Drama Year 2024

Here we are, at the end of the year again, a year which was more or less the same as past few years. Didn’t have much time nor energy to put out blog posts, though I did actually watch more dramas than I anticipated. Some were good and some were kinda middling (though still worth watching), the bad/non-interesting ones got dropped pretty fast. 😀 Looking back, I don’t think there was a “One Drama to Rule Them All” this year but I did enjoy two dramas enough to russtle up energy to post about them.

The end part of the year saw some major changes in my life. I retired at the end of October and moved at the end part of November. The first “event” was highly anticipated as I was SO done with my job. I enjoy being retired! 🙂 The other one came about quite suddenly when a suitable apartment in the same general area I lived before became available. Anyways, I’m hoping that with more time on my hands now and no work related stress, I can get back to blogging in a more consistent way again. We’ll see how it goes, I guess.

I’m currently watching Guardians of the Dafeng, which so far has been quite fun, but going by the trailer it’ll get angsty and quite dramatic at some point. So, not sure how far I’ll get with it. Another one I just started is We Are Criminal Police, a more realistic police procedural that covers couple of decades. I’m quite bummed about how the 2nd season of Under the Skin turned out. I had my doubts already and everything I’ve since read about it made me decide to skip it. The change of writers and director was not a good move. I’ll rather keep my good memories of S1 as I loved it. I also gave Check in Hanyang a go but alas, it didn’t click. What I wanted was a fun, lighthearted drama with plenty of highjinks and no serious political intrigue with the side of murder/killing. It is quite possible to “spice up” a story without all of that.

Next up – dramas I watched in 2024 with a donghua add-on:

Korea
This is probably the fewest of kdramas I’ve ever watched in a year. I just don’t seem to find many that appeal to me anymore and then there are those that I get utterly bored with after a couple of episodes. Quite a few also had a very disappointing endigs, so I bailed out before I got that far. I’ve never had any problems dropping shows even when I’m almost at the end. 😏
Chief Detective 1958 and Black Out

China
Yup, besides Meet Yourself and I guess… Rattan, all the others are costume dramas. I’m sure I’ve also forgotten few not-so-memorable ones as well.
Are You the One, Blossom, Blossoms in Adversity, Dashing Youth [not as good as the sequel and the dongua is still better too, imho], Dawn Amidst Hidden Clouds, Go East, Joy of Life S2 [keeping my fingers croossed that the finale doesn’t take 5 years to make], Love Game in Eastern Fantasy [surprisingly good for an idol costume drama], Love You Seven Times (2023) [this is such a fun drama and also one of the few xianxias I actually really like], Love’s Rebellion, Meet Yourself (2023) [a feelgood drama with lovely cinematography], Melody of Goden Age, Rattan (2021), Strange Tales from Tang Dynasty S2 [looking forward to S3], The Cloud Embracing the Moon, The Legend of Shen Li, The Princess Royal, White Cat Legend [my 4th Ding Yuxi drama this year – I like the boy😁], What’s Wrong with My Princess (2023)

Donghua Section
I do watch a lot of these. Most seem to go on forever, thus there are several seasons and inevitably I get bored at some point due to lack of proper story progression or plot. And that’s when those get Das Boot and I pick up something new, ha.
Some of the currently airing ones: Young Brewmaster’s Adventure S2, Shrouding the Heavens, A Will Eternal S3, Tales of Herding Gods, Battle Through the Heavens S5, 100 000 Years of Refining Qi [it’s a comedy, I’m always amused how matter of fact and unfazed the lead character is, no matter what happens – though, it’s getting kinda longwinded and predictable now] and a very nice older one, which is only 2 short seasons (yey!); No Doubt in Us (can be found @ Viki)