lilmeow

The premise, style, and vibe of this show are right up my alley, so I had really high hopes for it (disclaimer: I really liked Whispers of Fate, which has a lot of the same cast and a similar main character). From that perspective I was actually a little disappointed, but I still think the show is decent when considered independently.

The main character is Li Si, a highly capable, cheeky genius with a tragic past and a sparkly wardrobe. He’s fairly compassionate and has enough pathos that I felt emotionally invested. Add in his ticking time bomb injury, and he covers several tropes- but it’s a combination I happen to like. I enjoyed watching him solve cases with a snarky confidence, which also adds some sly humor to the show.

The case-solving is actually a team effort, and aiding Li Si is a great group of fellow constables. It’s a heartwarming crew to feel warm and fuzzy about. But although they do have their own niches (eg Meng Rui is a great fighter, Zhenzhu examines bodies), they all still feel very subordinate to Li Si. At the beginning he makes them look so dumb. Later they are more “useful”, but he is still clearly doing all the heavy brainwork.

I liked the side characters but didn’t feel as attached as I thought I should. I wish they got more development. For example, Zhenzhu has a few sweet scenes with her father, but the show definitely could have leaned in more; she’s a noblewoman who chose to be a coroner, and achieved a high rank at a young age, that all deserves some notice. I think she has a vague crush on Li Si but you’d have to want it to believe it. He seems to have more chemistry with Meng Rui, and I actually loved their bromance and all their scenes together. I did feel really invested in Meng Rui, and his development is well done, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of him.

In general the show has decent character development, but I wish we got more. There seems to be more focus on the cases, which I thought were just alright. For awhile, we see Li Si mulling over clues rather than just omnipotently figuring things out in a flash, which I liked; it paces the investigation and makes it feel real. But the leap to the final and often-complicated answer was still a stretch, and by the second half of the show, he’s just knowing things left and right. So rather than seeing him work through cases, we essentially just see him telling stories, which... well, is alright, but a little sloppy for a show so focused on casework.

As for the actual stories, they are interesting enough, with some pretty evil people brought to justice. But a few are actually quite sad with perps you also feel sorry for. The protagonists are fairly compassionate, so through them the show does an okay, but not too great, job of expressing sorrow for these tragic tales (ie the constables give a few sad looks and then get over it). Perhaps we’re supposed to feel better because some of the stories have parallels to Li Si’s, and he handles HIS issues as a proper hero would. But I still felt a bit sour about it all.

All the conflicts tie back to the Liluo state, the main villain. They are clearly doing lots of evil stuff. But 47 years ago, they were just- as far as I can tell- a small country trying to survive. I personally had a hard time hating them enough, and I wish the show had handled this issue better- eg making them more clearly evil from the beginning, or addressing their right to grievance- rather than just drowning it all in patriotic nonsense about protecting the country (which is especially thick at the end). The final arc and ending are not that great, but more lackluster than catastrophically nonsensical, so not the worst I’ve seen.

By the way, magic is real in this world, but it’s easy to forget- the way it’s handled is inconsistent. There’s no system as to when and how it can be used. Fantastical elements are fun and all, but I’d rather have seen the magic more consistently woven in, rather than just used for some dramatic effect here and there and then forgotten the rest of the time as our protagonists work so hard using real-world means to find real-world explanations.

For the acting, I think it’s decent. I like Luo Yunxi in this type of character and I think he does it well. The side characters also do a pretty good job, although it didn’t really stand out to me. I was a little tripped up by casting because many people do not look their proper age.

I thought production is a mixed bag. I love the costumes, so sparkly and bedazzled, and they look good on everyone. The music is fine- does its job. The songs in the OST are not my favorite, but they are used well with good timing to create the right emotional effects. The cinematography is generally well done and artistic, although some scenes try too hard to be dramatic and end up feeling out of place. The fighting is quite good, with pretty choreography and solid movements, though it sometimes feels too sped up (while some talking scenes feel too slow).

The special effects, though, look surprisingly bad. Later I saw the BTS and realized that a lot of stuff I thought would be CGI was actually not- instead it's done via props, green screen, etc. I have some respect for that and would view things through a different lens next time.

Overall this is a decent show, though it didn’t quite meet all my expectations for character development, solid casework, or a plot I feel really invested in. But this premise and vibe is a solid formula, at least for me, so I still enjoyed the show and looked forward to watching it every evening.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The ending is bittersweet, a victory with heavy casualties. Sacrifices include Constable Yan, Chief Constable Xuanyuan, and some other more minor characters like Zhenzhu’s dad and the former constable chief (plus many nameless constables). Meng Rui is maybe ok but unconfirmed.

I didn’t think the last arc is that great. The stuff about the repeatedly subdivided meteor and formations and whatnot felt random and poorly developed (too rushed maybe?), though I got the gist. Mostly I objected to spending so much time on patriotic mumbo jumbo (loving and protecting the country, who is such a hero, etc) which is not that emotionally engaging to me.

I was also rather disturbed by Li Si’s final interaction with his Emperor father, a couple episodes from the end. The emperor seemed to genuinely love him, and his “poor” decisions stemmed from the burdens of rulership rather than his failures as a father. I understand that Li Si has some resentment and grievances, but what exactly did he want the man to do? And all that aside, breaking a dying man’s heart, and leaving their final interaction at that, seems excessively callous and harsh. It’s also out of character for Li Si, who is otherwise quite compassionate, and also hinted a few times that he genuinely loves his father. I was hoping it was all an act, like the rest of his actions towards the end, but the show never comes back to this interaction or the fact that his father died in total grief.