Dropping dramas is something I've only started doing in recent years.
I think the reason for this is because of the accessibility to so many choices of dramas to watch these days. Probably in the past, due to limitations then, dropping dramas wasn't really an option given the lack of alternatives to follow. Now, in addition to countless dramas being produced, there are multiple platforms for watching them.
So what makes me drop dramas? The first major criteria - if I happen to find out the ending is going to be devastatingly sad and tragic (or perhaps not even at the ending but along the way), I would immediately stop to save myself the heartbreak.
Second criteria - if the first couple of episodes do not hook me in, then off it goes to the dropped list too. No regrets and no angst either.
Probably the hardest ones to drop are those that started with a bang but somehow tailed off in the middle - this falls under the third criteria where I ask myself if this is worth investing my time further.
Interesting point to note is that even putting dramas on hold is in a way the first step towards dropping them. That's me anyway :)
Keep up the good work and hope to read more of your articles in future!
Beautifully written article and I do share your sentiments. Thank you for sharing :)
I absolutely adore period dramas, whether historical or fictional, mixed with wuxia or mystery or just court intrigue and politics. This is one phase I'm never going to get over lol
I have watched some from the list you mentioned, such as Six Flying Dragons, Mr Sunshine, Warrior Baek Dong Soo and The Untamed. And there's a bunch of others that I've managed to catch up on along the way.
For me, the main distinguishing factor with watching historical as opposed to modern dramas is that you are immediately taken to a completely different world (dimension?) when you watch them. The lavish sets, beautiful costumes, gorgeous cinematography and radically different societal norms. Even the classical form of language used is utterly fascinating.
Another distinguishing factor, and this is largely applicable to C-dramas, is the length of the drama. They are usually long! I guess in a way that is a challenge for the scriptwriters and directors to sustain the pacing in the drama and, ultimately, to maintain viewer interest.
Personally I'm fine with the length, in fact if it happens to be really good, I wish it'd never end :D
My favs? Too many to recall but I certainly enjoyed Nirvana in Fire and Six Flying Dragons. The Royal Gambler and the currently airing Song of Glory gets an honourable mention too :)
I'm a big fan of Bai Lu ever since watching her in The Legends last year, so your article came at the right time.
Apart from that, I made sure to catch her performance in Arsenal. I haven't yet finished the show (just started in fact) but I saw enough of the same quality in her acting and persona.
She is the type of actress who is meant to lead a cast, either as the main lead or FL. She projects a certain kind of charisma and aura that not many actresses possess. Truthfully I haven't seen her in modern settings but I think so far she has been perfectly cast in wuxia and fantasy genres. Hope to see more of her in upcoming projects and there sure are many from the looks of it.
I really enjoyed reading the article. Please keep it up and keep them coming :)
Thank you for the lovely and insightful article! Very well done and a lot of effort has been put in by you all :)
Couldn't agree more - there's a lot of variety to choose from in C-dramas and in recent years, the film-making techniques, technology and quality have improved by leaps and bounds.
The interesting thing about the historical, wuxia and fantasy genre is that there is an abundance of materials to choose from in which to base any drama on. Chinese history is long and colourful with so many dynasties and historical events. Likewise the folklore and mythology of the culture. Include to that the list of talented novelists over the years who have given us masterpieces of storytelling, the sky is the limit as far as dramas on these genres are concerned.
Keep going, keep enjoying dramas and keep up the good work! Hope to read more articles from you guys :)
I think it was a must for someone to die in this drama and it was pretty good timing in my opinion but I was just…
I agree with Ness and I do feel you, Eon. It wouldn't be a serious drama, a historical one at that, without a depiction of some form of tragedy. At the same time, I think this drama has conjured up a lot of strong emotions because of how compelling and engaging it is. There's a lot of vested interest because of that.
I'm frustrated too but I still think this is a remarkable drama. In a way, it follows the path of say Game of Thrones more than Nirvana in Fire in terms of the frequency of unfortunate events.
Is LiGe the real daughter of Shen family? Somehow in front of her master's tomb, she said "I should have hated…
Not sure which episode you're at but somewhere along the way (can't recall which episode), during the scene of a trial, it was explained via a set of baby clothes that Lige is indeed the daughter of the Shens.
I watched The Legends last year and really enjoyed it.
It's not often that we get to see a strong FL in wuxia / xianxia dramas, so I truly appreciated the story being brought to life in a live adaptation.
This drama also made me a fan of Bai Lu who played Zhao Yao. I thought her portrayal was remarkable as if the role was written just for her. Having watched her other dramas, she's more than capable of playing a strong and smart lead.
I also appreciated how the colourful story that's filled with so many interesting yet complex characters actually gave the viewers an insight into how subjective and grey the process of distinguishing between good and evil really is.
Anyway, hope to see more of such dramas in the near future and with a great ending to cap off too :)
From your list, I only watched DOTS and Forest. DOTS I dropped after 5 episodes, because it was just too.... soapy (for me anyway). As for Forest, I watched only 1 episode before putting it on hold. It felt like a surreal-themed romance drama which wasn't really for me, though I usually enjoy PHJ's shows.
Agree with QIU's comments. If you're not feeling it, don't force it. And when you do pick it up again later, the enthusiasm and intensity is no longer there.
As for me, usually I drop a drama early when I'm not getting into the storyline or not relating to the characters. I would also drop a drama halfway through if I somehow find out that it has a bad/ sad ending, because I would prefer a positive closure after investing so much time and energy into it. Better to cut my losses from a bad investment lol
I managed to finish Untamed from start till the end without any breaks in between probably because BL themes are new to me and I find it intriguing, plus the ML (Xiao Zhan) felt engaging enough.
21 
35 
8 
Hope the portrayal does justice to real life events.
Dropping dramas is something I've only started doing in recent years.
I think the reason for this is because of the accessibility to so many choices of dramas to watch these days. Probably in the past, due to limitations then, dropping dramas wasn't really an option given the lack of alternatives to follow. Now, in addition to countless dramas being produced, there are multiple platforms for watching them.
So what makes me drop dramas? The first major criteria - if I happen to find out the ending is going to be devastatingly sad and tragic (or perhaps not even at the ending but along the way), I would immediately stop to save myself the heartbreak.
Second criteria - if the first couple of episodes do not hook me in, then off it goes to the dropped list too. No regrets and no angst either.
Probably the hardest ones to drop are those that started with a bang but somehow tailed off in the middle - this falls under the third criteria where I ask myself if this is worth investing my time further.
Interesting point to note is that even putting dramas on hold is in a way the first step towards dropping them. That's me anyway :)
Keep up the good work and hope to read more of your articles in future!
I absolutely adore period dramas, whether historical or fictional, mixed with wuxia or mystery or just court intrigue and politics. This is one phase I'm never going to get over lol
I have watched some from the list you mentioned, such as Six Flying Dragons, Mr Sunshine, Warrior Baek Dong Soo and The Untamed. And there's a bunch of others that I've managed to catch up on along the way.
For me, the main distinguishing factor with watching historical as opposed to modern dramas is that you are immediately taken to a completely different world (dimension?) when you watch them. The lavish sets, beautiful costumes, gorgeous cinematography and radically different societal norms. Even the classical form of language used is utterly fascinating.
Another distinguishing factor, and this is largely applicable to C-dramas, is the length of the drama. They are usually long! I guess in a way that is a challenge for the scriptwriters and directors to sustain the pacing in the drama and, ultimately, to maintain viewer interest.
Personally I'm fine with the length, in fact if it happens to be really good, I wish it'd never end :D
My favs? Too many to recall but I certainly enjoyed Nirvana in Fire and Six Flying Dragons. The Royal Gambler and the currently airing Song of Glory gets an honourable mention too :)
I'm a big fan of Bai Lu ever since watching her in The Legends last year, so your article came at the right time.
Apart from that, I made sure to catch her performance in Arsenal. I haven't yet finished the show (just started in fact) but I saw enough of the same quality in her acting and persona.
She is the type of actress who is meant to lead a cast, either as the main lead or FL. She projects a certain kind of charisma and aura that not many actresses possess. Truthfully I haven't seen her in modern settings but I think so far she has been perfectly cast in wuxia and fantasy genres. Hope to see more of her in upcoming projects and there sure are many from the looks of it.
I really enjoyed reading the article. Please keep it up and keep them coming :)
Couldn't agree more - there's a lot of variety to choose from in C-dramas and in recent years, the film-making techniques, technology and quality have improved by leaps and bounds.
The interesting thing about the historical, wuxia and fantasy genre is that there is an abundance of materials to choose from in which to base any drama on. Chinese history is long and colourful with so many dynasties and historical events. Likewise the folklore and mythology of the culture. Include to that the list of talented novelists over the years who have given us masterpieces of storytelling, the sky is the limit as far as dramas on these genres are concerned.
Keep going, keep enjoying dramas and keep up the good work! Hope to read more articles from you guys :)
I'm frustrated too but I still think this is a remarkable drama. In a way, it follows the path of say Game of Thrones more than Nirvana in Fire in terms of the frequency of unfortunate events.
I watched The Legends last year and really enjoyed it.
It's not often that we get to see a strong FL in wuxia / xianxia dramas, so I truly appreciated the story being brought to life in a live adaptation.
This drama also made me a fan of Bai Lu who played Zhao Yao. I thought her portrayal was remarkable as if the role was written just for her. Having watched her other dramas, she's more than capable of playing a strong and smart lead.
I also appreciated how the colourful story that's filled with so many interesting yet complex characters actually gave the viewers an insight into how subjective and grey the process of distinguishing between good and evil really is.
Anyway, hope to see more of such dramas in the near future and with a great ending to cap off too :)
Brilliant first article, really appreciate the effort :)
Another theme under the category of "fire dimming" - horror.
Being scared witless might certainly help forget the anger in the first place :O
Agree with QIU's comments. If you're not feeling it, don't force it. And when you do pick it up again later, the enthusiasm and intensity is no longer there.
As for me, usually I drop a drama early when I'm not getting into the storyline or not relating to the characters. I would also drop a drama halfway through if I somehow find out that it has a bad/ sad ending, because I would prefer a positive closure after investing so much time and energy into it. Better to cut my losses from a bad investment lol
I managed to finish Untamed from start till the end without any breaks in between probably because BL themes are new to me and I find it intriguing, plus the ML (Xiao Zhan) felt engaging enough.
The other thing that i enjoy is the verbal exchanges between the villain and the hero. Its almost like watching a debate! Great dialogue :D
Gotta say, watching this is tiring with all the almost non-stop action. More tiring than the people doing the
Wait till you get to episode 42. lol
Storyline sounds interesting. Hope PSH gets a bigger role here than Alhambra.