Have K Dramas been surpassed by C Dramas?

nope it dont

I wouldn't say surpassed, C-Dramas now seem to maybe be about as popular as K-Dramas were about 5 - 10 years ago though and are on a good way. I think they'd have the potential to possibly surpass K-Dramas in a few years more IF NOT for the political situation which might turn some people in Western countries and in those Asian countries somewhat at odds with China currently off C-Dramas more than K-Dramas, and we don't know how that situation will develop further - maybe it will improve, maybe it will worsen, but with the current situation I can't really see C-Dramas getting the kind of positive portrayal in Western press that K-Dramas have been getting the past 1 - 2 years anytime soon and without that I think it's hard to say that they could surpass K-Dramas in popularity.

Quality-wise... I have to say lately I've also been watching more C- than K-Dramas but I think that's mostly because of the quantity. There are usually at least about 3 C-Dramas premiering every week while for K-Dramas 3 new ones a week (full-length dramas, not counting those webdramas with 10 min eps) is pretty much the maximum for premiere-heavy weeks. There are a lot more bad Chinese dramas than Korean ones (it seems like getting a production running for a Korean drama is super competetive so the bar is quite high), but due to the sheer number it's also very common to find decent ones. China's biggest strength for international success is Xianxia/Wuxia I think, they do that best and it's pretty much a unique selling point since there isn't really anything quite like those genres in other countries. Modern romances still often seem like B-rate versions of classic K-Dramas but from time to time there are some decent ones that make me think China is slowly finding its own Modern romance style. I'm personally not a huge fan of Crime/Thriller but it seems Korea is still far ahead in that, iQiyi's Lights On Series is giving hope for China there though.

Quote from Flowercrew

You didn't like 10 miles of peach blossom? Which modern cdramas you find cliched? If Wanna avoid that, tbh.

Yeah, Empresses in the Palace off the top of my head is sooo good. Of course, Nirvana in Fire too.

For modern Cdramas, Put your head on my shoulders is really cute. Also, I find their slice of life dramas really good. But that's just me.

Almost every non historical period rom com & family cdramas are cliche.

Put your head on my shoulder is cute but its just typical rom com that can be found in jdrama & kdrama like million times, 10 miles of peach blossom is wuxia, fantasy drama, i have said those have interesting plot & story but the thing is the poor cgi, bad acting & voice dubbing makes everything off to me. Only wuxia i have beared to watch was The Untamed. Only high quality ones are those historical, political ones as u have mentioned Empresses in the Palace, Nirvana in Fire etc.

Quote from earthcitizen

I wouldn't say surpassed, C-Dramas now seem to maybe be about as popular as K-Dramas were about 5 - 10 years ago though and are on a good way. I think they'd have the potential to possibly surpass K-Dramas in a few years more IF NOT for the political situation which might turn some people in Western countries and in those Asian countries somewhat at odds with China currently off C-Dramas more than K-Dramas, and we don't know how that situation will develop further - maybe it will improve, maybe it will worsen, but with the current situation I can't really see C-Dramas getting the kind of positive portrayal in Western press that K-Dramas have been getting the past 1 - 2 years anytime soon and without that I think it's hard to say that they could surpass K-Dramas in popularity.

Quality-wise... I have to say lately I've also been watching more C- than K-Dramas but I think that's mostly because of the quantity. There are usually at least about 3 C-Dramas premiering every week while for K-Dramas 3 new ones a week (full-length dramas, not counting those webdramas with 10 min eps) is pretty much the maximum for premiere-heavy weeks. There are a lot more bad Chinese dramas than Korean ones (it seems like getting a production running for a Korean drama is super competetive so the bar is quite high), but due to the sheer number it's also very common to find decent ones. China's biggest strength for international success is Xianxia/Wuxia I think, they do that best and it's pretty much a unique selling point since there isn't really anything quite like those genres in other countries. Modern romances still often seem like B-rate versions of classic K-Dramas but from time to time there are some decent ones that make me think China is slowly finding its own Modern romance style. I'm personally not a huge fan of Crime/Thriller but it seems Korea is still far ahead in that, iQiyi's Lights On Series is giving hope for China there though.

wuxia has interesting plot & story, unique but i don't think they will go far with wuxia if they stil have those poor cgi, bad acting & voice dubbing. I could only managed to finish one Wuxia The Untamed. I have almost dropped it 68954 times because i couldn't help but cringe at bad acting & poor cgis . Non wuxia historical , political dramas are only hope of cdrama .

Quote from huRRicane8

Nope.

I watched some, but they are heavily full of some nonsense/stupid dialogues and scenes, the plots aren't well written, you can watch it just because of main couple, I skipped many parts. Plus I've never seen different genres, like it's always romantic cdramas

This is exactly what i do everytime i watch cdramas, skipping right to the main couple. Also the dubbing bothers me, some cdramas have really awful dubbing like the sound doesn't even match with the actors' lips, it's frustating.

Quote from kukukaka26

This is exactly what i do everytime i watch cdramas, skipping right to the main couple. Also the dubbing bothers me, some cdramas have really awful dubbing like the sound doesn't even match with the actors' lips, it's frustating.

are they dubbed too? wow I've never seen one with eng dubbing.

yeap, agree only the main couple is worth watching

Quote from huRRicane8

are they dubbed too? wow I've never seen one with eng dubbing.

yeap, agree only the main couple is worth watching

Every cdrama is dubbed in chinese, not english. I even wonder if the sound doesn't match the lips because the crew just doesn't want to refilm the scene to match the new dialogue, hence the difference in sound and the actors' lips.

Quote from kukukaka26

Every cdrama is dubbed in chinese, not english. I even wonder if the sound doesn't match the lips because the crew just doesn't want to refilm the scene to match the new dialogue, hence the difference in sound and the actors' lips.

wait I'm confused now, they aren't really speaking? like it is someone else? or not refilmed well

Quote from Flowercrew

You didn't like 10 miles of peach blossom? Which modern cdramas you find cliched? If Wanna avoid that, tbh.

Yeah, Empresses in the Palace off the top of my head is sooo good. Of course, Nirvana in Fire too.

For modern Cdramas, Put your head on my shoulders is really cute. Also, I find their slice of life dramas really good. But that's just me.

it was really cheesy. i didn't like it. i didn't like any modern drama in fact :-D and i tried many. the kissing has improved A LOT, kudos to them!

Quote from huRRicane8

wait I'm confused now, they aren't really speaking? like it is someone else? or not refilmed well

lots of them are dubbed, that really bothers me. my fave chinese drama is the romance of tiger and rose and it's done half/half which didn't bother me that much. they dub most if not all historical dramas, i assume the untamed (which i didn't watch) is dubbed as well. regarding modern dramas some are dubbed some not. i read that historical dramas are dubbed due to accents, they all have to have the same accent, which for mother dramas is not important. that's why i don't get why they dub modern dramas

Quote from kukukaka26

This is exactly what i do everytime i watch cdramas, skipping right to the main couple. Also the dubbing bothers me, some cdramas have really awful dubbing like the sound doesn't even match with the actors' lips, it's frustating.

in my little happiness" 2nd couple was better. first couple was nice at the start but quickly become boring. i skipped lots of scenes and i'm not sure if i finished the series. if i don't remember then perhaps i didn't.

dubbing is indeed awful. some series don't even try.

Quote from doesitneedsaying

it was really cheesy. i didn't like it. i didn't like any modern drama in fact :-D and i tried many. the kissing has improved A LOT, kudos to them!

lots of them are dubbed, that really bothers me. my fave chinese drama is the romance of tiger and rose and it's done half/half which didn't bother me that much. they dub most if not all historical dramas, i assume the untamed (which i didn't watch) is dubbed as well. regarding modern dramas some are dubbed some not. i read that historical dramas are dubbed due to accents, they all have to have the same accent, which for mother dramas is not important. that's why i don't get why they dub modern dramas

Wait what OMG I never knew that that's kkinda weird

Quote from huRRicane8

Wait what OMG I never knew that that's kkinda weird

how could you not notice, it is so distracting :D you'll notice from now on. :) let me give you some examples

the romance of tiger and rose half/half. men are dubbed but women aren't

everyone here is dubbed

modern drama that is TERRIBLY dubbed (i dropped it after a minute)

modern drama that's not dubbed

Nope, not happening anytime soon. The quality is simply not up to par if one compares the two. Kdramas are still on average better not only in artistic categories like script writing, directing, and acting but they are superior in technical categories like sound, editing, special effects.

Kdramas are making progress in reaching beyond a niche audience. For example, a series like Kingdom on Netflix was watched and got glowing reviews by people who usually don't watch Korean media at all. Meanwhile, outside of China and Chinese communities abroad, the popularity of even the most popular Cdramas is restricted to a very niche audience.

Politics and creators being limited and stifled by censorship is also a factor that will encumber any advances in popularity that Cdramas make.

Quote from seelenfang

That happened for me with JDramas long ago but now I watch some.

I tried to watch some CDramas but the ones I watched were so bad, not because of the story but the actors were just plain bad, at first I thought it was intentional but after a while I realized they just couldn't act.

Maybe you can recommend some dramas. I watch mosty romcom and some mystery and crime

I enjoy Chinese historicals, they are fantastically made and have to say better than even K-drama historicals, because K-dramas often put other stuff like time travel, alternate history etc. and is highly stuck of rather uniform Joseon period, while China has far more real history with variety and complexity.

But C-dramas of contemporary society is horrible and as you mention, the acting, the script everything feels stilted and bad.

So I asked my Chinese colleague why this difference?

The answer was, "the Chinese government does not care much about historicals, which does not affect its own image. but any drama set in recent times, is scrutinized harshly with an eye whether it is critical in anyway of Chinese govt or society etc. so the creators are highly constricted and very careful, which cramps their style"

That makes sense to me.

I highly doubt this.

I've tried watching cdramas but unfortunately I always find the acting noticeably bad. And since I mostly watch those historical fantasy ones, the bad fight choreographies and camera shots get very distracting.

Also I don't know why but the voices never match what the actors look like and feel off to me. It's like other people talking. I can't get over this so I usually drop the dramas after a few episodes.

No. Maybe with Asians, but with everyone else probably never. The language is hard on the ears.