Kdrama Korner 2020

Xianxia Romance

Criteria: 

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

Genres:

✓ Xianxia + Romance

Excludes:

𐄂 Wuxia and Costume 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

Costume Qihuan

Criteria: 

✓ Fantasy World-Building 

✓ Costumes

✓ Includes Xuanhuan

✓ Includes Xianxia with little romance

✓ NOT Wuxia

**Qihuan is a broad genre that means Fantasy and should include contemporary dramas, but I'm only using it for fantasy costume dramas that are not xianxia and 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/Elite 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