Thanks for this clear article. At the moment I am watching Witch's Court, Temperature of Love, Hospital Ship, While You Were Sleeping and The Package and they are all pretty good. Unfortunately I dropped Black and Revolutionary Love as they were not interesting for me.
I'm surprised to read many negative opinions on this drama as for me it was really good. I had been waiting for a long time for a decent new Chinese historical without fantasy to be released and I was pretty satisfied with this story. Yes there were a few flaws here and there but the acting made it really worthwhile and the ending made sense to me. The leads were excellent and I will keep an eye out for their future projects. I hope to see many more dramas like this one soon.
Thanks for this article! My beginner's list would also include Cruel City, The Disguiser, Nirvana in Fire, Divorce Lawyers, The Imperial Doctress, Scarlet Heart and Battle of Changsha. Lately Chinese dramas are becoming really, really good and are decent competitors towards Korean dramas IMO. :)
Wow, what an amazing article. Thanks for writing it as Kame is definitely one of my favourite Japanese actors. I really admired him lately in Second Love where his dancing talent was just as brilliant as his acting talent. :)
Wow, what an amazing article!! Thanks for summing up all of these upcoming dramas in such a clear way and most of all thanks for mixing the Japanese, Korean and Chinese dramas in one posting. There is so much choice in the coming months which will be fun. For now I have spotted a few Korean dramas I will be watching for sure but I will be reading opinions an all the others and choose as I go along.
I usually keep well away from this genre of dramas/fiction which is also why I never watched the American original. The only reason I stuck with this one was for LJK and all the cast who IMO did a good job. Overall to me it seemed a good quality drama and I hope the leads will choose more relaxing type of dramas as their next projects. In my opinion this was not as bad as many comments I read made it out to be but I will make sure never to watch similar stories from now on.
I enjoyed this drama very much indeed which came as a surprise as I was expecting just another time travelling story with nothing original. Instead there were a couple original aspects (medical and two time travellers ) which were unique and fun. The leads here were fantastic and did a really good job and last but not least the OST is wonderful. This is highly recommended because it's funny, witty , interesting and at the same time very romantic.
As many recent chinese dramas set in modern times I enjoyed this story mostly because it was laid back, fun and relaxing even if it dealt with demanding themes such as divorce and friendship.
I am not rating it with a top mark because for the first time I was not so pleased with the male lead Ding Jian who was too immature in many occasions and also quite inconsistent in his choices and decisions. In fact the last part of the drama was not as pleasant and enjoyable because of many situations in which he never took a clear stand.
At this stage of the drama I actually enjoyed the love story between the secondary couple much more than that of the OTP.
I would still recommend this drama on the whole as indeed the friendship aspect was very well represented.
This was for me an enjoyable saeguk especially because the story was original and different than usual. The main focus was the strong friendship between the three leads which allowed them to overcome many difficulties. Yes there was also romantic love amongst them but to me it was a secondary aspect of the story which is why I would have preferred a different ending. In any case I really appreciated the acting here as it was superb and also the costumes and settings.
I also never thought of comparing the two dramas before reading some comments that did so. I consider them totally different as only very few aspects of the two stories are similar.
Of course I absolutely loved Goblin which is at the top of my all favourite dramas and at the same time I don't feel like bashing The Bride of Habaek which I also enjoyed in its own way. So for me they are both good and totally different so not comparable. :)
I was planning to keep well away from this drama as neither manhwas nor fantasy themes are my cup of tea, but I was drawn to it when I saw the teaser.
In the end am really glad I gave it a go as it was a pleasant watch. I had no expectations and thought the story was fresh, simple and interesting (the fantasy part was very limited which is probably why I could get involved)...yes some concepts didn't make sense or were not explained properly but it all had a good flow.
I must be one of the very few who felt some chemistry between the leads and thought that their acting was good and it was enough for me...yes Habeak was a little stiff but that's how a god should be IMO. I wasn't too keen on the other gods but the story wouldn't have made sense without them.
Not too bad on the whole for me, but if you have high expectations don't watch it.
I realized when reading your article that I rarely read the synopsis of dramas when choosing them.
Since I managed to watch most of the older dramas that I was interested in I am now focusing on currently airing dramas and my choice is mainly based on the genre and the cast.
I have never been biased towards the hyped dramas. Infact I am usually amongst those who contribute to the hype as I generally really enjoy the very popular dramas (and I like the fact that I have similar tastes to the great majority of viewers) and I don't mind particularly long dramas (and long episodes) as long as they are not draggy or overly makjang (like Korean family dramas for example).
And lastly I used to be choosy about the nationality of dramas as I first started watching only Japanese, then I moved to only Korean and recently I added Chinese dramas. Now I watch a mixture of these three nationalities but I am not interested in Taiwanese or Lakorns...so yes, I would say that this is still a determining factor in my choice of dramas.
In any case my number one influencing factor in choosing a drama is definitely whether one of my favourite actors/actresses is in the cast...for them I can also watch genres which I would generally avoid (example: Criminal Minds and Scholar who walks in the night with LJK).
What a great article!! I am also very fond of chinese historical dramas and I totally agree with your top five choices which are my all time favourites too (except for The Princess Wei Young which I dropped because there was too much bullying going on).
Yes The Imperial Doctress was really good and I would also add Cruel Romance, Too Late to say I love You and Battle of Changsha to the list of chinese historicals even though they deal with a different time period.
This is the fourth amazing drama that I watch with Jin Dong, who obviously knows how to choose his projects, which I rated with a 10.
I loved how this story was so profound and realistic...most of the time for me it was like watching a slice of real life rather than a made up story and the cast here was truly talented.
I also appreciated the unconventional theme of the story and how well it was dealt with. Infact the message that came through was that strong friendship is something very precious to be treasured even when facing love.
The romance here was so touching and heart breaking. This is another chinese masterpiece that I highly recommend. :)
Wow, I really enjoyed your article and totally agree with everything you wrote.
But what gave me the most pleasure was your 10th point about slapping. I have always had a very hard time with this aspect in Korean dramas as it bothers me so much that they pass the message that slapping can be so frequent and socially accepted.
In fact most of the time the people who witness the slapping don't do anything at all and even the victims themselves hardly ever react in a logical manner but just stare at the person slapping them or even start whining (generally the weak female leads of course). It drives me nuts so thanks so much for including this aspect in your list. :)
This was an amazing saeguk and one of the best of 2017 for sure. Lots of feelings were involved as well as the usual political struggles. The whole cast's performance was superb but Lee Dong Gun deserves a particular mention as his King Yi Yoong was truly unforgettable.
I discovered Kim Young Kwang in D-day. He litterally captured my attention there as he was really good. Then I watched Sweet Stranger and Me which didn't have a particularly intriguing story. However in Lookout he blew me away...his performance in this drama was amazing and worthy of an award IMO. I hope to see him in always good projects from now on. :)
I am so sad this saeguk has ended as it was truly amazing...so deep, moving, beautiful and sad at the same time. Everyone here did an excellent job but a special mention is for Lee Dong Gun whose tormented King will always remain in my heart.
The story was very involving and although there were many typical aspects found in saeguks it was somehow different as far as feelings went (many different kinds of feelings). The settings and OSTs were also very good. It's a full 10 for me and I will rewatch it again pretty soon.This is highly recommended.
Yes there were a few flaws here and there but the acting made it really worthwhile and the ending made sense to me.
The leads were excellent and I will keep an eye out for their future projects.
I hope to see many more dramas like this one soon.
For now I have spotted a few Korean dramas I will be watching for sure but I will be reading opinions an all the others and choose as I go along.
I am not rating it with a top mark because for the first time I was not so pleased with the male lead Ding Jian who was too immature in many occasions and also quite inconsistent in his choices and decisions. In fact the last part of the drama was not as pleasant and enjoyable because of many situations in which he never took a clear stand.
At this stage of the drama I actually enjoyed the love story between the secondary couple much more than that of the OTP.
I would still recommend this drama on the whole as indeed the friendship aspect was very well represented.
Of course I absolutely loved Goblin which is at the top of my all favourite dramas and at the same time I don't feel like bashing The Bride of Habaek which I also enjoyed in its own way. So for me they are both good and totally different so not comparable. :)
In the end am really glad I gave it a go as it was a pleasant watch. I had no expectations and thought the story was fresh, simple and interesting (the fantasy part was very limited which is probably why I could get involved)...yes some concepts didn't make sense or were not explained properly but it all had a good flow.
I must be one of the very few who felt some chemistry between the leads and thought that their acting was good and it was enough for me...yes Habeak was a little stiff but that's how a god should be IMO. I wasn't too keen on the other gods but the story wouldn't have made sense without them.
Not too bad on the whole for me, but if you have high expectations don't watch it.
Since I managed to watch most of the older dramas that I was interested in I am now focusing on currently airing dramas and my choice is mainly based on the genre and the cast.
I have never been biased towards the hyped dramas. Infact I am usually amongst those who contribute to the hype as I generally really enjoy the very popular dramas (and I like the fact that I have similar tastes to the great majority of viewers) and I don't mind particularly long dramas (and long episodes) as long as they are not draggy or overly makjang (like Korean family dramas for example).
And lastly I used to be choosy about the nationality of dramas as I first started watching only Japanese, then I moved to only Korean and recently I added Chinese dramas. Now I watch a mixture of these three nationalities but I am not interested in Taiwanese or Lakorns...so yes, I would say that this is still a determining factor in my choice of dramas.
In any case my number one influencing factor in choosing a drama is definitely whether one of my favourite actors/actresses is in the cast...for them I can also watch genres which I would generally avoid (example: Criminal Minds and Scholar who walks in the night with LJK).
Yes The Imperial Doctress was really good and I would also add Cruel Romance, Too Late to say I love You and Battle of Changsha to the list of chinese historicals even though they deal with a different time period.
I loved how this story was so profound and realistic...most of the time for me it was like watching a slice of real life rather than a made up story and the cast here was truly talented.
I also appreciated the unconventional theme of the story and how well it was dealt with. Infact the message that came through was that strong friendship is something very precious to be treasured even when facing love.
The romance here was so touching and heart breaking. This is another chinese masterpiece that I highly recommend. :)
But what gave me the most pleasure was your 10th point about slapping. I have always had a very hard time with this aspect in Korean dramas as it bothers me so much that they pass the message that slapping can be so frequent and socially accepted.
In fact most of the time the people who witness the slapping don't do anything at all and even the victims themselves hardly ever react in a logical manner but just stare at the person slapping them or even start whining (generally the weak female leads of course). It drives me nuts so thanks so much for including this aspect in your list. :)
The story was very involving and although there were many typical aspects found in saeguks it was somehow different as far as feelings went (many different kinds of feelings). The settings and OSTs were also very good. It's a full 10 for me and I will rewatch it again pretty soon.This is highly recommended.