Timbone

Most of these dramas are based on novels for teens. The quality of the stories are usually not good, since they are published online with zero editing similar to Wattpad. The actors are super handsome so they are usually very popular. The modern Chinese dramas are not recommended. Taiwanese are better for modern dramas. I recommend Man Comes To Tang Dynasty. I am getting season 2 subbed. Temperature of Love and Vivid Romance. Both are Korean

I enjoy stories where the female lead tries to kill the male lead haha. I am sure you have heard of The Legends. I enjoyed The Legends alot
It is hard to find an Asian who hasnt watched Condor Heroes Trilogy since basically everything you watch is based of it.
You get remakes of Jin Yong's books every year. I bet you have watched a drama based on his books.
There are multiple versions of the Condor Trilogy because of the numerous remakes.
I am considering watching the Latest Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, all three female love interests... oh wait all 4 tried to kill the male lead at different times haha

Hahaha you misunderstood me. I enjoyed the twists of the story. The story is filled with many powerful female characters like Bai Shanshui.
In the book Bai Shanshui is thought as a man because she cross dresses, same with the other female master who had part of the map and died
I am saying Ye Zhen stole the show at the end, I am not saying she is a good character. I am saying the actress did a great job. She wasnt a cookie cutter villain.
Her madness was fun to watch
Have you watched Legend of the Condor Heroes or Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber?
Ye Zhen is not very different from the female leads, she is quite cruel.

Hahaha I beg to differ. Even though the end was rushed. It seemed like 10 years was crapped into 1 episode. It was true to the original story from episode 1 to the end.
The story was potent. Ye Zhen was a surprise and stole the show. Yao Di is such a good actress that I am considering trying to watch Fighter of Destiny which I dropped so that I could watch her scenes.
The story is dry but that is by design and the charm.
The main points are the conservations. Ye Zhen's final line was unforgettable: " I have repaid with my life, give me back your love".
The impotency of the King who was supposedly the strongest forced to tears at his powerless when his son died was pleasantly surprising.
I would not watch Joy of Life which you rated so highly but that is another proof that you are not the target audience for this story

It is simply due to the lack of romance between the main leads.
They were a power couple regardless
I watched it as it aired with only raws and was very active at the currently watching Soompi forum thread but we expected romance even back then due to all the romantic ballads by Ailee that was part of the OST haha
I still give it a 9.
I personally didnt like the message on how the male lead ended in the drama.
It was disappointing with all South Korea's issue with that.
I think it deserved more episodes though

Hahaha, there is no romance at all. I watched it when it aired. It was sort of disappointing with the released OST in the middle of the drama telling a different story and the very romantic songs in the show by Ailee haha.
But like many parts of the show, it is misleading
There is no romance between the main leads

This feels like something that was filmed 5 years or more ago and just got greenlit lol

It is 5 episodes about 3 minutes each
So giving too much info would be spoiling it.
3 minutes is a trailer length. It should be enough for you to decide
I was pleasantly surprised

Thanks for the recommendations.
I still recommend Tales of a Fashion Buyer.
I was pleasantly surprised by it.
By the way, I tried Listening Snow Tower but couldnt get into it after 2 episodes. Maybe I just cant stand the male lead because I am envious of the fact that he used to date Yang Zi haha

https://www.iqiyi.com/v_19rrnnr9b8.html

But people also have to eat lol. I guess you are different,some just hate an actress because of the male crush.
I recall an Indian actress who got a lot of stick for her bad acting and weird breathing but it turned out that her character was supposed to have asthma but that scene was cut out lol

Personally, I just watch female warrior Chinese shows, it is the only type I can stand. I avoid palace dramas too. To me it is too predictable, all the women get killed. Watching powerless women is not my idea of entertainment
Sadly, shows like The Legends are hard to find. Love By Hypnotic is looking good

https://kisskh.at/21921-tales-of-a-fashion-buyer

I would like to believe that directing plays a huge role.
You cant exactly fault the actresses when they are doing what the directors want.
I didnt make myself clear. I meant they want to be seen as stoic beauties.
Classic Chinese beauties, image is very important.
I think somethings are taking out of context too to be fair to them.
Some things are lost in translation
You should check out Tales of a Fashion Buyer

Wujigege.com is doing subtitles. You can support that website

I dont disagree on actresses being typecast Lui Hoarian refused to start in another High school drama so he doesnt get typecast but Zheng Shuang portrayed emotion just fine in Rivers Flow To You although as usual I prefer the villainess.
I think you ladies are distracted by the handsome hunks and do not see that these dramas are very thin plotwise
I could not watch Love O2O because she looked like a stick in it
Once Upon a Time on Spirit Blade mountain should be right up your alley as Sandrine Pinna showed every emotion possible.
A youtuber says because the actresses want to seen as beauties, there are some expressions they dont dare portray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpuDMfC0Wpk

I found Complete English Subtitles: https://wujigege.com/Wujigege/complete-english-subtitles-for-tales-of-a-fashion-buyer/

You can find all 5 episodes here
https://wujigege.com/Wujigege/complete-english-subtitles-for-tales-of-a-fashion-buyer/

You are most welcome.
Cheers!

https://wujigege.com/Wujigege/scouring-marriage-subtitle-project-starts/

https://wujigege.com/Wujigege/scouring-marriage-subtitle-project-starts/

Thank you