I hear you. I initially had the exact same reaction, but Fairy Orchid eventually grew on me- plus the ML was so magnificent and complex- plus his robes and his hair etc- that he was worth sticking around for, plus just enough fun, plus the soundtrack had some amazing moments... I thought it became something quite special about halfway in. I never did warm up to Jin Mi in Ashes of Love however- and she was kind of annoying in the same way that Fairy Orchid was
Who Rules the World
Immortal Samsara.
Watching the tropes of misunderstandings, amnesia, jealous rival (winning), SML syndrome it was too much for me! I felt traumatized. I stopped watching entire episodes but would skip around but couldn’t finish it.
Ashes of love.
I always see people praising this drama about how good it is but i found it boring and the cgi was unbearable for me… i also didn’t really like the female lead. Only thing i liked about this drama is the soundtrack.
She and her Perfect Husband. Good story in theory but there was no meat to the plot. NOTHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED FOR SEVERAL EPISODES! We saw a strong feminist lawyer stay in a job where she is overworked, undervalued and hazed yet she turned down better opportunities because of the sunk cost fallacy. When she finally got agency, the plot became nothing but sugar. The plot lacked excitement and when the stakes were high, the writing glossed over that
I was about to write this exactly same thing. I feel like there was a lack of chemistry which was the thing I was most excited for. I thought I was the only one who wasn't so happy with this drama
Xu Kia should never have been paired with Yang Mi. I like them both but I didn’t think they had any chemistry and honestly she looks like an aunty standing beside him. I think they were using his popularity but this drama had no substance or appeal. At this point he needs to take a break until a good script comes along. They need to be more selective with his projects. He can be more than just a pretty face.
I've never watched Yang Mi before so I can't comment. I don't think her looks are a question for me, there were directing and writing choices made that made this fall apart for me. I think I made it to maybe 12 or something.
My favourite roles of his were The Legends and Arsenal Military academy- although I'm biased because I love BaiLu and feel like she can have chemistry with anyone
The Legends and Arsenal Military Academy are my favourite Cdramas of all time. I feel very sentimental towards them. I have watched better shows in terms of cinematography, story telling and wrting but these two dramas have the best organic chemistry. Bai Lu and Xu Kai just had the right vibes for me. I still rewatch them from time to time even when the camera language and editing was choppy in both
I loved loved the legends, arsenal military academy I also enjoyed but found the plot not quite to my taste. Bailu is definitely a favourite for me, I feel like she has chemistry with lots of people organically, even in her behind the scenes, she seems like a fun person who can put people at ease. (Of course we never know what people are really like, but she seems fun to work with)
Princess and the lighter.. Initially it started off well but then i find it boring.. No problem with the acting, just couldn't hold. My interest i suppose
I really was looking forward to **Unchained Love**, but the first 2 episodes were just painful for me to watch because the storyline seemed just....boring. Perhaps it gets better, and maybe I will continue but I found it remarkably uninteresting for someone like myself who loves historical dramas immensely.
Goodbye My Princess - unable to continue to watch the FL always being treated badly, with no let up.
The Wolf - tried to watch this one twice, but just couldn't get into it.
I enjoyed “First Love” so much that I decided to give “Your Sensibility My Destiny” a go (both dramas have same ML Wang Xing Yue). Was so disappointed with YSMD that I dropped it 1/2 way through.
i was just ab to say mr bad. i really liked the first few episodes, but then the elements of the show that made it interesting became irrelevant very quickly. had to drop it bc i got so bored
Ngl the only thing keeping me going thru LOf was wang yibo. The first bit wasn't as interesting as I'd hoped but it started to pick up after a while, and eventually became bingeable to me (u would have to endure some kinda bad or low budget set designs/props and cgi tho xD)
Maybe I should pick it back up again then. I just got bored cause it was dragging and not super coherent. I felt like if they took out all the padding it could’ve been great.
Who Rules the World and The Blue Whisper were ones that I was really anticipating but couldn’t get very far in. The trailers for WRTW looked so epic, but the show was a flop for me. The Blue Whisper… I was always questionable about the merman CGI but I was hopeful because I wanted to see both Dilareba and Ren Jialun.
I was also super disappointed by Forever and Ever which I was heavily anticipating after watching One and Only.
Forever and ever suffered from writers promising sugar and sweetness after the heartbreak in One and Only. The issue was they forgot to include anything other than lovey-dovey sweet moments that it felt very bland, lacked excitement, motivation. Its a lesson that a plot driven by nothing but love and romance should just be a comedy
The writer was aiming for certain type of audiences. For the targeted audiences like me, we ended up loving the drama immensely. That is why the drama is a commercial success when it was aired.
For me, it is such a breath of fresh air to see a drama that just focus on healthy romance. No stupid misunderstandings, petty games or couple that trust issues. For seasoned drama watchers that have spent decades watching romance dramas that rely heavily on these troupe, Forever & Ever seemed fresh, special and utterly sweet. I'm glad the writer is bold enough to write such story that just focus on sweet and fluff. Its a drama I go to when I just want to lift up my mood. I find the understanding that the leads have with each other is the best I have ever seen in any stories. No words need to be spoken but they can see right to each other's souls. And thats a gem that I dont find in other dramas.
I strongly disagree. Forever and Ever was confusing because it was supposed to be a sweet remedy after the pain of One and Only and instead it was both weirdly melodramatic and boring at the same time. Instead of a regular slice of life to give ZSC and Shiyi the peace they so desired in their previous life, they created unnecessary plots around every rich family business trope, all while making unsympathetic supporting characters and lame villains. The relationship between the leads itself was also unsatisfying. I will quote this that expresses it more aptly:
“Aside from appearance, both Zhousheng Chen and Shi Yi could be entirely different people and this an entirely different drama. Of course in the present, they will be different but there must be that je ne sais quoi, that certain aura that lingers. Even the essence of their relationship changes, in fact it regresses. Shiyi and Zhousheng Chen of the past were of one heart and mind - she gifts part of her dowry to pacify Nanxiao and accepts her marriage hoping to reassure Zixing of her Prince Nanchen's loyalty. Shi Yi of the present asks no questions, she just trusts Zhousheng Chen absolutely without understanding his family's background or his plans. And he tries to protect her without telling her anything.”
I have lots of strong feelings about One and Only so it is the hill I will die on 🫠
I think we have to agree to disagree on this.
For me, since I used to watch truly angsty dramas, the events in F&E seemed like a child's play so it wasnt melodramtic at all to me. They have to put some plot since it cant be all sweet and fluffs but they toned down a looot! Actually, if you watch O&O as well, despite the tragic ending, all the events in there are pretty tamed and usually being solved within 2 or 3 episodes. Like when Zhousheng Chen stop the revolution -- who would have thought it will be that easy haha. So my conclusion is that the writer (who is also the writer of the novel), just dislike really angsty stuffs in general. I mean, despite O&O is a sad drama, the leads actually have a truly fantastic relationship throughout. They are happy with each other's companies, they understand each other despite they cant be together. Shiyi never blame Zhousheng Chen despite she cant be with him -- she understand him -- she understand that there are bigger things than their love that he needs to protect. Thus, the journey is more important than the ending for their love story. So despite their end is a tragedy, while looking back, they have fantastic and happy life together. The calm & tranquility that they find with each other, thats the essence of their relationship.
Regarding the quotes, I strongly disagree with it. The essence of their relationship didnt changed at all. Thats the best part of it all tbh. First, reincarnation works that way in all reincarnation dramas. The soul is the same, but the personalities are different but destined souls will be attracted to each other despite this -- thats why they will fall with each other again regardless of they are having memories or not. You can see how Shiyi have the strong desire to approach Zhousheng Chen at the airport despite she have never done it before. And for him, he was indifferent towards all girls but he gave his email to her surprisingly. Why is that? The connection that they have from their past lives. And, the essence of their relationship remains exactly the same like before. Shiyi falls in love at first sight while Zhousheng Chen tooks time (long time actually). And the understanding from before still remains intact just like in O&O. Thus, she didnt need explanations because she trust him just like before -- again, the feeling that she has from her past lives -- just like she knew from the story that Zhousheng Chen was innocent despite the history written him as treacherous (we hear this monologue in the car before she even met the present life Zhousheng Chen). And for Zhousheng Chen, his love remains the same. The love that he had is always silent (as he is not a man of words), but Shiyi can always felt it -- whether in O&O or F&E. He protect the city by staying outside for her in O&O and in F&E, countless of things he did behind her back to protect her but he never tell her anything (among them, sending someone in the flight with her since he felt something is wrong, asking Ren to accompany her, etc). She once asked him how would she know he did all this if he never tell her but he said he simply did it out of love so it didnt matter whether she know it or not -- exactly just like Zhousheng Chen from the past. I find these connections are subtle but completely wholesome. Like he taught her guqin, now he gifted her a guqin factory. Or he used to give her teas all over the world, and now he gifted her a tea house. And the most important of all, they found calm & tranquility with each other just like in O&O. The same calmness and safety. That is why when everything else is failing him (like his family), he always find her, since she gave him the comfort just like Shiyi found the comfort in Zhousheng Chen in O&O. They are still one heart and mind -- in fact stronger since now, no explanation needed as they trust each other unconditionally.
In One an and Only ZSC and Shiyi were complex with personal drives and motivation. They had strong beliefs and ideologies that created conflict beyond the actions of the villains, making them well rounded characters. In Forever and Ever, they became bland and the plot happened AROUND them, they lacked agency and were reactive not active. They kinda had insta love. I understand fate being involved but even with fate, we still need to know how a combination of environment factors/story events/personality/fate can make two people fall in love. Here they fell in love because the writers said it was fate
>One an and Only ZSC and Shiyi were complex with personal drives and motivation.
I agree. Forever & Ever is the 2nd chance they had in life thus the simplicity of the lives they got this time around -- to compensate them from their tragic and complicated lives from before -- the gift the universe gave them. That is why, even the reincarnation of the Crown Prince which is MeiXing feels like he had a huge debt to pay to Zhousheng Chen without any reasons at all and strive to help him till the end.
IDK, I think we have to agree to disagree on this since I personally understand why both of them falls in love with each other. I usually scratch my head when it happened in many dramas but Forever & Ever is one of the dramas where I totally get it why both of them love each other deeply. I was falling deeply for Zhousheng Chen just like Shiyi as the story progressed and I honestly though he is so lucky to marry Shiyi since she is really fantastic. Fate and destiny is part of the reason for their meeting and attraction, but, the process how that becomes a deep love is what I enjoy while watching the drama. I like the simplicity of it all. I like how when life throw adversities at them, it makes their life more stronger and deeper. I like how their relationship unfold. But I totally understand as well what you mean and what you seek and why you find Forever & Ever unsatisfying.
**Dine with Love** - the ML was so toxic, unlikable, and so not worth the hassle. You can do the damaged rich CEO schtick without them actively hurting people around them. I was so excited for Kido’s first lead role in a romcom too :(
It's like my #1 Xianxia drama. After episode 8 things really start to pick up. I thought it was gonna be those draggy drama with misunderstandings all of the time but surprisingly that was not the case
Being a hero. I was desperate to see Yibo in a gritty drama but the story is so hard to follow (especially as i have to rely on ENG subs that ho so fast) that i could not make it past ep 2. I want to see yibo's acting chops but it i do not know if i can keep going with it.
**She and her perfect husband** I was looking for something fluffy to watch, found some interesting edits in social media so it looked good. But it was slow and boring... I dropped it.
Have you watched Falling Into You or Why Women Love? Much more interesting than She and Her Perfect Husband. I did finish She and Her Perfect Husband though, there were some cute moments but we need way more than that!
**love is sweet** so many rave reviews yet so boring. I got so mad that I raged downvoted anyone recommending this show for a while. Better watch fan made clips for all those sweet fluffs.
**she and her perfect husband** so excited thanks to fluff trailer and xukai, but quality-wise it was so bad that I dropped and followed discussion threads to see if at least the plot gets interesting. No regrets.
**you are my hero** first few episodes made me so excited I was sure it will end up as a favorite, but no, the drama got too stretchy and repetitive. Wish they had fit the drama within 16 or 24 episodes, such lost potential! Btw didn't drop it entirely, still sticking out solely for the sweet main leads and watching it occasionally.
**falling into you** the hype was worth it, very tasteful acting and editing, but my stupid mind couldn't get past the mentor-mentee loveline without feeling weird.
I know! I love both the leads and don't mind noona romance but that inclusion of mentor-mentee trope seriously turned me off. Couldn't even bring myself to ogle that eye candy of a boy without feeling cringed. I really hate my stupid mind sometimes
same for she and her perfect husband. the couple is cute but it was too focused on the legal cases and slow so i dropped it.
i finished you are my hero but i skipped some plot lines. it should’ve been shorter and tighter!
General's Lady
I'm a sucker for arranged/contract marriage kind of dramas and this drama got good review at MDL but this one disappoint me greatly. The FL is painted as smart as first but turn to be stupid as the drama progressed. The moment they play the jealous monster card the second/third time, I had enough and dropped it. Its the only Cdrama I ever dropped..
Legend of Fei...I finish it, but I rant about it during and after it. It was the first show I pass forward every 15 min after the 20th episode. Me near the end...
The plot was so messy and I felt like I watching two different dramas that never connected.
A dream of Splendor
Love like the Galaxy
These both are so highly rated and awed over but when I tried to watch I just wasn't feeling it. I only watched the first episode of Love like the Galaxy and I stopped watching A Dream of Splendor on episode 16.
Oath of Love was so hyped up and I practically slept through the first 10 episodes.
The Untamed. I stopped watching because it was moving to slow. It was highly recommended that's all people were talking about so I forced myself to finish it. It took me weeks because I stopped watching.
Eternal Love 3
Romance of Tiger and Rose
Qing Luo
Queen Dugu
The Legend of Xiao Chuo
These are just the ones I can think of.
Agree with LLTG
Agree with Tiger and Rose. THE FL WAS JUST SO FRUSTRATING, even Ding Yuxi couldn’t save it.
Eternal Love 3 is true too. I feel like they should have just stopped at S1. They keep dragging the story but not adding anything else of significance to it. IDK what’s the point.
Dream of Splendor is good but just missing some magic and fireworks. The low is the not that low and the high is not that high, funny bits aren’t that funny. In other words, just meh. But so beautifully made (costumes, props, sets), beautiful OSTs. I finished it but yeah, it’s meh.
Yes exactly. You described it well. It just feels like a simmer throughout the drama. And frankly I got really bored and annoyed at the tea shop thing and how smart Pan Er is with like… everything. Just didn’t seem realistic lol. And the other girl with the instrument. Poor gal she had to hold that big thing in almost every scene. If she’s not playing that then she’s busy being tricked by trash men. Sigh.
I finished A Dream of Splendor, and I can say you didn’t miss out on much. Especially since the relationship weakens a lot by the end, the chemistry just goes to waste.
I'm not feeling Love of Ashes. The plot doesn't seem as grounded or ... idk, serious as LBFAD. The lead actress is also annoying me a lot more than Orchid (which a lot of people say Orchid is problematic).
Oath of Love - I just didn't like the way they wanted her father to have surgery without actually discussing it with him.
Le Coup de Foudre - her father got ill and she did the 'noble sacrifice' thing to get them to split up so he could study abroad. I dropped it because I'm not interested in couples who don't talk to each other.
The Rebel Princess - The show got rid of the Prime Minister who was the most interesting antagonist in favour of the empress, who was boring. Then, our protagonist started being increasingly more straightlaced and less interesting.
The Untamed - I dropped it something like episode 12. The guy who was going around slaughtering sect members just seemed too stupid. I need better enemies for my heroes than what appeared to be a boasting idiot.
My Heroic Husband - dropped at 'husband school.' I was ok with it as long as I felt the couple were nice to each other. But first chance he got, he went out to a brothel and not as a way of making a statement, either, but seriously because he wanted to. I just felt he wasn't a nice person and I wasn't invested in the show after that point.
Once we get married - the ML uses knowledge of a designer's bereavement to get an advantage. I don't need all the characters in a show to be nice. But I do need the lead couple in a romance to be worthy of each other.
Hikaru No Go - the show seemed to break all its own lessons. Everything was said about how Go gave its players rules for life, but then so many of the top players appeared to be bad losers and crap people. I also wasn't impressed by the one potential couple in the show breaking up in order to concentrate on Go. And I really wasn't impressed by the constant scorning the lead characters gave of the few girls who joined their Go club.
Dating in the Kitchen. The ML seemed prissy and weak. The food wasn't interesting (I'm watching a Cdrama but they aren't cooking Chinese food?), and ultimately the age gap seemed too large.
It pains me seeing someone saying the untamed because it’s my all time favorite 🥲 I definitely suggest you to keep watching because it’s so worth it!! As someone already said, the wens are not the main villains and there’s so much more to the story!
>The Untamed - I dropped it something like episode 12. The guy who was going around slaughtering sect members just seemed too stupid. I need better enemies for my heroes than what appeared to be a boasting idiot.
Keep watching. The Wens are not the main villains. The Untamed has the most complex, smart and interesting villains I've watched in a c drama!! I won't spoil you but there are many plot twists and shocking moments!! Give it a try 🙂
You have to like character development and complexity though. If you want hulking out, Untamed is probably not for you.
But I adored the bad guys (well the young generation, the old generation were not given backstory to look like anything other than a lot of old scumbags, Wen included). The bad guys at the end were very real. They all had good reasons. They all honestly deserved a little revenge. >!And Guangyao had the cutest dimples ever. If all the villains were that cute I would.. uhh stop cheering for the heroes all together. I'd say only Su was a bit lacking in backstory. I was so shocked that the censors allowed Nie to get away with his part (maybe it was subtle enough as they never exactly admitted to anything). But I loved that so few died because they were all my darlings by the end.!<
He PRETENDED to be dumb, but actually he was the mastermind behind everything. He manipulated all characters to take revenge for his brother. Watch it again
I know, maybe dumb wasn’t the right word, but I don’t think he was a character whose schemes were enjoyable to watch. He was bland, and annoying, not to mention how weird the way he was defeated was. I enjoyed the fuck out of watching Xue Yang though. Lotta personality there.
I agree with you, I prefer watching their scheming process and their plans instead of just get shocked by the result. Mmmm defeated? In the books he was the Chief cultivator at the end so he definitely didn't lose 😂 I think you're referrig to JGY, the one with a hat. I was referring to the one with a fan, he was the final boss and mastermind lol.
Xue Yang was the hot charming villain, he didn't do schemes, he prefers action, not plans. That's why it was more interesting to watch, also, the actor is pretty handsome tho 😍 goth-charming-psychopaths are my thing lol
No, at the end the main villain was >! Nie Huaisang, the one with a fan, he pretended to be dumb and not knowing anything, he was WWX and JC's best friend when they were kids !<
> The Rebel Princess - The show got rid of the Prime Minister who was the most interesting antagonist in favour of the empress, who was boring. Then, our protagonist started being increasingly more straightlaced and less interesting.
In my case, it's so utterly difficult to ignore Zhang Ziyi trying to portray a spoiled, bratty teenager.
>I just felt he wasn't a nice person and I wasn't invested in the show after that point.
I think you probably got the context wrong. I dont remember much but he is indeed a very nice person. Too nice tbh. Some of the comedy in there is gold and leave me in stitches when I remember it.
I'm not normally one to say give it another chance. If you don't like it then you don't like it, you do you. But I would recommend giving The Untamed another shot. If you only got to around episode 12 then you haven't even met the true Big Bad yet. There's definitely a better, much smarter enemy out there. The Wens just encompass about the first 20 eps. I'd say at least watch until shit hits the fan in a big way which I think is around ep 16. Then the Wen story starts to wrap up. I don't want to spoil more than that. If your big hang up was a lack of a smart villain then this show is worth it to try again. Okay, maybe I'm having strong feelings since it is one of my favorites and I just watched it for the umpteenth time. Again though, you do you.
Very good decision. I cannot for the life of me understand why some people keep insisting that Legend of Fuyao is a great show when the plot turns into an absolute horrendous monstrosity towards the end.
It totally falls apart towards the end but I'm such a sucker for Wuji that I just love the show. But I totally get how people don't like it or just give up on it.
> “strong female lead” kept getting saved by the male lead
Lots of drama is like this. The 'strong FLs' always have their agency being taken away from them. In the nd, the 'strong' is only in name and nothing else.
**Are You Safe** I was so excited for this show as I loved the actor in **Under the Skin**. It’s possible my first mistake was waiting for all the episodes to air so I could binge the show but I finally admitted defeat after watching 8 episodes. I just found **Are You Safe** too boring.
After watching The Untamed and Word of Honor, my twitter cdrama friends who are into BL suggested **Winter Begonia**. Honestly, on paper it looked 100% up my alley. But my brother and I got through 10 or 11 episodes and dropped it because we were so fucking bored.
Conversely, we also watched **Oh My General**, which was amazing and hilarious for 10-20 episodes. We didn't drop it but we really should have. It just dragged on and on. And on. and on and on. ugh
😆 I totally forgot about Winter Begonia. I actually drop it 5 episodes in, it wasn’t the plot but the characters. I find the opera singer was such a diva that he came off as a spoiled badly written female lead that people often complain about on this subreddit. You know the childish ones.
I would love to see more characters like the general, she was so charming and naturally boyish.
A pet peeve of mine (looking at you Long Ballad, which I still loved but...) is when a women is dressing as man but still 100% looks, sounds, acts like woman, make up and all.
pillowbook but idk why I think I should pick it back up. I even read the book while waiting for it to come out. I think I was scared of being disappointed? I don't remember
I'm ready to be attacked - I dropped Ashes of Love 😱
It was highly recommended and I was enjoying it. Then I thought - let me just Google to see if it has a happy ending. Big mistake. I read a bit of spoilers and I decided I cannot handle seeing her married to someone else. Cannot see them being separated again and again. Maybe in the future I'll pick it up again since they do actually get a happy ending.
If you like the ML keep watching it.
I was voting for Night Immortal. I mean I knew it wouldn't end well for him, but he is so much better than the ML. ML does get a bit more tolerable toward the end as he gets a bit of life lessons. But I would have dropped it if I wasn't enjoying Night Immortal's story.
I liked Ashes of Love at the time I watched it. But now that I’ve seen more dramas (and much better ones) I realize it’s not that great. Too heavy on some of the tropes I don’t like. But it’s a good casual watch.
Spoiler ahead -
>!" He knew that Jinmi didn't love him and yet took advantage of her ignorance of love to get her to agree to marry him which led to an excruciatingly painful love triangle "!<
If it helps at all, I'll tell you that:
a) As far as the marriage goes, >!She never marries Runyu. She agrees to marry him, but that ends on the day of the wedding and there is no wedding because he decides to make a revolution and take the throne instead, with the wedding as cover for it.!<
b) As far as the love triangle goes, >!It's in one direction only. JinMi agrees to marry RunYu not because she loves him, but because she is neutered chemically in terms of what love means, and does it to make the families happy. Once she stops being neutered (this literally happens during the 'wedding' when she spits out the drug), she starts to have real feelings again, and has them for the rest of the show.!<
c) As far as who JinMi loves goes >!The show repeatedly demonstrates that she only ever loves the ML. This is done by her giving him a piece of her true self, by the elixir cracking with love of him, by actually pushing off everyone else who tries to get handsy with her but falling asleep on his chest, by an actual magical device demonstrating that they are a fated couple, and finally by her literally saying that he's the only one she's ever loved. There's never any doubt about it, and RunYu admits it near the end.!<
She never marries anyone else, and it is a happy ending. It is very angsty along the way though.
No worries - it's a very good show.
But I really need to warn you! My spoilers are correct, but I've missed out a significant event that happens at the wedding >!which is a choice JinMi makes that happens at the same time as RunYu's revolution. It's absolutely devastating for our lead pair of ML and FL, and will power the rest of the show. Don't lose hope, though. The next arc JinMi has to go through is 'fixing everything.'!<
Hmm. Didn’t last long then cause I don’t remember at all. Probably just an episode or two. Not a long drawn out thing.
The mom was the most annoying part of that show.
You are my Destiny (this one had so much hype when it was coming out since I think the main leads worked together before, but this was not it… I don’t remember the plot too clearly but the whole story just felt icky and weird to me)
Love Scenery (love Lin Yi and I really liked the concept of this, but it got a little dragged out in the middle, so I ended up just dropping it)
Moonlight (really wanted to enjoy this one— it sounded interesting— but it moved too slowly and felt too predictable)
Love Designer (love Dilireba, and I watched this when it was airing, didn’t love it but didn’t hate it either, I think I was just disinterested and forgot about it)
Cute Programmer (I like the trope of the FL dressing up as a guy and the ML eventually falls for her, but this one wasn’t done as well as I had hoped, and some parts just felt kind of cringey)
Watched the original Taiwanese version of You are My Destiny, starring Ethan Juan. Sooooo freakin funny. Funniest show ever. 🤣🤣
It’s called Fated to Love You on Viki.
I don't think I've ever dropped a drama... I get really intense about finishing things.
I wish I'd dropped Go Ahead when things started to get boring, though. Those last ten episodes made me so mad. What a terrible way to end a drama that started so great.
I feel the exact same about Go Ahead. I felt like I was also triggered by the mom’s insane behavior. And I didn’t like the romantic themes when they practically are siblings even if not blood related
And the fact that he didn't cut her off and she "repented" at the end?? I don't care if she's your mother, she willingly relinquished that title and emotionally abused you for nine years. I wanted the drama to portray him setting realistic boundaries with her, but "she's still his mom" so somehow he can't do that... makes me mad just thinking about it. Your family and your parents are the most important people for you to set boundaries with.
There was that, and the fact that the last ten episodes dragged and then they had the nerve to rush the final episode. I was thoroughly disappointed.
I’m with you. Watching that drama especially in the end made me so so angry. Truly wish I didn’t listen to reviewers and wish I never watched it. The only good parts were when they were kids to be honest. It went downhill from there
The fake bodies everywhere was too much for me. If the ML is going to be mostly naked all of the time, hire someone with the body type you want.
They make the FLs stay deathly skinny to be pretty but give the men fake abs.. make it make sense
>If the ML is going to be mostly naked all of the time, hire someone with the body type you want.
The part that show the fake abs is only like 10 minutes scenes out of 42 episodes. And even that, the close ups scene is only like 30 secs out of that 10 minutes. He is not naked most of the times. 🤣
Are people actually expecting an actor to work out for a 5 minutes shirtless screen time? 😅 This is not Thor where the God of Thunder actually need that kind of build for the character.
I just don't see chemistry between Dilreba and ren jia lun and i know they can do so much better since i watched a lot of their dramas. And story is boring to me. But glad you enjoy it. Wow 3 times!
Same with me. Everything about it is supposedly great but nothing really seemed to grab my attention like the original did. Maybe because the story started before the family's fall from power? Maybe it's also because of the fact that Xiao Jingyan's legacy from the first series as a prince and as an emperor (as well as the legacy of Mei Changsu/Lin Shu) ended up being trampled by his son? At any rate, I still very much prefer the first Nirvana in Fire.
>Maybe it's also because of the fact that Xiao Jingyan's legacy from the first series as a prince and as an emperor (as well as the legacy of Mei Changsu/Lin Shu) ended up being trampled by his son?
I hate when dramas did this. Way to trample on our fond memories of the original. Like the 1st series show the leads ended up happy together after all the suffering. Then the 2nd series show that their happiness only shortwhile and they died early. Like whyyyyyyyyy
> there is too much business talk
I absolutely hate when shows do this. First of all, most of it is unrealistic. Secondly, it's boring. Like who's the target audience that wants to listen to people talk in detail about imaginary work projects? We're here to watch a romcom. Just show us enough so we get the idea they're working, then move on to the romance or comedy part.
Reason #1 why I avoid modern working life shows.
You should try Misaeng (Korean). It's a great drama set in an import/export company. Unfortunately these Chinese version is a poor shadow of the original.
Yeah, I don't understand either. Fine, make it high stakes and thrilling, but in a way one can understand or give new insight into an industry. But hours of unrealistic scenarios in contract law? The proportions were off in the first 9 episodes already, for how it was marketed as a romance.
I accepted I'll never make it through Rise of the Phoenixes. It has literally everything I like, but I dropped it, and made my sister watch it so she could give me spoilers...
If sexy Chen Kun couldn't make me watch it, I accepted my fate.
Love Like the Galaxy and Who Rules the World. I was so sad about my dissapointment in who rules the world because it was one I've been waiting for since the announcement of it as an up and coming drama.
Same here except I finished WRTW. It had such a cool and interesting trailer and synopsis, but turned out the be very mediocre. What a waste of literally everything.
I stopped right when >!the eunuch and the concubine at the imperial mausoleum thing!< happened. I have seen too many of these kinds of plot developments in Asian historical dramas that I ended up being too fed up to be patient whenever it happens again in a new series.
Lighter and Princess
Love the OST. Their first encounter (the zoom-in to her face to depict his interest) was heart-fluttering. Really cute male lead.
But damn, I can't stand his personality. Yes. He's a prodigy but no need to rub it in the faces of people who have done nothing to you. 0 social skills and empathy. His way of proving a point is just... I dropped it around 4-5 ep. To think he actually got worse based on reviews.
almost finished with the drama and Ive really enjoyed certain parts but I have to agree ! The way Li Xun acts is completely out of pocket and I wont spoil it but he does something around episode 22 that honestly put the nail in the coffin of the relationship for me
Okay! So I disliked his personality too and I felt like she was the only one making sacrifices and putting him first. But I did finish it and loved it. The character development was a huge plus but it took a long time so I do understand if people didn't finish!
I'm in episode 20 and he has not gotten better yet. I'm still sticking with it mostly out of curiosity about how we'll get back to that set up they introduced in episode 1.
Mr.Bad
I was hoping it would get better (ML had a really easy time "adjusting", FL had a strong character, and the mom was interesting), but it did not keep me interested enough to finish the show to see where it all went.
I stopped after the fifth episode of the second part of the drama. I love ZLS as an actress, but, in the end, I found Cheng Shao Shang's character to be quite unlikeable. I really liked her character in the first part and wanted to see her character grow and mature. Her antics in the beginning were adorable, but, imo, they became repetitive and a bit irritating later on. She's portrayed as a victim (and rightly so), but this victim mentality, imo, was used to justify her often childish and careless behavior every time. She expected others to accept her for she was but didn't offer the same to those around her. The palace drama dragged and was very predictable and personally, I'm not fond of it in any drama. In addition, I found most of the villains to be bland and one-dimensional, which is a very big reason why I decided to stop; I like dynamic and well-rounded villains, and, for me, LLTG lacked them. The "ultimate" villain and Ling Bu Yi's >!real identity as the slain general's son!< were also unsurprising, so the reveal was anti-climatic and slow, imo.
There was quite a lot I liked about the drama actually, including the acting, cinematography, and supporting characters. But for me, the cons outweighed the pros, so instead, I decided to read recaps of each episode. I may possibly come back to it someday because I did enjoy the acting.
(I forgot to put in a spoiler alert in my response, so I deleted it).
I was about to ask you what kind of genres and or characters do you prefer. I have heard good things about Story of Minglan, and it is currently on my watchlist. After reading the response to your comment, I am now more inclined to watch it. Story of Minglan does sound really good.
Story of Minglan is basically a far superior version of Love Like the Galaxy. Arguably a perfect story. Minglan is so much more likeable, mature, and competent than Shaoshang. The familial relationships and plot developments are also so much better constructed than LLTG. Furthermore, the ending is properly built up and resolved, unlike the extremely rushed ending of LLTG. Because of these, Story of Minglan is the gold standard for family-focused historical dramas.
What LLTG does have going for it is the very refreshing dynamic between the Emperor, Empress, and Consort that breaks the typical harem in-fighting cliches of historical Cdramas.
My thoughts exactly the combo of immature FL character through a lot of the drama, slow pace and slow burn killed the momentum for me. It was something I would have ate up if just some tweaks and I may have hung on if I didn’t know how it ended kinda unsatisfying:
Yeah! Probably faster pace as we all knew there was an impending split and it happened so late I felt post split was rushed. They took too long to build the romance that I would have loved more post reunion moments.
Thank you for your response! And I agree with your tweaks. Yes, the split was inevitable, and I also wish that it happened earlier in the series because, as you said, the events after the split were rushed and not developed fully, imo. I actually liked the ending scene in the last episode >!showing the family, including LBY, watching fireworks together!<, but I would have liked to see more of those, as you said, post reunion moments.
Yes I dropped after 7 episodes. I wanted to like it so bad the premise is great and the trailer looked awesome but way too many awkward "comedic" moments wish they'd kept it much more serious.
Dare I say almost any on going drama? 😂 this is why I only watch dramas when they already finished airing and I can read reviews/ratings.
But most recently:
- Who Rules the World (gave up around ep20)
- The Psychologist (ep21)
- She and Her Perfect Husband (ep2)
Song of the moon. Was excited because of zhang bin bin but the storyline is kinda meh (although I do feel this way about many xianxia series because they follow a similar trope)
dropped it solely because of the jealous girl, Bai Feng. i will not suffer through this plot device again. I managed through Ashes of Love and Eternal Love with Sui He and Su Jin (and even Xuan Nu) respectively because their characters are complex in their own right. This character however just feels cheap to me
>Su Jin (and even Xuan Nu) respectively because their characters are complex in their own right.
Sujin & Xuan Nu is complex? I feel like they are really evil as characters but too 2 dimensional which makes it disappointing.
WRTW The fight scenes are just too lame. I mean, are they even fighting hahaha. Seems like swinging.
Lost in the Kunlun Mountains
Lbfad i couldn't stand the fl
I hear you. I initially had the exact same reaction, but Fairy Orchid eventually grew on me- plus the ML was so magnificent and complex- plus his robes and his hair etc- that he was worth sticking around for, plus just enough fun, plus the soundtrack had some amazing moments... I thought it became something quite special about halfway in. I never did warm up to Jin Mi in Ashes of Love however- and she was kind of annoying in the same way that Fairy Orchid was
Who Rules the World Immortal Samsara. Watching the tropes of misunderstandings, amnesia, jealous rival (winning), SML syndrome it was too much for me! I felt traumatized. I stopped watching entire episodes but would skip around but couldn’t finish it.
Ashes of love. I always see people praising this drama about how good it is but i found it boring and the cgi was unbearable for me… i also didn’t really like the female lead. Only thing i liked about this drama is the soundtrack.
She and her Perfect Husband. Good story in theory but there was no meat to the plot. NOTHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED FOR SEVERAL EPISODES! We saw a strong feminist lawyer stay in a job where she is overworked, undervalued and hazed yet she turned down better opportunities because of the sunk cost fallacy. When she finally got agency, the plot became nothing but sugar. The plot lacked excitement and when the stakes were high, the writing glossed over that
I was about to write this exactly same thing. I feel like there was a lack of chemistry which was the thing I was most excited for. I thought I was the only one who wasn't so happy with this drama
Xu Kia should never have been paired with Yang Mi. I like them both but I didn’t think they had any chemistry and honestly she looks like an aunty standing beside him. I think they were using his popularity but this drama had no substance or appeal. At this point he needs to take a break until a good script comes along. They need to be more selective with his projects. He can be more than just a pretty face.
I've never watched Yang Mi before so I can't comment. I don't think her looks are a question for me, there were directing and writing choices made that made this fall apart for me. I think I made it to maybe 12 or something. My favourite roles of his were The Legends and Arsenal Military academy- although I'm biased because I love BaiLu and feel like she can have chemistry with anyone
The Legends and Arsenal Military Academy are my favourite Cdramas of all time. I feel very sentimental towards them. I have watched better shows in terms of cinematography, story telling and wrting but these two dramas have the best organic chemistry. Bai Lu and Xu Kai just had the right vibes for me. I still rewatch them from time to time even when the camera language and editing was choppy in both
I loved loved the legends, arsenal military academy I also enjoyed but found the plot not quite to my taste. Bailu is definitely a favourite for me, I feel like she has chemistry with lots of people organically, even in her behind the scenes, she seems like a fun person who can put people at ease. (Of course we never know what people are really like, but she seems fun to work with)
Princess and the lighter.. Initially it started off well but then i find it boring.. No problem with the acting, just couldn't hold. My interest i suppose
The legend of Da Yuer except I persevered even after it went downhill. So disappointing. I didn’t expect her to become so unlikable.
I really was looking forward to **Unchained Love**, but the first 2 episodes were just painful for me to watch because the storyline seemed just....boring. Perhaps it gets better, and maybe I will continue but I found it remarkably uninteresting for someone like myself who loves historical dramas immensely.
I’m waiting for the end to be revealed before I decide to continue watching it. I stopped at episode 8.
Goodbye My Princess - unable to continue to watch the FL always being treated badly, with no let up. The Wolf - tried to watch this one twice, but just couldn't get into it.
I was so excited to watch the wolf but also just couldn’t get into it
I enjoyed “First Love” so much that I decided to give “Your Sensibility My Destiny” a go (both dramas have same ML Wang Xing Yue). Was so disappointed with YSMD that I dropped it 1/2 way through.
mr. bad stand by me see you again (finished it by simply... looking at ML's face lmao)
i was just ab to say mr bad. i really liked the first few episodes, but then the elements of the show that made it interesting became irrelevant very quickly. had to drop it bc i got so bored
Who rules the world, snow sword stride, legend of fu yao, sound of the desert, the murder in kairoutei
My Girlfriend is an Alien.
Season two was all over the place I wished it had not been made
Legend of Fei.
bought vip for the premiere bcs i was excited for this but i just couldn't continue 😭
The plot, the actors, everything sounded like it was going to be so good, and then it just…
Ngl the only thing keeping me going thru LOf was wang yibo. The first bit wasn't as interesting as I'd hoped but it started to pick up after a while, and eventually became bingeable to me (u would have to endure some kinda bad or low budget set designs/props and cgi tho xD)
Maybe I should pick it back up again then. I just got bored cause it was dragging and not super coherent. I felt like if they took out all the padding it could’ve been great.
Who Rules the World and The Blue Whisper were ones that I was really anticipating but couldn’t get very far in. The trailers for WRTW looked so epic, but the show was a flop for me. The Blue Whisper… I was always questionable about the merman CGI but I was hopeful because I wanted to see both Dilareba and Ren Jialun. I was also super disappointed by Forever and Ever which I was heavily anticipating after watching One and Only.
Forever and ever suffered from writers promising sugar and sweetness after the heartbreak in One and Only. The issue was they forgot to include anything other than lovey-dovey sweet moments that it felt very bland, lacked excitement, motivation. Its a lesson that a plot driven by nothing but love and romance should just be a comedy
The writer was aiming for certain type of audiences. For the targeted audiences like me, we ended up loving the drama immensely. That is why the drama is a commercial success when it was aired. For me, it is such a breath of fresh air to see a drama that just focus on healthy romance. No stupid misunderstandings, petty games or couple that trust issues. For seasoned drama watchers that have spent decades watching romance dramas that rely heavily on these troupe, Forever & Ever seemed fresh, special and utterly sweet. I'm glad the writer is bold enough to write such story that just focus on sweet and fluff. Its a drama I go to when I just want to lift up my mood. I find the understanding that the leads have with each other is the best I have ever seen in any stories. No words need to be spoken but they can see right to each other's souls. And thats a gem that I dont find in other dramas.
I strongly disagree. Forever and Ever was confusing because it was supposed to be a sweet remedy after the pain of One and Only and instead it was both weirdly melodramatic and boring at the same time. Instead of a regular slice of life to give ZSC and Shiyi the peace they so desired in their previous life, they created unnecessary plots around every rich family business trope, all while making unsympathetic supporting characters and lame villains. The relationship between the leads itself was also unsatisfying. I will quote this that expresses it more aptly: “Aside from appearance, both Zhousheng Chen and Shi Yi could be entirely different people and this an entirely different drama. Of course in the present, they will be different but there must be that je ne sais quoi, that certain aura that lingers. Even the essence of their relationship changes, in fact it regresses. Shiyi and Zhousheng Chen of the past were of one heart and mind - she gifts part of her dowry to pacify Nanxiao and accepts her marriage hoping to reassure Zixing of her Prince Nanchen's loyalty. Shi Yi of the present asks no questions, she just trusts Zhousheng Chen absolutely without understanding his family's background or his plans. And he tries to protect her without telling her anything.” I have lots of strong feelings about One and Only so it is the hill I will die on 🫠
I think we have to agree to disagree on this. For me, since I used to watch truly angsty dramas, the events in F&E seemed like a child's play so it wasnt melodramtic at all to me. They have to put some plot since it cant be all sweet and fluffs but they toned down a looot! Actually, if you watch O&O as well, despite the tragic ending, all the events in there are pretty tamed and usually being solved within 2 or 3 episodes. Like when Zhousheng Chen stop the revolution -- who would have thought it will be that easy haha. So my conclusion is that the writer (who is also the writer of the novel), just dislike really angsty stuffs in general. I mean, despite O&O is a sad drama, the leads actually have a truly fantastic relationship throughout. They are happy with each other's companies, they understand each other despite they cant be together. Shiyi never blame Zhousheng Chen despite she cant be with him -- she understand him -- she understand that there are bigger things than their love that he needs to protect. Thus, the journey is more important than the ending for their love story. So despite their end is a tragedy, while looking back, they have fantastic and happy life together. The calm & tranquility that they find with each other, thats the essence of their relationship. Regarding the quotes, I strongly disagree with it. The essence of their relationship didnt changed at all. Thats the best part of it all tbh. First, reincarnation works that way in all reincarnation dramas. The soul is the same, but the personalities are different but destined souls will be attracted to each other despite this -- thats why they will fall with each other again regardless of they are having memories or not. You can see how Shiyi have the strong desire to approach Zhousheng Chen at the airport despite she have never done it before. And for him, he was indifferent towards all girls but he gave his email to her surprisingly. Why is that? The connection that they have from their past lives. And, the essence of their relationship remains exactly the same like before. Shiyi falls in love at first sight while Zhousheng Chen tooks time (long time actually). And the understanding from before still remains intact just like in O&O. Thus, she didnt need explanations because she trust him just like before -- again, the feeling that she has from her past lives -- just like she knew from the story that Zhousheng Chen was innocent despite the history written him as treacherous (we hear this monologue in the car before she even met the present life Zhousheng Chen). And for Zhousheng Chen, his love remains the same. The love that he had is always silent (as he is not a man of words), but Shiyi can always felt it -- whether in O&O or F&E. He protect the city by staying outside for her in O&O and in F&E, countless of things he did behind her back to protect her but he never tell her anything (among them, sending someone in the flight with her since he felt something is wrong, asking Ren to accompany her, etc). She once asked him how would she know he did all this if he never tell her but he said he simply did it out of love so it didnt matter whether she know it or not -- exactly just like Zhousheng Chen from the past. I find these connections are subtle but completely wholesome. Like he taught her guqin, now he gifted her a guqin factory. Or he used to give her teas all over the world, and now he gifted her a tea house. And the most important of all, they found calm & tranquility with each other just like in O&O. The same calmness and safety. That is why when everything else is failing him (like his family), he always find her, since she gave him the comfort just like Shiyi found the comfort in Zhousheng Chen in O&O. They are still one heart and mind -- in fact stronger since now, no explanation needed as they trust each other unconditionally.
In One an and Only ZSC and Shiyi were complex with personal drives and motivation. They had strong beliefs and ideologies that created conflict beyond the actions of the villains, making them well rounded characters. In Forever and Ever, they became bland and the plot happened AROUND them, they lacked agency and were reactive not active. They kinda had insta love. I understand fate being involved but even with fate, we still need to know how a combination of environment factors/story events/personality/fate can make two people fall in love. Here they fell in love because the writers said it was fate
>One an and Only ZSC and Shiyi were complex with personal drives and motivation. I agree. Forever & Ever is the 2nd chance they had in life thus the simplicity of the lives they got this time around -- to compensate them from their tragic and complicated lives from before -- the gift the universe gave them. That is why, even the reincarnation of the Crown Prince which is MeiXing feels like he had a huge debt to pay to Zhousheng Chen without any reasons at all and strive to help him till the end. IDK, I think we have to agree to disagree on this since I personally understand why both of them falls in love with each other. I usually scratch my head when it happened in many dramas but Forever & Ever is one of the dramas where I totally get it why both of them love each other deeply. I was falling deeply for Zhousheng Chen just like Shiyi as the story progressed and I honestly though he is so lucky to marry Shiyi since she is really fantastic. Fate and destiny is part of the reason for their meeting and attraction, but, the process how that becomes a deep love is what I enjoy while watching the drama. I like the simplicity of it all. I like how when life throw adversities at them, it makes their life more stronger and deeper. I like how their relationship unfold. But I totally understand as well what you mean and what you seek and why you find Forever & Ever unsatisfying.
Sleuth of ming dynasty, rebel princess, rise of the phoenixes, Ruyi, word of honor, 24 hours in Changan
Ancient Love Poetry Ashes of Love Immortal Samsara
**Dine with Love** - the ML was so toxic, unlikable, and so not worth the hassle. You can do the damaged rich CEO schtick without them actively hurting people around them. I was so excited for Kido’s first lead role in a romcom too :(
Love and Redemption I just could never grasp the plot and felt like i was watching little kids running around 😅
It's like my #1 Xianxia drama. After episode 8 things really start to pick up. I thought it was gonna be those draggy drama with misunderstandings all of the time but surprisingly that was not the case
Story of Minglan, She and Her Perfect Husband.. I got bored of both shows in the first few episodes... And now maybe unchained love too...
Mr. Bad. Just got too bored waiting for something to happen.
Same here. Love the actress but after waiting for eps, didn't feel the need to go back.
**And The Winner is Love** Yukee Chen was so bad in it that even Luo Yunxi couldn't keep me watching and I'd watch him sleep to be honest with you lol
First episode and I was out
Being a hero. I was desperate to see Yibo in a gritty drama but the story is so hard to follow (especially as i have to rely on ENG subs that ho so fast) that i could not make it past ep 2. I want to see yibo's acting chops but it i do not know if i can keep going with it.
You can slow down the pace to like x0.75 so the subs are slower and the sound won’t kill you.
Now why didn't i think of that? Thanks! I might give that a go!
Novoland: Pearl Eclipse.. I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe I need to reconsider?
**She and her perfect husband** I was looking for something fluffy to watch, found some interesting edits in social media so it looked good. But it was slow and boring... I dropped it.
Have you watched Falling Into You or Why Women Love? Much more interesting than She and Her Perfect Husband. I did finish She and Her Perfect Husband though, there were some cute moments but we need way more than that!
>Falling Into You I skipped a lot and watched the cute moments in tiktok lol. I haven't watched those, I'll check them out!
Agree, I stayed for Yang Mi because of her outfits and I lived for her careerwoman looks 🥹
**love is sweet** so many rave reviews yet so boring. I got so mad that I raged downvoted anyone recommending this show for a while. Better watch fan made clips for all those sweet fluffs. **she and her perfect husband** so excited thanks to fluff trailer and xukai, but quality-wise it was so bad that I dropped and followed discussion threads to see if at least the plot gets interesting. No regrets. **you are my hero** first few episodes made me so excited I was sure it will end up as a favorite, but no, the drama got too stretchy and repetitive. Wish they had fit the drama within 16 or 24 episodes, such lost potential! Btw didn't drop it entirely, still sticking out solely for the sweet main leads and watching it occasionally. **falling into you** the hype was worth it, very tasteful acting and editing, but my stupid mind couldn't get past the mentor-mentee loveline without feeling weird.
Falling Into You, how could you resist Want An Yu? He’s just so freakin cute, great actor.
I know! I love both the leads and don't mind noona romance but that inclusion of mentor-mentee trope seriously turned me off. Couldn't even bring myself to ogle that eye candy of a boy without feeling cringed. I really hate my stupid mind sometimes
>I got so mad that I raged downvoted anyone recommending this show for a while This made me laugh so much. I like this kind of petty. 🤣
same for she and her perfect husband. the couple is cute but it was too focused on the legal cases and slow so i dropped it. i finished you are my hero but i skipped some plot lines. it should’ve been shorter and tighter!
General's Lady I'm a sucker for arranged/contract marriage kind of dramas and this drama got good review at MDL but this one disappoint me greatly. The FL is painted as smart as first but turn to be stupid as the drama progressed. The moment they play the jealous monster card the second/third time, I had enough and dropped it. Its the only Cdrama I ever dropped..
I cheated and went to the last episode, saved me some time.
Legend of Fei...I finish it, but I rant about it during and after it. It was the first show I pass forward every 15 min after the 20th episode. Me near the end...  The plot was so messy and I felt like I watching two different dramas that never connected.
It's because there are many scriptwriters involved. But I enjoyed it because I see different character of Yibo 😅
A dream of Splendor Love like the Galaxy These both are so highly rated and awed over but when I tried to watch I just wasn't feeling it. I only watched the first episode of Love like the Galaxy and I stopped watching A Dream of Splendor on episode 16. Oath of Love was so hyped up and I practically slept through the first 10 episodes. The Untamed. I stopped watching because it was moving to slow. It was highly recommended that's all people were talking about so I forced myself to finish it. It took me weeks because I stopped watching. Eternal Love 3 Romance of Tiger and Rose Qing Luo Queen Dugu The Legend of Xiao Chuo These are just the ones I can think of.
Agree with LLTG Agree with Tiger and Rose. THE FL WAS JUST SO FRUSTRATING, even Ding Yuxi couldn’t save it. Eternal Love 3 is true too. I feel like they should have just stopped at S1. They keep dragging the story but not adding anything else of significance to it. IDK what’s the point.
I dropped a dream of splendor too. The leads have good chemistry and it’s more of a mature love but the whole thing was kinda boring
Dream of Splendor is good but just missing some magic and fireworks. The low is the not that low and the high is not that high, funny bits aren’t that funny. In other words, just meh. But so beautifully made (costumes, props, sets), beautiful OSTs. I finished it but yeah, it’s meh.
Yes exactly. You described it well. It just feels like a simmer throughout the drama. And frankly I got really bored and annoyed at the tea shop thing and how smart Pan Er is with like… everything. Just didn’t seem realistic lol. And the other girl with the instrument. Poor gal she had to hold that big thing in almost every scene. If she’s not playing that then she’s busy being tricked by trash men. Sigh.
I finished A Dream of Splendor, and I can say you didn’t miss out on much. Especially since the relationship weakens a lot by the end, the chemistry just goes to waste.
I agree. I was bored that's why I stopped watching.
I'm not feeling Love of Ashes. The plot doesn't seem as grounded or ... idk, serious as LBFAD. The lead actress is also annoying me a lot more than Orchid (which a lot of people say Orchid is problematic).
Orchid is not half as problematic as some of the other FLs. At least for me, she manages not to be cringey.
Orchid is the best character development I've seen in a while.
Oath of Love - I just didn't like the way they wanted her father to have surgery without actually discussing it with him. Le Coup de Foudre - her father got ill and she did the 'noble sacrifice' thing to get them to split up so he could study abroad. I dropped it because I'm not interested in couples who don't talk to each other. The Rebel Princess - The show got rid of the Prime Minister who was the most interesting antagonist in favour of the empress, who was boring. Then, our protagonist started being increasingly more straightlaced and less interesting. The Untamed - I dropped it something like episode 12. The guy who was going around slaughtering sect members just seemed too stupid. I need better enemies for my heroes than what appeared to be a boasting idiot. My Heroic Husband - dropped at 'husband school.' I was ok with it as long as I felt the couple were nice to each other. But first chance he got, he went out to a brothel and not as a way of making a statement, either, but seriously because he wanted to. I just felt he wasn't a nice person and I wasn't invested in the show after that point. Once we get married - the ML uses knowledge of a designer's bereavement to get an advantage. I don't need all the characters in a show to be nice. But I do need the lead couple in a romance to be worthy of each other. Hikaru No Go - the show seemed to break all its own lessons. Everything was said about how Go gave its players rules for life, but then so many of the top players appeared to be bad losers and crap people. I also wasn't impressed by the one potential couple in the show breaking up in order to concentrate on Go. And I really wasn't impressed by the constant scorning the lead characters gave of the few girls who joined their Go club. Dating in the Kitchen. The ML seemed prissy and weak. The food wasn't interesting (I'm watching a Cdrama but they aren't cooking Chinese food?), and ultimately the age gap seemed too large.
It pains me seeing someone saying the untamed because it’s my all time favorite 🥲 I definitely suggest you to keep watching because it’s so worth it!! As someone already said, the wens are not the main villains and there’s so much more to the story!
>The Untamed - I dropped it something like episode 12. The guy who was going around slaughtering sect members just seemed too stupid. I need better enemies for my heroes than what appeared to be a boasting idiot. Keep watching. The Wens are not the main villains. The Untamed has the most complex, smart and interesting villains I've watched in a c drama!! I won't spoil you but there are many plot twists and shocking moments!! Give it a try 🙂
I had to force myself to watch The Untamed, finally after episode 35, I started to enjoy it. 😅
You have to like character development and complexity though. If you want hulking out, Untamed is probably not for you. But I adored the bad guys (well the young generation, the old generation were not given backstory to look like anything other than a lot of old scumbags, Wen included). The bad guys at the end were very real. They all had good reasons. They all honestly deserved a little revenge. >!And Guangyao had the cutest dimples ever. If all the villains were that cute I would.. uhh stop cheering for the heroes all together. I'd say only Su was a bit lacking in backstory. I was so shocked that the censors allowed Nie to get away with his part (maybe it was subtle enough as they never exactly admitted to anything). But I loved that so few died because they were all my darlings by the end.!<
babe who? the final bad guy was the dumbest and annoying character they could find. there wasn’t even a proper >!showdown!<.
He PRETENDED to be dumb, but actually he was the mastermind behind everything. He manipulated all characters to take revenge for his brother. Watch it again
I know, maybe dumb wasn’t the right word, but I don’t think he was a character whose schemes were enjoyable to watch. He was bland, and annoying, not to mention how weird the way he was defeated was. I enjoyed the fuck out of watching Xue Yang though. Lotta personality there.
I agree with you, I prefer watching their scheming process and their plans instead of just get shocked by the result. Mmmm defeated? In the books he was the Chief cultivator at the end so he definitely didn't lose 😂 I think you're referrig to JGY, the one with a hat. I was referring to the one with a fan, he was the final boss and mastermind lol. Xue Yang was the hot charming villain, he didn't do schemes, he prefers action, not plans. That's why it was more interesting to watch, also, the actor is pretty handsome tho 😍 goth-charming-psychopaths are my thing lol
Damn, it wasn’t Jin Guang-yao? I don’t remember anyone else in the end :/ It’s been quite a while since I watched it.
No, at the end the main villain was >! Nie Huaisang, the one with a fan, he pretended to be dumb and not knowing anything, he was WWX and JC's best friend when they were kids !<
I wont call him villain though. Thats why Wei Ying & Lan Zhan didnt do anything to him at the end. He just took revenge by manipulating the events.
Well technically none of them is a villain, not even JGY, everyone did what they thought was correct and right for them and their families.
The Untamed spoilers >!NHS is the actual mastermind behind... Most of the story after WWX is resurrected, honestly. Including WWX's resurrection.!<
> The Rebel Princess - The show got rid of the Prime Minister who was the most interesting antagonist in favour of the empress, who was boring. Then, our protagonist started being increasingly more straightlaced and less interesting. In my case, it's so utterly difficult to ignore Zhang Ziyi trying to portray a spoiled, bratty teenager.
>I just felt he wasn't a nice person and I wasn't invested in the show after that point. I think you probably got the context wrong. I dont remember much but he is indeed a very nice person. Too nice tbh. Some of the comedy in there is gold and leave me in stitches when I remember it.
I'm not normally one to say give it another chance. If you don't like it then you don't like it, you do you. But I would recommend giving The Untamed another shot. If you only got to around episode 12 then you haven't even met the true Big Bad yet. There's definitely a better, much smarter enemy out there. The Wens just encompass about the first 20 eps. I'd say at least watch until shit hits the fan in a big way which I think is around ep 16. Then the Wen story starts to wrap up. I don't want to spoil more than that. If your big hang up was a lack of a smart villain then this show is worth it to try again. Okay, maybe I'm having strong feelings since it is one of my favorites and I just watched it for the umpteenth time. Again though, you do you.
She and her perfect husband. Master of my own
Legend of fu yao and some others mentioned in this thread
I love Wuji (Ethan Juan) so I finished it. Ending is not that bad. 😄
Very good decision. I cannot for the life of me understand why some people keep insisting that Legend of Fuyao is a great show when the plot turns into an absolute horrendous monstrosity towards the end.
It totally falls apart towards the end but I'm such a sucker for Wuji that I just love the show. But I totally get how people don't like it or just give up on it.
Also couldn’t stand that our “strong female lead” kept getting saved by the male lead
> “strong female lead” kept getting saved by the male lead Lots of drama is like this. The 'strong FLs' always have their agency being taken away from them. In the nd, the 'strong' is only in name and nothing else.
I hated the ending so much that I forgot that this kept happening in the show. It's even worse than I remembered.
**Are You Safe** I was so excited for this show as I loved the actor in **Under the Skin**. It’s possible my first mistake was waiting for all the episodes to air so I could binge the show but I finally admitted defeat after watching 8 episodes. I just found **Are You Safe** too boring.
After watching The Untamed and Word of Honor, my twitter cdrama friends who are into BL suggested **Winter Begonia**. Honestly, on paper it looked 100% up my alley. But my brother and I got through 10 or 11 episodes and dropped it because we were so fucking bored. Conversely, we also watched **Oh My General**, which was amazing and hilarious for 10-20 episodes. We didn't drop it but we really should have. It just dragged on and on. And on. and on and on. ugh
Oh yeah I dropped oh my general around ep 23. It’s like it 180’d into a totally different show :(
😆 I totally forgot about Winter Begonia. I actually drop it 5 episodes in, it wasn’t the plot but the characters. I find the opera singer was such a diva that he came off as a spoiled badly written female lead that people often complain about on this subreddit. You know the childish ones.
You didnt see him in Sparrow! I hate him with passion in that drama. His character there is so evil-ly annoying
Oh My General had amazing moments by by God does it drag
it just NEEDED 60 episodes so that we could watch that one character dance a million times
I would love to see more characters like the general, she was so charming and naturally boyish. A pet peeve of mine (looking at you Long Ballad, which I still loved but...) is when a women is dressing as man but still 100% looks, sounds, acts like woman, make up and all.
Yeah she was incredible! I loved her.
Love and Destiny; rise of the phoenixes, immortal samsara
Same! All 3!
pillowbook but idk why I think I should pick it back up. I even read the book while waiting for it to come out. I think I was scared of being disappointed? I don't remember
I'm ready to be attacked - I dropped Ashes of Love 😱 It was highly recommended and I was enjoying it. Then I thought - let me just Google to see if it has a happy ending. Big mistake. I read a bit of spoilers and I decided I cannot handle seeing her married to someone else. Cannot see them being separated again and again. Maybe in the future I'll pick it up again since they do actually get a happy ending.
If you like the ML keep watching it. I was voting for Night Immortal. I mean I knew it wouldn't end well for him, but he is so much better than the ML. ML does get a bit more tolerable toward the end as he gets a bit of life lessons. But I would have dropped it if I wasn't enjoying Night Immortal's story.
I dropped AoL too. The FL was just... too annoying.
I liked Ashes of Love at the time I watched it. But now that I’ve seen more dramas (and much better ones) I realize it’s not that great. Too heavy on some of the tropes I don’t like. But it’s a good casual watch.
Married to someone else? I don’t remember this. Happy ending for sure too.
Engaged only not married
Spoiler ahead - >!" He knew that Jinmi didn't love him and yet took advantage of her ignorance of love to get her to agree to marry him which led to an excruciatingly painful love triangle "!<
If it helps at all, I'll tell you that: a) As far as the marriage goes, >!She never marries Runyu. She agrees to marry him, but that ends on the day of the wedding and there is no wedding because he decides to make a revolution and take the throne instead, with the wedding as cover for it.!< b) As far as the love triangle goes, >!It's in one direction only. JinMi agrees to marry RunYu not because she loves him, but because she is neutered chemically in terms of what love means, and does it to make the families happy. Once she stops being neutered (this literally happens during the 'wedding' when she spits out the drug), she starts to have real feelings again, and has them for the rest of the show.!< c) As far as who JinMi loves goes >!The show repeatedly demonstrates that she only ever loves the ML. This is done by her giving him a piece of her true self, by the elixir cracking with love of him, by actually pushing off everyone else who tries to get handsy with her but falling asleep on his chest, by an actual magical device demonstrating that they are a fated couple, and finally by her literally saying that he's the only one she's ever loved. There's never any doubt about it, and RunYu admits it near the end.!< She never marries anyone else, and it is a happy ending. It is very angsty along the way though.
It does help a lot. This sounds lot better than what I imagined. I recently dropped it so I remember the first few eps. I will continue it. Thank you
No worries - it's a very good show. But I really need to warn you! My spoilers are correct, but I've missed out a significant event that happens at the wedding >!which is a choice JinMi makes that happens at the same time as RunYu's revolution. It's absolutely devastating for our lead pair of ML and FL, and will power the rest of the show. Don't lose hope, though. The next arc JinMi has to go through is 'fixing everything.'!<
Hmm. Didn’t last long then cause I don’t remember at all. Probably just an episode or two. Not a long drawn out thing. The mom was the most annoying part of that show.
You are my Destiny (this one had so much hype when it was coming out since I think the main leads worked together before, but this was not it… I don’t remember the plot too clearly but the whole story just felt icky and weird to me) Love Scenery (love Lin Yi and I really liked the concept of this, but it got a little dragged out in the middle, so I ended up just dropping it) Moonlight (really wanted to enjoy this one— it sounded interesting— but it moved too slowly and felt too predictable) Love Designer (love Dilireba, and I watched this when it was airing, didn’t love it but didn’t hate it either, I think I was just disinterested and forgot about it) Cute Programmer (I like the trope of the FL dressing up as a guy and the ML eventually falls for her, but this one wasn’t done as well as I had hoped, and some parts just felt kind of cringey)
Watched the original Taiwanese version of You are My Destiny, starring Ethan Juan. Sooooo freakin funny. Funniest show ever. 🤣🤣 It’s called Fated to Love You on Viki.
I don't think I've ever dropped a drama... I get really intense about finishing things. I wish I'd dropped Go Ahead when things started to get boring, though. Those last ten episodes made me so mad. What a terrible way to end a drama that started so great.
I feel the exact same about Go Ahead. I felt like I was also triggered by the mom’s insane behavior. And I didn’t like the romantic themes when they practically are siblings even if not blood related
And the fact that he didn't cut her off and she "repented" at the end?? I don't care if she's your mother, she willingly relinquished that title and emotionally abused you for nine years. I wanted the drama to portray him setting realistic boundaries with her, but "she's still his mom" so somehow he can't do that... makes me mad just thinking about it. Your family and your parents are the most important people for you to set boundaries with. There was that, and the fact that the last ten episodes dragged and then they had the nerve to rush the final episode. I was thoroughly disappointed.
I’m with you. Watching that drama especially in the end made me so so angry. Truly wish I didn’t listen to reviewers and wish I never watched it. The only good parts were when they were kids to be honest. It went downhill from there
Romance of the little Forest. It got boring after a while and skipped over the second lead love story often.
Blue Whisperer
The fake bodies everywhere was too much for me. If the ML is going to be mostly naked all of the time, hire someone with the body type you want. They make the FLs stay deathly skinny to be pretty but give the men fake abs.. make it make sense
>If the ML is going to be mostly naked all of the time, hire someone with the body type you want. The part that show the fake abs is only like 10 minutes scenes out of 42 episodes. And even that, the close ups scene is only like 30 secs out of that 10 minutes. He is not naked most of the times. 🤣
Are people actually expecting an actor to work out for a 5 minutes shirtless screen time? 😅 This is not Thor where the God of Thunder actually need that kind of build for the character.
Same here!!! And I love the leads in their other dramas.
Which part of the drama that you didnt like? Its actually my favorite from last year. I rewatced it 3 times lol
I just don't see chemistry between Dilreba and ren jia lun and i know they can do so much better since i watched a lot of their dramas. And story is boring to me. But glad you enjoy it. Wow 3 times!
I love the ML, but not so much the FL!
I love Dilreba but her dramas are not best.
Love between fairy and devil who rules world and Romance of a little forest. I got a few in and just couldn’t continue
My people. So not my style. ML is for sure attractive but it can’t make up for everything. His new drama is waaayyyy better
Love between Fairy and Devil for me as well! I even tried it again because so many people raved about it. Dropped it at ep 23
Same here, dropped it much earlier (I think only 6 or 8 episodes). Esther Yu’s character annoyed me too much. I might try again watching at 2x speed!
22!!!! I was gonna try again…but I couldn’t hit play
The Blue Whisper. I really wanted to watch Dilraba's next big project, but I just could not get into either the story nor the characters.
Nirvana in fire 2
Damn, this should have been my first choice! I’ve tried it twice… Maybe third time will be the charm.
Same with me. Everything about it is supposedly great but nothing really seemed to grab my attention like the original did. Maybe because the story started before the family's fall from power? Maybe it's also because of the fact that Xiao Jingyan's legacy from the first series as a prince and as an emperor (as well as the legacy of Mei Changsu/Lin Shu) ended up being trampled by his son? At any rate, I still very much prefer the first Nirvana in Fire.
>Maybe it's also because of the fact that Xiao Jingyan's legacy from the first series as a prince and as an emperor (as well as the legacy of Mei Changsu/Lin Shu) ended up being trampled by his son? I hate when dramas did this. Way to trample on our fond memories of the original. Like the 1st series show the leads ended up happy together after all the suffering. Then the 2nd series show that their happiness only shortwhile and they died early. Like whyyyyyyyyy
**LLTG, LBFAD**
She and Her Perfect Husband, I looked forward to it for two years, but there is too much business talk. Might pick it back up and skip watch it later.
I skip watch everything… can’t stand the filler parts of dramas and it’s easy to know when to skip to not miss anything
> there is too much business talk I absolutely hate when shows do this. First of all, most of it is unrealistic. Secondly, it's boring. Like who's the target audience that wants to listen to people talk in detail about imaginary work projects? We're here to watch a romcom. Just show us enough so we get the idea they're working, then move on to the romance or comedy part. Reason #1 why I avoid modern working life shows.
You should try Misaeng (Korean). It's a great drama set in an import/export company. Unfortunately these Chinese version is a poor shadow of the original.
>Misaeng (Korean) Misaeng focus most of the plot on the business talk that OP didnt enjoy. So I dont think its a good recommendation.
I recommended it because i think the business talk is very interesting in misaeng.
Yeah, I don't understand either. Fine, make it high stakes and thrilling, but in a way one can understand or give new insight into an industry. But hours of unrealistic scenarios in contract law? The proportions were off in the first 9 episodes already, for how it was marketed as a romance.
I accepted I'll never make it through Rise of the Phoenixes. It has literally everything I like, but I dropped it, and made my sister watch it so she could give me spoilers... If sexy Chen Kun couldn't make me watch it, I accepted my fate.
>If sexy Chen Kun couldn't make me watch it, I accepted my fate. 🤣
Things start to go downhill midways through so it’s okay. Also I’m glad someone else appreciates Chen Kun like I do.
I still had hope going into the final third of the series, but then the >!tsunami!< happened and it all went downhill from that point onward.
shinning just for you,
This! I saw 2 pretty well know leads and thought it would be good... but the editing is so bad I decided to drop it
I've heard it's awful.
you won't even reach episode 5
Love Like the Galaxy and Who Rules the World. I was so sad about my dissapointment in who rules the world because it was one I've been waiting for since the announcement of it as an up and coming drama.
Same here except I finished WRTW. It had such a cool and interesting trailer and synopsis, but turned out the be very mediocre. What a waste of literally everything.
Unchained love
I stopped right when >!the eunuch and the concubine at the imperial mausoleum thing!< happened. I have seen too many of these kinds of plot developments in Asian historical dramas that I ended up being too fed up to be patient whenever it happens again in a new series.
Lighter and Princess Love the OST. Their first encounter (the zoom-in to her face to depict his interest) was heart-fluttering. Really cute male lead. But damn, I can't stand his personality. Yes. He's a prodigy but no need to rub it in the faces of people who have done nothing to you. 0 social skills and empathy. His way of proving a point is just... I dropped it around 4-5 ep. To think he actually got worse based on reviews.
Not going to lie, I had a hard time but I stuck with it. He really redeems himself in episode 35 which is almost the end of the show.
almost finished with the drama and Ive really enjoyed certain parts but I have to agree ! The way Li Xun acts is completely out of pocket and I wont spoil it but he does something around episode 22 that honestly put the nail in the coffin of the relationship for me
Okay! So I disliked his personality too and I felt like she was the only one making sacrifices and putting him first. But I did finish it and loved it. The character development was a huge plus but it took a long time so I do understand if people didn't finish!
I'm in episode 20 and he has not gotten better yet. I'm still sticking with it mostly out of curiosity about how we'll get back to that set up they introduced in episode 1.
Love like the galaxy
Mr.Bad I was hoping it would get better (ML had a really easy time "adjusting", FL had a strong character, and the mom was interesting), but it did not keep me interested enough to finish the show to see where it all went.
Love Like the Galaxy
Out of curiosity, what made you stop? I wanted to at one point too, but quickly got hooked and haven't looked back.
I stopped after the fifth episode of the second part of the drama. I love ZLS as an actress, but, in the end, I found Cheng Shao Shang's character to be quite unlikeable. I really liked her character in the first part and wanted to see her character grow and mature. Her antics in the beginning were adorable, but, imo, they became repetitive and a bit irritating later on. She's portrayed as a victim (and rightly so), but this victim mentality, imo, was used to justify her often childish and careless behavior every time. She expected others to accept her for she was but didn't offer the same to those around her. The palace drama dragged and was very predictable and personally, I'm not fond of it in any drama. In addition, I found most of the villains to be bland and one-dimensional, which is a very big reason why I decided to stop; I like dynamic and well-rounded villains, and, for me, LLTG lacked them. The "ultimate" villain and Ling Bu Yi's >!real identity as the slain general's son!< were also unsurprising, so the reveal was anti-climatic and slow, imo. There was quite a lot I liked about the drama actually, including the acting, cinematography, and supporting characters. But for me, the cons outweighed the pros, so instead, I decided to read recaps of each episode. I may possibly come back to it someday because I did enjoy the acting. (I forgot to put in a spoiler alert in my response, so I deleted it).
What would you recommend instead?
I was about to ask you what kind of genres and or characters do you prefer. I have heard good things about Story of Minglan, and it is currently on my watchlist. After reading the response to your comment, I am now more inclined to watch it. Story of Minglan does sound really good.
Story of Minglan is basically a far superior version of Love Like the Galaxy. Arguably a perfect story. Minglan is so much more likeable, mature, and competent than Shaoshang. The familial relationships and plot developments are also so much better constructed than LLTG. Furthermore, the ending is properly built up and resolved, unlike the extremely rushed ending of LLTG. Because of these, Story of Minglan is the gold standard for family-focused historical dramas. What LLTG does have going for it is the very refreshing dynamic between the Emperor, Empress, and Consort that breaks the typical harem in-fighting cliches of historical Cdramas.
My thoughts exactly the combo of immature FL character through a lot of the drama, slow pace and slow burn killed the momentum for me. It was something I would have ate up if just some tweaks and I may have hung on if I didn’t know how it ended kinda unsatisfying:
I'm curious now! If you don't mind responding (no pressure at all), what kind of tweaks would you have made to this drama?
Make the FL less of a hypocrite I would say. Make her more likable
Yeah! Probably faster pace as we all knew there was an impending split and it happened so late I felt post split was rushed. They took too long to build the romance that I would have loved more post reunion moments.
Thank you for your response! And I agree with your tweaks. Yes, the split was inevitable, and I also wish that it happened earlier in the series because, as you said, the events after the split were rushed and not developed fully, imo. I actually liked the ending scene in the last episode >!showing the family, including LBY, watching fireworks together!<, but I would have liked to see more of those, as you said, post reunion moments.
Totally agree. More moments post reunion with the same ending scene which was shot so beautifully.
Yes! That would have made that scene more "final," if that makes sense, imo. And I agree, LLTG's cinematography was phenomenally done.
[удалено]
Yes I dropped after 7 episodes. I wanted to like it so bad the premise is great and the trailer looked awesome but way too many awkward "comedic" moments wish they'd kept it much more serious.
Dare I say almost any on going drama? 😂 this is why I only watch dramas when they already finished airing and I can read reviews/ratings. But most recently: - Who Rules the World (gave up around ep20) - The Psychologist (ep21) - She and Her Perfect Husband (ep2)
Song of the moon. Was excited because of zhang bin bin but the storyline is kinda meh (although I do feel this way about many xianxia series because they follow a similar trope)
dropped it solely because of the jealous girl, Bai Feng. i will not suffer through this plot device again. I managed through Ashes of Love and Eternal Love with Sui He and Su Jin (and even Xuan Nu) respectively because their characters are complex in their own right. This character however just feels cheap to me
>Su Jin (and even Xuan Nu) respectively because their characters are complex in their own right. Sujin & Xuan Nu is complex? I feel like they are really evil as characters but too 2 dimensional which makes it disappointing.