How many times have you been influenced by a poster, still cut, or other image of a drama to either click it or skip it? I often catch myself searching up a drama on MDL just because I saw someone post a pretty image online, only to find out the official poster is not nearly as enticing. Especially in Chinese dramas, poster designs can be quite a let down. A perfect example of that would be Legally Romance. Just by looking at the main characters, surfing on wavy roman numeral clocks surrounded by pastel pink clouds, I would have never started the drama. But guess what? I ended up rating it 9/10 and was reminded that I should not judge a book, or in this case drama, by its cover. Considering the sheer quantity of dramas available online, it becomes nearly impossible to not compare posters and click open the drama with the most compelling one. I learned from my experience with Legally Romance and started to look for dramas in other ways. This brings me to the topic of this article: Pinterest Finds. Whether you are looking for the best gluten-free lasagna recipe, how to make a bullet journal, what the latest fashion trend is or if you want to find a drama to watch - Pinterest has it all. Since the platform is driven by its active community, in this case Asian drama fans, you can be sure to find only the best posters, stills, and pictures of dramas as well as the cast. However, there is little information accompanying the images, and therefore, starting a drama solely based off one picture can be a hit or miss. But that's what we're here to test and hopefully encourage you to be more spontaneous with your drama picks. Share below what dramas you were enticed to watch because of a picture you came across online! |
Disclaimer: This article is the result of a fun experiment about posters that caught our eye and whether we felt like the dramas lived up to our expectations or if we felt click baited, it's not about finding the prettiest posters out there. Spoiler Warning: Be aware of spoilers as we'll give a verdict on each drama and mention any potential disappointments or moments we loved. Skip any drama's section that you do not want spoilers for. Readable in both light and dark mode. |
 At first glance, this poster didn't seem like something to write home about. It’s quite pale, the only pop of color, the emerald green, is repetitive as three characters are wearing it, and the male characters sort of blend into the background. Then what about it made it stand out to me so much that I went as far as to watch all 24 episodes?
This is where both personal experience and interests come into play. See, less than a month earlier I finally bought my dream couch. A velvet emerald green couch, to be specific. Every time I see a pop of that color in my feed now, it instantly catches my attention. And on the other hand, I really like Sherlock Holmes type stories. Something about a guy dressed in a retro detective type getup coming out of a story book with an umbrella in his hand, seemingly following a woman in a beautiful gown, made me take a second look. The way the characters in the book pages are positioned, in combination with the title, made me speculate that the woman who stepped out of the book is creating her own marvelous fable by escaping the stagnant and picture perfect characters. As we know, perfect appearing characters often hide dark secrets or dynamics. Yet her playful look back at Wei Zhe Ming's character, who appears to almost stumble out of the pages, gave me the impression that she might be bored with the orderly life and toys with him by making him run after her. |
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| VERDICT ▸ | "Fable - a short story that teaches a moral lesson, often containing both fictitious and true elements." If done right, stories within a story can lead to a more thought provoking viewing experience and if I may insert some internet language here: the brain was braining with this one. | The main character tells multiple fables, all covering different experiences and emotions she lived through, while the male lead drives her across the country, accompanying her in all the detours she seemingly decides to take on a whim. Greed, perfection and obsession all play a part in the fables, aligning with my prediction about how picture perfect characters rarely ever exists. It has a sense of mystery and is one of those rare dramas that, no matter how many times you watch it, you'll always spot something new and it requires your undivided attention while watching.
The similarities between what I thought it will be like vs. what it turned out to be were definitely not down to a T but I was pleasantly surprised in the way which the stories were executed and how the dynamic between the two main characters was just as I had imagined. Upon completing the drama I came to the conclusion that, although some of my predictions turned out to be different, the poster is true to the drama’s plot line and therefore, watching it based on just one poster was a success. → Sugar Crown |
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   Originally, this drama was recommended to me by someone on MDL, but being a mood watcher, I had it on my watchlist for months and (you probably guessed it) never got around to watching it. So one day I decided to remove it and forgot about the drama.
Well, that was the plan and then I browsed through Pinterest and found gifs of the female lead bandaging up the male lead. Then this cover, among others of You Are My Hero, caught my eye and it just made me curious.
The man is back hugging the woman and it gives off the vibe that he has her back, literally. This pose always appeals to me because I like the protective feeling of comfort it gives me when someone is hugging me from behind. Back to the cover: Both look at something we can't see but their expressions are calm and they seem comfortable. At first glance, the soft, blue colors make us not notice the bright blue light on the right side of the cover that hints at a first responders' vehicle and a possible emergency behind them. |
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There is a time for everything. Rediscovering this drama at the exact right time after I previously gave up on it showed me one thing: It's okay to let go and accept the "fear of missing out" as it's called today. I simply wasn't ready for the watch back then and then suddenly, I was. Sometimes you just have to wait. | ◂ VERDICT | I expected a romantic story with just the right amount of action, drama, and humor when I went to watch You Are My Hero. To my joy, I wasn't fooled and got just that and even more. I was delighted to see a healthy relationship between two people that have equally strong personalities and express that through their words and actions. The action was well implanted and I can't help but need to say that everything was perfectly balanced.
My greatest fear when many genres are combined is that the balance will be off and not sum up well to the big picture. That was unnecessary here, it has the perfect mix of action, medical parts, romance, slice of life, drama, and comedy. The side characters get the right amount of screen time to gain background and motives but not overshadow the main leads and their development. To sum it up, I only regretted one thing in the end: Not watching this drama earlier. A 100 % success Pinterest find for me. → JulyMoon |
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 This poster took me straight back to growing up watching not only an ungodly amount of Disney princess movies but also ALL 16 original Barbie movies from the early 2000s.
The sight of a prince taking one final look at what I imagine to be the princess before returning to the enchanted forest immediately triggered a sense of nostalgia. I began to fantasize about whether the prince escaped from the enchanted forest and explored the modern world or perhaps the plot would be a bit like Disney’s 2007 film “Enchanted”, where a princess was exiled from her animated world into the live-action world of NYC. Surely they wouldn’t dare copy a Disney movie but maybe it would be something along the lines of how a prince accidentally fell into a well and landed in modern times, only to fall in love with the girl next door but ultimately he has to return, hence his yearning look in the poster as he pushes open the doors that lead him back to his fairy tale land. I also thought about the possibility of him waiting for someone to apprehend his departure or maybe he was just about to leave but someone called his name. So many possibilities! |
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| VERDICT ▸ | The iconic line "I wish that I could wake up with amnesia and forget about the stupid little things" from 5SOS's hit song "Amnesia" might just be the perfect way to describe how I felt once I finished the last episode. | The risk of guessing the plot from just one picture is considerably high and my disappointment was arguably greater due to letting my imagination run wild and not doing much research. I thought I was getting a fairytale of a prince caught in between two worlds as the title and poster of the drama suggested, and albeit achieved with a heavy dose of amnesia instead of two worlds, eventually it did feel like a modern fairytale - maybe a bit closer to the “rich man/poor woman” trope but with a sprinkle of ancient costumes and funny antics of an actor believing he is a Grand Tutor of the Ming Dynasty on top. Alas, there was no prince yearning for his princess and I felt slightly clickbaited but I'm willing to let this one pass with one eye closed. → Sugar Crown |
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   I've come across this drama on so many occasions and somehow I never went for it, until that day when I saw this gif (above) on Pinterest. A drama with ballet? Could it be Navillera? Deep in my memories, this name popped up and I decided to finally watch it. Well, it kept waiting in my watchlist for different reasons but the fact that it includes ballet made it a must watch, especially after that gif.
I can't really explain what fascinates me so much about ballet. I never had anything to do with ballet but I love it and watched a ton of documentaries/TV series and read books. Maybe it's the grace of the dancers and the fact that they can make it look like it's so easy to 'fly' and dance with feather-light movements, when the reality is hard work and training til your feet hurt and bleed. The gif spoke to me because I can find so many things I love. Like the old man in the gif, I am in awe when I see those pirouettes. And the entire atmosphere. It's snowing on a winter's night, there are lots of lights and the two people seem to be in their own world. I felt enchanted by it. |
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It's not quite sure what 'Navillera' really means, but one meaning is 'like a butterfly' and the other 'enduring pain and sadness'. Both couldn't be more encouraging to never give up and follow your dreams no matter how hard things get. Just like a ballet dancer, when you gather all your strength you can soar. | ◂ VERDICT | I'm glad I found this on Pinterest and that the gif made me go for the plan to watch Navillera. Who knows, I might have never watched it otherwise. While watching, I realized the story wasn't as innovative as I first expected. Probably my fault. Just because a drama includes ballet (something not found in many Asian dramas) doesn't mean it's more unique than others without this content. At times, the story was predictable for me, but thankfully not to the point of being boring. The cast did an excellent job, they were really brilliant and made me feel with their characters all the time.
In the end I can say the drama surprised me less with the plot but with the different characters and their emotions, dreams, the things that are important for them. Navillera is not a fairytale, it's quite the opposite, and that's good. It's relatable, authentic but still makes you dream and most of all it touches your heart. Navillera turned out to be a heartwarming and emotional story of dreams, the harsh reality, hope, and what is possible if you decide to follow your dreams and just go for it, despite everything that speaks against it. For me, it was great. → JulyMoon |
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   Not only am I a binge watcher, but I am a self-proclaimed “allround binger”, meaning if I find an actor I like I’ll watch ANYTHING they played in, and if I like a genre or trope - I’ll binge those until I can no longer stand anything of that sort, and so forth. Now, is that a healthy watch behavior, you ask? Certainly not. But it is what it is.
Back to the story of how I found this poster: I had just finished a month-long binge of sweet but simple slice-of-life C-Dramas and if I saw one more innocent city girl bickering with a hardworking small town boy, I am convinced I would have dropped dead from an overdose of overly righteous characters. You can probably already guess my excitement when I came across a poster where a female character dressed in my typical late-night-gas-station-run outfit is holding a gun (noted with her finger on the trigger) to a smug hottie in a leather jacket whose hands are tied with a rope. My inner sucker for fatal attraction type stories, stemming from being obsessed with 'The Vampire Diaries' all my youth, had a brief revival. Everything about this poster screamed character driven, gritty story with lots of violence, high stakes and cold characters that, for the first time in a long time, are confronted with a spark of hesitation because of their personal feelings towards each other. The look on his face compared to hers gave me a hunch that he knew or at least guessed this was coming and made peace with it, where as she seems to be conflicted about going through with her intention.
Could this be a rare true enemies with personal feelings type story? For a moment, I thought this was too good to be true. Typically, posters that represent a “dangerous” action between two characters are either a minor subplot or, in the worst case, the characters only have minor supporting roles and in reality, the scene surrounding this poster is the main character interfering and rescuing either his girl or her man. But I was still hopeful given that I recognized Zheng Ye Cheng and, although he hasn’t had his big break yet (the C-Drama world is literally sleeping on this man’s talent!), he does have main character energy in the poster. As I was pondering if I had a lucky day on Pinterest and found something good, I opened the drama on Viki. |
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| VERDICT ▸ | Stealthily walking the line of what is allowed on TV often means scriptwriters play it safe, but once in a while, a drama comes around that masters the art of stealthy dancing on the line by making you forget there is a (guide)line in the first place. | Out of all my Pinterest finds, this might take the trophy. Listen, I’m not too fond of Asian Crime/Thriller dramas and to be completely honest, I can count the ones I like on one hand. Had I stumbled across this on MDL, I probably would have skipped it. I have been burned one too many times and maybe I’ll make myself unpopular with this but I find Chinese Crime dramas to be mostly boring and overly authoritative when it comes to what’s right and wrong. Where’s the “fun” in a crime story if you know from the get-go that everyone is going to get punished and there are no gray zones, also meaning the main characters live by every word of the law - and if not, they’ll get their back straightened out soon enough and have an enlightenment about how they can benefit society.
But I was proven wrong with Stealth Walker, even with the given predictably, you still have 99 % of the storyline and character dynamics to make an intriguing story. To have an undercover drug ring investigation drama predominantly led by one female character is rare enough but it also greatly helped raise my heart rate multiple times whenever she was about to get caught, and you know there is no character you can trust 100 % to swoop in and save her as there’s no such thing as commitment and responsibility in an opportunistic partnership. So at any given moment, things could go south and this brings me back to the poster, which after having watched the drama twice(!), gets two thumbs up from me because it accurately gave a glimpse into the complex character relations two people on opposite sides in a story of drugs, money, and cops have. Last but not least: Unspoken romance with just glances and actions can be so much better than any great declaration of love. I’ll die on the hill of slight romance couples, sigh. Although this pairing has that extra kick of danger, which I LOVED. → Sugar Crown |
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  The first time I saw the poster (a cropped version without the drama's name on it), I was thinking of cosplay (= costume play, term in manga/anime circles) because the female lead looked too perfect to be true and I've seen similar cosplay photos before that looked like professional teasers. So I bookmarked the Pinterest find and decided to investigate it further. Clicking through quite a collection of aesthetic photos with the female actress, I finally got a name, Qi Xia Xia, which I looked up on MDL and realized "Oh, okay. It is actually from a drama." The cover and all the other photos got me hyped almost immediately, because I like historical settings in C-Dramas and it just spoke to me in the aesthetic way.
Anyway, I saw this beautiful and delicate featured woman in a peach colored dress, immersed by something on or in her hand. Did she catch a snowflake and is watching it melting in her hand? Is she deep in thought about something? Her face is not giving away what she is thinking or how she is feeling. In the background is another person, blurred, watching the woman. Does he have good or bad motives? I really wanted to know more about this. |
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"A whole new world... with new horizons to pursue" (from the song "A Whole New World" in Disney's Aladdin) That describes my feelings exactly. I had watched short length series before, but not from China, so diving into this drama opened up new worlds to me that I have started to explore further since then. | ◂ VERDICT | No disappointment at all. This drama find was actually a jackpot. I binged this drama hard, which was easy to do with two-minute long episodes and 27 episodes in total. ;)
Before I watched Her Royal Highness, I was skeptical if short length series could keep up with full length historical C-Dramas because it seemed unlikely that a story can be equally well told in 27 episodes with a runtime of two minutes when the others have 40 episodes of 45 minutes to weave a tale about love, betrayal, and more. Her Royal Highness proved me wrong. It is definitely feasible to deliver an enjoyable watch with good acting, a story that keeps you invested, and characters you root for in a short time that even falls below that of a movie. Watching this drama gave me the courage to watch more short length series and I’m really happy I ventured into this branch of dramas. → JulyMoon |
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In order to increase your chance of finding a good drama from just one image follow this simple rule:
DFFCA. Don't Fall For Concept Art.
Concept Art is usually the first poster publicized in order to convey an idea of what the drama is going to be like. However, the spectrum of that is quite wide and especially when it comes to Chinese dramas, they are mostly interchangeable and therefore, not a good representation of the actual content, despite being very pretty to look at in my opinion.
 
 When I first saw this poster, I thought it was just concept art, and if anything, I know by now to not fall for concept art because they very rarely ever represent the actual drama. But the longer I looked at it, the more I noticed the details and became intrigued. Lying on the floor, a man in gold armour with a knife in his heart. In the distance a woman with long, dark hair is seen moving away in what appears to be a rush, as both her hair and her dress are seen lifted up by the wind. Was this a crime of passion, betrayal, or maybe something totally different? What led to this scene? I was ready for epic battles, star-crossed lovers, and my tissue box was right by my side when I clicked it open, prepared for a tragic love story with many twists and turns. |
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VERDICT ▸
| A picture famously says more than a thousand words and in the case of this drama, the visuals triumph the script by a landslide. | Technically, I could consider this a success in terms of looks. I mean, I was lenient with Be My Princess earlier, but while I had a mostly fun time watching that, The World of Fantasy was a disjointed mess that felt like there was more time spent on design and CGI instead of writing a well-crafted wuxia script with a complex love line. Visually, it lives up to the poster I found on Pinterest, and some of the CGI might be my favorite in C-Dramaland so far. However, only a few episodes in, you start to notice just how bad a novel-to-drama adaptation can go by leaving out crucial information but simultaneously taking certain story lines and milking them dry by any means necessary without enough build up or reasoning, making this a perfect example for “not everything that sparkles is gold”. → Sugar Crown |
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 It was this particular photo (the one right next to the cover) of the male lead awkwardly back-... (yeah, what exactly is he doing here actually?) Anyway, it was this screenshot that popped up on Pinterest and made me laugh because it's an entire mood. I was expecting a drama with a little silly kind of humor that would give me a good time while watching. Before I watched it, I looked at the official cover (equally quirky in my opinion) and read the synopsis because I always do that. The cover has the leads on it, with a background that looks like they are at a church. The man wears a tuxedo and the woman (obviously pregnant) a white dress and pink cardigan. The expressions are the best. She smiles a bit shyly like she's aware that she is shocking him with her pregnancy and he's pointing at her round belly while breaking the fourth wall and looking at the audience saying "I didn't sign up for this!"
Neither the year of the production (2014) nor the cast were of interest for me, on the contrary, I always wanted to check out older dramas at some point so it was a welcome bonus. The male lead actor, Jang Hyuk, was not unfamiliar to me, I had seen him before in the historical drama My Country: The New Age, where he played a completely different character compared to here and unexpectedly stole my heart with his performance. So I was more than eager to watch him as an unprepared dad from an unplanned one night stand and the chaos that ensues from such a situation. |
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"Never judge a book by its cover" or in this case more fitting, never judge a drama by its cover. Looks can be deceiving and misleading you into expecting something entirely different than what something is truly about. | ◂ VERDICT | To make it short, yep, that one was a fail. Not because of its cast or age, it's already 10 years old in 2024! None of that was an issue. It was simply something completely different than what I expected. It wasn't quirky, well, except for the first couple episodes, on the contrary: it was quite melodramatic. A quick glance at the genres that do mention "drama" might have helped with false expectations but I wasn't prepared for the amount of drama and sadness that came with the drama. The cliché trope of rich man/poor woman did not help either because I'm not fond of it. Add to that more clichés like amnesia, second male lead tries to get the girl, an ex that reappears, and misunderstandings between the leads, and you have a lot of stuff I don't like to see in dramas. In the end I just binged through it to get it done. It was entirely my fault for not reading more info like reviews about this drama because those would've warned me of the cliché content and would have also made me second-guess my initial euphoria. → JulyMoon |
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CONCLUSION & FINAL THOUGHTS |
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❝ Going for dramas you find through pictures and diving into them without further research is a risky thing to do. Sure, you can find true gems, I'm the last one to deny that as the majority of my findings on Pinterest turned out to be great, but the fact that it's still a game of luck and holds chances of failure are things that need to be considered.
I will still try out dramas I have found through Pinterest, but as a drama watcher since 2019, I became naturally more picky and I'm also better aware of tropes that simply do not entertain me so I will go for a little bit more research in the future, even if it's just to look at genre and tags.
Nonetheless it's certainly fun to try out new stuff and going for dramas randomly out of a mood you get because of a picture or clip. I have my newest Pinterest finds already sitting in my Plan To Watch list.❞ → JulyMoon |
 ❝Once in a while it's good to stray away from reading reviews upon reviews and not dissecting a drama before even giving it a go. There's an element of surprise that you only get when you barely know anything about a drama, it inspires you to imagine the story line and character relations with very little bias. I wouldn't want to miss that feeling. Ultimately, I do have to admit that it's a 50/50 thing though. Almost all of my favorite underrated dramas started with an image I found online but my "Regret List" is also full of Pinterest Finds.
In conclusion, I would say maybe do a little bit of research before diving head first into a drama that you were enticed to watch because of one picture (or video edit) but don't overdo it - accidentally spoiling yourself takes away half the fun.❞ → Sugar Crown |
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Thank you for reading our article and we'd love to hear your hit and miss stories about dramas you found on Pinterest!
Credits: Sticker: banner, leaves,check out my pins, twinkle, pro tip, red car, pinterest fail, fairy lights, ballet shoes; Poster1,2,3,4; Collage 1: (left to right) All I Want For Love Is You, Chang An, To Fly With You, Eternal Love, Navillera, Just To See You Lost, In The Stars, Stealth Walker, Winter Night, Almost Love; Collage 2: Maiden Holmes, Black Panther, The Master of Duanhuang, Fight, Break, Sphere; Gifs: 1, 2, 3, 4, Stealth Walker; Flowers: 1, Blue Flowers; Cover Image: pictures from MDL, Pinterest Logo Color Codes: #CBAACB #C7A6AE #b3a3ba | |
c-drama
k-drama
fated to love you
navillera
you are my hero
my marvellous fable
be my princess
world of fantasy
stealth walker
her royal highness
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