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schneefinkI have not completely forgotten about the December talking meme questions (though I should have known from the start that I would not manage to answer them all in December.) eglantiere wanted to know if there is something in specific I like about cdramas/donghuas/webnovels etc, as opposed to western media.
I haven't watched any donghua, and I only read one webnovel but it was a (comparatively) short one and good but not outstanding in any way, so I'll talk about cdramas.
My introduction to cdramas was Nirvana in Fire, which is one of the best TV shows I've watched period, with a fantastic plot and wonderful characters and so pretty. Next was Guardian, which is wonderfully tropey and has great h/c and has several technical flaws but the character stuff is mostly excellent. And lastly, The Untamed, which has a good plot and character stuff and exciting action and is also very pretty. Oh and I almost forgot Oh My General, which I only watched halfway because we lost interest but most of the episodes we did watch had fun tropes and were entertaining.
Overall I think I was lucky in my choices, but there are some common elements that I enjoy a lot when contrasted with western media. For example, the format: one long ~50 episode drama has distinct pacing advantages over TV shows split into several seasons, especially since it's often not clear from the beginning how many seasons there will be.
The cdramas I've watched and many I've heard about have a great mix of tropes and genre and story elements that I love, like h/c and loyalty kink in various forms and plotting and often fantasy elements etc. Though that could be because I usually hear about them from fandom friends who have similar interests ^^
For NiF and The Untamed in particular, and to a lesser extent Guardian and Oh My General, I love the costumes and action scenes. I also love those in Western period shows but I'm a lot more used to those and maybe because of that often find them less interesting. In NiF and The Untamed and Oh My General the settings are also very pretty.
I think I also simply appreciate the variety. I've watched a lot of Western and especially American and British TV and movies over the years, it's just nice to watch something different. (I also used to watch anime, but that's different from live-action. In Japanese live-action I watched Gokusen 2, which was nice but not really my favorite genre.) Every once in a while I hope to stumble upon something to watch in Russian too, for example, but so far no luck (though I haven't looked that hard), and I'm open to things from other countries as well, as long as they have decent English subtitles. Though cdramas do have the big advantage that DD can translate and explain all the Chinese background that I would miss, that is very convenient and often interesting.
My favorite cdrama is definitely Nirvana in Fire. I'm not always in the mood for it, and nowadays I read more The Untamed fic because they often take less emotional energy for some reason, but NiF is just so good.
eglantiere wanted to know if there is something in specific I like about cdramas/donghuas/webnovels etc, as opposed to western media.I haven't watched any donghua, and I only read one webnovel but it was a (comparatively) short one and good but not outstanding in any way, so I'll talk about cdramas.
My introduction to cdramas was Nirvana in Fire, which is one of the best TV shows I've watched period, with a fantastic plot and wonderful characters and so pretty. Next was Guardian, which is wonderfully tropey and has great h/c and has several technical flaws but the character stuff is mostly excellent. And lastly, The Untamed, which has a good plot and character stuff and exciting action and is also very pretty. Oh and I almost forgot Oh My General, which I only watched halfway because we lost interest but most of the episodes we did watch had fun tropes and were entertaining.
Overall I think I was lucky in my choices, but there are some common elements that I enjoy a lot when contrasted with western media. For example, the format: one long ~50 episode drama has distinct pacing advantages over TV shows split into several seasons, especially since it's often not clear from the beginning how many seasons there will be.
The cdramas I've watched and many I've heard about have a great mix of tropes and genre and story elements that I love, like h/c and loyalty kink in various forms and plotting and often fantasy elements etc. Though that could be because I usually hear about them from fandom friends who have similar interests ^^
For NiF and The Untamed in particular, and to a lesser extent Guardian and Oh My General, I love the costumes and action scenes. I also love those in Western period shows but I'm a lot more used to those and maybe because of that often find them less interesting. In NiF and The Untamed and Oh My General the settings are also very pretty.
I think I also simply appreciate the variety. I've watched a lot of Western and especially American and British TV and movies over the years, it's just nice to watch something different. (I also used to watch anime, but that's different from live-action. In Japanese live-action I watched Gokusen 2, which was nice but not really my favorite genre.) Every once in a while I hope to stumble upon something to watch in Russian too, for example, but so far no luck (though I haven't looked that hard), and I'm open to things from other countries as well, as long as they have decent English subtitles. Though cdramas do have the big advantage that DD can translate and explain all the Chinese background that I would miss, that is very convenient and often interesting.
My favorite cdrama is definitely Nirvana in Fire. I'm not always in the mood for it, and nowadays I read more The Untamed fic because they often take less emotional energy for some reason, but NiF is just so good.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-05 05:35 pm (UTC)what russian stuff did you watch? what would you like to watch? most current tv isn't worth the price of admission, for the variety of reasons, but there's been some lovely stuff made over the years as a whole. the problem is subtitles, but you can find some...
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Date: 2021-01-05 11:37 pm (UTC)I have no idea why I never thought about asking you for Russian TV/movie recommendations! If you have any recs, I'd like something not overly angsty/depressive, and something that has actual colors; other than that, we like similar tropes so I'd rely on your taste. If it's easier to find I could also try watching with Russian subtitles and see how that goes.
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Date: 2021-01-06 07:37 am (UTC)okay first of all! classic three musketeers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bYdL3kcc6o
(it's a musical! it's a comedy! it's filmed for three rubles apiece! the music is done on cassio keyboard! i don't care, it's literally the best and truest 3m adaptation ever conceived. behold young boyarsky, the heartthrob of the generation).
the dog in the manger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ti4wAMyHI (after this lope de vegas play).
my mom's favorite, one of the best soviet costumed play-films, everybody is a sleazy asshole, the UST is off all the charts. performed entirely in verse.
a man from the boulevard of capucinos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZzsIncaVo
aka the story of a guy trying to civilize some cowboys via the newly-invented movies. i... don't remember much about this movie, lol, but it's one of the classics, and I hope you get a kick out of soviet-imagined cowboys. a musical comedy.
classic sherlock holmes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhujgY6m0RQ
ivan vasilievich changes his occupation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a50qT9bW2Qo
(time travel, shenanigans, slight satire, loosely based on bulgakov's book.)
in less soviet stuff, there's brother, aka russian noir with questionable politics but Important ost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw6cDYEd8Dw&list=PLUqXLVIhFhqTv-OCXGFUJCst4MOVNzt15
(don't watch the second part, where the politics worse and the ost deteriorates)
the needle! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z91WYOewHG4
aka the action/adventure movie with the Russian rock legend victor tsoi being vulnerable, inscrutable and pretty in it. classic kino ost.
and on animation front, classic soviet mowgli: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIOo6oKdLCQ&list=PLsABmu-DQz-4RwIlEl_Qf4gUHndT6pQIF&index=50
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Date: 2021-01-06 07:45 am (UTC)and in old movies, there's a very classical hamlet, but sadly sans subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXwb_eMe8Tg
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Date: 2021-01-05 10:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-05 11:45 pm (UTC)