My Favourite Dramas of 2021

I watched a lot of dramas in 2021. 34 to be exact. On average, each of my favourite dramas of 2021 had 30 episodes, which is wild. When I got sucked into a really good one, I experienced a big rush of serotonin.

One day, I hope I can have my own place where I can watch these dramas with the people closest to me while we eat something homemade and delicious and binge dozens of episodes. That’s what I call peak happiness.

But for now, here’s what I watched by month in 2021.

Pro tip: If you want to make the most of reading this blog post, listen to my favourite song from each drama. 

1. January – Love & Destiny

I watched Love & Destiny at the end of December and at the beginning of 2021. The show is a spin-off of Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms and it takes place in the same world.  

However, the plot and characters are totally different. Despite it being a simple story, this drama made it to the list of my favourite dramas. It’s a love story between the God of War and a fairy from the Dan bird tribe.

At the start of the drama, the female lead accidentally awakens the missing God of War who’s been frozen for 50,000 years. After those events, she finds herself working for the God of War in his palace.   

In the end, the militaristic, monostatic and rigid God of War falls for her, but there are a lot of trials before that happens. At least there’s a happy ending, and to me, that’s all that matters!

The costumes were so soft and billowy, which is definitely in keeping with the 10 Miles of Peach Blossom universe. Oh, and I love this director. I’ve seen multiple dramas by Lin Yu Fen. She just gets how to write a complex love story that ends well (most of the time).  

Overall, I rate it a 4.5/5 with a medium rewatch value.

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2. January – Love & Redemption

After adding this to my favourite dramas, I knew I was in love with the xianxia genre. It was then that I even learned what xianxia was (it refers to stories based on Chinese mythology).  

Love & Redemption is a fantasy adventure story set in the martial arts world and the heavenly realms. It’s about the reincarnation of the God of War as a young, weak woman. Unbeknownst to this young, weak woman, she used to be the God of War in her previous life.

In the show, her six senses are blocked, which has something to do with her not waking up her God of War abilities.

When she meets Si Feng, he awakens her six senses one by one, and she starts feeling emotions and eventually falls in love. Unfortunately, doing so also awakens her God of War abilities.

I’m obsessed with Si Feng (played by Cheng Yi). I want to see more of this actor’s work since I usually get bored with goody-two-shoes male characters.   

But I loved his character because he was always good, but he had moments where he could be the bad guy, too.

His character emanated Zuko’s energy. And his backstory was so interesting.

Unfortunately, some of the other characters annoyed me, and it didn’t help that the female lead was so dumb. She just wouldn’t trust Si Feng at all.

Now, the character Teng She, played by Bai Shu, was hilarious.

 His character was quirky and had an attitude.

Overall, I rate it a 4.5/5 with a medium rewatch value.

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3. February – The Untamed

I watched the first episode of The Untamed in February of 2021. Approximately one month later, I was watching the entire series for a second time.   

The first time I watched The Untamed, I couldn’t process it. I had to watch it twice for me to understand the story, and I’d watch it again just because I enjoyed it so much. If you can get me to watch 50 episodes twice, the story must be good.

The Untamed depicts the life of two cultivators in the martial arts world, Wei Wuxian (played by Xiao Zhan) and Lan Zhan (played by Wang Yibo).   

Despite these actors’ inexperience, they each had so many traits of the characters they were playing that it made their acting feel so seamless and natural.   

And that’s saying a lot when both of these characters have such unique personalities.   

Wei Wuxian is arrogant, but also extremely likeable. He has a hero complex that causes him to make extreme decisions.   

Lan Zhan, on the other hand, is aloof, stone-faced and just as arrogant, but in a grounded, spiritual way.   

I find that characters like these are hard to portray effortlessly, but these actors did an excellent job. It was stunning to watch.  

These two characters end up becoming best friends and the story kicks off once they stumble upon a hidden but highly sought-after item that enhances power.   

Together, they end a war and develop a bond that can even transcend death itself.  

Overall, I give it 4.9/5 stars and I would definitely watch it again. I took away 0.1 points because, after episode 33, the pacing really slowed down. The first 33 episodes were so epic that the last 17 are just okay.

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4. May – Imitation

I love a good celebrity story that reveals the behind-the-scenes of the music industry. It could be a book or a show, but I’m always craving a story like that.  

Imitation takes you behind the scenes of K-pop. A girl named Maha joins the cute girl group Tea Party, but things go downhill after her teammate TRIGGER WARNING commits suicide. 

After years of being a trainee, she goes back to being a nobody, mourning the death of her teammate whilst doing impersonations of other artists to make a living. 

In contrast, we follow Kwon Ryuk (played by Lee Jun-Young), the lead singer of the renowned band SHAX. He is best friends with his bandmates, and his fans are enamoured with him. He’s successful not only as a musician but as an actor as well.   

Maha, a trainee that he met before, gets the chance to be a background actor in a show he’s starring in, where she plays the part of a person he fake stabs in a scene.   

Shortly after that, they start dating secretly, which is a big no-no in the K-pop industry. Kwon Ryuk and Maha try to keep out of the paparazzi’s eye while Kwon Ryuk maintains his fame and Maha hits it big with a new girl group. Overall, the show demonstrates what it’s like to be an artist in K-pop today.  

Imitation delivered during the first half of the show. After that, it lost its way. Personally, I didn’t think the female lead was the right choice for the role. After reading all 220 chapters of the Imitation webtoon (which was amazing, by the way), I didn’t think she was the best match for the character.  

The male lead, however, I really liked. Lee Jun-Young brought a lot of personality to Kwon Ryuk’s character.

Also Jiyeon from T-Ara was perfect as Lalima.  

The show aired a single episode every week for 10 weeks, which I found annoying because I was always wondering what would happen next. After the fifth episode, I couldn’t wait anymore and decided to start reading the webtoon.

The webtoon was great, but it made watching future episodes of the drama less exciting because I knew what was going to happen next and I was aware of the scenes that they cut out to keep the drama adaptation short.

Overall, I'd rate it 3.5/5. I love the cinematography in the first few episodes, and the darker tone they took with the show.  

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5. June – Black Pink: Light Up the Sky

I don’t remember when I watched this Netflix documentary about BlackPink, but it made me a BLINK. I went from not caring about BlackPink’s music because, well, let’s be honest, their music is okay, to looking forward to Rosé and Lisa’s solo debuts in 2021.

Then I watched Blackpink House, which is like a BlackPink version of Terrace House (without the romance).  

Overall, I give the documentary a 5/5. There's a good chance you'll become a BlackPink after watching it.

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6. July – Girl from Nowhere

This show gave me the creeps, and I have no idea what dark depressive era I was in to watch this, but I did. Stephanie Soo, a Mukbang vlogger, mentioned a Black Mirror-like episode of Girl from Nowhere in her video, and the storyline got my attention.

I enjoy writing dystopian, speculative works or watching shows that explore the darker, more evil aspects of human nature. And that’s precisely what Girl from Nowhere does.

Girl from Nowhere is genius. Even though the show is edgy and difficult to watch at times, it’s meant to make you think about how cruel humans can be. It’s a Thai dark thriller show about a girl named Nanno who’s a new student at a high school in every episode. As the new girl, she introduces herself to a classroom of students every episode.   

Upon her entrance to the high school, different students react to her in different ways, and these reactions reveal the darker sides of their personalities. The thing we know, and the kids in the high school don’t, is that Nanno…is Karma in human form.

What if karma wasn’t a concept, but a person? That’s Nanno. She knows what you’re thinking and what you’re planning to do next. She’ll even make you act on the evil desires in your heart and provoke you to murder her if it’s necessary.   

She’ll do so with a smile on her face and a haunting laugh and watch your downfall when you realize she can’t die. She’s determined to make you pay for all the evil things you’ve done in your life.

Kitty Chicha Amatayakul played the role seamlessly and was so creepy at it, it’s not even funny. You can jump from episode to episode because it’s an anthology series. If you liked Black Mirror, you’ll probably like this, too, because they’re very similar.    

It’s a show you need to watch in the day because it gets violent and bloody pretty fast. The show takes on topics like envy, grooming, sexual assault, murder, teacher manipulation, and fake identities.   

There are rumours that some of the stories in Girl From Nowhere are based on true stories, which makes it even more of a reflective and speculative show to watch.  

Overall, I give it a 4.6/5 with a low rewatch value. It's not easy to watch, so it loses points. You have to be mentally prepared for it because it's dark and depressing.     

I came for the cinematography and writing, but I stayed for the message. Also, the opening theme sequence is amazing.

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7. August – 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms

In 2017, I watched 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms for the first time. It was my first xianxia drama, and it was instantly on my favourite dramas list.

I thought to myself, “These are the type of shows I dream of making.” These are the stories I want to tell. And I felt the same way about The Untamed, too. This summer, when I was in a drama watching slump, I watched 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms for the second time.    

In 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms, a nine-tailed fox named Bai Qian is the princess of the Qing Qiu fox tribe in the heavenly realms.    

At the start of the story, she disguises herself as a boy to become an apprentice of Mo Yuan, God of War. She forms a platonic, yet deep master/disciple relationship with the God of War, hoping she can become his disciple forever (since they can live for thousands of years). But things don’t work out as planned.  

Years pass and fate sends her into a deadly battle that destroys her memories of being an immortal. She descends into the mortal realm and becomes Su Su.

It’s there where she meets the prince Ye Hua who is the future ruler of the heavenly realms.

And I can’t reveal anything else without giving away the plot, which is quite layered and complex.  

In essence, it’s a fantasy romance story about destined lovers who fall in love as mortals and then as immortals. They face crazy trials along the way. It shows how love can be obsessive and how you can physically hurt the ones you love.

Despite how sad it got, this drama did have a happy ending. When I watch a drama, I want the angst, but I want the happy ending too.

10 Miles of Peach Blossoms was directed by the same woman who directed Love & Destiny and takes place in the same universe.

It's a perfect drama and it's one of my favourite dramas, so I gave it 5/5 stars. Because no other xianxia drama has ever been done so well. The storytelling and pacing was flawless. 

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8. August – You are My Glory

After watching The Girl From Nowhere, I needed to watch something sappy and happy, so I watched You are My Glory, starring Yang Yang and Dilraba Dilmurat. I cared less about the plot and more about seeing these two actors interact onscreen together.

You Are My Glory is about an aerospace engineer who falls for his childhood friend, who is now a famous actress.

Overall, I rate it a 4/5 with a low rewatch value.   

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9. September – An Incurable Case of Love

After Girl from Nowhere, I was still looking for a cheesy and easygoing drama, so I watched a Japanese drama for the first time, Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Doko Made mo.

It’s also known as An Incurable Case of Love and is based on a manga series by Maki Enjōji. It’s about Sakura Nanase who witnesses Dr. Tendo Kairi saving an old lady on the street and has a chance encounter with him.

She falls in love with him at first sight and makes it her mission in life to make him her husband. She ends up going to university for nursing and then the show officially starts with her first day at a hospital where Dr. Tendo Kairi is a cardiac surgeon.

I had second-hand embarrassment for Nanase during the show, but you still root for her to win over the aloof Dr. Tendo. When Kairi starts to like Nanase, everything gets better. The hero (Nanase) has defeated the demon (Kairi)!

I found it amusing how nosy the hospital staff were and how they were all rooting for Nanase to make Kairi fall in love with her.

In any case, I’ll be watching this 10-episode series whenever I’m in a slump or feeling low. It’s like pure serotonin in the form of a TV show. This drama is on the list of my favourite dramas because it has all the romance tropes I love, and Satoh Takeru is just perfect as Dr. Tendo Kairi.  

I rate it 4.8/5 with a high rewatch value. It loses 0.2 points for Nanase's dumbness and the pacing of some of the subplots.   

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10. October – All 5 Rurouni Kenshin Movies

Because of An Incurable Case of Love, I was open to watching Satoh Takeru as Himura Kenshin (also called Battousai) in Rurouni Kenshin. I don’t usually watch live-action anime, but this one had Japanese actors and was produced by Japanese studios, so my trust levels were higher. Plus, One OK Rock is associated with the series, so it had to be somewhat good.  

First, I watched The Beginning (2021), then I watched Rurouni Kenshin (2012), Kyoto Inferno (2014), The Legend Ends (2014), and The Final (2021) in that order. This was the best order to watch the movies in because you get the backstory of Rurouni Kenshin‘s past and then the other 3 movies show him in the “present” as a wandering samurai.

I mean it when I say The Beginning (2021) was LEGENDARY. I had low expectations, but they were blown out of the water and I couldn’t believe how cinematic and lush the film was.

The battle choreography was some of the best I’d ever seen. And what’s even better is that Takoh Satoru did all his stunts and most of his fighting in real-time. Considering how fast his character moved, it’s impressive.

I’ll be doing a review and story structure breakdown of The Beginning (2021) in a future blog post, but overall I give it 5/5 stars. It’s a masterpiece. To really enjoy this film, you’ll have to accept its slow pacing and dark, moody colour grading. 

This was actual art, so calling it an anime adaptation doesn’t feel right. Check it out on Netflix. 

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Now, the other 3 movies weren’t that great. I blame the simple plot, clichés, and the damsel in distress female character. The three other movies felt like anime adaptations and were dumbed down in comparison to The Beginning, which relies on the audience’s intelligence.  

I'd give each of the other 3 movies 3.5/5. As a whole, I like Rurouni Kenshin, and Kenshin as a character, so I give this series a high rewatch value.  

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11. November – Novoland: Pearl Eclipse

Wow! Novoland: Pearl Eclipse was an unexpected favourite of the year. It was on my radar because Yang Mi (the lead in 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms) was in it. Nevertheless, I wasn’t up for watching a tragic drama, as this show was rumoured to be.  

In addition, this was my first time watching a historical drama as it aired. I’d watch one episode before work and then another episode after work. It made November and early December so much fun and it gave me something to look forward to every day. It was also the first time I actively participated in MyDramaList’s discussion boards. I left so many comments and even wrote a review for this drama on the website.

There’s a master/disciple romance in Novoland: Pearl Eclipse. People are usually put off by that because tragedy tends to accompany this kind of romance. Unfortunately, this show was borderline tragic, but it ended on a bittersweet note, which made it bearable.  

Haishi (played by Yang Mi), lives in a fishing village and is the main character of the story. In this world, citizens must pay a tax to the emperor in the currency of mermaid tears. Yes, mermaid tears.

In order to pay the tax, Haishi’s father takes her out to sea with him. While they’re on the boat, Haishi’s father suddenly attempts to kill her as a means to summon the mermaid and cause the mermaid to cry. But, things don’t go exactly as planned.

After that scene, she meets Fang Jianming (played by William Chan), a mysterious man wearing a mask. He lets her live like a boy and takes her under his wing.  

Haishi becomes a disciple of Fang Jianming, who teaches her martial arts and literature.   

Eventually, when Haishi is a young adult, her crush on Fang Jianming turns into something more. For most of the series, Jianming rejects Haishi, but when he realizes how much he’s willing to risk for Haishi, Haishi’s one-sided love is reciprocated.  

Jianming’s backstory with the Emperor is very interesting too.  

This is a SPOILER ALERT: The Emperor’s backstory and character arc made me cry. In the beginning, I loved the Emperor a lot, then I hated his guts, and then I was neutral and then at the end, I cried so much. I had thug tears running down my cheeks.  

Here’s an excerpt of my review on MyDramaList:

This drama is a typical costume drama with court politics, schemes, epic battle sequences, and stunning costumes. Now, what makes it special is that there is a fantasy element to it. And it comes in the form of a mermaid. Unexpected, I know. The fantasy element plays a small role in the overall story, but an important one, nonetheless.

Also, there’s a romance between a student (Haishi) and a master (Fang Jianming).

With this information in mind, you expect that you’ll get a mix of court drama that ends with the main characters falling in love. And at its core, that’s exactly what the show gives you.

Except, it also gives you three very unlikeable characters at the start of the show (Haishi, Fang Jianming and the Emperor). One struggles with unrequited love, one is emotionally inept, and the other is taking grieving to a dark level. So, naturally, there are moments where you might dislike the show because the characters are dislikeable.

But this show makes it very clear halfway through, that it’s a story about massive character transformation. All these characters go from unlikeable to immensely likeable. And the acting is strong enough to make these transformations convincing.

And what keeps you watching the show, despite the frustrating slow-burn romance and some annoying subplots, is how unpredictable the show is. Trust me, once you start the first episode, you’ll see what I mean.

Read the full review here.

I give this drama 4.7/5. It loses 0.3 points for the uninteresting subplots and slow pacing. Also, this show put me through an emotional rollercoaster. This is one of my favourite dramas because it had a chokehold on me for a month. Honestly, it's the type of show you either like or you hate. And if you like it, you can't stop watching it after the first episode. 

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12. December – Fourtry 2

After Novoland, I needed something to get over it. I stumbled upon Fourtry Season 2 starring William Chan and it put my broken heart back together.

Fourtry Season 2 is a reality show about 5 Chinese celebrities who live in a house for 20 days and try to run a fashion store in Chengdu. Their goal is to make a large sum of money in 20 days.

Most of the fashion in the store is HYPEBEAST style, with lots of Chinese brands. I enjoyed the fashion, but my favourite part was watching these celebrities interact and sometimes bully William Chan.

In Pearl Eclipse, I saw William Chan’s serious side; in Fourtry, I saw his dorky, and goofy side. I didn’t expect to laugh so hard or like Ouyang Nana, Adam Fan, XIN or Grace Chow so much.

Seeing them get up, work in the store, make breakfast or dinner, wear pyjamas, or watch Adam Fan fail at reverse parking, was oddly refreshing. It reminded me of Terrace House, and I really enjoyed it.

I gave it a 4.9 out of 5. After watching Fourtry 2, I'd definitely watch more Chinese reality shows. It would be cool to see Dylan Wang or Yang Mi in one of these shows.  

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All in all, I added so many dramas to my favourite dramas last year. 2021 may have been a lousy year in every other way, but dramas definitely kept me sane.

Let me know if any of these shows piqued your interest!