The Prodigal Son, 1965 (w/ Philip Stamps) Divine Drumbeats, 1980 Fly Blackbird, 1962 (w/ Jack Crowder) Miss Truth, 1972 The Great White Hope, 1968 (w/ James Earl Jones) Elizabeth Catlett’s Glory sculpture, 1981 The Wiz, 1978
This drama was really good as the story kept you engaged but for me Zhou Jie Qiong is the main reason to watch it. The reason I say that for one is because I love her as an actress plus I'm not into the ML's in this at all. I mean they didn't do a terrible job I just didn't like their characters that much. That being said Jie Qiong made up for that. I really enjoy female coroner dramas and like dramas with strong female leads so this one was right up my alley. The sets and costumes were really nice and the supporting cast wasn't too bad. I would definitely recommend if you are a Zhou Jie Qiong fan or a fan of the female coroner storyline.
I'm so excited! I've been watching bits on YT and WeTV but the app doesn't work with my phone so now I can get Imperial Coroner to go!
The first 4 episodes are posted on Viki already and are fully subbed.
Title: Imperial Coroner
Language: Mandarin
Streaming On: WeTV/YT/Viki
Plot: In the late Tang Dynasty Chu Chu goes to the capital to get certified as a coroner and winds up solving murders with a prince whose father went missing during a rebellion. There's intrigue, evil eunuchs, loving brothers and cousins, sword ladies, bi energy, and mysterious origins (Chu Chu's mom died way before she was born).
Review So Far: I've watched through episode 11 and the opening of 12 and right now it's cute. Not quite as well done as Maiden Holmes but I'm liking it better than Miss Truth. I hope the cousin and the sword lady get together (even though I know most fans ship Chu Chu and Sword Lady Leng Yue).
I finished the original novel of Miss Truth cuz I was impatient for the audio version to update. And I gotta say... THE MOTHERFUCKING TV SHOW DID THE NOVEL SOOOO WRONG!!!
hello! starting last year, I started watching Chinese dramas again after a long break but I wasn’t actively seeking new shows until earlier this year. I have now gone through a bunch of dramas and so this is just a fun way for me to talk and celebrate my favorites that I was able to finish.
before I start, I will clarify that this list will mostly be of 2020 historical (or faux historical) dramas, especially historical romantic comedies/detectives as that’s what I mainly watch. I do occasionally venture into political dramas or republican eras and modern dramas but still with a romance focus.
without further ado, I present my personal awards to these dramas!
best overall drama: under the power (ran from 2019 into 2020)
most delightful/fun drama: the romance of tiger & rose; runner up: maiden holmes
most impactful drama: the sleepless princess
most unexpected drama (aka the dark horse): oh! my sweet liar!
drama with the best soundtrack: the sweet girl (a republican era romcom); runner up: eternal love rain; 3rd: my dear destiny
best costume/design/set drama: oh! my sweet liar!
favorite modern drama: poisoned love
favorite drama aired from any year & watched in 2020: goodbye my princess (2019)
favorite currently-watching drama: unique lady season 2 (final episodes will spill into 2021)
drama with a soft spot in my heart: miss truth
what were your favorites of this year and why? feel free to hit me up and let me know! I’m always happy to check out new dramas! (especially if there are any historical romcoms that I haven’t seen/heard about yet!)
cut below here is my definition for the categories and also the explanation/reasoning for why each drama was placed in its specific category!
Here’s how I defined the categories for my purposes~
best overall drama: drama that I felt delivered on most/all front of what makes a good drama: production, characters, casting, story and plots, cinematography, soundtrack, etc. Or in general it gave a satisfactory experience.
most delightful/fun drama as the drama that delighted me the most, whether it’s the comedy or dynamic of characters or themes; whatever it is, whether it was objectively good or not, it brought me a lot of joy!)
most impactful drama: I think of this category as the drama that wrecked me emotionally and I’m still thinking about it weeks or months later; I still think back to specific scenes and can remember your exact emotions when a scene happened. basically, this drama haunts me in a good way!
most unexpected drama (aka a dark horse drama) - a drama that exceeded my original expectations and impressed me a lot for a variety of reasons
drama with best soundtrack: I swear, a drama can elevate from like a 6/10 to like an 8/10 based on soundtrack alone. The music is so important to adding to the story and so it often elevates how much I like a drama.
best costume/design/set drama: straightforward category but thought it was important to recognize dramas that are doing so much to elevate the show through clothes and sets and settings!
favorite republican era/modern/genre drama: just a chance for me to talk about a favorite drama outside of the historical romcom genre I watch
favorite drama aired from any year & watched this year: of course, there are a lot of good dramas from previous years and I’m slowly watching some of them, but I’d like to watch them.
favorite currently-watching drama: there are dramas that airs at the end of 2020 and finishes in 2021. I still want to give them a chance to shine!
drama with a soft spot in my heart: a drama that’s important to me, no matter it’s quality whether it’s good or not.
Now here’s why I selected the dramas!
best overall drama:
under the power: a historical detective drama with the slowest slow burn romance I’ve ever witnessed in a cdrama, the actors, story, and production overall was very satisfying. I was interested pretty much all through 55 episodes and cared about all the characters (except the villain, of course, and he did a wonderful job as well--I loved hating him because he was awful). I especially appreciated the story taking the time to give so much depth and focus too on the supporting characters and develop their characters and relationships. Also, all the actors really look like they’re in the time period rather than looking like actors playing dress-up.
most delightful/fun drama:
the romance of tiger & rose ran during the summer and was a perfect timing of a summer lighthearted sweet faux historical romcom. It was one of the first romcoms I was highly invested in and watched every week because the story was hilarious, the characters lovable, with a strong soundtrack and great memorable scenes. the leads had great chemistry too.
runner up: maiden holmes had a lot of tropes that I liked and may seemed cliché from that point, but it really made the best of those tropes with the a bunch of new actors (the only one who wasn’t new was Sabrina) and killed it. I loved the found family, I loved a good ending. this drama gave me some angst at times but warmed my heart overall. (my favorite scene is her dance. that broke me.)
most impactful drama:
the sleepless princess: this drama ruined me in a good way. I still think about this drama all the time because of all the wonderful things about it: the actors with incredible chemistry--truly, I want them to do another historical romcom because they’re perfect together--the characters they brought to life, the comedy, the tenderness, the soundtrack that I’m addicted to, the story, the endearing supporting characters. Those who have seen the drama may hate the ending, but I think the director actually guided us enough to lead us to that bittersweet ending. I don’t hate it. Also, we do get an alternative ending too. One of my absolute favorite things about this drama is how they handled the second ML--who could’ve been made to be annoying, but wasn’t--and I don’t think I’ve seen another cdrama yet to handle it like this. Overall, the drama may not be perfect overall, but it left me the biggest impression with some great plot and character twists and the incredible sweet & angst scenes. Also, I now love the actors so much and am so deeply impressed with them. I have now started watching their older dramas because of this drama. That’s how much of an effect this drama and these actors had on me, lol.
most unexpected drama (aka the dark horse):
oh! my sweet liar! one of the most divisive dramas I’ve seen from an audience, people either love or hate this show but I will defend it til the ends of times. I went into this drama expecting a standard historical romcom with the trope of fake marriage, etc., but got so much more. The beautiful cinematography, the moving soundtrack with great vocals, the surprisingly deep moral lessons--this show transcended my expectations in all the ways. The character growth, the building of the FL and ML’s trust with one another, the simple lie that becomes more complicated and heavy as the female lead starts to care deeply about the family she’s lying to--this drama did a great job overall. It was a rocky start, but quickly became a favorite.
drama with the best soundtrack:
the sweet girl (a republican era romcom): now this is a standard romcom with wacky situations and sweet scenes, with not too much at stakes here, but nevertheless able to deliver strong scenes--half of it thanks to the great soundtrack. I literally still remember scenes from this show thanks to the memorable soundtrack. I still listen to it months later.
runner up: eternal love rain: I cheated a little here; I haven’t finished this drama yet, but I mean, I can tell I love the soundtrack because of how much it elevates the drama and the scenes already, making my impression of this drama pretty good so far. I also adore the main actors’ real voices in a cover of one of the main songs.
3rd: my dear destiny: sorry, I also cheated here--I’m not done watching it, mostly because it’s not done subbing! But! I am also addicted to the soundtrack and listen to it almost every day while I’m working. But yes, again, a good soundtrack can really elevate a drama, and this soundtrack really makes this drama so much better.
best costume/design/set drama:
oh! my sweet liar! I am most impressed with the settings and places on this show. It looks like it was shot at actual locations. It’s very pretty and at the same time has natural looks. Probably just good camera work, but it really brought out the quality of the physical settings. I also put this drama here because the wedding scene--which was the most unique wedding I’d ever seen before and I absolutely love it. And, last of all, the ML’s look. The little square clip thing on top of his head is so simple yet distinguishing. Something about this show, I swear. It exceeds what I expected from a typical historical romcom, thus, I am deeply impressed with it.
favorite modern drama:
poisoned love: I rarely venture into modern dramas because they can get super ridiculous really quickly and it’s harder for me to suspend my disbelief in a modern setting. However, I really appreciate the care put into this show and the acting, especially the female lead. She had to act so many hilarious expressions and made me laugh so much. I also appreciate that the drama didn’t simply gloss over the FL’s illness. I always get super worried when dramas address illnesses, so I’m glad that it was handled decently. A second thing I appreciated was the pure domesticity of the main couple when they finally got together. They were very sweet in simple ways. A third thing I liked was the second ML’s growth. There was a moment where I really disliked him but his growth made me feel better.
favorite drama aired from any year & watched this year:
goodbye my princess (2019) I heard of this drama for a while and had even accidentally listened to the soundtrack (thanks to YouTube autoplay suggestions). At long last, I finally watched it during early summer and, wow, truly, it is as the reviews rave. It’s complex, it’s beautiful, it’s heartbreaking, it’s haunting. Nothing but applause for the production crew and actors--especially the director and the main leads. This drama showed me how great a chinese drama can be. Like, yes, wuxia dramas are impressive with their actions, their magic, and god characters, but what’s great about this drama is human flaws. Characters who are flawed and doing what they can under their circumstances. I love this drama so much because they were able to convey such nuance, such depth, such grey morality within the realistic world.
favorite currently-watching drama:
unique lady season 2 (final episodes will spill into 2021) I am just full of giddiness for this drama. I watched the whole first season way earlier this year (during my phase of watching VR-game, faux historical romcom) and liked a lot of things, especially the comedy, the soundtrack, and the main leads, but I didn’t expect it would get a second season! The second season so far is starting out so well with so much fun, comedy, and sweet scenes. It’s just a lot of fun so far and I’m so glad for it.
drama with a soft spot in my heart:
miss truth: I still can’t believe this drama only aired this year. It felt like a lifetime ago when I saw a fmv for it and immediately went ‘yes, i’m going to find and watch this drama now.’ this drama was the one that started my deep spiral into cdramas. a historical detective romance, I loved the dynamic of the two leads so much--that dislike/distrust-to-love dynamic with bickering and pining. I liked the soundtrack, I was impressed with the main actors--especially Zhou Jie Qiong as this was her first drama and first main role, and also Li Chengbin who is a pretty versatile actor. There are many little things I loved about this show. It’s unfortunate that c*onsorsh*p has caused the drama to be written hugely different than the novel.
If you got this far, thank you so much for reading! <3 feel free to message/ask me about any of these shows!
