#tender light

Hey OP!

Oof yes 2024-2025 have been rough when it comes to period dramas. I'll limit my recs to Cdramas (and the occasional TWdrama) but here are a few I've watched in the last year or so.

In the mood for suspense? The Bad Kids

This is one of my favorite tv shows of all time. (It's up there with Mad Men, The Terror, and Chernobyl to give you context.)

At its core, the show is an examination of what motivates human kindness or cruelty, and the script makes interesting observations about morality by subverting our societal expectations of who constitutes a victim. The story is dark and suspenseful, the ending haunting me for weeks after I first watched it.

Bonus: Fantastic acting all around (especially from the young cast) and its director, Xin Shuang, is one of the best working in the industry today. Love his use of music and his lush approach to color and light.

In the mood for a classic romance? Fake It Till You Make It

I’d kill for another contemporary romance like this one. It's like a more ruminative version of When Harry Met Sally.

Set against the cutthroat world of Beijing's Central Business District, the drama is a story about finding authenticity and connection in an otherwise pretentious world. It’s intelligent, grown-up, and relatively realistic while still being very romantic. Elvis Han and Elvira Cai's acting feels so natural and lived in, and the visual storytelling is wonderfully calibrated to making even the script's quiet moments feel sexy.

In the mood for family drama? Unknown: The Series

One of my favorite dramas from 2024, this one comes to us from Taiwan.

Not only did this show have the holy trinity of good writing, acting, and cinematography, it's just so lovely? But what I most appreciated was the way it approached sensitive topics like abuse with respect and heart. If you like family dramas and queer romance with a stab of heartache, would highly recommend.

In the mood for a romcom? I Am Married...But!

Since we're already talking about Taiwan, we might as well mention one of my favorite dramas from 2025. (I'm starting to see a pattern here.)

I already wrote a review here so I won't repeat myself too much but it's truly an underrated gem. A romcom with an edge, the drama asks the age-old question of is there really a "happily ever after" when the fairy tale ends and marriage begins, and the drama answers this question with lots of humor, and more importantly, compassion.

In the mood for mystery? Tender Light and Regeneration

I'm going to combine these two dramas because they both have one thing in common: great starts and unsatisfying endings.

But don't let the latter issue deter you because these dramas make up for it with strong performances, a sense of genre, and unique atmosphere. Tender Light is refreshingly brutal in its tragedy while Regeneration feels like the love child of Agatha Christie and The Talented Mr. Ripley. What's not to love?

In the mood for toxic yaoi? Revenged Love

What more can be said about this bonafide hit that hasn't already been screamed about on Tumblr and other social media?

But I'll just add that as someone who doesn't typically enjoy shows with ridiculous premises or toxic romance, this show captured my heart and gave me some much needed dopamine. Yes, the actors have crackling chemistry and yes the director is a fujoshi mastermind, but ultimately what I think sets this drama apart is its script and the way the writer earns the story's emotional beats. There's tension, yearning, angst, joy--the show understands what Romance as a genre should make its audience feel even if the plot is absolutely wild and not what we'd consider traditionally romantic.

Other Recs

I haven't gotten around to watching the following yet but they come highly recommended to me by people I usually agree with so I'll also share:

Will Love in Spring

Oh No! Here Comes Trouble

I am Nobody

Meet Yourself

The Forbidden Flower

Parallel Worlds

Reset

The Long Night