I`m looking for some Cdramas recommendations of different genres ^^ Thanks in advance!
★Detective Dramas
・costume/historical setting, up to the Republican Era
・a lot of investigations/cases/mysteries to solve
Something similar to My roommate is a detective, Strange tales of Tang Dynasty, White Cat Legend, Ancient Detective
★Palace Dramas, especially with
・politics involved
・scheming/cunning characters (I don`t care who and why)
・engaging story/plot
Something similar to Story of Kunning Palace, Unchained Love, Joy of Life, Pledge of Allegiance
Please alert if it has a sad ending (main or many characters die).
★Epic (?) Dramas
・can be costume/historical or xianxia (I prefer the former though)
・better if it has a lot of action or fighting scenes
Something similar to Legend of Fuyao, The legend of ShenLi, Sword Snow Stride, Word of Honor, Luoyang
Please alert if it has a sad ending (main or many characters die).
★Obsessed/possessive/toxic/jealous ML Dramas
・costume (until Republican era ok) or xianxia
・mini dramas very welcome too
・enemies to lovers, kidnapping, arranged marriage, revenge and such
Something similar to Rising Feather, Maid`s Revenge, A tale of Love and Loyalty, Part for Ever, A camellia Romance
Please alert if it has a sad ending (main or many characters die).
P.S. Please no recommendations for dramas with Zhao Lusi, Dilraba Dilmurat, Luo Yunxi
I'm hoping someone else will answer because I'm pretty sure I've mentioned just about everything I've watched to you before, but I'll try with a few just in case. Let me know if you want any details regarding the ending spoilers on any of these.
Mysteries:
- The Truth of Scent (happy ending)
- Marry Me (happy ending)
- The Embroidered Shoes (mini, bittersweet ending but it didn't seem tragic to me? Idk.)
- The Truth of Immortality (mini, happy ending)
Palace dramas:
- Untouchable Lovers (happy ending which is honestly a surprise considering how unlikely it looks! I know I've recommended this before but I adore it, it fits what you're looking for with politics, scheming characters, and plot, and I mostly watch fluffy palace cdramas otherwise so it's the only one I could think of.)
Epic dramas:
- Love in Between (happy ending for the lead and third couples but it's kind of offscreen because they ran out of budget, lol. Warning for a super tragic ending for the secondary couple, I cried so much. )
- Ever Night (best fight scenes I've seen, there's two season, season 1 ends on a cliffhanger, season 2 is happy but somewhat open as there was supposed to be a third season. But it's not a bad place for it to end and the leads are alive and together, so...)
- Listening Snow Tower (happy ending. the only things I liked about this drama was a supporting couple and the pretty aesthetics but the fight scenes are very good and a lot of people liked it much better than I did, so...)
- Wonderland of Love (happy ending)
- Battle of Changsha (it's a happy ending for the leads since they both survive the war, are reunited, and it ends with them alive and together with their son but literally every other character including the FL's entire family dies so it's a very tragic drama)
Obsessed/toxic MLs (I know I've rec'd you everything I've seen with this):
- Good Bye, My Princess (devastatingly sad ending but the most obsessed/toxic ML you could imagine)
I hope that helps a little!
Thanks as always!
Some titles you did mention already, but some others are brand new to me! I will check everything *_*
I`m also seriously considering watching Untouchable Lovers (if I can put aside my dislike of Zhao Lusi ^^;)
Oh, goodness, I totally forgot for a moment she was in that, lol, I'm so sorry! I wasn't even thinking of the cast in these. She plays the villain, if that helps!
detective: In Blossom, Detective Dee, Under the Microscope although this is more of a courtroom drama it solves a mystery
Palace drama: Scarlet heart (the original) or Moon Lovers (Korean remake), actually Eternal Brotherhood has some of it, One and Only is excruciating with it (death), Hard to Find (death), although it involves two countries just like in Missing Crown Prince (Korean) and Untouchable Lovers
Epic: Journey to Love (death) with male camaraderie galore, My Journey to You fight scenes!!!, Fighting for Love long story, Eternal Brotherhood 3 idiots who fight together, Blossoms in Adversity for killer fight scenes by Hu Yi Tian,
Obsessive: anything with Li Jiu Lin as this very talented actor plays really nasty characters (Rising Feather, Circle of Love and other short dramas) and is not afraid to explore darker side of human psyche. As well as the best on-screen kisser Li Fei, another character actor, who did some rough parts in short stories (A Tale of Love and Loyalty, Seal of Love and even parts of Is Xian Zun Whitewashed Today? )
Like you I can't stand ZL and Dilraba. LYX was absolutely phenomenal in Till the End of the Moon, but I can't really stomach him either...
@Kasia
Thank you so much for your reply and recommendations!
Detective stories
Under the microscope has been in my plan-to-watch for a long time (now I just have to decide if watching it or Joy of Life 2 for a dose of my beloved Zhang Ruoyun). In Blossom maybe one day..I like the ML actor but I`ve read so many bad reviews about the FL that it kind of spoiled the expectations for me.. Detective Dee, I was really looking forward to it, but I watched a few episodes and I can`t get to appreciate the casting (I`m a huge fan of the Robert Van Gulik books, that might be part of the reason).
Palace dramas
Eternal Brotherhood plan to watch (I love Liu Yuning), I watched Hard to find and I could have liked it more if it wasn`t so tragic....I hate sad endings T_T
Epic dramas
Journey to Love is a 10/10 for me, but I dropped it halfway because I luckily found in time that was going to be super tragic.... Watched Blossoms in Adversity and I liked it, although the fighting scenes are not the best imo (a part from the first episode, great).
Obsessive Characters
I love Li JiuLin! I think I watched almost all period dramas where he acts lol And I love Li Fei too, watched all his mini dramas but one already (A tale of Love and Loyalty is one of my favourite mini dramas ever!)
Ooh, I`m glad I`m not the only one who cannot appreciate those actresses/actor! Sometimes it seems like you "must" like them for some reasons....but I think I will keep avoiding them, I believe I cannot appreciate dramas if they star in them ^^;
For spy/mystery/detective cdramas, I recommend:
- Fall in Love (2021) (republican era)
- Sparrow (2016) (republican era): watched it a few years ago and it made a huge impression on me, I still want to rewatch it sometime soon. (also has Zhang Ruoyun)
Some other I would maybe recommend (but it's been too long since I watched it, so I'm not completely sure whether they fit what you are looking for)
- Dreaming back to the Qing dynasty (as far as I remember not much fighting scenes tho)
- Imperial Coroner (investigations)
- A Dream of Splendor (I saw someone else already recommended it here, and I remember I enjoyed watching it too)
- The Rebel Princess (Historical, power struggle, palace and war drama with fighting scenes). It has the same ML actor as Judge Dee's Mystery (which I also stopped watching, will maybe finish it later), but I really liked his acting in this series.
@movietourist313
Thank you for your reply and recommendations!
I usually enjoy the Repub;ican Era setting, so I will check those two out! Zhang Ruoyun is always an appreciated plus point too!
I have yet to watch a Qing Dynasty setting drama, and while I feel I will prefer older or newer periods, I might as well try this one since it`s a recommendation!
I watched The imperial coroner and I enjoyed it, glad there will be the second season probably this year.
A Dream of Splendor is also on my plan-to-watch list, I`m just having troubles finding it on streaming sites (I don`t know why the videos don`t load properly, even on the websites I usually use).
I don`t know The Rebel Princess, but from your description sounds like something I might really enjoy, so I noted it....but let me ask you, does it have a sad/tragic ending? I don`t dislike the Judge Dee`S Mystery actor per se (actually I think it was my first time watching him), I just don`t find him fitting for that role...maybe it`s also a script problem of the drama though.
@GothickBlood
I remember Sparrow being quite tragic. Fall in Love isn't and has a bit more focus on romance.
I didn't know there would be a second season for the Imperial Coroner yet, so thank you for mentioning it!
I watched A Dream of Splendor on YouTube, I think it's completely available there with subtitles.
About the Rebel Princess, it doesn't have a sad/tragic ending, it's quite a happy ending for the main leads, but it maybe could feel a bit rushed or lacking depending on what you would expect.
@movietourist313
I will have to wait for a moment when my psyche is ready to bear with it then lol
I don`t know why, but I get so invested in the stories and get attached to the characters ,so I feel horrible when they die and I end up sobbing like an elementary school kid! Too bad that so many great dramas are also tragic...
The Imperial Coroner 2, I believe the release will be at the end of this year if they are fast, might be next year if there are problems or the production/post production is slow.
I will look on Youtube for A dream of Splendor then, thanks!
