#Love in the Desert

[dangermousie]

2024 list - cdrama edition

Yes, it's cdrama world so even though December is halfway though, they may drop 10 more dramas I will check out between now and 2025. But if I wait, this will never get done and it can always be updated, so here we go. This has been one of the best cdrama years for me!

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2024; if I watched it but it was made in a different year, it’s not on the list. As always, very subjective.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

61 My Divine Emissary - it’s actually a pretty good drama year when the worst cdrama I’ve checked out this year is merely utterly shrill and brain dead but not horrifyingly offensive to good taste.

60 Are You the One - no you are not. There are objectively worse dramas I've ranked higher but this is here because I am annoyed at the waste of Zhang Wanyi and this drama's popularity and douban rating. I am a petty bitch.

59 Fight for Love - they had wonderful actors and a great premise and utterly wasted it. There might someday be a good drama about a female general torn between a royal and an enemy general but this ain’t it.

58 Peacock in Wonderland - I am a few decades too old for this brain dead fest but I am glad Zhou Jun Wei is not canceled at least.

57 Her Fantastic Adventures - honestly, this, MDE and Revenger are all the same type of subgenre - they aren’t offensive they are just as empty as air. This also suffers from casting an utter dud as ML and a charisma boat as SML. Why?

56 Lady Revenger Returns from the Fire - the main thing I remember from this is that Miles Wei must have stolen the wig maker’s parking spot. That wig is the one that should have gone into the fire.

55 Fox Matchmaker: The Red Moon Pact - it’s so pretty, so full of gorgeous costumes and actors and I enjoyed the first few eps, but ultimately it was like watching colorful paint dry. It was so dull, I couldn’t even hate watch it, and that is more damning than anything.

54 Your Trap/Imprisoned Love - the plot of this mini made no sense but the softcore vibes of sanitized 1990s cinemax were on point!

53 The Unexpected Marriage - cutesy dumb period romcom. Could be worse, not that this is much of a praise.

52 Love’s Rebellion - so twee, so precious, so full of cutesy awful CGI and actors who aren’t bothering. I am not sure why Zhang Linghe and Jing Tian are in this mess that looks like rainbow vomited on a xianxia set.

51 My Wife’s Double Life - her life may be double but her brain is only half.

50 Jade’s Fateful Love - I lost some braincells trying this one, but (a) it’s gorgeous and (b) no transmigration say you? Multiple transmigration in first ep alone! Good for you, makers!

49 Follow My Heart - how do you have Luo Yunxi, Song Yi and Cheng Lei and waste them so utterly? First few eps were nice and then it’s like exercise in how much you can tolerate before you call it quits.

48 The Story of Pearl Girl - almost made me dislike ZLS and LYN and that's a feat. Dull and stupid and pointless from beginning to end.

47 Brocade Odyssey - more like Snooze Novella.

46 Melody of Golden Age - see write up for FMH because it fits here. This is bland with a side of bland.

45 The Legend of Taotie - an unequivocally bad drama but the look is such a nostalgia trip and I had fun.

44 Sword and Fairy 4 - it’s kinda a mess but I loved the actors and some of the plots and you can do worse.

43 Dawn Amidst Hidden Clouds - I enjoy watching Chang Huasen as a ML but the rest is eminently forgettable.

42 Blossoms in Adversity - dumb as a set of particularly dumb bricks and ML I don’t think could act if his life depended on it, but it was strangely addictive and I watched it often before better dramas. It’s just a genuinely good time somehow!

41 Judge Dee - it’s not you it’s me in action. It’s smart and gorgeous and well acted, I just don’t do procedurals.

40 The Substitute Princess’ Love - it’s like some of those trashy web novels I enjoy. It was clearly cut, its budget was equivalent to loose change found in the pockets of makers of Fox Spirit Matchmaker, but it was a surprisingly fun watch, though I enjoyed the first half better than the second. Also as a drama old, it was a fun blast from the past seeing Dylan Kuo (if you have never watched the old twdrama The Outsiders, what are you even doing with your life?)

39 Rise from the Ashes - a wacky as hell mini where reborn FL wreaks revenge with help of her fake uncle as they carry on as some sort of Borgia/Phillip II of Spain fame hybrid. If you don’t need to use your brain, you could have a worse time.

38 The Legend of Heroes - it suffered from me seeing other versions of this tale before that I liked more and not loving how dark looking it is but that cast is A+ and Wang Hongyi was a revelation as Yang Kang.

37 Beauty Strategy - a mini of what a few years ago would have been a proper angsty drama of palace scheming enemies while lovers, powerless emperor etc etc. Honestly, I loved it.

36 Lovesickness - this year’s gender-reversed Ancient Love Song, not as artistic or good but still a good time about a woman traveling back in time and falling for a powerful but doomed duke.

35 Fragments of Kylin - demon slayer falls for a demon; this one came out of nowhere and didn’t have much of a budget but is surprisingly lovely.

34 Love of Nirvana - the good parts are vvvvv good and points for making the emperor the villain, but it almost never emotionally grabbed me, and a lot of time was spent on narratives I had no interest in.

33 Enslaved by Love - the only reason it’s not the most fucked up drama on this list is because Shadow Sect, Palace Shadows and Burning Flames exist. The ML is toxic enough to be banned by the Geneva convention but FL does get some of her own back and also if you ever wanted to see blindness-curing sex, boy do I have a drama for you!

32 The Princess Royal/The Grand Princess - I am in the minority of finding this drama very mid. The acting was fine (except for former eunuch dude), the writing was fine, but I never really got invested alas. I don’t even know why. I think it’s just not my type of narrative; there was no intensity.

31 Secrets of the Shadow Sect - head of sect lady and her very very subby bodyguard. What’s not to love?

30 Palace Shadows: Between Two Princes - ML pretends to be his own twin, bdsm and sluttiness ensues. I cannot even explain how wild this drama is but the acting is on point and way way fun!

29 Dashing Youth - I had no expectations of this drama (was either indifferent to or disliked everyone in the cast, wuxia and wuxia-adjacent is rarely my genre, the number of characters is huge) but I loved how under its bright colors, it eventually gets very dark (it’s quite old school that way) and somehow I am invested in everyone in the huge cast. This being a prequel to The Blood of Youth makes us know the fates of many of the characters and this adds the air of tragic inevitability to it all.)

28 The Last Immortal - a surprisingly sweet and touching xianxia that works largely because Zhao Lusi and Wang Anyu are so so so so solid separately and together.

27 Burning Flames - the most gonzo drama on this list. I love it for committing to insanity as it should (if you pick insane source material, commit.) Humans taking on the worst Gods since Olympus, fur and chains, sentient crystal FL, ML who goes from Crown Prince to mine slave to rebel leader, bare chests and fur, demon elves, a villain that leaches color from the world - this drama has everything and I loved its unhinged glory.

26 Lost You Forever 2 - it would have been higher except it fell apart in the last third so badly I am still wondering how the makers could misunderstand their own characters and their own narratives so badly. The first season was a masterpiece. This is a hot mess.

25 Fateful Love - this was released after years in the dungeon and feels old school in the best way. It's what reading one of those OP FL web novels feels like, and the OTP is shockingly competent and adult. I loved that.

24 Love Game In Eastern Fantasy - excellent start, mid middle, and a terrible last third but I cannot have truly hard feelings since before it fell off, it really was fun.

23 Love in a Dream - it's a mini that has the most gorgeous cinematography I've seen all year except for Fangs of Fortune and Eternal Brotherhood. I loved the vibes and the story (though of course it suffered from mini running time constraints) and its feeling of tragic love and lost time.

22 Different Princess - a ridiculous amount of fun and ship about an author falling through to her own novel and falling for the villain.

21 Kill Me Love Me - the story is a mess and a half but the OTP gave me some incredible incredible scenes, and Wu Jinyan, Liu Xueyi and Baron Chen are gorgeous and acting their hearts out, plus the whump mmmm.

20 Meet You at the Blossom - this is a Thai/Taiwan/China coproduction so I am including it. It's my list! An uncensored BL adaptation with delicious dysfunction, sunshine x murder boy, angst, shippiness, groveling and wigs that are surprisingly decent for the budget!

19 Sword and Fairy 6 - I love this tale; the young OTP (a whale weapon and a clone of her trigger? More wholesome than you think) who are so ride or die for each other, the other amazing characters (sect leader who has to live as a man and her “twin” who is an ancient trapped spirit, a wolf demon, etc…) It’s just genuinely good and proof that targeted to younger audience doesn’t have to be bad.

18 In Blossom - sure, we all know JJY can’t act, but the narrative was so fun and the visuals were so gorgeous and Liu Xueyi so gorgeous and magnetic in his first proper Male Lead role, it was all worth it. I liked the first half when they were still cautious of each other more than the second but this is just a good time!

17 Snowy Night Timeless Love - a classic, tragic, romantic wuxia the way "they don't make it any more" only they did. Just lovely.

16 The Rise of Ning - such a pleasant, easy slice of period life with a side of revenge and fakecest (but only a teeny side.) Secondary characters are not particularly engaging and the plot suffers from being limited to 40 eps, but the main OTP is so enjoyable and Ren Min and Zhang Wanyi are doing such nuanced, lovely job that I can't even complain.

15 Hard to Find - my second favorite mini on the list, this is an aesthetic feast. The doomed couple from enemy kingdoms, the vengeance, the twists - if ever a mini deserved to be a proper drama, this would be it. But alas, if it was they’d probably not let it.

14 The Double - unhinged web novel vibe done so perfectly in the inimitable Yu Zheng style. The leads were so good even the amazing villains didn’t truly steal the show. Like with a lot of cdramas, it lost a lot of steam in second half for me, but still a great watch.

13 Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 - I never like procedurals. Somehow both seasons of this show are the sole exception. It is so gorgeous, so impeccably acted, with such great characters. I cannot wait for s3.

12 Love in the Desert - a mini drama in story but with a proper budget and run time, this is such gorgeous sensual fun with a great main OTP, a truly incredible secondary OTP and some beautiful visuals.

11 Fortune Writer - the best mini this year and better than most “proper” cdramas (Douban raters agree), this tale of villains in love fighting the narrative has a lot to say about writing cliches and writing conventions. I love how clever it is and how it actually made me care for the characters.

10 Tender Light - except for that ending, this was in the running for my favorite 2024 cdrama. The writers’ lack of ability to commit and carry through pushed it lower but otherwise it’s a genuine masterpiece. The acting, the chemistry, the looping narrative, what it has to say about abuse and complicity of society and blazing your own moral path is something else.

9 Derailment - who knew a little quasi scifi modern would be this high but this one is amazing. If you watch one modern this year, make it this one. Our FL is a rich girl a little in the future who somehow wakes up in a different timeline a few years back in the body of that universe’s version of her (who is poor and has been missing) and her one connection is a young man who was in love with that universe’s version of her. I don’t want to say more so as not to spoil because the twists are twisty but this is EVERYTHING and also addresses transmigration, what it means to love, what is ethical etc etc. And that OTP!

8 Will Love in Spring - this is a year of miracles because I don't just have one modern among my favorites, I have a bunch. This is a gorgeous story about love and healing and awkward, scarred emotionally and physically people feeling if their odd angles and prickly flaws actually fit and working towards a future with fits and starts and it's just so chemistry driven, so tender, so gorgeous.

7 Snowfall - a fever dream of a vampire narrative set in an alternate universe of the Republican era, it’s gorgeous, passionate, hella queer and just like watching the most amazing fanfic come to life.

6 Heroes - a complete masterpiece about three men about to be on the scrapheap of history in the Qing Dynasty about to fall (a constable devoted to obsolete norms, who spent his whole life studying for the imperial exam which got canceled, the world’s best swordsman in the era of guns, and a former imperial guard who emerges from prison into a different world) whose stories intersect as they search for treasure and the women and other people in their lives. This is smart, impeccably acted, filmed in a stunning way, bleak and funny at once and - I don’t use the term masterpiece often but I will use it here.

4 (tie) Blossom - a romantic fever dream, with gorgeous damaged destined lovers. The director is the person who made A Familiar Stranger and Butterflied Lover into amazingness on a short run time and no budget, so when he actually has a proper run time and a budget - oh boy - it's romantic and beautiful and intense, a drama as opera.

4 (tie) The Legend of Shen Li - I am often indifferent to xianxia that suffers from too much CGI, hella immaturity and not enough stakes. Shen Li is everything. It’s gorgeously filmed, it’s adult, it gives the story time to breathe and centers it on characters and relationships. And the OTP is everything you can ever dream of - it reunites Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin, totally healing those Princess Agents wounds - their chemistry is still utter fire but the narrative supports them every step of the way.

3 Eternal Brotherhood - if JoL2/FoF did not come out this year, this would be my favorite cdrama of the year. It’s clearly a passion project with a small budget but this complex and grim tale of three rather different sworn brothers in a world at war is gorgeous, smart, well acted, dark and inspiring at once. There are shots that take my breath away, the love stories are amazing, the pace is perfect, and ohhh our complex mainsssssss.

1 (tie) Joy of Life 2 - (almost) nothing can beat this masterpiece. The first season was perfect and somehow the second is even more perfect. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, the cast is still impeccable and Zhang Ruoyun still gives a completely jawdropping performance as the focus of all the madness Fan Xian. If you watch only one cdrama this year, make it this one; well, this and Fangs of Fortune.

1 (tie) Fangs of Fortune - this is an emotional and visual feast, with such incredible characters, interesting explorations of fantasy and mortality and morality and what makes life worth living. It made awful actors good and mid actors amazing (and amazing ones extra amazing.) It is also the most stunning drama I've ever watched as well as throwing me back into what it's like to be immersed into an amazing fantasy book as a kid and the characters and the relationships and the themes sing to me. A miracle.

FAVORITE DRAMA

Fangs of Fortune - I have rarely seen a drama that speaks to me so personally, but it is also narratively perfect, emotionally devastating, with impeccable acting, complex characters and visuals that are beyond stunning.

Joy of Life 2 - there is not one second I forwarded, not one unnecessary scene, not one weak link character. It’s a smart, fierce masterpiece.

Eternal Brotherhood is a runner up - it came out of nowhere and owned my whole heart. It’s the sole other cdrama this year where I did not ff a second.

WORST DRAMA

My Divine Emissary may have been the lowest ranked drama on my list but honestly, a drama with a tiny budget and a bunch of nobodies does not deserve to be listed as the Worst. What does? Fox Spirit Matchmaker - a huge budget, fancy stars etc etc and yet it's a completely and utterly unwatchable mess. To make something this thoroughly dull is a genuine feat. I cannot think of a drama that insults its viewer more not just this year but any recent year.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Fan Xian (Zhang Ruoyun), Joy of Life 2 - how could it ever be anyone but smart, irreverent, fierce, broken, idealistic, funny Fan Xian. The man who fights against the horrors of the universe, who remains human while being so larger than life. This character is everything.

Or Zhu Yun (Hou Minghao), an ancient, irreverent, vivid, borken demon who wants to die even as he might finally find a reason to live in Fangs of Fortune.

Runner up: Zhou Luo (Zhang Xincheng), Tender Light - idealistic loner who refuses to compromise his principles even as it would be easier to, even as it destroys his life, ZXC has always been a solid actor but here he is beyond.

Alternatively, Zichuan Xiu (Yang Xuwen), Eternal Brotherhood - only way to describe Xiu is “trauma sunshine.” He’s funny, he’s irrevocably fucked up, he is magnetic and intense and he fights for his hopeless ideals and he breaks and he keeps going.

or Xing Zhi (Lin Gengxin), the lonely ancient god in Shen Li discovering the pleasure of life for the first time in aeons.

or Zhuo Yichen (Fangs of Fortune) - a traumatized idealist who goes through so much hell but retains his heart and his core of steel even as he grows up about complexities of the world and the human heart.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Shen Li (Zhao Liying), The Legend of Shen Li - so fierce, so certain, so alive. She is a goddess but ZLY made her feel so real.

Runner up: Nan Ya (Tong Yao), Tender Light - an abuse victim who keeps trying to find a way out, she’s strong and damaged and complex and honestly, one of the best performances this year.

Alternatively, Jiang Xiao Yuan (Liu Haocun), Derailment - she makes a character that in other hands would be boring or trite, someone I want to reach through to the screen and protect and love.

Or Mi Lan (Ouyang Nana), Snowfall - a tiny, suicidal, abused, seemingly helpless blind girl who decides she needs to protect a deadly ancient vampire as her reason for living and she is unstoppable, fierce and a force of nature in her goal.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

99% of the denizens of the town in Tender Light - selfish every day denizens monstrous because of their very everydayness - they watch abuse and choose to blame the victim and gossip and enjoy the view. I hated them all.

BEST BAD GUY

Li Lun (Fangs of Fortune) - with his glorious mane, equally glorious eventual redemption, and incredibly dramatic attitude to a bad breakup, that was a feast.

The Emperor (Joy of Life 2) - a magnetic monster, smartest and the most ruthless character in any scene - Chen Dao Ming gives an insane performance.

Wang Jia Luo (Heroes) - a revolutionary for conservatism, a young man with brains and ideals who gets destroyed by them, who out-Javerts Javert, his descent into villainy and inability to live in the modern complex world, is one of the most compelling and tragic arcs of the drama.

Shen Yurong (The Double) - both repellent and somehow sympathetic, it takes skill to make me feel for a man who tried to bury his wife alive in ep 1. The performance of the whole drama for me.

City Lord (Eternal Brotherhood) - an utterly vile toad of a man, with nothing truly human and yet hiding it under weak and caring facade. I need him taken out.

"HAROLD, THEY ARE LESBIANS" AWARD

Wen Xiao x Pei Sijing, Fangs of Fortune - Duh.

"HOW DID CENSORS NAP THROUGH THIS" AWARD

Vamp Daddy and Loser Li in Snowfall and the entirety of Fangs of Fortune.

MALE LEAD MOST LIKELY TO BE BROUGHT HOME TO MOTHER

No, thank you! The few modern ones she'd not approve of (a mortician with issues? A teenager? A man who had his memories rearranged?) and the period ones are no go since few moms would be keen on wild-eyed, bloodied sons in law however hot and long haired they may be.

FAVORITE SHIP

Dou Zhao x Song Mo, Blossom - one of the most perfectly in sync couples out there, smart, competent, different kinds of damaged, get each other before they love or even trust each other. Your OTP could never. Unless your OTP is them.

Fan Xian x Lin Wan'er, Joy of Life 2 - she is his peace and his haven and the place his busy mind can rest, he is her safety and happiness and ability to live and not exist. They are everything to me.

Shen Li x Xing Zhi, The Legend of Shen Li - the chemistry, the yearning, the slow inevitable collapse into admittance, the way he protects the world and she protects him, the way they dance around each other, her being the aggressor, his surrender to forbidden emotion, their utter mutual belief in each other’s competence. They are everything to me.

Whatever the throuple (with sides?) thing was going on in Fangs of Fortune - I've raved enough about it elsewhere but that was insane in its intensity and gorgeousness and emotion and narrative arcs.

Runner up: the OTP in Derailment - those two went through some mind and soul breaking stuff and made it out.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Hands down Ruo Wen x Ge Xinwei, Love in the Desert. An amoral, magnetic bandit leader and a princess gone wild on spring break stole the drama utterly. His unhinged energy was so matched by her sfl but with an appropriate target fixation. They made me swoon, laugh and cry.

Amusingly enough, Fu Xin Bo is the male actor in two - the crossdressing sect leader x wolf demon OTP in Sword and Fairy 6, and First Prince x Eldest Princess in Joy of Life 2. What can I say, man knows how to pick them. Those OTPs are both utterly adorable!

If we are talking about an OTP where it’s not that it’s not the main but it’s not a ship-centric drama so they don’t get much time, then we have Si Yilin x Ka Dan, Eternal Brotherhood - they are both such desperately good people in a mad world, tender with each other despite surrounding cruelty and Shen Zhiheng x Mi Lan, Snowfall - a vampire age gap romance done well, the ancient gentleman vampire and the tiny fierce blind girl who decides to protect him.

And of course Qing Geng x Fei, Fangs of Fortune - Ai Mi and Zuo Ye breaking my heart yet AGAIN.

NOTP

The couple in Fox Spirit Matchmaker - such pretty people, and so bland and boring and pointless together. It was kinda amazing.

HOTTEST SCENE

Ka Dan and Si Yilin (Eternal Brotherhood), the primmest, properest OTP of them all, consummate their love without any marriage, but with plenty of golden light.

FAVORITE SCENE

God, so many good scenes this year so far - Fan Xian watching the death of the old censor and the aftermath, in JoL2; his confrontation with Wan'er after she finds out about the truth behind her brother’s death, the scene where he poisons Second Prince, his scene with the registrar. Xiu giving up his future to protect the surrendered soldiers only to come back and find Di Lin executed them all in EB, the scene in Ning’s bedroom when he tells her how he really feels because she can’t hear, the very end of that season and Di Lin striding into the light, Ka Dan and SYL’s letters to each other. XZ literally defying heaven’s lightning and all their longing in Shen Li. The last scene of LYN and his girl in Heroes, the way Heroes always intercuts the golden past of the guard and princess and the dreary present (especially when we see her bicycle spin out of control back when and her husband lose it in the present and this time there is nobody to catch her), the big reveal in Derailment and the hairwashing scene, Mi Lan touching Vamp Daddy’s face as their thing in Snowfall, and the cage stuff, the aborted sex scene in Will Love in Spring, so many scenes in Fangs of Fortune but especially the aftermath on the stairs between ZYC and ZYZ post the latter's loss of control, the final sacrifice,Li Lun x ZYC x ZYZ battle against the bad guy, the whole plague demon storyline, ZYC becoming a demon, ZYZ having to slap himself to nerve himself to walk to his death, everything. And we haven't gotten to it yet, but the scene in all Blossom previews where Song Mo falls to his knees in front of Dou Zhao from a dead run is imprinted in me.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Shen Zhiheng (Gao Weiguang), Snowfall - Vamp Daddy made me hormonal in a way I haven’t felt for a cdrama lead since the heady days of Darren Wang in The Wolf. Those outfits, that hair, that height, that restraint, that lack of restraint. THE CHAINS

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Liu Duan Duan as Second Prince in Joy of Life 2 - what a performance! Unhinged, magnetic, pitiable, terrifying and always mesmerizing. The Second Prince is Fan Xian’s foil and a worthy one. LDD is always a great actor, and with a role that actually gives him something to sink his teeth into - wow!

Runner up - Baron Chen in Kill Me Love Me. It's the year of unhinged royal princes, I guess.

BEST COSTUMES AND WIGS

Fangs of Fortune - the whole design is exquisite!

MOST EXTRA OUTFIT

Burning Flames - this drama was a feat of extraness and that meant costumes but even among those, costumes worn by Peter Ho's human king and Jeremy Tsui's psychotic god stood out.

FAVORITE SECONDARY ML

Wu Shan, Blossom - this man is a literal sunshine angel.

MOST BLATANT INNUENDO MOMENT

The Double - As our FL fondles her wet flower petals in the bath, our ML wields and swings his giant sword shirtless in the rain. That was eye popping.

FAVORITE 2024 CDRAMA SONG

This Chen Xueran song from Eternal Brotherhood:

MVP OF THE YEAR

Liu Xueyi (In Blossom, Kill Me Love Me) - this is the year LXY finally achieved leading man status and he was spectacular in both of his outings - so very different in both but equally magnetic in either even if the dramas themselves had flaws. I have a new fave!

ACTING SURPRISE

Ouyang Nana - Li Muge performs miracles. He made Yang Chaoye be good in Heroes (2022) and now Nana, who was always as wooden as a post, is a revelation as blind abused girl who becomes a vampire in Snowfall.

Hou Minghao - I've always found HMH a stunningly beautiful man and a thoroughly bland actor. But he was surprisingly solid in Dashing Youth and utterly blew me away in Fangs of Fortune. Like jaw on the floor level blown away.

Wang Hongyi - found him bland as paint in LYF (both seasons) but his Yang Kang in Condor Heroes blew me away and then he repeated that feat as a very different character in a very different drama (Snowy Night.) Consider me a new fan.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Joy of Life 2 of course - I need to see the looming confrontation between Fan Xian and the emperor, though not sure how that will pass censorship.

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

FF button has cured me of finding contenders for this category, but perhaps cutting out a lot of terrible acting and lack of stage presence of “not yet a eunuch” dude in The Princess Royal, would have improved it.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Lost You Forever 2 - there were other issues with it, but all the cuts couldn’t have helped with coherency.

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Same as last year - the emperor cannot be irredeemable. WTF, China, you are a communist country! Though they are nibbling at the edges this year. Also fake feminism - I am all for girl power but not when it's ridiculously anachronistic for the period with no explanation at all. And finally NO MORE TRADE DRAMAS PLS PLS PLS

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

Men (and women) knowingly fighting for a doomed cause because otherwise they’d cease to be who they are. Or if we are being shallow all the beautiful men in chains.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Lost Your Forever 2 - the first season was my favorite drama of 2023 but LYF2 just fell apart so so so badly, it was almost fascinating. It totally eviscerated the characters and the meanings of the story.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

So many of top dramas on my list are not dramas that were on my radar at all before airing - Heroes, Eternal Brotherhood, Fangs of Fortune, Will Love in Spring and Snowfall were not anything I anticipated, let alone I realized how much I’d love them. Same for Derailment and Tender Light. This has been a year of surprises.

2024 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

I have honestly watched everything I wanted.

BEST NON-2024 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2024

Lighter and Princess, hands down. I rarely even enjoy moderns and this one made it into my Top 5 cdrama of all time. This is how you make a love story. This is literally perfect. PERFECT.

Runner up: Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty - I, a procedural and mystery hater (especially when there is close to no romance) somehow fell like a ton of bricks for this gorgeous, smart, impeccably acted show.

MOST ANTICIPATED

A Dream Within a Dream looks like Fortune Writer with proper length and budget, Legend of the Female General looks epic and I love the novel, Divine Tree with Deng Wei is all my fave tropes, Veil of Shadows is peak Guo Jingming, and so many more.

[bebemoon]

love in the desert | ep. o1

[nunafilms]

Love in the Desert | Episode 2 漠风吟 dir. He Jia Nan

[barananduen-blog]

Listen, CDrama networks:

If you're all going to dump everything on us all at once, and you still expect us to watch stuff, you're going to have to arrange it so that all cdrama fans all over the world have 4-day weekends.

Cuz the hours aren't mathing.

[heymeowmao]

漠风吟 | Love in the Desert x TrendMo

[pippin-pippout]

Why does Rong Xiansheng always look like he wants to be painted like a French girl?

[zefile]

Love in the Desert

[moononmyfloor]

In the 4th Quarter of 2024 Cdramaland...

1st Quarter, 2nd Quarter, 3th Quarter

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24. Best Ensemble of the Year

The First Shot

Each member of this ragtag cop family had such clear and purposeful narrative that concluded in super satisfactory ways and they were all acted SO masterfully with amazing chemistry all around. It's them who made the show, really. I'd totally watch 3 more seasons of this.

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25. Most Lovable Characters of the Year

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy

LGIEF wasn't necessarily a novel story but what made it unique for me was the wholesome family composed of 5 very young people.... well, it still doesn't sound very unique when I say it like that... lemme try again. Usually when you see found family trope in a YA story, it's because the kids bonded over trauma and adventure. Which is cool and amazing yes but also, sometimes it's just refreshing to see a bunch of young people being family just because? And not for any dramatic reason whatsoever? And they are only half-found family, 2 of them are already siblings, and two others are their lovers, the other one is the mascot baby of the four of them. Especially Liu Fuyi, I rarely see a big brother-in-law character who so wholeheartedly spent his time with his girlfriend's silly little younger siblings without being all so haughty or pretentiously overprotective and "responsible" for them. They all just liked each other so they stuck together, simple as that.

99% dramas try to shoehorn unnecessary antics into found family dynamics because they think it's boring otherwise, and it's not that there wasn't drama and hidden agendas among LGIEF group, but it was never the focal point. The genuine sweetness in the moments they spent together, was.

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26. Best Production of the Year

Without a doubt Riverside Code at Qingming Festival. As for why, well I already talked about it at LENGTH so here you go!

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27. Best Opening/Ending Credits of the Year

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy, The Story of Pearl Girl

Really liked LGIEF's pixel rpg game run credits and Pearl Girl's shiny and expensive looking graphics.

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28. Favorite Murder Kitten of the Year

Fangs of Fortune: Li Lun (Yan An)

Though he was presented as the most naive, obsessed, one-track and narrow minded character in the show, he literally had the most unassumingly deepest storyline for me, in the entirety of 2024. Yes that's sky-high praise, I know. I related to him in this very personal level and I wrote over 30K fanfics and character analysis for him within 2 weeks. And then I fell down a Yan An rabbit hole because he's the most adorable person ever I've laid eyes on. End of the story.

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29. A Drama That Taught Me Something New

The City of Sunlight: taught me so much niche details about Tibetan culture

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30. Most Inspiring Drama of the Year

She and Her Girls

This semi-autobiographical drama about High School Principal Zhang Guimei (who is still alive and kicking and running the same highschool in Yunnan) is a must watch if you are interested in based-on-real-life stories. Working as a teacher in Yunnan, she noticed that in the extreme rural mountainous areas, families are poverty ridden, only boys get even the slightest opportunity for higher education while girls are forced to marry as young as early teen age, and they remain stuck in those mountains and repeat their mothers' fate. She wanted to change this and build completely free all-girls high school to battle this inequality and provide the girls with a safe haven where they can study worry free and gain opportunities to go beyond the mountains.

It's fully subbed, has amazing acting all over, from both adult and younger cast, and I really liked how it doesn't idolize anything: all the actors are sunbaked and pimple ridden, the political, financial and societal issues that come her way aren't sugar-coated but nobody is demonized either, and she herself is a very real, 3D character who isn't perfect, she's too strict and stubborn and her methods of "tough love" come out as downright mean sometimes, and she's a staunch communist believer to the point it's comical but like I said: the drama doesn't try to filter anything. And it makes her all the more endearing. Plus no matter what she got the thing done and watching her efforts bear fruit was so badass and tearjerking.

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Conclusion

Overall I had so much fun, and I tried my best to come up with all sorts of categories to give nods to as many dramas as possible 🤣 even though some sections must have looked ridiculous to onlookers' eyes lol. There were lots of stuff that I dropped but also there were so much stuff I looked forward to watching this year but simply couldn't because THERE ARE SO MANY OF INTERESTING SOUNDING SHOWS AND SO LITTLE TIME AND ALSO SOMETIMES NO SUBS!

Really, one way or another, I was always entertained.

Blossoms: Shanghai, Born to Run, For the Young Ones, Teresa Teng, The Gate of Xuanwu, The Swimsuit Saga, I look forward to catching up with y'all at least next year!!!

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More posts by me

[natstarbuck]

[silviakundera]

Lust Love in the Desert, ep 4 liveblogging

We continue with sexual tension in the sand dunes as ML and FL clutch each other and almost kiss

sadly for us, they resist :(

2nd FL continues her chaotic spring break activities (ref. dangermousie) and is ready to fight everyone. Bandit bro truly may have bit off more than he can chew.

It's again canonically emphasized that the main FL is unusually beautiful. This is actually plot-useful info if it informs how characters treat her. (Here it's causing her to the center of attention while they're trying to be low key. Put a hat on her!)

This hotel they've chosen to stay at is very sus

aaaaaaand they empty the place and ML drugs FL, so he can have very secret meetings that I don't understand

Like truly I don't get it. There's some flashback of ML from before he ran into FL, talking about Rong Huo being sighted in the desert ??? then he fights a bunch of people because... it's good cardio?

These inn dudes clearly work for him in some capacity. good for them.

unless they helped kill FL's mom. then, bad minions!

They just kill a handful of people in town because... arterial spray is their art form? ??? ya'll I have no idea.

Bandit bro and the woman who has claimed ownership ALSO show up at the inn and inform us nice viewers it's owned by "Boa Agents".

2nd FL continues to be hilarious and too good for this dude. She's actually a far better scammer than him.

The princesses are SO CLOSE it's killing me

YES !!!!! They're together! !!!!!!!!!!! And still looking out for each other 🎉 🎉

My beloveds, it was over too soon.

For reasons that again passth my understanding, people are galloping around and trying to murder. whee!

FL: they're after me!

silvia: ... are u sure?

ML: aahhhrg (shot with an arrow)

'Just leave me to die.' ' No I won't leave u.' PASSION IN THE SUN

After the requisite promises & gestures, ML and FL ride off towards her marriage ceremony to some other lord.

LOL he cannot fathom that she didn't have an ulterior motive in saving him. He's just too sketchy.

The poison arrow isn't affecting him but she's sucking the blood from his wound anyway to be sexyyyyyyyy

Lots of warm light and close up faces and mutual desire to bang

FL getting a bit sick of his mystery sketchy bullshit and pushing for answers. She is clearly attracted to this guy and has affection for him but also she's not a sucker either. I appreciate that about her.

He passes out, mildly delirious, and she gets to pet his face a little. tbh it's fair play after the drugging incident.

[lunar-bunn]

I know security is apparently very lax in Yunpei, but to have one of the city lord's "favored" concubines go on a full blown date in broad daylight with a strange man and not even attempting to conceal her identity! Even (presumably) leaving city walls to have a romantic tryst!!!!

yunpei citizens:

[dangermousie]

Top Dozen cdramas - 2024

This can obviously change but nothing truly exciting looks to air for the rest of the year so that's unlikely. My Top Dozen for the year are likely be set in stone.

It's a very idiosyncratic list which has two mini dramas, three moderns (!!! for me that's insane) and a lot of vibes dramas.

12 Hard to Find - all vibes all the times. A tragic romance that feels like a Gothic fairytale, this is what minidramas could be.

11 Love In the Desert - out of all the dramas on this list, this is the one that screams most "a good time." It's a romance and visual feast and webnovel madness and sexy good time and it made me cry.

10 Fortune Writer - a mini that is so smart and meta and fun about narratives and fate and villainy and fighting the story itself. So clever.

9 Derailment - a puzzle and a love story, telling most anything about it would be a spoiler but this story about a rich girl from 2025 who seemingly wakes up in a parallel universe in 2023 in body of a poor doppelganger, and the young man who was in love with the original has everything including addressing what it must feel to people to have a transmigrator possess a loved one.

8 Tender Light - the ending was just - it's the reason it's not n1. But the rest of this drama about an abused wife and an idealistic young man refusing to bow to societal pressure was just exquisite. It addresses morality and loneliness and complicity and sacrifice. Just incredible. Poetry in motion.

7 Will Love In Spring - a modern romance cdrama? In my list? Is the world ending? But seriously, this is such a gorgeous, realistic yet intense exploration of love and loss and trauma. It made me utterly reevaluate Li Xian to boot.

6 Snowfall - this is such a fever dream of a mood piece of a vampire romance, with seriously BDSM and gay vibes, as well as utterly incredible canon age gap ride or die OTP with Ouyang Nana bothering to act for the first time in her life and Vengo Gao embodying a gentleman vampire to perfection. Li Muge remains one of my favorite directors for a reason.

5 Heroes - the story of three very different men all consigned to the dustheap of history by changing times (the best swordsman in the era of guns, a former imperial guard of a regime about to be overthrown, a constable obedient to obsolete code who studied for imperial exams which got abolished) as the Qing dynasty is about to fall, this has fights, humor, three (!) separate love stories, philosophy and utter and complete heartbreak. The performances, the ideas, the filming and the writing all combine to make a bleak masterpiece with a 99% death rate (I am not kidding, only tertiaries make it out.) If I were in charge, it would get all the awards.

4 The Legend of Shen Li - the one truly mainstream idol costume hit on the list. It's an adult, passionate xianxia that reunites Zhao Liying and Lin Gengxin as deities and battle powerhouses in a love story that is so full of yearning and passion and intensity I feel like peeking through my fingers. This is everything xianxia romance tries to be and almost never is. This just might be my favorite xianxia of all time, tbh.

3 Eternal Brotherhood - a dark horse whose existence I didn't even know about before it aired. Visually stunning despite its tiny budget, this narrative about three sworn brothers in a kingdom and world in crisis, is pitch perfect in its humor, its intensity, its tragedy and its themes (also THREE!!!! amazing love stories despite not being a romance-centric show.) The battles, the friendships, the traumas, the darkness at the heart of it all!

2 Fangs of Fortune - the sole drama that can rival JoL2 for me (only caveat is it's still airing), this is visually the most jaw dropping drama I've ever seen, but it's also high fantasy the way it should be - making me feel so immersed that stopping feels like coming up from a deep dive or waking up from a hypervivid dream. It has impeccable performances (many from actors who I don't normally even like), and its plot and relationships and themes - fate and sacrifice and choice and found family bonds and trauma and so many other things - make it feel as if it was made just for me.

1 Joy of Life 2 - THE drama of 2024 for me. It's somehow better than the incredible first installment. It's funny, it's heartbreaking, it has insane performances, a narrative that hits all my personally favorite themes (a person trying to remain human in an inhuman world, righteousness not being weak), a large cast of fascinating characters who feel like they live in front of me (there are no throwaway roles in this), my favorite ship of the year (though it's not even a ship-centric show) and above all, Zhang Ruoyun's live wire of a performance as Fan Xian, arguably my favorite cdrama character of all time. It should not work yet it does. Brilliantly.

[movielosophy]

漠风吟 | No one dares to underestimate the savage bandit.

[nunafilms]

Aren't you hungry? We only have one meal a day. If you miss this one, you'll have to wait until tomorrow night.

Love in the Desert | Episode 2 漠风吟 dir. He Jia Nan

[barananduen-blog]

FAVORITE CDRAMAS - 2024

This year, I finished 33 dramas (including minis, movies, one variety show, and some left over from previous years). Among those, these were my favorites, including a short "about" summary or an "explain this poorly."

NOTES

All of these are ancient costume dramas, unless noted specifically.

I don't care if a drama has a happy or a sad ending, as long as it's well written.

THE STARS: These are the ones that I not only super enjoyed, but also score great on all critical aspects: plot, writing, character depth, visual appeal, and the ability to capture and hold the viewer's attention. ✅Recommend! THE CHECKMARKS: They're great and I really, really enjoyed them, and they made me squee too🥰 but they're not as technically perfect as the ones above. Still awesome dramas, and I recommend them! ✅Recommend! OTHERS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT: They're not a third tier, or an honorable mention. Generally, they're not that great technically, or missed the list by a botched ending, or something in the technical aspects was missing, but I enjoyed them nevertheless and want to talk about them for some reason. Other than that, they're just listed in the order in which I watched them.

SUBTITLES: Please help stop the prejudice against Mango subtitles. Everything I've watched from them this year has had excellent subs.

ON ROMANCE: Though I appreciate it, I'm not really all that much into the romance aspect of dramas. I say this because I know many people watch them specifically for the romance, and I've seen comments asking how soon the couples kiss. At the end of a drama, I tend to not even remember if they kissed or not (unless it was memorable - either because it was a very good kiss or a very bad one😂). So, with that disclaimer said...

THE STARS

"A JOURNEY TO LOVE" Liu Shishi, Liu Yuning, Alen Fang, He Landou, Chen Youwei, Wang Yizhe

I watched half of this in January and it was broadcast after I posted my faves from last year, so it goes in this year's list.

Premise: Emperor is kidnapped. No one really wants to rescue him. Ning Yuanzhou (Liu Yuning) puts together a team of Ocean's Eleven Ning's Six to bring him back, including an assassin, a crossdressing princess, an angry doctor, a womanizing archer, an engineer puppy, and an animal-loving defense specialist.

"LOVE YOU SEVEN TIMES" Ding Yuxi, Yang Chaoyue

Left over from 2023.

Premise: Seven shorter stories strung together by the overarching plot of trying to recover the God of War's powers and figuring out what happened with a powerful evil fairy.

"BELL RINGING" Li Daikun, Song Fangyuan

Mixture of modern and ancient, but modern is main. Twelve 20-ish minute episodes.

Explain it Badly: The tragic story of what happens when you don't read the fine print when signing a (magical) contract. [I reviewed it properly here.]

"THE LEGEND OF SHEN LI" Zhao Liying, Lin Gengxin

Explain it Badly: The goddess of war has become a chicken. An unfeeling immortal feels. This is catastrophic. But first, he buys the chicken.

"IN BLOSSOM" Ju Jingyi, Liu Xueyi

Premise: Coroner gets kidnapped and subjected to a forced face transplant by jealous socialite who wants her boyfriend. Socialite marries coroner's BF but is killed at the wedding. Coroner, who now looks like the socialite, teams up with former boyfriend (who doesn't know about the face swap) to solve cases.

"UNCHAINED LOVE" Dylan Wang, Chen Yuqi

Left over from 2022, actually.

Explain it Badly: The empire's Most Eligible Eunuch, who everyone wants to bed, and the concubine who really Does Not Want to die with the dead emperor. [I wrote about it more properly here.]

"CALL ME BY FIRE - SEASON 4" Singing variety show

Not a drama, but I'd really be remiss if I didn't include it here. The grip this show had one me! I'll just copy what I wrote before:

Explain it Badly: Call Me by Fire is going to ruin me for normal concerts. What do you mean your show doesn't have singing, dancing, playing instruments, Peking Opera, acting a whole cinematographic mini movie with costumes, flying and dancing on wires, fighting live without doubles, the multilevel moving stage burning, explosions, drowning, trees falling, *WHEEEZE!* and fake rain all at once?! ...That explains it pretty well, actually.

I started watching this for Miyavi and then I was HOOKED.

THE CHECKMARKS

"WHITE CAT LEGEND" Ding Yuxi, Zhou Qi, Ding Jiawen, Zhang Yicong, Feng Man, Anwaer Kuddusjan

Explain it Badly: Catboy detective (Ding Yuxi, of course; he has the white cat role pegged) adopts a golden retriever puppy and four other fools to solve cases and get a government job. And then there's the orange cat.

"DRAMATIC SELF-HELP STRATEGY" Jin Zixua, Hao Fushen

Mini-drama from 2023. 25eps x 10min

Premise: Actress transmigrates into a drama she's acting in ... as a character who's about to be killed because her husband has just died! She must save him, solve the mystery of his murder to save herself, break a time loop, and return to the real world.

A hidden gem. The mystery is pretty well done in this drama, which is super rare, especially in minis.

"NANCHENG BANQUET" Wang Youshuo, Zhao Zhaoyi, Xia Ningjun

Explain it Badly: Assassin loses her memory, becomes a cartoon bunny sunny fake eunuch, the emperor's bad-influence bestie, and her grumpy former target's employee. Everyone's lovely. [I explained it properly here.]

"LOVE IN THE DESERT" Alen Fang, Hankiz Omar

A Secret Third Option (Why I liked it): I really enjoyed watching this; it was very different from other costume dramas. From the setting (desert tribes instead of high-society cities) to the soundtrack, to the "This is allowed now?" moments, this was different in a good way. The costumes were so many (about 1 every 2 eps for FL, and a whole bunch for 2FL, + other characters) and every single one of them was top notch; the best I've seen in a cdrama so far.

"LOVE GAME IN EASTERN FANTASY" Esther Yu, Ding Yuxi

Almost a Star: This was a super fun drama. :D It's lighthearted, and the first five episodes are laugh-out-loud funny. Everyone's really nice, even most of the villains - you end up feeling for them as well, and most of them redeem themselves. And all characters are fully fleshed-out, even the mini-villains the party encounters along the way. Esther's costumes are SO pretty, too. [I did a proper review of it here.]

"BLOSSOM" Meng Ziyi, Li Yunrui

Almost a Star: This drama surprised me by doing time travel AND "going against fate" differently. I also liked how, despite looking like it would go in that direction, it wasn't a revenge drama, but the protagonist really tried to make life better for everyone. Good plot, good writing all throughout, good characterization, keeps your interest. The first full-length drama I watch from a director whose minis I enjoy. Definitely recommend!

OTHERS I WANT TO TALK ABOUT

"SECRETS OF THE SHADOW SECT" Hu Yiyao, Lin Zehui

Mini drama. 24 eps x 12 min

Almost a Checkmark. Honestly, I don't remember why this wasn't a checkmark. But I also honestly cannot remember the ending. So maybe that had something to do with it. However, before that, the cinematography and sets were beautiful and the plot was interesting and well-written. The characters were engaging, as well.

"HEART OF ICE AND FLAME" Huang Tingting, Li Daikun

Mini drama. 24 eps x 10 min. Cliffhanger ending.

Ep 24 is a cliffhanger and a hook for a new plot. You can take ep23 as an ending, if you want, I guess. The production value was low, but the plot was good, and the main characters were such endearing dumbasses. The two leads play 3 characters/personas each, and each has their own distinct personality and has iconic moments. ML's main persona (dumb prince) unknowingly marries all 3 of FL's, each for different reasons, and she (in reality a former general) plays along because she wants his heart (literally). Then there's the wizard who's stuck in a snow avalanche but can still send and receive messages. And Chen Zihan, who played Tragicomic Ghost in Word of Honor, plays the mother of scorpions here. TW: If you have a phobia of bugs, probably skip this one.

"BUTTERFLIED LOVER" Rain Lu, Zhao Yiqin

Mini drama from 2023. 22 eps x 20 min

I pretty much try anything from this director because he's honestly top notch. Absolutely stunning works, visually!

Ancient vampires, pretty much. The only reason it didn't rank higher for me was personal - as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I'm not really into plots that focus only on the romance. But if you enjoy romance plots, I definitely recommend you check this out!

"THE DOUBLE" Wu Jinyan, Wang Xingyue

Almost a Checkmark. Revenge plot and fake identities. For most of the drama, I thought this was amazing, and then I wasn't too thrilled about the ending arc. But the drama was really well done. Visually beautiful, with fun and interesting characters, and multiple, parallel plots, which is something I like. Amidst all the tragedy, it also had two comic relief characters that I enjoyed a lot (the turtle cousin and the attendant who apparently didn't know how to use stairs).

"LOVE'S REBELLION" Zhang Linghe, Jing Tian

Reason to Watch It: Appreciate Zhang Linghe looking 🔥 sometimes evil and sometimes not, and a pretty whale town that reminded me of Kilika from Final Fantasy X (mostly X-2 because of the pastel colors). The characters and their interactions were fun. The villains did a good job being hateable. Pity the frustrating omission of a key fight - what was so problematic about ML's brain-fight with the demon that they had to cut it?? We were left wondering what happened in there.

🔇NSFW Audio! Use headphones while playing video🔇 "MISTAKEN LOVE" Shao Yuqi, Li Daikun

Mini drama. 24 eps x 10 min

A drama that you "watch for the plot" The "plot" = *points at video above* If you watch dramas for the kissing scenes and you don't mind every character being toxic, this is a drama for you.

Really good artistic direction (sets and costumes, camerawork, colors, lighting, music timing, etc.), and honestly the best kissing scenes I've seen in a cdrama (note I did say Chinese drama, and I've only been watching since 2021). And extra kudos to Duan Yixuan for her brave dubbing of FL (note: same voice actress who dubbed Bai Lu in "Till the End of the Moon"). Why "brave?" *points at the video again*😳

"THE STORY OF PEARL GIRL" Zhao Lusi, Liu Yuning

Almost a Checkmark. Would have been a solid Checkmark if not for the last episode. I have nothing against what the last ep told us, but rather against how they told it. It could have been 15-20min long and it would have been stronger for it. I do understand that the dragging was meant as a narrative parallel to how the characters wanted to extend the time they spent together as much as possible (as shown by the very slow soup-drinking and dregs-scraping), but, personally, I lost my patience with the method. Then, on the second half of that ep, it would have been nice if, instead of just showing the meeting from a neutral POV, they'd done it from the protag's POV, letting the viewer experience her emotional turmoil and distraught-ness, much like they did when she was diving for pearls at the beginning. Finally, the very last scene, with the camels, told a story but felt detached; they could have shown an aged version of the character leading into that narration.

I'm currently watching other December releases, but if they make the list, I'll include them in next year's.

[heymeowmao]

漠风吟 | Love in the Desert E26 ° reborn from fire