wow you've watched more dramas than I have - and I've been watching for over 10 years. I was going to ask how you did it, but you described it in the "Put Your Head On My Shoulders" section. I'm really loving the speed options (I figured out how to add it on chrome last year). Dramas tend to drag, which makes me drop them. With kdramas, I have a hard time finishing dramas around ep. 12/13, because it's full of noble idiocy.
My favourite version of "Hana Yori Dango"- is..."Hana Yori Dango" (jdrama). I actually read the manga, and didn't really like it (it was kinda long). but the drama was better. haha.
I've mostly watched kdramas and have been into cdramas this year, which is a refreshing change :)
Thank you for this article. I'm relatively new to cdramas and am a complete banana. Haha never thought I'd learn some idioms here :) I don't like the Qing hair but somehow Fu Heng/ Xu Kai still looks good with it in the Yanxi Palace. I'll add some of your recs to my growing list of "Plan to Watch" dramas (which is now at 52 xD)
For Chinese (China) dramas - I think the first drama I watched was "Beautiful Secret" - because it starred Victoria Song (I was very curious). I don't think the acting was bad, but I really did not like the pace of the drama, nor the editing. So it really didn't rope me into the cdramas.
Then I watched "Love O2O" - but it took me a year or so to finish. I loved the beginning (Yang Yang is so good looking) but I felt that it dragged and I put it on hold for a year, before I finally finished it (I had to...increase the speed of the video in order for me to finish it).
In the meantime I watched "The Fox's Summer" - which might be the first cdrama I actually enjoyed. There were still some issues, I thought with the pacing/editing, but it wasn't that bad. I really liked the protagonist (played by Seven Tan). She was very prickly and also misunderstood. However, it didn't really make me a fan of cdramas but I gave it more of a chance. In the meantime, I've started some other dramas but ended up dropping them for kdramas.
Then this year, I got addicted to Chinese webnovels. I read half of the "Story of Minglan" then realized, by the comments of the readers/fans - that it's a drama. Out of curiosity, I watched the dramas and loved it. It's even better than the novel (which I dropped halfway because I hated the male lead in the novel - I realized that the secondary male lead wasn't the male lead, after the wedding xD). Acting, production, story was fantastic. They changed things in the drama to make it better, and the story tighter. I LOVED it. I thought maybe the problem was, I didn't give historical cdramas a shot.
Then I started watching "The King's Avatar" (my ex told me it was good, even though he doesn't watch asian dramas at all). I was very wary to try this because... I didn't really enjoy "Love O2O" drama very much (the movie is better) and Yang Yang was also the lead of this one. But I gave it a shot and it blew me away. Maybe it's the dubbing or maybe Yang Yang's acting got better.
Then from there, I was into esports dramas so I watched "Gank Your Heart". The leads were the perfect couple and I loved the story so much... Then I went down the Yibo (who was the ML in Gank Your Heart and the Untamed) rabbit hole and gave "the Untamed" a second shot (I tried it even before watching the "Story of Minglan", but... I couldn't watch past the first scene. lol) and I really enjoyed that.
I think I tend to like dramas that are more recent because I believe the quality is a lot better.
Interesting. Just the other day I was arguing with anime fans how I hated fanservice in anime (and I said some of those scenes were normalizing sexual harassment - some of them seriously they go too far) and... offended some fans. But I guess I was being hypocritical as I didn't really see the shirtless fanservice scenes of kdrama objectifying the guys. It's not quite the same, but I see your point. When I started watching kdramas, I think there was a lot of shirtless scenes. I haven't really seen them nowadays (maybe it's just the shows I watch)
The BEST esports drama? I really like esports dramas (Gank Your Heart and The King's Avatar) + Luhan (well singing anyways) . Just curious , what other ones you have seen for your comparison?
Nice article. I never really thought too deeply about these scenes.
The transferring data file screen - Maybe they're transferring large data files? It could take some time...
You're right - why would we see a virus loading screen? Maybe they should have a scene of them disabling the antivirus software. Or try installing the virus and having to waste time disabling the antivirus software ... lol >_< but that'd sound too boring.
I took one programming course and really didn't have the patience for debugging codes. Kudo to you for sticking with it :)
Meteor Garden was what kicked started me watching Asian dramas. My fav Taiwanese dramas: Fated to Love You, My Queen, PiLiMIT (Mysterious Incredible Terminator in MDL), Office Girls. I haven't been keeping up with Taiwanese dramas lately.
HAHA. I find this review funny. I liked the premises - as I like gaming. I thought it was entertaining for a few episodes, but I also dropped it initially. Then I picked it after a year or so, and now question why did I bothered (I think I discovered how to fast forward dramas or gamed while watching). However, the story in my opinion is good. The movie is much better. Better acting/chemistry. It's also more condensed. He actually seems like a student trying to make it into the gaming world.
I've only watched two of his dramas: The Untamed and Gank Your Heart.
In my opinion, Gank Your Heart is better. I disagree that the characters are cartoony. Yes, there's a romantic spin to the drama, but it's a... cdrama. I think it was a good drama about gaming and I thought it was more realistic than The King's Avatar, another drama about gaming. I believe there might even be elements to the real life behind the scenes of the game Dota (tournament in Vancouver, underdog stories, Chinese teams). I found the relationships quite heartwarming and loved the underdog story.
I watched this drama, as a non-fan of Yibo (I didn’t even know who he was when I started it - I was in an esport drama mood after watching The King's Avatar). My favourite storyline is actually the older generation. I was literally in tears at the end because of them. I also really liked the female lead (Qiu Ying), she grows as a character. She started out as a “flower vase” (pretty on the outside, but not talented) and I really liked how Xiang Kong (Yibo’s character) calls her out on that - he expects more out of her, which starts her own personal growth journey. Xiang Kong, in my opinion is a great male lead. He supports the female lead but doesn’t do everything for her (unlike most male leads in Asian romance drama). He lets her find herself and really respects her. After watching this, because I was in a Yibo withdrawal, I started the Untamed. I know most of the fans know Wang Yibo as Lan Wangji from the Untamed, but to me, he’s Xiang Kong, from Gank Your Heart. Gank Your Heart has become my 2nd favourite Chinese drama.
I think Yibo's acting is better in Gank Your Heart because Xiang Kong isn't as stoic as Lan Wangji - so he is able to portray a wider range of emotions.
Anyways I can't wait to see him in his new drama, the Legend of Fei.
My favourite version of "Hana Yori Dango"- is..."Hana Yori Dango" (jdrama). I actually read the manga, and didn't really like it (it was kinda long). but the drama was better. haha.
I've mostly watched kdramas and have been into cdramas this year, which is a refreshing change :)
For Chinese (China) dramas - I think the first drama I watched was "Beautiful Secret" - because it starred Victoria Song (I was very curious). I don't think the acting was bad, but I really did not like the pace of the drama, nor the editing. So it really didn't rope me into the cdramas.
Then I watched "Love O2O" - but it took me a year or so to finish. I loved the beginning (Yang Yang is so good looking) but I felt that it dragged and I put it on hold for a year, before I finally finished it (I had to...increase the speed of the video in order for me to finish it).
In the meantime I watched "The Fox's Summer" - which might be the first cdrama I actually enjoyed. There were still some issues, I thought with the pacing/editing, but it wasn't that bad. I really liked the protagonist (played by Seven Tan). She was very prickly and also misunderstood. However, it didn't really make me a fan of cdramas but I gave it more of a chance. In the meantime, I've started some other dramas but ended up dropping them for kdramas.
Then this year, I got addicted to Chinese webnovels. I read half of the "Story of Minglan" then realized, by the comments of the readers/fans - that it's a drama. Out of curiosity, I watched the dramas and loved it. It's even better than the novel (which I dropped halfway because I hated the male lead in the novel - I realized that the secondary male lead wasn't the male lead, after the wedding xD). Acting, production, story was fantastic. They changed things in the drama to make it better, and the story tighter. I LOVED it. I thought maybe the problem was, I didn't give historical cdramas a shot.
Then I started watching "The King's Avatar" (my ex told me it was good, even though he doesn't watch asian dramas at all). I was very wary to try this because... I didn't really enjoy "Love O2O" drama very much (the movie is better) and Yang Yang was also the lead of this one. But I gave it a shot and it blew me away. Maybe it's the dubbing or maybe Yang Yang's acting got better.
Then from there, I was into esports dramas so I watched "Gank Your Heart". The leads were the perfect couple and I loved the story so much... Then I went down the Yibo (who was the ML in Gank Your Heart and the Untamed) rabbit hole and gave "the Untamed" a second shot (I tried it even before watching the "Story of Minglan", but... I couldn't watch past the first scene. lol) and I really enjoyed that.
I think I tend to like dramas that are more recent because I believe the quality is a lot better.
However, I think the dancing is also getting better and better.
The transferring data file screen - Maybe they're transferring large data files? It could take some time...
You're right - why would we see a virus loading screen? Maybe they should have a scene of them disabling the antivirus software. Or try installing the virus and having to waste time disabling the antivirus software ... lol >_< but that'd sound too boring.
I took one programming course and really didn't have the patience for debugging codes. Kudo to you for sticking with it :)
My fav Taiwanese dramas: Fated to Love You, My Queen, PiLiMIT (Mysterious Incredible Terminator in MDL), Office Girls.
I haven't been keeping up with Taiwanese dramas lately.
In my opinion, Gank Your Heart is better. I disagree that the characters are cartoony. Yes, there's a romantic spin to the drama, but it's a... cdrama. I think it was a good drama about gaming and I thought it was more realistic than The King's Avatar, another drama about gaming. I believe there might even be elements to the real life behind the scenes of the game Dota (tournament in Vancouver, underdog stories, Chinese teams). I found the relationships quite heartwarming and loved the underdog story.
I watched this drama, as a non-fan of Yibo (I didn’t even know who he was when I started it - I was in an esport drama mood after watching The King's Avatar). My favourite storyline is actually the older generation. I was literally in tears at the end because of them. I also really liked the female lead (Qiu Ying), she grows as a character. She started out as a “flower vase” (pretty on the outside, but not talented) and I really liked how Xiang Kong (Yibo’s character) calls her out on that - he expects more out of her, which starts her own personal growth journey. Xiang Kong, in my opinion is a great male lead. He supports the female lead but doesn’t do everything for her (unlike most male leads in Asian romance drama). He lets her find herself and really respects her. After watching this, because I was in a Yibo withdrawal, I started the Untamed. I know most of the fans know Wang Yibo as Lan Wangji from the Untamed, but to me, he’s Xiang Kong, from Gank Your Heart. Gank Your Heart has become my 2nd favourite Chinese drama.
I think Yibo's acting is better in Gank Your Heart because Xiang Kong isn't as stoic as Lan Wangji - so he is able to portray a wider range of emotions.
Anyways I can't wait to see him in his new drama, the Legend of Fei.