It’s officially EOY season, which is when we look back on our drama years, and decide which dramas were worthy of our love, and which dramas we maybe shouldn’t have spent as much time on, as we did. 😁

As before, we’ll be seeing up to 2 guest posts per week, and this will unfold into January 2025, and my annual year-in-review will come out in early 2025, after all the guest posts have been published.

This way, by putting all our experiences together, we get a more wholistic view of Dramaland in 2024. Pretty great, yes? 🤩

If you missed our earlier posts, you can check it out here: Sean, Deni+JJ, Natalia.

Today, I’m pleased to announce that Ele’s sharing her drama year!

The more I get to know Ele, the more I’m convinced that she has a very creative mind as well as a very passionate heart, and is very talented in expressing it all.

If you enjoyed our recent Dream Drama Dark, on which Ele and j3ffc worked together, I think you’d get an extra kick out of Ele’s post this year. 😁

If you like Ele’s style and want to know what she thought about dramas last year, you can check out her post here!

You might also like to visit Ele’s website, where she talks about art and writing.

I hope you guys enjoy!

~ KFG ❤️

Buffy the Vampire Slayer,

Once More with CDRAMA Feeling!

First published 28.12.2024

Hello from chilly England! It’s me, Ele, previous blogger of the two Pride and Prejudice mashups in both Kdrama (here) and Cdrama (here). When I’m not at the mercy of a three-year-old, I am also an artist and a writer (here).

I do enjoy a Korean drama but in recent years I have become quite the fan of Chinese drama. And some of you may have gathered from @j3ffc’s epically excellent Dark (here), that I’m a Buffy the Vampire Slayer enthusiast too.

For those uninitiated in the world of Buffy, it is a film, TV series, plus spin-off TV series called Angel, and a myriad of novels and graphic novels where a “chosen” girl called Buffy must save the world from vampires and demons in an upbeat and perky fashion.

Suffice to say, it is full of engaging humour and pathos and portrays with style and substance the emotional rollercoaster of growing up. But why am I harking on about it here?

Well, owed primarily to @j3ffc’s Dark, and with the advent of this blog’s entertaining end of year reviews, I had my own mad idea, triggered by the opening of Chinese drama, The Double. In it, poor buried-by-her-husband-for-an-affair-she-never-had Xue Fangfei’s hand shoots up from the fresh soil of her grave.

You see, yoiks, it is an echo of a scene from Buffy, where our heroine too is dead and, hand breaking out of the graveyard soil, returns alive! Yes, yes, I thought, it’s totally meant to be!!

So here I am here to bring you a new mash-up: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once More with Cdrama Feeling!

Cdrama Shows Watched

My Cdrama viewings this year total thirteen, in various genres (predominantly period, fantasy, historical – oops, I seem to have bypassed the present day). I chose to watch them based on kfangurl (or someone on Patreon) recommending them, or because it stars (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning, or I just like the trailer.

But how well do they match up to the high bar set by Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Who is ready to find out? Five-by-five!

The Music: The Grrr-aaargh Award

“They got the mustard out!”

Speaking of (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning – because I often do speak of him, let’s be honest – we’ll scissor kick things off with a punchy OST. Buffy the Vampire Slayer has a crunching theme tune which sets the tone for the meaningful anarchic action the show’s about to deliver, or at least, it seems like music vampires would listen to.

Cdrama pretty much always has OSTs worth listening to. The intros and outros are a highlight for me. Whether it’s the sumptuous melody and gilded graphics of The Story of Pearl Girl, or the squealing call to action in the opening of The Legend of ShenLi, or the amusing dance outros of Fangs of Fortune, I am hooked.

But the Grrr-aaargh Award goes to the wonderous OST for Heroes (the 2024 series) here. Like the especial brilliance of an episode of Buffy called Once More with Feeling, many of the actors of Heroes sing on the OST.

The swagger of an opener is a Wild West drunks-singing-together-before-battle lament which, frankly, should be horrible but is in fact genius. It makes me smile and at the same time sorrowful.

You may switch it off or listen as you read – there are less raucous songs on it too, such as the outro song, The Universe by (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning – the finest of fine OST performers, naturally.

The Heroine

Buffy: The Mr Pointy Stake Award

“In every generation, there is a chosen one.”

Buffy never asked to be “chosen” but hey, the stakes are high and, hehem, her staking higher, dusting (almost) every vampire who comes her way with aplomb.

She’s an optimistic trooper, the kind of female lead I love: resilient but vulnerable, loyal and conscientious but not without flaws, and with a strong moral compass while never seeming prissy.

For me, when Cdrama is good, the female lead possesses these kinds of attributes. From Lui Shishi’s forthright fighting skills as Ren Ruyi in the excellent A Journey to Love, to Ni Ni’s spirited Yi Liuxi in Parallel World, to the palpable vulnerabilities of Zhao Jin Mai’s Li Rong in The Princess Royal, Cdrama in recent years has really shone in terms of female characters.

And, of course, I did mention the whole hand emerging out of her grave thing, right? Even when all is lost and actually they’re dead, they still (almost always) survive.

I could choose Zhao Liying’s impressive ShenLi in The Legend of ShenLi. Fierce, protective, and with a powerful sense of responsibility, ShenLi is Buffy in God-form with a wardrobe Buffy would die for. Zhao Liying is magnificent in The Story of Minglan, as well as Princess Agents, and is stellar as ShenLi.

But the winner of the Buffy Mr Pointy Stake Award goes to Wu Jin Yan for both her impossible survival instincts as the aforementioned Jiang Li in The Double, as well as Mei Lin in Kill Me, Love Me. This actress knows just how to convey inner strength despite a whole core of hurting.

Despite a multitude of unforgivable crimes against both characters, Mei Lin in Kill Me, Love Me and Jiang Li in The Double remain like Buffy: just and true.

The Scoobies

Every strong female lead needs a crew of friends around her. Buffy’s are affectionately called the Scoobies, you know, after Scooby Doo. If you’ve never heard of Scooby Doo, it’s… I can’t help you.

Cdrama’s Scoobies often involve subordinates who are kind of friends, kind of colleagues, kind of servants, kind of confidantes. Like in Buffy, they’re there to support the boss, both male and female leads, and can provide pleasant light relief and emotional heart.

Willow: The Wicca Book of Spells Award

“Panic is a thing people can share in times of crisis.”

Scooby Willow transforms from a slightly nerdy, shy high schooler into a formidably powerful witch. Yes, she delves a bit too deep into the magic box, but even then, she never loses that beautiful connection to her friends.

For me, Huang Yiring earns the Wicca Book of Spells Award. Her Concubine Yan in Kill Me, Love Me, and Tong Sai’er in Follow Your Heart embody the warmth, loyalty, and sensitive eagerness of Willow.

It does help that in her role as Tong Sai’er in Follow Your Heart she has a thing with gorgeous Ryan Cheng’s Shang Bieli. Although he is criminally under-used in the show, it is all very sweet until the unintentionally embarrassing, awkward kiss… Yikes!

Xander: The She-Mantis Award

“We’re right behind you, only further back.”

Scooby Xander, always ready with a funny quip and a perfectly reasonable desire to not die, also has the most courage – no supernatural power or training, he’s still there fighting the good fight and being there. Well, unless he’s due to get married, but that’s another story (see Anya below).

In Cdrama, the male lead’s friend is almost always their subordinate. It makes the dynamic sometimes a bit… off. However, when the lead is a totally decent person trying to rebalance a huge injustice, it can provide a wonderful camaraderie.

I’m thinking Yu Yong Hai’s Kang Ju in The Story of Pearl Girl, who is both growly and tender toward boss Yan Zijing, played by (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning. Or Alen Feng’s Yu Shisan in A Journey to Love, whose support role is pretty much equal to leader Ning Yaunzhou, played by (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning. For a choice not related to (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning, Gao Han’s Cui Liang in Love of Nirvana is also very nice.

But I will give Xander’s She-Mantis Award to Tian Jia Rui’s Zhuo Yichen in Fangs of Fortune. Tian Jia Rui is brilliant, isn’t he? Great in My Journey to You and so very likeable in Fangs of Fortune.

I enjoyed him much more than either of the other two leads (played by Chen Du Ling and Neo Hou) – though his burgeoning bromance with the latter is a big highlight of the show.

Dawn: The Sulky Face Whatever Award

“So Dawn’s in trouble. Must be Tuesday.”

Scooby Dawn was a key and not real, but she also becomes Buffy’s sister and then she is real. Confused? Don’t worry! Cdrama is never so abstract. Essentially, Dawn is the mei mei trying desperately to be a grown up. Simultaneously needing to be noticed and to prove independence.

Characters like this can get annoying. However, Lester Lin, ethereal and ancient in My Journey to Love, and nervy (that scream!) and needy in Fangs of Fortune, manages to imbue a sense of loneliness in both roles that belies his age.

The Sulky Face Whatever Award can only go to one teen, though: Ai Mi. She already caught my eye in My Journey to You (and was apparently also in Who Rules the World but I can’t quite place her) and is only improving, first as Tong Er in The Double, and then in her role as Qing Geng in Fangs of Fortune.

Sixteen, people. She’s sixteen!!

Dubious Love Interests

Angel: The Angel Wings Award

“If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.”

A vampire cursed to have a soul, Angel is full of self-loathing, desperately trying to atone for his sins when he was (or at least once every season, is) a soulless vampire. Cripplingly unsociable yet longing for connection. Living in the shadows yet willing to save strangers. He is the kind of hero Cdrama is made for.

Liu Xue Yi’s Prince Murong in Kill Me, Love Me, seems bad at the start of the series but is in fact quite heroic and swoony – though I can’t forgive his “training” of Mei Lin.

But the Angel Wings Award goes to Qin Jun Jie’s tremendous performance as Men Sendao in Heroes (2024 version). Tasked with one mission, his beliefs and loyalties are tested, yet he’s always honourable and intelligent and just magnificent. He never imposes himself too much and he moves with the times. He’s flexible.

I mean, I LOVE him! The fantastic camaraderie he builds with the disparate men around him is handled so nicely. All the relationships are meaningful and feel equal.

Angelus: The Angelus Lumpy Forehead Award

“She made me feel like a human being. That’s not the kinda thing you just forgive.”

But wait, I can’t really ignore a key aspect of Angel: without a soul, he becomes Angelus, an out-and-out evil, merciless, unconscionable vampire. I mean, he’s Bad. Think Wu Lei’s General Ling in Love Like the Galaxy at that birthday party. Or Luo Yunxi’s Devil God in Til the End of the Moon. In Cdrama, when male leads act out, things can get as bloody as Angelus at a bare-neck convention.

My Angelus Lumpy Forehead Award goes to Pang Hen Chen’s Wang Jialuo in Heroes (2024). Where Men Sendao was able to change, and for the better, Wang Jialuo does not. He’s on many occasions like The Terminator in his unstoppable pursuit of “right”. The rules he follows are the only rules there are and it’s this single, bloody mindedness that makes him so lethal – and foolish.

I enjoyed his character more than some. I like that he was relentlessly unchanged, even if it is sad to watch. It’s a good lesson in how not to live life.

Spike: The Bottle of Hair Bleach Award

“Who do you kill for fun around here?”

Ah, Spike. Now, I should say that when I first watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was young and thought his bleached blonde hair and killer cheekbones made him way cooler than brooding, morose, sometimes-very-evil, Angel. Now I’m older, wiser, heck, I still say the same, but I temper my enthusiasm with a “he’s not everyone’s cup of tea”.

Spike is punk, savage, speaks before thinking, has a streak of kindness not even being a vampire can diminish and loves Buffy until it makes them both sick. It’s all kinds of messed up. But in the final series and with a soul he sought himself, he says this to a beleaguered, battle-worn Buffy:

“When I say I love you, it’s not because I want you, or because I can’t have you – it has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try.”

Now tell me, who wouldn’t want to hear that? Even it is from a 200-year-old vampire.

A lead character who starts out trying to murder their potential love interest… Surely that should be rare? Surprisingly, erm, no. A Journey to Love, My Journey to You, Kill Me, Love Me all start out with would-be assassins of their ultimate soulmate. It seems to be A Thing in Cdrama.

But the Bottle of Hair Bleach Award goes to Ren Jia Lun’s Wei Jiao in Love of Nirvana. I kid you not, he tries murdering Landy Li’s Jiang Ci several times without even blinking. How could they possibly go from that set up to falling in love?

Well, while I was never convinced that she could, or ever should, put those murder attempts behind her, I was persuaded Wei Jiao did fall for her. And in true Spike form, it is quite pitiful.

Riley: The Best Beige Sweater Award

“But she doesn’t love me.”

You know, Riley isn’t the most loved character in the Buffyverse. Too beige. Too ordinary for someone as extraordinary as Buffy. And, well, she just didn’t love him.

There is always That Guy in Cdrama too, the close-but-not-quite second fiddle. There to sacrifice and save the day and generously wish his fair lady well, but never to take centre stage. They’re not bad characters (and maybe that’s the problem). They’re just too good.

Bi Wen Jun’s Yue Qin in Kill Me, Love Me is OK. You know, he’s a prince, he’s devoted. He should make the perfect love interest. But unlike his sharper, (literally) warmer character in Warm on a Cold Night, he’s stuck with being left out in the cold.

However, Riley’s Best Beige Sweater Award goes to Jeremy Tsui’s Pei Yan in Love of Nirvana. I keep thinking, darn it, if he wasn’t so overprotective-in-a-suffocating-possessive-way (certainly the red flags we should all run away from) he’d have been lovely*.

*Note, dear reader, because he is overprotective-in-a-suffocating-possessive-way, she was right to steer clear – though running into the murder-y arms of Ren Jia Lun’s Wei Jiao in my humble opinion, was not the answer…

The Relationships: The Tara Award

“I’m under your spell.”

As discussed, Buffy’s relationships with men aren’t the most functional, and more often than not, neither are they in Cdrama. However, in Buffy, there is Willow and Tara who withstand (mostly intact until one of them isn’t) the trials and tribulations that living on the Hellmouth brings.

My top healthy relationship picks include Luo Yunxi’s Jiang Xinbai in Follow Your Heart where no matter what form Song Yi’s Yan Nanxing takes, and despite having facial blindness, he starts to recognise and love her. Yes, the premise is daft, but I like the sentiment that appearances are secondary to connection.

But the Tara Award goes to Wang Xing Yue’s stern but dashing Duke Su and Wi Jin Yan’s Jiang Li in The Double. From the start, he notices her, understands her, trusts her.

Their relationship and heady dynamic reminds me of Chen Xiao’s Gu Qianfan and Liu Yifei’s Zhao Pan’er in A Dream of Splendour. They both remain intelligent and independent, supporting each other in their quests to right wrongs, and without once trying to kill each other – hooray!

Duke Su is the kind of man Buffy really needs. Jiang Li says it all when, drunk, she tells him “You are so handsome.” Yes. She is not wrong.

The Kiss: The Where Do We Go from Here Award

“But I just wanna feel.”

Kissing in Buffy isn’t a regular event but when it happens, it’s, well, something to sit up and take notice. Or maybe that’s just me… Anyho, no end of year ramble would be complete without a little goggle-eyed glance at the best kiss in Cdrama!

There are a couple that I think are quite nice. Gu Zi Cheng’s Liu Ruoqian and Sebrina Chen’s Jiang Suoluo in Follow Your Heart – while the tertiary pairing in the drama – put on by a mile the best kiss. Led by her, I find it one of the highlights of the whole show. But again, maybe that’s just me 😳😅

And, inevitably given just how handsome he is, when it finally comes Wang Xing Yue’s Duke Su and Wi Jin Yan’s Jiang Li’s kiss in The Double is very melty 🫠

However, I might have mentioned I love (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning, so here, take it, gorgeous man and the always lovely Zhao Lusi as Duanwu: The Where Do We Go From Here Award for their kiss in The Story of Pearl Girl. In an otherwise tepid romance, it had total feeling (yes, feel free to do it once more).

What’s that? Talk you through it? If you insist…

Honestly, head to the endings of this blog if you want a spoiler…

The Big Bad (see also “Dubious Love Interests” above): The Big Bad Award

“I am the one who will bring about the end of days.”

Antagonistic forces can make or break a series. Buffy has some wonderful adversaries (The Master, Glory, and my personal favourites, Mayor Richard Wilkins, and Druisilla). There are also weak ones (Adam, Warren… blah, blah, blah). Anyway, Cdramas too can fall foul of the weak antagonist…

And I have struggled to choose this one. There’s Li Meng’s Princess Wanning in The Double – quite possibly the most unhinged. I was quite taken with Yan An’s Li Lun in Fangs of Fortune. He has a glitteringly dark look about him that I appreciate. But maybe the soured friendship with Neo Hou’s Zhou Yuanzhou made me sympathise with him too much. He doesn’t seem all that bad to be the Big Bad.

So I have opted for an out-and-out villain. The Big Bad Award goes to Baron Chen’s shockingly evil Murong Xuanli in Kill Me, Love Me. If he’d had a smidge of humour to him, I think he would have been excellent. As it is, he is entirely OTT – I swear there’s gnashing of teeth at one stage – and his disregard of life is jaw-dropping.

Never have I seen a human character quite so reprehensibly bad, made all the more startling when I’d also just seen Baron Chen in Heroes (the 2022 version, confusingly also starring – squeeeee 😍 – Liu Yu Ning) where he is the fair and heroic Su Mengzhen.

Fun fact: Baron Chen’s real-life father was the Taiwanese gangster Chen Qi Li, nicknamed “Dry Duck”.

The Mentor: The Library Card Award

Giles

“I believe the subtext here is rapidly becoming text.”

All dramas need a teacher to guide the way, set some boundaries, be the voice of reason. I’ve noticed in Cdramas that these roles are few and far between – the leads often seem smart enough not to require a sage’s guidance.

Yue Yao Li’s chief eunuch in Kill Me, Love Me, though, has a gently reassuring fatherly-grandfatherly manner – and, boy, does that Emperor need it.

But the Library Card Award goes to Zhang Linghe’s Pei Wenxuan in The Princess Royal. He’s the perfect example of how a lead character is the teacher – and, yes, he has the advantage, what with having lived the same life already. But unlike the female lead, Zhao Jin Mai’s Li Rong, who has also lived the life before, he is insightful and wise.

I really liked his generally calm, soft way of speaking in this drama – quite a contrast to his more volatile turn in The Story of Kunning Palace.

The Outsiders

In Buffy, there are characters who exist on the periphery. Not quite accepted as Scoobies, but always on hand to tell the main characters and hangers-on that they’re being stupid. Buffy (and Angel) have highly memorable Outsiders – some of whom are so brilliant (hello Cordelia and Harmony!) that they become acceptable enough to join the team.

 Anya: It Must Be Bunnies (or Shrimp) Award

“I was being patient. But it took too long.”

Outsider Anya was introduced as a vengeance demon. Then she became an ex-demon who still totally behaved like a demon trying to be human until, literally and very painfully following Xander’s horrendous dumping before their wedding, she becomes a vengeance demon again.

Telling it like it is, she is good value viewing. For example, following the death of Buffy’s mum, she says this:

“I don’t understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she’s… there’s just a body, and I don’t understand why she just can’t get back in it and not be dead anymore! It’s stupid! It’s mortal and stupid! And, and Xander’s crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well Joyce will never have any more fruit punch, ever, and she’ll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why.”

I dare anyone not to be bawling. People who say things as they are can be unsettling, but they make great TV characters.

The It Must Be Bunnies (or Shrimp) Award goes to Wen Zheng Rong as scheming-funny Princess of Jiang in Follow Your Heart, and as scheming-scary Rong Yudie in Love of Nirvana.

I found her a bit too subdued in My Journey to You, but in both of these shows she makes her presence felt. I especially like her in impatient mode with daggers for eyes. I wouldn’t argue with her – but I wouldn’t want her on my team either!

Faith: The Five-by-Five Award

“If I’d had friends like you in High School, I’d have still dropped out, but I mighta been sad about it.”

Outsider Faith is also a vampire slayer, chosen because Buffy died. But then Buffy is alive again making two slayers, ying and yang. Full of insecurities, Faith’s always on the outside looking in at the wholesome Scoobies. She’s fighting the good(ish) fight, just not the goody-two-shoes one. I love her for it.

Smart, fearless, rough and tangled, Faith is the type of character who usually suffers a fate worse than death. But I’m happy to report, Faith doesn’t die and Cdrama leaves a few like her intact as well.

Step up Chloe Xie and take a bow while you receive Faith’s eyeroll – I mean, the Five-by-Five Award. Xie takes the initially super-annoying Cui Shijui in The Story of Pearl Girl and makes her refreshingly blunt, authentic, and (ultimately) honourable.

Much like our Faith, she’s an edgier enemy-turned-frenemy-turned-friend to our purer female lead. I really wanted her to do well and was much more invested in her character than Zhao Lusi’s Duanwu.

The Ending

“The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.”

Despite dying twice, Buffy does manage to survive all seven series, along with the Scoobies. Alas, not quite so true for many others, mostly demons or ex-demons or demons with souls.

And it is also true in Cdrama, where many a good, beloved, redeemed character finds themselves dead by the finale. I know now to prepare myself that if a character has killed one too many times, they’re unlikely to see the show out.

*SPOILER ALERT* Since the happy shining ending for Haodu in The Long Ballad, it seems it’s in (squeeeee 😍) Liu Yu Ning’s contract that his character must die… If A Journey to Love wasn’t gut-wrenching enough, Heroes (2022 and 2024 versions) holds a similarly painful demise, and The Story of Pearl Girl is even more cruel. I can’t take it anymore!! Someone cast him in something where he lives to see the credits roll, please! *SPOILER ENDETH*

The finale of Buffy (and later Angel) is full of survival against the odds and hope in that survival, the promise of a better future or one where evil no longer exists. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Did any Cdramas manage this kind of sentiment in their finale…?

Erm…

Well…

There was… wasn’t there?

Somewhere…?

OK, some do finish with a decent ending. So like the best episode of Buffy, Once More With Feeling, I will finish this on a kiss too in the hope more Cdramas in 2025 end a tad more happily. You’re welcome 🙂

Well gosh, that brings an end to this unlikely blog mash-up! Thank you, as always, kfangurl, for allowing us all loose on here, and especially for allowing this fangirl to segue a series wholly unconnected to Asian drama into an end of year post!!

~Ele