best recent c-drama watches

1. wuxia must-watch
2. amazing-to-okay writing ((the ok part being the cases but it can be overlooked in the grand greatness of this)), amazing characters, amazing dynamic, amazing themes, fun plot ok idc JUST WATCH IT. this is one of those one in half-a-decade good costume drama to come out.
3. mc is CHARACTER OF ALL TIME. he's a liar. he's a hero. he's a loser. he is BOTH winning and losing the idgaf war. wuxia male manipulator and gaslighter of all time and he WILL win you over while he's doing it. he's also probably has the most chronic case of dismissive avoidance but you didn't hear that from me.
4. its about da grief and skin-melting guilt and spending your burnout depressive years finding fulfillment in the small things, thinking you've learned to accept and let go except things don't turn out the way you've thought. it's realizing compartmentalization of the identity isn't the same as acceptance. its about a story and a story within a story and then the story you thought you were being told. its about the way every single one of your actions come back to you and how sometimes, that isn't such a bad thing. that, sometimes, it is the delayed answer to your kindness coming back to you in the form of an ostentatious but sincere young disciple. its abt a ghost trailing after the ashes of his dead shixiong who also happens to live in a walking coffin of his own making that marked his death from his homoerotic fight with his arch-nemesis like......dude. just watch this already.
5. the biggest, toughest guy in the jianghu is given the struggling with bodily autonomy issues and if that doesn't get you watching idk what will. 
6. and...ah, yes the spectacular poly yaoi vibes...
7. i was obsessed with this one for a while

1. one of those shows you should watch at least once.
2. honors wuxia and also so incredibly romantic
3. great writing...but not clean writing if you get what i mean.
4. it's great....just a great watch and actually got me obsessed for a full year 
5. it's about second chances and redemption and how every single person is deserving of redemption...it's abt never living in the right time, always too young, always too late. it's finding someone and WANTING for the first time. it's also abt vulnerability, someone willing to be patient with your lack of vulnerability and that sometimes, even when you've done everything broken ppl will BE broken and it bleeds on you and the mess of that brokenness is how you end up seeing their face and seeing their true perspective.
6. the things they got away with in this show was crazy what even is censorship for at this point lmao. like they didn't kiss or anything but my good they couldn't have played two characters with more sexual tension even if they DID.

1. you should watch it at least once even if you don't like the genre
2. good writing, interesting cases, COMPELLING MC, actually a comfy watch
3.  forensic criminal profiling can be so interesting...
4. they drank their women-respecting juice for this one <3 i would also say its pretty progressive despite the restrictions on what they can display
5. a lil homoerotic tension you didn't expect...it is far from bl or anything suggestive but these writers know exactly what to sprinkle in a double male lead drama that you go 'huh...okay i see what u did there'

1. one of those shows you should watch at least once in your life
2. i got obsessed with this one for a while BUT first time i watched the drama i was so disappointed bcs i came from the donghua. it's not the best, the execution is kinda messy and reduces mc's nuance but bcs they changed it for censorship reasons...i'll let it slide. if i watched it without the donghua i would've enjoyed it infinitely more.
3. the soundtrack is the best thing you're gonna hear in your life
4. look it has spectacular themes, dynamics, characters, plot all of those are great just that the execution of this drama was not the cleanest and very old school but put your faith in it and give it a chance and let it take its time to weave into your heart. you gotta let the story unfold and build the blocks and before you know it you'll be obsessed.
5. it's just so good and has so much weight to it...literally chock-full of so many good themes i can't even begin to list all of them here and it makes you want to pick and prod at the characters and extrapolate from them no wonder the fandom is thriving. you rarely find this in dramas so you GOTTA try it okay. try it.
6. i think its clear enough this is a censored yaoi...censored yaoi developed so emotionally good you don't need any physical aspect to show that its yaoi y'know

1. this is gonna be the best xianxia you'll see for a while...matter of fact it IS the best xianxia you'll see from anything 2025 to before.
2. the writers...can write i'll tell you that lmao. almost flawless writing for its genre even.
3. if mc's childish attitude is deterring you...hold up because this show gives her NUANCE and she has some fire in her and is one of the only mcs i've seen calling out the imbalanced power dynamic they're in. she will also surprise you with her assertiveness and maturity HELL she IS emotionally mature and intelligent when she needs to be. this girl has some layers GIVE HER A CHANCE.
4. they saw every potential and milked the hell out of it and i love that. 
5. quite literally everything those romantasy booktok readers want in a story
6. it's just...every xianxia you've seen?? well this one takes certain aspects and levels it up in terms of narrative richness and utilizes it so efficiently.
7. everything abt it is just good what else can i say...it's good....i guess i wasn't too much of a fan of the ending and how the age old xianxia trope of faceless black dust of immeasurable ancient evil is the big bad villain of this realm but hey it needed to land there and i'd say it landed pretty well.
8. IT HAS WEIGHT TO IT PEOPLE!!! this isn't one of those no substance romantasy nonono this one has some fleshed out themes and issues and it's justttt so nice you feel respected as an audience

1. i usually hate how moral and upstanding people are written in fiction but this might just be the bible on how to write moral and upstanding good people in c-dramas lmao. like, if we want sanitized media on the forefront we could at least have them still be complex with full characters and this drama succeeds at that.
2. i am just in awe with how they present ml and mc's whole thing. the way everyone around him, the whole nation deems him as having "beautiful bones". idk chinese so i probably can't grasp the full context of this poetic description but the way the show presents it, its almost like an allegory for his admirable righteousness standing tall and firm. everyone praises it, people seek it, but it is also the thing that dooms him and the moment mc sees it in full picture, she contemplates it in a moment of grief for what she's abt to lose and its just soooooo. good. what ultimately makes up the mc ml's whole character is the thing that puts them in situations and dooms them and its so fascinating to watch goodness and integrity be the prison that contains. to watch two people doom themselves in their principles while holding to a love that inevitably slips from them. they suffer for it.
3. good writing good slow-burn good tragedy. bridgerton writers need to take notes honestly. 
4. it's seemingly boring but you keep on watching and then it hits you so particularly good and HARD. it just hits. the ost and  cinematography was amazing too. it's like those bland british breakfasts that are cooked up so well you wonder why you ever thought they were bland.

1. holy gege-kink
2. guo jingming why are you making that homeless monstrous man the new beautiful young wife of the mansion that seemingly threatens the marriage...DID THREATEN THE MARRIAGE WHAT THE HELL
3. guo jingming understands the horror and the gothic and i've always appreciated that about him
4. this is good guys this is so good

gorgeous tension gorgeous visuals gorgeous plot and HOMOEROTICISM

1. comedic and great. exactly what i mean when i say shows should have fun.
2. so addictive and entertaining and paced really well i actually finished everything
3. the payoff is so good! this is a satisfying show to watch
4. the dynamics are entertaining. 
5. it really is good writing at the end of the day. 
6. one of the pairing gets married in fucking prison waiting for their death sentence ARE U HEARING ME THEY GOT!! MARRIED!! IN PRISON!! like they really said you want soap opera?? well here you go but we actually know how to have fun and deliver EMOTIONS

1. ppl will complain abt inappropriate underage scenes but as an enjoyer of problematic fiction trust me, there was nothing problematic abt this shit. hell, i WISH it was problematic but they treaded so carefully and respectably with everything that i'm just like...yeah, ok that's cute and upstanding i can respect that
2. it's just cute. ok. it's relaxing. the chemistry is there. there's not a lot of weight to this show it's simple and greatly executed what else can i say. brother's best friend enjoyers come get your food.
3. i think it captures youthful crushes and admiration really well...its not my cup of tea but they did good. this is exactly that predictable fluffy bland vanilla romance you want when you're stressed
4. i like that mc and ml actually feel real and grounded and not just your usual romance archetypes. mc's a shy kid but she's also such a little sibling with all the audacity and mouth of one who grew up loved. she keeps her cards to herself and she stands up for herself, she has that artsy talented kid who sort of lives in their own world but is rlly nice and actually lowkey feisty kind of vibe. she feels real! ml looks pretty normal and is very dashing but once he's with his friends you know that there's something very wrong abt the guy lmao. he's shameless. he has a big heart. he's got issues. he suffers from his father's sins...they're really likeable.