The Imperial Coroner Season 2 (2026)

Just watch Young Blood 2 instead.

Imperial Coroner 2 is a sequel that should not have been made. It is missing the charm and narrative focus of Season 1, which was a cool, largely plot-driven "how-did-it" kind of ancient crime-solving story. Season 2 attempts to better flesh out the beloved investigative team but fails to do so in a way that resonates. This character-driven digression comes at the cost of the cases, which lack tension and suspense and skimp on Season 1's stylish, visually impactful illustrations of forensic clues. The sloppy and juvenile writing is a rude shock after Season 1's narrative consistency and meticulous attention to detail.

This season picks up three years later, with Chu Chu now married to Xiao Jinyu—an unconventional commandery princess in name and a hardworking imperial coroner in fact. While I appreciate the attempt to flesh out and age the titular character, it is not done well. Chu Chu's mature styling is nice, but her lips turn down in a discontented expression that suggests she did not find marital bliss. She whines bafflingly about her unfulfilled aspirations to be a coroner—when that is actually what she does, with the full understanding and support of her husband. Her petty grievances ("oh poor me, I have to be a commandery princess when all I want to do is prod corpses and bask in the odor of rotting flesh all day") and pity party are not just boring; they are tone-deaf and at odds with the genuine suffering of the truly powerless women of low societal status featured in the early female-themed cases.

After three years of marriage, the romance is still stuck in the tiresome courtship and repeated misunderstanding phase. Just divorce already, please! As for Jing Yi and Leng Yue, if their henpecked husband/abusive wife routine is supposed to be funny, the misguided attempt at humor comes off as banal, and borderline offensive. While the full cast from Season 1 reunites, their dynamic and rapport are just not the same.

As for the cases, there is one overarching plot that ties together all the subplots. Of these, the only case that really stuck with me was the young monk's story. That child actor, Shi Hengyi, moved me to tears. The main Nanzhou arc is the biggest disappointment—it is much more spy vs spy than ancient CSI. There is no real mystery, as the identity of the allegedly hidden master spy is not hidden. And anyone who watched Young Blood 2 would immediately recognize this as a dumbed-down knockoff of that drama's main plot—down to the styling, culture and internal and external political conflict of the enemy kingdom. Minus the exciting action scenes, humorous dialogue, and top-notch ensemble rapport, of course. The finale is anti-climatic and unsatisfying.

So do yourself a favor and just watch Young Blood 2 instead. You can thank me for watching this so that you don't have to.

I rate this 6/10 for daring to so blatantly knock off something pretty good only to make it a lot worse.

Leggi di Più

Total Departure from S1 & A Completely Miscast Main Antagonist.

I wanted to watch this because it was S2 from S1 which had been a sleeper hit. The main actors were the same and though time passed, it would be just as good, right? Sadly not. It was a complete departure from S1 with a completely miscast main antagonist. This will be one of those reviews where pros and cons will be mixed together.

The story started strong just like normal, with a case and had the fab 4 plus big bro helping out. But then things begin to slide downwards. Though it's understandable that in 3 drama years both of the fab 4 couples would be married, they didn't have to make their husband such simps around their wives. ML was still as whip smart as ever but because the enemy was now a different country it seemed like they were constantly missing something. It didn't help that there was a spy called Peacock that came literally out of nowhere. He was the leader of the spy network deeply entrenched in their capital which they only figured out as time went on. If in season one, we had an understanding of who the main antagonist was and he fit the mold, in season two we needed Jack the Ripper by the time he revealed all of the atrocities (skinning people alive, whipping them with the same whip that was used on him when he was a child, or feeding them poisonous bugs until they incubated long enough to burst out of the stomachs and kill others; very The Mummy or Species diabolical) he was responsible for but instead we got friendly Joe from next door who mows your lawn and gets paid in chump change. This particular actor has never played a real antagonist; always as a protagonist in modern or costume dramas so to stick him in a role so complex was absolutely was unbelievable, I don't know what production and casting was thinking. He could scheme sure so could play the role of a small villain but not the ultimate villain; it was truly laughable by then. Especially the issues in continuity where in his last scene, one minute there was no blood on his dagger, the next there was, and it kept going back forth, the other actors delayed reactions or movements was lazy editing. And his ending, with the academy award speech before thrusting the knife into his own heart or stomach, was so even more anticlimactic than the rest of it. Truly eye-roll worthy.

I also don't understand how the emperor of Da Tang could constantly listen and obey orders from an envoy of different country like the guy had any real power; fatso as I called him; now he could have played the ultimate villain. But we spent the first half of the show one step forwards two back because the enemy was with them all the time. No one would believe he could be the biggest threat because he just didn't have the personality for it even when it was revealed he was Peacock. It wasn't spoken about again; all this time trying to find this spy and by the time it was realized, it was forgotten. After they finally found some upper ground with the fake syphilis and started bringing down the network, they were sent to join big bro, who still acted the same and I wish had more screen time to weed out what we learned was the poisonous bug network and he too ended up with a love interest but sadly that wasn't properly explored. It just seemed on a case by case bases if there even was such a thing, things were buried and not properly clarified or just forgotten. Or why did CC's dad suddenly appear out of nowhere, with no warning in the middle of nowhere, so he could get kidnapped and than CC was as well; it just didn't make sense. These type of instances happened a lot. Or when the big web unraveled it was one giant conspiracy with several minds behind it but again the one that mattered just didn't hit the bar. The killing of two characters especially the guard was sad.

I also wish the ending was different; exit out characters, don't leave them hanging or poof like big bro and his woman. Also wish instead of another imperial decree, they showed the leads with kids as opposed to them making plans to travel while the second couple was going to get married again. It just felt incomplete; like even production gave up on it.

We did have a higher budget, some decent comedy, decent OSTs, nice costumes, and sets.

Would I recommend it? Honestly unless you want to see the progression of the Fab 4, no. It just didn't have the same uniqueness and difference from so many other shows. It seemed lazy on production's part and it could have been a great show.

Leggi di Più