Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

Not much news going on lately because of the coronavirus and filming has halted for most dramas and actors are resting at home. Stay safe everyone, protect yourself and be considerate of others when you don’t feel well!

This list is ranked by Douban users, so it’s Chinese-based. I do think it’s quite fair and there are a variety of series on the list. How many have you watched and loved?

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1. Reply Me 1988 (Korea) = 9.7. Oy, this drama left a hold in my heart for sure. But it’s nice that my OTP is dating in real life. 😉 Everything else about this drama was perfect, the family moments, the friendship, and the siblings rivalry all hit home. Well-deserving of the ranking!

2. Chernobyl (US/UK) = 9.6. I did not watch this mini series but have heard of its praises. On my list.

3. The World Between Us (Taiwan) = 9.5. Have not heard about this Taiwanese series. Now I’m super curious.

4. This Is Us – Season 1 (US) = 9.5. On my watch list. Is the following seasons good as well? Let me know!

5. Unnatural (Japan) = 9.4. A Japanese series! Intrigued.

6. Sherlock – Season 1 (UK) = 9.4.

7. Game of Thrones – Season 1 (US) = 9.4. Didn’t watch this HBO series but I have heard enough not to step foot in. HA!

8. Black Mirror – Season 1 (UK) = 9.4. I have seen clips here and there when my brother was watching it. Looks quite dark!

9. Legal High (Japan) = 9.4.

10. Nirvana In Fire (China) = 9.3. Files on my harddrive but I need to be in the right mood to watch. I know, I know!

  1. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    Glad to see Nirvana in Fire on this list. Still one of my favorites!

    I’m watching Unnatural and it’s actually taking longer than expected for me to finish it. Japanese dramas tend to be short and I can usually finish them within two days if all the episodes are available. Unnatural, while it’s well-written and has a strong cast, is a little lackluster for me. Not sure why as I usually like these types of dramas.

    I’ve heard fantastic things about The World Between Us but decided it was way too dark for me. I fell in love with the theme song from Yisa Yu though.

    • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

      I was a little worried scrolling down and not seeing Nirvana until the 10th place!! LOL.

      I will download Unnatural and The World Between Us for later viewing. =P

      • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

        You might end up finishing Unnatural before I do!

  2. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    OMG Kappy. How has it never come up that you still haven’t watched Nirvana in Fire?!
    I’m going to start pestering you till you watch it.

    • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

      I guess I should keep it a secret that I haven’t either. (¬、¬)

      • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

        Me and you Linja, get on it girlfriend!! XD

        • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

          You both should really, really, really watch it!

  3. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    Shoutout to The Unnatural! It’s quite an interesting drama, not too heavy or fluff! Sherlock and GOT (minus the last season) are good as well! Nice to know Nirvana in Fire fell into the Top 10, a deserving spot! Went to rewatch it last month and still so nice to watch.

  4. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    The finale of GoT completely ruined it and like most ppl, I can never watch it again LOL (had rewatched the earlier seasons many times).

    The World Between Us is a heavy drama but still makes you feel hopeful by the end. The acting and dialogue was top-notch with some very memorable scenes. Definitely recommend it!

    I loved the 1st season of This is Us. Though haven’t ended up watching the later seasons. Made me cry too much already haha.

    Black Mirror is so sick and dark. Scary how it feels like watching an alternate reality or flash forward of the modern world as we become more and more reliant on technology. The eps aren’t consistent across the seasons but still worth a watch.

    Yay of course Nirvana on Fire is on the list! Watch it Kappy haha!

  5. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    Nice list!! Now i have to watch unnatural and the world between us!

  6. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    Watched Sherlock seasons 1, 2 and maybe 3. Steven Moffat liked to develop character psychology but those all end up somewhat similar.

    Watched first few eps of Unnatural. Bored by it. Characters and plot were too simple and familiar.

    Liked NIF, despite some draggy eps around #40 something. Thought a few characters spoke too slowly, especially Prince Jing’s mother. The siege at the vacation palace was awesome, and exhausting to watch.

    • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

      Reading reviews about Unnatural and it’s pretty half and half, so I’m quite surprised it’s ranked pretty high in the Chinese community. But most folks liked the chemistry and bantering of the castmates. 😀

  7. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    I would also note that Douban rates non-mainland Chinese shows much higher, so NiF being on it is a real feat (and there’s still people complaining to this day that 9.3 is too high) Legal High was mysteriously super popular for a while, it was kind of odd, I haven’t seen it though. I loved NiF and Sherlock for ages. Only watched s1 of GoT, will eventually watch the rest I guess. I think the rest are all on my to watch lol.

    Wait wait, I wanted to do a cdrama (excludes hk and tw) top 10 list and found ones higher than NiF? 40k and 100k raters, so significant enough they would show up on year end lists. Ah well.
    1. Moral Peanuts: Final Season 9.7. – Early webdrama so its first season is super low budget I believe, I’ve seen comments it closely resembles Hustle, haven’t gotten around to seeing either.
    2. Romance of Our Parents 9.5. – It’s by Daylight Production’s team before they left Shandong Productions to start Daylight, so it’s been on my to watch.
    – Moral Peanuts s2 9.4
    3. Nirvana in Fire 9.3
    4. Battle of Changsha 9.2 – Watched it for director Kong Sheng/daylight team. Good war drama that’s mostly focused on a family, definitely bit depressing considering the times, the twin kids the drama follow a lot can be infuriating. One of the best performance from Wallace Huo & Yang Zi.
    5. The Red 9.2 – Republic drama but set in relatively peaceful concession part of Shanghai, focused on regular folks’ daily life more with a really slow burn romance and dash of mystery every now and then, really smart and capable main otp that just want to live a normal life, a charming and varied supporting cast, great acting! You might find it draggy though, depends how much you like the slice of life.
    6. Qin Empire: Alliance/Qin Empire 2. 9.2 – 1 is different director/writer and completely different style, so you technically can skip, it also aired in previous decade so it’s not here. Serious political drama with a fairly big cast, the emperor is pretty unusual and I really liked all the diplomatic bits.
    7. Before Dawn 9.2 – I think it’s one of the classic republican spy dramas? there’s like five of them
    – Tea House 9.2 – Not sure if I should include this since it’s barely >10k. I’ve never heard of it but looks like late Qing drama focused on a teahouse, wait this sounds interesting, maybe it’ll show me what The Great Protector skipped out on.
    8. Empress in the Palace/Legend of Zhen Huan 9.1 – I will eventually rewatch War & Beauty and compared it with this.
    – Dream of Red Chamber featuring kids 9.1
    9. Day & Night 9.0 – The mystery bits are pretty classic police procedural, only the twins gimmick is fun and if you aren’t intrigued by their arc, the drama is a bust. The rating really seems like cdrama is starving for a good mystery series.
    10. Stand by Me s1 一起同过窗 9.0 – Haven’t seen it but on to watch, but apparently a nice down to earth slice of life focused on uni life, which is refreshing.

    I’ve seen more from all the low 8s I think.
    11. With You 8.9 – holy crap the score rose again? I love its sister series My Huckleberry Friends more, but fair amount of people say this one resonate with them more, this has love triangle I don’t normally like but it’s done decently well, the setup of the series is just really classic.
    12. All Quiet in Peking 8.9 – daylight production, winning cast, still on my to watch cos it looks super serious.
    – Stand by Me s2 8.9
    13. Remembering Lichuan 8.8 – this got bit of a boost from Godfrey passing away, but it was already pretty high before? 8.4 ~ 8.7 I think. still on to watch
    14. Like a Flowing River 8.8 – Daylight production, educational for me, interesting cast but I never got super into it.
    15. Kite 8.8 – Republican spy drama. I think it’s 2018’s rating king, and this score is pretty high considering how harsh the current audience is and how many classic in the genre predate it.
    16. White Deer Plain 8.8 – late Qing drama, looks super depressing but on my to watch anyways.
    17. Legend of SouthWest Dance and Music/Legend of Dance 舞乐传奇 8.8 – Pretty interesting setting with Ancient Myanmar + Yunan, really unusual costumes/styling that scared lots of people away. The story is adventuring to Chang’an to perform for diplomatic reasons, features lots of plot twists and a smart & capable & really fun cast. This is Joy of Life’s scriptwriter Wang Juan’s opus magnum, drew lots of fans on bilibili I believe.
    18. The Firmament Of The Pleiades 苍穹之昴 8.8 – on to watch. The main actress is Japanese but she did really well as Empress Dowager Cixi
    19. My Huckleberry Friends 8.7 – ensemble down to earth slice of life high school drama. I loved it so so much, and I bought the book, which was different but also really fantastic.
    20. Designation Forever 永不磨灭的番号 8.7 – I’ve never heard of this! republican war drama.
    I’m going to stop…XD

    • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

      Love your input on the dramas. I’m happy to see Battle of Changsha on the list of the 9s. Because of the time period it’s in, most people I know will not watch it, despite me convincing them that it’s worth the tears because of how good the cast and characters are.

      • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

        I agree! I watched Battle of Changsha, despite never watching dramas set in this time period. It was just something I stumbled upon, not knowing anything about it, but after the first couple of episodes, I was hooked. I think I binged watched it in less than a week.

  8. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    I watched Chernobyl, The World Between Us, and NIrvana In Fire. Each drama are definitely the most impressive and the most unforgettable drama of its respective countries.
    I am watching This Is Us. Warming, so far so good

  9. 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

    Hi, I was wondering if you’d continue to subtitle the Let’s Shake It drama. I’m interested in translating into Portuguese. If you continue and don’t mind passing your translation (I give credit) so that I can translate into Portuguese. I would like to translate the first and second season. I look forward to an answer. If you need my contact, just let me know.

    • 18 thoughts on “Douban reveals top ten TV series in the last decade (2010-2019)

      I think we will. Just that everyone is on break right now.

      I’ll ask the team about your request. Is your email in this comment ok for use?

What do you think?