Basil’s Recommendations

ML: Dylan Wang; (FL: Tian Xiwei)

Transmigration cdrama that follows the growth of the ML as he sticks to his principles. Fun and exciting watch. Not a lot of romance but more on family, loyalty and friendship. Dylan brings his charm in his role as Xu Qi'an. Solid cast and fun support characters. 

Update: Season 2 announced at the 2025 Weibo TV and Internet Video Summit in November 2025! 

ML: Liu Yuning; FL: Song Zuer

Enemies to lovers trope. Easy to follow political plot and excellent chemistry between the leads. 

ML: (Ryan) Cheng Lei; FL: Zhou Ye

"Mulan" story with great leads. Easy, fun and engaging watch. Loved the relationship between the leads, and Zhou Ye makes a great female general.

ML: Chen Zheyuan; FL: Li Qin

Watched while it aired, and this show kept me on my toes! Beautiful leads, and really loved the development of their relationship, like with TPOB (real enemies to lovers trope). Strong themes of loyalties and ultimate betrayals.

ML: Hou Minghao; FL: Gulnezer Bextiyar (or Guli Nazha by her nickname)

Glory started off my 2026 with a bang! My rating may be biased because I hosted the discussions on Reddit, but if Reddit was any indication of its popularity and the chokehold it had on viewers who watched as it aired, then it deserves my rating of 10/10. This is a drama that is entertaining to watch with friends. It did a beautiful job with the gender swap narrative, and Minghao poured his heart into this drama (like with all his other ones) and it's obvious. The cast was great, and the story was original.

ML: He Cong Rui; FL: Liu Nian.

Vertical drama with fantastic chemistry between the leads. Guilty pleasure type drama. While this one is the best, if you like the leads together, also check out (in order), Lingering in Mind and How Dare You!? (vertical version because a new one is coming out with Cheng Lei and Wang Churan). 

ML: Li Yunrui; FL: Meng Ziyi

A somewhat lighter version to Fated Hearts. No fake sibling, amnesia or noble idiocy tropes. It's a rebirth/second chance at life/change your fate story. Loved the relationship between the leads.

ML: Liu Yuning; FL: Li Yitong

Transmigration cdrama, where the FL attempts to change her fate in the written script. Funny and original script. Chemistry was only alright but costumes and setting were A+.

ML: Dylan Wang; FL: I forget.

Dylan Wang is fire again in this drama. Plays the best eunuch I've ever seen. <heart eyes> Too bad they censored this one, because the extra scenes would've made it so much better.

ML: Cheng Lei

Watched for (Ryan) Cheng Lei. You can see a trend in my recommendations by now... One thing that's very inspiring about Cheng Lei is his rise to fame starting with short dramas. The industry recognized his talent even from lower quality productions such as the Queen of Attack series, and now he's the male lead in the most anticipated upcoming dramas.

ML: Fan Shiqi

Fun and light drama with my first ever Cdrama crush from the Guardians of the Dafeng. Drama takes place in a unique "school/academia" setting, a nice break from all the historical dramas with political plots (of princes fighting for the throne or rival states fighting each other, etc). 

ML: Song Weilong

My second cdrama ever, with a pretty handsome ML: Song Weilong. Gateway to my cdrama obsession.

ML: Xu Kai; FL: Tian Xiwei

The show that made me binge more Xu Kai dramas, but this one is his best imo (followed by Wonderland of Love). Love the demon story here and easy to follow. Solid chemistry between the leads. I'm not typically a fan of xianxias but this one is an exception. 

ML: Hou Minghao; FL: Zhou Ye

This along with Fangs of Fortune (though the latter I stopped at episode 28) really showcases Minghao's handsome face and beautiful acting. Not sure if this one is considered a xianxia, but if it is, I still loved it, and I cried. It gave me Moonlit Reunion vibes, but somewhat lighter. It was more of an emotional rollercoaster.

ML: (Ryan) Ding Yuxi; FL: Ancy Deng

This was the first cdrama I ever watched. Though I didn't actually remember Ding Yuxi (I noticed him in Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (LGIEF) - another transmigration drama where the FL tries to change her fate in the novel she is in), I recommend this drama since it paved the way to my Cdrama journey and holds a special place in my heart.

Yuxi is great in LGIEF but it's not on the recommendation list only because the role of the FL is not my cup of tea (the overly "cute", ditzy FL with screechy voice). This is not a diss on Esther Yu but the character itself is what I'm not a fan of.

Recommend for the first arc (episodes 1-11). 

ML: Cheng Lei; FL: Jelly Lin; and the rest of the cast are amazing in this Republican Cdrama.