DaliaB

I was surprised to find Zhang Han on here, because even though he is stunningly handsome and knows how to do the wistful eyes, he is otherwise as emotive as a wooden doll. But then I only watched/discontinued a few of his contemporary dramas, maybe he is better in historicals?

Okay, I didn't need crying and after reading the synopsis of Mother I just scrolled down here to comment. I don't know why I clicked, since I avoid sad dramas like the plague, because I don't mind having unhealthy eyes... but I guess, I just wanted to say, you have reached your objective. So thankyou for the article.

You know, I am not a hair person. I am genetically blessed in the hair department, and never got my bestie, who is very specific about her boyfriends' hairstyle. I liked looking at beautiful updos on women, never cared what my love interests hair looked like.
But then I came across Chinese historical dramas. The first one, being low budget, had really bad wigs too. And suddenly I found my head turned. Not only the shiny black hair, but also the very pastelly "dresses", that swung elegantly as they moved, their hair gently flowing in the wind. I was like; "Apparently I am into this look now."
And I also can't quite explain it. Hair stands for virility in a lot of cultures, so I imagine having really long, shiny hair probably means good genes and good health? Health is sexy, right?

:grin: Thankyou for the laugh... Turkish Dramas regularly get cancelled mid first-season, so that might be for you.
I wish all of them would adjust the episode count to the story. If the story runs out, stop writing episodes.

This was fun, I added a bunch of totally new to me dramas to my list. I only knew one of the dramas, with whom I had a very melodramatic break-up midway, maybe destiny brought us together again for a reason?

Ugh, he is so pretty! I loved watching him in "A Class of Her Own", even though the drama itself was so-so. Didn't watch anything else with him, totally missed that he is in Sweet Teeth, which has been in my recommended list a few times.

I completely ignore my PTW list. The number of times, I have come across some random drama I didn't want to forget, only to find it on my PTW list already. If a drama really catches my eye and I really don't want to forget, I add it to currently watching, though I usually wait for it to be done airing or until I have a binge weekend.

I am usually a mellow person when watching dramas, but the last character I watched where I wished the white truck of doom on him is the husband in "On The Way To The Airport". I wish he had just died in a plane crash, that would have made the plot better.
I also avoid "hidden or obvious social criticism" dramas like crowds during a Covid-outbreak, because it might make me want to actually start throwing stuff at government buildings and such. Usually the synopsis is enough to get my blood boiling.

My Dad was fan of Westerns and then by accident we stumbled on Samurai movies and he loved them too. Funny to learn that there is a connection. :-P
Though clearly the theme is finding glory and friendship in a very chaotic world, full of people who are ready to kill. I can't imagine why that could not be applied to Korean history, they surely had a period with a lot of random violence that wasn't exactly war? (Me: clearly no expert in Korean history.) Or you could do it in a full on spoofy way, like Shanghai Noon, but set in Korea. Or mostly Koreans, but they moved to the US.

And here my dramas and movies with a rating of 4 and below, High Society only got a 1,5 and Obsessed 0:
Obsessed

High Society

Girlfriend

The Master's Sun

My Fuxxxxx Romance

Good Night

I Wanna Be Sup'Tar

If you want real garbage, I will post you my "dropped" list, though of course this is subjective. I have watched some low rated dramas and liked them more than some of these highly rated dramas:

Coffee & Vanilla

Goblin

Heart to Heart

I Picked Up a Star on the Road

Introverted Boss

Khing Kor Rar Khar Kor Rang

Kor Kerd Mai Klai Klai Ter

Meteor Garden

My Heroic Husband

Oh My General

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung

Suparburoot Jorm Jon: Maturot Lohgan

Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru

Well Dominated Love

I have definitely learned a lot of history and culture from the dramas and the research I had to do to understand. It even led me to learn Mandarin, because I understood phrases and words after a while, but it was puzzling putting it all together myself. I just don't know if I or many other casual foreign viewers would find these hardcore historic dramas accessible easily. Or as easily as if we were surrounded by it, had family history in these events and so on.

The Drama was a typo, it's actually a series of movies about Sissi: The Young Empress. Its from 1956 and got dubbed into a bunch of languages, and gets played over and over. It has a similar vibe to Sound of Music, which you might know.
Sissi's story also got a miniseries in 2009 or so, which was slightly less kitschy and also got subtitled or dubbed in other European countries.
(I am from Austria btw, Sissi was Empress of Austria in the late 19th Century.)

It seems to me some of the difference would just come from being immersed in the country and learning all about it's history vs. looking for entertainment and more universal themes.

I know the most popular drama from my country abroad is the kitschiest, hallmark-level retelling of historic events. It is also popular domestically, but no serious critic would rate it highly, because it's basically a fairytale. While the gritty, realistic stories about war and crime get high ratings from movie enthusiasts never make it abroad, and if they do, they do not become popular.

I think it's the same with these Dramas. I would have to read up a lot to even know the setting of some of these popular dramas, while most Chinese people probably learned about it in school. And since they live there, they can judge the realism of things better than foreigners can. I feel like the tendency on MDL is for stories with universal themes or heart fluttering being the most popular. I also have the subjective impression that either the demographics on MDL veer towards young or because of media previously consumed there is a huge bias towards youth and high school dramas, which does not seem to be the case on Douban, probably because youngsters don't rate there or the High School Dramas are also judged on realism.

I beg to differ, if a drama is complete garbage I will give it a 3. ;-) :-P

I am sad now, because the 5 I got to watch were awesome.

I came for the historical dramas, because they are a feast for the eyes, stayed for contemporary romance, but I am currently discovering more and more not strictly romance, deeper dramas. I just wish they didn't have so many episodes, I always lose interest when the fillers keep coming.

Thankyou for this rant and taking one for the team. I watched a few episodes of this and hoped it would develop, but realised I was skipping like crazy and only enjoyed the parts with Yi Ming, wish he was the main lead and got a nice girl... I cringed so hard at their reason for getting married. I am not going to continue after the SFL appeared, it's a hot mess.

The coats were the only reason I kept watching the original. Flipping boring, but coats on point.

I don't like them either, but this one was so well done. They weren't shy about having different types of bodies, and yet it wasn't crude. I laughed quite a bit. Also love a respectful ML.