Historical hetero romances (seen)

Viki/IQIYI/Netflix - 34*45min

Chinese historical (+going back in time)

Summary: After years of self-sacrifice for the sake of her family, noblewoman Dou Zhao learn that her husband and step-sister and step-mother had been betraying her since long ago. Sick and dying, she leaves her husband's residence and the capital in the middle of a military coup. En route to her hometown to get a divorce, she runs into Song Mo, the infamous general leading the attacking army. But her husband and the prince that staged the coup conspire to get rid of them both under false pretense. During the attack, Dou Zhao and Song Mo die pierce by the same arrow. However, upon her death, Dou Zhao wakes up 10 years in the past. Armed with the memories and regrets of her previous life and determined to change her fate and settle the score with those that wronged her in her past life, she eventually forges a partnership with Song Mo, and together they navigate court intrigue, hidden conspiracies and slowly build trust and develop mutual affection.

Comment: Very good rewatch value. I'm upset that they made the sister die in her second life since she was an innocent in that one. Her husband was an irresponsible idiot, but I don't think he deserved the end he got. I think just the loss of his wife by his negligence would have been enough of a punishment for him. I would have liked to see HIS sister get her just deserve though. As for the step-mother's punishment, I truly don't think it was enough. I'm sick of villains not getting fully punished. She should have been tried for treason and executed.Also I'm glad that they made the step-mother act against the FL and commit other crimes that justified the FL going after her. That way, it wasn't only revenge for what happened with her mom, which was the FL's mother's own choice. And while the ML's brother acted like a spoiled kid and a coward early in the drama, him suddenly becoming a total villain didn't make sense AT ALL to me.

Viki/IQIYI/Netflix - 36*40min

Chinese epic drama

The last 3 episodes need to be skipped though. I hate how drama writers are unable to write a second male lead that doesn't turn into a total asshole "because of his love for the FL". Why can't they create a 2nd ML that just steps aside when he realizes that the FL and ML are in love with each other, supporting them and having his own happy ending where his love fades into a deep friendship and finding his own love? That's how the story of the 2nd ML should have ended here. They also really made the emperor a bipolar idiot. Like, are you an asshole emperor, or a good one that thrust his loyal ministers and see through deception and lies? Making the emperor flip flop constantly like that just doesn't make sense.

Alternative ending: end of episode 33

Viki - 46*45min

Chinese wuxia

Viki - 36*45min

Chinese wuxia

Viki/IQIYI - 49*45min

I really liked it. It's not clear where the FL and ML went after the final showdown, sadly, but I'm happily surprised by the way the FL gave up her revenge when she learned what really happened. I love a good revenge story, but I'm happy with this ending. I'm just kind of disappointed that the ML still did everything he could in the end to save his father given all he did to him and others. He deserved what he got at the hands of his wife, honestly.

Viki - 45*45min

Chinese Wuxia

I really really liked it! But the ending is kind of... not an ending??? I'm guessing it's meant to be a cliff hanger for a season 2, and I saw that there seems to be a sequel, but the actors are all different and the story seems to go back on part of the story from S1, more like a spinoff. The comments are also really disappointing. Guess I'll have to watch the anime to see the end of the story.

Viki - 40*46min

Chinese

I really like that drama. Yes, it's a bit over the top in the way the FL always manages to end up on top of every situation. And yes, the king is a fucking paranoiac asshole and should die a thousand painful, horrible deaths. I don't exactly remember what happens to him in the end, but I remember feeling that the ML stayed loyal to the king way too long. He should have been lynched way earlier in the series.

Viki/IQIYI - 58*45min

Chinese

How is it that I watched the series at least twice and liked it both time, but still can’t remember enough of the story and characters to comment on them?

Love Like the Galaxy: Part 2 is merged with part 1 on Viki (https://kisskh.at/729363-love-like-the-galaxy-part-2)

IQIYI - 38*45min

Chinese

I really liked that one. I love the redemption arc for the FL. I'm just pissed they made the FL's friend and follower die like that. The ending is good, but for that.

Netflix - 40*45min

Chinese

Why can't any couple in "historical" dramas have a happy ending?

Viki - 40*45min

Chinese

I really loved that one, I'm just sad almost all the ML's friends died. But, to me, the ending is very satisfying, even if I would have liked for the ML's father to receive a heavier punishment.

Viki - 30*45min

Chinese

I really enjoyed the series and both leads are great characters. But I must admit that I tilted a bit at both their fake deaths and the fact that they both remained loyal to kings that were total assholes that betrayed them and kept harassing them, especially the one from the ML country pissed me off.

Viki/IQIYI - 40*45min

Chinese

It was pretty good, although I must admit that the last 10 or so episodes seemed to stretch on forever and I had to force myself to finish. All that right before the series ended really abruptly. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be like a cliff hanger for another season, but most story lines seem... very unfinished. Even at the end of the last episode, I was like "Wait! That's it?". But for once we had a ML clearly and proudly in love with his wife who celebrated her and actually relied on her to help him! Even in dramas where the FL is badass, either physically and/or intellectually, MLs always seem to try to protect them and hide things from them "for their own good", so it was a refreshing change. Another refreshing change was the death of the 2nd ML. Not the fact that he died of course, that's more of a rule than a trope at this point in historical dramas. But how he died. We knew from the beginning that he had a heart disease and would not live long, so he was sure to die before the end of the series. But instead of making him die from his disease or as a pitiful and tragic martyr, they made him die a hero, in battle. They even portrayed him as happy and proud to meet his end this way, at peace with it. I think that's one of the things that stood out to me the most. Normally, I hate whenever they make a 2nd ML die, because it always seems like it could easily have been avoided or doesn't make sense. But for once, I was ok with it. Yes, it was sad, but it made sense and gave an epic end to an epic character.

Viki - 40*40min

Chinese

I really liked it and will probably rewatch it at some point, but I remember that some elements toward the end of the series really bugged me (how the FL got locked up and for how long as well as the death of her “sidekick”). Sadly, it’s been a little while since I watched and can’t remember much more.

Viki/Netflix - 54*45min

Chinese

Still another couple that ends tragically.

Viki/Netflix - 40*50min

Chinese

The drama is really good, but it is extremely dramatic, with a lot of people dying needlessly in my opinion. It is definitely not a feel good drama even if the ML and FL end up together.

Viki - 58*45min

Chinese

Overly tragic, but still well made.

IQIYI - 38*40min

Chinese

It was good. I like the forensic aspect, although, yes, it really wasn't realist for the time (and yes, the "science" was iffy at points). But still, it was an enjoyable watch with not to much "humorous relief". I admit that the "coincidence" on the FL stopping at the place of her older trainee brother who just happened to kill people to give heart transplants (and let's not get into the whole heart transplant when they definitively didn't have to equipment and knowledge to make the intervention successful thing)was a bit too much. Just like the way all the villains ended up killing each other in the end. But it was still a good watch, with the FL being kick-ass at medicine and forensic work, and the ML being great at martial arts and general sleuthing. Not sure I'd watch it again (especially since I realize that I had already watched it once before and didn't remember), but it was enjoyable.

Viki/Netflix - 32*45min

Chinese

It was a good watch. Yes, you have to push aside your sense of reality at a few points (including the whole face swap thing and the one character that could control bugs), but if you do, the drama is quite enjoyable. I’m not sure I will rewatch it though. 2 pet peeves though: 1- Why is it that whenever a 2nd ML is a decent, lovable person they have to die, often in a gruesome and painful way? But when they’re scumbags, they so rarely get what they deserve? Also, I could have done without the end cliffhanger alluding to a S2 that probably will never be made.

Viki/Netflix - 16*1h10

Korea

I liked it in general. I could have done without the "humoristic" moments since I found them too absurd and just too much to be funny, but that's pretty much the case in all Korean drama I watched. The rest was good though.

Viki/IQIYI - 40*45min

Chinese

The FL wasn’t as annoying as the comments made it seem, but yeah, she has the habit of charging recklessly in dangerous situations without taking into accounts that she absolutely can’t fight. As for the ML, I really like the actor and his besotted face is stunning, but he does lose quite a bit of credibility as a powerful and feared justice figure towards the end of the series, maybe a bit too much. All in all, an ok watch, but it dragged on in the second half and could have been 30 episodes instead on 40. Not really a rewatch candidate, but I don’t regret watching it till the end.

Dropped at ?/49

I can't put my finger on what is wrong exactly with this drama, but I've tried watching it 3 times and each one of those, I just... stopped.

Dropped at 20/49

I'm not really sure what exactly made me dislike it, but I just couldn't connect to the story and couldn't find anything to like about the ML's personality either.

Dropped at 10/40

It’s kind of boring and one of the 2 FL best friends, who she helped escape bad marriages, gets back with her abusing ex and/or betrays the FL because of him and/or dies because of him. I tried to watch twice and dropped it twice.

Dropped at 2/30

Not my kind of humor thank you very much

Dropped at 2/40

Wow, I don't think I've ever dropped a drama this fast before. The FL is intolerable. She's arrogant, shallow, materialistic egoistical and acts like one of those stereotypical mean girls. I can't stand her, not even to see if there will be character development. Also, this is not flagged as a comedy, but it should be, one of the absurd variety, thank you very much.

Dropped at ?/63

Absurd Chinese humour an clueless annoying FL alerts

Dropped at 2/40

I might not even have made it to the second episode. The premises were already iffy, but the way the FL acts once in the fantasy universe is plain stupid and the prince is so fucking weird.

Dropped at 22/40

Honestly wasn’t that bad. It just was too ok. Everything was just ok and I just switched to something else without really meaning to… twice. And although I can kind of guess where the FL’s emotional constipation comes from, the way she just… does nothing every time the ML confess and just show a blank, maybe confused face and walks away is just weird and frustrating.

Dropped at 24/32

A bit too "saving the damsel in distress" for me. Also, the story's plot twists kind of don't make sense to me.

Dropped at 19/24

But from the very beginning, the story is a mess. The ghost wedding is a big joke, the mother in law and her servant are despicable, and don’t even get me start on the FL father, stepmother and stepsister - they all deserve to be quartered. But the fact that the ML keeps the FL as his wife when no ceremony or whatever happened is non sense. And the way everyone keeps dropping dead is ridiculous. And I can already tell that it’s the ML’s adopted sister that kills everyone and that it must be related to the father sexually abusing her. Just NOPE.

Dropped at 5/20

I know it wasn’t supposed to be a romcom, but I feel like the whole enmity bit with the 2nd prince is overly serious, with the characters acting very unrealistically, while so far, almost all the scenes I’ve seen with the ML have had a humorous, absurd tone. And while I know the visuals have little to do with the quality of the drama, I can’t help but hate the whole aesthetic of the Joseon era. The way the characters dress, the almost entirely grey/brown/beige background (the houses and scenery), the hairstyles… It keeps bugging me. Even if the actors are gorgeous, I just can’t see it. I understand it reflects the fashion and reality of the time, but I still hate it.

Dropped at 7/40

Nope, nope and nope. Apparently, I'm just not made for Chinese drama humor. It's just too absurd for me and I just can't stand it. Sorry

Dropped at ?/54

I don't remember at which point I stopped, but I had watched quite a bit of the show. But I honestly found it... boring? Even though the FL through a lot of twists and turns, it felt like not a whole lot was happening.

Dropped at 3/40

Ok, I watched the first episode, found it impossible and non sensical, but I tried to turn off my brain and watched the second and third episodes, but it is still messed up. I understand that sometimes things have to be "arrangées avec le gars des vues" so a story works, but there is a limit. Everything happens just too perfectly and easily here.

Dropped at 2/32

I have a bad feeling about this series. For some reason, the beginning just made me feel icky.

Dropped at 15/24

Ok, the story is just too far fetched and weird at this point and I’m not sure I really like any of the characters. Plus, wtf is wrong with the ML’s wig?! It’s so bad it’s distracting every time he comes on screen.

Dropped at 1/48

Ok, no, just no... wtf with the scene in some kind of video game-like parallel universe while she's in route to her wedding? And she WANTS to get married? To find her mother? in the palace? Even if she talks like her mom is dead? And a stranger come in her wedding bedroom, hurt and poisoned and she just helps him like it's nothing to worry about? Also, she's a doctor but she climbs up mountains at night like a ninja? And there's supernatural shit with a potion that makes people like crazed walking dead?

Dropped at 2/36

I'm really not made for Asian comedy - or at least romcoms.

It could have been really great, but for me, it was a flop. I just can't stand Fang Duobing. I understand he's supposed to bring comic relief to the story, but at some point, it's not called being naive anymore. It's called just being plain dumb.

Dropped at 5/40

Dropped after only a few episodes since the beginning of the story is just too absurd. An absurd comedy.

Dropped at 8/40

Seriously, the petty rivalry between the male lead and the other guy is just ridiculous. They are behaving like children. I did not realize this was a romantic comedy. If I had, I would not have watched it as I do not like those type of shows.

Dropped at 3/34

Sorry, I really wanted to like this series, but I just can’t. First, the very concept of wives being buried with their husband (dead or alive) or sent to a convent where life is so hard that they die before the age of 30 for the rest of their lives is horrendous. Second, they hadn’t even finished the marriage ceremony when the groom died, so technically they weren’t even married yet. Third, WTF is wrong with the ML first wanting to have her buried alive just to curry favour with the general, then relenting just enough to condemn her to the convent instead? And then ruining her chance to escape that fate and acting all high and mighty and sanctimonious! Hey, it’s not your life, buddy. Butt out! Because I’m pretty sure if you were in her shoes you’d change your tune right quick. Fourth, the FL’s family is awful and a bunch of selfish jerks and she’s supposed to sacrifice her life for them?! Fifth, I don’t like absurd humour and the part where she tries to push the ML in an almost empty pound is just that. And one last thing! I’m pretty sure I watched dubbed dramas before, but come ON! The voices in this one don’t fit at all! So much, it’s actually distracting.

Dropped at 3/36

I stopped because I found it too humoristic and caricatural, especially how the FL is portrayed.

Dropped at 9/39

There are too many ridiculous moments that are supposed to be funny but aren't. Plus, there is no chemistry between the 2 actors and after 9 episodes, the story made no sense. and was going both way too fast and way too slow.

Dropped at 5/40

I started watching it at least twice and dropped it every time, this time only at episode 5 as the FL feels pompous and seemingly keeps citing literature just to hear herself talk and show off. Also, I just got bored and the ML looks so much older than the FL that it gets creepy. I can take a age gap (see A splendid match), but here they just don't fit.

Dropped at 29/40

Is it me, or the characters get stupider as the story goes on? It's as if they can't be smart and in love at the same time. And as everything seems to get better, suddenly it all crashes at the same time? Like, I know there has to be turnarounds and all to make the story interesting, but the ones pulled in the last few episodes seem a bit too much.

Dropped at ?/68

I’m sorry, but the behavior of the FL in the beginning turned me off so much that I didn’t even want to keep watching in the hope that it would get better. Also, I really didn’t love the look of the leads.

Dropped at 12/70

People seem to have LOVED the drama, but I just don't get it. The FL is so clueless, it's a wonder she managed to survive to adulthood. And she's supposed to be the smart, mature sibling?!? I mean, the bar isn't set very high with how dumb and careless her brother is, but still! Every time she does something, I just want to yell at her to just stop. She just charge forward while disregarding absolutely all the obvious clues that she's in over her head in a situation she doesn't have all the facts of with complex background relationships she has no idea of. It's obvious there is way more going on than she knows just from the fact that 3 princes arr involved! But instead of observing and digging up as much information as she can so she has a better chance at saving her family, she ignores everything and does whatever. That's the contrary of being smart.

Dropped at 10/45

After only 9 episodes, I'm bored stiff. I have no idea where the story is going, but the ML is cold and stiff, and even though he is supposed to be smart, at least when it comes to state business, he is absolutely clueless and easily manipulable when it comes to his household matters. I tried 2 times to watch this and just nope.

Dropped at 25/26

Sorry, it was an epic story... until she "woke up" from her second life (after dying in it - again), only to find herself in her first life again, just a tiny bit earlier than when she died (for the first time) in it. COME ON! One do over- fine, great even! 2 do overs, one of which seems to "only be a dream"? NOPE. No go.

Dropped at 2/55

Honestly, I'm only in the beginning of the 2nd episode and I'm already pretty sure I'll be dropping this drama before I start the 3rd one. The FL is SO getting on my nerves. She's supposed to be smart, but so far, she seems like a boastful dumbass. She just recklessly charge into every situation and says whatever goes through her head at anytime without assessing things first and taking precautions in case things don't go the way she wants. Also, the ML acts like an arrogant jerk so far and just seems like a giant red flag.

Dropped at 2/36

Way too much absurd humor and a clueless freakishly annoying and ridiculous FL

Dropped at 14/33

I'm sorry, but the story just didn't make sense and the characters' motivations even less.

Dropped at 5/30

At this point the characters and their actions are just plain ridiculous. A bit of comedic relief is one thing, absurd and dumbass actions and reactions are another. Seriously, how many people can intervene in one girl’s marriage? And why the fuck is the ML not just TALKING to the FL and hiding his identity?

IQIYI - 30*40min

Chinese

It was... enjoyable? I admit I'm torn about that one. First, the ending seems like a TBC more than a real ending. Second, the fact that the FL mom's was the biological daughter of FL's father's mother (the grandma) she abandoned at birth to adopt the FL's father instead to keep control of the family once her then husband died is a huge mind fuck. And like, 3 of the father's wives became crazy? And the father was still able to push the grandma to kill herself even after she was warned of his true character by the FL? It really seemed like all the characters that deserved a happy ending got the opposite while all the villains got punished but always a step or 3 too late? I don't know.

IQIYI - 38*45min

Chinese

I admit, the start of the relationship between the FL and ML gave me HUGE pause. Before the FL got her payback and they start to work together, I was ready to drop the whole thing. But I appreciated how the 2 leads start to respect each other only after the truce was established and then, and only then, did feelings start to develop. I'm kind of torn over how the ML's father got killed, then the cover up with the ML almost dying and going through the whole blind-for-five-minutes-then-amnesiac-for-two-minutes-before-getting-his-memory-back thing, only to come back and take back the kingdom in 0.3 seconds. I also disliked how they stopped the SML only after he killed his brother, stabbed the ML's sister, making her lose his brother's baby, and poisoned his mom. And how the FL and her sworn-brother had to kill their other sworn-brother. I don't understand how the guy didn't turn against the SML after learning he was behind the death camps. Or did he never learn it?