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Looking for wuxia dramas or xianxia dramas with martial arts elements

afty

Hi everyone, I'm new here, but I hope you can help me. I'm looking for wuxia dramas, or xianxia dramas with strong martial arts elements, from recent years (maybe the last 5 years, but I'm not too particular about this).

I grew up reading classic wuxia novels (Jin Yong, Gu Long, Liang Yushen, etc) and watching wuxia dramas of the 80s, 90s, and early 00s. After a long vacuum, I very recently started watching wuxia dramas again (beginning early January) and I was lucky that the first three I watched were all phenomenal: "Bloody Romance", "Handsome Siblings", and "The Untamed".

However, after those three, I'm having trouble finding more good wuxia dramas. What I'm looking for:
* Strong martial arts elements (hopefully with good fight choreography)
* No or little palace intrigues (intrigues between martial art clans/schools are fine)

I tried watching the first episodes of several dramas and dropping them, e.g. "Six Flying Dragons" (too military), "The Rise of the Phoenixes" (palace intrigues), "Once Upon a Time in Lingjian Mountain" (too weird with the glasses and all, might have to try again if people recommend it), "Eternal Love" (no martial arts). Other C/K-dramas on Netflix seem to involve palace intrigues or non-martial-art romance, so I didn't try them (unless someone recommend it to me here).

Right now I'm watching "Swords of Legends 2", which is somewhat in line with what I want, but the pace is very slow and the characters are average. I've also seen "Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (2019)" but I'm already familiar with the story so I only watched my favorite parts.

I hope you can give me some recommendations. Thank you so much.

Afty

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SweetBabyBrat MOD

Here are a few you can check out....

The Flame's Daughter

Love and Destiny

Listening Snow Tower

Ashes of Love

Hope you find something to your liking  :o)

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afty

Thank you for your recommendations. I'll put it on my plan-to-watch list!

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xElisabeth

These three have everything you need, but mind that both have/need a sequel:

Ever Night 

Fights Break Sphere

Princess Agents


These are more into a romance plot 

Ashes of Love

Legend Of Fu Yao

The Legends


This one's not exactly what you asking for, but it's a wuxia masterpiece, everyone should watch at least ones. It's the best Chinese wuxia, for some, even the best Chinese drama in general. 

 Nirvana In Fire

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afty

Thank you for your recommendations and the helpful description! I'll put them on my plan-to-watch list.

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DramaDrama

The Vigilantes in Masks --- This is quite an old one, but is very good and has a lot of martial arts elements.

Your Highness  --- Comedy, not a serious martial arts drama, but set in Jiang Hu.

The Legend of the Condor Heroes  

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afty

Thank you for these. I've seen clips of LoCH, but since I still remember the plot line by heart I won't be watching it in full. But the other two seem interesting and I'll add them to my list!

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afty

I've started watching "Ever Night". I'm three episodes in and I'm really enjoying it so far! It's really well-made and the action scenes are awesome.

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Joobebe

 Legend of Fu Yao 

 Ever Night 

 The Flame's Daughter 

 The Legends 

Noble Aspirations 

Noble Aspirations II 

Novoland: Eagle Flag 

Martial Universe: Season 1 

 Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy 

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Estelll

Hi @f_afty, I love good sword-fights and martial arts films/dramas as well. Lately I've been strangling to find such dramas too, dramas that have not only good fight choreography, but also great characters and a good storyline are really hard to find! 

I've made 2 voting lists about wuxia/xianxia dramas that may help you find more to watch! Here and here, check them out if you wish, and vote/add to them!!

I agree with what the previous posters have recommended, and I also suggest you watch Joy of Life - it has all great elements noted above, with unpredictable plot, likeable characters, impressive and unique world-building, and lots of humour to boost (It has some palace intrigue but even that is done very differently from the rest, so it's never boring!)! It's probably one of the best Chinese dramas of the latest years - or it would be, if complete, cause it will get 2 more seasons :(

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afty

Joobebe and Estell, thank you for these. Wow, lots of titles. What a treasure trove. I'll sure be enjoying going through them one by one.

Estell, I've had my eye on "Joy of Life" because it ranks so high, but haven't tried it because the palace intrigue element. Thank you for your recommendation.

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xElisabeth
 Estelll:

Hi @f_afty, I love good sword-fights and martial arts films/dramas as well. Lately I've been strangling to find such dramas too, dramas that have not only good fight choreography, but also great characters and a good storyline are really hard to find! 

I've made 2 voting lists about wuxia/xianxia dramas that may help you find more to watch! Here and here, check them out if you wish, and vote/add to them!!

I agree with what the previous posters have recommended, and I also suggest you watch Joy of Life - it has all great elements noted above, with unpredictable plot, likeable characters, impressive and unique world-building, and lots of humour to boost (It has some palace intrigue but even that is done very differently from the rest, so it's never boring!)! It's probably one of the best Chinese dramas of the latest years - or it would be, if complete, cause it will get 2 more seasons :(

I second Joy of Life, I've just finished it and it's really good, probably the best 2019 C-Drama.

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afty

That's a very strong recommendation! I'll definitely check it out after I finish "Ever Night" (I'm more and more in love with its fight scenes!)

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afty

Finished "Ever Night" and I must say that it was spectacular! I love it. The fight scenes are incredible, especially that final duel. I like to plot twist near the end. And I adore the romance. Thank you, guys, for suggesting this.

Now I've started watching "Joy of Life". Because I see that it has a season 2, I want to ask you: Does season 1 tie up at least some of the conflicts in the story, or does it leave the viewers hanging?

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xElisabeth

The ending of season 1 of Joy of Life, in some ways, could be seen as the end of the story, but there are some "conflicts" that will lead you to think that there's a season 2.
I don't want to spoil anything so I'm trying to be as enigmatic as I can while I'm answering you, I'm sorry if I'm confusing you instead of clearing your mind LOL

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