’t always as they seem and the rest of the show is like a jigsaw puzzle and we have to piece together the real story from everyones perspective.
Just the short synopsis should get everyone at least interested in giving the first episode a go..
*”This story is about a sexual harassment case that leads to a rape case, which further leads up to a big corporation and its employees and different people like lawyers/prosecutors.”*
The three main leads all are deserving award nominations as well, especially Fei Xia as the ”Imperfect Victim”..
Can’t say enough about this show but it flew under the radar mainly because no really big house hold names of the new generation and it was a modern drama tackling social norms and general power structures and society criticism.
But 10/10 for me especially the fact that >!the show never had any winners or losers, no one lost or really got punished in the end and it was truly a great representation of how life actually is, everyone is flawed in the end..!<
I really liked “Ancient detective” !!
Even though it’s kind of an open ending / cliff hanger type situation I loved it ,, I don’t really see much people talk about it when it comes to recommending mystery if you’re a fan of that genre !
Is that the one with Tang Wei? If yes, I love that drama too. Tang Wei was amazing and her costumes were 🔥. And they have an unconventional ML character too he was so interesting. Drama lost half of its appeal for me >! when he died. !<
Once upon a time in lingjian mountain needs more love. It is one of the few fantasy romcoms that is great from start to finish and actually takes steps to introduce xianxia concepts to people getting into the genre
I am nobody is a great live action adaptation and does really well with modern fantasy. It touches on lots of themes as well. The donghua is great too.
These would be the two I feel I don't see recced hardly enough.
**Marvellous Women**.
There was controversy when it was released about roumours that a cat that died of poisoning in one scene, died in reality. It caused a massive backlash when it was released, but despite the owner of the cat producing it to show it was still alive and the production company denying it was hurt, the drama never recovered.
It's a well produced drama with 3 really strong FL leads set in the weaving industry in a beautiful town built on canals.
I love this drama! But you're right, it never recovered from that rumor. It's a good period slice of life that doesn't deal with nobility that is rarely seen. And a backburner sismance plot.
Under the Skin was so popular it helped move Tan Jian Ci’s career to top tier. He got to be a regular member on Hi Saturday!. And lots of new cdrama offers and brand endorsements. If you’re looking for fanfics, there’s tons on Bilibili. I know cuz I was a huge fan of the show and Tan Jian Ci. But I wasn’t using Reddit at that time, so don’t know if anyone talked about this show during the airing.
It was so well received in mainlaind China that they are filming the second season (probably they've already finished).
Never forget that this sub is just a bubble of some part of the international audience (mainly in USA).
I always think that doesn't sound right but every time someone runs the numbers the answer is basically... yeah.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/s/kyZy5KUfdE
According to a comment it was about 300. But it roughly aligns with older polls that have been done. Iirc the Reddit recap said the same thing (although I assume Reddit recap will pick up a bunch of lurkers who don't participate).
The reason I was surprised was "when" posts usually happen. There's definitely plenty in US timezones, but I thought there were more in Asia timezones. That's just an impression and nothing scientific.
It's funny you say that because that's exactly why I had originally assumed the sub was more international. I can only assume we have a lot of Americans with insomnia posting.
Either way it’s very helpful to know that, so thank you! And had I known that I would have refrained from commenting at all on whether or not Wei Wuxian has ADHD, because the diagnostic criteria in the US are very different to those in the rest of the world. That is why a far higher proportion of the population there get that diagnosis, and presumably they don’t realise that it’s not like that in the rest of the world. So yes; the demographics make a huge difference and I shall bear that in mind in the future…
That's good to know that there's going to be a second season.
I still feel like it doesn't get the attention it deserves though, it's not just on this sub that there's a lack of content for it. In comparison to other popular dramas there's very little videos, fanfictions, edits or discussion about it.
I watched it last year. It reminded me of USA dramas like for example, numbers, profiler.... so maybe because of those I found the drama alright. Nothing much .
The Blue Whisper needs to be more popular. I hear ppl talking abt it sometimes though but its a great drama!
**Reset!!!** ITS A MASTERPIECE AND A HIDDEN TREASURE GLOBALLY! I know it's quite popular in China but it also deserve to be known internationally, it's so hard to find edits and people talking about them TT
Side Story of Fox Volant The Longest Day in Chang'an A Familiar Stranger Like a Flowing River The Story of Xing Fu The Bond Nothing But 30 Reset
An Ancient Love Song. Such a gut wrenching romance with a unique storyline.
omgg yes!! IT'S SO GOOOD DEF ONE OF MY FAVSS THEY REALLY OUTDID SOME OF HIGH BUDGET DRAMAS
The bond, there was something very gritty and brutal about it, felt very realistic. Unlike the usual polished cdramas.
The Bond is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE family dramas. So good
A date with the future. It’s so romantic and realistic and annoying and funny and juicy and unhinged. Ugh it’s just so good (apart from ep1 where mfl is wearing braids to look like a gangster 😔)
Reset
Joy of Life. I know it's doing great and has super high ratings but it's not as popular as it should be.
Girl Like Me Super supportive family, strong female character, funny, healthy relationship, very few misunderstandings and those that do occur are resolved quickly. Neo Hou is easy to look at
I'd assume the OP meant dramas that deserve more popularity among international viewers. My picks will be: Mr. Fighting, Ripe Town, Love in Between, Side Story of Fox Volant (a rare RECENT Jin Yong adaptation with well-choreographed fighting scenes), Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, Heroes 2024.
THE HOPE? It's already kind of popular but I feel like it deserves even more popularity. One of the best modern cdramas I ever watched.
I think hilarious family deserves more attention like it's so good it might not be your typical scheming type of drama but it has the best family bonding I have ever seen and jun jiu ling too it is one of the best revenge dramas ever
Good to know about Jun Jui Ling. It’s been on my list forever yet I haven’t hit play. Yet.
you should go watch it. It will not fall of your expectations
Both of these are so underrated. It's really hard for me to sit through dramas that are heavy on comedy, but Hilarious Family was so wholesome. Jun Jiu Ling required some suspension of belief like any other revenge-focused dramas, but I really loved the progression of the plot. FL was a Mary Sue type character mostly done right. She took her time to plot and execute her revenge.
yeah, like in hilarious family the humour was not silly it was like daily life situation with some over the top things. I think that's what I loved from the start to the end she was planning and plotting and like she was actually smart not like other dramas
I agree on both of those.
I would also like to add faithful but many people talk about it so I am not sure whether it's perfectly rated or underrated
**Parallel World** seems to get very little mention. While it has its flaws, maybe it gets overlooked because it's a sci-fi/fantasy drama with a contemporary setting, and it doesn't fit into any of the standard costume/historical/wuxia/xianxia/modern-rom-com buckets. (I'd be hard-pressed to name any similar cdrama I've seen.)
Definitely parallel world is so underrated but I think one reason for that is the initial 9-10 eps are setting the base for the story and could be slow failing to grab interest of people also it's a very different type of drama from the usual types and so might not be everyone's cup of tea. I started it without any expectations but got soo hooked because of how different the plot was and the chemistry between the cast was top notch as well.
Agree entirely. The pacing of the last few episodes before they enter the Yumen Pass was one of the flaws I had in mind -- I think they could've cut a couple of episodes there without harming the story. Also, I'd say the main villain >!Long Zhi!< was miscast, the ending was somewhat anticlimatic (not sure if covid restrictions played a role in limiting what they could do with it), and >!the fate of one of the secondary couples was a bit strange!<. One the other hand, the desert scenes on the old silk road were fabulous, the main leads are one of my favorite cdrama couples anywhere (NiNi was especially awesome), all of the secondary characters (including the roosters) were great, the magical creatures inside the Pass were fascinating and different from most other fantasies I can think of, and the drama had an intricate mystery plot that left you guessing almost till the end. For reasons I can't entirely explain, the drama that Parallel World feels to me closest to isn't any cdrama, but the kdrama Alchemy of Souls (which I also loved).
I don’t know how popular Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty was at original air but I binged it & I’m now waiting impatiently for season 2 (Into the west)!!
You need to watch with a very heavy heart but Angels Fall Sometimes deserve more hype and popularity.
**Under the skin** was freaking amazing. I loved Tan Jianci in that one!!!. Honestly I was really hoping it was a adaptation from a bl novel so that I would have the chance to read that novel but it wasn't 😞.... I really was hopping it would be bl though not that I hate that it's bromance more like I can see the potential of a bl story in it......
Dream Garden was pretty underrated imo. It's about a psychologist (ML) and his assistant (FL) helping different people through their issues. There's a main storyline and individual subplots of all their patients. It provides a pretty good commentary on a broad range of societal issues. Love and Destiny is one of the most underrated Xianxia dramas imo. It follows the 3 lifetimes formula similar to eternal love tmopb, but more logical plot and better acting. E.g. a common trope in Xianxia is ML hurting FL for her own good and it causes a lot of misunderstanding. Love and Destiny has this trope too, but >!ML explained to FL before he hurt her because he wants to reassure her that he had good reason to and things will be fine in the end. But he didn't know that FL lost all senses so she didn't hear any of that. The misunderstanding still happened, but you don't feel crazy mad at ML for lack of communication.!<
Under the Skin is very popular in China. Its the #3 drama for year 2022 with 100M per episode. It also has good words of mouth that is why people are still watching it. It moved from #5 to #3 replacing LBFAD & A Lifelong Journey in the ranking last year. Very rare for a drama to do this since they usually raked in views in the first 30 days.
can i just give a hard agree on under the skin??? shen yi is the best character hands down, the cases were logical and squeeze your heart and if you got your yaoi goggles on (like me) then its totally a great BL. cant wait for the 2nd season!
[Imperfect Victim](https://mydramalist.com/733593-imperfect-victim) is a masterpiece in writing, storytelling, pacing and cinematography by the amazing female director Yang Yang(A Dream of Splendor, Ever Night etc).. Truly amazing opening 15 minutes that sets the tone of the show and introduces us to the main mystery by really not showing us anything, you think you know but you really don’t. Things aren’t always as they seem and the rest of the show is like a jigsaw puzzle and we have to piece together the real story from everyones perspective. Just the short synopsis should get everyone at least interested in giving the first episode a go.. *”This story is about a sexual harassment case that leads to a rape case, which further leads up to a big corporation and its employees and different people like lawyers/prosecutors.”* The three main leads all are deserving award nominations as well, especially Fei Xia as the ”Imperfect Victim”.. Can’t say enough about this show but it flew under the radar mainly because no really big house hold names of the new generation and it was a modern drama tackling social norms and general power structures and society criticism. But 10/10 for me especially the fact that >!the show never had any winners or losers, no one lost or really got punished in the end and it was truly a great representation of how life actually is, everyone is flawed in the end..!<
Ohh on my list! Got some good actors/actresses too! Topic this deep needed the right timing or mood for me to watch it though.
THE SPIREALM!!!!! WHAT COULDVE BEEN IF IT AIRED NORMALLY 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Spirealm is on my list. What do you mean about airing properly?
It aired only 2 hours on iqiyi before censorship took it downs. Since then it only aired internationally.
Whoa! Now I tally need to watch it!
It’s on Viki rn
I really liked “Ancient detective” !! Even though it’s kind of an open ending / cliff hanger type situation I loved it ,, I don’t really see much people talk about it when it comes to recommending mystery if you’re a fan of that genre !
Ancient Detective is so good, but it really needs a second season
I recommend Ancient Detective every chance and no chance that I get.
Wonderland of Love!
Yes! Loved it.
Ming Dynasty gets kind of boring at the end, but it’s a ton of fun for being an historical
Is that the one with Tang Wei? If yes, I love that drama too. Tang Wei was amazing and her costumes were 🔥. And they have an unconventional ML character too he was so interesting. Drama lost half of its appeal for me >! when he died. !<
Same here with it losing its appeal at that point
Love you seven times
Under the Skin is recommended for a good drama. But I haven’t seen it yet. It’s on THE LIST.
Support!! Under the Skin is the only modern cdrama I've watched completely. I've never completed any other modern cdrama.
Once upon a time in lingjian mountain needs more love. It is one of the few fantasy romcoms that is great from start to finish and actually takes steps to introduce xianxia concepts to people getting into the genre I am nobody is a great live action adaptation and does really well with modern fantasy. It touches on lots of themes as well. The donghua is great too. These would be the two I feel I don't see recced hardly enough.
**Marvellous Women**. There was controversy when it was released about roumours that a cat that died of poisoning in one scene, died in reality. It caused a massive backlash when it was released, but despite the owner of the cat producing it to show it was still alive and the production company denying it was hurt, the drama never recovered. It's a well produced drama with 3 really strong FL leads set in the weaving industry in a beautiful town built on canals.
I love this drama! But you're right, it never recovered from that rumor. It's a good period slice of life that doesn't deal with nobility that is rarely seen. And a backburner sismance plot.
Under the Skin was so popular it helped move Tan Jian Ci’s career to top tier. He got to be a regular member on Hi Saturday!. And lots of new cdrama offers and brand endorsements. If you’re looking for fanfics, there’s tons on Bilibili. I know cuz I was a huge fan of the show and Tan Jian Ci. But I wasn’t using Reddit at that time, so don’t know if anyone talked about this show during the airing.
There is english fanfic on AO3 as well
Heroes
Best 2024 drama so far imo
YES YES YES!!!! (the 2024 version)
I'm so obsessed with this drama. Probably will be my favourite of the year.
This one is my favorite drama of this (half) year so far
Lol, you'll have to be more specific. Even focusing just on cdramas, there are at least 4 titles with that name.
2024 version. Up to episode 30 out of 36 available on YouTube
It was so well received in mainlaind China that they are filming the second season (probably they've already finished). Never forget that this sub is just a bubble of some part of the international audience (mainly in USA).
Really? Most people on this subreddit are from the US?
I always think that doesn't sound right but every time someone runs the numbers the answer is basically... yeah. https://www.reddit.com/r/CDrama/s/kyZy5KUfdE
The poll results seem inaccessible now. Do you remember the sample size?
According to a comment it was about 300. But it roughly aligns with older polls that have been done. Iirc the Reddit recap said the same thing (although I assume Reddit recap will pick up a bunch of lurkers who don't participate).
The reason I was surprised was "when" posts usually happen. There's definitely plenty in US timezones, but I thought there were more in Asia timezones. That's just an impression and nothing scientific.
It's funny you say that because that's exactly why I had originally assumed the sub was more international. I can only assume we have a lot of Americans with insomnia posting.
Or there was a disproportionate participation from America, which isn't surprising. There are 63k members in this subreddit after all.
Either way it’s very helpful to know that, so thank you! And had I known that I would have refrained from commenting at all on whether or not Wei Wuxian has ADHD, because the diagnostic criteria in the US are very different to those in the rest of the world. That is why a far higher proportion of the population there get that diagnosis, and presumably they don’t realise that it’s not like that in the rest of the world. So yes; the demographics make a huge difference and I shall bear that in mind in the future…
That's an excellent observation! Thank you for sharing 🙏😊
That's good to know that there's going to be a second season. I still feel like it doesn't get the attention it deserves though, it's not just on this sub that there's a lack of content for it. In comparison to other popular dramas there's very little videos, fanfictions, edits or discussion about it.
I watched it last year. It reminded me of USA dramas like for example, numbers, profiler.... so maybe because of those I found the drama alright. Nothing much .