TV Shows of 2020
I don't want to separate Chinese and other shows anymore, because there's pretty much nothing left in the non-Chinese category, let alone anything I was fannish about.
So, consolidated into one list, in order of obsession, best first. Rec posts linked from the show titles:
To Dear Myself 1 - 45 - I watched all of this pretty much in one go, and loved most of it. It's now my favorite Zhu Yilong look. He is so gorgeous in it! It's a pretty standard romance drama, but the drama is relatively low key, there is little to no slapstick or overacting involved, and the plot is almost realistic. Unfortunately, the plot got away from them towards the end... as is not unusual for a cdrama. But I still like it a lot.
The Lost Tomb Reboot 1-24 of 32 eps (season 1) - First season aired on Youku and iQiyi in July/August. I watched the first ten or so in real time, and then slacked off, but I'm looking forward to watching the rest of it soon. It's a fantasy adventure show which focuses on a group of three friends, and despite having weird to terrible side plots, was a huge success and much better than I expected.
Secret Love Affair 13 eps - modern-day Korean drama about a music teacher falling in love with her student: a piano prodigy. I watched it because I loved Yoo Ah In in Sungkyunkwan Scandal, and he plays the piano student brilliantly. A perfect short show, a little sad and a lot romantic.
Granting You a Dreamlike Life 40 eps - I watched eps 30-34 this year, and I really really like eps 12-33. Still(!) trying to stave off the (unhappy) ending. Recommended to satisfy Zhu Yilong cravings, not recommended for anything else. Luo Fusheng is one of his cutest characters!
Fairyland Lovers 32 eps - Bai Yu's first drama this year, and it's a mix of modern-day fantasy with (Alien!) demons vs angels reincarnation background. It's a romance at its core, and I loved it. Also, Bai Yu gets to play two very different characters (or three, if you count past!Bai Qi), not unlike Zhu Yilong on Guardian.
Lucifer 3x25-5x04 - Finally took it up again during isolation, and am still watching one ep a month together with
greyathena! It's still fun! I much prefer season 5's villain to season 3's. ;DD
Stumptown 1x10-1x13 - Completely dropped it in March, not sure if I'll ever pick it up again, and it was cancelled anyway.
Bromance 18 eps - A girl has to pretend to be a boy until her 26th birthday (for wacky horoscope reasons), and when she saves a triad boss's life, they become sworn brothers and fall in love. Very tropey and fluffy, but it gets no points on the transgender/gender issues scale from me. Still, not bad, and it has a lot of kissing scenes and is very romantic.
Sungkyunkwan Scandal 19 of 20 eps - Funny Korean pseudo-classical drama about four students, one of whom is a girl disguised as a boy. Not my genre, but the theme of girl going to University in disguise was fun enough, especially since most of it focuses on the romance, leaving the political propaganda mostly in the background.
The Novelist/Mood Indigo 12 eps - a Japanese m/m drama, very meta and kind of gritty, but not actually bad. Short enough to watch.
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 8 of 24 eps - A hilarious transmigration story about a scriptwriter who gets dropped into her own classical drama, into a side character who is supposed to die in episode 3. Not sure how well the setting will hold up throughout the show, but the start is wonderfully fourth-wall-breaking and making fun of classical tropes - the only kind of Chinese costume drama I can watch.
My Next Life as a Villainness 8 of 12 eps - Japanese anime about a girl transmigrating into the villain character of a dating game and turning it into a harem without noticing. Funny and sweet!
The Untamed 4 eps - neery gave up after making me watch four eps of it. The less said the better.
Things I always meant to continue/start but never did:
Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 6
Gintama
The Expanse 2x04 -
The Good Place
You Me Her Season 3
several BL shorts on viki
x-posted from dw (comments:
)
So, consolidated into one list, in order of obsession, best first. Rec posts linked from the show titles:
To Dear Myself 1 - 45 - I watched all of this pretty much in one go, and loved most of it. It's now my favorite Zhu Yilong look. He is so gorgeous in it! It's a pretty standard romance drama, but the drama is relatively low key, there is little to no slapstick or overacting involved, and the plot is almost realistic. Unfortunately, the plot got away from them towards the end... as is not unusual for a cdrama. But I still like it a lot.
The Lost Tomb Reboot 1-24 of 32 eps (season 1) - First season aired on Youku and iQiyi in July/August. I watched the first ten or so in real time, and then slacked off, but I'm looking forward to watching the rest of it soon. It's a fantasy adventure show which focuses on a group of three friends, and despite having weird to terrible side plots, was a huge success and much better than I expected.
Secret Love Affair 13 eps - modern-day Korean drama about a music teacher falling in love with her student: a piano prodigy. I watched it because I loved Yoo Ah In in Sungkyunkwan Scandal, and he plays the piano student brilliantly. A perfect short show, a little sad and a lot romantic.
Granting You a Dreamlike Life 40 eps - I watched eps 30-34 this year, and I really really like eps 12-33. Still(!) trying to stave off the (unhappy) ending. Recommended to satisfy Zhu Yilong cravings, not recommended for anything else. Luo Fusheng is one of his cutest characters!
Fairyland Lovers 32 eps - Bai Yu's first drama this year, and it's a mix of modern-day fantasy with (Alien!) demons vs angels reincarnation background. It's a romance at its core, and I loved it. Also, Bai Yu gets to play two very different characters (or three, if you count past!Bai Qi), not unlike Zhu Yilong on Guardian.
Lucifer 3x25-5x04 - Finally took it up again during isolation, and am still watching one ep a month together with
greyathena! It's still fun! I much prefer season 5's villain to season 3's. ;DD
Stumptown 1x10-1x13 - Completely dropped it in March, not sure if I'll ever pick it up again, and it was cancelled anyway.
Bromance 18 eps - A girl has to pretend to be a boy until her 26th birthday (for wacky horoscope reasons), and when she saves a triad boss's life, they become sworn brothers and fall in love. Very tropey and fluffy, but it gets no points on the transgender/gender issues scale from me. Still, not bad, and it has a lot of kissing scenes and is very romantic.
Sungkyunkwan Scandal 19 of 20 eps - Funny Korean pseudo-classical drama about four students, one of whom is a girl disguised as a boy. Not my genre, but the theme of girl going to University in disguise was fun enough, especially since most of it focuses on the romance, leaving the political propaganda mostly in the background.
The Novelist/Mood Indigo 12 eps - a Japanese m/m drama, very meta and kind of gritty, but not actually bad. Short enough to watch.
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 8 of 24 eps - A hilarious transmigration story about a scriptwriter who gets dropped into her own classical drama, into a side character who is supposed to die in episode 3. Not sure how well the setting will hold up throughout the show, but the start is wonderfully fourth-wall-breaking and making fun of classical tropes - the only kind of Chinese costume drama I can watch.
My Next Life as a Villainness 8 of 12 eps - Japanese anime about a girl transmigrating into the villain character of a dating game and turning it into a harem without noticing. Funny and sweet!
The Untamed 4 eps - neery gave up after making me watch four eps of it. The less said the better.
Things I always meant to continue/start but never did:
Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 6
Gintama
The Expanse 2x04 -
The Good Place
You Me Her Season 3
several BL shorts on viki
x-posted from dw (comments:
)