As another good year closes, another good one (*crossing our fingers*) is coming very soon! 2017 was a really good year of dramas for me as supported by my year-end round-up. One thing to be happy about is that 2018 is already looking so good with the line-up of dramas that is getting ready to hit our screens. Join my excitement as I write about the dramas that I’m happily anticipating for this new year!

Meteor Garden 2018
Starring: Shen Yue (A Love So Beautiful), Dylan Wang, Caesar Wu, Connor Leong, Darren Chen
Why should we be excited: This is a no-brainer for me, my drama brain is already automatically programmed to be excited for this! The original “Meteor Garden” is a huge part of my identity as a drama-watcher as I first watched it back when I was only 6. If a local channel didn’t re-air it 3 years ago, I probably wouldn’t even be here writing in this blog. I also consider it myself as a “Hana Yori Dango” enthusiast because no matter how overused the story is already, I just easily melt in a puddle of feels with this classic.

Enough about me because we should all be excited that Angie Chai (one of the original creators) is going to be working on this remake! She’s basically the mother of Asian dramas so I’m really hoping for the best. Moreover, Shen Yue as Shancai is also one big factor because she impressed me with her role as Xiaoxi in China’s biggest drama hit of 2017, “A Love So Beautiful”. Most importantly, the new F4 members are the freshest as we could get being newbies in the industry. Major bonus is that all are good-looking too with their ages as the closest to the manga characters out of all the adaptations. Given that my excite-o-meter is increasing, I really hope that I can recap this drama as long as I feel that this remake deserves to be written about so I’m just hoping for the best.

---

Legend of Fu Yao
Starring: Yang Mi, Ethan Ruan, Vengo Gao
Why should we be excited: YANG MI & ETHAN RUAN. I repeat, YANG MI & ETHAN RUAN!!! I’ve learned to love Mi Mi because of my beloved “Eternal Love” while Ethan has always been in my top 5 love lists (yes, I do have that kind of list/ranking haha!). Mother Mi Mi is known to be a lucky charm of her male leads as they turn into superstars overnight with their dramas. My love and Ethan’s close friend Mark Chao is one good example of her lucky charm.

I spent a lot of time watching the drama’s press conference and behind-the-scenes so my excitement level is really high right now. Also, Yang Mi is going to play 9 characters (I repeat, 9!!!) so I’m very curious to see how she played those out. She was also bragging how she had to teach Ethan some flirting skills for their roles. I didn’t want to buy it since Ethan has always been one of the best actors out there like hello Golden Horse! but okay, whatever makes you sleep at night, Mi Mi haha! Oh wow, I didn’t even notice that this entire paragraph had a lot of exclamation points but that already goes to show that I’m so excited for this.

---

The Flame’s Daughter
Starring: Dilireba Dilmurat, Zhang Bin Bin, and Vic Zhou
Why should we be excited: If the main cast isn’t making you excited, I don’t know what will be. MY FIRST LOVE ZAI ZAI WITH MY KING VIN AND QUEEN REBA. Enough said. This will be my first love’s first Chinese drama and his comeback project in dramaland after 5 years. Da Wang Zhang Bin Bin will just be the second lead here against my Zai Zai but I know he will still do well here. Dilireba’s just the luckiest as she will be entangled in a web of love and lies with these two plus one (Liu Rui Lin, Zi Lan in “Eternal Love”). The plot is still quite vague but whatever it is, I’m already in for this exciting ride!

---

Love Happening
Starring: Zhang Bin Bin, Zhang Zhe Hui Zi
Why should we be excited: Aww my baby Vin just keeps getting lead roles now and I’m prouder than ever! During the peak of my Zhang Bin Bin fangirling madness (which is not so long ago, of course), I remember making a wish for him to star in a modern drama for a very shallow reason that I want to hear his real voice in dramas. Voila! My friends on Twitter messaged me and told me that my wish was granted when the cast of this drama was announced. You’re really looking good, 2018 😉 It’s not like he hasn’t starred in modern dramas because he already did that with “Pretty Li Hui Zhen” as the second male lead which I have yet to watch and with “Love O2O” in a very minor role but that’s where I discovered him.

So with him being the male lead in this modern drama, I don’t know how it could even get better! Not a lot of information has been released regarding this drama except that the female lead is a hotelier and maybe he is too by the looks of his uniform unless he’s pretending to be someone else. Oh well! I’m still getting Zhang Bin Bin in a modern drama so all is well.

---

Runner-Ups:
These dramas are still worth mentioning even if I don’t have the same level of excitement compared to the ones above. Maybe I could live without watching the dramas below as I only have a shallow reason or two for wanting to watch it.

Memories of Love aka Flower Road to Bid Farewell
Starring: Wallace Chung, Maggie Jiang, Aaron Yan
Why should we be excited: I feel like Maggie is a friend of mine that I just can’t help to be proud of because of her accomplishments. I watched her when she was just starting in the movie, “So Young” and in her first drama lead role in “My Best Ex-Boyfriend” and look how she has been getting projects from here to there. Not to mention that she will be starring with a well-loved drama actor in Greater China, Wallace Chung, so everything’s been going well for her. Don’t kill me but I never got the appeal of her male leads here, Wallace and Aaron Yan, so Maggie will just be the one to bring the cake in for me. The plot is like a combination of Maggie’s “My Best Ex-Boyfriend” and Wallace’s “My Sunshine” (both came out in 2015) with Maggie’s character being a designer who got separated with Wallacé’s character only to find each other after 7 years. I’m not sure if I’ll be ready for an overdramatic drama (if that makes any sense) which is why this ended up to be just a runner-up in my list.

---

 

Martial Universe
Starring: Yang Yang, Zhang Tian Ai, and Wu Chun
Why should we be excited: Just read the names above and you’ll know why. I’m a fan of Yang Yang but I don’t think I could watch a drama about Martial Arts solely for him. I don’t have much love for Martial Arts, anything historical, and Wuxia (with a few exceptions) but I’m just so excited for Wu Chun’s return to dramaland with his last drama being 7 years ago (Taiwan’s “Sunshine Angel”). It will be his first Chinese drama too and he will be one of Yang Yang’s enemies, ooohh I want more!

---

The Way We Were 
Starring: Real-life couple Tang Yan and Luo Jin
Why should we be excited: After “The Princess Weiyoung”, these two confirmed that they were indeed dating in real life so this project will be their first drama together since they publicized their relationship. The characters of these lovebirds will be meeting and falling in love as university students. I’m already dreading the expected parent trouble that these two will have since Tang Yan’s father in this drama is a prosecutor while Luo Jin’s father here will be involved in some anomalous transactions. Hopefully the romance and nostalgia part will not disappoint or this will just be one of the biggest excitement-crushers of 2018.

---

See You Again
Starring: Tang Yan and Dou Xiao
Why should we be excited: According to what I’ve been reading about this drama, it’s going to be a time-traveling drama? Count me in! Tang Yan’s character will be the one transported to 10 years ago where she will be meeting Dou Xiao’s character or her fiance in this drama. I have never watched Dou Xiao in a drama but I remember liking him because of “Under the Hawthorn Tree” so this will be some kind of a new treat for me. Tang Yan’s also going to be free from the hands of her boyfriend Luo Jin so people are finally going to take a rest from that pairing. I have a feeling that the story here will end up to be better than the one of her and Luo Jin too so this girl really can’t lose!

---

My Story for You
Starring: Luo Jin and Zheng Shuang
Why should we be excited: Another Luo Jin drama! I remember being so excited for this novel-drama adaptation because of the plot as it was based on a real life romance of the novel’s writer. The author wrote 137 letters to his wife over a span of 16 years and this fact was already enough to keep my feet up. Unfortunately, it’s only the plot that keeps me excited about it because I was imagining other actors to play in this drama especially in the female role. Don’t get me wrong as I’ve always loved Zheng Shuang since her “Meteor Shower” days but she just didn’t fit in to my ideal casting. I don’t sense any chemistry with Luo Jin too but let’s just hope that they prove me wrong and actually end up loving this drama more than I should have.

---

A total of 9 dramas that I’m already looking forward to and so I will welcome 2018 with wide arms and my drama-loving eyes! As you could see, these are only Chinese dramas because I’m more well-versed in C-dramaland given that I have more sources (Weibo, Twitter, etc) for it versus Taiwanese and Japanese dramas. I also tend to watch their older dramas so I’m fine without looking forward to their upcoming shows.

Are you excited for any of the dramas in my list? Or did I fail to mention it? Feel free to comment below because I’d like to know what you are excited for and maybe I can add them here too. Before I forget, Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy New Year! 🙂