#baking challenge

2nd Quarter, 3rd Quarter, 4th Quarter

1. The First Drama I Watched

The Hope

Nothing can be better than a Zhang Ruoyun drama to start the year with. One of the best High School shows I've seen in the recent years, it had an amazing balance of explosive emotions of youth and jaded realism. It would appeal to viewers of all age ranges and I felt so so much nostalgia and relatability from beginning to the end. It was funny, it was smart, it was beautifully acted down to every minor role. (I pretend that last 30 minutes didn't happen, though)

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2. Actors I Newly Discovered

Wang Qiang (as Li Ran from The Hope), Zheng Hehuizi as Yang Caiwei from In Blossom)

LOOK at that babie😭🥺. Don't you want to pinch his cheeks? One of the most darling characters I had pleasure of watching recently, I wish a bright, bright future career for Wang Qiang. He portrayed the classic outwardly-prickly, marshmallow-inside teenager archetype with amazing nuance.

And Yang Caiwei oh Yang Caiwei.... as one of the shows and characters that created quite the buzz recently, I don't have anything more to add to the discussion. I can only say: lady, thank you for taking up a role that is FINALLY convincingly scarred, unkempt, dirty and not strikingly goddess-y from the first glance, and playing her with such gusto the true, genuine beauty of the character was drawn out with no external effort at all.

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3. BGM I Fell in Love With

The Hope

This drama utilized music so beautifully than 99% idol romance dramas ever would. Atmospheric music that elevated the scenes with lyrics that fit, not to mention writing three whole songs to be FULLY performed in-drama for character purposes. It felt like a musical at times. Talk about dedication.

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4. Best Wardrobe

Pan Yue's, from In Blossom, Legend of Shen Li (Only few)

I mean

How many costume drama wardrobes can top these embroidery and visibly high quality fabric? Not to mention they actually look wearable in daily life, and not just ornate for "main character's costumes" reasons. They are actually quite simple, if you think a bit- but immensely tasteful. AND

My FAVORITE thing about not just his, but all costumes in this show that I've rarely seen other dramas do is: They repeated the costumes! Many times! Almost all of them! And that added so much to the groundedness of the character. Rich young master having a runway-worthy wardrobe? Nothing new. Him wearing them again and again because that's what a normal, reasonable person does? I'm sold.

I loved the plain but in an elegant and carefree way styling of the two leads of Shen Li whenever they were having recluse times. *This* is exactly how I imagine immortals too- just vibing and not decked in gold from head-to-toe because they are simply beyond it. Whenever the show changed to the typical bejewelled guzhuang garb in heaven scenes, it immeadietely visually reduced the show to just another xianxia. First Till the End of the Moon and now this😭. Guys, pick a consistent style and rock it proudly! A signature look is very important especially if you are aiming to create an impactful all-powerful character! I see no reason the gods couldn't do all the grand court and fight scenes in these robes either, honestly that would've served drive home the nail that the gods function on a different wavelength than humans.

(Also Wtf was even that Shen Li in a Greek goddess like getup? [last image] Not that it's not pretty BUT *waves hands around helplessly..)

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5. Best Posters

In Blossom, Legend of Shen Li, The Hope, Baking Challenge

In Blossom posters had a perfect balance of traditional Chinese ethereal elegance mixed with gothic horror mystery vibes.

I LOVED the "how I imagine the peaceful cottagecore fairytale like life of my great-grandparents" vibe of Shen Li posters. It's giving lore.

Really liked the "hooligan teens on retro album cover" aesthetic of The Hope posters too.

The whimsical food posters of Baking Challenge were also fun.

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6. The Drama that was Most Disappointing

Detective Chinatown 2

I didn't even know a Detective Chinatown S2 was even coming like...until it did and it was like a second new year because I LOVED that show and it was the most unexpected pleasant surprise of the year- especially when almost all the main cast members were returning. And the first few eps were amazing too and didn't do a disservice at all to the previous season and I got my hopes up thinking we'll get to see a continuation of the Roy Chiu-Janine Chang arc too... only for the show to pull the rug and did the exact same thing as the previous season- the main character withdrew from the story by midpoint. Oh my gods. I want to find this show's creators and give them a good shake. Have some Janine jiejie pics from first season though just for the nostalgia's sake.

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7. An Underappreciated Drama that Deserves a Rec

Baking Challenge

If you aren't deterred by barely-legible machine subs, give this one a try. It's a fun little food drama that doesn't take itself seriously yet has a lot of heart. And for The Untamed fans, there's our Lan Sizhui (Zheng Fanxing) in it, and he's still the same cutie pie!

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8. A Drama that I Found was Good but just Wasn't my Cup of Tea

Pegasus

I watched five episodes, it's a solid show, fun too, it's just that I'm not very into racing AND Hu Xianxu is still a baby in my head😭😂 To convince me that he's a rich CEO with his own romance and adult problems will take at least 20 more years!

I see him parading like this and couldn't help but want to laugh hysterically lol. IT'S NOT HIS FAULT. He's an amazing actor! But still..

I hope he doesn't try to force-rush his shift to adult characters, either.

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