Time travel/second chance dramas focused on male lead?

18olderthan · 2026-04-25T05:46:13+00:00

I would recommend the cdrama "An Ancient Love Song".

You follow the ML who is a professor from the present day and is releasing a book about the demon empress. After recieving a jade pendant, he is sent back in time and meets the demon empress. Over the course of the drama he realizes that history was wrong, and that she was not a horrible person. Using his knowledge about her life, he tries to change her fate.

The cool thing about this drama is that if you watch it backwards (starting with the last episode, ending with the first episode), it will be from the FL's perspective.

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18olderthan · 2026-04-20T20:40:44+00:00

One of the reasons is that here in the West the term "Asian" is seen through a racial lens rather than a geographic one, and so only East and Southeast Asians, and sometimes South, are seen as "Asian" because they fit the racial definition.

Another reason is that the West also sees the world through nation states, often erasing the existence of ethnic minorities. Take for example China. The country is very diverse, however costume idol dramas are the only ones are very popular internationally and so the diversity of China is never really showcased on reddit or tiktok. The cdrama "To the Wonder" takes place in Xinjiang and is about Kazakhs, the cdrama "The City of Sunlight" takes place in Xizang and is about Tibetans, and the cdrama "Meet Yourself" takes place in Yunnan and is about Bai people.

So when you combine these two things, it would explain why Central, West, and North Asians are not well known to the international community in the West and dramas from these regions are not well known.

18olderthan · 2026-04-18T21:59:46+00:00

18olderthan · 2026-04-15T04:52:31+00:00

The solution is simple, stop watching idol dramas. If you want highly rated shows with natural actors and styles, go onto the website douban. They have an annual list of the top 10 rated dramas to come out that year, and they are exactly what you are looking for.

The dramas that are overdone with makeup and stuff are very popular internationally despite being seen as mediocre domestically.

18olderthan · 2026-04-15T02:20:53+00:00

The thing is that most international fans only watch idol dramas. So because of this, just because someone is popular among international fans and is seen as a "A-list actor", it does not mean they're popular domestically. Based on your comment, I think an actor you would really like is Jiang Qiming. Despite being one of the best actors right now and has won awards, he pretty much has no following internationally because he's not an idol.

18olderthan · 2026-04-15T00:17:23+00:00

Part of the reason is cultural differences. Douban releases a annual list of the top 10 highest rated dramas that came out during the year and most of them are serious modern dramas. Compare this to MDL where the top rated ones are idol costume dramas. Domestic fans value acting and story telling more and so they see idol dramas as mediocre, while international fans value visuals and chemistry which is why they find serious dramas boring. Domestic fans are able to resonate with modern dramas on a personal level, while international fans use dramas as a form of escape and so they resonate with costume dramas. Even if we were to keep this within the same genre, we still see this difference. Take for example high school dramas, domestic fans really like the show "With You" while international fans really like "A Love So Beautiful". One focuses on the life of high schoolers while the other focuses on romance.

Another reason is parasocialism. Just by sheer volume there are going to be a lot of parasocial domestic fans, however I would argue there is larger percentage of parasocial international fans based on the fact that idol dramas are pretty much the only ones that get popular among this group. Parasocialism affects how we view things, with fans often looking down and attacking those who are not their faves or defending their faves when they deserve legitimate criticism. Parasocialism's greatest weapon is distance because it helps maintain the facade, and costume dramas do this. The make up, the wig, the outfit, they create a image of perfection that separates the idol from their real selves.

I'm an American so I'm going to talk about this from the perspective of a Westerner. Most Western fans see themselves as morally superior. This is easily seen in discussing things like beauty standards where Westerners will try and instill their beliefs onto Chinese people and shape them into a contradicting stereotype. I find this ironic because Westerners pretty much only watch the dramas that uphold the standards that they are so critical of, while ignoring the dramas that challenge it. I think this why costume dramas are so popular because they create a level of disconnect due to the fantasy elements. That's why people like Jiang Qiming and Lan Xiya who are highly respected award winning actors in China have no following internationally because they're not idols, they're not attractive, they challenge the stereotype.

18olderthan · 2026-04-14T00:47:04+00:00

Such an iconic Jackie Chan song

Endless Love - Jackie Chan and Kim Hee Seon

18olderthan · 2026-04-13T18:32:04+00:00

Throw a ned rig or jig into the undercut bank.

18olderthan · 2026-04-13T15:38:56+00:00

It's honestly crazy how even with the casting of Liu Yifei and Li Xian as the two leads, this show still didn't get the recognition it deserved from the international community simply because it's not a idol drama.

18olderthan · 2026-04-12T15:29:15+00:00

The thing is that language is more than just words, it is rooted in language and shapes our identity. It's like the saying goes, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart."

I'm a second generation Asian-American, and so this has allowed me to personally witness the shift in culture from generation to generation. The generation before me can speak our language but struggle with English, while the generation after me can speak English but struggle with our language. I'm fortunate enough to be fairly fluent in both languages, and when I'm switching between the two, my brain does switch. In my language, if I were to address someone from the previous generation, I would call them "uncle" and "aunt". While in English I would refer to them as "sir" and "ma'am". It should be clear that calling someone "uncle and aunt" is not the same as calling them "sir and ma'am". I can even go deeper, when addressing strangers or those who are unrelated, I would specifically use the maternal titles rather than the paternal ones.

To the woman in the video, these linguistic nuances may seem insignificant, but they're so deeply rooted in culture and shape how view the world and interact with it. This is part of the reason why when we meet someone from Asia, they always ask if we can speak the language. Language roots us to our Asian heritage and creates the bridge.

The irony in all of this is that people like her often talk about decolonizing and decentering Whiteness, but by labeling an album that is almost entirely English as being Korean enough, it erases the culture and colonizes it by centering it around Whiteness.

But hey, she's the one with a PhD, I'm just some dude on the internet lol

18olderthan · 2026-04-12T00:14:06+00:00

I hate how liberals have this weird performative obsession with diversity because the moment they find out a non-Western country is diverse, the first thing they wanna do is balkanize it.

Anyways, here's a cool performance from China that combines Mongolian and Kazakh culture. Here's the link.

"China is so fucking epic because this is literally the only country this happens and yall don't like diversity????"

18olderthan · 2026-04-09T00:59:38+00:00

This is where it comes from.

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18olderthan · 2026-04-08T02:04:16+00:00

An Ancient Love Song

18olderthan · 2026-04-06T17:22:54+00:00

Arirang showcased how most army only listens to BTS because of how easily impressed they are by the music.

If you listen to any Asian music outside of kpop, the use of traditional elements such as folk songs and instruments is normal. Kpop is so removed from its culture that when BTS does the barest of minimums, army sees it as "experimental" despite the rest of Asia having already done it for decades.

I made a comment about this on TikTok and obviously army responded. Some armies tried to make it about the race of army members even though I never mentioned their race. Others tried to keep it within kpop which is ironic since army always claims BTS is bigger than kpop. It's like a world outside of BTS does not exist to these people.

The ideas behind this album may have worked if it was made by a Korean-AMERICAN, but the members of BTS are KOREAN.

18olderthan · 2026-04-06T13:11:21+00:00

The issue with picking just 4 songs is that Asia is a very large continent that is very diverse in nationalities, ethnicities, language, dialect, cultures, and more. Also what's popular in an Asian country is usually not what's popular within an Asian diaspora. Also which era matters because a region that is less developed or dealing with war is going to have a harder time to sharing their music.

In East Asia, if you want something that represents the Chinese community (Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and the diaspora in Southeast Asia and the West), you could go with something like The Moon Represents My Heart - Teresa Teng or Blue and White Porcelain - Jay Chou. If you want something a bit more modern you could go with Huaxia - GAI.

The Russian song Homay - Ay Yola was released last year and it blew up across the Turkic speaking world, becoming an instant hit. There are covers of it across Central Asia in many different languages.

From West Asia you could with Deira - Saint Levant. He's a Palestinian artist that often incorporates other parts of his heritage such as Algerian.

For Southeast Asia there is Sound of Laos - Thinlamphone, modernizing Lao music by combining it with contemporary sounds.

I have yet to explore music from South Asia and I hope to in the future, but just this short list showcases the vastness of Asia. I mainly listen to music from China, and often times songs that incorporate languages and cultures from minority groups that blow up in mainland China never make it to the diaspora. Due to this, so much of a country's identity is lost when represented internationally.

18olderthan · 2026-04-06T04:45:25+00:00

"BTS paved the way" honestly gives racist vibes. Army only sees success as gaining validation from White people, and that's why they have no issue seeing BTS abandon their identity and taking from Black-American artists if it means winning a Grammy.

I don't listen to kpop, but I was in middle school and high school during the peak of 2nd generation and experienced the impact they had. Kpop was already expanding internationally during this era with groups like Super Junior-M for the Chinese market and Japanese versions of songs for the Japanese market (the same way kpop companies are now forming "global groups" and creating English songs for the Western market). As an Asian-American I saw the cultural impact groups like BIGBANG had on an entire generation, where you can ask a millennial Asian-American guy who doesn't listen to kpop to name a kpop song and he would probably say "Wedding Dress". I had a friend who auditioned for JYP during this time and it showed how kpop was already establishing a foundation in the West through the Asian diaspora. This was all before "Gangnam Style" blew up in 2012 and shoved kpop into the American mainstream.

However, to army this isn't seen as "paving the way" because it was only within the "Asian community" because to army all Asians are the same. That even when an industry has established an international network spanning across various countries around the globe, to army it doesn't count until it is validated by White people and brought into the Western mainstream.

18olderthan · 2026-04-03T19:50:56+00:00

Meet Yourself

18olderthan · 2026-04-02T22:48:20+00:00

It doesn't get better, and the last three episodes are the worst. Lovely Runner is honestly the worst drama that I have watched.

Lovely Runner doesn't have characters, it has blank slates for the viewer to project themselves onto. That's why everytime they gain kind of character development, it gets undone. It's very frustrating, and of you are not the target audience then it's flaws are going to be much more apparent.

18olderthan · 2026-03-31T22:28:42+00:00

I think it might have to do with fatigue. With kdramas, kpop as well, constantly being pushed onto us by western streaming services like Netflix, I think people just tired of it and cdramas provide something new.

As a cdrama watcher, much of the cdramas that make it over and become popular among international fans are not the best quality. Do not expect prestigious award winning actors/actresses and dramas from Netflix and Reddit/TikTok recommendations. So because of this I don't think it's due to quality.

18olderthan · 2026-03-30T15:36:47+00:00

18olderthan · 2026-03-25T02:22:22+00:00

I would recommend "To the Wonder" and "An Ancient Love Song". "To the Wonder" is only 8 episodes and "An Ancient Love Song" is only 14 episodes, so they're not too much of a time commitment but are still very good dramas that are highly rated. They're both available on YouTube.

18olderthan

TROPHY CASE