Keshein

Ouch I didn't realize Viki had not yet dropped all the eps. Let's see if I can wait or is it time to renew my WeTV subscription...

If I remember correctly, this drama is mostly about the past, with just something about the future in the beginning and in the end. So it's not "flashbacky", if that what bothers you, and it's not really much about their second chance it's mostly about their original romance.

If you watch the Chinese Scarlet Heart, don't expect anything from the romance department. The raw and real is more about the psychological and political stuff. It's the one historical drama I've always felt like this is how it might have been during that time.

But I just remembered a modern drama that definitely fits your description: Will Love In Spring. Give that one a try!

Definitely watch Story of Kunning Palace, if you haven't already seen that! From modern dramas maybe My Sunshine (2015), that one is not superpopular but I personally like it. If you watch My Sunshine I recommend you also read the original novel Silent Separation. You can find it online and it helps understand the characters even better.

You are not alone with the length problem. Actually China made a rule recently that a drama is not allowed to be more than 40 eps, and the eps are shorter than in kdramas. Some are still working around it by splitting a drama into two seasons, but most comply. Story of Kunning palace is 40 eps. And btw the the ending of that drama has some scenes where "everything was work of fiction". Just fast forwards those scenes and pretend they don't exists, because they were just added there to comply to another new rule so that the censors let it pass. It's a great drama and very much like you described you like.

Recently there have been made also a lot of short-length Chinese dramas. They have smaller budgets and many of them are poorly done but some are also very entertaining. According to what you said you like I'd recommend you a minidrama called The Deliberations of Love. Or maybe that's too much of a comedy for you, psychological A Lucid Dream might suit your taste better. Maid's Revenge is also very popular.

If Taiwanese dramas interest you from there I think you might like Someday Or One Day. And then of course there is the Chinese original version of Scarlet heart! I have seen both versions of Scarlet Heart and I think the Korean version had better romance but the Chinese version was more raw and real.

If you decide to watch some of these I'd be happy to hear what you thought of them, and given you more recommendations :)

I felt the same way about this drama. It was promising but fell short. I do however like a lot of Chinese dramas. If you tell me some of you favorites from Korea, I can try to give you some similar recommendations from cdramas?

Depends on your definition on love triangle. I think there is one, but the leads only ever like each other.

Thank you for the warning! I'm now in ep 18, so far liking it.

The most powerful scene in this drama is the one where ML's mother waits at home with the poison and hears someone come in the door. I can't even think about it without tearing up.

Thank you! I’m glad it’s not too close to the ending.

Someone spoil me: in what episode does the FL get her memories back or become her old self?

This is how they are made! If you are looking for a work of art, a realistic slice of life or a healthy relationship, skip this drama. If you enjoy a roller coaster ride of emotions, want to have you heart beating fast and your eyes glued to the screen for 5 hours straight, go for this one!

While it's not realistic, it's also not totally absurd like some other mini-dramas. Plot holes are small, more stuff like does he have to be shirtless all the time (yes he does). And as people who have seen Dai Gao Zheng in other dramas already know, he's not just a pretty shirtless boy, he's also a really good actor.

I just finished with this one and came to give you my report :) First I'd like to say that I would not call myself a fan of the original Chinese version. It's not one of my favorite dramas. It did however leave a big impression so that I remember many things about it even thought is been a couple of years and A LOT of dramas since I saw it. I felt it was unique in the way how *real* it felt. You know usually these historical dramas are so obviously drama history, plot armor etc. Just meant to be entertaining, not true to what life was like back then. And that is fine for me, I do love some absurdity myself. But watching Chinese Scarlet Heart I felt like it could have been just like that. And everything the characters did, was so understandable and yet heart-wrenching. Like the 4th prince and his actions. He did not turn evil, he did not have traumas, he just did what he had to do and it still was terrible. The lacking part was the main lead's romance, I never got why Ruoxi fell for the 4th prince. This was very different in kdrama version. The love game was strong from early on, the 4th princes backstory was interesting etc. I had huge hopes. But later on it felt like everything was a bit off. It felt like they tried to keep the important plot elements from the original version, but maybe it was the changes they made of maybe it was that the kdrama was shorter, but the characters just did not have the same motivation so that their actions would have made sense. People just suddenly changed and did weird things. Many questions were not answered, but with cdrama I felt there were not that many questions, because everything just made sense. All in all, I'm glad I watched this one too and it was good in many ways, but the essential piece that made the original Chinese Scarlet Heart so unique and unforgettable was not there. This was more typical, but still kept me hooked!

Since it's based on the original Chinese version, which was based on Chinese history, it was interesting to see how they adapted it to fit Korean history. They even managed to keep the prince's birth order, so that 4th prince is the lead in both.

Do you mean how she revenged getting poisoned to death by giving him a rash - and then sending him the medicine to cure that rash? To me that seemed pretty mild. I many dramas FL stabs the ML for a misunderstanding :D

Just finished. I liked this very much. After watching 200 dramas I get easily bored, but this one managed to keep my interest until the and. Good pacing. Loved both leads, I don't know why the FL gets so much hate. I also read some chapters of the original novel and it seems like this is quite faithful adaption, which is always nice.

Thank you! I'll try this, but I think I'll wait until all eps are on Viki - just in case I want to binge it :)

7 eps in. After reading the comments I went in expecting a childish, frustrating FL. To me surprise, I was met with a super calm, logical, reasonable, smart woman, who's only possibly fault is being too forgiving.

You heard right. Asian dramas are usually made to so that the ending is an actual ending, not a cliffhanger to another season like in western tv-series. That is one of the reasons I love them :) But there are exceptions, sometimes a Chinese drama is split in two seasons or there is another season, which tells another story about the same characters.

Which one did you see first?

I have seen the original Scarlet Heart (Chinese) and somehow can't get myself to try this one. Can someone who has seen both version tell be is there something that is so much better in this version that it would be worth watching also this? Does this give much more in some area?