Chinese Dramas 2025 Wrap Up!

Hi Everybody! 

Difficult to believe, but the end of 2025 is already here...

Last year I made this wrap up topic, so I`m going to make it again but with some additions and updates! I love hearing opinions and see what everybody thinks of this year, drama-wise ^^ Hope this will be fun for all of you!

~Simple rules~

★Use the categories and entries below, feel free to skip though!

★If the number of dramas allowed is not enough you can cheat by adding "honorable mentions" lol. You can list less dramas than allowed of course.

★Dramas should have finished airing in 2025 (it`s ok if they started in 2024) and should be produced in China (mainland only). It doesn`t matter when they were filmed as long as they were first aired in 2025.

★You should have finished watching the dramas you add (except where specified)

Let`s Start!

「Top 5 Long Dramas」

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「Top 5 Short Dramas」

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「Best and Unexpected Surprise of the Year」

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「Top 3 Disappointments of the Year」

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「Top 3 Second Seasons Dramas」(3rd and following seasons, prequels-sequels, spin offs also ok if very tightly related)

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「3 Dramas that for whatever reason you put on-hold」(obviously not finished watching, write the reasons if you feel like it)

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「3 Dramas that you tried  to watch but didn`t like and dropped」

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「3 Dramas you liked but didn`t love」(either missing some spark or having something that lowered your personal rating for them)

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「A Drama that most/many people liked and/or has general good reviews but you didn`t like」

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「A Drama that most/many people didn`t like and/or has general negative reviews but you liked」

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「Top 3 Male Characters」

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「Top 3 Female Characters」

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「Top 3 Villains」

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「Top 3 most hated Characters」

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「Top 3 favourite OSTs (Open or Ending Themes)」

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I watched Blossom in 2025 but it technically finished in late December... so here's my sad cdrama track record for this year (but the two dramas I watched and finished, I really enjoyed) 

「Top 5 Long Dramas」

・Fated Hearts

・Love in the Clouds

「Best and Unexpected Surprise of the Year」

・Fated Hearts 

「Top 3 Male Characters」

・Feng Sui Ge

・Ji Bo Zai

・Xia Jing Yan 

・Feng Cheng Yang  (yes, I cheated by adding him, but he deserves the world) 

「Top 3 Female Characters」

・Fu Yi Xiao

・Ming Xian

・Mu Tian Ji

「Top 3 Villains」

・Situ Ling 

・Murong Yao

・Xia Jing Shi

「Top 3 most hated Characters」

・Xia Jing Shi

・Mu Qi Bai

・Zhuang Shen 

「3 Dramas that you tried  to watch but didn't like and dropped」

・Prisoner of Beauty (got to episode 17 and couldn't force myself to finish)

「A Drama that most/many people liked and/or has general good reviews but you didn't like」

・Prisoner of Beauty 

「Top 3 favourite OSTs (Open or Ending Themes)」

・若你的世界没有暖阳 (If Your World Has No Sunshine)

・狂澜 (Surging Waves)

・爱入青云 (Love in the Clouds)

Thank you all for your replies! As I though, it`s interesting to read other people wrap ups (and informative, for example I didn`t know/notice Moonlight Mystique is related to another series). I will refer to them to add stuff to my own plan to watch.

The most amusing thing was to notice that everybody cheated lol XD I think I will do the same since I watched a lot this year...here is my wrap up! (I list up in alphabetical order)

「Top ９ Long Dramas」

・Fated Hearts

・Flourished Peony

・Love in the Clouds

・The Blossoming Love

・The Glory

・The Seven Relics of Ill Omen

・The Vendetta of An

・Under the Moonlight

・When Destiny brings the Demon

+ Towards the Truth (which is a mid-size drama?)

「Top 12 Short Dramas」

・Above the Clouds

・Blades amid Blossoms

・Bound by Sin

・Gemini

・Gorgeous Dream

・Money is Coming

・Once upon a Dream

・Stolen Love

・The Maid

・The Palace Gambit

・The Rebirth

・The Tower of Whispers

「Best and Unexpected Surprise of the Year」

・The Immortal Ascension

「Top 5 Disappointments of the Year」

・Love and Crown

・Moonlit Reunion

・Sword and Beloved

・The Legend of the Female General

・Yummy Yummy Yummy

「Top 3 Second Seasons Dramas」(3rd and following seasons, prequels-sequels, spin offs also ok if very tightly related)

・Blood River

・Legend of Zang Hai

・Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 3 - To Chang`an

「3 Dramas that for whatever reason you put on-hold」(obviously not finished watching, write the reasons if you feel like it)

・A Moment but Forever

・Moonlight Mystique

・The Litchi Road

「5 Dramas that you tried  to watch but didn`t like and dropped」

・Everlasting Longing

・Flying up without Disturb

・Love never Fails

・Love of the Divine Tree

・Serendipity

「4 Dramas you liked but didn`t love」(either missing some spark or having something that lowered your personal rating for them)

・The Coroner`s Diary

・The Demon`s Hunter Romance (the ending...loved everything a part from that)

・The Prisoner of Beauty

・Wanted Detective

「A Drama that most/many people liked and/or has general good reviews but you didn`t like」

・A Dream within a Dream

「A Drama that most/many people didn`t like and/or has general negative reviews but you liked」

・The Princess`s Gambit

「Top 5 Male Characters」

・Feng Sui Ge (Fated Hearts)

・Sima Jiao / Wei Jiao  (When Destiny brings the Demon)

・Su Chang He (Blood River)

・Xie Huai An (The Vendetta of An)

・Zang Hai (Legend of Zang Hai)

「Top 4 Female Characters」

・Fu Yi Xiao (Fated Hearts)

・Luo Shu (Under the Moonlight)

・Mu Xuan Ling  (The Blossoming Love)

・Ruan Xi Wen (The Glory)

「Top 3 Villains」

・Sun Siming (Treasure at Dawn)

・Xue Han Mei  (Fight for Love)

・Yan Feng Shan (The Vendetta of An)

「Top 5 most hated Characters」

・Murong Yao (Fated Hearts)

・Shen Shao Guang （Yummy Yummy Yummy）

・Song Yi Meng / Song Xiao Yu (A Dream within a Dream)

・Zhuang Shi Yang  (The Glory)

・Zhao Bing Wen (Legend of Zang Hai)

「Top 3 favourite OSTs (Open or Ending Themes)」

・Flowers Fall With No Trace - Sa Dingding (Moonlight Mystique) 

・Flower Thoughts - Wang Zhengliang (The Princss`s Gambit) 

・River - Zhou Shen (Blood River) 

Actually Moonlight Mystique is also a spin-off. But on its drama page, Ancient Love Poetry already listed under the related content unlike Legend of Zang Hai which doesn't have The Lost Tomb listed, just like Zhan Zhao Adventures doesn't have Justice Bao listed. Probably copyright matter. Better save the money and make it a separate new story. It's also better for the actor's image. So I write it as a spin-off. And actually Revenged Love is a remake. But I included it. Want to list all 17 C-dramas I dropped (none listed as disappointment since I'm not sure if it'll get better in the end), but well, better save some spaces for other things.

 emeraldarrows:

It's the sequel to Ancient Love Poetry but very different, imo (I love MM and didn't like ALP at all) and basically stand alone.

I see, they are related just in name then...I haven`t watched Ancient Love Poetry so I didn`t know.

 autumn iris:

Actually Moonlight Mystique is also a spin-off. But on its drama page, Ancient Love Poetry already listed under the related content unlike Legend of Zang Hai which doesn't have The Lost Tomb listed, just like Zhan Zhao Adventures doesn't have Justice Bao listed. Probably copyright matter. Better save the money and make it a separate new story. It's also better for the actor's image. So I write it as a spin-off. And actually Revenged Love is a remake. But I included it. Want to list all 17 C-dramas I dropped (none listed as disappointment since I'm not sure if it'll get better in the end), but well, better save some spaces for other things.

I knew about Zang Hai being related to The Lost Tomb because I love that series. It`s related but in a very loose way, so I`m also unsure if it can be called a spin-off...anyway it`s related lol

By the way I saw Legend of Female General and The Glory listed up as "a drama that most/many people liked and/or has general good reviews but you didn't like" and I was surprised...my general perception is that both dramas were not very well received nor rated...interesting! Maybe depends from personal perception and where you usually lay your eyes online.

 autumn iris:

I think commercially, Legend of the Female General is a success. The lead actors were gaining more popularity after it aired. Cheng Lei got 2 dramas airing soon after LotFG in sequence. It's also entering top 12 most popular drama on tiktok in 2025. But for the douban rating, it's on the low side.

The Glory seems to get decent popularity and decent rating? No?

I see! Maybe l just happened to see only the negative reviews and opinions about Legend of female general, mine included lol

As for The Glory, l hope so since l loved it! I read that many people were not happy with the ML and the plot timeline..