Historical dramas that I have watched that I consider exactly up my valley. They left an impression on me and there was very little that I wanted to skip.
What will you not find here:
Wuxia/Xianxia - even if it is a costume drama set in history I just cannot enjoy myself watching it. I am sure there are many good ones out there but it isn't my cup of tea.
Wuxia-esque fighting - a major bother of mine if the plot is permeated by male leads/female leads flying meters into air to save someone or to escape. Any scene that manages to make it past my eyes receives a massive eye-roll.
Comedy I don't like comedy in historical setting because I want to immerse myself into that world and modern jokes simply do not work here.
I don't like overly cute/stupid/genius FM or ML. This doesn't mean they can't be naive or cunning , but when it is overdone as it oftentime is it breaks the immersion and realism. They don't seem to fit.
With my time travel drama's this remains true. Of course they can be headstrong or naive how the world works, but they should also quickly realise that what they were back in their own era won't work in the past. I would actually like a drama though where you see more of a struggle, but alas I have not found one.
Bad costuming - hair/make-up/clothes
Oh I really loathe perfect hair (on both men and women). Or just bad wigs. Or unusual hair shapes (which even YXG has sometimes) as you can probably tell it's all about immersion with me.
Same with make-up, it is really frustrating when a FL comes out of a struggle like a fight/kidnapping/jail with perfect make up on.
Clothes are also a major part that bothers me. I am ok with dramas that don't have a big budget. But I don't need many pretty outfits if they don't fit the era. Just stick with three or even two for the drama if you don't have the money for more but really... polka dots?
Too much outside politics - I love romance, and I will tolerate politics as long as there is also romance driving the plot. I know politics is necessary for realism or to drive the plot but if the drama has too much of it, I get bored. I'd rather watch the harem politics as I know the characters concerned with it.
Food - I don't watch dramas for food, I always enjoy looking at the dishes that are served but I don't need to see the cooking video behind it.
Mystery - I need to explain myself here as a lot of my dramas have some investigation/mystery themes behind it. But I find issue with it if it permeates the plot. ex. the FL is an investigator (not realistic at the time). Many dramas listed here are concerned with harem politics or plots where the female enters the palace to investigate - that is fine, it drives the plot but for some reason there are dramas where it just bothers me too much. I love mystery but it just doesn't make sense to me that a woman in that time would be able to gain access work with investigators and outsmart them all every time. Come on.
Perfect Love - I need struggle, I need barriers. I don't want to know who the end-game is. I am ready to get my heart broken.
Physically Strong Female Leads - please, I will laugh if a FL can beat soldiers/skilled assassins on her own. Be for real. She can know how to fight - I don't mind that at all! But how can she beat someone who is biologically stronger than her + has experience in fighting. I love seeing FL where they are cunning, set traps, or strategise - we may not be physically strong, but we can for sure beat you with our wit.
Themes that are present:
Romance/Angst/Drama
Love-triangle-octagon-whatever: yess this isn't realistic I know :) but this is one of those 'out of world' things that I enjoy. I do like however if its veiled in somewhat believable reasoning - the FL has strong familial contacts, has shared experiences with those interested etc.
Attempted Historical Accuracy - I don't need everything to be just as it was back then, but it should be pretty darn difficult for me to discern the inaccuracies. It should be believable and realistic. It can be dramatised but again within the scope of realism.
Smart/Mature Female Leads that are not perfect and have the space for growth
Tragic love - you may not always get the one you long for, you may not always escape your duty - now whether our FL's come to accept it, find love in the process or suffer to the bitter end is different in all of these.
The pursuing of the FL - she may not be liked initially nor like him initially, but slowly the male lead makes efforts for her to be his in hand or heart.
Queen Dowager is absolutely mental. She made it to the top but still can't take a chill pill pouring out her insecurities on the queen, building tension between the consorts.. didn't she want the best for her son? Why is she making the inner court unstable? Why is she threatening to hurt his bloodline? Jeeez I wish the king would send her onto some island to shut her up... perhaps with the deposed queen Yeon.. I'm sure she'd appreciate some alone time with that hypocrite..
Poor queen is attacked left and right all whilst trying to protect her sons and now even the crown princess..The audacity to call her a lunatic right after she suffers such a loss.. and then to see that she was right all along. I don't think I've ever wanted to see so many people punished as I do now. Stupid ministers, stupid maids stupid doctors argh! I hope she comes out of this unscathed but I'm afraid to hope...
Finally I would very much love to see the king for once supportive of the queen to the very end...but I'm sure that would be too easy wouldn't it. Although it's clear that the queen is somewhat his rock... and unless he's an absolute idiot I can't imagine him believing that the queen was actually on it to murder their own son...
I keep coming back to this drama because I'm in love with the storytelling the acting ugh! I wish there was someone emulating this drama just so that I could see it again.
So far so good but sometimes I find that the story has been edited/cut off. For example I completely missed the introduction of Wei Liang Gong. Also found it pretty funny to hear a yanxi palace song out of nowhere haha. The acting is on point though and I feel like the way this drama is shot is a little different and I love it.
For goodness sake it’s not homophobic!! That’s such a lazy argument, why can’t people be genuinely confused!!…
I am genuinely confused why people are calling this homophobic... people are just confused and are voicing it out.. not everyone has a hidden agenda for Gods sake.
What will you not find here:
Wuxia/Xianxia - even if it is a costume drama set in history I just cannot enjoy myself watching it. I am sure there are many good ones out there but it isn't my cup of tea.
Wuxia-esque fighting - a major bother of mine if the plot is permeated by male leads/female leads flying meters into air to save someone or to escape. Any scene that manages to make it past my eyes receives a massive eye-roll.
Comedy I don't like comedy in historical setting because I want to immerse myself into that world and modern jokes simply do not work here.
I don't like overly cute/stupid/genius FM or ML. This doesn't mean they can't be naive or cunning , but when it is overdone as it oftentime is it breaks the immersion and realism. They don't seem to fit.
With my time travel drama's this remains true. Of course they can be headstrong or naive how the world works, but they should also quickly realise that what they were back in their own era won't work in the past. I would actually like a drama though where you see more of a struggle, but alas I have not found one.
Bad costuming - hair/make-up/clothes
Oh I really loathe perfect hair (on both men and women). Or just bad wigs. Or unusual hair shapes (which even YXG has sometimes) as you can probably tell it's all about immersion with me.
Same with make-up, it is really frustrating when a FL comes out of a struggle like a fight/kidnapping/jail with perfect make up on.
Clothes are also a major part that bothers me. I am ok with dramas that don't have a big budget. But I don't need many pretty outfits if they don't fit the era. Just stick with three or even two for the drama if you don't have the money for more but really... polka dots?
Too much outside politics - I love romance, and I will tolerate politics as long as there is also romance driving the plot. I know politics is necessary for realism or to drive the plot but if the drama has too much of it, I get bored. I'd rather watch the harem politics as I know the characters concerned with it.
Food - I don't watch dramas for food, I always enjoy looking at the dishes that are served but I don't need to see the cooking video behind it.
Mystery - I need to explain myself here as a lot of my dramas have some investigation/mystery themes behind it. But I find issue with it if it permeates the plot. ex. the FL is an investigator (not realistic at the time). Many dramas listed here are concerned with harem politics or plots where the female enters the palace to investigate - that is fine, it drives the plot but for some reason there are dramas where it just bothers me too much. I love mystery but it just doesn't make sense to me that a woman in that time would be able to gain access work with investigators and outsmart them all every time. Come on.
Perfect Love - I need struggle, I need barriers. I don't want to know who the end-game is. I am ready to get my heart broken.
Physically Strong Female Leads - please, I will laugh if a FL can beat soldiers/skilled assassins on her own. Be for real. She can know how to fight - I don't mind that at all! But how can she beat someone who is biologically stronger than her + has experience in fighting. I love seeing FL where they are cunning, set traps, or strategise - we may not be physically strong, but we can for sure beat you with our wit.
Themes that are present:
Romance/Angst/Drama
Love-triangle-octagon-whatever: yess this isn't realistic I know :) but this is one of those 'out of world' things that I enjoy. I do like however if its veiled in somewhat believable reasoning - the FL has strong familial contacts, has shared experiences with those interested etc.
Attempted Historical Accuracy - I don't need everything to be just as it was back then, but it should be pretty darn difficult for me to discern the inaccuracies. It should be believable and realistic. It can be dramatised but again within the scope of realism.
Smart/Mature Female Leads that are not perfect and have the space for growth
Tragic love - you may not always get the one you long for, you may not always escape your duty - now whether our FL's come to accept it, find love in the process or suffer to the bitter end is different in all of these.
The pursuing of the FL - she may not be liked initially nor like him initially, but slowly the male lead makes efforts for her to be his in hand or heart.
Poor queen is attacked left and right all whilst trying to protect her sons and now even the crown princess..The audacity to call her a lunatic right after she suffers such a loss.. and then to see that she was right all along. I don't think I've ever wanted to see so many people punished as I do now. Stupid ministers, stupid maids stupid doctors argh! I hope she comes out of this unscathed but I'm afraid to hope...
Finally I would very much love to see the king for once supportive of the queen to the very end...but I'm sure that would be too easy wouldn't it. Although it's clear that the queen is somewhat his rock... and unless he's an absolute idiot I can't imagine him believing that the queen was actually on it to murder their own son...