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Dec 6, 2025

2025 cdrama year in review - a very subjective post

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2025; if I watched it but it was made in a different year, it’s not on the list. As always, very subjective. Also, a bunch of potentially interesting dramas are going to drop in the remaining sliver of December and I was gonna wait for at least Speed and Love and The Vendetta of An but patience has never been my strong suit so here we go. (I guess I might update this at the very end of December if I feel like it)

Brace yourself, this one is a doozy - I have watched in part or in full 106 cdramas this year.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list. Also, as always, if I hated your faves or loved something you loathed, taste is subjective blah blah.)

106 Feud - and the winner of worst drama this year goes to!!! If you've distilled everything I loathe about characters, narratives, relationships in fiction into one drama, this would be it. A xianxia made by someone who dislikes the genre, characters and relationship that make no sense, a narrative that lurches like a starving zombie. With the bonus of a fandom that claims that if you don't like it, it's because you do not get how amazing it is. It is a testament to how much I adore both Bai Lu and Zeng Shunxi that I still like them after they starred in this mess.

105 Fight for Love - one of my favorite novels adapted into a monstrosity whose only interesting aspect is them somehow making their Male Lead basically an extended cameo. Victoria Song is utterly miscast and so is Ding Yuxi (an incredibly solid actor who nonetheless has script picking skills so abysmal it should be studied. He continues his rampage of terror through my favorite novels) but the true culprit is the nonsensical, shrill, atrocious script. Avoid.

104 Serendipity - if boils were a drama, this would be it.

103 A Prime Minister’s Disguise - it’s stupid, it’s cheap, it’s a waste of anyone’s time.

102 Everlasting Longing - more like evelasting boring with some truly terrible acting and nonsense writing (at least they did us a mercy and put two equally wooden actors opposite each other.)

101 The Journey of Legend - legend of where the money that was supposedly spent on this mess went. It wasn't to script, costumes or cinematography.

100 The Seized Destiny - at one point a man wears cat ears. That’s it, that’s the highlight.

99 Love Beyond the Curse - dumb even for a vampire mini and that’s a low standard indeed.

98 Destiny and Saving - sounds like a bank branch, would probably be more fun if it was.

97 I am nobody 2 - I loved the first season but this just didn’t click for me.

96 Filter - I love you, Tan Jianci but not even for you. At one point, FL is a llama.

95 Destiny of Love: and snoring.

94 Phoenix’s Gambit: Love or Crown - just like its name, couldn’t make up its mind what it wanted to be.

93 Touch of the Frozen Heart - I literally remember nothing about this drama except that I watched some of it. Even reading the description barely refreshes it. And that sums it up.

92 Flying Up Without Disturb - even dumber and more incoherent than that title.

91 Moonlit Order - FL who kills people because they annoy her is ordered to kill ML's family (including the old and handicapped) which gives her no pause whatsoever. As he thwarts her to funny music, they somehow decide family murder is a great basis for a romance. This drama is made by an AI Bot and not trained on anything done by humans either.

90 The Prisoner of Beauty vertical - the only vertical on this list. Two words: hand job.

89 Love and Sword - Gao Weiguang is hot. Unfortunately not hot enough to melt one’s brain which is what you’d need to enjoy this dumb mess.

88 Les Belles - More like La Bete. Because it’s la bete of a drama.

87 Eat Run Love - tried to go for Lighter and Princess, Walmart edition, failed at even that.

86 Love Never Fails - until it does.

85 Reborn From the Ashes - the typical "woman gets a second chance at life, gets revenge on those who wronged her, with help of hot powerful dude" drama but done zzzzzz ok what was I saying I fell asleep.

84 Second Chance Romance - for a drama with that title, surprisingly little romance, second chance or otherwise. It's a crime to waste Wallace Chung so but the main question is how something with such a melo premise is somehow so boring.

83 Youthful Glory - cute and harmless. So is a bunny and that’s at least nice to pet.

82 Dominion and Devotion - a mini tried to be a proper palace drama which is I suppose praiseworthy but not what I watch minis for.

81 Si Jin - A girlbossing story that made me decide I’d rather watch a drama with not a single woman than this type of female centric story and also that Jing Tian is a beautiful woman who doesn’t click for me and Zhang Wanyi really needs to stop playing the same role over and over.

80 The Best Thing - fluffy and plotless but oddly soothing.

79 Treasure at Dawn - snore at midnight. Poor Li Hongyi continues his losing streak.

78 A Dream Within a Dream - this is like a boyfriend who lovebombs you but then when you start dating him, turns out to keep a serial killer basement. It started out so brilliantly but then just stalled and then just enraged me. You know that drawing of horse, which is great in the beginning, OK in middle and stick figure by the end? That's this drama.

77 The Queen of Attack - ML's chest is, as always epic. That's it, that's everything that's worthwhile about this drama.

76 Time Reveals the Prince's Heart - let's make Blossom In Heart a mini but remove any sense from it and make it stupid and make ML a psycho. Yay?

75 Love's Ambition - while I am glad for Zhao Lusi's sake that the success of this drama allowed her to continue her career, this has the vibe of an overcaffeinated lotion commercial so no thanks.

74 Blemish Flaw - interesting concept and execution but not really my genre.

73 Coroner's Diary - Ao Ruipeng, in the immortal words of Aeryn Sun: "it's not you, it's me. I don't like you." (The fact that this is as historical as a can of coke does not help.)

72 Love and Crown - what would you get if you put a 100 monkeys at a 100 typewriters? Something that would still be better than this drama. Ren Jialun meanders through this drama with the look of a man suffering from a toothache and still manages to outact anyone else in this mess.

71 Our Generation - girl, he ain't worth it. Yes, even if he looks like that.

70 The Princess Decree - watching this particular sexual fantasy of the makers brought to screen is like watching a discount pastiche of Tigers Sniff the Rose x The Grand Princess x Spring Banquet only with a lot more BDSM and less sense.

69 Blazing Elegance - this is like the trashiest 1980s romance novel imaginable but set in 1930s China. I had so much fun but did I respect myself in the morning? Hmmm.

68 Guardians of the Dafeng - too goofy for my liking for most of its run but that ending!!!!!!

67 Flourished Peony - solidly acted but alas the narrative did not grab me and ML really made no sense as a period character.

66 Moonlight Mystique - main story pointless, the palette vomit inducing but oh the secondary OTP stole the show and my heart.

65 Bound by Sin - softcore with submissive ML and domme FL. Wild for most of its run until it tries to acquire respectability late in its run.

64 Such a Good Love - tried to be artsy ended up just boring.

63 To Love or To Defy - FL is an assassin getting distracted by an honorable prince. The logic is utterly absent but the fun is fun.

62 Litchi Road - this is a gorgeous, well acted and competently written drama, it's just very much not my thing.

61 The Fallen Lady Returns - the typical "woman gets a second chance at life, gets revenge on those who wronged her, with help of hot powerful dude" drama but done competently, if not amazingly part 2.

60 Luminosity Behind the Palace - it started out stronger than it ended but it was gorgeous for a mini and interesting. The ending pissed me off though.

59 Lust and Lies - if a 1980s Harlequin novel was made into a drama set in 1930s China, it would be this drama.

58 Once Upon a Dream - fakecest is the flavor of the day - why date out of the family when your adopted brother is right there, has great hair and dubious notions of consent? This one is very pretty.

57 Kill to Love - toxic yaoi, hi!

56 Returned Master - somewhat less toxic (but incesty?) yaoi, hi!

55 Legend of the Female General - yet another soulless, bland, dumb adaptation of a favorite novel. But the OTP has crazy chemistry, some really fun scenes, and I am happy Cheng Lei finally got to be a ML.

54 The Prisoner of Love - he tortures her, then she tortures him and on and on and on - the usual. Featuring a couple where FL rides off into wedded bliss with the man who murdered her parents.

53 Threads of Destiny - the typical "woman gets a second chance at life, gets revenge on those who wronged her, with help of hot powerful dude" drama part 3.

52 Destiny of the General's Bride - the typical "woman gets a second chance at life, gets revenge on those who wronged her, with help of hot powerful dude" drama part 4 but done really really well and the OTP is gorgeous.

51 The Cross Dressed Union - it largely flew under the radar but this little drama about a ML who lives as a woman and FL who lives as a man and then enter into an arranged marriage, is adorable.

50 The Ascent of Ling Yun - fakcesty eunuch Qing romance in a harem? More likely than you may think with this Temu Yanxi.

49 Stolen Love - someone watched Kunning and decided to write a Yan Lin AU, honest. I liked it but it did get repetitive and FL is kinda brain dead.

48 Sadistic Love - despite the name, a surprisingly not psychotic love story with fakecest and a lot of gay vibes.

47 The First Frost - a modern about broken up lovers reconnecting, this was a masterpiece for ¾ of its run and then made a narrative decision so stupid it ruined the drama for me.

46 Echoes of the Self - an interesting premise and the fun of having Qian Yilun as ML but the ending kinda falls apart (what else is new?)

45 Sword and Beloved - first 40% are amazing, perfect, no notes. Last 60% are amazingly, perfectly, no notes awful.

44 Hidden Love - not the ZLS flufffest, this is full on fakecest delight. FL’s two choices are ML who she thinks is her half brother (he turns out not to be) and her actual half brother. As it goes.

43 The Maid - more of a QSCK novel adaptation than any actual QSCK adaptation has been so far.

42 Reborn - a hard hitting, nuanced story about a young high school girl haunted by the suicide of her older sister and a boy with his own troubles who helps her in her quest for the truth. Usually not my genre but so well done, I couldn't help but watch.

41 Yummy Yummy Yummy - despite the awful name, this is just a fun, sweet, lovely story with some tasty food and a side of cute romance, even if overall the story really doesn't go anywhere.

40 In the Name of Blossom - an incredibly uneven drama that I nonetheless like much better than the first season. The performances are uniformly top notch (especially Wei Zheming who continues to stand out as FL's ex husband - monstrous and magnetic by turns) and this season finally gives Li Xian something to do and tones girlbosssssss rhetoric of Yang Zi's character. But some plot points are fascinating while others drag. Still, worth a watch.

39 Shadow Love - dumber than a bag of shirtless hammers and gets boggled down in the second half but overall a good, hormonal time was had by yours truly.

38 Love in the Clouds - gorgeous and chemistry filled but except for a few episodes in the middle, it really failed to be intense or complex or gripping.

37 A Love Never Lost - I think, if I were objective, this is the best drama this year. It is not my favorite for very subjective reasons but God, what a masterpiece about an epoch. Bleak ending, characters who ranged from complex and controversial to complex and unlikable (still in awe of Li Xian taking on THAT role - Liang Xiang was complex, larger than life, driven, smart and a monster who was a rapist and a betrayer) and the death of Yang Kaizhi (Wei Daxun) a rare moment that made me cry when I rarely get this moved by dramas.

36 The Tower of Whispers - adaptation of Redeem Him with serial numbers filed off (no, seriously, they are being sued!) that will likely be way more accurate than the actual planned proper adaptation. A perfect example of "psycho only soft for one woman."

35 Qingchuan’s Veil of Vengeance - FL is a former, tortured general, ML her sweet disciple who wants to help. Gender reversal of all the best tropes in this gorgeous gorgeous drama.

34 Whispers of Fate - this seems to be a meandering picaresque narrative with a giant cast but at its heart it's a story of loss and grief, with some incredible performances.

33 The Wanted Detective - it's probably objectively not as good as I think it is, but Wang Xingye has never been hotter, I like the story and FL is a total BAMF.

32 Love on the Turquoise Land - if someone would tell me I'd be rabid for a fantasy modern actioner starring Dilraba and Chen Xingxu, I'd have thought they were nuts, but here we are.

31 The Princess's Gambit - there are draggy portions in the middle and the story has its flaws, but the beginning and the ending are epic and Liu Xueyi and Meng Ziyi are perfectly cast as ruthless schemers who soften for each other. The chemistry and the vibes are INSANE.

30 The Glory - a Gothic and female-centric tale of vengeance and dysfunctional families, this is a story with characters shockingly manipulative and dark. It made Chen Duling a bigger star and well-deservedly so - her abused, violent and brittle protagonist is the person who the show rests on. It did drag a little in the middle but then came back swinging in the end.

29 Deep Affectionate Eyes - a lovely older woman/damaged younger man romance that has some insane chemistry and role reversal. MMMMM

28 Sniper Butterfly - what a total delight of a much older woman/younger man romance done right. Swoony and tropey and perfect. MMMMMMM

27 Nine Yin Sutra - Meng Ziyi gets to be a damaged vengeful woman and He Yu the formerly sunshine boy drawn into her damage, with Zhou Yiwei as the their master in this gorgeous, short, romantic, heartbreaking drama.

26 Always My General - like some of my favorite web novels made into a drama. FL is a woman pretending to be a man and becoming a legendary general, ML is a prince who loves her either way - so delicious. One of my fave minis of the year.

25 Kill My Sins - a thoroughly adult story of loss and vengeance, with Liu Shi Shi and Shawn Dou sparking with each other as equally ruthless and equally damaged souls who find kinship (this is a drama where they never even kiss or confess but when they call each other “soulmate” you FELT it.) So good!

24 Strange Tales of the Tang Dynasty 3 - third season and still utterly solid. Who knew I'd love a period procedural so but here we are.

23 The Five - packs more punch and interactions and complexity and character beats in its short run than most dramas manage in 40 eps.

22 A Moment But Forever - in a year that gave me a lot of awesome xianxias, this one does not disappoint. A depressed and abused philosophy major meets a literal and cheerful engineering major - xianxia style. Liu Xueyi is gorgeous and Tang Yan a delight but what really hits is a surprisingly solid story about divinity, life and forgiveness.

21 Gemini - an epic unhinged mini about twin assassins in love (no, they are not related), transmigration, insanity, gorgeousness, ride or die, unhinged ML, equally unhinged FL, trust and makeouts.

20 Perfect Match - Jane Austen but frothier, this tale of a widow moving with her four marriageable daughters to the capital where the fifth married daughter lives, this is a souffle with a love story for every taste and delightful bit of sisterly love on top. Pick your favorite romance! (Mine is fourth sister and her judge husband.)

19 Love of the Divine Tree - it’s like someone watched TTEOTM and went “this is how it should go instead.” Our heroine is a master who finds feral, hot, abused demon child and cat hero and decides to give him therapy via a petting zoo and chores.

18 The Demon Hunter’s Romance - just a solid lovely tale that includes some genuinely adult, common sense interactions and characters and a wildly creative take on demons and their stories.

17 The Prisoner of Beauty - finally released out of the dungeon, this story of arranged marriage between members of feuding clans turned to love is a delight, held mainly by sane interactions and insane chemistry between Liu Yuning and Song Zuer.

16 When Destiny Brings the Demon - not as strong by the end as in the first half (when it was pure unvarnished perfection) but still a great drama with a refreshing heroine, unusual story, and crazy, OP very damaged ML who can heal or be healed through sexxxxxx.

15 Fated Hearts - I would excise the silly sister storyline utterly if I could, but the main story is so logical, so well paced, and the OTP is a perfect pair of feral generals who do enemies to lovers, fighting to perfect trust, flawlessly.

14 Blood River - Gay Assassin River. Seriously, this was smart and fun and well paced and with epic battles and vvvvvv gay.

13 Love in Pavilion - do you like gorgeous pain? Come right in. Do you like doomed love in many varieties and incredible visuals and a totally gonzo set up? This is everything Red Moon Pact should have been but was not.

12 This Thriving Land - an artsy, serious, heartbreaking masterpiece about the life of villagers in the first half of the 20th century; this is anchored by Yang Mi giving an incredible performance as a relatively well-off young woman who marries a poor farmer out or rage at being assumed to have been despoiled and Ou Hao, who plays her amazing husband. But all the performances and the writing are exquisite. Oh, how I ugly cried.

11 A Dream Like the True Love - the best mini on this list, and possibly the best mini I've seen, this tale of a peasant girl who is rescued by a scholar and ends up repaying his and his family's favor when he's taken as a princess' plaything to protect his family is solidly written, full of characters and interactions that make sense, and has an adorable OTP at the center of it all together with some of my fave tropes.

10 Moonlit Reunion - like an intense dream; so beautifully filmed, so sensual, such a swoon, but with a solid story. This tale of a demon queen and demon hunter who fall in love is EVERYTHING.

9 The Blossoming Love - the best xianxia of them all in a very solid xianxia year, this story of a demoness and the perfect saint of the cultivating world goes hard on an incredible OTP and some glorious destroy the pantheon energy. Our Male Lead is not an atheist who does not believe in gods. No, he knows they are real and he WILL end them.

8 Twelve Letters - if it was only the past story, it would be in the running for n1, but modern day portions didn't grab me. This said, the original narrative about two abused, lonely teens who somehow find hope and protection with each other just broke my heart in the worst, best way. Zhou Yiran and Wang Yinglu give insane performances.

7 Eternal Brotherhood 2: second year in a row a season of this drama misses top spot by the skin of its teeth. This grim, smart feudal-world-at-war and the three sworn brothers who deal with it drama comes back with more hard choices, brotherhood, love kept and lost and some insane cinematography and acting

6 Under the Moonlight - came out of nowhere to own my heart. This tale of a former courtesan assisting in cases in the yamen, a sheltered noble son who gets involved and the upright commissioner is everything - smart and moving and with so many points about class and gender (that is not preachy in the least.) It’s realistic in a way most dramas are not and deals with portions of society dramas often don’t, but it makes you both think and feel.

5 Light Beyond the Reed - this slim, harrowing tale of an office worker with a stifling life and crumbling marriage who gets raped and then needs to deal with the aftermath is close to perfect. Mao Xiaotong as the heroine and Zhang Bin Bin as her husband, both damaged by life in different ways long before her rape, are amazing and I rooted for them so utterly.

2 (tie) Eastern Heretic and Western Venom - Zhou Yiwei and Gao Weiguang are mesmerizing in this story of two different martial artists meeting and striking a friendship (and ZYW falling for Chen Duling's character.) It's poetry in motion, it's a meditation on friendship and loss and love and life and what it means to let go or to hold on. What honor is and what it means to be in the world. And it's filmed like a poem.

2 (tie) Legend of Zang Hai - sometimes a huge hit starring a big star IS actually all that and a bag of chips, and this is that rare example. Ostensibly a story about vengeance, this is actually a smart, emotionally riveting character study about selfishness and selflessness, damage, kindness and evil. The script is tight, the direction impeccable and the performances out of this world. Xiao Zhan as the containedly insane focus and maelstrom of all the madness gives a performance I will long remember.

2 Legend of the Magnate - so smart and beautiful and emotional. Chen Xiao is the smartest man in any room, but he's so afraid, so full of decency, so vivid he does not feel too much. The setting is gorgeous, the other characters complex (it features my favorite secondary OTP of the year to boot) - it's WOW.

1 The White Olive Tree - a modern is my n1 drama of the year? The world is coming to an end. The story of a journalist and bomb disposal expert who meet, fall in love in, and are destroyed by trauma in a war zone is a masterpiece. It’s delicate, it’s hopeful, it’s heartbreaking. It also is a vanishingly rare portrayal of trauma that does not have pat solutions or easy outs. It’s a romance and a tragedy in the classic Greek sense of the word, especially for the ML whose very idealism and goodness are what make him both perfect and unsuitable for helping and that ultimately take him down.

FAVORITE DRAMA

The White Olive Tree - for the first time in ever, since I first started watching cdramas in 2007 - my favorite cdrama is a modern. Yeah, I know. Flawless from beginning to end, with literally nothing I’d change, this love story and character story is unflinching in its portrayal of love and trauma. Everyone gives a great performance but it’s anchored by a genuinely jaw dropping performance from CZY as shattered idealist Li Zan.

RUNNER UP (or maybe co-winners, depending on my mood):

Legend of Zang Hai - that rare beast - both smart and emotional, with gorgeous cinematography and impeccable acting, this really shows the cost and burden of revenge and makes you hope against hope for happiness and healing.

Legend of the Magnate - this is smart and funny and terrifying and heartbreaking and is very much about idealism in hellworld. All the characters, even minor ones, feel real and complex, the filming is gorgeous, and oh the relationships - friendships, familial, adversarial, romantic - are pitch perfect.

Eastern Heretic and Western Venom - a short (only 8 eps) drama, this has some of the most stunning cinematography and acting, but it's also a tale about loss - friendships found and lost, love found (but under imminent threat of loss), of joining the world and removing from it and it's just - a tale that is more a character meditation than anything.

WORST DRAMA

Feud - if I could cast the evil eye on it, I would.

FAVORITE SCENE

So many, so I am going to limit myself to one per drama - the confrontation between the general and his son and Zang Hai wandering like a lost soul in the aftermath of his revenge in Legend of Zang Hai, Li Zan in the aftermath of his torture (and especially his hospital breakdown) in The White Olive Tree, the siege of Hefei and the aftermath in Legend of the Magnate, Huang Yaoshi telling of his upbringing to his future wife in Eastern Heretic and Western Venom, outside the asylum scene in 12 Letters, the jailhouse wedding in Under the Moonlight, Di Lin to the rescue in Eternal Brotherhood 2, ML of Fated Hearts just breaking that man's neck at the city gates in Fated Hearts, shower scene in Light Beyond the Reed, "I am gonna kill all the Gods" scene in The Blossoming Love, XiuXiu at her mother's funeral in This Thriving Land.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Li Zan (Chen Zheyuan), The White Olive Tree - one of the ultimate male performances and characters of the year for me. Li Zan starts the story as a shining light and ends a broken wreck and it’s an epic performance throughout - it shows how uncomfortable it is to love a saint but it also shows this saint as human in all his complexity and drive; it makes idealism human - it’s intense and haunting and you can’t look away whether you are swooning or crying.

Zang Hai (Xiao Zhan), Legend of Zang Hai - I so rarely find actors with such huge and intense fanbases worth the hype, but XZ really is worth it. This performance of traumatized, vengeance-driven but unable to get rid of his soft heart Zang Hai was incredible - so many scenes that just had me jaw-droppingly in awe.

Liang Xiang (Li Xian), A Love Never Lost - Li Xian owns the role of a magnetic larger than life monstrous mover and shaker of the end of Qing. The man is a rapist and a murderer; he’s also a filial son, a supremely competent leader and a terrifying kind of an idealist. This is not a role any idol-adjacent actor normally takes but Li Xian is incredible in the role.

Gu Pingyuan (Chen Xiao), Legend of the Magnate - if Fan Xian had a queue and lived in the decaying Qing Dynasty of the 19th century China, he'd be GPY. The brains, the fear and yet proceeding despite it, the inability to allow wrongs to stand, the temper, the tenderness with loved ones. AAAA.

Huang Yaoshi (Zhou Yiwei), Eastern Heretic and Western Venom/The Five/Nine Yin Sutra - the most powerful man in any room and also the calmest, ZYW plays Yaoshi as someone with the naivete of a child, an ability to look at the world sideways, and a certain alien quality. And yet you cannot help but root for him desperately and want him to get what he wants, whether it's to save his wife or keep his shoes clean.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Luo Shu (Hu Bingqing), Under the Moonlight - she is so complex, so strong, so haunted. Very much a gender swapped “haunted, tough man with a cause falls for a sheltered kind woman” set up for her and her OTP but what I love even more is she’s not defined by romance.

Ye Sibei (Mao Xiao Tong), Light Beyond the Reed - a woman ground down by life long before the rape that wrecks it, watching her try to process trauma and then fight for dignity and happiness was raw, uncomfortable, and amazing.

Liao Tingyan (Wang Yinglu), When Destiny Brings the Demon - this is a role and character that could have gone so wrong, but WYL made her slacker so endearing, so warm, so sane that you completely got why the most powerful (and totally traumatized and nuts) man in the Universe was willing to lean out with her.

Ning Xiuxiu (Yang Mi), This Thriving Land - I have almost given up on Yang Mi before this role. Used to love her but all her recent dramas and performances just didn't hit for me. And then this came and I couldn't look away from this complex, complicated rural woman.

Chen Baoyin (Na Yi), A Dream Like the True Love - clearheaded, clever, compassionate, full of common sense and so warm while never coming across as weak or OP or anything but utterly wonderful.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

99% of the people in A Moment But Forever and When Destiny Brings the Demon - I am Team Apocalypse for that one. Truly awful horrors, whether the torturing selfish immortal sect, the useless deities, the evil war demons who created the worst society possible or the gross humans. Kill them all!

BEST BAD GUY

When Deng Wei’s character in Tree, Zhang Bin Bin’s in TBL or Liu Xueyi’s in Moment go evil, they automatically become 10x hotter and seeing they were already hot to start with…but my favorite is Lord Jiuhuo (Charles Lin) in Love in Pavilion - that man was willing to wreck the world for love and he was epic doing it. My favorite part of LiP.

If we are going for not (to me) sexy, the Marquis from Legend of Zang Hai. That man was a monstrous force of nature.

"YOU TRIED" AWARD (aka a good performance in a hot mess)

Liu Yuning, A Dream Within a Dream - his performance, his character and his get up deserved a much much much better drama.

“HAROLD, THEY ARE LESBIANS” AWARD

And Chen Duling is in this one for the second year in a row - Zhuang Hanyan (CDL) x Chai Jing (Jinna Fu) in The Glory are 100% a couple, with frankly as many couple scenes and set ups as the ostensibly canon het OTP.

"WHEN GOD CLOSES A DOOR HE OPENS A WINDOW" AWARD (aka China banned BL but these martial brothers are awfully...brotherly)

Blood River and Whispers of Fate tie (and narrowly edge out Returned Master since that was a mini and has more leeway) as the martial brothers at the center of the narrative are very very "killers in love/as straight as a crooked line/you are my soulmatey soulmate" gay for each other.

“HOW DID CENSORS NAP THROUGH THIS” AWARD

Honestly, any mini would be on this list (have you SEEN the sex scenes in Blazing Elegance?) but if we are talking “proper” dramas, let’s go with The Glory, which let all sorts of awful, murdery characters get a happy ending and the seeming relaxation of "no emperor can be awful" rule.

MALE LEAD MOST LIKELY TO BE BROUGHT HOME TO MOTHER

No, thank you! The few modern ones she’d not approve of (Li Zan is likely to leave you a young widow, the poor ML of 12 Letters needs a wrap around support services not dating, and Sang Yan from TFF would never decouple from his girl anyway) and the period ones are no go since few moms would be keen on wild-eyed, bloodied sons in law however hot and long haired they may be. This said, maybe the Sniper Butterfly ML if we change the category to "brought home FOR mother," since the man is gonna want her instead of you, let's face it.

"BEST STABBED BY A MULTITUDE OF SWORDS FOR THE CHANCE TO DEFY CELIBACY" SCENE

Sword and Beloved was impressive with its 10K swords and whatever, but at least Xu Kai in Moonlit Reunion actually got laid (and laid and laid and laid) after he was similarly penetrated.

FAVORITE SHIP

The White Olive Tree - idealists who love each other more than life but that love is not enough to fix them.

Kill My Sins - they don’t kiss, they don’t confess, they barely touch. And yet the soulmate compatibility and the chemistry just pour off the screen. I was feral whenever they were within two feet of each other.

When Destiny Meets the Demon - he's a demon lord, she's an overworked modern worker. The chemistry and the ride or die and the EVERYTHING.

Fated Hearts - enemies to ride or die lovers does not get any better than that. Battle Couple forever.

Moonlit Reunion - the chemistry, the reverse role vibes, the everything. I am willing to believe they will die if they don't touch each other the next moment.

Legend of Zang Hai - not a ship centric show and sometimes these make the best ships. I would lose it when they even touched palms. They are both damaged and wary (and he’s borderline nuts from trauma) and watching them dance around and get their hearts broken and healed was…

The Blossoming Love - taking on Gods in any life and form and so ride or die and sexy and AAAAAAAA

Legend of the Magnate - it's as if Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er went Qing. Honestly, I adore them. He's brain, she's brawn, they are the most decent, selfless, loving darlings with each other.

This Thriving Land - the formerly wealthy, embittered, tough FL and her illiterate, poor, tenant farmer husband are amazing in every way.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Many excellent choices this year - Fourth couple in Perfect Match who were amazing; the dysfunctional, intense, doomed secondary OTP of Moonlight Mystique - I finished that drama solely for them; secondary OTP of Love in the Clouds - better than the mains, but ultimately this title belongs to the gorgeous, doomed, everything couple of Yimei x Li Cheng in Legend of the Magnate - a proper lady and a millenarian peasant general. They made me swoon and bawl in equal measure.

NOTP

Feud. 'Nuff said.

HOTTEST SCENE.

The wedding night makeout in Moonlit Reunion (and their subsequent married ones too tbh).

BIGGEST CRUSH

We are gonna go in the most opposite way possible: the law abiding, incredibly decent, rather rigid Fourth Husband, Perfect Match, the millenarian peasant general Li Cheng in Legend of the Magnate who made ME want to pick up a pike, Huang Yaoshi in the Eastern Heretic/The Five/Nine Yin dramas - with that deadly innocence and that voice - and Di Lin in Eternal Brotherhood 2 - the man is ideal husband, a terrifying beast in battle and just all around sex on legs.

BEST DOOMED LAST STAND SCENE

The Marquis in Legend of Zang Hai was a monster and the General Prince in Legend of the Magnate was a hero, but both their last stands were epic beyond words, and I totally got why armies followed them.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Zhuang Zhixing (Zhou Qi), Legend of Zang Hai - the sole decent person in that family of monsters, he stole my heart and his arc OMG!

General Li Cheng (Zhu Yawen), Legend of the Magnate - the rebel general who stole not just ML's fiance but also my heart.

BEST COSTUMES AND WIGS

Costumes: Legend of Zang Hai and Legend of the Magnate - real embroidery, and costumes that look real.

Wigs: I am gonna be weird here and say Kill My Sins.

MOST EXTRA OUTFIT

That one dude in Feud:

FAVORITE SECONDARY ML

(in the old fashioned sense of OTP interloper, because if we did supportings, we'd be here all day.)

General Yun in Eternal Brotherhood 2 - Si Yilin x Ka Dan were my n1 OTP in s1 and yet the man’s honor and willingless to risk his life to protect Ka Dan without expecting anything has got me almost switching ships.

MOST BLATANT INNUENDO MOMENT

FL gives ML a hand job (no really!) in the vertical version of The Prisoner of Beauty. No wonder it got yanked (pun!)

Actually, I'd have to exclude minis or we'd be here all night (heeee), so we are gonna go with Sun Zhenni and Zhang Bin Bin in The Blossoming Love in this scene:

The chemistry but also those vibes are eyebrow-raising in the most unhinged way! She's a sexy demoness and he's the purest knight type and I

FAVORITE 2025 CDRAMA SONG

Chen Xueran’s Moonlight Dance from The White Olive Tree. You have no idea how much I listened to it.

Love and Crown - the drama was trash but that opening song I adored.

MVP OF THE YEAR

Song Zuer, who beat her tax allegations (already a miracle) and came back with two awesome dramas.

Wang Yinglu - who vowed me in three very different roles in very different dramas.

ACTING SURPRISE

So many great performances, but I am gonna go with Chen Zheyuan in The White Olive Tree and then Fated Hearts. He’s been solid in so many awful dramas but I never knew he could be such a revelation as he was in Olive and then he followed up with a very different but crazy magnetic role in FH.

Zhou Yiran - I've heard of him but have never seen him in anything before. But then he was incredible in Reborn and 12 Letters and I will now watch this guy in (almost) anything. He reminds me a little of Chinese Lee Do Hyun.

I AM SO SO TIRED OF THIS DUDE (OR DUDETTE, WE ARE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HATERS HERE)

Ai Mi - girl can act but she's a minor who keeps getting cast in all these romance-centric dramas with adult dudes, instead of actual adult actresses. It becomes awful because you cannot film a proper romance with a minor, her costars (who don't have much choice) get flack for being opposite her, and she is doing that instead of plenty of other genres she could be in (non-romance centric dramas are plentiful, or she can be in a supporting romance where there isn't much focus on the ship.)

Ao Ruipeng - stop trying to make fetch happen.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Eternal Brotherhood 2 - it really stopped in medias res. But probably just as well since doom would happen in part 3.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Serendipity - in addition to all its other sins, this simply cannot support 40 eps. A Dream Within a Dream - it would have been much more tolerable as a 24 ep drama.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

I don't think it had scissors taken to it, but among its many other problems, Legend of the Female General really needed more room to breathe.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Ahistorical girlpower stuff - where period women espouse modern feminism without being transmigrators or with any other believable explanation and without any consideration how it would fit in-world.

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Men (and women) knowingly fighting for a doomed cause because otherwise they’d cease to be who they are. Or if we are being shallow all the beautiful men in chains.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

The First Frost: it was so exquisite for about 2/3 and then the Hong Kong arc happened (and was not in the book; the adaptation was faithful so far so nothing heralded it) and ruined the whole drama. It negated the development, the themes, the characters - it made me dislike both leads and the way the narrative never addressed it made the whole story utterly fall apart.

A Dream Within a Dream - started so well and then was just WHAT WAS THAT POINTLESS MESS.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

The White Olive Tree, Under the Moonlight, A Moment but Forever, The Demon Hunter’s Romance, Sniper Butterfly, 12 Letters, Love on the Turquoise Land - this has been a year of surprises, so many of my top dramas weren’t on my radar at all. Perhaps the biggest surprise though is Legend of Zang Hai, because despite the heavy hitter cast, I did not expect to like it - I rarely like revenge narratives and the first few eps did not grab me (and then they did, and the first few eps made so much sense in retrospect; not a second wasted.)

2025 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

I have honestly watched everything I wanted so far.

BEST NON-2025 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2025

This is not something I watched in 2025, but I did watch it at the very end of 2024 and it didn't make it into my 2024 list because I already posted it by then - Riverside Code at the Qingming Festival - an amazingly acted and wonderfully written drama about people dramas normally don't bother about (the mains are middle aged married couple who are small time clerk and shop owner in Song Dynasty), this is ostensibly a mystery but really a character study, indictment of monstrosity of power and an utterly tender look at a wonderful love story of middle aged, long married couple.

FAVORITE KOREAN/TAIWANESE/JAPANESE DRAMA THIS YEAR

Moon River (Korea) - I have almost given on kdramas because this year was so utterly abysmal and then comes this - a gorgeous, tender, romantic tale of second chances and loss and love and in a beautiful period setting to boot. This story of a tormented Crown Prince and his lost and then regained Crown Princess is everything.

Had I Not Seen the Sun (Taiwan) - as bleak as it is gorgeous and insanely well acted, this is a story that delves into the background of shocking serial killings. I have not rooted for a serial killer this hard since Mawang and the tentative love story (in the past) is just soul crushing and luminous at once.

Lessons in Love (Japan) - a dyslexic host and a much older formerly suicidal teacher who decides to teach him how to read is the tenderest love story you will see all year.

MOST ANTICIPATED

Hmmm: all the heavy duty historicals - Two Capitals Fifteen Days, Swords into Plowshares, that Qin Shi Huang drama with Chen Xiao, the one with Hu Ge, one with LYX and Shawn Dou, and also the idol ones like In the Moonlight, Mo Li, Hidden Shadow, Liang Chen Mei Jin, Wishing You Eternal Happiness adaptation, A Ming Dynasty Adventure, Rebirth, Love Beyond the Grave and Tigers Sniff the Rose.

CONGRATS: YOU'VE MADE IT TO THE END!!! Have a cookie. Or a hot man in chains. Your choice.

#cdrama #year in review #the white olive tree #duel on mount hua: eastern heretic and western venom #legend of the magnate #under the moonlight #legend of zang hai #the blossoming love #light beyond the reed #Moonlit Reunion #a dream like the true love #twelve letters #fated hearts

dangermousie