lilmeow

Surprising dose of wit and humor in a clever revenge story

The Double was one of the top hits of 2024. Everyone was raving. I was afraid it would be really dark, since it is a revenge story, but I ended up surprised by its excellent sense of humor. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a lighthearted story, but it’s definitely got some really funny bits.

The dialogue between the ML and FL is particularly clever and witty, and really fun to watch while you gush over them. There is a lot of wordplay and elegant speech, so unfortunately much of it is lost in translation. The language is also on the fancier side, making it harder to pick up if your Chinese isn’t as good (like mine). But translation aside, I think some of it is also hidden meanings. A lot of the dialogue felt like it had some double or triple meanings, and I felt a little dumb as I struggled to follow it all.

Both the FL and ML in this show are really admirable. I’ll refer to the FL as Xue Fang Fei (XFF), though she goes by a few things. She is brilliant, eloquent, and has her head screwed on straight. Her schemes are complicated and clever, and although she can’t control everything, she thinks quickly and always pulls through (some plot armor doesn’t hurt). There were definitely some really sad parts in the story, but I felt comforted knowing that my girl XFF would take revenge on those who deserved it.

XFF shows some strong emotions- not a robot- but she never behaves stupidly. Although the revenge is hers to take, she still acts with compassion, so I had no hesitancies about supporting her 100%. She pretty much just stands up for justice. Any of her enemies that I felt bad for, she seemed to feel a little bad for also.

I also like that she has random moments of being carefree and cheerful, reminding us that she was once a normal person and can still feel joy. Not like some archetype of a femme fatale.

For the ML… I feel like a lot of MLs are written to be as attractive as possible, like they are always handsome, smart, good fighters, supportive of FL, etc. But they really outdid themselves here- this one is a total dreamboat. Xiao Heng is lethal, capable, and composed, a mastermind playing chess (it’s a theme… XFF is smart; she won’t get used against her will).

I’m convinced that a lot of this show’s popularity is due to Xiao Heng fangirls obsessing over him. I totally get it, but also… why bother? Someone like this is way out of my league.

But you know who’s in his league? Xue Fang Fei. So while the two of them are not relatable to average mortals like me, they are such a great match, making it a delight to watch their interactions. They’re not mushy, they have some great banter and a mutual respect, and they are actually good enough for each other.

The side characters showed a lot of promise, but ultimately I was a bit disappointed. There were so many characters I’d liked to see more of- for instance, her pack of four friends- but they mostly just disappeared beyond their story arc. Even recurring characters, like the Ji boys, don’t get much development for themselves. It’s a shame that they made such likeable side characters, only to deny them any extensive stories of their own.

The villains is where I think they put more effort into making multidimensional characters- for better or for worse. It creates some complicated feelings. I personally liked this, although I wouldn’t say it made me feel good. It’s a little spoiler-y so I’ll hide my rant at the end of this review.

As an aside, this emperor is refreshing. He’s young and a real friend to our ML; even more, he’s playing politics like everyone else rather than just wielding a lot of power. This makes him a more sympathetic character than most emperors.

Plot-wise, in addition to the ongoing saga of injustice and revenge, this show relies a lot on squeal-worthy interactions between the ML and FL. These fade a bit in the last quarter or so, and the show gets darker. Like so many other shows, I enjoyed this one a little less as it was approaching its end, but the effect was not as pronounced as some others.

Acting-wise, this cast did well. Wu Jinyan looks a bit older, I think it is hard because a lot of other actors are younger. But she did well- so many lines to memorize! I also don’t think her styling was the greatest- she looks prettier as herself- but the end result was as they said in the show, “not bad looking and your own unique look”.

Many other actors did well too, but I think Wang Xingyue as Xiao Heng stood out. He is a young actor and his career is on the rise after this. He has great facial microexpressions. He also has great presence, and he does this kind of confident, commanding character well. And he did his own voice- that sexy drawl is his own! He could probably work on swordfighting a little, it wasn’t as clean and crisp as I expected.

Stylistically, the director liked to shoot close-ups of peoples’ talking heads with a sort of fisheye lens look. At first I thought he was trying to capture a certain feeling, like the viewer is a little disoriented or the person is too close to their face… but it happened so often, I think it was just director’s style. Personally I wasn’t a fan, but I got used to it.

There are also some plotholes… too many coincidences… I don’t know why I bother mentioning it; it’s every show.

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





I had read some other reviews which warned me I might want to ignore the second half of the last episode. But I figured it couldn’t be that bad, since there is also a 5 min special showing them happily married afterwards.

Well, the reviews were right. The ending is really wtf, like big things happening out of nowhere. The new conflict introduced was only peripherally related to the other 39.5 episodes, but it had big consequence for our beloved characters.

In the book, it’s an entire story arc, much better developed and with a better outcome. I don’t know why the show thought it was a good idea to cram it into 30 min. But on top of this, they seemed to also really want an open ending, so they forced one. IMO, it wasn’t even so much an open ending as it was incredibly confusing and leaning towards sad.

Then, for whatever reason, they tried to backpedal with a Happily Ever After special that completely doesn’t explain how we got there from the ending.

This is one of the worst endings I’ve seen, so I decided to ignore it. I read some summaries of the book ending (and am reading the book now) and will stick with that.

While I’m here, I’ll just rant a bit more about the villains. This show really spun things around in circles. I started out feeling sorry for Shen Yurong, but he kept making so many bad decisions. XFF is fair; she understood he had no choice about some things, but pointed out that he did for others. Although I disliked him by the end, I still appreciate that he is this sort of realistic character- not inherently bad, just made some bad choices that led to more bad choices.

On the other hand… both major female villains, Ji Shuran and Wanning, started out as classical archetype evil characters, not very interesting. I was ready to just hate them 100%. But this turned around too. It was an interesting choice to make them both victims of men… they made choices too, of course, a sad backstory doesn’t absolve them, but I still sympathized.

Wanning’s story in particular hit me hard. Her theme song fits so well, with its major-minor key changes. Although I’m always on XFF’s side, and Wanning was a real psychopath, I still felt that trick with the drug was pretty cruel.

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An existentialist Jianghu adventure

MLC is what I heard somebody described as classic wuxia. It’s got adventure and mystery, good-looking heroes with impressive martial arts abilities, and well-choreographed fight scenes. It's also got a good dash of humor.

I was a bit hesitant going for this show because it has no female lead. I don’t particularly need romance, but I do like a strong FL to root for. However, after watching another show where I felt the romance detracted from an otherwise enjoyable story (Ancient Detective), I decided I could set aside my feminist leanings and just enjoy this story about men.

Ultimately what I really love about this show is its underlying existential crisis. From the beginning, Li Lianhua is waiting for his death. He just wants to tie up a few loose ends first. As I watched, I desperately hoped it would not happen, but I also understood that he was already on this path and it would be a win if he survived rather than a loss otherwise. At least his friends were right there with me, hoping and trying to turn this around.

This show contains a series of mystery cases strung together with an overarching storyline. I felt the cases themselves were a bit of a mess… they were so convoluted that they were hard to follow. There was often no chance of the audience solving it together with the characters, if only because the answer often involves strange magical feats. That aside, it just felt unrealistic that any detective could identify and then put together such a random set of clues to come up with such complicated explanations. But hey, our boy is a genius, so whatever- I just sat back and enjoyed watching them kick butt.

The three main characters are really loveable and where I think a lot of the fanbase lies. The brotherhood and also the humor between them is really great. Li Lianhua’s casual lying is hilarious; people have complained about Cheng Yi mumbling (they all dubbed themselves) but I think it captures Li Lianhua well, and not a problem if you use subtitles! Fang Duobing is sillily naïve and lovable, and Joseph Zeng’s anime-like expressions had me laughing. Xiao Shunyao as Di Feisheng unfortunately gets less screentime, but he is so grumpy badass when he shows up. I think all three actors did a great job capturing the spirit of their characters and making them likable, and their looks and styling all suited their characters well.

The show doesn’t have a female lead, but it does have some female side characters who are not too useless. Fang Duobing’s mom is a fan favorite. Qiao Wanmian, who is Li Lianhua’s ex, got a bit of hate but I actually really sympathized with her situation. I felt her arc was handled very well, a breakup she doesn’t want but has to accept- like the rest of the story, it's sad in a realistic way. I just feel she got a little shortchanged because they could have let her show off a little more. Her one sword strike showed no technique at all. Su Xiaoyong, I saw one snippet from the actress saying “I am you, the audience!” and that’s a good description- Li Lianhua’s fangirl. But in the end, neither she nor the princess actually factors in much (not that I would have wanted some random love story muddling the waters). Probably the strongest female character is Jiao Liqiao, who is batshit crazy and whose sole purpose in life seems to be to get the man she likes. So, across 40 episodes, I’d say this one might not even pass the Bechdel test. But I guess that’s ok, it’s a story about men in a men’s world.

The fighting in this show is well choreographed, aside from a few nonsensical sword strokes. In general it’s also fairly well performed. Unfortunately Di Feisheng doesn’t really fight, he just swings his sword and everyone goes flying. Fang Duobing’s fights look great- this actor seems pretty athletic- but as a character, he leveled up a bit too quickly. I find it unbelievable that he was a sickly child… but, who needs logic.

In all these fight scenes, especially towards the end, I do think there was a bit too much strike-and-pose with hair blowing in the wind. Once upon a time I might have thought it was cool, now I find it cheesy.

Once again, I think the main draw of this show is its existential undertones. I really appreciated, under the very well-done humor and swashbuckling adventure, the sadly realistic tone of the entire saga. Li Xiangyi was a genius and admired by all, but also a legit difficult and arrogant person. Such a character is very realistic, reminding us that people at the top are not always perfect. Li Lianhua lives with guilt and memories and needs to find his peace; this is also something that we ordinary people struggle with. The realistic, life-isn’t-perfect message resonates with us as we navigate our own lives. This alone, to me, gives it a high rating, despite other flaws like nonsensical cases, dismissible female characters, and too much posing.

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





The ending is, controversially, a forced open ending. I think it broke a lot of peoples’ hearts, but at least it gives you the option to believe what you want. Lengthy critical analyses abound on the internet arguing one way or another, I could totally see a high schooler writing a 5-paragraph essay for English class.

Personally, although I wish it were simply a happy ending, I also think that would have been too forced for a show like this and might have cheapened it a bit.

…that aside, I don’t see why he couldn’t have just eaten the flower and then saved everyone else afterwards using yangzhouman. The Styx flower was not even in the book, it was a gimmick added to the drama. It gave us all hope, then was ultimately used to generate dramatic flare. Honestly, the self-sacrifice theme was so overused and tired by this point. In this context, the whole plot device of the Styx flower was also a bit cheap.

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Classic xianxia with some great humor and pathos

Legend of Shenli has been described as a classic xianxia, full of tropes. I guess I haven’t watched enough xianxias (<10) because I didn’t really notice.

First of all, I thought the humor for this show was pretty great (at least, right up my alley). Xingzhi, and Shenli’s interactions with him, are lowkey hilarious. There is a lot of random funny stuff. And that chicken is so cute!

Of course, there are also some really sad parts. And this show has an underlying pathos and nostalgic sadness that hits in a gnawing, existential way. But for the most part, I still think of it as a light-hearted show with great humor.

The two main characters dominate this show. For Shenli, the eponymous FL, I liked some things about her and not others, which I guess makes her realistic! I like that her head is screwed on straight and she’s sensible- no chasing after the ML after getting rejected, for example. I like less that she’s so hotheaded. She’s quick to fight and kill; she saves people, but doesn’t seem to have much kindness or compassion. So I wouldn’t say she’s always likeable, but I did really feel for her at times.

As for the ML, Xingzhi… ok, I loved him. It’s not that he doesn’t care about the world… he does. But he is also so full of crap. He is so bored and so cheeky and I found him hilarious. He’s kind of a troll sometimes, but it’s always harmless; he still takes care of things when push comes to shove.

Actually, underneath it all, Xingzhi’s situation is quite sad. But he holds his head high and has accepted it all long ago. It makes for a lovable and sympathetic character you want to root for, and I’m glad he met Shenli.

The show spends some time building up their relationship, which is cute to watch, although the plot pattern of Shenli getting hurt and Xingzhi saving her does repeat one too many times. They end up having a sweet and supportive relationship- mainly him supporting her. Classic, but it’s done well here, with proper character development and buildup.

There are several side characters, some of whom are quite loveable. However, none of them got enough development for me to really be invested in them. I wanted to see more of them, but it didn’t happen. Even the villain is a bit lame- although they do throw a (slightly predictable) wrench in there to make you feel more sad. The main conflict doesn’t win points for originality or interest. In this show, I was most invested in the relationship between the main leads.

In terms of acting, Zhao Liying as Shenli does the action scenes remarkably well. Her fight scenes are fast, crisp, and clean. They are a mix of CGI and choreography (I saw in the BTS that even her spear is CGI!), but still, some of the best I’ve seen. I saw her before in Legend of Fei and wasn’t too impressed (stopped watching, actually), but here she really stood out, even among all the other shows I’ve watched.

I was less enamored with her acting. I thought she was a bit stiff and wooden, which is great for the fight scenes but less great for everything else. After I read the book, I realized that sometimes she really is supposed to look blank. Still, I think she could rely less on looking cool and try to be more natural.

For Lin Gengxin as Xingzhi, I really liked his calm, casual delivery of all those hilarious lines. And once in awhile, a hint of a deeper sadness- I thought he did a good job. Unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of his styling… he looks better as himself than as Xingzhi. Many of the side characters looked great (both male and female) so I don’t think it’s general about the show, they just could have done a better job with him.

In terms of world-building, this is an imaginative xianxia world that, as typical, you can’t think too hard about lest you start uncovering holes. There is some beautiful CGI and imagery, highlighted by high-contrast vivid colors. The mortal world from the first arc in particular is so lovely, both Shenli and I look back nostalgically on her time spent there.

I do wish this world had more gender balance. Shenli is a woman in a man’s role, a total anomaly (which nobody seems to find odd); I would have liked better a world where women are just empowered, but I guess this is the author’s choice. There are a few other strong female characters (demon lord, the awesome snake serpent) but in general, despite the strong female lead, this is not quite a show for championing feminism.

Somebody’s critical analysis on reddit thought this show has a focus on gender and sexuality. I think this is because there are some bisexual characters in the book, but they were toned down for the show (censorship, I guess) so it’s harder to see. Actually in the book, Furong (the divine lord fiancée) kisses Mofang and has a thing for him, so in that context some things make more sense. In general this show sticks remarkably close to the book, and I think does an excellent job at adapting it to screen; of the changes I saw, the vast majority were improvements.

Finally, I liked the music… songs were great, really help to build the nostalgia for this beautiful world, and I really liked their fight BGMs too.

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





There is a lot of sad stuff at the end- I saw a BTS where they said it was an entire day of crying- but it all turns around for an ultimate happy ending (minus some sacrifices).

In fact, this show has one of THE best endings, because they devote an *entire episode* to an epilogue from the book! Epilogue = watching them happily living their life after the main conflict is over. I don’t know why more Cdramas don’t do this; look how happy all the fans are. It is so great to get this kind of closure for the characters you get so attached to.

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This must be a show for fans of romance

I think you have to really like romance to like this show. I figured this out after accidentally reading a bunch of comments where people were gushing about things that I was rolling my eyes about.

Basically, this is not one for fans of intricate plots, nuanced characters, meaningful conflicts, subtlety, or anything of the sort. It is remarkably light on plot- it’s basically just power struggles in the human realm and power struggles in the Spirit realm. The villain is lame and delusional, many characters are caricatures, and so many plot elements are just cliché.

The FL is the boss in this show, the supremely powerful sovereign of the spirit realm, but actually very lonely. Into this gaping emotional void steps our ML. Although he is the most capable among humans, as a mortal he should still be insignificant to her. However, he is such a total sap for her that he worms his way into her heart.

The romance gets played up right from the beginning, all flowered up and sparkly even before you think there should be anything there. He really should be beneath the FL, and she does seem to be the badass and in-control type, yet here she is flirting her days away. Said flirting includes things like “accidental” half-naked sightings and random, unnecessary physical contact, and of course those scenes with long gazes and slow motion that are simply forced into the plot before there’s any real connection.

So if you like romance, I suppose you might get a hit out of these “heart-fluttering” scenes. But if you want a properly built up and meaningful relationship, this is not it.

However, after I understood that the point of the show is to play up some epic romance, then I stopped cringing about it so much, took it easy, and actually almost enjoyed some of it. It wasn’t bad to watch at accelerated speed while doing other things (like exercise), and halfway through I switched platforms to WeTV which has user comments floating across the screen. I found these sometimes snarky comments to be excellent company and they helped me take the show less seriously, otherwise I might have exploded in frustration if I actually immersed myself.

Given all this, I do think the show goes through some phases of being more genuine or interesting. Duan Xu (the ML) grew on me after I realized that being shamelessly audacious is just part of his personality. I found his perpetual and somewhat tone-deaf cheerfulness in the Void arc to be quite endearing. There are also some side characters I like. Jiang Ai, for instance- her loyalties are unclear but I thought it sweet to see her giving He Simu love advice like a gal pal would. My favorite character is Fengyi, who is super cute and funny. Several side couples are neatly paired up, and I enjoyed watching the side characters and their relationships get some development in the 20s of episodes. And there are some decently heartfelt moments towards the end, like He Simu at her parents’ grave.

That said, at its core this show is an epic romance. The entire premise is built around it, and all the plotlines are feeding into it. Actually He Simu’s character is pretty inconsistent- sometimes badass, sometimes self-aware, and sometimes a transparent, lovestruck girl. It’s like they couldn’t decide which classic romance scenes they wanted her to play out, so they just rotated through them. But Duan Xu, he is fulfilling somebody’s fantasy of the perfect boyfriend, because he is SO devoted to her. Clearly she matters more to him than anything, he would give do anything for her. This overly romantic and idealistic kind of devotion is completely in line with the vibe of the show, and I think the target romance-loving audience might like it. But I prefer more realism.

As for the world-building, this imaginative world features spirits floating like jellyfish and the Spirit Lord riding on her staff. The CGI is pretty good and there’s a lot of great imagery, so it’s rather evocative and sparks the imagination.

But upon closer examination, the mechanics of the spirit world make little sense and are quite arbitrary. The idea of obsessions might have been a good theme, but it’s too open-ended and complicated to be a guiding rule (eg how does “collecting obsessions” actually work? If obsessions are keeping spirits alive, how can their society even function? How does He Simu, born a spirit, fit into all of this?) It’s not the first time I’ve seen this concept in Chinese lore (that ghosts are the lingering spirits of the dead who can’t let go) but I think it’s the kind of thing that’s best left vague. Start world-building around it and you’ll find more holes than you can patch.

The whole thing about the five senses is also not consistently executed and enforced. If you look at He Simu’s actions, she doesn’t seem to actually be missing all her senses all the time; she just selectively doesn’t have them when and in ways that fit the plot.

Acting-wise, I don’t think this is Dilreba’s best role. It was just too extreme, whether she is trying to be badass or cute or worried or whatever. Towards the end she has some better expressions. For Arthur, I have a hard time taking him seriously when he is trying to be stern and tough, it might just be his baby face (sorry Arthur). But I liked him better as his character evolves away from that archetype. My favorite performance is Ding Jiawen as my favorite character, Fengyi... I have seen him in other shows before but this is his most endearing role yet.

For production stuff, I thought the CGI is pretty good- it’s not the realistic type, but instead the pretty type- and costumes are nice. The cinematography seems very idol-style and there are many scenes that seem meant to just capture Dilreba’s best side or her looking like a queen. For the music, there are two songs in the OST that I really like (along with their instrumentals), and they are used well, so that I actually felt emotional at the proper moments despite not being that into the show. I wasn’t that into the rest of the OST or the BGM.

Overall... it is an idol drama with all the idol drama vibes, focused on some idealized and epic romance. Definitely appeals to some people but not to me, but I still made it through by watching with half attention while reading snarky comments.

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





There are two endings to this show. A 6-minute “episode 41” rewrites part of the last episode to be the “happy ending” that many people want, accomplished via a deus ex machina miracle.

Actually, I didn’t think that the original ending is that sad or bittersweet. The ML does die, but he comes back as a jellyfish and follows her around as she explores the world, presumably to take form after some amount of time. I always thought this is a big plot hole in all these Chinese stories that allow those who can’t let go to come back as ghosts... just doesn’t seem like such a bad deal to achieve immortality this way.

Of the side character deaths, there is only one that made me upset. Fang Xianye dies in a lame way for no good reason. He is already forgotten by the end. None of the side stories get much wrapup, which is pretty disappointing (what EVEN is going on with Fengyi’s maid, what is she even doing here).

Chenying is the other upsetting death but he comes back as a spirit. Simu gives up her Spirit Lord spot to him... ok, given how much she hated her job, why is she subjecting this poor kid to it? Who even let that child on the battlefield in the first place?

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Kind of a mess

This show has simply too much story for the allotted time. The way they chopped it up to fit creates a disjointed, nonsensical mess. The scenes themselves play out slowly enough- I watched the entire thing at 1.5X speed- but big developments happen quickly and abruptly with little glue in between, and sometimes key scenes are not even shown (or only a flash of them).

I don’t think filler is necessarily a good thing, but proper pacing means giving ideas some time to develop, and it helps the story feel more natural. That’s all missing here. It reminds me of vertical dramas; perhaps that’s the target audience.

On top of this choppiness, other symptoms include: many things are not properly explained and links are missing; plot points are introduced and then forgotten; and the story is riddled with inconsistencies that are simply flashed over as the show runs away at breakneck speed. Maybe I missed some things because I was watching it so sped up, but I just wasn’t interested enough to pay more attention, and why bother keeping track of plot points when half of them are dropped.

The premise is, or at least starts as, a rebirth revenge. It reminds me a bit of The Double, only everything less well done. Later it shifts more into power struggles and scheming. I basically held onto these familiar story archetypes to maintain some sanity.

The FL, for example. I just tried to see her as an archetype smart and scheming FL, otherwise it would have been too much cognitive dissonance. I had to ignore the random inconsistencies in her character, like how her skills in strategy and military tactics seem to come out of nowhere, and how she randomly devolves back into being a willful teenager somewhere in the middle. Stereotyping her also helped me like her better, since I like this character pattern, and she doesn’t have much personality of her own (or it’s so inconsistent that you don’t know what it is).

The ML is a skilled fighter with a sad past and endless devotion to her. Also classic. I don’t think he’s very interesting, but at least I didn’t get cognitive dissonance from him. Zhou Yiran is such a pretty boy in this show, though. I know that’s not everyone’s type, but at least I enjoyed staring at his face.

Their romance goes through all the right motions, including tense staring contests, cute and sweet moments, exaggerated worry, and so on. I didn’t really feel it. It isn’t built up properly or meaningfully, though I think the pieces are there- it’s just poor writing emphasizing the wrong things. They do get together quickly enough, but after that their relationship really is not very interesting.

As far as the plot goes, the FL first goes through a phase where she is hell bent on revenge (country be damned). I found it somewhat confusing because she’s reborn in the past; the guy hasn’t even done anything to her yet. Every time she called it "revenge", I secretly giggled. She doesn’t even try to establish if he at that point harbors any ill intent towards her.

Luckily for us all, he is just a terrible person who is already planning terrible things. This villain is one of the most one-dimensional I have seen. At least it is easy on my emotions, but it’s not really that interesting to watch him do all the terrible things villains do.

At some point, the FL abruptly transitions into wanting to be a good ruler for the people, and the focus then is on outmaneuvering her opponents in a high-stakes power game. She is not always invincible, which is one little thing I liked. The court comprises of a bunch of annoying old men led by two hot young guys. I am not sure how such a court comes into being. Either way, these two hot young ministers are playing politics with the FL, but I could never quite figure out what they were after or what they were trying to do. Maybe I needed to pay more attention, but it was not worth the risk of brain implosion.

There are some likable-enough side characters, but mostly they didn’t get enough development for me to care. The child emperor is really adorable, especially when he acts all authoritative- but is this realistic for a 6 year old? (Or is he actually 12?)

There is also some war and battle stuff in the middle. And plenty of dramatic scenes with lots of pretty-crying. Maybe I just wasn’t into the show, but it felt kind of ridiculous to see all the streaming tears for things I didn’t find that sad.

Finally, there is some female empowerment stuff, and this is not a bad show for girl power. But proper female representation is not so rare anymore these days, so a few throwaway comments and one short empowerment arc don't really get this show any extra points.

I can’t comment much on the acting since I watched it all so sped up. I actually thought Deng Yi and Xie Yanfang’s actors did really good jobs. Styling is good, I thought they all look quite good. Production seems decent- especially since I mentally categorized this as a short drama, so within that category it is good. But I really can’t say I was paying that much attention.

To close it off, here’s what I came up with for things I liked about this show (besides that the emperor is very cute and the guys are good looking):

1) The overall premise of a strong FL who outmaneuvers her opponents is not a bad one. Other shows have done it better, but if you’ve already seen them and want more, you might like this.

2) With the fast and choppy pace, coupled with watching at 1.5X speed, I felt like I was breezing through a story very quickly, which gave me a sense of accomplishment. Whatever people like about vertical dramas probably applies here.

3) I ended up on reddit reading episode discussions- I wanted to see if it was just me thinking the show was bad- and I was not disappointed, all the haters had gathered. So it was kind of fun to see people pick apart a show I didn’t like that much.

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





It’s a happy ending. The last deadly challenge is solved in a cheap way. The emperor is clearly totally autonomous now that he’s 12, so the leads depart from politics to go frolic in the desert and have babies, happily ever after.

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Not bad for a shallow watch

This show doesn’t really qualify as a short drama, but sometimes it feels like one. The pace is quite fast. I think this is both good and bad- the cases are all rather short (a couple episodes, maybe) so you get quick gratification in finding out whodunit. Add to that the way the cases all feed one into the other, and the show is particularly easy to binge.

On the flip side, though, the case-solving is rather rushed- that’s how they can solve so many, so quickly. Rather than walking us through each case properly, the investigative team simply sniffs a corpse or two, uncovers a few clues, and then “deduces” a full-blown elaborate story. It’s a mystery to me how they got there. So in the end, this is a crime show that doesn’t really show crime solving. Instead I think the focus is on the stories that are uncovered.

A side effect of breezing through so many cases is that there are a lot of characters for the amount of story. Sometimes by the time the mystery is solved, I was still trying to figure out who is who. This is fine for characters who disappear, but a lot of the cases are interlocked, so many characters become relevant again and then you’re sitting there trying to remember who they are. Characters need more development to make an impression.

If you can look past all that, and all the other random plot holes, I did find the actual stories behind the cases to be pretty good. Interesting and often touching. Many cases have some element of the fantastical (similar to Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty). It would almost be a spoiler to reveal whether the supernatural is actually real in the show, so I won’t say more.

The detective team grew on me. It’s great to see a father-son relationship; father-aged characters rarely get main roles and I really enjoyed his interactions with everyone. There is also a budding romance which is not done too well, like you can see the signs here and there but they are subtle, and then when they suddenly get together it’s rather abrupt. But romance is not a huge part of this show and I was fine with it.

The FL herself is bright, cheery, and outgoing. I found her quite likeable but a bit anachronistic, which the show glosses over. At the beginning, a lot of her expressions and reactions seem exaggerated in an attempt at comedy- it’s not really my style of humor, but I still liked the lighthearted vibe. For better or worse, the comedy dies down as the show goes on.

The FL does her best to be useful, but the character who actually comes up with all the magical deductions is Jueming, the ML (or one of?). He is fairly likeable, but mostly I just wanted him to tell me what happened. Overall I liked the team but I wasn’t in love with the characters, and I don’t think it’s a particularly character-driven story.

I do like that this show isn’t afraid to let “good” people do “bad” things. Even people on the protagonists’ side can do wrong things or have prejudiced ideas. There are also some pretty good plot twists and reveals. So the various cases, along with the central mystery (Jueming figuring out what happened to his family), kept me interested.

My main complaint is probably that some things are handled in ways I simply don’t agree with. I couldn’t help feeling that many of these tragedies only happened because society and the law have failed the common people. The characters don’t seem to recognize this or have much empathy. Of course, our modern values are different (eg our opinion of how much a life is worth) and it’s better for a show to stay true to its setting. But my favorite shows still acknowledge my modern values, maybe with some sympathetic character recognizing where the blame truly lies. The closest this show comes is refuting the idea that somebody is predestined to crime via birthright, which seems pretty basic to me.

Acting-wise, I think everyone did ok. Some of the show felt overacted, but it might just be the fast pace pushing too many dramatic scenes too close together without enough “normal” scenes in between.

The production seems decent for a smaller drama. The sets and costumes are nice, there are plenty of extras, and even the props look real which I find is important for these murder shows. This show does have a style of acting out hypotheses, memories, and descriptions whether they are correct or not, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s past, present, or imaginary. So this led to a little confusion, but it’s not too bad.

The music is alright- the BGM is used well to set the mood and includes some nice orchestral pieces. I thought the OST is ok but I didn’t love it, though that might be because it mostly only plays during recap scenes (flashing memories, which the show seems to use to say goodbye to characters) and I am not a fan of those, as I would rather watch more story.

Overall I think this show is not bad for a shallow binge watch and can be finished in decent time, especially if you watch it sped up. The stories are decent but don’t expect much from the case solving, or to particularly fall in love with any characters or ideas.

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





The show’s ending seems to be a setup for another season. Jueming is shown walking off with the FL, discussing the next mystery he wants to tackle.

The show actually dares to (probably?) kill off one of the main characters. But we don’t see any follow-up or confirmation of this, or Jinglan and Jueming’s reactions. As a standalone ending it would be pretty unsatisfying with loose ends, but my guess is they want to do a S2.

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Extreme love and extreme hate

Feud is a show that you have to bear with a little before you’re rewarded. Ultimately it is on the deeper, angstier side, with some philosophical tones and food for thought- I think that’s in line with this screenwriter (she’s actually the reason I watched it). But it takes some time for the layers to fall into place.

The beginning has a silly tone, complete with sound effects and funny expressions. The FL is total ditz for at least 5-6 episodes, kind of annoying but not the worst I’ve seen. Some great tragedy / misunderstanding in the past is constantly hinted at with little real information, leaving you sitting there with growing impatience wondering where it’s all going.

But it turns out that many of the things I at first thought were poor writing, plot holes, or just general inconsistencies, were actually not. Don’t get me wrong, there are some of those too. But many are actually clues. This show loves grand plot twist reveals; it also loves misdirections and confusing hints. So by halfway through, I’d been whacked so badly by plot twists that I found myself constantly and suspiciously guessing at secrets and hidden plans. It’s that kind of show.

The main plot is about the feud between the ML and FL, both resolving it in the present as well as unveiling its origins in the past. The feud is so intense that at first I thought the backstory couldn't possibly be worthy of it... but in the end, I think it is. It was bad enough to merit a lot of hate- maybe not THAT much, but debatable- and I could also see and understand how it happened. A little communication would have gone a long way, of course, but its lack here was not as outrageous as some other shows. I was satisfied with the uncovered motivation and story.

Even more, I understood both sides of the feud, and my sympathies shifted back and forth from one lead to the other. I tend to think this is a sign of good writing in setting up a meaningful and multi-dimensional conflict, involving relatable characters with sympathetic actions and emotions. And it's nice that the characters in the end are more self-aware than not, and that there are some other characters to speak the audiences’ mind.

In general, there’s a lot to unpack in this show, and some themes are carried well throughout- autonomy, karma, love and hate, etc- I’m tempted to go on about it here, but this is a review and not a critical analysis, so just know that some of the issues can get philosophical if you think about them more deeply.

Of course, a show that’s only about two people tragically broken apart by misunderstandings and unfortunate but unintended developments would probably be somewhat depressing and unsatisfying to watch. So I am glad that they came up with some final villain for them to fight together. Unfortunately, this villain is not that well constructed or explained. Their story and motivation are in line with the themes, but introduced late and kind of glossed over, especially as the show gets pretty rushed towards the end.

In fact, I waited what felt like the entire show for the two leads to make up and work together, but it kept not happening. The feud only seemed to get worse as my frustration grew. This is not the angstiest drama I’ve seen- there are some breathing breaks and even flashes of lightheartedness- but it did start to test my patience. When finally things start looking up, we are only left with a rushed last few episodes.

For better or worse, though, this probably makes the show more bingeable, because you blow through it trying to get to the part where you can finally relax.

Main villain aside, I do think the characters are generally well constructed. Like many shows that want to be deep, there aren’t that many characters to truly hate. I was ok with it here because the show and I tended to agree on how to feel. My favorite character is probably Ling’er, who has her head screwed on remarkably straight.

I also like that this show puts a spotlight on many kinds of love. The core relationship is definitely a romantic love, but many other kinds of love are shown to be just as important. I wish this weren't so uncommon.

On a less flattering note, this xianxia world is one of the more poorly constructed that I’ve seen. Some concepts or aspects of the immortals’ lives seem too lofty, others too mundane. The entire setup and world mechanics are poorly explained (and don’t get me started on that Empyrean)- I think it’s just something you have to overlook.

For the acting, I thought it’s exceptionally good. Both Bai Lu and Zeng Shunxi have some great, nuanced expressions that convey lots of different and complicated emotions. They are just as convincing for the many dramatic, emotional scenes. I also thought the second leads did a good job (Ling’er with her resigned smile!) as well as many of the side characters, like Zhao Yiqin playing three different personalities.

For other production stuff, the costumes and styling are pretty good. Bai Lu looks super pretty in this show. The CGI is sometimes not bad but, erm, mostly not that great. But for the most egregiously bad SFX, I think it was on purpose as a joke, hah. The music is alright but not really my favorite... it set the mood well enough, but I think the emotional scenes helped the music more than the music helped the scenes.

Overall, this is one of those deeper, more philosophical shows that I like. But it is more angsty than my normal preference, and it feels like a lot of the show is spent waiting for things to get better. It also has so many plot twists, clues, and misdirection, that I think by the second half when they’re mostly done with, people were disappointed by the lack of further intrigue. So it isn’t perfect, but I still liked it; it made me think and feel, even if it was somewhat emotionally taxing.

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





The ending is... happy? The main couple does end up alive and together, but we only get a flash of their reunion. I found it somewhat unsatisfying.

The second leads also survive, though with no romance between them. I was happy with this more realistic development and with Ling’er saving herself rather than some guy doing it for her. However, I did secretly wish she could find the love she wanted.

Many likeable side characters die in the episodes leading up to the end, which is rather sad. There is a time reversal artifact, but luckily they don’t use this cheap trick. The role it actually plays is somewhat confusing and subject to debate.

BTW, not sure if this counts as a spoiler, but I found the ML’s love brain to be super extreme, almost as frustrating as the FL’s hate brain. But somebody on reddit pointed out that she was the first thing he saw and so he imprinted on her; that made it make a lot more sense to me. As for the FL’s hate brain, I was rooting for her to let it go, but I don’t think anyone really has the right to judge. Hatred can really feed on itself. And feelings are feelings; whatever a person feels is valid, as my therapist once said.

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Demons and humans and their complicated interactions

This show features an imaginative world where demons and humans coexist. The people are as skeptical as we’ve always been, so in a fun reversal of normal dynamics, our protagonists sometimes need to deal with the incredulity of a disbelieving public.

The FL, Banxia, is not particularly smart, strong, skilled, anything- she’s often afraid and needs to be saved. She is, however, very reasonable. I often thought her words, actions, even thoughts and feelings, made perfect sense given her position and abilities, and I agreed with her behavior throughout. All these traits make her relatable and likable. I still didn’t love her, but I found no fault with her- she’s got what she’s got. And she does get braver throughout the show.

As for the ML, Xuanye- I really like his vibe. Even despite his tragic past and impressive abilities, he has this casual, down-to-earth style. He’s not trying to act cool, he just talks and acts like a normal person. Most of the time he looks harassed, but sometimes he also looks flabbergasted, incredulous, exasperated, taken aback, etc. And sometimes he looks genuinely happy. He’s low-key, selfless, and very likable.

The romance between them is done well. It grows naturally, and between Banxia with her healthy communication and secure attachment style and Xuanye avoiding awkward conversations like the plague, it’s not too flowered up or overdone. I also don’t like awkwardness so Xuanye really saved me here. There are still awkward scenes, like with side characters, but they are on purpose for humor and actually funny.

Speaking of funny, I wouldn’t call this a comedy, but there are legit lots of hilarious moments. The humor is incorporated well so it doesn’t feel forced, I thought the funny moments were really funny.

As for side characters, this show had quite a few that I really like and who also show up regularly. I think in general the side characters are done well, have personalities and screentime, though I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of them- some of them still get forgotten.

For the plot, some of the story arcs feel a bit drawn out, just going on for too long. I actually watched a lot of the show at 1.25X speed (this also because Banxia talks really slowly). But I think the story arcs get better as the show goes on, and I found the last one very exciting. Some of them made me anxious, but they end up mostly resolving in ways I was satisfied with- the protagonists and I seem to agree on who is good or bad, and who deserves sympathy. The ending got some hate but I don’t think it’s that bad, see below for more details.

A special shoutout to the world building. I wasn’t always too impressed by the CGI of the demons, but I think the dynamics of the world are well-done, showing how demons and humans can be both good and bad, and the way prejudice and power dynamics play into their dynamic. The show even does some explaining about how demonkind works, which is pretty cool.

Acting-wise, I really like this role for Allen. Some of his expressions legit made me laugh, and his smile also made me smile. For Song Zuer, I think she’s a decent actress, and having the patience to speak that slowly is no small feat. I wasn’t a huge fan of the way her mouth seems to be hanging open a lot (just not the most flattering look?), but small quibble.

I didn’t always love the CGI in this show, but I thought the fighting is quite good, top half of what I’ve seen. It’s excessively acrobatic but the hand-to-hand is actually quite solid. The costumes are alright- I really like Allen’s styling (he looks like he came out of an RPG) but this is not my favorite style for the ladies and I didn’t really like Banxia’s hair. For the music, I liked some of it- maybe one or two of the OSTs and a few of the BGMs- most of it was not my favorite, but okay.

Overall I think this is a pretty good show that I enjoyed watching, though not a masterpiece that I love. I did sag on it a few times but I think it was mostly due to anxiety, and then things ended up resolving alright. It ends up being a good mix of warmth and trauma. I would watch a sequel, though I’d be surprised if we actually got one.

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





Ah yes, the famous “sad ending” that everyone keeps ranting about in comments. I honestly don't think it's so bad. Everything works out except the main couple are willingly separated at the end. You can see the wheels turning, though (his dad examining the broken travel pass artifact, Banxia asking for directions, etc).

In more detail: excessively tragic events towards the end are undone for the last two episodes by time reversal. Time reversal is one of my least favorite tropes, but this one is actually pretty well done- everyone seems to be roughly the same person, and the same story arcs still happen in some form. This also gives us 2 episodes of closure to see how many (though not all) of the side characters fare in this redo, which is a nice second chance and wrapup for some of the story arcs (...I am still sad about the little black cat, though).

Plus, there are echoes of the original timeline in the new one. Mainly, Xuanye still remembers everything, which puts him in a heartbreakingly bittersweet situation. Luckily, Banxia regains her memory too, so the two of them get maybe ¾ of an episode to catch up and say goodbye. I do think it’s a bit forced melodrama to tug at heartstrings (cmon, how did that artifact break?) but it’s not bad and leaves the story open to a future reunion.

I did google the “original ending” intended by the writer, and agree it’s much better. In this ending, Xuanye forgets everything after the time reversal, but Banxia regains memory and goes to find him, they defeat enemies together and he also remembers everything again. It’s much better all around from character development and closure points of view, and they totally could have fit in another story arc with 4 more episodes... but, whatever, we got what we got. Rate a show for what it is, not what it isn’t.

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A cute and fluffy romance with e-sports background noise

At its core, this show is pretty much just a fluffy romance. The setting chosen for it to play out is a high-performing e-sports team, which recruits apparently the first female player ever in the industry.

Tong Yao, to her credit, takes her job seriously and knows what she represents. I always find it fun to see a strong female character defy stereotypes and take on a male-dominated field. It’s fun to watch her relationship with her team and love interest grow, as they go through victories and setbacks together. It’s not too overdone or sappy either, just cute.

I do feel the show gets a little worse after the two of them get together, a little over halfway in. The ML kind of turns into a total sap for her, and it made me like and respect him less; I feel people should care about things beyond their latest relationship infatuation. I’m also not that interested in seeing various examples of how much he likes her. (Also, who goes straight from sobbing uncontrollably to making out?)

A lot of the conflicts that the characters deal with come from the glow of celebrity, and I enjoyed seeing the “lives of celebrities” from the back like this. We may all know intellectually that being a celebrity is not actually that much fun, but it’s a good reminder to see that fame and glory come with a price.

The show also has some great side characters, such as the other members of the team. I was disappointed by the amount of development they got, though. For example, K gets one story arc devoted to him and it lasts less than an episode. It’s too bad that the side characters are given lovable personalities and just enough development to make you care, then get ignored for long blocks at a time. There are also two very cute cats, and I also wish we saw them more.

My favorite part of this show might be seeing the e-sports in action. I didn’t know much about this field before, so I was really interested to see how the system works. The game they’re playing seems similar to League of Legends. Although the show received criticism from Chinese viewers for inaccurate portrayals of the e-sport world (namely not taking it seriously enough), as somebody who didn’t know anything about it before, I still enjoyed this bit of exposure and getting an idea of what it’s about.

But e-sports and its culture, celebrity life, and lovable side characters aside, for better or worse the main focus of the show seems to be the two leads and their relationship. I’m not a huge romance buff and while I enjoyed watching their push and pull as they get together, I started to get a little sick of their romance after awhile.

The acting is ok. Chen Xiao as Tong Yao doesn’t have many expressions, but it might just be her character. I was legit horrified by her nails, though. She is a professional gamer- sure, she can push keys with such long nails (they even show it!) but I can’t imagine it’s doing her any favors. If you are going to show a profession, you should take it seriously.

As for the other production, this was the first Cdrama I watched as an adult, so I was a bit thrown off by the face filters and the dubbing. Her mom with the smooth face was kind of creepy. I might be less horrified if I watched it again now.

There are also some animated sequences acting out the game they’re playing. I think these serve a purpose in conveying the passage of time spent playing the game, in a way that feels action-packed and exciting. But in and of themselves the scenes are hard to follow and don’t contribute to the story.

Overall, this is a cute little romance with a fun setting. Not everything is perfect, but it’s a light watch that generally leaves you feeling good.

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





The ending is alright. They win the championships, and although there isn’t really any view of their lives after this, it’s not hard to imagine that they just keep on doing their thing. I wasn’t exactly satisfied, but it’s not too bad; I feel the show isn’t set up to need a grand tie-up or closure since it’s more slice-of-life.

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Heartwarming as expected, but some stories felt unfinished

Based on the description for this show, you’d already know you’re getting a heartwarming story of an incredible (real) woman who overcame obstacles to give young women a path out of poverty. So there’s really no need for me to go on and on about that. I cried a lot, the good kind of tears.

Clearly the show has a great story to work with, and it generally tells it well. But I still thought they could have done some things better with the narrative focus.

The show follows Zhang Guimei as she struggles to set up the school (funding, recruiting teachers and students, etc), then it follows the first class of students, and then it follows a second class of students some years later. So aside from Zhang Guimei herself, there are other characters whose stories you end up getting emotionally invested in.

I don’t know how much is dramatized and/or fictionalized, ie how many of these other characters are real. But I did end up caring a lot about them. In general this is a good thing, because it’s what makes this an interesting drama and not just a documentary.

I just wished they saw these stories through more and gave us more closure on each of them. It felt like a lot of them were just abruptly dropped and forgotten. I felt this way about the teachers and both batches of students. I wanted to continue their stories and find out what happens to them; but after their story arcs end, we might see them around but we don’t really know how they’re doing.

If the show wanted to tell several sets of stories with different characters, I think it would have been better to just move on fully each time. Seeing familiar faces around makes you want their stories to continue, and that is denied. Would it be that hard to give us a few scenes showing how the teachers have adjusted to their lives after several years? And I was happy to see Gu Yu return for the second set of students, but her story there also feels incomplete and unfinished as we are abruptly pulled away to follow Zhang Guimei’s declining health.

It’s not that Zhang Guimei herself isn’t interesting. She is, and I like that the show presents her not just as some sort of saint. Actually she’s shown to be very stubborn and sometimes difficult. I think some of her actions were actually quite questionable- like leaving a student to live outside in the cold and rain for weeks, thank goodness nothing happened to the girl (somehow it all gets painted as “good” for the girl... hrm). Either way, I sometimes found myself a little frustrated at Zhang Guimei, but I still like this realistic portrayal. You don’t usually get a legend without some difficult traits.

The acting is quite good, too. And the settings are pretty. It was filmed in Yunnan for some beautiful mountain scenery. There is a lot of speech in local dialect, making subtitles especially important.

Overall I’d say it’s a good show, but I came in expecting that based on the description. I think it would have been better if they followed some of the side characters’ stories more completely. Of course we don’t want to take away too much focus from Zhang Guimei, but if you make me invested in a side character’s story then I will be invested, that’s just how that works.

BTW, the CCP are heroes in this show and Zhang Guimei at some point uses CCP propaganda to motivate her students. That really did happen, so regardless of how you feel about the communist party, they are good guys in this show and be prepared for some loud CCP propaganda.

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





Zhang Guimei is still alive right now, so although the show’s final arc shows her struggling to continue despite declining health, nothing really big happens. Right before that, the story arc for the second set of students ends rather abruptly and left me wondering what happens to everyone- at least with the first set, we kind of knew- so actually I was a little disappointed with this ending. It felt incomplete. But I suppose the main hero is Zhang Guimei so it makes sense for the show to bring the focus back to her.

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Watchable, but not as good as the donghua

I absolutely adored S1 of this donghua/anime, which is funny and sweet. While waiting for S2, I went ahead and read the novel. I found still funny but somehow a lot less charming, and I actually soured a little on the story after that.

Given this history, it’s difficult for me to rate this drama on its own merits. Not only is it hard to look past differences and comparisons- and I do think it falls significantly short of the donghua- but I also can’t un-know what I know. Maybe I would have liked this show better if I didn’t already know what would happen... or maybe, if the show had been better, I would have still liked it a lot. Who knows.

Since I can’t be objective, I’ll be brief (by my standards, hah). The FL is cute and sensible, and it’s nice that she has “modern” values- this means she dislikes death, innocent people suffering, etc just as much as we audience do. The ML is a little darker, but he’s always on her side even if keeping secrets. Their dynamic is (or is supposed to be) that of playful co-conspirators, which is cute to watch.

There are likeable side characters, and the villains are easy to hate. The humor is pretty good at the beginning but mostly fades away by about halfway. The plot is basically palace politics, but there are some clever elements like the two layers of transmigration, how the protagonist of one story can turn out to be the antagonist of the next, and the way their modern experiences are woven in. I like that the transmigration is addressed directly as being lonely and scary, which also makes you glad they have each other.

All this sounds not too bad, but in the end I couldn’t make myself care about the characters and I wasn’t really rooting for them- either with each other or against their enemies. So it was just not that interesting or captivating.

The acting is alright. I think Wang Churan could work on her expressions a bit. She seems to do a lot of gazing prettily, but I would have preferred a more down-to-earth, spunky Yu Wanyin. Cheng Lei is fine but I didn’t feel much for him or his character. I also had a big problem with the voice acting. Way too many breathy little noises- especially, but not limited to, the FL.

The music is pretty good, both songs and BGM. The costumes also look nice. Overall the show is decent, but as somebody who came in knowing the story, I was pretty bored and watched the whole thing at accelerated speed.

And because I can’t help it, here’s my comparison with the donghua and the novel. I place the drama somewhere in between in terms of enjoyability. It somehow misses a lot of the charm and lightheartedness of the donghua. The drama version FL is a lot less endearing, and the ML (who’s dark side is significantly toned down) is less interesting. I went back to watch the donghua after the drama and immediately felt much more attached to both characters.

The drama of course has a longer runtime. Most of the extra material in the first half, as far as I can tell, is people speaking slowly, and drawn out scenes meant to play up the romance. I thought that was unnecessary and makes their relationship less cute; I prefer its more subtle development in the donghua. As for the novel, it explains things better, but it’s the least warm and fuzzy, and I’m glad they tempered it a bit for the visual versions.

The overall story is the same for all three. In terms of plot, from donghua to drama there are some small changes, which I mostly didn’t like but they were fairly inconsequential. I just don’t think the drama adds substantially to what I got out of the donghua. Even the music- I like the drama’s, but I still like the donghua’s better.

As a note, the donghua S2 is still airing and I do think the story naturally gets darker and less fun in this second half. But from what I’ve seen so far (~9 eps), they’re still doing a good job maintaining the cute, lighthearted tone.

Finally, an explanation of the two layers of transmigration- I didn’t pick this up for half of the donghua S1 and I don’t think the drama did much better, so this might help somebody. Xie Yong’er is a transmigrator with knowledge of one trashy novel, but herself is a character in the trashy novel that our real heroine (Yu Wanyin) has entered. Therefore. Xie Yong’er is trying to change the events that occur in the novel she read, while Yu Wanyin knows what she does and tries to change on top of that.

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





The ending within the transmigration world is fine, I'd consider it a happy ending with sacrifices. There are several unfortunate deaths of people you probably like, but at least there is over half an episode of wrap up and people being happy together. It is choppy with no sense of time, and wastes screentime on some drawn out scene with a flamboyant costume, but still ok.

The annoying part is that they completely chop off the reunion in the modern world to a 1-minute sequence on the subway. It has no context and makes no sense. I heard they filmed something else and somehow it got edited to this.

The book version is way better, in which: they get another 10ish years happily together in the transmigration world before he dies; she lives out the rest of her life in that world (decades) and leaves the empire to her child; after dying, she comes back to the modern world, and immediately goes to look for him; in the past 10 years (he transmigrated 10 years before she did), he’s used the knowledge she gave him to build a company and bring the trashy novel back to its popularity, thus allowing her pre-migration self to see it and get the chance to transmigrate. Then they get together and have sexy time.

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Similar but better than the first

There are currently three or four seasons of this show out. I found the first season a decent enough watch, but not fully captivating, and ended up taking a several months break before watching this one. I’m happy to say that I enjoyed this second season a lot more.

The overall approach is similar to the first, with 8 distinct cases (mostly murder) and little filler in between. The cases are fairly elaborate, sometimes with several intersecting schemes that our protagonists need to untangle. Not everything makes sense if you think hard enough, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no need to think that hard.

The biggest reason I like this second season better is that I found the cases a lot more emotionally investable and interesting. More sympathy for some characters and dislike for others, more intrigue to know the truth. The exception is the large-scale but poorly motivated revolution in the middle, which I found pointless and boring.

I also didn’t really like the over-reliance on fantastical CGI creatures, which felt like a cop-out attempt to continue the “strange tales” theme. Whereas the first season properly worked in hints of the supernatural (to be debunked), these cases mostly deal with real things from the beginning. Except the weird animals. But they’re still decent stories even without the spookiness I’d come to expect. And the show is pretty good about punishing bad guys, though it also kills off some good guys, which makes it realistic but not overly stressful.

The overarching story has Lu Lingfeng and company ejected from the capital after one case, just like before. The demotion is a casualty of the intensifying power struggle between the princess and the crown prince. This framework comes into play a few times, but the show is mostly about the cases. The way it’s woven in is well-done.

The characters are very similar to the first season. Lu Lingfeng still has some personal development to do but has come a long way. It’s all fairly consistent; good writing. There is a little friction in the party at times, which adds some interest. The couples are still together but there isn’t much romance, which I was happy with. I still am not too attached to any of these characters and there is a bit too much pride in the nation and pontificating about the good of the people, but I found them all likeable enough and was mostly interested in their work.

The production seems to have gotten a budget bump- at least the fight choreography is quite good, with some very creative sequences. I was impressed. And although this wasn’t shot on location, the scenery is also quite nice. The “West” they are sent to seems to refer to the northwest of China along the Silk Road (the Hanzhou they pass through seems to be Wuwei in Gansu, and they later make it to Dunhuang). Think desert and camels- yes, real camels!- for some unique and pretty settings.

For music, songs are not used much and I only remember two of them. But I think the ending song- though not personally my style in and of itself- really captures the feel of this westward journey very well, and I ended up liking it because it’s so evocative and fits this show so well. What I remember of the BGM is also pretty good, but I didn’t notice it that much.

Overall I enjoyed this show, except for the one story arc, and am looking forward to watching Season 3.

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





There’s actually not much to spoil, but this is a standard section I include with all my reviews. This show ends by setting up for the next season. The final case is just another case and then they are on the road back to Changan, where power struggles and more trouble awaits.

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Entertaining with good cases and solid historical backing

The third installment of this show is currently trending, so I decided to start from the beginning.

As the name implies, this is a detective show set in the Tang Dynasty featuring cases with eerie, fantastical elements. The supernatural elements are more a reflection of the common peoples’ interpretations than reality; this is ultimately a historical and not a fantasy. While some things are left unexplained, and some explanations are plausible but not actually realistic (eg very specific drugs or human skin masks), there are no actual ghosts or monsters.

I have to thank another review for informing me that Detective Di was a historical figure who inspired lots of detective stories, otherwise I would have wondered why they keep namedropping a random person who never shows up. He is only alluded to, but this show does feature other real historical figures like the Crown Prince and his aunt the Princess. Their power struggle is not the central storyline, but our protagonists can’t help but get caught up in it; it is woven skillfully into the story.

All the necessary historical and political background is adequately conveyed by the show, but it’s still fun to read up and compare (Princess Taiping’s wiki page is helpful, if anyone’s interested). The show seems to stay pretty true to history while embellishing around the details. I especially like the portrayal of these historical figures- calculating, ruthless, decisive, but still human, a mix of good and bad. Unlike caricature rulers fabricated by dramas that can, they are exactly what I imagine real historical rulers to be like.

Su Wuming, main protagonist and disciple of the famous Detective Di, is very likable. He is smart, thoughtful, and calm, the kind of person who always says and does the right thing. He is also lowkey hilarious, like BS-ing his friends with a straight face kind of funny. He’s the kind of character you aren’t worried about, since you can’t imagine him ever failing.

On the other hand, the other main protagonist, Lu Lingfeng, is not so likable. He is arrogant, prejudiced, and rash, and some of his initial work is classic bad investigation. It didn’t bother me too much, though, because with Su Wuming around to gently guide him, he rarely gets away with it. Jerk behavior is much less annoying when it gets called out. Overall he’s not that bad- think difficult person who’s trying to do good- and is willing to admit mistakes, clearly a total setup for character growth.

As for other characters, Pei Xijun gets off to a rough start in terms of audience likability. She is obsessive and rather bratty at her introduction. She later improves and even finds a way to add value- the screenwriters come up with all sorts of creative ways to utilize her artistic abilities (some of which were a little hard to believe, I'll be honest). I ended up finding Xijun tolerable, but she never really grew on me. Probably because her annoying habit of fawning over a guy, though significantly toned down, continued to persist, thus so did my bad first impression.

Xijun’s romance is not that important, but I found it a little cringe when it did show up. I didn’t really like how the male characters have so much going on, but female characters come with romance plots attached. Perhaps this is more historically accurate though, when marriage was a relatively bigger part of women’s lives. I did not particularly like the romances in this show, but at least they aren’t too played up.

The band of friends also includes a few other characters with distinct skills and personalities. Chicken Fei, for example, is the doctor and resident drunkard; Xue Huan is the cute and lovably earnest kid; Yingtao joins later, and it’s nice to have another capable female character but her role isn’t that big.

The characters are decently crafted and some have progression. But for some reason, I had a hard time feeling any particular emotional connection or investment in them. I liked them enough but did not particularly feel for them. So this show ended up being, for me, just about the curiosity of the mysteries and watching them get solved, rather than an emotional, inspiring, or thought-provoking journey.

The plot covers 8 different cases. With 4-5 episodes each, none of them are simple; I enjoyed watching the methodical investigation and the intricate truth slowly emerge. They are interesting, well set up, and well presented, with enough details given for the audience to follow along.

The cases are pretty much independent but have an overarching umbrella in the progression of the characters’ careers and any personal growth. Maybe because of this structure, the show stays strong to the end, finishing with just another case rather than trying to tie up some grand plot.

That said, the last case was not my favorite. Its villain isn’t really developed as a character so I had no strong emotions, besides feeling a little sorry for him. Like the rest of the show, it’s more about watching them uncover clues and solve the case.

Overall, although the cases are entertaining to watch, I still felt like this show is missing something, perhaps some greater depth or meaning. It seems more procedural. I’m not sure if it’s just me not connecting with the characters, or maybe the lack of any consistent themes- the only one I can maybe think of is “Serve the country”, which isn’t really that interesting. Or Lu Lingfeng learning not to be a jerk, which is obvious. Some of the cases have decent emotional depth within them, for the characters involved, but it only lasts for those episodes and then they are gone. There's no common thread or deeper insights carried beyond. I think such a vibe makes sense for a show like this, but personally I like something more thoughtful and personal.

Acting-wise, I thought everyone did well. Yang Zhigang as Su Wuming is notable; his slow and distinct speaking style is good acting, but it also kind of took a long time and I found 1.25X speed is perfect for listening to him talk. This doesn’t have idol drama vibes so there is thankfully not much of actors trying to look cool, overacting, slow mo scenes, etc.

The fighting is not too flashy or elaborate, but it’s pretty solid. The costumes are realistic. Some of the CGI looks fake, but it’s not a big deal. The background music is pretty good for setting the tone, but I don’t actually remember it that much; the music didn’t really stand out. Maybe more music would have helped me feel more emotionally connected, but it’s hard to say.

This show is definitely worth a watch if you like mysteries or relatively accurate historicals, just don’t expect some emotionally deep or thoughtful journey.

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





Not surprisingly, happy ending, the case is solved and Lu Lingfeng gets great honors. 20 min or so of wrapup, including a few minutes of cute vignettes at the end that might have been cuter if I actually liked the love stories.

This show already has a sequel and a threequel, so clearly the fun continues. It doesn't really matter how satisfying an ending is when you know there's a follow up.

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Short but not that inspired

This is a short drama that I found somewhat mediocre. It’s got a little silliness to it, but I wasn’t that amused and I don’t think it’s meant to be a comedy. I’d say it’s a straightforward romance story.

The FL is a goddess jumped into a mortal body. She is sassy, has attitude, and stands up to bullying, but unfortunately she lost all her powers so she’s physically not that strong. She’s likable enough, I guess.

I’d consider Change Feng and Fu An to be ML and SML, if only because they both like the FL. What’s more unusual is that they share one body- you sometimes have to guess who’s currently present in said body, based on bearing, attitude, and voice. I think the actor did a pretty good job, but sometimes I guessed wrong.

The two of them have very different personalities and separate consciousness. I never fully figured out how it works or what’s going on, but they are definitely different people. Yet even with distinct personalities, I didn’t have too many opinions about them. Just not that emotionally invested.

The falling in love part is rather abrupt and I’m not sure when, how, or why it happened. I think there is a half-assed attempt at enemies to lovers. I did like watching the ML all flirty after they get together, and they have pretty good chemistry, it’s just that the relationship is not built on much. There is the SML sadly pining on the side but nobody seems to care.

The show is a little confusing and chaotic at the beginning, but they do manage to convey enough necessary information to follow along. Considering its length, it was actually less choppy and rushed than I expected. It ends up being fairly straightforward; the FL’s mission is not that complicated, and there aren’t too many twists and turns. I actually never quite figured out what was going on with the sacred fruit, but in the meantime, there are some evil humans to counter and defeat. There is even a “touching backstory” that gets revealed, but it’s too short and underdeveloped for me to really care.

At 8 min x 20 episodes, I was excited to be able to binge an entire show in one evening. But after seeing what I got, I think I should have just picked a well-rated movie instead. It’s not bad for mindless entertainment, but afterwards I didn’t feel great- it felt like I’d just watched a couple hours of filler.

And right, the subtitles are not good and can create confusion. Knowing some Chinese is definitely helpful. The subs aren’t the worst I’ve seen, and the wording is not the most difficult; just some knowledge of conversational Chinese, paired with the English and Chinese subs, should be enough.

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





I think this is a happy ending, but I’m not totally sure what happened. The ML dies, and apparently the FL gives up immortality (poor sifu, guess she doesn’t care about never seeing him again). I think this act somehow revives the ML, though the terms of this deal are unclear and for some reason it takes a chance meeting for them to reunite.

I have no idea what happens to the other guy in his body. I guess he is supposed to live.

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Girl pretends to be boy, shoots lots of guns

This is the first Republican drama I watched, and I found it so interesting to see the portrayal of China in the 1910s. I know the image of the West (or at least America) during this era, and it was fascinating to see those influences in China of the time.

To be honest, I didn’t think this costume/hair/makeup styling was the most flattering for anyone, either male or female. But still interesting. And for me, seeing the costumes, sets, and culture of 1910s China was actually the highlight of this drama. I thought everything else about it was just ok.

As others have mentioned, a big portion of the story is fluff. It’s largely about Xie Xiang, the FL, navigating life in the academy as she pretends to be a boy.

Xie Xiang is sensible and likable enough, and it’s easy to root for her. It’s fun to watch a strong female lead overcome odds with hard work and tenacity. I also like that she doesn’t have some grand patriotic goal; instead, her motivation for doing this difficult thing seems to be more just being lost, confused, and sad, which is a lot more relatable.

That said, it’s completely unrealistic that she would be able to pull it off, and they get around this by just glossing over all the details. We never find out how she passes the entrance medical exam; her wardrobe/wig transitions happen lightning fast, often with no place to change; she somehow survives training by overtraining; etc. The whole thing is less impressive because it’s too fake.

As for the male leads... well, I could not stand Gu Yanzhen. He reminded me of every single annoying guy in my life, it was almost triggering. I don’t think he’s a poorly written character- he has a distinct personality rather than generic hero. He just hit too close to home for me. His self-centered, irresponsible, and/or love-brain behavior made me so angry, and the worst was when the FL actually seemed to like it. No joke, I took a year-long break near the end of this show because I found him so frustrating.

I was on Team Shen Junshan all the way, but unfortunately, I already knew from reviews who is ML and who is SML. Well, at least this character is fairly mature and not frustrating to watch, and he stays in the game for a long time.

Qu Manting is listed as a lead too, but I don’t think she's as central. This show has lots of characters like her who have their own stories, which I think is nice, because then if you don’t like one there’s always the others. Plus, real life is more like that- everyone is the star of their own story. As for Manting herself, I found her sometimes admirable but mostly annoying.

While momentous world events are happening, our leads and their friends are preoccupied by a ridiculous number of love triangles. Love triangles are not my favorite, but I found it entertaining enough. It’s at least not that stressful. The students do have some military exercises, but they are low stress due to heavy plot armor. It feels kind of like a video game, the way they mow down NPCs but nobody with a name ever gets shot.

The last 10 or so episodes are when things start to get serious. There are lots of gunshots and explosions. After being coddled by fluff for so long, I didn’t quite enjoy this. I also liked Xie Xiang a lot less near the end, partly because she’s dating a loser, but maybe also partly because she becomes less important- she just doesn’t do as much to help herself or those around her.

That said, while I was not too enamored by the plot as a whole, I did enjoy the side character friends. The other students at the academy, for instance, don’t always play huge roles, but it’s fun to watch their banter and camaraderie. My favorite, though, is probably Tan Xiaojun, Xie Xiang’s best friend. Xiaojun is not particularly special or heroic, but she’s a good friend, and that’s all most of us can strive for in our own lives.

Acting-wise, everyone is praising Xu Kai... well, I guess he did a good job, but I was too busy being annoyed by his character to notice. I thought everyone did fine.

I very much liked the background music to this show, which is heavy on piano and solo violin. It’s quite lovely and fits in with the mood and period. The actual songs aren’t used very much, which on the one hand is good because it means fewer cheesy filler scenes, but on the other hand seems like a shame- I really liked that second closing.

As a final note, I was afraid there would be lots of propaganda, since we’re seeing China on a modern-ish world stage. And there was indeed a lot of patriotic talk and nationalistic pride, especially towards the end. But mostly this is still a show that’s meant to entertain. It’s historical fiction, telling the story of a group of people as the world moves and shakes around them.

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





There are three hard-hitting deaths as we approach the end. Probably carefully chosen for emotional impact. Everyone else gets to keep their plot armor, including several heavily injured people who somehow escape from an exploding building.

The wrap-up only lasts maybe 5 minutes, so it’s no wonder that not everyone is covered satisfactorily. Most disappointing, our lead couple literally goes walking off into the sunset, no indication to where. Well, I didn’t like them that much anyways, I guess. At least Shen Junshan seems to turn out ok.

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