Novel-adapted dramas are not new. Louis Cha’s wuxia novels have been extensively filmed into dramas since the 1970s with new adaptations every few years. In recent years, the surge of online novels, games and webtoons have resulted in a surge of Intellectual Property- or IP-adapted dramas (IP dramas for short), not only in China but also in South Korea. Of note, these IP dramas are hugely popular - Nirvana in Fire (2015), Eternal Love (2017), The Story of Minglan (2018), The Untamed (2019), Joy of Life (2019), Legend of Fei (2020), The Long Ballad (2021), Mr. Queen (2020), Navillera (2021), Happiness (2021), The Red Sleeve (2021), D.P. (2021), and Hellbound (2021) just to name a few.
- Are we witnessing a drop in both the quality and quantity of original drama/movie contents, or is it simply milking the commercial value of well-established online IP contents?
- Do these IP dramas generally benefited from the original online IP fanbase, or it is actually the inverse, with the IP dramas bringing more fans to the original online IP?
- What is one Chinese and/or one Korean IP drama that you enjoyed and why?
- What is one Chinese and/or one Korean IP drama that you look forward to in 2022 and why?
- Is there one Chinese and/or one Korean original content (i.e. non-IP) drama that you enjoyed and why?
- Is there one Chinese and/or one Korean original content (i.e. non-IP) drama that you look forward to in 2022 and why?
