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High quality harem/palace dramas

kaszaxmanna Author

Hi! I'm looking for high quality harem or palace dramas (can be a non-royal family harem, too) with a focus on inner conflict, tragedy and schemes rather than political war or romance.

The issue I have with many dramas is the quality that puts me off quickly and the too childish female lead. That's why I dropped Legend of Xiao Chuo and Legend of Dugu.

What I liked: Empresses in the Palace, Ruyi's Royal Love, Glory (2025).
What was okay: Scarlet Heart - too romantic and I'd rather admire beautiful ladies than princes.

Tried but dropped:

Story of Yanxi Palace - I liked it at first, but it seemed to fall into too many cliches halfway round. The production quality was superb though.

Story of Minglan - I don't remember why exactly I dropped this one, maybe it started too slow.

Legend of Lu Zhen - again, I don't remember why I dropped it. Maybe I lost the flow.

Thanks!

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emeraldarrows

Possibly...

Under the Queen's Umbrella - high quality, little to no romance

Song of Youth - minimal romance, focuses on the conflicts and issues of the non royal family

Queen: Love and War - some romance, but largely focused on the queen selection and revenge

Rise of Her Lady Physician - mini drama but well done, imo, minimal romance

The Ascent of Ling Yun - mini drama but well done, imo, minimal romance

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kaszaxmanna Author

Thank you! Apparently, there's some ban on harem/palace dramas in China recently, too?

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emeraldarrows
kaszaxmanna:

Thank you! Apparently, there's some ban on harem/palace dramas in China recently, too?

NP. 😊And, yes, it started with Yanxi Palace, but the rules have softened somewhat since. My understanding is they're not completely banned now but there's rules - the FL can't be involved in fighting with the other women for favor and they can't promote "consumerism", but like a lot of cdrama rules it can be a bit flexible and up to the whims of whatever censor is judging a particular drama (and mini dramas have looser restrictions in general).

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bojojoti

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is angsty and replete with tragedy.

Story of Kunning Palace does feature romance, but it has plenty of harem manipulations.

When you're in the mood, give The Story of Ming Lan another chance. Ming Lan could write an instruction manual on how to survive a harem power struggle.

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kaszaxmanna Author

Thank you, I actually picked Ming Lan up and it's super engaging since around ep 7-8.

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