The Ghost Bride isn't technically a Taiwanese drama, it's a Taiwanese-Malaysian collaboration. The drama's directors were Malaysian (Quek Shio-chuan and Ho Yu-hang), it's based on a Malaysian novel (by Yangsze Choo), its actors are both Taiwanese and Malaysian, and it was filmed in Malaysia.
Someday or One Day is a frickin' masterpiece. Like it should be taught in film school on how to perfectly write, design, direct, act in, and score a drama. There are hardly any other dramas, from any country, that come even remotely close to its tight pacing, crisp and sincere writing, and complexity of roles for its actors. Even the music is damn near perfect.
No one has mentioned Yong-jiu Grocery Store yet and it should be on your list. Set in the countryside, the characters go between Taiwanese Hokkien and Mandarin and are often more interesting than typical characters from the big city. Derek Chang is brilliant in the ML role as well.
Other favorites are: Lost Romance and Back to 1989 (Marcus Chang is flawless.)
Some films that should be mentioned are: Your Name Engraved Herein A Sun Dear Ex Secret
I loved Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru and I hope we get a sequel since new manga material is coming out in the summer! And Ojisan wa Kawaii Mono ga Osuki was maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen. ("Kawaii!")
I'm glad I didn't pay attention to the bad reviews here - I really liked this film. The characters spoke and acted like high schoolers, with all the hyper-emotional outbursts and hormonal overreactions that often happen when one is that age. I loved the friendship between the boys the most.
That was a packed cast, for sure, and the music was great. I loved learning about the band and seeing the backstory. The acting was 10/10, as usual for these guys. (A side note, the tag for "domestic abuse" isn't overstating - we really should be doing something more about that.)
CONSENT is a whole word and Momose needed to learn it. Wow, this had major issues in the beginning even with a large infusion of sweetness toward the end.
You said "thank goodness they never got a kissing scene" which is actually a spoiler. You can't assume that everyone wants to know those things before watching. I understand you might want to help people decide whether to watch it or not so then you need to mark your comment as a spoiler. To edit a comment already posted, you click the little arrow all the way to the right of your comment, (where the heart icon and a number are). Click on the down arrow marked Edit, where you can either edit or delete your comment. When you're writing a comment for the first time, make sure to click the "spoiler" box right next to the Post button and it shows up as a spoiler.
I wanted to like this, and the first couple of episodes had a lot of promise, but I just don't like the FL very much. It was kind of disappointing, especially because Yoshizawa Ryo is a favorite of mine. The acting was fine but the writing was so-so.
I've looked for both of your comments, as well as @Coriander, to see if you liked a drama and @chillingindoors, thanks for the lists you've provided too. :-)
No one has mentioned Yong-jiu Grocery Store yet and it should be on your list. Set in the countryside, the characters go between Taiwanese Hokkien and Mandarin and are often more interesting than typical characters from the big city. Derek Chang is brilliant in the ML role as well.
Other favorites are: Lost Romance and Back to 1989 (Marcus Chang is flawless.)
Some films that should be mentioned are:
Your Name Engraved Herein
A Sun
Dear Ex
Secret
And Ojisan wa Kawaii Mono ga Osuki was maybe the cutest thing I've ever seen. ("Kawaii!")
To edit a comment already posted, you click the little arrow all the way to the right of your comment, (where the heart icon and a number are). Click on the down arrow marked Edit, where you can either edit or delete your comment. When you're writing a comment for the first time, make sure to click the "spoiler" box right next to the Post button and it shows up as a spoiler.