Asian dramas.
Feb. 28th, 2022 04:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452Since I've been watching a lot of Asian dramas over the last couple of years, I wanted to kind of share the ones I've been currently watching. I haven't finished watching them yet, I've just sort of been alternating between them at the moment. There's no spoilers, just me sharing and expressing my thoughts so far with them.
→ ANCIENT DETECTIVE (cdrama, 2020)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER ]
About: A young man who, after waking up and having lost the majority of his memories, is on a mission to uncover the truth of what happened which turns into a race against time as he's not only on the run from assassins coming after him but he's also going against the clock of a deadly poison coursing through his system. He gathers his own little found family along the way as he is going on this mission while also solving crimes that he stumbles onto along the way.
My thoughts: This is a very well-done drama, the mysteries are intriguing and you kind of get sucked into the suspense of wanting to see how a certain mystery ends up getting solved, never mind seeing how the main plot starts to unfold regarding our main protagonist. This is categorized as a mystery romance, and unlike other dramas the romance is actually convincing. And really, there is shipping material for everyone, including between the two male protagonists because, while not a BL, there is potential there considering they end up having such a close bond rather quickly.
→ DETECTIVE SAMOYEDS (cdrama, 2017)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER / TRAILER 2]
About: A procedural type drama set during the Tang Dynasty where a makeshift bureau team specialize in investigating bizarre and unique cases.
My thoughts: I started watching this because of one of the actors from Prince of Tennis was in it, and I was curious based on the drama title along on what the hell it was, but aside from obviously watching for a specific actor (whose character in this, Li Zhi, is obviously my favorite) I've been enjoying this drama very much. It's episodic, with a kind of deeper lore surrounding our main protagonist's background which is sprinkled here and there, and some of the cases they deal with are quite interesting. The drama has been referred to as "The X-Files of the Tang Dynasty", and that's kind of accurate, except all the cases have logical explanations for them in the end. It's just fascinating seeing how these things end up getting revealed, and it's really fun to watch when they do confront the perp of the episode. It's a fun drama, a mixture of serious moments (re: the cases) and ridiculous moments involving our main characters and their dynamic, which I'm enamored with pretty much all of them.
The only downside is the availability of the drama. I can find all the episodes, but on different locations and not all of them are translated into English. Based on what I've seen, it used to have been available on the official channel but it has since been removed, which unfortunately sometimes does happen every now and then for whatever reason. So it's been kind of a mishmash of me alternating between episodes that are translated into English, but have a different dubbing (so I watch on mute), episodes without subtitles but the original Mandarin dubbing, and episodes with the Mandarin dubbing but with Vietnamese subtitles that I'm actually personally translating into English on my own, rather shoddily. It may be a bit tricky and time consuming, but it's actually an interesting experience.
→ IS XIANZUN WHITEWASHED TODAY? (cdrama, 2022)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER ]
About: A low-budget short series centering around a modern guy who transmigrates into a webnovel he'd been reading and is embodying one of the characters (who died) and is trying to fix the story by altering the way things are done without arousing suspicions.
My thoughts: I only knew about this because I follow the right people who post about this kind of stuff, otherwise this would've slipped underneath my radar completely. The episodes can be found on YouTube, though only nine so far have been translated into English, however, that doesn't stop me from watching it because it's a.) I've gotten used to watching a lot of Asian dramas without subtitles and b.) it's incredibly funny and cute, and very short. Every episode is, like two or three minutes long, hence the small budget, but apparently it has become quite a hit, and understandably so since it's cute, funny, and features common things seen in transmigrated danmei stories like The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, they even parody the cliff scene from The Untamed, so of course it's gotten more noticed. Although knowing what things are being done in terms of censorship laws changing I don't know whether we'll be seeing something more of it (or anything else like it) for some time, nevertheless they were bold to put this out there now and if we do get more I'd absolutely welcome it.
→ I AM THE YEARS, YOU ARE THE STARS (cdrama, 2021)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER / TRAILER 2 ]
About: A girl with a rare terminal disease meets a mysterious man who happens to be immortal on one fateful day, and since then their lives become intertwined with a mixture of comedy, drama, mystery/suspense, and romance.
My thoughts: I only just started watching the show, I haven't gone farther than a few episodes due to the other dramas listed above that have kind of drawn my attention away from this for the time being, but based on what I've seen so far I find it quite enjoyable. Admittedly, yes, I watched this simply because of an actor, Liu Haikuan (who played Lan Xichen in The Untamed), but even from the first episode I was intrigued. The leading girl is actually quite charming herself, and proves immediately that she is clever and resourceful and competent at what she does. Liu Haikuan's character is the obvious draw, and the drama is very much a setup of romance between them, but so far I do like their chemistry. I also like how done his character seems a lot of the time, particularly with his subordinates who try their best but are just precious idiots, and judging from the trailers he has a lot of comedic moments which I'm happy he's in such a role for this, to be honest. Liu Haikuan is among my favorite cdrama actors, so it's nice seeing him in a leading role instead of being stuck with Second Lead Syndrome. He sings the opening theme song to the drama, so y'know. (I do intend on watching, or at least semi-watching/checking out, his latest drama that was released, Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities, because while not a main character he is supposedly an antagonist, and he looks good).
Alternatively the drama was previously called My Centenarian Sweetheart, which apparently is the name of the novel it's adapted from, but was changed to I Am The Years, You Are The Stars. Why the longer name, I don't know. Perhaps it translated better? This is common with watching cdramas though, so you kind of get used to it.
As I've mentioned previously, I have a long list of dramas that I want to eventually check out and that I want to get to, including some of the more popular ones like Guardian, Cherry Magic, and Nirvana In Fire, because once you enter the Asian (or anything from any country that's not your own) drama wormhole you'll find a plethora of things that sound and look interesting and want to consume instantly, but pacing yourself is key and that's something that I've been learning over the last couple of years. Just because most of these dramas are of a limited series format doesn't mean I have to devour them all in one go. Of course, a lot of this is fear that some of them will disappear from whatever platform they're on, which does happen. There are ways of working around that, especially since availability can be a bit tricky, translations even more so.
But regardless, I've been enjoying myself. I like discovering newer stuff to watch, even if they're not as well-known or have less of a fandom presence, these dramas, and the ones I have yet to check out, will be sustaining me for a long time and I'm excited about that.
→ ANCIENT DETECTIVE (cdrama, 2020)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER ]
About: A young man who, after waking up and having lost the majority of his memories, is on a mission to uncover the truth of what happened which turns into a race against time as he's not only on the run from assassins coming after him but he's also going against the clock of a deadly poison coursing through his system. He gathers his own little found family along the way as he is going on this mission while also solving crimes that he stumbles onto along the way.
My thoughts: This is a very well-done drama, the mysteries are intriguing and you kind of get sucked into the suspense of wanting to see how a certain mystery ends up getting solved, never mind seeing how the main plot starts to unfold regarding our main protagonist. This is categorized as a mystery romance, and unlike other dramas the romance is actually convincing. And really, there is shipping material for everyone, including between the two male protagonists because, while not a BL, there is potential there considering they end up having such a close bond rather quickly.
→ DETECTIVE SAMOYEDS (cdrama, 2017)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER / TRAILER 2]
About: A procedural type drama set during the Tang Dynasty where a makeshift bureau team specialize in investigating bizarre and unique cases.
My thoughts: I started watching this because of one of the actors from Prince of Tennis was in it, and I was curious based on the drama title along on what the hell it was, but aside from obviously watching for a specific actor (whose character in this, Li Zhi, is obviously my favorite) I've been enjoying this drama very much. It's episodic, with a kind of deeper lore surrounding our main protagonist's background which is sprinkled here and there, and some of the cases they deal with are quite interesting. The drama has been referred to as "The X-Files of the Tang Dynasty", and that's kind of accurate, except all the cases have logical explanations for them in the end. It's just fascinating seeing how these things end up getting revealed, and it's really fun to watch when they do confront the perp of the episode. It's a fun drama, a mixture of serious moments (re: the cases) and ridiculous moments involving our main characters and their dynamic, which I'm enamored with pretty much all of them.
The only downside is the availability of the drama. I can find all the episodes, but on different locations and not all of them are translated into English. Based on what I've seen, it used to have been available on the official channel but it has since been removed, which unfortunately sometimes does happen every now and then for whatever reason. So it's been kind of a mishmash of me alternating between episodes that are translated into English, but have a different dubbing (so I watch on mute), episodes without subtitles but the original Mandarin dubbing, and episodes with the Mandarin dubbing but with Vietnamese subtitles that I'm actually personally translating into English on my own, rather shoddily. It may be a bit tricky and time consuming, but it's actually an interesting experience.
→ IS XIANZUN WHITEWASHED TODAY? (cdrama, 2022)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER ]
About: A low-budget short series centering around a modern guy who transmigrates into a webnovel he'd been reading and is embodying one of the characters (who died) and is trying to fix the story by altering the way things are done without arousing suspicions.
My thoughts: I only knew about this because I follow the right people who post about this kind of stuff, otherwise this would've slipped underneath my radar completely. The episodes can be found on YouTube, though only nine so far have been translated into English, however, that doesn't stop me from watching it because it's a.) I've gotten used to watching a lot of Asian dramas without subtitles and b.) it's incredibly funny and cute, and very short. Every episode is, like two or three minutes long, hence the small budget, but apparently it has become quite a hit, and understandably so since it's cute, funny, and features common things seen in transmigrated danmei stories like The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, they even parody the cliff scene from The Untamed, so of course it's gotten more noticed. Although knowing what things are being done in terms of censorship laws changing I don't know whether we'll be seeing something more of it (or anything else like it) for some time, nevertheless they were bold to put this out there now and if we do get more I'd absolutely welcome it.
→ I AM THE YEARS, YOU ARE THE STARS (cdrama, 2021)
[ WATCH THE TRAILER / TRAILER 2 ]
About: A girl with a rare terminal disease meets a mysterious man who happens to be immortal on one fateful day, and since then their lives become intertwined with a mixture of comedy, drama, mystery/suspense, and romance.
My thoughts: I only just started watching the show, I haven't gone farther than a few episodes due to the other dramas listed above that have kind of drawn my attention away from this for the time being, but based on what I've seen so far I find it quite enjoyable. Admittedly, yes, I watched this simply because of an actor, Liu Haikuan (who played Lan Xichen in The Untamed), but even from the first episode I was intrigued. The leading girl is actually quite charming herself, and proves immediately that she is clever and resourceful and competent at what she does. Liu Haikuan's character is the obvious draw, and the drama is very much a setup of romance between them, but so far I do like their chemistry. I also like how done his character seems a lot of the time, particularly with his subordinates who try their best but are just precious idiots, and judging from the trailers he has a lot of comedic moments which I'm happy he's in such a role for this, to be honest. Liu Haikuan is among my favorite cdrama actors, so it's nice seeing him in a leading role instead of being stuck with Second Lead Syndrome. He sings the opening theme song to the drama, so y'know. (I do intend on watching, or at least semi-watching/checking out, his latest drama that was released, Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities, because while not a main character he is supposedly an antagonist, and he looks good).
Alternatively the drama was previously called My Centenarian Sweetheart, which apparently is the name of the novel it's adapted from, but was changed to I Am The Years, You Are The Stars. Why the longer name, I don't know. Perhaps it translated better? This is common with watching cdramas though, so you kind of get used to it.
As I've mentioned previously, I have a long list of dramas that I want to eventually check out and that I want to get to, including some of the more popular ones like Guardian, Cherry Magic, and Nirvana In Fire, because once you enter the Asian (or anything from any country that's not your own) drama wormhole you'll find a plethora of things that sound and look interesting and want to consume instantly, but pacing yourself is key and that's something that I've been learning over the last couple of years. Just because most of these dramas are of a limited series format doesn't mean I have to devour them all in one go. Of course, a lot of this is fear that some of them will disappear from whatever platform they're on, which does happen. There are ways of working around that, especially since availability can be a bit tricky, translations even more so.
But regardless, I've been enjoying myself. I like discovering newer stuff to watch, even if they're not as well-known or have less of a fandom presence, these dramas, and the ones I have yet to check out, will be sustaining me for a long time and I'm excited about that.
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Date: 2022-02-28 01:34 pm (UTC)Xianzun: I watched a couple of episodes after seeing it on your Tumblr. It really felt like a way-too-fast Scumbag System, so it didn't catch my interest. If you haven't seen this donghua yet, it's available on YouTube as well.
Guardian: I plan on watching it soon. I'm watching some k-dramas right now.
I've recently posted about Lost Tomb Reboot, you might like that one as well. Same lead actor as Guardian. Not a BL, but has BL vibes.
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Date: 2022-02-28 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-02-28 07:03 pm (UTC)=^..^=~
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Date: 2022-02-28 08:46 pm (UTC)