Jungshooky

Yes! I binged that in like a day it was so good XD

Color me intrigued then! XD Looks like both are available on streaming platforms I have, so I'll add them to my watchlist! Thanks!

Hopefully you also enjoy some (or all) the dramas I mentioned! It's sad that no more esports c-dramas will be made (for the forseeable future at least) - I've enjoyed most of the ones I've watched. But alas, the CCP likes to ban random stuff all the time >_<

Happy watching! (I'm already 1/3 of the way through SEL and enjoying the ride!)

I've seen Love 020, but not Go Go Squid - but FIYS definitely has more epsort/gameplay than Love 020. I don't know if you've seen King's Avatar with Yang Yang, but that's a pretty good esports drama that has almost no romance and lots of gameplay! FIYS is kind of a happy medium between KA and L020 (maybe more slightly tilted toward romance) in my opinion

If you like supernatural/fantasy themes, Xu Kai also has an upcoming drama called Moonlit Reunion, with demons/demon hunters and whatnot. I'm pretty excited for that (current rumors are saying it will air mid-late summer this year)

And I'll have to look those dramas up and see if they pique my interest! Thanks for a the recs! There's kind of a drama drought right now in both c-drama and k-drama land for me (I'm enjoying The Haunted Palace though!)

Haha I love every drama you've mentioned! I'm putting this under spoiler just to avoid too much open discussion of other dramas on SEL's page!

If you would like a good, rather mature contract-marriage to lovers drama, She and Her Perfect Husband would be good! I think my rating is at 8.5/10, but with more time and looking back I'd probably bump it up to 9 at least. XK plays a very different type of character than usual for him in this - and I think a lot of people weren't expecting that or didn't understand his character, so put him down a lot for his looks and acting in this drama. He starts off essentially clinically depressed (they don't call it that because it's CCP and what is mental health even?) and as someone who also struggles with depression, I think his interpretation/portrayal was quite accurate!

Sword and Fairy is best watched understanding that the writers use a non-traditional storytelling format (for a c-drama). It's based on a RPG video game and they very much retain the feel of being actively immersed in the story as if you're also a character - so you find out information as the characters do without much external context. Rather than being handed the information, the audience is kinda expected to join in on most if not all the mystery solving. I thought it was fun and apparently the creators/fans of the original game were very very pleased with the drama adaptation!

Falling Into Your Smile is a classic and one of my comfort dramas. I've watched it multiple times haha I think it's a good balance of esport and rom-com/idol drama. The game graphics are really good, which makes following the gameplay a lot easier (for me at least)

And my beloved queen, Wonderland of Love. This is the drama that made me an actual XK fan and I've been stuck on him since haha. Yeah, there's palace politics, but the relationship between the leads, in my opinion, is very organic, has a great back-and-forth rapport, and has insane chemistry. This drama also has like my favorite c-drama ending ever, purely because they actually give it decent screen time rather than the typical 30-second "yup they're happy/semi-happy/sad/dead" trope in most c-dramas nowadays

Other XK dramas I've really enjoyed include As Beautiful As You (on my soon to rewatch list), Arsenal Military Academy, and now Ancient Love Poetry (xianxias now have a very high bar to meet)

I am a wordy person, especially when talking about things I enjoy haha so hopefully this helps you decide what drama to watch next, if you decide to give another c-drama a try. I also used to watch predominantly only K-dramas . . . but have come to the dark side (mostly because 40-min episodes are easier to handle with real life than 80 min sagas XD)

Well if you would like some XK drama recs, let me know what you like (he's done multiple genres) and I may be able to point you toward a drama or two of his :)

Great review, btw! Reading it made me want to rewatch even more haha

A little late to the party, but I agree and it's nice to see some positivity about this drama!

I'm trying to decide which Xu Kai drama to rewatch (I just finished Ancient Love Poetry for the first time and am in worse XK withdrawal than when I started lol) and this is at the top of my list at the moment. It's fun, the action/fight scenes are awesome, and also - after watching XK wield a spear in ALP I was reminded of how much he improved those skills for this drama and I want to revisit that haha

Finished! And wow, I'm glad I finally watched this - xianxia has always been a hit or miss for me, and this has definitely raised my bar SUPER high moving forward haha

Although I'd have loved a longer ending, I'm glad they didn't leave it open or tragic like so many c-dramas lately, so I am thankful for even a brief HE

Ahhhhh, rather than ease my Xu Kai withdrawal, it has gotten worse T____T

Episode 41: Only ugly sobbing can be heard in the distance

I'm on episode 36 and everything is going too well (for the most part) for having 13 episodes left . . . I FEEL the angst coming and I don't want it T___T

EDIT: Yup there it is >__<

Waaaah, I just got to the point where Qing Mu is chosen by the spear (HIS spear) and seeing Hong Ri and hearing his voice gives me hope - does Hong Ri return? Like in full? I'll probably find out before someone responds but I love his character and was sad when he sacrificed himself T__T

EDIT: Well, I think I got my answer quickly. That b*tch princess shattered his soul fragment (she's such a ****)

Wow, just finished . . . I know it's probably a long shot now, but I hope they'll do a Season 2 (with the same cast ideally). I don't want it to end there T__T

Yay that means I can watch it as it airs instead of being days behind watching it on Viki. (I refuse to watch in WeTV because I hate watching anything on a laptop or tablet screen when I have a big screen TV and WeTV STILL doesn’t have an app for TVs 🫠)

For me at least, his unaired dramas flip positions all the time. Sometimes FI is first, but next time I visit MR is listed first. So the order is always different 🤷🏼‍♀️

If you want a drama with a very nice, well-developed and completely unrushed HE, I highly recommend Wonderland of Love! It's purely historical (no magic/fantasy), but it's one of my favorite c-dramas. I may be a bit biased, since Xu Kai is one of my fave c-actors (however, this drama is the reason he became a fave).

I'm also currently watching Ancient Love Poetry (more Xu Kai lol), and so far it's had a nice balance of action, comedy, and some angst (but I'm only on episode 11, so still early in). I have heard it's a HE though, I just haven't seen it personally.

If you want something a bit different, but still period - there's Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty (2 seasons, but ongoing). Not much romance, some comedy, and more of a mystery/crime solving show.

There are numerous more, I'm sure, but these are just what's come to mind immediately, mostly because I'm currently watching/rewatching them!

Bai Jue is such an a**hole but I'm kinda loving that for him XD

Also the broship between him and the two other grown-up True Gods is comedy gold so far ngl

Damn, whoever is Xu Kai's stylist for this drama needs a raise. Every single leaked outfit/styling has been a hit for me!

I think I may finally watch this one . . . I've kinda been hoarding it away as one of the last Xu Kai dramas left for me to watch (besides Story of Yanxi Palace but I know how that ends for his character and I may never be ready for THAT lol)

But I'm in Xu Kai withdrawal and the comments here are absolutely glowing. So here goes!

I don't know if he would have survived. Xuanye mentioned that the Taoist boy had likely been in the painting for over 60 years, and that once everyone is released, he would likely age that 60yrs immediately. So I'm thinking King Xian would also have aged that 2yrs immediately . . . and with his terminal illness, likely would die as soon as the painting's magic is released. So like lose-lose for him :(

I agree with you. This 'uncle' is super sus - like never trust things that are too good to be true, especially in c-dramas

Great start! This is like the exact vibe I've been in the mood for - next week can't come soon enough T__T