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4.2/5 Stars: A surprisingly chill case study on gender equality packaged in a light hearted romantic comedy in which a foodie forced into marriage must square up against the patriarchy with the help of her girl squad, her farming know how, and her sickly husband. It's like the Barbie (2023) movie, but set in a Feudal Society.

3/5 Stars: A teenage tinker is forced to marry a fearsome general who she must outmaneuver and friend zone so she can ride into the sunset with her handsome prince.

Title: The Sleepless Princess (2020) Platform: Prime Video, Youtube (free), MGTV (Mango) MDL Rating: 8.0 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Fantasy Episode Count: 35 Last Episode Watched: 18 Parental Guidance Rating: TV-18+ (on Prime Video): Blood, Foul Language and Violence (This is in NO WAY TV-18. I'd say TV-14 or lower. And I don't recall any foul language, or at least it didn't pop up in the 18 eps I watched.) Starring: Zheng Ye Cheng (Brocade Odyssey) Hu Yi Xuan (How Dare You?

Title: The First Jasmine (2026) Platform: Viki, WeTV MDL Rating: 8.2 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Mystery Episode Count: 40 Last Episode Watched: 26 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Blood, Violence, Fear Starring: Bai Lu (Winter Begonia) Ryan Cheng (How Dare You?!) Cai Zheng Jie (Shadows of Desire) Yang Shu Yi (The Palace Stewardess) Feng Xue Ya (The Song of Glory) Wu Hao Chen (Pursuit of Jade) Synopsis: Li Ye marries Xiuyao Mo while her sister Ying Ye weds Li Ye's childhood f

Title: Everlasting Longing (2025) Platform: WeTV, Youtube (free), Viki, iflix, Tubi MDL Rating: 7.9 Genre: Period Idol Romance Episode Count: 30 Last Episode Watched: 4 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Violence and Blood Starring: Angelababy (The Wind Blows from Longxi) Song Wei Long (Go Ahead) Ren Hao (Pursuit of Jade) Bai Bing Ke (Si Jin) Synopsis: To outsiders in the Yannan region and beyond, Jun Qi Luo is Jun Fei Fan, the illegitimate son of the family, at a time when wom

Title: Decreed by Fate (2022) Platform: iQIYI MDL Rating: 7.8 Genre: Period Idol Romance/Comedy Episode Count: 16 (around 30 mns each) Last Episode Watched: 7 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Minor Violence Starring: Li Jiu Lin (Who Rules the World) Chen Fang Tong (Demon Hunter's Romance) Wu Chong Xuan (The Long Ballad) Xu Shao Hang (Be Yourself Synopsis: An imperial decree forces two strangers, a princess and a general, to become engaged. The princess does not care for the c

Title: Brocade Odyssey (2024) Platform: Youku, Viki, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 7.8 Genre: Period (Tang) Idol Romance/ Business Episode Count: 40 Last Episode Watched: 15 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Blood and Violence Starring: Tang Song Yun (Sword and Brocade) Zheng Ye Cheng (Seeds of Scarlet Longing) Jing Chao (Princess Silver) Chen Xiao Yun (New life Begins) Synopsis: During the Tang Dynasty, Ji Ying Ying from the Huanhua Dyeing Workshop and Zhao Xiu Yuan, her childh

Title: Kill Me, Love Me (2024) Platform: Youku, Viki, Netflix, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 7.9 Genre: Period Idol Romance Episode Count: 32 Last Episode Watched: 11 Parental Guidance Rating: TV-14: Fear, Violence, Blood, Brief Torture Starring: Liu Xie Yu (In Blossom) Wu Jin Yan (The Double) Bi Wen Jun (Warm on a Cold Night) Zhao Xiao Tang (The Immortal Ascension) Baron Chen (Heroes) Huang Ri Ying (A Splendid Match) Synopsis: Vowing to avenge her parents, Meilin becomes an ass

Title: In Blossom (2024) Platform: Youku, Viki, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 8.0 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Mystery/ Rebirth Episode Count: 32 Last Episode Watched: 21 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Violence and blood Starring: Ju Jing Yi (Veil of Shadows) Liu Xue Yi (Kill Me, Love Me) Wu Jia Yi (Glory in Shadows) Li Ge Yang (Dominion and Devotion) Qi Pei Xin (Love Beyond the Grave) Synopsis: Distrustful of Pan Yue after her past life's murder, Shangguan Zhi investigates ol

Title: A Journey to Love (2023) Platform: iQIYI MDL Rating: 8.7 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Wuxia Episode Count: 40 Last Episode Watched: 7 Parental Guidance Rating: PG (I'd give it PG-13): Violence, Blood, Torture Starring: Liu Shi Shi (Love in Pavillion) Liu Yu Ning (Prisoner of Beauty) Alen Fang (Zhan Zhao Adventures) He Lan Dou (Tower of Whispers) Chen You Wei (Love in Pavilion) Synopsis: Female assassin Ren Ru Yi, the former left envoy of the Scarlet Guards, becomes a me

Title: Coroner's Diary (2025) Platform: iQIYI MDL Rating: 8.6 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Case Breaking/ Investigative/ Mystery Episode Count: 38 Last Episode Watched: 21 Parental Guidance Rating: PG: (IQIYI sure do have them jokes, this is def TV-16 to MA fr). Mature themes, violence against women and children, corpses, severed heads and organs shown. I DNF'd so there could be more? Starring: Landy Li (Starry Love) Ao Rui Peng (Moonlight Mystique) Shen Yu Jie (Legend of Fei)

Title: The Glory (2025) 雁回时 Platform: WeTV, Viki MDL Rating: 8.3 Genre: Period (Ming) Idol Romance (ha) Episode Count: 30 Last Episode Watched: 17 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Violence, Blood, Brief Torture Starring: Chen Du Ling (Ashes to Crown) Xin Yun Lai (Legend of Shen Li) He Hong Shan (The Double) Yun En Tai (New Life Begins) Wen Zheng Rong (Love's Ambition) Synopsis: Abandoned as a child, Zhuang Han Yan grows up in the southern countryside before returning to her

Title: Fated Hearts (2025) 一笑随歌 Platform: iQIYI MDL Rating: 8.7 Genre: Period Idol Romance Episode Count: 38 Parental Guidance Rating: PG: Okay, in what universe? I'd say between TV-14 and TV-16 for torture, and lots of blood and violence. It's all very cheesily done, but it's still excessive. The vibes were off for me. Staring: Li Qin (Joy of Life) Chen Zhe Yuan (Chasing Dreams) Xia Meng (Rebirth) Chen He Yi (Princess Royal) Zuo Yao (My Journey to You) Qin Tian Yu (Threads o

Title: Youthful Glory (2025) 韶华若锦 Platform: MGTV (Mango), iQIYI, Viki, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 8.2 Genre: Period (Tang-ish) Idol Romance Episode Count: 30 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Some martial arts and fake throat slashing-- the usual Staring: Song Wei Long (Love For You) Bao Shang En (Never Ending Summer) Dai Lu Wa (Moonlight Mystique) Ke Ying (A Familiar Stranger) RBTS Rating: 2.4/5 Stars (Youthful Glory is a fluffy, brainless romp in the same vein as Royal Rumor

Title: A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College (2021) 国子监来了个女弟子 Platform: WeTV, Viki, MGTV (Mango), iflix, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 8.0 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Comedy Episode Count: 30 Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Minor violence and blood Staring: Zhao Lu Si (Love Like the Galaxy) Xu Kai Cheng (Novoland: Pearl Eclipse) Ren Hao (Pursuit of Jade) An Yong Chang (Dusk Love) Ao Rui Peng (Coroner's Diary) Zhang Yue (Love Like the Galaxy) RBTS Rating: 2.4/5 Stars

3.4/5 Stars: A ruthless Princess reborn must find herself a Prince... and the sickly Crown Prince is determined to the one she picks, in a Period Idol Drama that explores unrequited love and sharing power that was a lively garden of handsome men and interesting scheming from a distance, but up close, proved to be flat idol centric origami at work. Nevertheless, some enjoyment is to be had.

Title: Rise from the Ashes (2024) Platform: WeTV, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 7.6 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Rebirth Episode Count: 24 (10 mns per episode) Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Somewhat edgier in the romance department for a C-Drama, but not explicit. Staring: Jian Zhi Nan (When I Fly Towards You) Li Chung Lin (A Girl Like Me) Zha Jie (Be Yourself) Liu Bei Ge (Justice in the Dark) RBTS Rating: 3/5 Stars (A reborn girl with a grudge and a man set on revenge dupe th

Title: A Familiar Stranger (2022) Platform: Youtube (free), Viki, MGTV (Mango), iQIYI MDL Rating: 8.3 Genre: Period Idol Romance/ Rebirth (Kinda) Episode Count: 18 (12 mns per episode) Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: More edgy vibes. Intimacy alluded to, fade to black scene, some violence and blood. The FL is a "boudoir" artist at the beginning. Staring: Ke Ying (Perfect Match) Kay Song (Hard to Find) Ryan Cheng (My Journey to You) Wang Ze Xuan (Fate Chooses You) RBTS Rating

Title: Threads of Destiny (2025) Platform: WeTV, Viki, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 7.9 Genre: Period (Ming) Idol Romance, Rebirth Episode Count: 26 (15 mns per ep) Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Violence and bloodshed, domestic violence, rape mentioned, miscarriage, some characters wear more revealing tops in a couple Staring: Zhu Li Lan (Love in the Clouds) Qin Tian Yu (Fated Hearts) Mu Le En (Whispers of Fate) Wang Ze Xuan (Fate Chooses You) Ma Jun Ke (Coroner's Diary) Han

Title: Dominion and Devotion (2025) Platform: WeTV, Youtube (free) MDL Rating: 8.0 Genre: Period Idol Romance Episode Count: 24 (16 mns per episode) Parental Guidance Rating: PG-13: Violence, Blood, Torture Staring: Li Ge Yang (In Blossom) Huang Hao Yue (Shine on Me) Bai Hai Tao (How Dare You?!) Zhang Yuan Yu (Mystic Nine) RBTS Rating: 3/5 Stars (A better than usual mini with an interesting premise and a disappointing finish) Synopsis: As the Great Ning Dynasty falls into tur