Ultimate Recommendation?

Aug 21, 2019 01:18 pm

I'm interested to see what everyone's ultimate #1 recommendation is. I made a list called heartbeat recommendations which is filled with dramas I don't skip a beat to recommend. Everyone has their own acquired tastes and guilty pleasures and that's good and fine, but what is the one drama that you never fail to suggest to others. What's your god-tier, nothing else can beat this drama, if others don't like this they must be crazy, drama recommendation?

The one I recommend without fail is always the Story of Ming Lan because I feel it is objectively the best drama I have ever seen in terms of quality and my own personal enjoyment. Give me your guys' all time best recommendation!

Le Chevalier Violet

Aug 21, 2019 01:38 pm

My favourite shows are Life On Mars, Signal, Punch, Cruel City. (All of them are heavy drama with corruption). Another is Just between Lovers that is more about love. Give a try and hope you'll like them like I did!

EDIT : I'd like to add also Life, Miss Hammurabi and The Guest. Life is a medical drama but not about a doctor hero who does everything to save his patients, it's more about the growth and contains also abuse in the workplace. Miss Hammurabi is more about messages that you get through the cases. It's a law drama not about revenge. And The Guest is a horror drama that I really liked. It's creepy but I loved the characters and the acting was on point.

Also, there are some dramas that I still not watched but everyone praise like Misaeng, My Mister, Live and Stranger (Forest of secret), Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim, Tunnel.

(Sorry for my bad english)

mengosteen

Aug 21, 2019 02:29 pm

There are two dramas I rated 10/10 - one of them being generally liked Nirvana in Fire that I recommend to anyone who asks me for recs.

The other one is slightly tricky, as it's geared more towards Chinese audience - All Quiet in Beijing. While I absolutely loved this show, I understand that it requires some not-so-basic knowledge of Chinese history + is rather slow paced and has a lot of 'old and ugly' actors so it's not up to everyone's taste.

When people ask for xianxia/action, I always recommend Ever Night. It's based on one of my favourite novels, has great fight scenes, awesome OST and NOT AWFUL cgi.

There's also the most underrated drama on MDL (in my opinion) called The Dark Lord. It's a mix of absurd/hilarious humour, some cute romance, some politics (fighting corruption and so on), mistaken identity, underdog story and some dramatic moments thrown in the mix.

neon_tae

Aug 21, 2019 02:41 pm

I reccomend angels last mission , my id is gangnam beauty, and moment i at eighteen

looktothestars

Aug 21, 2019 11:18 pm

Le Chevalier Violet:
My favourite shows are Life On Mars, Signal, Punch, Cruel City. (All of them are heavy drama with corruption). Another is Just between Lovers that is more about love. Give a try and hope you'll like them like I did!

I'll definitely try them all out! I'm getting pretty tired of romance lately tbh so I'm sure I'll love them. Thanks for the recs :D

looktothestars

Aug 21, 2019 11:20 pm

Haeju:
There are two dramas I rated 10/10 - one of them being generally liked Nirvana in Fire that I recommend to anyone who asks me for recs.
The other one is slightly tricky, as it's geared more towards Chinese audience - All Quiet in Beijing. While I absolutely loved this show, I understand that it requires some not-so-basic knowledge of Chinese history + is rather slow paced and has a lot of 'old and ugly' actors so it's not up to everyone's taste.
When people ask for xianxia/action, I always recommend Ever Night. It's based on one of my favourite novels, has great fight scenes, awesome OST and NOT AWFUL cgi.
There's also the most underrated drama on MDL (in my opinion) called The Dark Lord. It's a mix of absurd/hilarious humour, some cute romance, some politics (fighting corruption and so on), mistaken identity, underdog story and some dramatic moments thrown in the mix.

Those all look incredible, I don't know how I haven't seen any of them. Thank you for the suggestions!

Czakhareina

Aug 22, 2019 12:06 am

I love The Story of Minglan. But like Haeju, my God-tier or drama I rated 10/10 is the brilliant masterpiece Cdrama...

NIRVANA IN FIRE

Just a little heads up, just push through the first 2-3 episodes of confusing and heavy character and set up introduction. After that confusing episodes, it's pretty darn awesome watch.

Dandelion

Aug 22, 2019 03:24 am

Czakhareina:
I love The Story of Minglan. But ike Haeju, my God-tier or drama I rated 10/10 is the brilliant masterpiece Cdrama...
NIRVANA IN FIRE
Just a little heads up, just push through the first 2-3 episodes of confusing and heavy character and set up introduction. After that confusing episodes, it's pretty darn awesome watch.

You took away my lists. Haha

The Story of Ming Lan is a very beautiful drama. Both leads are smarts and together they make a powerful combination.

Nirvana in Fire is the best drama for bromance and complex plots. It can be very confusing but if you like a drama that makes you think, you will like it. There is season 2 with different characters but still related.

I would like to add Tunnel, a crime Korean drama. It is inspired by a real cold case of serial murderers. There are many movies inspired by the case but I like this version best.

Prison Playbook. It's a real gem. It's not a romance drama but more like a slice of life. The main character is a famous athlete with a great career but he ends up in jail because he murdered a guy who tried to rape his sister.

Asa ga Kita - Inspired by a real-life figure, it told about Asa the woman who build the first university for women in Japan.

looktothestars

Aug 22, 2019 04:33 am

Czakhareina:
I love The Story of Minglan. But like Haeju, my God-tier or drama I rated 10/10 is the brilliant masterpiece Cdrama...
NIRVANA IN FIRE
Just a little heads up, just push through the first 2-3 episodes of confusing and heavy character and set up introduction. After that confusing episodes, it's pretty darn awesome watch.

Nirvana in Fire is so beloved that it's a little daunting haha. I've been saving it for a rainy day, I should really just watch it already. I'm sure I'll love it. Thanks for the response! :D

looktothestars

Aug 22, 2019 04:43 am

Le Chevalier Violet:
My favourite shows are Life On Mars, Signal, Punch, Cruel City. (All of them are heavy drama with corruption). Another is Just between Lovers that is more about love. Give a try and hope you'll like them like I did!

EDIT : I'd like to add also Life, Miss Hammurabi and The Guest. Life is a medical drama but not about a doctor hero who does everything to save his patients, it's more about the growth and contains also abuse in the workplace. Miss Hammurabi is more about messages that you get through the cases. It's a law drama not about revenge. And The Guest is a horror drama that I really liked. It's creepy but I loved the characters and the acting was on point.
Also, there are some dramas that I still not watched but everyone praise like Misaeng, My Mister, Live and Stranger (Forest of secret), Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim, Tunnel.
(Sorry for my bad english)

Your english was perfectly fine:) I'm one of the few who actually really love Go Ara, so I'm stoked to start Miss Hammurabi. You should definitely check out My Mister. I just watched it last week and it was insanely good.

LuckyGirlGwenIce

Aug 22, 2019 06:37 am

(I admit that I like a little dramatic touch to my dramas as long as it is well delivered and brings out the character's essence more)

There are many that I like but they are universally famous so I won't mention all.

Crime - Bad Guys and Lookout are my favourites - Though action and story are well-written, what really got me was the way they first portrayed their protagonists in the beginning and slowly showed their various sides.. No one is ever completely good or bad, what matters is which out weighs the other in their choices and what were the situations that made these people make those choices.

Bridal Mask - It is slow, belongs to a unique and not very catchy period that is neither modern nor of kings and queens, might even get tired of some things or people in the drama, but I will never forget it for one reason and one reason only. The way they portrayed the two main guys in the beginning - how they seem like they will be the ones to beat their stereotypical existence but in the end, their paths inevitably become the exact same ones taken by people before them. I can talk abt these characters all day long so I won't.

The following I can't not mention but I won't elaborate on them - Healer, Love in the Moonlight, DOTS, Weightlifting Fairy KBJ, While You Were Sleeping and Goblin

Maii

Aug 22, 2019 08:32 am

Sky Castle, any one?

Czakhareina

Aug 22, 2019 10:19 am

looktothestars:
Nirvana in Fire is so beloved that it's a little daunting haha. I've been saving it for a rainy day, I should really just watch it already. I'm sure I'll love it. Thanks for the response! :D

I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Nirvana in Fire is such a masterpiece that it will blown anyone's mind.

Expect for those who probably like romance. Because the romance in this drama is probably 10% or less screen time.

Next in my God-tier are those I rated 9.5:

Kim Wonseok directed dramas: Misaeng, Signal, My Mister
Song Jina penned dramas: Healer, Sandglass
Story of Minglan, as I have mentioned I love it
Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms
Story of Yanxi Palace
1 liter of Tears
Kounodori / Dr. Storks
Behind the White Tower
Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim
In Time With You

Salty_bae

Aug 22, 2019 10:35 am

For me it is Reply 1997! I feel like it is an ultimate romance-friendship-comedy drama and anyone who likes this genre should watch it. It is very dynamic as well so it is super easy to binge lol.

Others on my list of ultimate (romance/slice-of-life) drama recommendations are Reply 1988, Marriage not Dating and Age of Youth.