10 Dramas In My Top-List That Are Objectively Not So Good

by LittleTurtle, March 5, 2018

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WARNING: the article may contain spoilers!

Some of you may have connected to the drama world by the help of a devoted friend that did show you a great and recent drama from the start. Which is good, that surely helped you have drama standards from the start. But some may be in the same situation as me, which is that they fell into this world soon and by pure chance.

Back then, in 2007, I was mainly watching Japanese and Taiwanese dramas, some were not totally subtitled and I still remember thinking My Lucky Star being a 5 episodes drama until one day by magic I saw that the rest of the episodes were out. As time gone by, I became pickier concerning the plot, the scenery, the acting (and for the better!) but I still have these dramas with sentimental values on my top-list, that will certainly have a lower grade if I saw them for the first time nowadays.

In this top, I’ll go from 10 to 1, which is from the ones that even though are not excellent are still good dramas to dramas that are objectively not so good. Here we go!

10. My Lucky Star (2007)

I’m hurt to put it on this list because it may be one of my first dramas ever. But as to be said, even if the magic was here, I was blown out by the plot and by the magnificent romance that was held I must say that it lacks in some points.

Acting: Didn’t really taught about it back then but Yoo Ha Na’s dubbing was awful, I mean come on, a strident voice that just didn’t fit the whole atmosphere sometimes. Plus, it was overplayed in reactions most of the time but that comes to the 2^nd point.

TOO MUCH MELODRAMA: I understand soon enough that it was a melodramatic story when achieving episode 6, everything was just going so smoothly that I thought it was going to stay like that forever. But the whole one day I love you, the other day I don’t, one day I should sacrifice myself, the other day I can’t help but be around you would just give me nuts today because it wasn’t really necessary and just add heaviness to the story. And I mean, was the brother’s death necessary?

Except that, it still a good Taiwanese drama which you should give a try if you haven’t seen it.

My rating: 10/10
MDL Rating: 7.8/10
Actual rating: - Top secret-

9. Majo no Jouken (1999)

To be frank, I must say that it doesn’t really have negative points because the plot was on set, the acting was good and it was innovative for its time, to my mind a lot more than “Secret love affair”. So why would I put it in this post would you say?

All about the twists: actually, I have to say that it was well executed from the 1^st to the 6^th episode. Then it got kind of messy, maybe too far-fetched and this ending didn’t full my expectations.

I would still recommend it to people, and I would say to not be afraid of the fact that it was a 90s drama, it is good and modern and the topic covered is really well done.

My rating: 10/10
MDL Rating: 7,6/10
Actual rating: 8/10

8. Hi My Sweetheart (2009)

*sigh* What to say except that Rainie Yang really is one of my favourite Taiwanese actresses but that overplayed humour with goofy faces could really be annoying sometimes. I found these cute in Devil Beside You, when I was a full beginner but now it’s one of the things that annoys me a lot. Even though this drama is really cool because the female lead is someone strong and not so fragile, the plot is kind of unique and it surely will exceed your expectations when talking about kisses. (I mean, it’s Rainie Yang, what did you expect.) The problem is:

The 2nd part of the drama: It gets really, really, really annoying. Because we surely know now that the whole amnesia thing added to the several misunderstanding leads to situations that we could have avoided. But the 2nd part is mainly about that, and it’s really too long whereas it could have been sold in a very few episodes.

Final say: *Special mentions to the kisses*

My rating: 9/10
MDL Rating: 7.7/10
Actual rating: 7/10

7. Tokyo Juliet (2006)

Back then, I didn’t understand why people would say that it is so lame when it was clearly a masterpiece for me. Then I decided to rewatch it, and I understood some things:

Wu Chun could not be considered as a great actor: Or at least, not in this drama… He can’t get angry; his smile is forced and we can’t really see subtleties in his acting that we can see in Ariel Lin’s BUT he’s handsome. (Even with this awful haircut) So when you’re watching a drama with your hormones, it makes you think that this is the best drama ever whereas, in the end, it’s just so-so.
Some reactions aren’t very understandable: We aren’t in a very dark families secret but everything is depicting as melodramatic even though it’s nothing out of the boxes.
Fashion sense… I mean, we’re supposed to be in a story when fashion is involved but what’s with these clothes!
Chemistry: was not there from the start, it kind of seems forced to me.

The OST was great though.

My rating: 9/10
MDL Rating: 6,4/10
Actual rating 6/10

6. Romantic Princess (2007)

The points I reproach to this drama are mainly the same I did for the point 5. Especially concerning, Wu Chun and the rest of the acting. It was an idol drama, so I don’t expect anything but I really enjoyed this light romance back then. Nowadays, I would simply say that:

Simple plot
No struggling in turning into a princess
Handsome guys that are just here to be depicted as the handsome guys
Poor acting
Some nonsense

But Angela was absolutely stunning in her clothes.

My rating: 9/10
MDL Rating: 7/10
Actual rating: 6/10

5. Smiling Pasta

Actually, I will not burn down this one because it still makes me giggle today and has still this “feel-good” vibes I love when talking about light dramas. I think that acting was okay and feelings were mostly given through music which is something I love.

Of course, it wasn’t perfect but there are very few dramas with music plots that are well-executed and this one could have been much worse. Objectively, it stands at the 5th position but has sentimental values, however here are the points that lack in this romance story:

Brother fights/Father & Son fights are literally dumb, I can’t say something else.
The character Rita is not given any consistence expect to give more and more misunderstanding, should have been much more explored.
Romance happens really slowly

My rating: 9/10
MDL Rating: 7.4/10
Actual rating: 6/10

4. Why Why Love (2007)

Let’s talk about the Devil Beside You low cost which is to say Why Why Love. Actually, I don’t recall watching it a 2nd time mainly because I didn’t feel the need to whereas I did watch DBY a lot. The feeling is really like DBY but it lacks in the fact that:

The love triangle is boredom to me now, and especially this one.
Raining Yang has a really annoying character here which is to say, she’s just good at feeling sorry for herself.
DBY is way greater than that.

*Special mentions to Rainie/Mike chemistry *

My rating: 9/10
MDL Rating: 7.4/10
Actual rating: 5/10

3. At dolphin bay (2003)

Don’t expect Wallace Huo amazes you with the same skill he had in Love me if you dare because you will clearly be disappointed. I would not recommend this drama because it goes in all way. And the end is really messy. I don’t to get too much in details because I wouldn’t remember it anyway and I wouldn’t stand re-watch it to know that it was really bad, I still want to have a good memory of the romance I didn’t expect to come.

The music is good though!

My rating: 9/10
MDL Rating: 7.4/10
Actual rating: 5/10 (really nice rating though)

2. Meteor Garden (2001)

You all know this story, it may be the most well-known plot in Dramaworld since it was one of the first adaptation of the Hana Yori Dango series in a drama. What to say except that comparing to other adaptation, it may be the one that was badly executed but that still have a big place in my drama list.

Firstly, Shancai/Makino was certainly a real badass here: not a negative point at all.

The bad points are all the rest.

Wonder what a low-cost F4 look like?

My rating: 10/10
MDL Rating: 7.7/10
Actual rating: 3/10 (sorry…)

1. Peach Girl

Everyone, you should all be aware that Vanness WU is a greatest Taiwanese actor – I don’t even exaggerate - but people have their pasts and Peach Girl is his past. A pure masterpiece to me, but objectively not even watchable because it is a total mess.

What was wrong with it: EVERYTHING. From the acting to the scenery, to the plot, to the twists, to the odd fashion sense. Everything was wrong. To be simple it just seems like a big joke to me.

I mean come on, Vanness…