Favorite historical

Breathtaking and intense. Both the love story and the overall plot. A true masterpiece in the portrayal of different kinds of longings and in the psychology of the characters. Truly deep.

This one is tied with The Red Sleeve to me. The cinematography goes absolutely mad, the acting is superb (the ml really took my breath away in this one, incomparable), the OST is unforgettable. This story is pretty fast paced and thrilling, there are quite a few very strong and hard-to-swallow scenes that made this drama mature and heartwrenching. Cherry on the cake was the romantic tension between the leads. A true masterpiece. 

Entertaining and amazingly acted. The beginning is kinda off-putting, but if you get past the first 10 minutes of modern setting, the rest is incredible. The ending was the only thing that didn't let me rate this show with 10 stars, but you might feel differently from me. The delivery deserves no matter what.

Old but gold. It still feels epic no matter how much time passes. Great secondary characters too. This one has fantasy elements to it, but it's mostly historical.

I'm not usually into historical Chinese dramas because they often involve so many people I get confused and I'm also not too familiar with the culture, but this drama was a joy. I loved the main girl and her relationship with her family and the love story was also very good, though I would say I'd raccomend this more for the platonic relationships than the romance, simply because I feel like they don't give enough space to the romance, but that's me. 

As per part 1.

If you wish to experience true pain, this is the drama for you. This brought me a lot of tears but also a lot of wonderful feelings.

This is the only korean historical among my favorites that isn't set in goryeo or joseon era, so that might feel unfamiar at first. I'll be truthful, the romance between the leads wasn't this drama's strong-point and I'd actually say that part was the most forgettable, to me. There are a few scenes with the second male lead instead that stuck with me after a long time for being an incredible depiction of true longing. Watch this if you'd rather watch something plot-heavy.