Xianxia

Criteria: 

✓ Main leads are immortal heroes (e.g. gods / fairies / sprites)

Genres:

✓ Xianxia

✓ Usually a Romance

Excludes:

𐄂 Wuxia and Qihuan

Wuxia

Criteria: 

✓ Main leads are mortal heroes (i.e. humans)

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Wuxia

✓ All variations of romances: Romcom, Romance, Slight Romance, No Romance, BL

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Dramas where Mystery > Wuxia are in Period Mystery Romances or Investigative / Procedurals (less BG romantic)

𐄂 Xianxia and Qihuan

Qihuan

Criteria: 

✓ Fantasy World-Building 

✓ Includes Xuanhuan

✓ NOT Xianxia or Wuxia

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Qihuan / Historical Era (e.g. Republican Fantasies)

✓ All variations of romances: Romcom, Romance, Slight Romance, No Romance, BL

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Wuxia 

𐄂 Xianxia

Era Dramas

Criteria: I hope you're CPP vaccinated.

✓ Serious War Times

✓ Trashy Republican Romances

✓ Half-bald Times

✓ 1990s, etc.

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Historical Era, Republican Romcom, Republican Romance

✓ Mystery

Scheming/Palace Romances

Criteria: 

✓ A degree of seriousness in the plot

✓ Scheming / Revenges / Palace Politics

✓ Romance

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Period, Romance, Palace, Bromance , Sismance, Period Romance

✓ Transmigration

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Mystery
𐄂 Wuxia

Period Mystery Romances

Criteria: 

✓ Period 

✓ Mystery (Procedural)

✓ Romance

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Period, Mystery

✓ Romcom / Romance (Period Romcom, Period Romance)

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Republican (Era Dramas)

𐄂 Non-romantic period mysteries are in Investigative / Procedurals or Crime / Suspense

Light Period Romcoms

Criteria: 

✓ A love story in Costumes 

✓ Mostly light romcoms

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Period

✓ More Romcoms than Romances

Excluding overlapping dramas (which will be its own category):

𐄂 Palace/Scheming Plots  

𐄂 Period Mystery Romances

Campus Romances / Coming of Age

Criteria:

✓ Campus Romances

✓ Coming of Age

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Contemporary, School

✓ Romance (Contemporary Romance) / Romcom (Contemporary Romcom)

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Students / Teachers who actually study/work more than love are in Work/Life/Family ≥ Romance.

CEO Romances

Criteria: 

✓ CEO/Heir or Manager-Employee relationship 

✓ CEOs can be ML or FL

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Romcom > Romance

✓ CEO

✓ Contemporary (Contemporary Romcom / Contemporary Romance)

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Ladies Ensembles

𐄂 CEOs who are actually working in more serious dramas (Work/Life/Family ≥ Romance)

Note: 

♥ Standards are low 

Contemporary Romance Central

Criteria: 

✓ Love story is front and centre. 

✓ Balanced ML vs FL screen-time

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Contemporary, Romance, Bromance , Sismance, Family, Contemporary Romance

Excluding overlapping dramas (which will be its own category):

𐄂 CEO romances

𐄂 Campus romances
𐄂 Female ensembles 

𐄂 Work++ / Family++

Work/Life/Family ≥ Romance

Criteria: 

✓ Balance of Work / Family / Self-Improvement 

✓ Workplace Dramas (including lawyers, doctors, firefighters, bankers, etc.)

✓ Big Family Dramas 

✓ Romance can still be romantic. It just isn't the focus. 

✓ Balance of ML and FL screen-time

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Contemporary

✓ Romance (Contemporary Romance) / Slight Romance / No Romance. 

✓ CEOs who actually work

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Ladies Ensembles

𐄂 Romantic > Work/Life/Family are in  Contemporary Romance Central

Ladies Ensemble

Criteria: 

✓ Screentime: FLs  >>> MLs

✓ Balance of Work / Family / Romance

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Contemporary, Sismance

✓ Romance, Slight Romance or No Romance (Contemporary Romance)

✓ Occasional CEOs 

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Balanced in ML & FL screen time (e.g. Contemporary Romance, Work/Life/Family ≥ Romance)

Action | Thriller | Sports

Criteria: 

✓ Action (+ Desert)

✓ Sports

✓ Thriller

✓ Sci-fi

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Contemporary, Action, Sports, Team 

✓ All variations of romances: Romcom, Romance, Slight Romance, No Romance, BL

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Police / Mafia

𐄂 Crime / Suspense

Investigative / Procedurals

Criteria: 

✓ MC is a professional who investigates crimes (constables, PSPs, forensic scientists)

✓ Police Procedurals and Police vs. Mafia 

✓ Two/Many-Men-on-Poster-Dramas

✓ Detective Fiction (Periods)

✓ Minimal Romance or BL

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Period and Contemporary 

✓ Mostly Slight Romance / No Romance / BL 

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Crime / Suspense

𐄂 Republican (Era Dramas)

𐄂 Contemporary ones with more romance is in Work/Life/Family ≥ Romance

𐄂 Period ones with more romances is in Period Mystery Romances

Crime and Suspense

Criteria: 

✓ A single crime/suspense unfolds

✓ For crimes, MCs are involved in the crime rather than just investigating it. 

✓ +/- Romance

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Suspense, +/-Romance

✓ Period / Contemporary (Period Romance / Contemporary Romance)

Excluding overlapping dramas that are mainly:

𐄂 Procedural police/detective shows where MCs are police officers or related

𐄂 Police vs. Mafias

Comedy Mix

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ Comedy

✓ Any period: Contemporary, Period, Wuxia, Qihuan, Era

BL & Ambiguous Bromance

Criteria: 

✓ Romance between men 

✓ Ambiguous BL

Terms

Brotherhood: Pure friends. [Not included in this list]
Bromance: Boy friendship with chemistry. Still friends. 
Ambiguous Bromance: We can interpret them as in love. 

BL: They're in love. 

Genres (but not all-inclusive): 

✓ All time periods: Contemporary, Period, Wuxia, Xianxia, Qihuan, Era

✓ BL

✓ Bromance (but not all bromances are ambiguous BL)