I am a Chinese-Canadian drama fan with a PhD in medieval history. It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that I am especially into historical, martial arts and classic wuxia C-dramas and movies. My favourite shows are for instance Nirvana in Fire 琅琊榜 Lángyá Bǎng and Jin Yong’s novels’ adaptations such as Laughing in the Wind 笑傲江湖 Xiào Ào Jiāng Hú (2001 version). I love complex plots, beautiful martial arts choreographies, poetic cinematography, interesting character arcs. Detective or ghost stories, court politics, revenge plots, jianghu infighting — I like it all!
— Currently on an amazing streak of high-quality historical dramas with Under the Miscrocope, Wind Blows From Longxi and Ripe Town! I hope we get more of these plot-driven, intelligent dramas coming down the pipe soon.
My main pet peeves these days are overly long dramas, and martial arts dramas which cast idols with no kung fu skills and hide this lack of skills with CGI and slow-motion 😫
I am always on the look out for new dramas in these genres. Thank you for any recs you might have!