cassiopeiastars

Thanks for suggesting that I suggest it. I just did it here: https://kisskh.at/discussions/suggestions/67545-push-underrated-movies-dramas

Do vote (if you want to/can) or add onto what you think can be done

Indeed Japan has been creating and releasing content like these for a while now. I think that was why there was such a big debate on the success on Alice in Borderland and Squid Game. Seems like timing is the key to these two works from Korea. The domino effect of the K-wave is really phenomenal! I'm curious to see how far/long it'll sustain itself. It seems to get bigger as the years goes by.

Thanks for such a detailed response to this article! I like seeing different sides to everything - as many opinions can vary. You listed a load of factors that can make each individual's rating differ to one another (despite it being domestic or international). At its core, I wanted to remind everyone that ratings should be taken with a grain of salt as everyone's opinions differ OR as you stated, it'll be based on one's personal connection/viewing experience. I think ratings can be used as a good reference point and reviews as a good idea to understand where the ratings come from, but essentially, your own opinion matters the most. I'm glad you enjoyed this piece, I hope to see you around if/when another one may be published on MDL :)

Cannot agree more on how Della Ding's emotions can be felt in her songs <3 I wanted to use Weibird but MDL has him listed as William Wei, which is weird for me as I know him as Weibird xD

given that I haven't really been watching many Taiwanese dramas these past few years, I'm surprised at how many I know through your list! I'll be sure to take a listen at the ones that I have yet to hear something from :)

I do really like that there are more raters on Douban. I realize that not a lot of people care to rate dramas on MDL, add to their watchlist, etc. I don't know if you intended to be funny but I cracked up at Douban raters being "intellectual snobs" xD I'm really curious on the age groups of these intellectual snobs now. I've seen a lot of comments on fans/anti-fans manipulating ratings which I can see it happening.

I don't know much about writers & directors as I only started to check out directors & writers once I started utilizing MDL. I feel like that could vary for some dramas as well? At least I assume that other factors bts could affect the production.

I think I can see that on MDL - especially the latter half of younger & more forgiving raters. There's few that I see that are the first group while a lot falls in-between these two.

Really great example of perspective of your own country! I just checked out the trailer for Bahubali and I can see that the production is indeed fancier to the few Indian movies I've seen. I'm quite intrigued to watch it, given if I can find some time to do so.

It's interesting to see the shift of norms throughout the years. I think just out of k-dramas, we've been seeing a lot more 'realistic' dramas with the increase of more career-driven, crime, mystery, and thriller dramas these past couple of years. What I'm curious about is that while it seems like the themes of Parasite and Squid Game isn't so new (as what I've read from others because I've yet to seen either of them), why did they reach an all time high in the international market? Not mentioning it in a negative way though. It makes sense to me if it does well domestically as it may be a newer theme in its industry but despite its results, I'm just happy to see more Asian shows being well loved outside of their respective production country.

I typically watch at least 25-30% of any given drama before I decide if its really worthwhile. At the point, I usually try to finish it xD

Props to you on picking up the language! I am bi-lingual but I find it hard to master the two that I know. I can pick up words from several countries I frequent through dramaland but have never mastered any. I do think that it'll probably be harder for casual foreign viewers to access these hardcore historic dramas easily. Or at least I'd understand why.

I do agree that the ratings are quite inflated. I see a lot of reviews that criticizes a show quite harshly with a really nice cushioned rating. I get boggled by it sometimes but I don't judge too much as I rate critical to my own terms as well. I think your 6-10/1-5 method is a great one!

I do wish that there was a way to see more underrated dramas with lower ratings on MDL pushed to the front. There are many unheard of shows/movies for me. Maybe a feature on MDL that allows users to recommend shows (like the heart feature on actors/actresses' pages) that's different from its ratings? Or just random recommended shows that has nothing to do with ratings?

The flood of dramas is kind of a problem as there seems to be lack of care taken for post production work. People still care about quality over quantity. I actually don't frequent Douban much to understand where their ratings stands but this seems quite accurate to me

I do the same! Ratings are guides and I explore them out of curiosity to see what people think as I'm always curious as to what others are thinking about. I love reading reviews to find little insights that I didn't catch or there are other reviewers who writes eloquently enough to describe the feelings I felt. There are so many interesting things I pick up when I read reviews, it's awesome! Thanks for always reading and commenting WandereR :)

You were not alone. I honestly expected some popular MDL dramas to pop up as well! I mean NIF made the list, so I guess that counts.

The lovely Cho Na did some personal research and shared them below: https://kisskh.at/article/10-popular-douban-c-dramas#comment-7844555

Do check it out as it shows some interesting insight on Top on MDL vs. Douban and then some top KR shows on MDL vs. Douban as well :)

I do understand that ratings and rating sites are all on perspective. Thanks for commenting your thoughts on domestic and international viewer's perspectives on ratings. :) You brought up a lot of really good points!

I think there are several shows out there in C-dramaland where it doesn't always poke at 'Xi Jinping Thought' or CPC's ideology or doesn't make it a strong focus. I could be wrong as I haven't seen a handful on this list but shows like "The Bad Kids" doesn't seem to be in this category? As I do frequent C-dramas, I do see that there are several references to this and for me personally, it doesn't deter me away - so long as it's not preachy to me. Do I not connect with it/understand this patriotism they're trying to sell? Most definitely but it doesn't take away from the story and themes itself. I think if one can look past "Minning Town," "Battle of Changsha," and "Like a Flowing River's" inclusion of patriotism, the characters and the themes themselves are quite raw enough to stand strong on its own. So, while I do think that patriotism plays a factor, I don't think its enough be such a strong factor in how well a show performs for domestic viewers.

I do agree that international viewers look for something that they don't see in their own local dramas. That's why I venture toward Asian dramas myself. I do think that familiarity may be a big factor that affects local ratings as well. As I mentioned in my article, the reason why some of these dramas did so well is that they're probably milestones for China. "Chinese Paladin" started a wave of xianxia dramas itself. "The Bad Kids" was seen as something that could rival western shows. So, it was interesting that these shows has merits of their own.

I'm glad you enjoyed the article and thanks for commenting. There are several on this list that I've been wanting to watch and I think after understanding a bit more about why it holds such a positive light for domestic viewers, I want to take them for a spin myself :)

Your first bit, " being immersed in the country and learning all about it's history vs. looking for entertainment and more universal themes," is what I try to do when I realize it's something new to me/things I don't understand from each country. I always think, "maybe this is the way x country express themselves/do things."

I'm always super curious on the demographics for each drama. I always go look at the stats but then I'm not too sure it's quite accurate as well. A lot of people like staying anonymous and I get that as well

Unfortunately, it's too late to add it in. It'd have to go through an editor again. I wanted to add streaming links as well but I'm glad I didn't. Battle of Changsha was temp taken off Youtube after I submitted this and now it's available again. But the main thing was, I wasn't sure if it will be available to all countries even though it was in mine. So I felt kind of off providing links even though I did disclaim with a note at the beginning.

I feel like ratings on MDL differ a lot. Some of them I can connect with, others I can't. So, I understand where you're coming from as I've enjoyed a lot of lower rated dramas and didn't enjoy some other highly rated ones as well.