That won't do. Your injury is somewhat my fault. I’ll reluctantly look after you for a couple of days. It’s been a few days already—my wound is almost healed. Now you come to care for me?
This year, I finished 31 dramas (including minis, movies, and some left over from previous years). Among those, these were my favorites, including a short "about" summary or an "explain this poorly."
New this year: "Random Superlatives" at the end. Just for fun. XD
NOTES
All of these are ancient costume dramas, unless noted specifically.
I don't care if a drama has a happy or a sad ending, as long as it's well written.
THE STARS: These are the ones that I not only super enjoyed, but also score great on all critical aspects, given their genre: plot, writing, character depth, visual appeal, and the ability to capture and hold the viewer's attention. ✅Recommend!
🌟🌟 Are ones that a regular Star didn't cut it. I absolutely LOVED these dramas!
THE CHECKMARKS: They're great and I really, really enjoyed them, and they made me squee too🥰 but they're not as technically perfect as the ones above. Still awesome dramas, and I recommend them! ✅Recommend!
OTHERS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT: They're not a third tier, or an honorable mention, but they didn't make it into the other two categories. I enjoyed them, nevertheless, and want to talk about them for some reason.
RANDOM SUPERLATIVES: Random awards of sorts.
Other than that, they're just listed in a random order.
ON GENRE: I wasn't in the mood to watch a Very Serious drama this year, so I DNFed many well-acclaimed ones that had a more heavy tone. If you're looking for lighter stuff, here's a good list.
ON ROMANCE: Though I appreciate it, I'm not really all that much into the romance aspect of dramas. I say this because I know many people watch them specifically for the romance, and I've seen comments asking how soon the couples kiss. At the end of a drama, I tend to not even remember if they kissed or not (unless it was memorable - either because it was a very good kiss or a very bad one😂). So, with that disclaimer said...
There were a lot of really good dramas in 2025!
THE STARS
🌟🌟GUARDIANS OF THE DAFENG
Dylan Wang, etc.
ABOUT: Xu Qi'an is a modern realtor who transmigrates into an ancient prison. It's about watching him be funny and shameless and solve cases. It's December and although I'm bad at names, I still remember his. That ought to tell you something.
🌟🌟THE DEMON HUNTER'S ROMANCE
Ren Jialun, Song Zu'er
ABOUT: Less romance-focused than the title implies. Supernatural case-solving. Like a fairy tale for adults. Very well written.
THE BLOSSOMING LOVE
Vin Zhang, Sun Zhenni, Wang Duo
EXPLAIN THIS POORLY: Priestess from demon realm seduces Most Prude Cultivator award recipient. Meanwhile, pathetic-looking but powerful Meow-Meow with hot voice pursues FL. Everyone has secrets. The secrets are so secret even the secret-havers might not know them.
Best xianxia I watched in 2025.
SUPERLATIVE AWARD: My favorite secondary character of the year: Nan Xuyue, the aforementioned Meow-Meow. He even teaches you calligraphy.
LES BELLES
Alen Fang, Jelly Lin
ABOUT: Two people have PLANS. But separately. Except the other person keeps getting in the way and ruining said plans.
Cute, light, funny, very pretty with lots of flowers. The cast seems to have gotten along really well while filming, because they even went on vacation together, and it shows. This drama is so much FUN to watch!
A MOMENT BUT FOREVER
Liu Xueyi, Tang Yan
ABOUT: Undercover goddess becomes grumpy cultivator's attendant. Includes fun sword spirits, a guy who went through the heavenly tribulation hundreds of times because the system broke, a FL who is sus because Why. Won't. She. Dle?!, living in a dollhouse, and a leek sword, among others.
CORONER'S DIARY
Li Landi, Ao Ruipeng
SUMMARY: Awesome doctor and coroner Shen Wan, under the alias Qin Wan and in her capacity as coroner, performs autopsies and solves cases, to the surprise of the official male coroners who look down on her for being a woman, but all those official coroners can't even stomach doing the job properly. Her boyfriend, prince Yan Chi, both carries an important part in the investigations and empowers Shen Wan to be respected and allowed to do her job properly. Together, they solve many mysteries while investigating the framing and execution of her father and the entire Shen family.
⚠ WARNINGS: The cases are extremely violent and gruesome, although the narrative outside of the cases themselves is light, to balance out the mood.
Also, lots of vomiting.
A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM
Liu Yuning, Li Yitong
SUMMARY: Modern actress transmigrates into the script of the ancient drama she's about to film, but she ends up as the male lead's enemy! The script says she will end horribly. She tries to save herself. ML tries to kiII her. Multiple times. The Powers that Be don't allow it. So she tries to deviate from the script. TPTB don't like that. Suddenly, characters who weren't in the script start appearing. What's going on?!
Note: The background music is so funny!!
BLOOD RIVER
Gong Jun, Chang Huasen, Yang Yutong
Su Changhe: (in general) "Let's wreck things!"
Su Muyu: "😐 NO! THE CABBAGES!"
EXPLAIN THIS POORLY: They're assassins. (One is too moral to be an assassin; the other is a loose cannon; the other's not an assassin and saves lives) And soulmates. And there was only one bed. And they're a bi threesome. And "yes, you can play with my knives." And they're this meme:
Awesome martial arts fights.
SUPERLATIVE AWARD: Features IMO one of the hottest men in 2025 ancient cdrama: The Patriarch.
STRANGE TALES OF TANG DYNASTY - SEASONS 1-4
Yang Zhigang, Yang Xuwen, Gao Siwen, Chen Chuang, Sun Xuening
ABOUT: Case-solving. One's a cheeky detective. One's a stern ex-Imperial Guard with a hidden identity (hidden also to him). One's a painter. One's Chicken Fed (that's the guy in the sandbox in the pic). One's a jianghu martial arts woman. And sometimes there's a mini.
THE CHECKMARKS
✅✅MY JOURNEY TO YOU (2023)
Esther Yu, Zhang Linghe
SUMMARY: Spies, disguised as bride candidates, infiltrate a mansion that's always been wrapped in secrecy. The mission becomes a quest for survival for both the spies and the members of the mansion.
I AM NOBODY: THE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN YIN AND YANG
(I AM NOBODY 2)
Peng Yuchang, Wang Yinglu, Vicky Chen
SUMMARY: Modern. Tearjerker. The Outsiders (people with superpowers) are pitted against each other as Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao investigate a poison girl accused of kiIIing her mentor, which leads them to a hidden village that houses a cuIt for Outsiders.
LOVE NEVER FAILS
Liu Xueyi, Ao Ruipeng
SUMMARY: Light drama. Forbidden love between a flower deity and his camellia. With a side of ice x fox. The interactions between the two male leads are really endearing and fun. It's great to see two princes who flat out refuse to compete against each other for the throne.
TIGER AND CRANE (2023)
Jiang Long, Zhang Linghe, Wang Yuwen
EXPLAIN THIS POORLY: "My non-demon-demon friend is a good demon person." Tiger melts ice cube, and then there's Black Ice, and mushroom x catgirl. Group of people go around hunting evil spirits and finding out about their relatives.
LEGEND OF THE FEMALE GENERAL
Zhou Ye, Cheng Lei
SUMMARY: A lot more romance than the title would have you think. Should have been called "Romance of He Yan and her Dudu." Female general gains accolades that get stolen by her brother, so she has to start again. Cross-dresses and passes herself as a newbie recruit into another commander's new army and gets herself a Dudu.
SHADOW LOVE
Cheng Lei, Song Yi
EXPLAIN THIS POORLY: Man. Hot man. ShirtIess hot man with a pretty face and muscles. ShirtIess hot man with a pretty face and muscles, and lips and shoulders, and pecs, and arms in a spiky tight suit that magically...
Holy brainrot, Batman!
Which screencap can I post that won't get this post fIagged?
Phew! Finally done. There were a lot of good ones this year. Alright, let's go! New section!
OTHERS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT
WHISPERS OF FATE
Luo Yunxi, Fang Yilun, Jeremy Tsui
EXPLAIN THIS POORLY: Yes they had girls and love interests, but let's be honest, this was about the guys. And the visuals. And the vibes. SO PRETTY SO PRETTY SO PRETTY. I don't even know which screencap to pick as the header; every random screencap could have been a poster. This is sort of like if Tantai Jin from "Till the End of the Moon" had another life, and another shot at saving the world from himself, but make it pastel and bromancy. And they're musicians.
INTO YOUR HEART (JIAN JUN XIN)
Li Daikun, Fang Jin
ABOUT: Mini, 4hrs total. Oof! Listen, the sets were beautiful! Great cinematography. The kiss scenes were honestly the best I've seen in a cdrama - both leads are great at emoting / Making Faces, IYKWIM. Blind musician infiltrates a ruthless prince's mansion to investigate a m*rder. [watch this version for better subtitles]
Another one that goes under "Which screencap can I post that won't get this post fIagged?"
That's it. Everything else I wanted to talk about was either a Star or a Checkmark.
RANDOM SUPERLATIVES
🎨BEST VISUALS
Whispers of Fate. Any random screencap could be a poster. [Favorite screencaps post]
🎶BEST OST
Shadow Love, including instrumental BGM
Runner-Up: A Dream within a Dream for creative use of background music
🎶BEST LIU YUNING SONG
"Sole Love" from the Shadow Love OST [YT link]
"Ballad of the Long Wind" - A Dream within a Dream [YT link]
🥰FAVORITE CHARACTERS
Xu Qi'an - "Guardians of the Dafeng" tumblr fIagged my 100% safe posts of him what even can I post
Nan Xuyue - "The Blossoming Love"
Mu Ciling - "Blood River"
👀 MALE EYE CANDY AWARD
Opinions vary. This is mine.
I'll leave the female eye candy shoutouts to someone who can judge that better than I.
Jin'an (actor: Cheng Lei) - "Shadow Love" again, what can I post
Mu Mingce / the Patriarch (Geng Le) - "Blood River"
Jin Zhao (He Yu) - "Speed and Love" (modern)
💋BEST KISSING SCENES
Into Your Heart (Jian Jun Xin)
#️⃣TUMBLR HASHTAG AWARD
For the drama that was most fun to blog about and interact with other tumblr users watching at the same time
#Shadow Love
A shoutout to everyone in the hashtag that made it fun! You guys are awesome! 💟
🧟♀️BRAINROT - DRAMA
Guardians of the Dafeng
Shadow Love
Blood River
🧟♀️BRAINROT - CHARACTER
Mu Ciling - "Blood River"
This guy, specifically this 👇 version of him - "Shadow Love"
