#meet yourself

Sorry for taking so long to get to this ask! I still feel like a CDrama beginner myself in a lot of ways, and I really wanted to do this recommendation list justice. Finally, though, here it is: 

CDramas for Beginners

Some caveats—this list is very shaped by my taste. There are a lot more really good CDramas that may very well be good for beginners in genres that I don’t watch! For instance, I don’t watch a ton of contemporary dramas and the ones I do generally tend to be filled with warm fuzzies, so if you want something both modern and gritty, I’m not your girl. Likewise, I prefer my historicals to have romance as the main focus or at least *a* focus, so your more prestige historicals are also not on this list.

Most importantly, this is not a list of the Best CDramas Ever—rather, it’s a list to help you get started if you’re interested in this whole CDrama thing but don’t know where to start. With that in mind, I’ve tried to pick some of the more beginner friendly dramas that mostly hang together from beginning to end and give you a taste of what some of the major genres of CDrama can offer. (And as  quick note-- I’ve tried to note where each of these is available for streaming in the US as of this writing, but you can always check see where to watch each show on the website My Drama List.)

First up, fantasy:

Love Between Fairy and Devil: No list of CDrama recs would be complete without a xianxia (i.e. cultivation fantasy), and this one is solid from beginning to end. Coming in at 36 episodes, it’s also not so long as to be completely overwhelming (a la Love and Redemption, which I do also recommend but which clocks in at 59 episodes). This high fantasy romance between the Orchid, a young fairy who is but a grass, and Dongfeng Qing Ceng, legendary genocidal leader of the Moon Tribe whom Orchid accidentally releases from his 35000 year imprisonment, starts out with jokes and then gets real real quick. Due to magical hand waviness, there’s also some body swapping between Orchid and DFQC that results in some delightful shenanigans and top tier acting from both of actors. I recommend giving this one 8 episodes to see if it hooks you—that’s when things really pick up!  (Available on Netflix, Viki, and iQiYi)

2. The next CDrama I’ll recommend is The Legend of Shen Li. This one follows the forbidden romance between Shen Li, a powerful (female) general, and Xing Zhi, the last of the old gods. While it has the majority of the hallmarks of a good xianxia, including ongoing conflict between demons and immortals and a (mostly comedic) stint in the mortal realm, what sets this one apart for me is how grown up the main romance feels. Because both main characters have responsibilities to their people and the world that they’re not willing to abandon, and because they’re both played by actors in their thirties, their performances feel a little extra grounded, and it gives the main romance more weight. As a bonus, there’s also a delightful demon character who has some light gender fuckery (amazing what genre lets you get away with) that I very much enjoyed. (Available on Viki)

3. Transmigration fantasy dramas (aka isekai aka real-life person gets sucked into the novel/comic/show they’re either reading, watching, or writing) are a good place to start for learning the rules of a genre, and the one I’ll recommend here is When Destiny Brings the Demon. One of the best parts of this drama is that our real world FL is extremely genre savvy, so when she gets sucked into this high fantasy story, she both (a) wants to treat it like a vacation from her shitty office job and (b) is extremely funny in how she navigates her relationship with the somewhat terrifying, mildly  genocidal, and deeply traumatized five hundred year old Grandmaster Sima Jiao. Another benefit of this drama is that it gives you taste of just how dreadful the behavior of the supposedly Good™  Cultivator sects can be in their pursuit of immortality and power by showing us just how poorly they’ve treated Sima Jiao over the years. Full disclosure, I haven’t *quite* finished this one (I’m a few episodes short because I got distracted), but from everything I’ve heard/read, this one wraps up pretty well and will serve as a good intro to the transmigration genre—and there’s plenty more where that came from if it works for you! (Available on Viki and Youku)

4. If you’re here because you already watched LBFAD and wanted more from where that came from, can I interest you in Till the End of the Moon, LBFAD’s angry cousin? Look, I don’t recommend it as your very first cultivation fantasy, but if you’ve gotten your feet wet and are ready for more, the enemies to lovers romance of Li Susu and Tantai Jin may just be for you!  In the set up for this drama, Li Susu finds herself at the end of the world as the Devil God kills basically all of her family and friends in front of her and sets the apocalypse in motion. Through a Series of Events, Li Susu manages to go back in time 500 years before the Devil God’s rise to power in order to stop him—which is where she meets Tantai Jin, long before his aforementioned rise. This one is a bit more raggedy in its storytelling than LBFAD, especially at the end, but if it gets its hooks in you, you’ll be so in it that you likely won’t care! (Available on Viki and Youku)

^^bonus gif of Li Susu and my favorite fox demon girlie, Pian Ran

Moving on to historicals (a term I’m using very loosely), at which CDramas inarguably excel: 

5. The first historical I’m going to recommend here is Perfect Match, which follows a mother and her five daughters as she tries to save the marriage of the one daughter and arrange the marriages of the remaining four. If that sounds Pride and Prejudice-esque to you, it kind of is, and that’s exactly why I’m recommending it! This drama has a separate narrative arc for each sister’s match, and while it’s likely that each one will land for you a little differently, if you don’t like one sister, you just need to hold on for a few episodes until we get to the next one! Since each narrative also makes use of different tropes and archetypes of the CDrama historical romance, this drama also functions as a good primer for the genre. I also adore the scheming of the sisters as they work together to save their family from various trials and tribulations—and each other’s relationships. As a bonus, wedding episodes are often my favorite of any CDrama historical, and this drama gives them to you in spades. (Available on Netflix)

^^one of my fave couples of the drama

6. So, if you’re into historicals, I’m going to assume that you have the patience for a higher episode count, which means I can recommend Love Like the Galaxy! This drama has a little bit of everything—sweeping romance, a Cinderella story, murder mystery, and, of course, epic revenge. Most importantly, it has Shaosheng (aka Niao Niao) as an extremely sharp female lead and Ling Buyi, a taciturn, deadly young general who is entirely swept away by Niao Niao from the moment he sees her stick her hand out of the carriage to turn in her shitty uncle to law enforcement. This drama absolutely turns on the slow burn relationship between Niao Niao, who never plays by the rules, and Ling Buyi who may *seem* to play by the rules but definitely has some schemes of his own. The ensemble cast on this one is also a good time, including Niao Niao’s family, especially her brothers; the emperor, his two consorts, and their many children; and various other members of the royal court. (PS—Anyone who tells you Ling Buyi is a green flag is lying, but we love him for his red flag behaviors so it’s fine) (PPS—I went on the podcast Afternoona Delight to do a deep dive this one and it has a spoiler free section, so feel free to check it out if you want more setup to decide if you want to commit: https://open.spotify.com/episode/46vfl6rHvpVphKTzwy1Xa4?si=4768c6cb510d4c1f) (PPPS—If you like Love Like the Galaxy and want an even longer but arguably even more rewarding historical romance to dive into, might I interest you in The Story of Ming Lan?) (Available on Viki)

7. Another necessity for a CDramas for beginners list is a historical transmigration story, and after some deliberation, the one I decided to include here is Story of Kunning Palace. While there are several flavors of transmigration (I recommended a fantasy transmigration above), in this one, our female lead dies tragically after her rise to empress and wakes up as a teenager again with the knowledge of her past life. (Because transmigration stories have been banned for the last little while, there’s a framing device the drama uses where it’s a novel that the author wants to rewrite because she doesn’t like how her FL ended up, but we all collectively know to just sort of ignore that bit because it exists solely to get past the censors—something to get used to if you want to keep watching CDramas!). Determined to right of the wrongs of her past life but also still kind of a bitch (complimentary), our female lead somehow has chemistry with Every Single Person she comes across, including the crown princess (cue queer subtext here). She also learns that while some things can be changed, other things are just fate, and that balance is a big part of what gives this drama so much of its momentum.  (Available on iQiYi and Amazon Prime, supposedly—I’m pretty sure I watched in on Viki when it aired) (PS—If you find that you like this kind of transmigration narrative, I also recommend The Princess Royal/The Grand Princess as a follow up—while the second male lead in this one is a bit of a wet blanket and gets too much screan time, the charm of this one is that the female lead and male lead *both* wake up with memories of their past married life where they each think the other assassinated them, so it’s also something of a second chance romance.)

8. If you’re here for wuxia (martial arts and chivalry and low fantasy and other stuff) then I’m probably not your girl, but the closest thing I can give you is A Journey to Love, which I absolutely adored. This drama follows a female assassin as she teams up, marginally against her will, with a rival sect of assassins/spies to rescue their emperor from her home kingdom. The mission is to escort a princess who has mostly been cast aside, now in disguise as a prince, on her mission to save said emperor (who is kind of a moron for getting kidnapped in the first place) and avert a big war. To be honest, the finer details of the political machinations here are hazy in my memory, but that’s because the real draw of this genre is the excellent found family vibes of the Team™ as they embark on this probable suicide mission for the good of king and country and all that. I also adore the romance between our female assassin and the head spy/assassin guy from the other sect (apologies for kind of butchering this description, I told you I’m not a wuxia girl!). Anyway, if you love a good ensemble cast, top tier romance between two grown adults, some stellar battle choreography, and some light gender fuckery, then this drama is for you! (Available on iQiYi and supposedly Amazon Prime—I did not know Amazon was getting into the CDrama distribution game and tbh I would like them to stop before they ruin things for me even more than Disney+ has)

Now, while CDramas have the corner on the market when it comes to historicals and fantasy, they’ve also had some really solid contemporaries lately, a few of which have already made the jump to Western audiences, so here’s where I’d recommend starting with those:

9. First up for contemporaries is one that already crossed over to Western audiences quite a bit, and that is Hidden Love (the 2023 drama, not whatever else pops up when you search that title). This lovely romance follows Sang Zhi from middle school to college as she crushes hard on her older brother’s bestie, Duan Jia Xu. It’s a sweet and pretty straightforward romance and really shows some of the best parts of young love. They’re pretty careful not to have Duan Jia Xu cross any lines (or even come close to them) while Sang Zhi has an unrequited crush while she’s way too young for him, and it’s rather lovely to see when he starts to see her as a real adult woman once she gets to college. That said, if age gap romances give you the ick, maybe give this one a skip. (On Netflix)

10. Another recent contemporary romance that I found delightful is Love Between Lines. In this super fun set up, female lead Hu Xiu first meets the male lead Xiao Zhi Yu when playing a real life murder mystery game set in 1920’s Republican China. When he betrays her (as his character!), she naturally decides she needs revenge! Then, the two start to cross paths in real life in fun and interesting ways that I won’t spoil here—though I will say that one of the highlights is just how sharp the two of them are both in the game and in real life. Be warned that there’s a fair bit of focus on the FL’s dream of becoming an architect more than the mystery game, but it’s handled in a way that I still found extremely watchable because Hui Xiu is such a fun character. (Available on iQiYi and Viki)

11. If you’re in the mood for some slow, atmospheric storytelling and a lovely ensemble cast, then I also recommend Meet Yourself! This contemporary is in the genre of City Girl Goes to Countryside Small Town and Falls in Love (which I’m sure you’re familiar with), but what really makes this one so lovely is just how much texture and specificity there is in the rural village that our female lead Xu Hong Dou finds herself in. You’ll want to brace yourself for the events of the first episode that lead our high achieving female lead to quit her successful career and rent a room for three months at a long term stay in this rural village, but everything from there is lovely and heartwarming and just such a balm for the spirit to watch. The undercurrent of darkness that Hong Dou has because of the loss she has suffered to open the drama also works really effectively to give the rest of the drama weight—while Hong Dou is pretty mild mannered a lot of the time and always happy to help, you never quite forget that she’s *this* close to falling off the edge. I also love the romance Hong Dou has with the equally capable male lead she finds in this rural village trying to revitalize the local economy so families don’t have to keep splitting up by sending the parents to the city to make enough money to support the children that they leave behind with their grandparents. I highly recommend this one particularly if life feels like a little too much right now and you could use a low stress drama with characters that are so, so lovely to spend time with. (Available on Viki and Netflix)

^^the vibes really are immaculate

^^and a bonus gif because of how much I love this drama and this couple <3

12. I also appreciate the contemporary CDramas that deal with some of the thornier parts of life, so the last recommendation I’ll leave you with is Will Love in Spring, which I’m going to affectionately describe as a Romance for Grown Ups. This one is in the genre of Woman Returns to Small Home Town From the Big City and Finds Love, but she’s spiky enough personality wise that she definitely has some edge to her. She also lost one of her legs in a car accident as a kid, and the drama deals with disability and trauma in ways that I found compelling—particulalry since she’s now a medical device salesperson. The male lead is a funeral make up artist, which is honestly a fascinating career for a male lead to have, and it leads the drama to deal death and the trappings that surround it in really compelling ways. Like Meet Yourself, this drama is also concerned with what happens to small towns when their young people have all gone to the big city—what happens to everyone left behind? (Available on Viki)

Wiktionary has more details on the etymology:

Used in context in bilibili fan video about the characters Damai and Nana in the TV series Meet Yourself.

I travel to the past to assure Harlow Jr that things will be ok but we end up just nerding out together.

Some notes:

- Yes, I did have the very odd hobby of photographing and cataloging car tail-lights. I used to get in trouble all the time for walking up peoples driveways to photograph the backs of their cars. The Datsun 120Y coupe with its horizontally louvred lights is still my favourite!

- The “Banana Time" pyjamas are totally real - my mum hand-embroidered Andy Warhol’s banana art on the front and added ‘banana time’ for some reason. I loved those PJs and wore them until they fell to pieces. I’ll share a photo if I can find one.

- I was a complete Star Wars tragic as a child. I taped the original movie when it came out on tv and constantly re-watched it until the tape wore out.

- My sister sent me that photo of me in a yellow dress a few years back and it cracked my egg wide open. Seeing it made me realise what I’d been denying all my life.

- I stand by opinion on Disney Star Wars (with the exception of Madalorian S1 and also Andor, which is too good for Star Wars.) Fight me!

- Hideous brown wood-panelling walls were absolutely dé rigueur in the late 70s. I wish I still had that original Star Wars poster - it’d be worth a mint nowadays.

(dramas with gifs are excellent/great and actually worth watching in my opinion. The others are not, watch at your own risk)

My Boss (2024)-There were a couple of turns in this drama that I wasn't crazy about. But they were cute when they were cute. The cases made no sense.

Fake It Till You Make It-realistic romance. Almost to the point where he's kind of unlikeable. But it's kind of hot too.

My Piggy Boss-cute mini. Loved it.

Have a Crush on You-another mini. fun

Secretary Bai Wants To Resign Everyday-a mini. He's so hot.

Admist a Snowstorm of Love-he had serial killer eyes. That's how much he loved her. FROM FIRST SIGHT. If you want a mature romance where Leo was all over her every CHANCE he got. Here's the show. Boring ass billards aside. The skinship was top tier.

My Special Girl-forgettable tbh but not bad.

Just Spoil You-mini kinda fun.

Golden House Hidden Love-that ending pmo. He's so fine though.

Love Me Love My Voice-high production quality. Cringey like love020 but easier to sit through. Better acting too.

Story of Kunning Palace-couldn't stand this female lead. She sucked. And I don't know what she saw in SML. She was stuck on him forever. When the ML was right there morally grey and HOT.

Love is Sweet-rewatch

Only 4 Love-she was big LIAR towards the end for no reason. And they gave Dylan no reason to be liked.

The Substitute Princess's Love-eh

The Legend of Shen Li-Made me cry in the first 6 episodes. He became a little annoying once they weren't on earth. But happy ending and still pretty good.

Born To Run-TEARJERKER but beautiful story. The mom on the right deserved a worse fate.

Blossoms in Adversity-Mature FL and flawed but strong quiet ML. Really strong storyline and comfortable romance.

I May Love You-he didn't like that girl. And when he did I didn't care. Love Miles though usually.

Falling Into You-although they ignore a GLARING mental illness moment. The skinship was PEAK. The romance was good when it happened and they remained strong. Anyu looks super young here but she doesn't look as old as people make it seem. I loved them both.

Men in Love-so bad I didn't finish. Most wishy washy FL ever. She really pmo bad.

Moon Love-mixed feelings. Because low budget but sweet and sad at the same time.

Meet Yourself-long winded and boring in a comfortable way. But that's the kind of dramas she does. Very slow slice of life. Sweet. Worth it.

Wonderland of Love-Mr. And Mrs Smith levels of insane chemistry but he loved her way more than she loved him and it was obvious to the point where it made it not fun. She was kind of self centered, he came second and usually third.

You are My Secret-I didn't like the way she took things that happened at work out on him.

The Unexpected Marriage-cute enough

Love Scenery-cute time passer.

Are You the One-chemistry was so good. I know people hate the lying aspect but I'm sorry it makes sense. These two deserved. One of the best of the year. Need them in another drama together.

Melody of Golden Age-I enjoyed this. Really made Ding appeal to me on another level. I think the ending was stumble-y but I enjoyed for the most part.

Fateful Love-it was okay for the first like 30 and then... eh not bad.

19th Floor-one of the top of the year. It's this year's Reset. It did get a little shakey towards the end but that because it had so many episodes. Still great.

Love Like the Galaxy-I DID NOT like this and Idk how anyone else did. But it has plenty of fans, it wont miss me. She "settled" for him and he loved her to the point of insanity. Idk what he saw, she kind of sucked. He had to watch her love someone else for waaay too long.

Forever and Ever- I didn't watch the prequel show because I didn't want to put myself through the sadness. This could be considered boring but it was a comfortable boring. I enjoyed it. She LAID THIS BOY DOWN EVERY CHANCE SHE GOT. lol

As Beautiful You-It was okay. The business parts are so long and boring. Xu Kai was so fine.

Miss J-Fun, quirky, and charming.

In Blossom-I enjoyed it. Idk why people complain about Fl's acting. It was fine.

A Journey to Love-sigh I gave in and watched it because of the chemistry that oozed off the gifsets and I wasn't disappointed. These two need another show together that ends HAPPY.

Another year, another crop of CDramas! I had less time for dramas this year than I'd have liked and still have a few that I'm finishing up, but am close enough to done that I feel like I can commit to rankings/reactions. I'm not sure that anything truly took over my brain this year, but there were still a number of dramas that I loved, so here we go! (And if you're also a KDrama person, you can find that list for the year here)

Disclaimer: Rankings based on my personal preference, not objective quality.

14) The Substitute Princess’s Love: I didn’t really have any problems with this inoffensive historical, but also wasn’t grabbed by it, either. Dropped about halfway through.

13) Fortune Writer: I liked the premise of this one—a villain who learns she is in a novel and is determined not to be killed off by the plot—but picked it up too soon while it was airing and wasn’t caught up in it enough to keep up with it. Dropped.

12) Follow Your Heart: I so enjoy so much of this rockstar cast, which includes Luo Yun Xi, Song Yi, and Ryan Cheng, that it was especially disappointing how much the script let them down. A remake of sorts of the KDrama The Beauty Inside, this drama features an ML with face blindness and an FL who occasionally shape shifts, which was fun at first but did not hold up for as long as it needed to to maintain any sort of real tension. It had maybe a little too much of a youth/idol historical vibe for me? I kept up with it for about 30 episodes, but even the beautiful suffering of Luo Yun Xi could not keep me hooked, alas. Dropped.

11) Different Princess—Definitely a lower budget drama, but I lowkey enjoyed this transmigration drama in which the writer gets stuck in her story as (of course) a female character supposed to be immediately killed off. Instead, she keeps herself has a romance with the villain initially supposed to kill her off, which I was very here for. There are certainly higher production value dramas with the same premise that do it better, but I enjoyed this one for what it was. I also always appreciate a drama that takes seriously the difficulty of a transmigrated character who knows she can’t stay and doesn’t know what that means for a relationship that she is really, truly invested in.

10) Snowfall—I really, really liked the first 15 episodes of this drama, but then I got distracted and just…never came back? That said, vampires in Republican China are an excellent idea, and I’m glad this story exists. Would still recommend if you’re in the right mood for a very gothic tragic vampire romance with gorgeous set and costume design.

9) Amidst a Snowstorm of Love—This drama is definitely relationship propaganda (affectionate), but I enjoyed it nonetheless, especially after the turmoil of The Princess Royal when I wanted more of Zhao Jin Mai. She’s lovely here as Yin Guo, and of course, Leo Wu brings his overpowering smolder even as a contemporary billiards player rather than a historical general. Although this drama has heavy doses of Finland-travel-ad and For-the-glory-of-China sports ball and I somehow know approximately zero percent more about snooker than I did when I started, I still really liked it overall and would recommend if you’re in the mood for a slice of life comfort watch.    

8) Are You the One—Look, will this drama blow your socks off? No. However, since Lost You Forever rewrote some of my brain chemistry and I am Zhang Wan Yi trash, I really enjoyed more time having him on my screen. Though it plays with domestic bliss, the setup of a general setting up a woman with amnesia as his “wife” to use as a bait for the bandit he’s trying to catch is pretty foul, actually, and the drama was at its best when it leans into how truly fucked up it is of Cui Xing Zhou to deceive Liu Mian Tang (played wonderfully by Wang Chu Ran) that way, especially when she at first trusts him completely and does her best to support her ‘husband’. I did kind of call the twist that turns it from a game of cat and mouse to a game of cat and cat fairly early, but the slow burn as they creep towards an entirely preventable tragedy was fabulous. I think it was a mistake to market this drama as a rom com, and even though it doesn’t ultimately end up a tragedy, very much appreciated the angst and situational irony that the drama put its characters through to get them to their well-earned ending.    

7) Love Game in Eastern Fantasy—I like this one! Esther Lu is charming as a modern day woman transmigrated into a video game version of a novel from her favorite author that flopped for her. As these things normally go, she finds cast as a villain she found supremely annoying upon reading, and she must get grouchy SML Ziqi (Ding Yu Xi) to fall in love her, along with a few other tasks, to escape the game. It’s pretty typical xianxia cultivator vs demon stuff, but the characters are fun to spend time with, the costuming and styling is gorgeous, and the it’s generally all around delightful. Full disclosure—I have about ten episodes left, but fully intend to finish as soon as I get the chance.

6) Fangs of Fortune—Another one I quite like but just haven’t *quite* had the time to finish. A fabulous found family/polycule just dripping in angst are at the center of this beautifully shot drama, and for the first fifteen episodes or so, I was totally riveted until life got in the way and I had to pause. Still, the cinematography is so gorgeous and distinctive, the characters and their tangled relationships are fantastically developed, and the OST is just as good. I’ve heard the last few episodes are a bit messy, but I’m really looking forward to finishing this one, too, as soon as I have the time.

5) Lost You Forever Part 2—I’m not even really sure what to say about this drama. LYF Part 1 was my top drama of last year, and Part 2 was always gonna be tough for them to put together, especially under current censorship restrictions and with the episode cap they were given. I did ultimately still enjoy it overall and would still recommend it because I loved Part 1 so very much, but will always sort of yearn for the drama it could have been had they been allowed to follow the path of the novel. Xiaoyao, Cang Xuan, Xiang Liu, and Tushan Jing are still some of my favorite characters to have encountered, and I look forward to what their actors do next. (If you’re interested, I…actually co-host a podcast where we did two episodes on LYFP2 analyzing what worked and what really, really did not, which you can find here and here.)

4) Will Love in Spring—A contemporary romance with some actually very adult characters whose relationship I very much enjoyed watching develop. Much more angsty than the fluffier Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, this drama features a not-always-likeable FL and ML who went to school together, but haven’t seen each other for years before they reconnect in their hometown. The ML is a funeral makeup artist, which was a fascinating to see, and the FL, though very well put together on the surface, has her own trauma to overcome because of her prosthetic leg. I really liked the small town setting as these two damaged adults manage to make their way to each other despite both being extremely prickly when rubbed the long way, and if the end is a little bit hand-wavey in it’s neat resolution, I enjoyed spending time with these characters so much that I don’t care.

3) Blossom—I’m not *quite* done with this historical transmigration story, but I’m close enough to the end to know that I love it. I love a realistically competent—and complementary—FL and ML, and Dou Zhao knowing the general strokes of the past she’s going back to but not the finer details of crazy political plots she wasn’t involved in is a clever way to keep viewers on their toes as well. I also really love the consistent refrain of Song Mo that he knows Dou Zhao will thrive on her own but could do even better with love and support. I also have appreciated many of the ensemble characters who have turned out just a little differently in Dou Zhao’s second go round, perhaps her little sister Ming’er the most (poor Ming). I’ve also really enjoyed Li Yun Rui in a male lead role, since I quite enjoyed him as a smartass SML in Love Like the Galaxy in my early CDrama days. Definitely recommend checking out if you haven’t!

2) The Grand Princess/The Princess Royal—This drama *just* edging out Blossom because of how much I adored and latched onto Li Rong (Zhao Jin Mai) a more bitter—and honestly more damaged—transmigrated FL than Dou Zhao. In this transmigration historical or was their first life all a dream, who’s to say, Li Rong and her prince consort husband/political enemy die on the same day, Li Rong of poison and her husband of the assassination Li Rong orders because she assumes he did it (oops). Li Rong and Pei Wan Xuan (Zhang Ling He) thus both transmigrate back to their youth before their politically arranged marriage, and in a delightful turn of events, recognize the other almost immediately because of their *Go strategy* (yes they are also giant nerds, actually), and decide to team up to prevent the tragedy that had ensued in their first lives and then go their separate ways. Seeing these two choose to grow together in this life rather than apart was a real treat. Did the SML get too much screentime in the second half, and could he have benefited from a stronger actor? Absolutely yes. Did it take away from my enjoyment of Li Rong’s rather profound emotional development as she chose to trust people she didn’t before? Not at all (or at least, only a little). The combination of political maneuvering, the mystery of just where Li Rong went wrong in her first life, and sweeping second chance romance all really hit for me. I adored this drama.

1) The Legend of Shen Li—I was absolutely hooked by this xianxia whose mature leads found themselves growing inexorably closer to each other even though the literal rules built into the fabric of the universe are against them. I adored Zhao Li Ying in The Story of Ming Lan, and she didn’t disappoint as demon general Shen Li, and she had such fantastic chemistry with Lin Geng Xin as Xing Zhi, the last of the old gods. I was all in for every narrative arc of this drama, from their domestic bickering in the first arc in which Xing Zhi is a sickly mortal and Shen Li is largely stuck in the form of a phoenix aka ugly chicken, to when Xing Zhi does his very best to pretend a complete lack of interest in Shen Li even as he can’t seem to leave her alone, to Xing Zhi absolutely losing it when he thinks Shen Li has been lost and defying the universe itself to try to find her, to their determination to save the demon realm even at the cost of their own lives. And (spoiler) their comfortable domestic bliss mixed with flirty, gender bendy shenanigans in the epilogue episode was such a treat. There may have been characters and moments in other dramas that I occasionally had stronger emotional reactions to, but this one was hardly lacking in emotional punch and was also the most solid from beginning to end. I would recommend it without reservations or caveats.

Favorite Female Character: There were a lot of female characters to like this year, but the one that hit hardest for me is Li Rong (Zhao Jin Mai) in The Princess Royal. She pretty quickly recognizes that her quest for power and single-minded mission to keep her brother on the throne in her first life came at great personal cost *and* failed to make her happy.  Her resulting determination to make different choices—often ones that make her more emotionally vulnerable—in her second go round at life made her really compelling. I appreciated that although Li Rong is inarguably a strategic genius, she still often completely misread of other’s people’s emotions and totally misunderstood how those emotions will affect their actions. I also loved seeing her relationship develop differently not just with her husband, but with the other female characters that she forms an alliance with early on. Li Rong Still ultimately chooses to trust those people again even after she has been so deeply betrayed in her first life by the people she loves the most in the world, which took tremendous strength.

Favorite Male Character: Look, I just loved that Xing Zhi (from The Legend of Shen Li), the last of the old gods and the most powerful being in the universe, just wanted to putter around at home and take care of his wife. He also had this undercurrent of amusement and good cheer even when he was annoying the heck out of Shen Li by needlessly following her around while also refusing to admit his true feelings even to himself that was really fun to watch. It was also nice that he was played by a fully grown man in his thirties rather than someone younger—Lin Geng Xin’s layered performance was a big part of what made this character who he was.

Favorite Secondary Female Character: Lost You Forever Part 2 had many, many weaknesses, but A’Nian’s growth from impulsive, bratty princess to an even-keeled, clever, far-seeing queen was not one of them. I’ve always been very fond of A’Nian (yes she is my icon, why do you ask), even before she really deserved it, but I was so obsessed with both her arc as an individual—she even led troops?? Successfully?? After obsessively studying The Art of War to prove that she can be *helpful*??—and in her relationships both with her sister, Xiaoyao, and with Cang Xuan. (Spoiler) A’Nian’s long awaited and longed for wedding to Cang Xuan that she realizes she no longer wants for herself but nonetheless must follow through with for the good of her country broke my heart.

Favorite Ship: This one was pretty close with the leads of The Princess Royal, but Shen Li and Xing Zhi from The Legend of Shen Li. They had such chemistry from the beginning (somehow even when she was a CGI chicken??), and I loved that they were played by/as grown ups making grown up decisions. They balanced the big, dramatic, end of the world scenes with quiet, domestic ones really well, and I loved that even though Xing Zhi was much more powerful than Shen Li (that whole last of the old gods thing), he always stood back and let her do what she was gonna do unless she asked him otherwise. (Spoilers:) The sequence that has stuck with me the most for these two is when Shen Li has been disabled and never knows which of her sense will work when she wakes up—sometime’s she’s blind, sometimes she’s deaf, sometimes she can’t move, etc.—and at one point, she wakes up with none of her senses working. After a terrifyingly indeterminate space of time in which she can’t see, hear, or move and feels trapped in her own body, she regains her senses to find herself leaning against Xing Zhi’s shoulder. When she asks if he’s always been there, he responds that he will “always be around,” and she answers, “Since you are always around, I will no longer be afraid” (giffed here by ladydynamie). For a determinedly independent and competent woman like Shen Li to be able to really lean on Xing Zhi, both literally and figuratively, really speaks to their dynamic and is part of why I loved them so much.

Favorite Secondary Ship: Shanguan Ya (Cheng Guo) and Su Rong Hua (Yi Da Qian) from The Princess Royal have got to be it. Li Rong’s total ignorance of their romantic tragedy in her first lift contrasted with their narrowly avoided tragedy in the second really hit for me. Their personalities also meshed so well, and it was delightful to see Rong Hua fall for the rule-breaking version of Shanguan Ya who disguises herself as a man to sneak out to gamble all the time, rather than her role as well-behaved daughter of a prominent family. Rong Hua falls both first and harder for his lady, which is a trope I love, and refuses to give up on her even when all hope is lost and she seems to choose another path. And not for nothing, a solid and sober Rong Hua showing up for a desperate Shanguan Ya in their first life with the line “In this life, I’m willing to descend into hell with you” is seared into my brain (giffed here by nunafilms).

Favorite Trope: Extremely competent women who do really well on their own but find that they’re even better with the right partner—Li Rong (The Princess Royal), Shen Li (The Legend of Shen Li), and Dou Zhou (Blossom) are three of the best examples.

Biggest Disappointment: I know I still ranked it rather high, but Lost You Forever 2 really was so disappointing. Giving us exactly what it would look like for Cang Xuan and Xiaoyao to tear each other to pieces after that pitch perfect buildup of Cang Xuan getting closer and closer to losing it whenever he feels like he might lose Xiaoyao….and then making it all out to be a drug dream was such a rug pull. I hate that I can’t recommend LYF now without big caveats about part two.

Drama from Another Year: I picked up Meet Yourself after Will Love in Spring when I was wanting more of Li Xian, and I was not at all disappointed. I’m on the record as loving female leads who are Flight Risks™, so of course I was all in for Xu Hong Dou deciding to quit her job and abscond to a small village in the country that she had always meant to visit. The beginning may be a bit fraught (I’m used to first episodes having a lot going on to get things set up, but oh boy was this one rough), but once things get going, I adored this quiet, warm-hearted drama. Each episode felt like spending time with friends, and I would recommend it both for the central romance and it’s fantastic ensemble cast.  

Dramas I Missed: It’s been a bit of a rough year for me professionally, so there were a lot of dramas I really wish I’d had the time for but just didn’t—The Doubleis probably the biggest one here. Other dramas I’m hoping to get to eventually are Liu Yu Ning’s Eternal Brotherhood and Heroes as well as Zhang Wan Yi’s The Rise of Ning. I still kind of want to check out The Story of Pearl Girl, even though I know it was a flop for most people, but looking at my to-watch list (as well as who knows what else will come out in the meantime), I probably won’t make it to this one for a very long time, if ever.