(maybe impossible but hopefully fun?) Question for you if you're ever up for it!
What are your top 5 cdramas of all time? Bonus points for why.
I almost said top 3 but that felt too cruel lol
It's fun!
Here is my list, no order except Minglan is always n1.
The Story of Minglan (2018-2019)
My n1. cdrama is the amazing, too short at 73 eps, The Story of Minglan, a sort of Elizabeth Gaskell meets period China.
It follows three interconnected upper-class families, but more specifically, it is about Sheng Minglan, a concubine-born daughter of a minister and Gu Tingye, the oldest, legitimate, and hated by his family son of a Marquess. Their narratives run largely parallel for the first half of the story and such is the genius of this drama that I, the ultimate romance junkie, did not mind that.
Minglan is a rarity in dramaworld - she is fiercely smart, very collected and emotionally detached. Life in the troubled Sheng household taught her to survive and to hide her feelings and talents. Tingye is a big cdrama love. Abused and reviled by his household where he can do no right (the Marquess hated having to marry his merchant mother for money and has displaced that hate on her son), Tingye manages to keep his warm heart but acquires the ability to go his own way. Both of the protagonists are wonderful and smart and magnetic and rootable for separately, but when they get together, the sparks go off the charts and they become my n1 cdrama OTP of all time. A lot of the story is about family battles, women’s world dilemmas and relationship (of all sorts) interactions. There is also politics and battles, but the true charm of this drama are the mundane details of the world and the fully-fleshed out people who inhabit it. If you watch only one cdrama in your life, make it this one.
Novoland Eagle Flag (2019)
There might be one or two cdramas I love more, but none that resonates more for me on a personal level. A grim epic with a sprawling cast and amazing sets (money was SPENT on this one), its strength is its theme of the meaning being not in victory but in the fight, of staying true to what you believe despite (or because) the horrors of the world. It's EVERYTHING.
The cast is huge, but it centers around three protagonists - Asule Pasuer, a nomadic crown prince sent as hostage to the civilized yet even more bloody world of the plains, Yu Ran - a full of life princess in exile of the winged people, and Ji Ye - an amazing fighter brought in the gutter. The three become closest friends and we follow them separately and together. There are multiple OTPs, epic battles, clever plots, but at its heart it's a character study. Asule is a pacifist berserker (it makes sense), Yu Ran insists on joy as her shield, and Ji Ye yearns for recognition and status, and the way the world fulfills or warps them is fascinating.
The Rebel Princess/Monarch Industry (2021)
Gorgeously filmed, impeccably acted, and solidly written (where censorship didn’t come for them), this is such an emotional and visual feast and Awu and Xiao Qi are the best OTP I’ve ever seen in dramas (at least for my specific preferences) and feel real.
If you want to see lavish sets populated by smart, fierce, ADULT characters, this one is for you. If you have a competency kink, this one is for you. If you like cinematic-looking epics, this one is for you. If you like a smart, fierce heroine who is also a believably a period aristocratic woman, this one is for you. If you like dysfunctional families and interesting supporting characters, this one is for you. If you like a hero who redefines calm, deadly, and smart yet feels like a real breathing human being, this one is for you. If you like arranged marriage turns to love, this one is for you. If you like amazing OTP which, once they decide to be all in, never waiver from each other, this one is for you. If you are into couples showing affection in a warm way rarely seen in a period cdrama, this one is for you. If you like hot, adult men and hot, adult women, this one is for you.
Fangs of Fortune (2024)
I have rarely seen a drama that speaks to me so personally, but it is also narratively perfect, emotionally devastating, with impeccable acting, complex characters and visuals that are beyond stunning. This is an emotional and visual feast, with such incredible characters, interesting explorations of fantasy and mortality and morality and what makes life worth living. It is also the most eye popping drama I've ever watched as well as throwing me back into what it's like to be immersed into an amazing fantasy book as a kid and the characters and the relationships and the themes sing to me. A miracle.
Joy of Life (2019, 2024)
This is a masterpiece. The first season was perfect and somehow the second is even more perfect. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, the cast is still impeccable and Zhang Ruoyun gives a completely jawdropping performance as the focus of all the madness Fan Xian. It really is the rare drama that lives up to the hype.
The Myth (2010)
For the longest time, this was my favorite cdrama, to be replaced only by Minglan. It starts out funny and ends up tearing out your heart. This is the only time in my drama watching experience I cried so hard I threw up. The story is about two accidental time-travelers - a photographer and a cook - who end up in Qin Dynasty China. And from then on it’s about how that cruel, horrifying world takes two perfectly normal men and by wracking their very souls turns one into a hero and the other into a monster. To me, this is Hu Ge’s best performance and as you see his protagonist desperately try to hold on to his humanity and his love in a world that is doing its best to destroy it, I dare you not to cry like a baby. His character is my ultimate cdrama crush.
The Rise of Phoenixes (2018)
Like dramas to destroy you? Come right in. A story about a disfavored prince and a lost daughter of a previous dynasty, this is smart, gorgeous, incredibly acted and is going to wreck you. The schemes and the intensity and the yearning and the....
Yeah, I realize it's seven, whatever. :P
