mz4jun

hi there, I totally agree with you on Yu Huai's situation.
I could definitely empathize with Yu Huai for not contacting anyone and not wanting to pursue Geng Geng because he thinks he is inferior now compared to her status and he is not good enough for her.
But, that video call with Zhou Mo was a bit over-dramatic, saying he cannot go back or sth like that. I even thought that something tragic happened to him, hoping this drama would not fall into such melodrama path as current reasoning behind his disappearance is more realistic in real life as things could go wrong and not as planned. For someone like Yu Huai, who was at the top of his class, having to go to college one year later than his classmates and to a sub-par college (not Tsinghua), he would definitely feel disappointed with himself.

This is definitely one of the best highschool, slice-of-life drama out there. It makes me feel very nostalgic, especially since I an exactly in my 10 years since highschool.
Only thing I felt slightly disappointed is Yu Huai shouldnt be so hard with himself. Even if he may not be financially or career-wise successful yet, he is doing his PhD in U.S - definitely doing well academically.

I have read Sound of the Dessert and Lost You Forever, both from Tong Hua. Any book recommendations that have been translated??

My favorite 5s would be:
1. Nirvana in Fire 2 (haven't watched 1)
2. Scarlet heart
3. Battle of Changsha
4. Legend of condor heroes (2003)
5. Eternal Love

As someone who has dropped Cdramas a lot, I could understand your feelings. The usual length of Cdramas over 50 episodes make them so prone to unnecessary details and dragginess. I have started, felt disappointed and dropped a lot. But, I do think that there are many great Cdramas out there if you could endure the long length. And, some of the dramas, even with the long length, have amazing story line and character development throughout the story. One of such dramas would Battle of Changsha.

Lately, I found myself not getting attached to any of the K-dramas and the reason why is there is always overuse of generic formulas such as following one typical trend of genres each season/year - this year probably is slice-of-life dramas, last year was time-travel/ fantasy and so on - although there are, of course, a few dramas that stood out. What happened then is I couldn't really fall in love with any of the characters or the story.

On the other hand, for Cdramas like Princess Agents (I know how disappointing the ending was!), they are far from perfect, with so many plot flaws and poor execution, yet, I still loved the characters. I loved Yuwen Yue, I loved Xing-er. I can't say it is a great drama (not even a good drama) but I still loved the drama.
I do think that if you could accept or bypass the flaws that you mentioned, you would also see different feels that Cdramas could offer compared to Kdramas.

Have watched Hana Yori Dango (with Matsujun) and Boys Over Flowers. I don't think I will be able to replace Matsujun as Domyoji with anyone else. Even when I watched BOF, Lee Min Ho didn't stand a chance. Matsujun will forever be the legendary Domyuji for me. Yet, I am still quite excited to see how the new generation would play out Meteor Garden, especially Dylan Wang and Shen Yue. From what I saw so far, Dylan Wang definitely has the vibe and aura to play Dao Min Si and Shen Yue, Xian Cai. I loved Shen Yue in ALSF so I believe she will do well as Xian Cai without getting annoying.

totally agreed.

This list definitely needs Yoo Seung Ho. the first actor that comes into my mind as I read the title was him. His crying in Warrior Baek Dong Soo and also in Missing You was so heartbreaking. Even in recent drama I Am Not A Robot, his crying scenes makes it feel like a melodrama even though it is a romcom.

I initially started watching it because it is like a China version of Produce 101 but didn't think the quality would be that good. The trainees are really talented and there is no evil editing. We can see the trainees are really close with each other and cares for each other a lot from BTS and other videos. And the songs and performances also are really good.
There are so many talented and the remaining top 20 are all good. I just wish Lin Yanjun and You Zhangjing could be in top 9.

True true, I didn't notice Lin Yanjun in the beginning, thought he was just a pretty face. But, in later episodes, his personality and talent really shines.. He can sing, dance and rap well, has a good leadership and a very funny and entertaining MC skills haha. Lin Yanjun and You Zhangjing are such a pair :D :D

Very interested to see DICE and Bastard remakes, but I wish those two will have Japanese remakes because Japan is always the best in these types of dramas.

Yoo Seung Ho has been one of my favs since his Warriors Baek Dong Soo drama. Actually I think Warrior Baek Dong Soo is a way better drama than Owner of the Mask.

I was waiting to see how Prison Playbook turns out because its from Reply series PD and the plot is quite unique. I will probably give it a try. Thanks.

Is it because Scifi/suspense is not your genre? Otherwise you should try at least one or two episodes?

Thanks. Might give it a try!

Same for me!! I also watched a few Thai dramas like Kleun Cheewit, one of the good Thai dramas out there.

I was interested to watch Chicago typewriter but that drama wasnt hyped too much, so I kept delaying to watch it. Maybe I should give it a try!

I dunno much about that plagiarism controversy although I did hear about it before watching Eternal Love. But it didnt stop me from watching it and enjoying it. I still think that the drama should be given credit for how good it is even if the production team or whoever is responsible behind that plagiarism should be criticised.

It goes into Boys over Flowers/HanaYoriDango type of dramas. I rooted for the main lead, I think, but I didn't like that drama as much as I did for Hana Yori Dango.

I just wish that they can make a Season 2 with the same cast for people like me who can't read Chinese novels. It seems that the novel has a very great plot that has so much potential to become a classics but the drama production failed to stay true to it.