2015 is the year the saw three Chinese dramas zoom up the top list (in a relatively short time, no less) in DL. Is this an indication that Chinese dramas are slowly gaining capability on giving Korean drama a run for its money with the recent surge of new international fans? More stuff from Mainland China are being subbed as well, and it certainly helps that the cast is usually diverse in Chinese dramas - top stars from Taiwan, HK, China, Korea, Thailand (Mike from Full House Thai was in Wu Xin the Killer) and sometimes even Japan converge together to round up the cast of recent Chinese dramas.
I used to watch Mainland C dramas since Legend of the Condor Heroes and even I will admit their improvement is up by leaps and bounds. Better acting, better cinematography, better writing, better production values. My picky friend is even addicted to Love Me if You Dare and I'm rewatching Nirvana in Fire for the 4538540th time. If they start getting better than 2015, then I see them eventually overtaking the spot of Korean dramas among international fans. To think many international fans still are yet to watch C Dramas at this point...
Do you think we are entering a new era in dramas as intl fans?
I used to watch Mainland C dramas since Legend of the Condor Heroes and even I will admit their improvement is up by leaps and bounds. Better acting, better cinematography, better writing, better production values. My picky friend is even addicted to Love Me if You Dare and I'm rewatching Nirvana in Fire for the 4538540th time. If they start getting better than 2015, then I see them eventually overtaking the spot of Korean dramas among international fans. To think many international fans still are yet to watch C Dramas at this point...
Do you think we are entering a new era in dramas as intl fans?
I think Korean dramas are a cultural phenomenon that isn't likely to go away anytime soon. Mainly because of the formulaic and addictive nature of them.
C-dramas I think while certainly improving in options for people to recommend to outsiders (ie people who have never seen an Asian drama of any kind), probably aren't going to pass k-dramas in popularity.
Maybe it could be compared to regular network shows vs cable shows in the US: ie HBO, AMC, etc. Nirvana in Fire, Love Me If You Dare, and Battle of Changsha are the HBO world of Asian dramas in substance/uniqueness/high-quality. But it might not be for everyone. Where as the typical k-drama is kind of your friend that is super-duper comforting.
But I have no idea, I'm just speculating. I've seen quite a few C-dramas that I wouldn't call that high-quality either. So....
C-dramas I think while certainly improving in options for people to recommend to outsiders (ie people who have never seen an Asian drama of any kind), probably aren't going to pass k-dramas in popularity.
Maybe it could be compared to regular network shows vs cable shows in the US: ie HBO, AMC, etc. Nirvana in Fire, Love Me If You Dare, and Battle of Changsha are the HBO world of Asian dramas in substance/uniqueness/high-quality. But it might not be for everyone. Where as the typical k-drama is kind of your friend that is super-duper comforting.
But I have no idea, I'm just speculating. I've seen quite a few C-dramas that I wouldn't call that high-quality either. So....
@Violingal
But as a witness to the early days of Korean drama (Sandglass, The Truth, way before the Winter Sonata/Stairway/Full House era) the start of the rise of Korean dramas were fairly similar to this one. People one by one starting to watch it until that breakthrough hit that sends international waves happen (in Korea's case, it was Dae Jang Geum-Autumn in my Heart-Winter Sonata-Full House combo that sealed the deal)
And you are absolutely right. China was never known for good, high quality dramas hence the complete turnaround that began happening in 2015 was a big surprise. Sure there were a couple of hits in Legend of Zhen Huan and Bu Bu Jing Xin but absolutely nothing like 2015 was. And the fact that it is so unexpected from them makes this slow transition more exciting to see.
Also talking about the HBO-ness of dramas, the reason why I am so looking forward to 2016 in Chinese dramas is because this is the year of the romcoms. Tons of popular romance Chinese novels with huge fanbases will get the drama treatment this year. If you've observed 2015 Chinese dramas, they already are a far cry from 2013 Chinese dramas. I felt Boss & Me marked the big improvement in modern romance dramas and the quality just got better from that point on. I know most recent romance Chinese dramas are not very solid, but the novels the 2016 upcoming ones will be based on have very good writing. Which is why I'm guessing it could open up a new era since romance Asian dramas watched by intl fans are either Korean or to a lesser extent Taiwanese.
But as a witness to the early days of Korean drama (Sandglass, The Truth, way before the Winter Sonata/Stairway/Full House era) the start of the rise of Korean dramas were fairly similar to this one. People one by one starting to watch it until that breakthrough hit that sends international waves happen (in Korea's case, it was Dae Jang Geum-Autumn in my Heart-Winter Sonata-Full House combo that sealed the deal)
And you are absolutely right. China was never known for good, high quality dramas hence the complete turnaround that began happening in 2015 was a big surprise. Sure there were a couple of hits in Legend of Zhen Huan and Bu Bu Jing Xin but absolutely nothing like 2015 was. And the fact that it is so unexpected from them makes this slow transition more exciting to see.
Also talking about the HBO-ness of dramas, the reason why I am so looking forward to 2016 in Chinese dramas is because this is the year of the romcoms. Tons of popular romance Chinese novels with huge fanbases will get the drama treatment this year. If you've observed 2015 Chinese dramas, they already are a far cry from 2013 Chinese dramas. I felt Boss & Me marked the big improvement in modern romance dramas and the quality just got better from that point on. I know most recent romance Chinese dramas are not very solid, but the novels the 2016 upcoming ones will be based on have very good writing. Which is why I'm guessing it could open up a new era since romance Asian dramas watched by intl fans are either Korean or to a lesser extent Taiwanese.
I don't know what they ate in 2015 but with Love me if you dare, My sunshine, and Nirvana in fire...they hit it BIG TIME that year. Seriously...seems like adapting from popular novel gets better and better and better. Even Journey of flower, or Sound in the desert. Legend of Lu Zhen or Lan Ling Wang were very good in terms of cinematography and acting. I just didn't like the stories that much. I don't think they will take the spot of Korean dramas, they will create a new top spot of their own. Each country has something specific. Don't know how to say it...there's a feel you'll only get in K-drama and another feel you only get in C-dramas they can't substitute...and same for Japanese.
Rather than the quality of C-dramas in general, I think what they're improving is the quality of IDOL c-dramas (Boss and Me, My Sunshine, WuXin, Love Me if You Dare), or inserting idols to quality dramas they're making (Hu Ge in NiF, Wallace in Battle of Changsha and The Great Protector) to increase marketability. I believe there're many good Cdramas in the past as well, sadly we just don't know about them. We international fans are only exposed to idol c-dramas because, well, they have idols --> huge domestic/international fanbase --> their dramas most likely get subbed. And most of the time idol c-dramas don't really excel in any front compare to its Korean and Japanese counterpart: they have mind-numbing silly plot and mediocre-at-best-mostly-laughable acting. So there's an impression that idols aren't given roles in quality dramas since those idols aren't able to carry it anyway. In the end, international fans can only judge that Cdramas have the lowest production value compare to J and Kdramas
I don't know if this trend will continue, since they did have the momentum with Bu Bu Jing Xin and Legend of Zhen Huan yet somehow the ripple didn't last in the following years. I'm optimistic though because the recent improvements are made by the same production company (Boss & Me and My Sunshine are from the same company (I forgot the name); NiF, BoF, and LMiYD are made by Shanying), I hope they will continue to make dramas with the same caliber.
Also, now there are tons of drama streaming and blogging sites in the internet so people are easily exposed to any drama from any country, and people actually use these sites as their source of dramas. Without having to specifically looking for a chinese dramas people can stumble accidentally while they're looking references for Japanese or Korean dramas. So yes, with the help of internet and improvement in quality, c-dramas ARE getting more recognition among international fans nowadays.
The thing is, most people are here checking on new and top rated dramas and such because of kdramas are such a hit in the first place. Even now the top c-dramas in MDL are only voted by a mere hundreds, compare to k-dramas (rom-com, to be exact) that easily gained thousand of votes. Subbing is still scarce too. Also, K, J, and C-dramas each has their own style. As you can see yourself it's not like people who love recent c-dramas hit are no longer watching kdramas, they simply recognize that there are good, watchable c-dramas, and maybe tuning in for the next offering. Rather than more people watching more cdramas and less kdramas, it's more like more people are watching k AND cdramas. After all, these dramas are easily available in internet so you can watch them anytime you want, no need to sacrifice one drama to another.
I don't know if this trend will continue, since they did have the momentum with Bu Bu Jing Xin and Legend of Zhen Huan yet somehow the ripple didn't last in the following years. I'm optimistic though because the recent improvements are made by the same production company (Boss & Me and My Sunshine are from the same company (I forgot the name); NiF, BoF, and LMiYD are made by Shanying), I hope they will continue to make dramas with the same caliber.
Also, now there are tons of drama streaming and blogging sites in the internet so people are easily exposed to any drama from any country, and people actually use these sites as their source of dramas. Without having to specifically looking for a chinese dramas people can stumble accidentally while they're looking references for Japanese or Korean dramas. So yes, with the help of internet and improvement in quality, c-dramas ARE getting more recognition among international fans nowadays.
The thing is, most people are here checking on new and top rated dramas and such because of kdramas are such a hit in the first place. Even now the top c-dramas in MDL are only voted by a mere hundreds, compare to k-dramas (rom-com, to be exact) that easily gained thousand of votes. Subbing is still scarce too. Also, K, J, and C-dramas each has their own style. As you can see yourself it's not like people who love recent c-dramas hit are no longer watching kdramas, they simply recognize that there are good, watchable c-dramas, and maybe tuning in for the next offering. Rather than more people watching more cdramas and less kdramas, it's more like more people are watching k AND cdramas. After all, these dramas are easily available in internet so you can watch them anytime you want, no need to sacrifice one drama to another.
