C-dramas I watched in 2025

Realistic portrayal of complex relationship between 3-generation of mother-daughter. Heartwarming slice-of-life drama. Directed by Li Mo, who also directed 'Fake it till you make it' and 'Remembrance of Things Past', he handles complex relationship and slice of life story well.

A feel-good youth ensemble drama. Story about youth, friendship and budding romance and their coming-of-age. I personally really like the last stretch of the drama, in comparison to most dramas which falter towards the end, I appreciate how they went a more realistic route towards the end. Director Zhang Xiao An is someone to lookout for, he portrays relationship intricately and pays attention to BGM and details.

Director Lin Yu-fen delivers again and again. I went in with low expectations as episodic fantasy dramas aren't usually my cup of tea but it's well-produced and the OST song by Zhang Jie could be one of my favorite from this year's c-drama OST.

Story of underdog overcoming obstacle and period political drama never gets old to me. I really like the plot and it's super well produced. Good acting from the cast. Personally though, the romance portion didn't really get me but overall I really enjoyed binging this show. If you like plotting clever protagonist, this is the show for you.

New cast addition Yan Yi Kuan, Yin Fang and Wen Qi are enigmatic. I love this series, I love director Xu Hong Yu (Derek Hui), he's good in various generes imo, I also like his modern romance dramas lols.

Heroine is so bold and clever that I fell in love with her much faster and harder than the hero. Greating acting from both. I really enjoyed the coroner portion of this show and how it ties to so many emotions of side characters.

I heart my 3-musketeers. A show about juvenile justice and the people around them. Episodic format and realistic show. Pace is just ncie imo. If you enjoy legal suspense and crime-solving drama, watch this.

Had me on the edge of my seat from start, although I do feel it fizzled quite a bit towards the end. The aftermath of a single mistake sets butterfly effect towards people's live. I really enjoyed the show.

Overall still a good watch for people who like to watch crime solving dramas, but I definitely feel season 1 was much more exciting. Still decent overall.

Short and sweet, fun watch and well-produced. Bai Jingting and his thing for time-loop dramas haha. I do think it didn't really "move" me, but I enjoyed binging the show.

Watch it if you enjoy crime-solving drama, I do feel the execution feels a tad bit flat overall. But Dilreba did great in this show, her acting has improved a lot over the years.

Leads has most natural chemistry out of the OTP I watched this year. Older female, younger male dynamic is so enticing. I really enjoyed the show, it's a bit rough on some edges but definitely a great watch.

I feel the first half has a much more edgy and fresh tone, 2nd half is still enjoyable but feels more like a common romance drama, however last few episodes falter a bit. Still great acting from the leads. 

Short and sweet romance that gives you no stress. Xu Ruohan knows how to love a person, her gaze <3. I enjoyed He Suye character and I think Zhang Linghe's acting improved, he was stiff in the past period dramas I saw him, I much prefer him in modern romance.

Chen Zheyuan proves that he can act and versatile and Li Qin is such a good actress. In terms of appearance, I never thought they have chemistry but their characters have such strong chemistry. I really enjoy strong female vs strong male dynamic. They're both able to save themselves and each other. Story-wise drags a little towards the end if not I'll give an 8.

I love how the female characters are written in this drama, they're all strong in their own ways, particularly heroine who overcome obstacle after obstacle. Lin Yun looks so pretty in this drama, I went in with 0 expectations and it was a fun watch,

Strong heroine vs strong hero dynamic. Entertaining show. Loving the chemistry between the leads too. My first Cheng Lei drama, he's pretty good at acting and Zhou Ye's acting improved, she's good in this one.

The brotherly love in this drama is precious. Intriguing mystery and psychological drama. Good watch.

I admit BL isn't really my thing and this one is just pretty subtle but Zhang Xin Cheng is enigmatic, his character has such a "dramatic" theatrical vibe whch I really dig. Great acting from both leads, plot wise I can feel that they cut a lot of scenes hence some portion feels a little bit choppy.

I love the two strong heroines, their frenemy dynamic <3 I don't care about any of the male characters because they two are so entertaining to watch. Plot-wise drags towards the end if not I could give it a 8.

A realistic approach of crime solving that requires years of hardwork. There's no shortcut in this show hence a slow-burn show. Might be slow for some.

I feel it did pretty well in handling heavy subject but overall I just feel like some of these feels a bit 'obvious' that it didn't move me as much as I want to. But I really hope cdramas have more shows like this, that focuses on pain of victims..

One of my favorite novel, I think Song Zu-er is perfect and what I envisioned the heroine to be. Liu Yuning acting feels similar to other dramas I've seen him in, he's decent but not able to move me and subjectively speaking, not really how I envisioned my male lead from the novel. Still, I enjoyed the story.

Overall pretty decent watch, however I do feel the 'twists' are quite obvious, lacking in surprising elements imo, I had higher expectation for the screenwriter but overall well-produced. Liu Shi Shi x Dou Xiao chemistry sizzles, it's also refreshing to see frenemy dynamic between male and female protagonist with little/0 romance. I don't think they swing that way romantically, more like soulmates frenemy who understand each other and it makes the chemistry even more delicious.

Intriguing story, I really enjoyed how fierce the ladies in this show are. Heroine's mom actress is the true gem of this story. Xing Yun Lai's acting has a lot of room for improvement as his eyes really don't know how to "love" a person, Chen Du Ling did great.

Intriguing story but the cinematography and aesthetic sense is really outdated...  Producer Yang Xiao Pei always pick interesting stories (Shine on Me is also produced by her too - which I love the story but dislike the cinematography, styling and aesthetica sense) . She's quite notorious for having has lackluster aesthetic sense. Still, I really enjoyed the story. Chemistry-wise, pretty ok.

One of my favorite novel, Director Winnie has such pretty aesthetic and good taste in songs. However, I think 30+ episodes kinda killed the pacing, too much of unnecessary drama that was not in novel that feels like a filler and drag. I really love the main OTP though. Writing could be better.

It's between 7.25~7.5 to me. Really interesting plot by Wei Yu (she writes great fantasy mystery novel). However, I didn't enjoy some of the character progress story towards the end. Great ensemble though! I really think Song Weilong should try more action dramas, his acting improved a lot, especially his line delivery but when it comes to more emotional scenes, he still have room for improvement. Romance wise is okay, I enjoy the friendship and action more in this show.

Pretty good spin-off adaptation drama of famous reality show - An Exciting offer where they focuses on the lives of rookie lawyers. I think the directing is pretty good and actors are great but I feel it kinda drags in last stretch and I thought romance was unncessary between the two leads as I dig their competitor dynamic more than their romance dynamic.

I didnt enjoy the 2nd half that much so I dropped it in the last 8episodes.. But I really like the chemistry of OTP and I'm a sucker for lovers-reunite after many years trope. I might pick this back up some day. Mystery aspect is pretty ok but the villain is easy to guess imo.

Started out great, ok in the middle, ended out ok. Great ost by 石岩, 蜉蝣志 is my 2nd fav OST from c-drama this year. Memorable song imo. It's very different from the usual period drama style OST.

Started out good, but again, too much of 2nd male lead story towards the end that I feel the career aspect of protagonist isn't covered enough. I wanna see the process of underdog being successful but in the end, they focused too much on the side characters. I held a grudge about that, wanted to give it a 7.5 at first.

Enjoyed first half, not so much second half. OTP has a lot of chemistry, pretty cute at first until too much dragging in 2nd half. I really wanted to give it 7.5

I do get some comedic aspects of the show, but I think the pacing wasn't that good. I feel the "hot-headed fist-pumping" scenes only came in the last stretch of the show. I was probably hoping for more actions but was fed with too much slice-of-life. Didn't really get me, I do like the characters though.

I really like the leads but unfortunately show drags towards the end and feels a bit flat overall.

Cute OTP, they have chemistry but I wish to see them in modern dramas actually. haha. I feel the heroine character got a bit annoying towards the middle of the show. Couldn't really finish, story didn't grab me as well.

Multiple couples, I enjoyed this ensemble. Type of drama which I enjoyed while watching but ddoesn't make me linger that much imo.

Forgettable, I think it feels a bit flat overall. OTP wise is alright.