DaliaB

I think for me it's two things:
Different times, different rules. While I might feel very critical of contemporary shows and notice what a dunce the overbearing ML is or how unrealistic it is for them to be each others first loves at 29, I can mindlessly enjoy these dynamics, because I wasn't there to fact check for realism.
And they look pretty. That's it. Costumes are half the appeal of historical dramas from anywhere.

As evidence I want to point out that SiYi was clearly jealous of Gao Yue, but not of Zhang Mang. She warned her friend that ZM might not be a good match, because she knows his past, but it wasn't "Why do you spend time and talk to him instead of me...?"
I may be biased, because when I was younger, my friendships had similar dynamics (with added HS Drama), but honestly, if there was romantic interest, whom would SiYi be jealous of?

I don't understand why people think there is GL in this, have you all never had a really close female friendships?
I have a best friend, who is basically my sister from another mister, and the one time we fought, it was worse than a break-up. When she was in trouble, I nearly lost my job so I could go and help her. Men have asked us if we are lesbian, because we chose to go home together instead of staying with them late at night.
And there is exactly zero sexual anything between us.

Which is why I related to them so much. I wish everyone would find this sort of friendships.

Not really. There are complicated relationships aplenty, but no second ML, will they won't they BS.

Guan Yue is an important character in this, with an arc and (impossibly cute) lovestory of her own.

It's what happens when you put a career over friendships or being liked. It would have ruined their network of relationships with bigger designers, and then their already flaggeling magazine would have had problems. It was a hard, and ultimately wrong decision, but it's what happens in real life a lot too. Which is why I love the show so much.

A friend of mine (not me) did a screen video of an introsong, so she (not me) could listen to it while while jogging. Sadly it never made it's way to Spotify.

Please be Jealousy Incarnated , the plot seems similar, at least that had some sizzle.

I actually was there for this the first half, but it got so push pull, I got annoyed with everyone but the male lead. He deserves so much better. And I legit thought this was a noona romance, because she dressed worse than her mom.

Thank you for this list. I only watched 3 Meals a Day, and already loved it. I also watched the one with Jasper Liu travelling. I have a severe lack of travel right now, and some of these hit just the spot.
I find them so much better than western travelling shows and vlogs, much more calm and realistic, while the western once are always edited for "action".

Oh God, yes. I stopped watching too. I think the "parents influence your decisions" are okay for young-ish adults, but man, once you are past 25, have a job and could live in a sharehouse, it would have to be explained by trauma or mental illness to be plausible why your parents' blackmail works.

I laughed so hard at these descriptions. I usually don't write bad reviews, but these were so true.

This has just made me realize, I am very superficial. Some of these sound a little half baked plot wise, and as bonkers as one expects from Thailand. But oh, it had Push and his dimples and Mark and his dimples... #immawatchfortheplot 😋

Help, please spoiler me a little...I found this on my dropped list. Somehow I find this frequently on lists of dramas that interest me... does the female lead tone down after a few episodes? Because I found her screechy voice and strange/cutesy acting really grating, as much as I liked the male lead.

I can only take one at a time, because of this. Even the serious and sweet dramas have those strange interjections and 4th wall moments, that make me think huh. And even if it's subtler it's still overacting.

Not actively, though of course I pick up plenty of phrases by watching KDramas, now I do understand some of what my Korean friend is saying to her kid. I just really fell in love with Mandarin, I just love the rythm and melody and my brain started to focus on words a lot when a drama got draggy, you know, around Ep 18 of 40. :-P So I decided to learn it properly, but learning languages is an on-and-off hobby of mine.

Probably Beth. If it is contemporary, it is an unlikely storyline for her to die and her storyline would be hard to update. On the other hand, it would have helped stretch the story to 16 episodes.

In the original story, when they first meet she is 13 or so and he is 16, but he has a friendship/crush with the 15 year old sister. And he has that crush for a long time, but gets rejected. The 13 year old is now 21 or so, when they meet again (she is overseas with her aunt for years), so he is 24 and then they fall in love.

Eh, I don't know if it is that smart, watching hour and hours of dramas so empty of plot that you start to focus on the language and words, rather than the content. But Zhang Han Dramas always have actors with perfect pronunciation, so there is that. I am also doing the Rosetta Stone course and some Mandarin Podcasts, so it's not just dramas.

I also watched Paris Downcast and Here to Heart, and in comparison to those he was overacting in Boss&Me.
He is dubbed a lot too and these shows are so slow I use them for Mandarin practice...