Hey there, drama fans! While I wait for the February dramas to start, I thought I’d binge a drama or two. However, there are so many good dramas that I’m having trouble deciding which one! Come see my options and help me choose my next watch.
When We Were Young
Set in 1996, When We Were Young looks a lot like Reply 1997. We have a lead couple, a group of friends figuring out life together, and plenty of laughs and charm.
The Love Knot/Moonshine and Valentine
This drama gives me the same vibe as Tale of the Nine Tailed – mystical supernatural being falls in love with a mortal girl in an epic romantic tale spanning generations. SWOON.
Forever Love
Romance is a journey, this one through high school, university, and professional life. Ups and downs, bad boy, good girl….what more do I need??
Head on over to my Twitter account — @KarieTheMaknae — to vote! I’ll post the poll winner on Monday.
Until next time, I remain —
Karie the Maknae
Dramas with a Side of Kimchi
I really enjoyed Forever Love, the main couple is totally the reason to watch, but it was great to see them grow from enimies, to friends to lovers. From high school, to University to then the work force
I haven’t watched the others so I maybe biased but Forever Love is a nice mostly fluff watch (with some serious issues also thrown in there) the chemistry is also great
I’ll add your vote into the count! Good chemistry is ALWAYS a bonus.
Forever Love was very good.
Thanks for adding C dramas to your topics; I have been watching more of them this year.
I’ve found myself watching a LOT more of them too. Very glad I did!
All 3 are good dramas, but I’ll rank When We Were Young #1. China really knows how to do coming of age stories well, and this drama is no exception. I was never bored during this drama and eagerly awaited each episode.
The Love Knot/Moonshine & Valentine was an interesting fantasy drama, but the script had some issues and the ending wasn’t satisfying for me. I won’t say it’s not worth watching because there were a lot of good things about it too, but the flaws keep me from ranking it as “must watch now’.
Forever Love is a standard HS-College romance drama. I love ML Wang An Yu, but I have to say I found myself not as invested as I thought I woud be in this drama. Drama is cute and leads are cute too, but I have to be honest and say that I found When We Were Young to be more addictive watch, which is why I give it the “watch first” rating. Overall, my ranking in terms of watching order:
1) When We Were Young
2) Forever Love
3) Love Knot/Moonshine & Valentine
I second Table122000’s watching order! When We Were Young had my finger constantly clicking next episode and when there were no more, I went back to the first episode and started again.
I’ll admit to be being a total WANG AN YU fangerl (even though I’m old enough to be his mother..shh…) and wanted to love Forever Love. The earlier episodes were good but I just didn’t love the drama as much as I thought I would.
Moonshine & Valentine started out fine (despite my aversion to Song Qian) but crumbled into a mess in the later episodes and I ended up loving the sidekicks more than the OTP.
An immediate rewatch?? WOW. That’s high praise. I’ll add your vote into the poll!
Satisfying endings are an absolute must for me — I think Moonshine might be coming off my list! I’ll add your vote into the poll — it sounds like When We Were Young is the binge I’m looking for right now!
I know it’s not on your list, but My Little Happiness is a wonderful rom com. Highly recommend adding it to your list of must watch c-dramas. The OTP is very cute with great chemistry and LOTS of kissing! LOL. Both leads as smart (yes FL is smart!), mature and trusting adults was very refreshing to watch. Their growth as a couple was realistic, romantic and funny.
For high school/campus dramas, I would also recommend Wait My Youth (aka Salute to My Youth on YouTube). It may take a few episodes to get used to the ugly wig/hairdo of the FL, but the drama is good and worth putting up with that =P
Wait My Youth is one of my favorites!! That wig, though — I could have done without that. And I’m watching My Little Happiness RIGHT NOW. You have good taste!
Thanks! I forgot to comment on the 3 dramas you are considering though.
I dropped Moonlight because the drama was a mess. And I knew it was a bad sign when I wanted to watch more scenes of the youth actors with their initial meeting/wedding rather than the adult actors.
I started When We Were Young, but never finished it. It wasn’t a bad drama, but it just never drew me in so I had moved onto another drama that was more interesting for me.
Forever Love is the only drama I finished out of the 3 listed. It had one of the cutest and sweetest OTP I’ve ever seen in dramaland. Even their BTS clips are cute. I would believe the rumors that they are a real life couple =P. But the story itself was lacking something for me, especially in the second half of the drama. It definitely did not need 28 episodes, with the standard 24 episodes a stretch as it is. SPOILER: *** It was so upsetting for me that all the bad people got away with their evil and illegal actions! They were all happy, rich and successful at the end. UGH! =( ***
Another high school/campus/time travel drama I would recommend is I Don’t Want To Be Friends With You. Cute and heartwarming.
I didn’t finish Moonshine, because of some nonsense plot holes, main leads that weren’t my type at all and major draggines. The side threesome was interesting, but left underdeveloped and the ending was overall idiotic.
Forever Love – very good main couple, should have been probably shorter, still, a light, fluffy watch.
When We Were Young – heard only good things, maybe I should try it too.
It’s sounding more and more like I should give Moonlight a pass. Can’t wait to see the results of the poll so I can get started on Forever Love or When We Were Young — they both look so good!
Definitely Forever Love. I think I have commented way too many times on it on the blog hahahaha, but I really do love the grounded “normal” characters (yes they are still brilliant top students) and their non-plastic looks and fabulous ending to the drama gets a big tick from me!
So I’m about 7 episodes in and I have to agree with your assessment — it’s a breath of fresh air! I’m totally loving it so far.