An appealing lawyer.
Chen Tumi grew up studying the Tang legal code with her mother's handwritten notes. It was her only link to her dead mother. When her father is wrongly indicted for a crime, she defies convention to defend him in court. She is an appealing lawyer both literally and figuratively. Her determination, intelligence, and logical arguments catch the attention of powerful actors including Crown Prince Han Wuwei and Kang Zhengyuan of the powerful Dali Temple (judiciary). She is quietly aided by the mysterious Ye Cha.Similar to the Justice Bao stories, the legal cases in Ms. Chun is a Litigator deal largely with the common people. The cases are quite engaging and easy to follow with well-written and satisfactory outcomes. The court arguments are livened up by the amusing and friendly rivalry between Prince Han and Official Kang. While it is a bit of a Mary Sue kind of setup where everyone falls for Tumi, this funny and lighthearted quadrangle never gets annoying. Tumi is such a breath of fresh air - although she is young and inexperienced, she is clever and logical. She is able to seek and accept help without seeming weak or coming across as a damsel in distress. I am pleased to come across this very natural and charming young actress Zhang Dafei who has many interesting roles in upcoming dramas. The bromance and hilarious banter between Han Wuwei and Kang Zhengyuan is another very entertaining aspect of this drama. I checked this out because of Huang Junjie and found myself delighted and entertained by the chockfull of eye candy that makes up the charismatic young cast.
This drama's greatest shortcoming is that there are obviously many cut scenes or arcs. This affects how the larger conspiracy unfolds and leaves open some plot points. Some of the character and relationship development also feel uneven. Both Kang Zhengyuan and Ye Cha are well designed personalities that didn't get fleshed out enough. I would have liked to see Tumi interact more with Zhengyuan as he shows her the ropes in terms of judicial process. While saved by the clear spark of attraction between them, Tumi's relationship with Ye Cha seems to advance too quickly. Finally Wuwei's persona appears to take a baffling darker turn towards the end. While this wraps up well enough, there are enough unanswered questions and open plot points that beg for a second season. I would rate this higher than 7.5 were it not for the fact that it leaves a slight unfinished taste in my mouth, though not enough to ruin the drama. This drama is a lot of fun and the cast is simply a joy to watch. I am looking forward to season 2 but there is no need to wait to start this as it seems intended to be an ongoing episodic series.
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An under rated drama with interesting storyline
This has some romance but it is very discreet and more to do with a girl named Chun Tumi’s journey to become a litigator in ancient times. The production is actually quite good as it looks to be low to mid budget.There are humorous moments but what kept me interested is the logical way Tumi argued her way out of difficult ancient court proceedings and upheld the law for the common folks .
The storyline is devoid of troopey characters ( a big plus) and the storyline is interesting.
Originally I started watching because I really like Fan Zhi Xin in “The lethal man”! Want to check him out in a period drama.
He was simply outstanding in that short drama. His two co stars here Jun Jie and Sabrina Zhuang made the story came alive.
The attraction is the storyline and also decent directing. Even though there are no kiss scenes ; somehow the romance came through and seemed ok for this drama. I would like a Season 2 to wrap up and progress the romance between main CP.
The bromance between Lord Han and Lord Kang is quite heart warming. It has been awhile since I enjoyed a low keyed romance drama! Enjoy and I would recommend this for anyone looking for something different from your normal rom-com.
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有法无天 The Rule of Law
It seems many viewers miss this wonderful series because it was released with all the episodes in one go unexpectedly. Despite its cheesy title, Miss Chun is a Litigator, this is a very enjoyable short drama with not many fillers. Every scene is important that leads to the next. The plot is not too complicated, but the background of some main characters is mysterious, creating excitement for the viewers, spurring on the story. And not to forget to mention the three gorgeous male leads, this is a great series for all.Chun Tumi (Sabrina Zhuang) is a young girl passionate about federal and local laws. From childhood, she has immersed herself in reading the law book that was written and passed down by her late mother. She becomes very well-versed with the laws. One day, she was forced to defend her father in court because no one else would. There, in court, she is noticed by two court officials appointed by the Emperor. They recognize her talent and want to recruit her. After giving her a deal she can’t resist, she becomes an important member of the judiciary team which is responsible for combing through past court cases to make sure none is being misjudged.
Unlike most other female actors who are usually cute, pretty and flamboyant, Sabrina Zhuang has a solemn demeanor that makes her a good fit for the Chun Tumi character as the character is a rather mature and serious person despite of her age. Sabrina’s acting is believable as a litigator with her matter-of-factly face and calm composure during her litigation fights. Most of the cases involve further investigations which are not shown nor explained, but Miss Chun somehow manages to present the evidence in court.
The three main male characters are amazingly good looking. The writer teases the viewers by showing seemingly all three have love interest for Chun Tumi. All three have a mysterious background which is not revealed until very much later.
The first mysterious character is the Ye Cha (Huang Junjie) character. He’s disguised as a horse footman hired by Chun Tumi. He is cold and quiet, and always hides behind a large farmer hat. He seems to have an interest in Chun Tumi as he always appears in places around her, hidden away, watching and helping her secretly. Huang Junjie’s portrayal is acceptable, but I don’t like how he squints his eyes most of the time to look serious and cold. Ye Cha is introduced right at the beginning, then disappears most of the time, or hidden lurking somewhere, until in the middle of the drama. The focus of the male character shifts to Han Wuwei (Fan Zhixin) and has been on him right from the start to the end.
Han Wuwei is my favorite character. He is a military general, playful, insightful and a very good swordsman. He has no qualm with decorum and seems to appear everywhere where Chun Tumi goes. He is the one who first notices her talent and incorporates her into his team. He seems to have a love interest in her, but puzzles viewers how the relationship later develops. His actual identity is mysterious until the later part of the story. Fan Zhixin is sunny and flamboyant and has acted very well here as Han Wuwei.
The third male character, Kang Zhengyuan (Qin Tian), is a judiciary official authorized by the Emperor to travel around the country to look through closed cases to ensure they are being done properly and justly. Qin Tian’s portrayal of the no-nonsense Kang Zhengyuan is convincing, making him a well-loved character. He and Han Wuwei give the viewers a lot of sweet bromance and it’s interesting to see the men banter.
My Verdict
This is a very enjoyable drama about the ancient judiciary system, justice, and litigation, with a mix-ins of wuxia and conspiracy from a dark group. Finding out the actual truth is important but very difficult. It is hard to distinguish between good info or fake news. Even if a truth is almost 100% truthful, a small percentage of untruth can lead to a devastating outcome. This is the scenario our characters must tread carefully to preserve justice.
Season 1 scrapes the surface of the secret group and stops short before any alluded royal palace power struggle. Though some scenes skip abruptly, it hasn’t destroyed the story or the plot. By the end of the drama, there is a plot twist and Han Wuwei seems to have turned dark. This is a cliff hanger and whets viewers’ interest for Season 2.
Great watch! Don’t miss it!
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If you want to watch a drama where the main couple has zero miscommunications, zero misunderstandings, where they trust each other and believe each other and have no doubts about each other, no matter what anyone says, then this is a drama for you!At first, I wasn't so sure about the series. But once Tumi and Yaksha started actively working together and the main plot, the Mowu Pavilion arc, got going, I was blown away. And the last handful of episodes elevated this drama to 9/10 for me. Towards the ending the drama got so intense and the finale and especially the very last scene? Open ended - and we might never find out if Yaksha lives or not - but holy smokes, that was so very, very intense and so very, very exciting, the exchange between Han Wuwei and Yaksha, then between Chun Tumi and Han Wuwei, just the three of them in a room full of gauzy black curtains and candles, the setting, the acting, the music... wow. And I loved how torn Wuwei was and I loved the absolute, unbreakable trust and devotion between Tumi and Yaksha. It was just... wow.
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3 Strong MLs carrying the FL's acting
I've seen Sabrina Zhuang's prior works as she gets some interesting scripts. Its not that she can't act but it's just not amazing. Her expressions are pretty much the same in every character I've seen her in. The 3 MLs were all better. Huang Jun Jie's acting definitely gotten better over the years but the pairing didn't really spark any chemistry for me.The story itself is quite enjoyable if you like less serious ancient detective genre types. (i.e Miss Truth, The Imperial Coroner, Maiden Holmes)
What I enjoyed:
1. Actual story - smart (but not witty) female litigator with the unique name of Tumi defends the powerless and fights for equality.
2. Bromance worthy between Han Wu Wei & Kang Zheng Yuan
3. Fan Zhi Xin (Han Wu Wei) stand out acting. His face is very expressive. I can't believe I never seen his works!
4. Father / Daughter relationship - I am a sucker for those
5. Decent fight scenes. This is not big budget production but I thought the fight scenes were not too shabby
6. Actual cases - no dragged out cases, not overly complicated, easy watch if even if don't fully pay attention
Downside
1. I wish Tumi was a bit less serious. Hardly any humor compared to other similar dramas.
2. Lots & Lots of words. My Chinese is limited so I may need subtitles and story focuses on arguing cases = lots & lots of tiresome reading subtitles.
3. Ending with no ending .... yeah I watch dramas so there are endings but which would you rather have? Not an ending or bad endings? It's a toss up. Waiting for S2 could be forever painful.
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Poor Title
This drama is unexpectedly interesting. I din't watch immediately as soon as it aired because of the poor title; it is boring and dull. I only became interested when I learned that Huang Jun Jie was the ML plus Fan Zhi Xin. It has a strong start and rarely boring moments. HJJ is always an eye candy. I had had a long wait for him to appear and I almost thought that FZS was the ML. I liked the script the lines were intelligent, direct and uncomplicated. The scenes are mostly serious with no stupid characters.Was this review helpful to you?
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simple and straightforward but interesting
The story is pretty straightforward and so are the cases. I didn't really care about the cases too much, but I did like the overall story. It actually does a quite a few things that subverted my expectations. The characters are also pretty interesting with intriguing backgrounds. For me, this was refreshing break from the more emotional and angsty series. I don't know if this is a series that I will remember long after watching it, but in the moment, it was engaging enough for me to keep binge-watching.-------------------------------------------
● REVIEW
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[ --LIKES-- ]
✔ The female lead is smart and mature and likable.
✔ We have three male leads but each have a different relationship dynamic with our female lead. All three are interesting in their own ways. Despite this, only one truly becomes the romantic interest of the female lead. There's not a love triangle or square or anything, so I liked that.
✔ Once the romance starts, there isn't really any heavy angst or breakups. No miscommunication, trust issues, or any of the dramatics. The most dramatic part is probably towards the end, but even then, the couple has each other's back.
✔ Speaking of the end, I loved the conversation and passionate exchange between Tumi, Wuwei, and Yaksha. We see where each of their priorities and convictions lie. It was a great showing of each of their characters.
✔ Wuwei and Zhengyuan had a nice bromance that I liked.
✔ I enjoyed the serie's pacing. The cases, especially, moved along fast and didn't feel draggy.
✔ This is a really shallow point, but I liked the color and aesthetic of the intro/opening theme.
[ --DISLIKES-- ]
✖ Many cases were pretty simple and a lot was due to the officials not doing their due diligence. While they weren't boring, they also just wasn't memorable cases for me. I was more interested in the Mowu Pavilion storyline and the backgrounds of each of our characters.
✖ The most interesting part in the series for me happened right at the very end. The conversation at the end got me excited to see how Tumi would fair going up against the royal court and king himself. Sadly, the series ends on a cliffhanger and viewers are left wondering about the fate of Yaksha. The rest will have to be filled in with our imagination.
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● IN-DEPTH REVIEW
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[ --STORY/PLOT-- ]
The question presented in the MDL synopsis about which of the male lead our female lead Chun Tumi will choose in the end is a bit misleading. In fact, I think the initial focus of the series is also misleading. Why? Because the focus of the series isn't romance. The male lead that they focus on since the beginning also isn't the main love interest. It wasn't even a situation where there were options and a choice had to be made in terms of romance.
The first half of the series focuses mostly on Tumi's beginning her journey as litigator. She is mature, she is smart, and she holds the law in high regards. While she's not the strong, independent heroine type, she's also not the ditzy, damsel in distress with an overly childish or extroverted personality that can sometimes be annoying. She does have some clumsy moments where a male lead comes to catch her or sweep her off her feet, but nothing that made feel like she's a weak character. I actually quite like Tumi. She has strong core values. Although a little naive sometimes when it comes to her trust in the people or the law, she is smart and passionate.
In the beginning, she is supported by Han Wuwei, who admires her willfulness and strong regard for the rules. Of the male leads, Wuwei has the most focus and screen time. In the beginning, he is also the one who is seen the most with our female litigator. As the story progresses, we also see the Tumi has a positive effect on his actions and character. They have two very conflicting personalities and it makes their dynamic interesting. Given all that, it's not hard to believe that he would be the main love interest for Tumi. However, that's not the case and I love that.
It is almost expected in most series that the lead pairing are characters with the most screen time. Personally, I like it better when they do something more like this where an important character is teased but don't become more important until later. This was the case with Yaksha. His character had very little focus and attention during the first half of the series. His storyline was just teased with a slight romance with Tumi building up. There's definitely some cuteness to their romance and while I feel like it could have been developed more, it was ok. However, as mentioned, the romance isn't the main focus of the series anyway. When it comes to Yaksha, his backstory and relationship with Mowu Pavilion is the more important and interesting storyline.
Then we have Lord Kang Zhengyuan. I think of the three male leads, his personality is the closest to and most compatitible with Tumi. Both are strict when it comes to the law. Like Wuwei, he seems to admire her personality and helps support her in the cases. He has a more upright personality. He showed hesitation when Wuwei wanted to arrest Yaksha due to the king's edict. Zhengyuan is just generally very likable. He is rational and fair. He is a voice of reason for his friend Wuwei and a mentor for Tumi. I think of the three male leads, I would want to see more of his character developed if there was ever to be another season.
[ --ACTING/CAST-- ]
Of the five main roles, I know three of them from other series. Sabrina, Junjie, and Zhixin. The two faces I didn't know were Zhu Linyu and Qin Tian. I think out of all of them Zhixin's character had the most personality to him and so his acting stood out the most, followed by Linyu's characters A Yili. The other three character were more mature and serious usually so it's harder to see the range of the acting. There wasn't really anything much that stood out to me in a memorable way. When they were cute, they were cute. When they were playful, they were playful. When they needed to be serious, they were. Nothing really struck me as bad or impressive. Junjie does this expression where he squints a lot, but I don't know if it's good or bad. It's just something I noticed. For some reason, it makes me thing of Flynn Ryder from "Tangled" with the smolder or like Batman narrowing his eyes in suspicion of something.
[ --MUSIC/OST-- ]
I liked the opening theme song. I liked the ending theme song. Both have a sweet sound to them and I'm always a fan of the sounds of traditional instruments. If there were any other songs during the series, I don't remember them.
[ --REWATCH VALUE-- ]
While I liked it, it is unlikely I'll re-watch it since this series ends on a cliffhanger. I don't mind open endings, but only if done right and the open ending gives us enough info to make insinuations, read between the line, or make an educated interpretation. This one left the future too open. This feels more like that there is suppose to be a second season, but that season never happened, which makes me sad.
[ --FINAL THOUGHTS-- ]
This series built up to something great in the end, but sadly, it never came to completion. All my intrigue and curiosity was left blue-balled. To satisfy the itch of knowing what happens next in the story, I will have to go find and read the novel, if an English translation exists somewhere. With that said, this was still a very good series. I enjoyed the characters, the development of the overall story, and the relationships between the characters. Not very memorable or romantic, but also not very angsty or dramatic. It felt very light and maybe that's why I enjoyed it. It was a nice break from the series I've been watching that deals with more heavy themes and emotional cases. It also had some cute and fun moments and interactions. It had a nice pacing. It was just a nice watch.
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● NOTE
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I'll always conclude my review by saying that ratings and reviews is not really a indicator of whether you may enjoy something. We all have different criteria and standards. Don't let a bad rating, review, or comment discourage you from watching something. My advice will always be to give something a chance if the premise interests you, and only use the ratings/reviews to determine priority if you have a list, or if you're deciding if you want to continue it due to time limitations.
♥ Thanks for reading my review! Feel free to comment or hit me up if you want to discuss anything ♥
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What has happened to the ending
My wife and I watched the 20 episodes of this excellent series expecting to see more episodes appear. Come the end of episode 20....nothing. It was just left in the air.What is the point of writing and filming an excellent story series and just leaving it as an open end. Is this what passes for artistic content today? A story has a beginning a middle and an end. This had a beginning, a middle but no end.
I am not going to comment on the fine acting and casting as I am sure there will be a continuation in the very near future. If not, the producer and director should look for other work as this simply puts people off watching.
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So much potential but get meh at some points
I had such high hope for this series after reading many great reviews. The first two episode gets me hooked. The first case moves very fast. I like the FL who is strong & independent. I also like her family dynamic. The bromance between Han Wuwei and Kang Zheng Yuan is another strong point making this series unique. However, there are certain points that don't really make sense to me:- Ye Cha barely appear in the first 10 episodes. I almost think the ML is Han Wuwei. I feel like there are many scenes that got cut between the ML & FL. Their romance seems to progress fast. I don't see enough reasons why they fall for each other. Both Kang Zheng Yuan & Han Wuwei get way more time with her and also helps her so much but nothing?
- I don't get why Chun Da Shan doesn't treat his wife well. Yes, she is annoying. But he always prioritises his daughter anyway. She only tries to get her husband by her side. She also tries to defend the ML in front of her mother. Why does he marry her at the first place then?
- The 'dark justice' - It doesn't seem to go with FL who puts the law above all.
I feel like the subtitle doesn't translate the series well enough. Some parts get lost in translation. Maybe I would like it more if I can understand Chinese *crai*
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THERE NEEDS TO BE A PART 2 ANOTHER 15 OR 20 EP
The end piss me off just left us in the air like they should have finish it and got down to other plot you guys was wrong how you left this so wrong. Just when their series was getting great and you just end it, this was just wrong i hate drama that do this!!! do we need start a petition for you do apart 2? STOP DOING DRAMA LIKE THIS IT SO WRONG I THINK 30 OR 40 EP IS JUST FINE. I love this type of drama she was strong and not weak. but playful and still young lady ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Was this review helpful to you?
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The Story of a Female Lawyer in the Tang Dynasty
Why did Mydramalist only give a rating of 7.6!Maybe the novel story is good (adapted from the novel "Mei Ren Mou Lu" (美人谋律) by Liu An Hua Ming (柳暗花溟))
And maybe also, the screenwriter had problems in composing the story. So the drama consists of 20 episodes, with a duration of 45 minutes per episode, feels like a stretch.
There are many unimportant elements and too much. As if it is not enough to describe the story of the female lead (FL) who is being treated badly by her stepmother, eh the stepgrandmother and the maids also join in treating FL and her assistant.
As a result, the love story of FL and ML becomes untidy. The meeting after meeting of this pair of doves almost doesn't make sense. It starts with a meeting between FL who is busy taking care of her father who is involved in a case, and ML disguises himself as a cart puller.
Suddenly, both of them met again with ML who was badly injured and dressed in tattered clothes covered in blood (and it was very obvious that it was just a costume decorated with red rips).
FL helped ML. (Strangely, instead of helping him get treated, FL gave him something to drink and eat! :D )
FL even dared to hide ML and went back and forth out of town to deliver food. A very risky act, because the local government was hunting down criminals.
As a smart woman who was able to solve legal problems, how could FL not be suspicious of ML. What if ML turned out to be a robber?
Overall, the Chinese drama Miss Chun Is a Litigator was like a puzzle that was scattered and still messy until the end of the episode.
The chaos was made worse by ML's bad acting (maybe he was chosen because he was handsome :D :D ) and the chemistry that failed to be built.
In fact, FL's chemistry with the second lead was quite good. Unfortunately, in a drama/film, the focus is only on FL's relationship with ML. No matter how good FL's chemistry with the second lead is, it is certain that there will be no happy ending. The fate of the second lead is so pitiful, huh?
For the next review, please read here: https://www.maria-g-soemitro.com/2025/01/miss-chun-is-a-litigator-pengacara-perempuan-dinasti-tang.html
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