Firefly88

Thanks, then it's not for me! Happy watching.

Is this drama cute and fluffy?

Which one is that? I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he was erased from any of his upcoming projects based on how judgemental Cnetz can be. It's such a shame. He's a good actor and very good looking as well.

Yeah Sword Snow Stride is pretty good. It was definitely inspired by JOL.

I think the female leads in My Journey to You have extraordinary screen presence. I usually can't stand the cute baby act that Esther Yu does, but she really delivered and showed that she had range in this drama which I thought was very impressive. The 2FL as well was amazing. I wasn't keen on Zhang Linghe's role in this, but it does improve. Fortunately, romance isn't the main focus, and there are lots of interesting characters and fantastic actors.

I'm struggling to get past episode 23. It's just not that gripping for some reason.

Love amd Destiny is in my top 10 xianxias including Ancient Love Poetry, Eternal Love of Dream, Ever Night, Eternal Love, Lost You Forever, The Legend of Shenli, Ashes of Love, The Starry Love, The Flame's Daughter, Till the End of the Moon.

Speaking of excellent dramas that aren't just plain historical (but not romances), Joy of Life is pure genius. Whoever wrote it is an actual genius and you can't convince me otherwise, the dialogue is so witty, the characters are so unique and eccentric, the plot is like an onion constantly peeling back more layers.

Also, very different vibe, but if you haven't watched it, try My Journey to You. It has this dark, almost Halloween spooky vibe to it paired with unreadable characters with dark motives. I was really impressed.

Thanks! Hope I will like them both. I was trying to get through Kill me love me, but I keep losing interest. Rise of Ning was pretty good even though it was a cheap knock off of Story of Minglan. This year there hasn't been an exceptional, mature historical drama. Sad. Usually there is at least one.

TROTP is very intellectual, slow burn but it's so so worth it.

I haven't started those two yet, waiting for them to finish. What's your impression?

Ruyi is like Yanxi Palace, but I preferred Yanxi Palace. I would give it another go one day, it's a spectacular show.

As for high budget historical romance, there aren't any more. China produces mostly mid budget idol dramas, these kinds of gems are few and far between. But if you look at mid budget romances, I would recommend:

Princess Silver
The Long Ballad
Goodbye My Princess
The Song of Glory (skip the last episode)

Oh, in terms of a more mature drama, you could try
Battle of Changsha. It has some romance but the main focus is war, survival, family etc. Or A Dream of Splendor with Liu Yifei.

Visually speaking, The Rise of the Phoenixes and The Longest Day in Chang'an are the most impressive. A real feast for the eyes. Also in terms of overall quality, these are award worthy productions imo.

Have you watched...
The Rise of the Phoenixes
Story of Yanxi Palace
Love like the Galaxy
Nirvana in Fire
The Longest Day in Chang'an
The Story of Minglan

True! Zhang Ziyi's costumes in this drama were magnificent. Have you watched The Rise of the Phoenixes? That one has also has amazing costumes. Ni Ni's later costumes were so beautiful, haven't seen anything like them before, and even the plainer clothes were fabulous. Of course, it also had Netflix sponsorship so it had more of a budget to work with. It was actually my first ever C drama that got me hooked for life!

When will they make another historical drama of this quality? One of the best historical C dramas ever made. I've rewatched it so many times...

What a shame. This title is beautiful!

Romance isn't the main focus, but there is a bit that drives the characters. However, this drama is one of the besf historical C dramas ever made. You will not regret watching it. Fun fact, it's the most Googled series ever.

They are the highlight of this show.

I was surprised by that too. I wonder whether it's the biggest age gap romance in C drama history.

It took a dramatic downwards turn. It's the fault of the writing unfortunately.

Not in my region... iQiyi here has quite a limited selection

Oh! It's on iQiyi as well? I didn't realise. I'll go watch it there. Thanks for the heads up!

Edit: I just checked and it isn't available in my region of iQiyi... : (