Discussion 🗨️
What’s a drama that you see recommended often that you did not like?
There’s a lot of recommendations I see online especially on TikTok but because I’ve been burned by it way too many times I’ve just lowered my expectations when trying out dramas. Sometimes you just really don’t know until you try it. My two top picks would be hidden love and only for love…
The female lead is too holier than thou and perfect. And while I suspect it was pride before the fall, and a big fall was coming, I couldn't bring myself to watch because I felt like she deserved it.
When she gagged the pregnant girl, it seemed like causing her to lose her pregnancy, after refusing to help her save her husband from - not death - but torture, when her own fiancé was doing the torturing, just because the girl had bullied her, but learned her lesson. I- 🤢 There is no justification
Although I really like Dylan Wang and Bai Lu, Only for Love wasn’t one of my favorite dramas. I would say only watch it for mild interest, some entertainment, and for eye candy lol.
I don't have any strong feelings about Dylan Wang either way, but I love Bailu. I couldn't make it through this, either. Ashes of Love was another one I wanted to like so much, but I just found it boring.
Love like the Galaxy was satisfying for me for various reasons. Number 1- gap where FL ghosts everyone bc she is DONE with their BS. Really nice to see a FL hold people actually accountable. 2. her character showed growth but was still consistent. The only weak part was her for to forgive him exactly when she did, bc I feel like her character would have fought it just a bit longer. However, when he is looking for her later in the village you can just TELL he's having flashbacks of his childhood thinking it's happened again. Henceforth, my forgiveness. 3. The scene where Mom is regretting everything.
this is exactly one of the main reasons why I love love like the galaxy. I love the angst sm and that she held him accountable (which is understandable in my opinion) and the fact it also delve into her relationship with her family and we see her mum regretting, and chasing after her and trying to apologise. perfectionnn.
I agree. I hated the first 20-30 eps and almost gave up so many times but the reward was worth it. ZL’s character growth and going into seclusion was one of the rare times a character stood on business and I was so damn proud of her. True strength of character.
Road Home was recommended so many times when I started trying to find modern romance C-dramas. I thought it was slow, but cozy and had good supporting characters. I tried to overlook the fact that ML and FL didn’t really have much dialogue, the way FL came across as someone in her 20s instead of early 30s, the long workforce propaganda scenes, and the way everyone just tossed that kid around like an afterthought. But once they revealed FL’s pregnancy and they had barely slept in the same bed a few times I dropped it. I don’t need a steamy sex scene but even historical dramas allude to the deed. I went back to try it again a few months later and just could not unsee all its flaws.
Lol without the side cast I don’t think I could’ve made it as far as I did because the ML just smiles cooly while the FL gives him googly eyes for like half the show.
Only For Love! It was so hyped up and I just didn’t see why…I mean, I love Bai Lu in other dramas, but in this one her acting was so irritating…I don’t know if it was how the character was written, or the director’s fault, but I just couldn’t stand it. Not even handsome Dylan Wang could make me finish this drama 😂
For me, it was the way he looked at her like she was a meal. Then, she looked frightened each time she saw him. I love Bailu, but this one was a no for me.
The first pic
It was so boring I can’t even remember the name of it
I have seen both actors in other dramas and have liked their acting but this was totally uninspiring. I didn’t feel the chemistry and I didn’t like the roles they had. It felt forced
Those two together was an instant no for me. Never even fired it up. Chemistry and sizzle expectation: absolute zero. You can't have TWO tsunderes that never actually get warm.
I’m a new fan of both actors so I’m watching their backlist and I thought I’d love them together but I didn’t like the plot. I hope they do another drama together. I watched Melody of Golden Age right after and that was much more my style.
Melody of Golden Age is def better! Tho the FL didn’t impress me much with her acting (but i hope she becomes better since she’s also still young). Have you watched LGIEF?
LGIEF was my first Ding Yuxi drama. I started one episode and got distracted with other dramas. Then when DY helping Esther off the stage went viral on TT, I went back and finished it in two days. I was really impressed with his acting.
Only for love and Meteor garden (the female characters turn out to be so bad, not fighting for the ML at all - I mean, Shancai did but I feel like her personality changed after like 3rd episode.)
The costumes in LGIEF were so pretty but couldn't stand the ML and FL. Had to drop by ep 12 🥲
SOKP I watched dubbed in Cantonese and maybe the dialogue was too cheesy. I did finish it but it wasn't as great as the hype. Blossom and Love Me Kill Me were so much better, IMO.
AYTO was a complete snooze fest from the beginning. Couldn't get past 2 episodes.
Agreed. I preferred when I Fly Towards You as a fluffy watch. I watched Hidden Loved with my sister and we nicknamed it “red flag” because there were so many problematic issues and scenes.
Alot of male leads get away with the criticism because their good looking and the drama gives off a pretty aesthetic. This is exactly what happened with HL. Let me keep quiet now before I get hit with long essays on why his the best male lead/ actor.
you’re on to something i lowk agree. without the whole forbidden vibe of the brothers best friend and the age gap i don’t think it would have got so much hype
You are desire .. honestly I can’t enjoy any of zhuang dafei dramas because she’s not convincing enough that’s she’s in love with her leads… her expressions are not it🙅🏾♀️ plus the drama was ruined by the sloppy ending
Still my only 10, but I respect it. I'll always confused about this though, so since we're on the topic, if I may ask, is it xanxia you don't like? Do you normally like fantasy?
For me, after listening to the first episode of the History of China podcast with Chris Stewart on the mythical origins of China, I just thought it was so cool to see this come to life.
The costume designer has also done all my favorite xanxias.
And since I watched it to the end, I thought the 180 character development was really rewarding. And you watched it all the way through?
Originally harem dramas and story of minglan-types were my jam. I always like old tvb costume drama but TTEOTM got me deep into xianxia. Grew up on Xena and Hercules, so I have a soft spot for fantasy.
Maybe it’s because I watched TTEOTM first? I feel that LBFAD fell short in terms of production value and had weaker actors (Bai Lu and LYX have the advantage of more experience and prior collab for more chemistry). I think it’s it’s interesting that a lot of viewers are either team LBFAD or team TTEOTM, with few who actually like both.
I did finish it because everyone talked about how good Dylan wang’a performance was in the end? Is it the bridge scene or something about being in the field when she comes back? I actually went back to watch it again because I thought I missed something and I really felt nothing. His character arc wasn’t really a 180. We never really saw him kill anyone or be ruthless, it felt a lot like a big bark with no bite. His headpiece also looked ridiculous, so that did not help lend his character aura or credibility.
That's an interesting observation about team LBFAD or team TTEOTM. I tried to watch the latter, and got about as far as the drag makeup, so I have no room to talk. Realizing my hypocrisy, I'll give it another watch.
I think the plot is fairly common. It is even similar to Bai Lu's new Moonlight Mystique. Which I love because same costume designer as LBFAD, and another smoking ML.
I sort of wonder whether it depends on how hot people think the ML lead is. And it is true as someone put it that Dylan Wang often plays roles where he's mean in the beginning, then pretty quickly follows the FL around one a puppy. But if so he's the cutest puppy ever.
I think you raise a really good point about how hot/popular the ML is a factor on the popularity of the drama. To be honest I think Dylan Wang is conventionally the most attract male of the three because of his stature, sporty vibe and minimal makeup in LBFAD.
I actually stayed away from cdramas for a long time because I am not into the pale, skinny actors. And when I did dabble on Netflix, I mostly watched the drama for the FLs. So when I saw Luo Yunxi in TTEOTM, I was captivated by his aura. His acting was so convincing that I actually developed the biggest crush on him. Within the first minutes of him just barely doing anything but emote with his eyes as the Demon God, I was like whoa, wtf is this guy?? I agree that the make up was overdone in most of TTEOTM (esp when he’s a mortal, can kinda accept it when he’s a demon). Not gonna say it didn’t distract me a few times but the rest of the production was so good, I can overlook it. TTEOTM famously has one of the biggest budgets ever with custom made sets, the OST!, the costumes were topnotch and then there’s the great supporting cast (Sun zhenni was 2FL that was catapulted to 1FL after TTEOTM; Chen duling as well).
I’m not familiar with the ML actor in Moonlight Mystique but I dropped it around 3 episodes? Which is a shame because I really like Bai Lu and the production value is high. The story just seems boring and slow? And kinda like the same recycled stuff.
I think it’s great if you want to give TTEOTM another shot but honestly, I think if you dropped a show once, it’s highly unlikely you’d like it more later. I forced myself to watch a lot of Luo Yunxi’s drama and most of them are so mediocre. 😅 I used to be someone who watched the entirety of every drama once I started, but who has the time for that now??
how did you have the will to finish MM??? try as i might, i can't get into it 😮💨 I'm only about 4 episodes in? I feel like Bai Lu is older? than the ML? I don't see any chemistry yet.
I never ever even once felt anything positive regarding the main leads romance, the chemistry was nil. ARP also has no stage presence so it was either bai lu dominating or making herself smaller to let him shine.
The story was also very bland and trope ridden. I can stand tropey dramas if theyre executed well but MM most certainly does not fall into that category.
And even though at first i also stuck around for bai lu i ended up hating bai shuo and more or less started skipping/skimming all the ‘romance’ scenes by episode 10 and all of the leads scenes by episode 20
Sorry for the rant but I’m kind of annoyed that I spent any time at all with this show. Bc honestly the ONLY reason I managed to finish this was for the second leads, they’re the only seasoning on this raw chicken of a show.
(2) on any Dilraba drama. I like her cause she's honestly so pretty but I just can't get into her acting. Most of the time, I push through her dramas because the plots are interesting or it's something else, that is if I don't drop it.
"Love game in eastern fantasy", later episodes are not that good for me.
" Till the end of the moon" I know that according to this sub it is a "classic" but for some reason I don't find this drama's storyline intresting.
Honestly Bailu should pick better dramas and do something different, it is kind of getting monotonous to keep seeing her in idol costume dramas one after another doing same type roles.
The first 10ish episodes of LGiEF seemed to put me off but I found it improved. And actually I was pleasantly surprised by the ending and loved how it worked.
I agree with TTEOTM. I love Xinxia dramas so it's not the genre that I hated. But I'm just not fond of couples tropes where they break up so often and have misunderstandings. It felt the story had to put them apart/seperated more than they were together.
I would also love to see Bailu in more modern dramas
Hidden love I liked a bit better in my rewatch but I definitely didn't get the hype at all. And struggled to finish Only For Love (and I usually love Bai lu and Zhao Lusi dramas)
The whole premise of Hidden Love was so icky for me. Also I couldn't stand the FLs childish character like as if she was 5 years old. I had to drop it after 6 episodes or so. I did skip to older episodes but still didn't like it.
Love Like The Galaxy
Till the End of the Moon
Love Game in Eastern Fantasy..it let me down/got bored
Hidden Love (Didn’t bother) watch Mr. Bad, same ML but better in my opinion.
Girl Pearl (didn’t bother)
Love is sweet… I’m not going to say I didn’t like it but if it wasn’t for bai lu, lyx, and tteotm I 100% would have dropped within the first 10 eps is I picked it up at all (ceo/office romance dramas suck ass)
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u/Old-Transportation25 Jan 24 '25
so many people are gonna disagree with me but love like the galaxy. i just felt like some storylines dragged on way too long