Chinese dramas have been one of the best. And for years, I have been watching them. But recently, it feels like the quality of Cdramas has dropped. It also seems like there was only one time where we had much better Chinese dramas to watch.
So in this article I’m just going to talk about the rise and fall of Chinese dramas. And I’m not just talking about the numbers of views these dramas get. Numbers and ratings don’t really count that much these days because they can be manipulated. I’m just talking about the quality of the production, scripts and the acting skills.
The Rise
I did have the privilege to watch a number of old cdramas, some where even as old as me. I have seen how the cdrama quality improved over the years, they had better cgi, better scripts, better choreography… they kept on improving. But ever since 2024, it seems like the quality has been dropping a lot.
I have watched old dramas such as Royal Tramp, Journey of the flower, The Princess Agents, Fighting Destiny, Ten Miles To Peach Blossoms, Underpower, Princess Weiyoung. These are dramas that were good, even though the production was lacking in some of these dramas. But then we entered a period where we got endless high quality cdramas. From 2020 till 2023, the cdrama world was filled with a lot of good dramas. They had better scripts, better production. Even I had a hard time getting some sleep because I had a long watchlist.
I remember 2022 was a very competitive year, I still refer 2022 as the best year to be a cdrama fan. If you started watching cdramas after 2022, you wouldn’t know the feeling of watching Immortal Samsara while waiting for new episodes of Love Like The Galaxy to air. And on the other hand you’re also waiting to watch Love Between Fairy and Devil. 2022 gave us the best cdramas, Love Like The Galaxy still remains the masterpiece of the 2020s.
The Fall
But after 2023, things went downhill for Cdramas. We entered the dark phase, and we are still in it. These days it the quality of scripts has lowered. It seems like they prioritize popularity over skills and talent. It seems like they’re only concerned about heart indexes. Every new drama always breaks a new record. I even wonder, why does 90% of the dramas breaks the index record after their release?
Anyways, my point is these days they just overhype dramas just because a popular figure is part of the cast, fans instantly give the drama high ratings before even finishing 4 episodes. You find one of these high rated and popular dramas, you watch them and you ask yourself why is this drama so overhyped.
You find that the script is too weak, it has loopholes. One of the leads can’t act, he’s too stiff but yea, he’s popular so talent doesn’t count much these days. Popularity and beauty seems to be the deciding factor these days. I really miss the good old days where you find a drama with a cast that can actually act. Not a cast that was arranged in terms of whose popular and whose considered the most beautiful.
Conclusion
And this is just me sharing my thoughts on cdrama world. I’m just a fan of storytelling and that’s what I expect whenever I watch a cdrama. I don’t really care how popular the drama is or how many heart indexes it received in the last 24 hours. I only care about the script, I care about the acting, I care about the fight scene choreography and other parts of the production.
