Hola hola! It’s the start of the holy fasting month, so perhaps I should be reading the Quran instead of spouting nonsense here. But it’s also the end of February! So I need to at least try post something, right? [I’ll talk a lot so you can skip the next paragraphs and just read the parts where I wrote the recommended movies or dramas!]
I have been watching a lot of Chinese dramas recently. Well, not so recently. It’s been some time or maybe a long while. I even cut up some of my anime-watching time to switch to these “crazy” dramas. Blame the Instagram ads! God, I know I am not the only one. Those short ads appear on our feed; some of the stories can even be considered foolish and ridiculous; the acting is not always good; the dubbing is sometimes awful, but boy, I am hooked. You know I love stories, so these ads work on me. No surprise. Like, when I watched one, I got curious and wanted to know what happened next or how it ended, so yeah… But I’m a cheapskate, so instead of downloading the app to watch those short vertical movies, I went to YouTube to see if anyone has already shared it there. And bless all these people who put those movies there – and everyone who wrote a review in the comment sections, letting me know if it has a sad or happy ending, and such!
Long story short, I started with the colossal (?) ones, you know, those with kingdom, prince, princess, and such. At the beginning, I was like, “I won’t watch the modern Chinese dramas.” Even when I needed a recommendation, I would go to ChatGPT and write something like,
“Recommend me romantic comedy classical Chinese dramas like “The Love Duel,” “The Killer is also Romantic,” “Who rules the world,” or “Wonderland of Love.” Thank you.”
Other time I would be more specific and detailed like,
“Can you recommend me short romantic comedy colossal or classical Chinese dramas and movies? The ones with happy ending ’cause I don’t like sad endings. Also, I want the male lead and the female lead to love each other and fight together against the world or the villains instead of fighting and misunderstanding each other. Thank you.“
But boy, forget classical and colossal ones, now I end up watching the modern ones too, from those with accidental marriages with rich CEOs ’cause they got drugged, or the reborn or transverse theme either for revenge or for repaying and loving the one who truly cared for them in the past life, or where they started with a contract or fake marriage due to familiar pressure and where they hide their identity as a rich person (which sometimes leads to unnecessary endless and exasperating misunderstanding! Jeez). Or those where the girl helped an old lady then the old lady asked her to marry her rich grandson. Gosh. Thank God I can tell fictions apart from reality. LoL
Or those stories where they had a one-night stand, got pregnant, gave birth to twins/triplets/quadruplets and all were geniuses who later found their Dad and tried to reunite the parents. Or those where the girl was overly multitalented as music genius, a miracle doctor, while also a computer expert. I’m like, oh God! Sometimes it’s like Japanese “isekai” and it makes it funnier ’cause I can accept it when it happens in anime, but when it happens in these modern & classical dramas, it’s so ridiculous. But don’t get me wrong, even when I say they’re ridiculous, you can say I’m even more ridiculous. I spend my precious time watching them and even craving for more! Sometimes I even watched the dramas with exactly the same theme and plot, just with different actors. I can’t help thinking about the copy-right issue, but we’ll talk about it another time! Sometimes they had both the classical and the modern version for the same themes. Boy, I can go on and on listing all the themes I’ve found in these movies and dramas (yeah, you can consider me having too much time to waste. But time we enjoy wasting is not wasted time, so… 🙈🙏✌️)
Alright, I think I need to be more to-the-point. What I’d like to tell you is 1) watching these dramas make me realize that I don’t like angst. I love revenge theme only when the entire movie is about the villains getting their karmas or “retribution.” 2) I love comedy, be it action comedy or romantic comedy, I love them all. 3) While I can’t really choose my favorite actors because they all so gorgeous (Yang Yang so sweet, cool, and charismatic; Xukai so cool nearing cold; Dylan Wang such a sunshine, Wang Kai Mu so manly, etc.), I can tell you I’m captivated by Wang You Shuo’s acting. His acting skills are superb! Especially in The Inextricable Destiny (but I don’t list it here because the story is sad, making my eyes swell from crying!!!) I wish he could play in more movies and dramas! 4) My favorite actress is Dan Dan Hu also known as Smile Hu. She is so pretty and her acting is great. I love her and really hope to watch her as the main character in more dramas and movies.
Okok, now I’ll tell you what movies or dramas that I love and would recommend. I promise I’ll try to be short. I’ll just link them to their mydramalist page so you can read it there for more details. So, my favorites are, not necessarily in order:
1. The love duel
This is so funny. Both the ML (male lead) and FL (female lead) were transported from modern world to another world. They both were assigned a mission, and they needed to complete it to return to the modern world. The ML needed to make the FL 100% in love with him, while the FL needed to kill him. The comedy is great. Yes, of course Smile Hu is here^^
2. My beloved wife
I love this one because, while other stories has the ML as the general, here the FL was actually the general. She married the ML, who was portrayed as a weak scholar (but, spoiler: of course he wasn’t. LoL) But I really love how love gradually grew between them. The way they trusted and protected each other, it’s so sweet 🥰 It’s really such a sweet and cute story. The ML is gentle, definitely not toxic. There are not too many episodes. And there are no painful misunderstanding or slanders by a wicked third person/love interest. More importantly, it has a happy ending! I love happy endings!!!
3. My Lady General
I love this one too because the FL was strong. It’s similar to the previous one, where the FL married the ML, who pretended to be a sickly prince but was actually an important character, a leader of a prominent assassination organization. I love how the ML was being supportive and protective towards the FL without actually stealing the spotlights. I guess I love men who let their loved ones shine without having to appear outstanding themselves, ’cause some men love to overshadow their partner’s accomplishment, they just need to be seen as the cooler, better, or more amazing. I don’t like this type of men🤧
4. The Killer is also Romantic
Smile Hu is here! The story is about two assassins in disguise, the ML as a doctor, while the FL as a garment shop owner. They got married without knowing the real identity of each other. So whenever they went out to complete their assassination mission, they needed to make up a story to cover it up. One time, they were assigned opposite missions, one to protect a prince, the other to kill the very same prince. Wonder what happened? 😆😁
5. Wonderland of Love
Another story where the ML and FL hid their true identities and they gradually fell for each other. This one was actually recommended by Bu Fatimah, but, boy, it’s amazing! I won’t talk about how the story went, ’cause you can just click on the title above and it’ll take you to its mydramalist page that has its details. All I can say is, this drama is amazing. It’s not boring, every plot is meaningful, we can almost always see the ML and FL in each episode. The love between ML and FL was also strong. And it’s not just the love story part, but the conflicts existing in the story were truly great. One of my fav action dramas! Totally recommended 👍
6. Who rules the world
Another drama where the ML and FL had a hidden identity. LoL Why do they love to hide their identities? 😂🤣 But anyway, the story, plot, and conflicts are different from the previous drama. But like the previous drama, I love how the ML and FL did not just love but also respect each other. Such a thing has its own charm. But I recommend this drama also because Yang Yang looks so gorgeous here^^
7. Nancheng Banquet
I’m not sure how to tell the story, but the FL lost her memory, she met FL, who tried to hide his identity as his clan was framed and murdered and he was the only survivor. The two fell in love. Well, perhaps this was the first drama of Wang You Shuo that I watched. The drama itself wasn’t as good as Wonderland of Love, but Wang You Shuo’s acting is, again, astonishing!
Alright, maybe that’s it for now. Should I also tell you the modern Chinese dramas/movies that I love?🤣
But I gotta sleep now. Happy Ramadan! 🙂
