Historical Drama Recommendations?

@pandaloveme that sounds amazing!!!

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@sophie2you :slight_smile: It is definitely worth watching
@freefall Iā€™m not sure about that. Why did they ban it?

I actually found Holy pearl by accident but Iā€™m glad I watched it. Lots of handsome guys in the drama drools

Greetings! :slight_smile:
Hereā€™s a list of some fun, and some utterly amazing C and K dramas to try. Not in order except the first oneā€¦because it is the 10 out of 10ā€¦ but some of my favorites and why:

  1. Nirvana in Fire. Chinese, 2015. Hu Ge - a truly great actor, great cast, this is the best drama anywhere, EVER. 54 episodes. Watch it carefully, give it time. Do NOT try to do anything but watch it because even people walking through a corridor have meaning at the end! Everything about this drama is completeā€¦and you will need several viewings to see it all. Fair Warning. :slight_smile:
  2. Sound of the Desert - aka Da Mo Yo - 2013, Chinese - Hu Ge (again) but itā€™s a similar role, this time with the utterly great Cecelia Liu (aka Liu Shi Shi). Fun. 35 episodes. Very playful.
  3. Go Princess Go. Itā€™s not really historical, the sets are from IKEAā€¦and thereā€™s one stunt ā€œDURIANā€ā€¦but itā€™s fun. 36 or so episodes, they made extra endings for those who didnā€™t like the first oneā€¦itā€™s that cool. :slight_smile: They are short episodes too. Get past episode 1 and you may be hooked! these folks are new - that actress though and the emperor rockā€¦! this one makes you laugh and cry both. :slight_smile:
  4. Scarlet Heart. this is I think 2013 or 2014 Chinese - and wow. Liu Shi Shi again, plus Yuan Hong and a lot of great menā€¦LGXā€¦Nicky Wuā€¦Qing Dynasty and it is about a modern girl who ends up in the middle of Kangsxi Emperorā€™s world with all his sonsā€¦VERY cool. Hard to put down! 35 episodes and you canā€™t stop watching it.
  5. And now for some Korean dramas to try: Six Flying Dragons. 50 episodes. Thereā€™s a lot of backstory, 5 episodes with the child actorsā€¦and then you get Yoo Ah In. Youā€™ll understand why heā€™s best actorā€¦! itā€™s the story of how the Joseon Dynasty began. And then most of all, it makes you think about Lee Bangwonā€¦Taejong of Joseon. Farther of Sejong the Great. Half the dragons are fictional charactersā€¦but itā€™s really funā€¦and you find it full of HEART.
  6. For someone who hasnā€™t watched a lot of historical dramas - Painter of the Wind is pretty cool. Girl becomes a painterā€¦and in the 20 episodes, you get some idea of what cool paintings they had from major painters later in the Joseon Dynasty. Fun and educational even!
  7. Sungkyankwan Scandal. I canā€™t spell it. but itā€™s REALLY great. 20 episodes of girl who wants to get an educationā€¦and it has Yoo Ah In as well. Watch it and you wonā€™t want to stop. :slight_smile:
  8. Moon Embracing the Sun. I seriously had to buy the dvdā€™s here. 20 episodesā€¦and itā€™s similar to Jackpot and Mirror of the Witch (also both recommended, but Jackpot higher). Moon is really really great in the male acting - wow. The young man who played the crown prince in this one plays our Prince Yeoning in Jackpot! good actor! This one is very much a romanceā€¦some cool fights, but itā€™s really the romance that wonā€™t dieā€¦ :slight_smile:
  9. And now the drama with the best first episodeā€¦Warrior Baek Dong Soo. 29 episodes. AWESOME FIghts. Romance. Bromance. this drama has it ALL. Great sound track too. Two generations of swordsmenā€¦GREAT actors. And you see the same older actors in Jackpot, by the wayā€¦again, itā€™s really one to see. Again, hard to put down. The lead actor is alsoā€¦
  10. Heā€™s the Emperor in Empress Ki. Empress Ki is arguably a bit longā€¦but it has GREAT moments. (I canā€™t recall how many episodesā€¦and I think itā€™s not here at Viki right now. All the rest Iā€™ve listed so far are.
    There are a lot of great showsā€¦and even more every day. The only constant so far is that NIF - Nirvana in Fire - is the gold standard. If they make a better drama, wow.
    This is just a starting listā€¦I mean, I didnā€™t mention yet Queen Inhyonā€™s Manā€¦which is fun and a fusion drama with modern and historicalā€¦and really fun too. :slight_smile:
    Warmest Regards, enjoy! from Denver, Colorado, USA
    Crouching Dieter, HIdden Donut
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Sigh. I did watch iron empress. I love the actress - and sheā€™s REALLY great in Queen Insoo by the wayā€¦:slight_smile: Iron Empress needed an edit. (The one I had to put down? Emperor of the Sea. Dang! and I LOVE the main actorā€¦After all, heā€™s mr. Jumong! Chae Si Ra was good in there, it just really needs editing. Sound track needs work too, sigh. Jumongā€¦thoughā€¦OMG. My sword saint is thereā€¦aka white faced scholarā€¦and yeah, Jumong! Kingdom of the Wind is also great! :slight_smile: I also had to stop watching the one about the giseang - Ha Ji Won is great, but that plot didnā€™t grab me. Empress Ki and Empress of China are both REALLY great dramas. wish Viki had them. And of course, thereā€™s a list of wish they hads:
Jinbirok to go with Kingā€™s Face
Jeong Do Jeon to go with Six of course
Jang Youngsil to go with Six and Treeā€¦
King Sejong the Great to go with Six and Treeā€¦

And then thereā€™s
Three Kingdoms (2010). 95 episodes that make you forget Yoona ever did er, Zhao Yun (WRONG).
Yeah TK will erase all of that painā€¦sigh. I love Yoona in the one she does well, Queen Inhyonā€™s Man. But I think historical is not her style, whereas for some it really IS their style. Hu Geā€™s modern isnā€™t as good as historical. Liu Shi Shi is queen of historical without a doubt :).

Huo Wallaceā€¦oh yeah. :slight_smile:

Crouching Dieter, HIdden Donut

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Watch Chronicle of Life for the male acting but Iā€™m going to say avoid the main actress generally. Youā€™ll understand.

Princessā€™s Man about Sejo goes nicely with Queen Insoo thatā€™s being translated here too. :slight_smile:

Sword and Flowerā€¦ah that one took some time to get into it. Two tries and I watched it end to end. Better than i thoughtā€¦and itā€™s that Choi Min Soo guy again. (warrior baek dong soo, jackpot, etc).
Crouching Dieter, HIdden Donut

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I loved Great King Sejong. Great four dimensional Sejong there.
Haha I should continue my first viki project ever right? (Queen Insoo)
the ones you wish viki hadā€¦ I never got to.

Chronicle Life has K-subs oh yeah~~

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Great King Sejong - the Taejong and Sejong there both reprise their AMAZING roles in Jang Youngsil, korean, 2016 - with Master Songā€¦his triplets also play some roles in this series! So if you liked the kings in Sejong, you will also like Jang Youngsil. :slight_smile:

Now that I think about it, there are even more good series. Wow. Hereā€™s some of my all time favorites:
Canā€™t believe I forgot this one:
Su Baek Hyang, the Kingā€™s Daughter. 108 episodes - Korean. amazing actress in the lead, the romantic lead is great, this has a VERY good story, a good cast, and you canā€™t put it down. 30 minute episodes so do not fear the 108 episodesā€¦itā€™s a page turner. Thereā€™s a lot of ā€œgirl dressed as guyā€ rolesā€¦but this one is girl AS girl, going against the guys at one pointā€¦:slight_smile: and not quitting. really good stuff!

Did I mention both Empresses? Empress Ki AND Empress of China. Both are fairly long series but highly watchable. I find I canā€™t live without either of them.

Legend of Qin thatā€™s here at Viki also has some really great moments and another actor who deserves a better role - when you see Lu Yi in that one, you will notice him a lot. That drama is wuxia - and historical bothā€¦and romantic. VERY much so. Get past the yelling ā€œtian mingā€ and ā€œyue erā€ all the time and this one is VERY interesting. Casting is pretty darned good in this oneā€¦! (If you watch one of the other dramas with Lu Yi in it - ā€œSong in the Cloudsā€ - itā€™s here I suggest you stop where he leaves the dramaā€¦cause itā€™s very poorly done AFTER that. Again, Lu Yi needs another GREAT roleā€¦like the one he had in THREE KINGDOMSā€¦where he plays Kongming, aka Zhuge Liege.)

The Young Warriors and Legend of the Condor Heroes should be watched for similar reasons - Hu Ge, Yuan (Justin) Hong, and Cecelia Liu/aka Liu Shi Shi aka Mrs Nicky Wu. Both are really good but do not have complete english subs if you need them yet.

As soon as Queen Insoo is complete by the way, iā€™m going to rewatch that end to end.

Currently rewatching Six Flying Dragons ā€¦because itā€™s good. I do admit I am fast forwarding through some of the back story on the fictional folks but thatā€™s because I watched it carefully the first time. :slight_smile:

And Iā€™ll rewatch both Nirvana in Fire and Go Princess Go again very soon. :slight_smile: The hardest episode for me to watch is NIFā€™s episode 54.

I am waiting for more of the many episodes of The Flower In prison to be subbed/released so I can go and watch that one - I admit I will otherwise get a bit frustrated waiting on a 50 episode thatā€™s not even halfway there yet. There are so many good and great dramas around right now that I have plenty to seeā€¦and rewatch too.

Crouching Dieter, HIdden Donut

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I didnā€™t really like Su Baek Hyang. I couldnā€™t believe that it was 106 eps. Mother didnā€™t like it. I thought it was weirdā€¦

Moreverā€¦ it made me realize we lived through 160 of The Ladies of the Palace.

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Is The Ladies of the Palace ģ—¬ģøģ²œķ•˜? If you do, can you PM me where I could watch it?

I watched it via vcr from the video store across the street from our apt building when it was airingā€¦
That was my first historical

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Su Baek Hyang might appeal more to me - Iā€™d like to be that capable girl who overcomes it all, instead of just dressing like a manā€¦but then I also like Chang Ge Xing (Singing all Along) Chinese 2016 for the same reason. Maybe in another world or life, I am that hero girl.

I think one of the new ones, Moonlight Embracing Clouds, will be fun. :slight_smile:

Again, perhaps my tastes are a bit eclecticā€¦I still admire Warrior Baek Dong Soo for many reasons too.

Warmest Regards,

CD, HD.

p.s. Simi roped me into helping. I am now working on The Duo. (Also a pretty good drama, by the way).

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Su Baek Hyang seemed absolutely psychotic. I watched only 4 eps and 1 hr total watch time.
The last opening scene omg.

It sort of terrified me of ever watching it @.@

I can understand that. I love it though, because of what the girl overcomes. And the CP is pretty good too, heā€™s funny, and he puts her through a lot before he finally realizes sheā€™s the oneā€¦ The deaf/mute guy is AMAZING by the way - the actor is also in The Night Watchmen.

I guess itā€™s difficult to find a good drama if you donā€™t want fight/war scenes or anything scary :frowning: so I really donā€™t have much to suggest without those things. History by its very nature is pretty violent and goryā€¦I mean, Yi San - you get the death of his father, Prince Sado, in the rice crate. Otherwise Yi San is pretty tameā€¦Dong Yi too. I meanā€¦Empress Ki, thereā€™s a lot of death.

Sometimes what you see at the start isnā€™t what you will see when the rest of the scene happens.

Sungkyankwan Scandal (I always spell this wrong, sorry!) is a LOT less violent overall. I canā€™t think of any war scenes. Itā€™s also some comedy. Love. The good stuff mostly.

I guess stay away from Jinbirok: The Book of Corrections - a Memoir of the Imjin Wars. THAT is the most violent work Iā€™ve seen. Second prize is a tie - a Movie called ā€œThe Treacherousā€ about Yeonsonagunā€¦who is like Caligulaā€¦ And another movie, Chinese answer to Seven Samurai - itā€™s called ā€œSeven Swordsā€. Both are good films but VERY shocking.

Warmest regards :slight_smile:
Cd, HD

Iron empress was draggy. Agreed. So is Emperor of the Sea.

Chae is better by far in Queen Insoo. :slight_smile:

yep which is why I skimmed iron empress. I hope mulgasis is all better. It is a her + if anyone ever drops by effort.

I was very taken by the movie The Warring States (2011, China) I think I saw it at huā€¦ long ago, canā€™t anymore since you need a subscription. Jumong and Queen Seodeok were the very first saguks, back then I had no idea about them so it was very fascinating! I saw so many that I canā€™t remember them all by titleā€¦ there is kind of a thriller one with some secret on a island also a saguk. The King and the Clown was superawesome too. There is also a kmovie ā€œwars of arrowsā€.

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War of Arrows is here. I always wanted to see it. I also signed up for Princess Deokhye, Son Ye Jin and Kim So Hyunā€™s latest movie.

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@sophie2you

I saw the trailer for the movie, and it looks really good. Hopefully youā€™ll get it. :wink:

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mulgasis is feeling better and getting a lot of love from QI fans. We are hoping she will be careful with her health as she completes this work. Iā€™m also promoing QI to folks who are looking for ā€œwhat happens after Six Flying Dragonsā€ along with Tree with Deep Roots. It really makes a nice trilogy. :slight_smile:

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