mjf314

The first 5 episodes of My Own Swordsman are on Youtube with English subs, in case anyone wants to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJPEbKQEnORM4YIyQBWnJyvhZTq3F7osY

I hope the other episodes get subbed someday. It's one of the highest rated dramas on Douban.

AvenueX's video was the best source I could find about the history of xianxia dramas. It's hard to find information about older xianxia dramas. I hope she makes more videos in the future about C-drama history.

The original Scarlet Heart is great. I recommend it.

Chinese idol dramas became much more popular after Meteor Garden, but the first mainland Chinese idol drama (according to the book Television in Post-Reform China) was Cherish Our Love Forever (1998) (https://kisskh.at/62115-cherish-our-love-forever), inspired by Korean trendy dramas.

There's also the sitcom I Love My Family (1993), which was set in modern times, as well as Stories of an Editorial Board (1992). There might be something from the 80s, but I'm not sure. I'd have to research it more.

The censors often break their own rules, and sometimes they make decisions based on their feelings instead of following the rules.

The reason for the ban is because time travel "disrespects history", so maybe it only applies to dramas set in ancient China, but the guideline isn't very clear, so it's hard to be sure.

Thanks. It took a lot of time to do the research, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Addicted Heroin may have been a turning point for dramas, but even before Addicted Heroin, the Chinese censors had been banning LGBT films for a long time (both Chinese films and foreign films). You can find some examples on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_censorship_in_China

It's never too late to catch up on older C-dramas. Many of the dramas that I mentioned in the article are available on Youtube.

I hope my article helps you find some interesting dramas to watch. If you like historical romance dramas, you might like Scarlet Heart (2011).

A Dream of Red Mansions used to be on Youtube. I watched the first episode, but the subtitles weren't good. I hope someone will make better subtitles.

New Legend of Madame White Snake is fully subbed, but the subbed version doesn't seem to be on Youtube.

I've heard about the 40 episode limit, but it doesn't seem to be enforced very strictly. Even in 2022 some C-dramas have gone over the limit (Glory of Special Forces 45 eps, Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities 43 eps). Do you know why those dramas were allowed to go over the limit?

All of my favorite dramas that I mentioned in the article are available on Youtube.

Journey to the West: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIj4BzSwQ-_sfc7l2xm1wQswAd5jqrrDS
Princess Pearl: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4P1OCiJ7Wk-HRWvN5UBdsWp38-NU7Idn
Judge of Song Dynasty: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJPEbKQEnORMMFQv7lEs3Afq0EIMuRYvv
Ming Dynasty in 1566: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyED3III7lHNdhHi0UjE6FVrx-pudgYDV
Nirvana in Fire: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtt_YYUGi1gXRt2XVJZrHDBkZECcfmuAJ

Thanks for the link. According to Wikipedia the oldest wuxia film is The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (1928), but it's a lost film.

There's also a short film, Woman Warrior White Rose (1929), available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Z5dO-WRz4K0

I hadn't heard of it either, until I started researching this article. If you want to know more about xiayi, I recommend watching the Youtube video, "2000 Years Evolution of the Wuxia Genre".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCWhTW3-Pmc

Censorship limits what type of dramas can be made, but as long as they avoid certain topics, nothing is stopping them from making good dramas. Like I mentioned in the article, it's easier to avoid censorship in historical dramas, and I think China makes the best historical dramas.

In some cases, censorship forces people to think of creative ways to avoid censorship, and sometimes this creativity can make the drama more interesting. Censorship in Iran is even stricter than China, but Iran has the best film industry of the Middle East, because they have so many creative filmmakers.

But yes, I think we can all agree that less censorship would be better.

Thanks. I may consider writing an article about J-dramas in the future, but I haven't decided yet.

The censors often break their own rules, and sometimes they make decisions based on their feelings. For example, ghosts are banned, but Coco (a movie about ghosts) was not banned, because when the censors watched the movie, they were moved to tears and they liked the movie's message.

This is an unusual top 10. I won't say anything about the quality of the list, but I'll just say that MDL viewing habits are very different from other websites.

I think about 4 of the top 10 movies are well known on other websites, but the other 6 are unknown. On the other hand, movies like Oldboy, Memories of Murder, Burning, Poetry, and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring are very popular on other websites (and also critically acclaimed), but they're missing from the MDL lists.

I liked her performance in Jin (2009). I'm surprised you didn't mention Jin in your article. I also liked her in the movie, Our Little Sister (2015).

Besides Jin, some of her other most popular earlier dramas were Sekai no Chuushin de, Ai wo Sakebu (2004), Byakuyako (2006), and Hotaru no Hikari (2007).

I don't think I fit into any of the 10 types. I've been watching dramas for over 10 years so I'm not a newbie, but I don't watch currently-airing dramas, I don't pay attention to fandoms, I'm not obsessed with any specific actors, and I don't lecture people.

Good article. He's a great director. I hope this makes more people watch his films.