this year's watches (2026)

probably on the lower end of HMH dramas imho (yes i’m on a HMH watching streak)

a typical xianxia with melodramatic elements, we have the classic misunderstandings and cheesy CGI (the budget is a little on the lower end)

• frankly it could’ve been an EXTREMELY dark adaptation if the source material was in the hands of another theme

also HMH is not dubbed by himself so that took me out of it quite a bit..

also zhouye is just not my preferred actress in general so it was a bit difficult to immerse in their couplehood as a whole but there were still come cute and decent moments!

gratuitous watch. bromance reigns supreme. plot-wise it was definitely more incoherent than s1 but it was easier to watch tbh. the bond between both MLs were sooooo good

very wholesome and green flag couple, songmo i love you

• so communicative and protective of each other #goated

• beautiful cinematography and i love the teamwork between the leads so much.

con: robbed of more silverhaired songmo.

annoying side characters at times... had to ff when they were being "scheming" or wtv

omg. has there ever been a greener flag than xiao huayong in an ancient chinese drama??? (maybe song mo? meng ziyi you are blessed.)

literally BINGED this entire drama for his character… so whumpy but playful he was eating this fucking role up. also could NOT get over how korean he looks sm like hyunjin (from straykids sometimes) and it doesn’t help that one of the other male characters looks like jungkook i was disoriented about the facial recognition for sureeeeeee.

pacing of the show was adequately fast-paced i enjoyed that and didn’t drag things along too much to frustrate me

omg where do i begin this drama is a hot mess. super draggy, incoherent and choppy asf. it’s impossible to be immersed in this universe… and it’s tragic that it’s supposed to be a (sequel) prequel to Blood of Youth, which is by far, way more superior in its execution of a coming of age, youthful wuxia??? bye. super disappointing and a huge a waste of the cast they got with HMH and He Yu bruh. the plot is just too messy i did not fw this. pmo.

HMH/ ZYZ truly is the saving grace of this drama. i think this is one of guo jing ming’s weakest work? even visually speaking i was a bit thrown off but how muddy and blurry certain scenes were, and i’m genuinely unsure if it was for the mood or for face-filtering of sorts?

chen duling’s character in this is genuinely a tragedy, i haven’t enjoyed her performance in anything since TTEOTM, which seems to confirm a bias i have towards her playing main characters that are “pure” in nature. she is much more magnetic when playing villain roles that’s for sure. her character here was super flat and uninteresting. tragic.

simple watch. nothing groundbreaking but lyx always kills his performance so i enjoyed it.

holy shit. this drama is a fucking hidden gem??? the cinematography was gorgeous, tea is interesting and the writing is actually so engaging <3 ok let me break down what i liked properly.

• HMH ate this role up. micro-expressions and cheeky shamelessness are so explicably up his alley. ntm the character Lu Jianglai is cunning, scheming but just the right amount of morally okay. i love a smart ML that isn’t threatened by a strong woman <3 he also knows exactly when to pander to her hehe

  • oh and this is my first “realistic” historical drama of his and it’s honestly soooooo tea. the whump was also satisfying despite the premise. plus he is soooo fucking cheeky but sooooo devoted in his love 10 outta 10 for that.

• also my first Gulinazha drama and I have to say i’m very pleasantly surprised by her execution of this character. i think that some people disliked this drama because they prefer warmer FLs, but i actually quite liked her portrayal of this soon-to-be matriarch of her family. she was steely and cool, but showed just the right amount of flirtatiousness and warmth when i needed her to. yes more would’ve been nice, but it felt very suitable to her character. her practicality as an FL was also incredibly satisfying to watch

• side characters were occasionally frustrating to watch but the recurrent ones were actually quite layered and fleshed out (i.e. the sisters) and i thoroughly enjoyed how all their relationships turned out!! i love a good sisterhood <3 the growth from cattiness and bitchiness to maturing and standing up for what they truly wanted was soooo good!!

fun! chenglei was very scrumptious in this role. wang churan was a bit too stiff at times :\

couldn't get into it. i love chenglei but zhouye fell flat for me </3 sorry

honestly a really unprecedented good watch?? wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as i did but it genuinely amused it so well

esther is back to a “whiny”-esque role but honestly i don’t even dislike it it’s so fucking funny and suited to this plot

• her internal monologue as a transmigrator is sooooo realistic and just lended so much hilarity to this semi-dead trope (imho)

ding yuxi was also soooo enjoyable he sold every aspect of his character(s)

• my first time watching his drama and i’m intrigued by him now LOL

wOW haven’t enjoyed a xianxia in a hot minute (i think the last was probably till the end of the moon?) but damn did houminghao revive my xianxia watching skills (or jibozai..)

the couple’s chemistry is sooooooo right for me in this one, the skinship and tension (and even the deceit, which i lowkey don’t fw that much). there are still misunderstandings (inevitable with this genre) but the way they’re handled doesn’t frustrate me too hard (i’m only annoyed with them ONE at a time, more often than not the FL la)

that being said, hmh is super scrumptious in this one (that white-haired wig OH MY GOD) and the whump eats down fr.

main couple (my babies) were cute and wholesome, a bit frustrating dynamic (misunderstood enemies to lovers esque? which works well for a guzhuang but in modern cdrama it can get annoying quick) it is healing to watch if you're a TTEOTM sufferer.

side characters were absolutely insufferable to me i had to skip their scenes bye

also the only lyx drama where he isn’t suffering physically and emotionally 24/7 LOOOOOOL

wtf is that ending???

very pretty cinematography and fight scenes ngl

gong ziyu was a bit of a underwhelming character that got sort of sidelined for other characters (that aren’t main) so a bit feelsbad for zlh in his portrayal as well. that being said, chenglei is a real standout in this one

also it was fun to see esther in a non-whiny style role,, she’s so serious here it was cool

this restarted my binge onto cdramas. this director is reaaaally good at making everything pretty. txw and zlh have great chemistry. drama starts strong and weakens towards the end but still an overall good watch. writing suffers in plot weaving at times but if we're only here for eyecandy it's good enough.

yassss this probably ranks 2nd for lyx's dramas for me. great found family dynamics (and honestly complicated relationships between him and almost everybody was very >>>) fun and easy to watch (relatively fast paced if you're not in the mood for draggy dramas too)

watched just for heyu because blossoms of power had me enamored by his looks lmao

but.. not really a fan of the pseudo-incest and i think in almost every other drama i would drop it but fUCKKKKK he yu’s face is toooooo good. this drama was a lighthearted fun watch (wasn’t expecting that from the poster), and i do wish it would’ve gone darker at times, though that might’ve made it angstier than my personal preference…

• still pretty decent watch, i didn’t FF and skip as much as some of my other watches and i would say it a pretty good rating 4 modern dramas

best zlh acting performance to date. he devoured his character. fun and intriguing watch!

super fun watch that deals with REAL issues (in a satisfying albeit idealistic way). cried almost every other episode because.. idk this shit too real yk. </3 love love the relationship between ML and his (almost) father-in-law, i love a good familial dynamic. and the action is sooooo fun!

very sweet modern cdrama. i usually don't partake in modern cdramas as often but this one was pretty good!! the tcm was also interesting.

was an enjoyable and riveting revenge story with unconventional characters leading the journey

i esp love the female lead, who is so fucking genius despite her trauma and existing psychological issues

• cried so fucking hard i got a migraine

male lead was also an amazing actor so acting gets a 9/10 for me for both of them

as for the story, although the revenge was satisfying, i get kind of lost in the sauce because it’s kind of slow-paced at times.

began my zlh filmography sweep, this was a lighthearted watch with occasionally frustrating moments but zlh plays a solid green flag (for historical dramas).

woah. this was a super pleasant surprise. y’all. enemies to lovers. this is the blueprint. my first drama of these two actors and they fucking caught me off guard for real. i watched this right after legend of the female general (did not deliver </3) and it was SAURRRR good

okay i wasn't planning on watching this one at all because i’m not interested in the FL but hmh is hmh so i watched it anyway. honestly it actually isn't half bad?

it felt like a superior version of back from the brink (which was absolute ASS). skipped the second ML & FL’s stories for the most part and the story was still coherent so >> win for that

• hongye’s character in the present is a little empty at times but hongye in the time travel arcs felt more alive (and therefore enjoyable to watch). overall a likeable and (sometimes TOO) benevolent character

  • too much of a FL assistant ykwim? like he doesn't have a point to exist without her ig? still #handsome tho

• i dont rly care for this actress but her character was not annoying + always empathetic & understanding, which is GREAT in xianxias

  • a key flaw for her is how easily she let the 3 ancient beasts go… they were highkey fucked up for what they did to human hongye bruh…

• BUT time-traveling arcs were honestly my favorite with the small con of him not getting to “relive” it with her?

• i actually mind the sad ending (& didn't need the retcon skill) because it felt quite apt for the karmic lessons we were learning

rewatched <3

oof i think this is my favorite cha eunwoo performance. whoever wrote his character... thank you. a quick and enjoyable watch!! very fun <3 i didn't enjoy some of the humor but it was tolerable

i love lyx but this plot was probably the most incoherent and messy thing i've watched in a while. extremely wasted potential.