lilmeow

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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Very shounen

Duoluo Continent reminds me of an RPG, or maybe shounen anime. Courageous young man embarks on life-changing adventures with his friends to get stronger, uncover the past, and save the world. It’s a classic shounen formula. (They don’t quite get to saving the world here, but you can tell it’s coming, in some sequel we’ll probably never see- afaik the listed sequel is not actually a sequel to this drama.)

What I like most about this show is the world-building, which is particularly RPG-esque. There is a set framework to the Soul Master system, but everyone has their own spin. It’s always fun to see what a character’s martial soul is or what new skill they’ve acquired.

They do try a little too hard to be cool sometimes- like strike a pose and show off your rings, which as far as I can tell, is the equivalent of flexing. It looks cool until you consider its nonexistent functional purpose. But that’s a minor quibble. I still think the system is well-structured, letting everyone have their own unique identity within a set framework.

The world itself is also beautiful and imaginative- lovely forests, sweeping CGI cityscapes, an exotic-feeling desert town, etc. And it is enhanced by some great music. I really like the instrumental BGMs, and the uplifting, pop-y songs (like that boyband-sounding opening). Altogether it invokes strong vibes of grand adventures, epic journeys, and lifelong memories.

What I like less… I wonder if it’s because I’m neither young nor male, so the shounen formula doesn’t quite do it for me anymore. The show just somehow feels a lot more simplistic than what I’m used to. The relationships and emotions all seem pretty straightforward.

The main character is Tang San. He seems to be your typical shounen lead: strong for his age but still needs to level up, a good guy trying to do the right thing, mysterious and special family lineage, etc.

Except, he is also really weirdly overprotective of Xiao Wu, to the point that it’s a little frustrating. It makes no sense and he behaves really stupidly sometimes. It was starting to make me like Xiao Wu less, even though she didn’t do anything wrong.

Xiao Wu, to her credit, just responds back: I can protect you too! She somehow manages to be cute without being annoying, which I consider a rare feat. I think it’s because she comes off as genuine; credit should go to the actress. However, as a character, she’s still not that deep. She has her secrets, but the show didn’t quite build up around it the right way to make me feel emotionally affected.

The rest of the band is nicely gender balanced (which I appreciate!) and they’re mostly paired off. Each person has maybe one or two characteristic personality features. Team spirit / loyalty / teamwork is a huge theme, but you know they all love each other and will stick together through anything. It’s got the same vibe as teenagers together on a sports team.

There are also some pretty great adults. The headmaster, for instance, is kind of hilarious. But in the end, the show isn’t that much about them.

The plot itself is fairly linear, one quest after another. Lots of stuff like, fighting to prove themselves, or overcoming obstacles through determination. I occasionally felt frustrated watching what I thought was stupid behavior, but framed as praiseworthy (eg returning a baby alpaca to its mom- I don’t understand the fuss, just give it back. Or, charging into another school and attacking people for no reason- how is this not recognized by all as a punishable offense?)

Aside from that, though, the plot is interesting enough. I was captivated for a while, but eventually my interest began to wane. I think I just wanted something deeper from the characters and relationships. I believe they were all children in the original (which I didn’t watch/read), so that might have made it all make more sense.

Acting-wise, I like Xiao Zhan as much as anyone, but I felt he overacted a few times (eg sobbing at his dad rather than trying to reason with him). It’s not just him, though- some other actors also felt kind of unnatural at times. It might be more about the script, or the fact that I didn’t emotionally connect to the story. Then it’s just weird to watch actors saying flat or cheesy lines so earnestly.

I think the actress playing Xiao Wu must have some dance training but not martial arts. Her movements have dance-like flourishes- suitable to her name, and pretty to watch- but some of her kicks were not real kicks, which made me want to facepalm.

The fighting overall is not bad though, very CGI-based. It’s more fun when they still are showing Martial Souls. Towards the end I think they got a little lazier and resort to things like blasts of energy.

Overall it’s not a bad show, I just think shounen is not my thing anymore. Maybe when I was a teenager I would have liked it, but now I want more depth and connection to the characters, which I found missing.

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





The ending feels more like a beginning. There is a whole donghua/manhua series behind this show, and I don’t know how much it’s true to them, but you can imagine that the story goes on and turns into an epic saga. This is clearly just the first chapter. The characters resolve the major conflict of the season, and all major secrets previously hinted at are revealed, but there is obviously more.

I would say it’s satisfying enough. I always find it frustrating to have to drop a story partway, but at least you know that the saga continues, which is better than an actual bad drama ending. Personally, I didn’t like the story enough to pine after it or even look up all the material behind it.

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A decent watch with good thematic focus

This show is a decent watch, but for me it didn’t quite move beyond just decent. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t set off my imagination or make me fall in love the way my favorites do.

Let’s start with characters. To begin with, I really like Mu Qingge. We get about 5 episodes of her upfront. She is always smiling; nothing can ruffle her. It works so well because it’s paired with a good deal of confidence, ability, and a sort of infallibility. Altogether, you get a warm and kind character who truly loves the world and can save it, too.

Her adopting Su Yishui as a disciple feels a bit like a good-hearted person taking on a difficult foster child. Their relationship really does resemble parent and rebellious child, and later Su Yishui gets a taste of his own medicine. It’s a fun joke in the first third-ish of the show.

While I love Qingge, the FL is more accurately Xue Ranran. An interesting thought exercise: if you take the same awesome personality but strip it of its amazing abilities, what do you get? The answer is, apparently, a really cutsey type character with too many doodads in her hair and a penchant for babbling about her crush to strangers.

Don’t get me wrong. As far as FLs go, Ranran isn’t bad. She’s quite smart- with or without abilities, she’s able to use her plot-armor-level intelligence to work her way through many situations. She’s brave, uses her abilities well, acts with kindness, and is anything but useless.

But she is also really cutsey. At first I thought they changed voice actresses, because her tones were so different from Mu Qingge. It’s not the worst cute-acting I’ve seen, but enough to annoy me. She is also totally obsessed with her crush. I mean, I get that she’s a teenage girl, but it doesn’t make me admire her.

Gosh, I think I missed Mu Qingge as much as those two guys.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t quite get behind Xue Ranran, which took a lot away from my enjoyment of the show. To be honest, I would have been disappointed if Su Yishui just fell in love with Ranran for who she was. Luckily for me, there’s room to interpret it as him being into Qingge rather than this cute-acting teenage sap. But still- at the point they did get together, I actually lost interest and took some time off watching.

On the other hand, I found Su Yishui, the ML, to be a very compelling character. I’m used to a gradual reveal of backstory, but here we already know the “past” even as the protagonist (Ranran) is still figuring it out. I liked this because it allowed me to appreciate Su Yishui as simultaneously the cold, knowledgeable, and strong figure of authority that Ranran sees him as, as well as the traumatized, guilt-ridden, and despairing lost soul who doesn’t actually have all the answers. It makes for quite a complex character, and I really empathized with him all along the way.

The villains are sort of a rotating cast- including some characters you feel sorry for despite rooting against, leading to some mixed feelings- until the final villain is revealed about ¾ of the way in. The late-reveal final villain works here because it’s foreshadowed throughout, and also ties in well thematically. This villain has the setup to be thought-provoking, but ends up being somewhat one-dimensional and lame by the end, which is too bad.

Characters aside, the plot is decent. It gets a bit loopy at times, like people sacrificing for each other back and forth and back and forth, but “sacrifice” is sort of a theme so I guess it’s only fitting.

And one thing this show does well is maintain good focus on a few decently thoughtful themes. Sacrifice, for example: pretty cliché, practically the definition of drama. But here, as we’ve been with Su Yishui on this entire journey and watched him deal with the aftermath, we start to think a little deeper. By the time he’s lamenting his lack of choice, we’re ready to clap for him because it’s something we’ve started to realize, too.

Other themes and concepts explored include regret and repentance; and the idea of how much a person’s memories make them who they are. These ideas fall obviously out of the main premise, but then later come back in different ways, which is pretty neat.

Overall I give the show a thumbs up for the themes, but by the end I felt like they were beating me on the head with them. These ideas get discussed so often towards the end that they lose some of the original subtlety that made them so thought-provoking.

In terms of world-building, xianxia has never been great about logic and consistency, but I’d say this show ranks in the top half in terms of nonsense. For example, cultivation terms are thrown out helter skelter with no explanation. World truths are introduced and forgotten as needed. Many spells and charms are so specific they could only ever work in the exact context in which they show up, clearly tailored to advance the plotline. etc.

But at least, the constantly shifting tangle of who knows who is whom got so complicated that I couldn’t keep track, thus I was unable to identify any plot holes or inconsistent behavior related to it.

In terms of execution, I thought the acting is quite good. With all of Su Yishui’s personas, Deng Wei convincingly shows quite a bit of range- not just happy vs angry vs cat, but also various levels of cold and authoritative. For Julia Xiang as the female lead, while I found the cute-acting as Ranran a bit annoying, I think that’s more the story / director’s vision and voice acting than the actress herself. I like her adorable smile and her Mu Qingge (I also like the VA’s Mu Qingge). The supporting actors, like Chen Xinhai (Su Yu) and Deng Kai (Wei Jiu), also have good performances, with great facial expressions.

The fighting is ok, a bit of sword fighting and spinning (decently executed) but mostly just arm waving and CGI. The CGI is overall decent- in the better half of what I’ve seen- but sometimes a bit too much, especially in the battles. There is way too much blood spitting.

The settings and music are both not bad, but nothing I kept thinking about after the show was over. I found the costumes to be nice-looking if sometimes highly impractical… so many floaty layers and long trains.

Finally, for better or worse, I didn’t feel as worried watching this as I do with some other shows, probably because there’s a decent amount of plot armor and the show itself just doesn’t feel that dark. Therefore I’d still classify this as light-hearted, despite having some sad stuff. I do wish it had more humor- there were some laughs, but I think they could have done more with this material.

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





This show has a happy ending, including a full half episode of epilogue-type stuff like scenes of their wedding and their happy married life together. It’s not quite at the level of Legend of Shenli which gave us an actual fun story, but still satisfying. Most of the side character stories also get tied up to some extent, though not quite all to my satisfaction.

Mu Qingge comes back for the last 5 or so episodes, both her memories (therefore her person, imho) and her abilities. Apparently this is a break from the novel, where she doesn’t get her memories back until the extra. I’m glad for this change; I would have rated the entire show lower if it were Xue Ranran to the end.

At first, Qingge and Ranran seem more like a split personality, but I think the Qingge traits ended up dominating. This allows her relationship with the ML to evolve into a really amazing, actually equal partnership, which is a joy to watch.

I’m not too big a fan of Ranran, but here I’ll admit she was necessary. Despite the show trying to hint at it, I refuse to believe Mu Qingge fell in love with Yishui. So the only way SYS could get Qingge was for her to also have this dual personality of Ranran.

Su Yu, the crown prince, is the character that left me feeling most conflicted. His good-bad duality is a bit exaggerated and overdone, but I still fell for it and felt bad for him. Ultimately I was satisfied by how his story ended; being able to reclaim his dignity was more than I had expected for him.

I still think the setup of the main baddie and how he’s defeated are lame, and the last two episodes have too much cheese. But I guess the show can’t be deep everywhere. Nothing like a good save-the-world plot to lighten everyone’s mood.

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I only liked it at the end

This drama took me almost the entire show to get into it. I kept leaving and coming back for lack of better options (at least these two MLs were pretty good looking, hehheh). Only at the end did I start to like it, just in time for it to be over.

This show features three distinct mysteries in three closed systems, tied together by an overarching plot. The three contained mysteries are done fairly well, with a straightforward structure (a menu of characters from whom to pick) and enough clues to follow along. They were enjoyable to watch, though I might have liked it better if fewer people died. The overarching plot is also a decent story. If you like a show where you can solve mysteries alongside the characters, this one is for you.

My main issue with this show is characters and relationships.

We’ll start with Jian Buzhi, the eponymous (Chinese title) ML and the main character. When I think about how I feel about Jian Buzhi… I just come up blank. He doesn’t have much personality; it’s just fun to watch him solve mysteries.

Zhao Wohuan, the SML (not love triangle SML, just less important male lead SML), is such a puppy. He’s endearing, but just a bit too dumb for me to like that much. At the same time, his fighting development was so unrealistic. I felt almost offended at how quickly he skyrocketed to the top… what a dump on everyone else who worked so hard for so long.

I thought both MLs were acted well. Jian Buzhi looked so happy whenever he solved a mystery, it was adorable. And Zhao Wohuan’s actor captured the puppy feel well. I just didn’t quite like the way they were written.

Relative to the two MLs, the FLs are much less central to the story. Zhan Shiqi (I’ll just call her 17) is the main FL. I found this show for having a strong FL, but she ended up being my least favorite character. I think she’s trying to be an ice queen beauty; but she’s trying too hard to be cool, like she herself thinks she is badass. Too much glaring.

Besides being too cool, Zhan 17 doesn’t have much personality. The bits and pieces of character development she does get are incohesive. Her only notable feature is her whole thing about… wanting to wear pretty clothes? That’s pretty vain, especially for a punchline. On top of it all, I thought her styling was bad (fabulous feather dress aside). Something about it didn’t look good with all the glaring, and this actress has looked better in other shows.

I’ll consider Ming Yue the SFL, although she doesn’t play a huge role. I didn’t care too much for her for most of the show, but at least she’s not around that much.

So I didn’t quite connect with these characters, but the feeling was compounded by some poor relationship building. The bromance between the two MLs was cute- I do love a good bromance- but it came out of nowhere. It was so strong that I mostly forgot it was built on nothing, but once in awhile I’d do a double take and wonder how we got there.

The main romance was even worse. There were a couple overly dramatic scenes and then suddenly they were mooning after each other. Their relationship was founded on nothing, I couldn’t imagine why either one liked the other, and the scenes between them were cheesy. They both needed more personality for this to work.

The romance wasn’t critical to the story, so I did my best to ignore it. But at one point when it got in the way of the bromance, I was so angry I actually stopped watching for about a month. This situation never resolved well; later I learned that the director had deleted some key scenes. Either way, I didn’t buy into their relationship and I didn’t like 17, so I could only do my best to overlook all parts involving them.

The second relationship is based on the SML’s desire to protect a weak and helpless female. The reasons for attraction are all male chauvinist; the only saving grace was that it’s not actually true. Even so, I found it cringey and couldn’t root for it- until I ended up surprised by how well I liked its resolution.

What this show does well, is side characters. New side characters are introduced throughout the plot (eg all the candidates within each mystery), usually with interesting backstories or premises. And happily, several of them stick around or come back after their case is over. This was a huge plus; I don’t like getting attached to characters just to watch them disappear.

Like the bromance and romances, a lot of the friendships became too dedicated too fast. That said, by the end I found myself liking this show quite a bit, and I think it’s because the side characters got more development and I was invested in their stories. The male doctor and female doctor were probably my favorite characters overall.

On the flipside, many other side characters revealed a tragic backstory and then simply died, leaving me feeling sympathetic and sad. And I was looking forward to humanizing all the assassins, but they just kept dying. Lives were a bit too cheap in this show.

In terms of execution, this show was a smaller production, not very high budget. For example, there is only one song- which I happened to really like. A lot of the scenes also conveniently occur in deserted settings, obviating the need for extras. I think they found a good forest and worked it (it’s a nice forest, I agree). Budget is what it is, and I think they did a great job skimping on things that matter less.

I also really liked the fighting style. It’s full of flashy spins and well-done wirework, but I liked best that the moves are clean and solid rather than just having a lot of them in a flurry, like some other shows. Using daily items as weapons is a unique premise, but I think it’s just too hard to make an umbrella look deadly. The actress’s performances weren’t bad, but I thought the umbrella fights looked fake. And what could that umbrella possibly be made out of to be so indestructible?

Overall, I think this show does some things well- especially given their limited budget- but other things less well. Other people seem to really like the character development, so it might just be me personally not connecting with them.

P.S. I know the names are supposed to be ironic and funny, but who would ACTUALLY name their kid 不知 (Don’t Know) or 我還 (I Return)?

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





The show ends in a fairly satisfactory and happy way. All is resolved, no further hard-hitting deaths. The answer to the overarching mystery is also a nice plot twist.

I only say “fairly” satisfactory because it ends on this cliffhanger hinting at a second season, which never came. It looks intriguing, they suck me in, and then… poof. How annoying.

My interest in this show picked up towards the end, I think partly due to the side characters getting more airtime, and partly because I liked how the second couple’s relationship (which I didn’t care for until the end) was resolved. I was afraid Ming Yue would lose her head like some lovestruck girl, but it was nothing that cliché. Their final scene was quite sweet, and I would have liked to see where it went from there.

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An entertaining detective story, no major complaints but didn’t fully captivate

Chu Chu, the imperial coroner of titular fame, is a bit annoying at the beginning of the show. She comes across as young and wide-eyed, but my major issue with her is that she kept fangirling the ML. She kept gushing and I was so embarrassed for her. It could be either the delivery or the character. I almost stopped watching, but then I read some reviews which validated my annoyance and assured me it would get better, which it did. The fangirling sort of fades away.

The story actually seems to be more about the ML, Xiao Jinyu, who is one of those super-smart MLs who’s constantly outsmarting everyone. He’s also a stern prince, which is a bit tropey, but he’s sickly, which at least is not tropey. Chu Chu has her expertise and presents the evidence; it’s Jinyu who does the deductions and solves the mysteries. He’s also the one who wants them solved and directs their operations… she’s just his very capable coroner. It’s not quite a story about her as the title might imply.

The merry band of friends has other loveable characters (Jing Yi, Leng Yue, and others), each with their own personalities and backstories, though nothing too multidimensional or complicated. The main four are neatly split into two couples with no (or minor) silly love dramas, which is a plus.

The love story between the ML and FL is actually not bad. I did find it weird to watch a child be in a relationship, and found it helpful to try to forget about some of her earlier behaviors. And I liked that the show didn’t focus too heavily on their romance. Many of the conversations between them are just business, nothing too mushy. This left me focusing on the mysteries, which is always fun (and I thought done fairly well in this show), and the political backstory, which required some untangling.

This show is set in the Tang dynasty. Somebody else’s review explained some of the history of the emperors, and I had to keep referring to it as I was watching to avoid total confusion (thank you, fellow drama watchers). This show does use real life historical figures, which is a bold move. I think the story is fairly correct about the overall climate with the eunuchs and power struggles, as well as of course the actual tangled mess succession of emperors, but it makes up things around it.

I did google briefly, but I wasn’t inspired to research to the same extent as for e.g. The Long Ballad. It might be because the historical figures didn’t factor as prominently, or I found them to be less interesting (like srsly, bunch of people killing each other), or maybe just the show was less beautifully done so it didn’t quite set off my imagination. It has a bit of a darker palette, which is not inherently bad but not my preference. And it is, after all, not really a high budget production.

The show doesn’t have a low budget feel per se, though I did notice things like the emperor always being in one room. I think they did well with what they had. The actors and actresses are also less well known, but I think they did fine. A lot of them went to film school, can’t be too bad.

This was a show I enjoyed, with decent humor and fun sprinkled throughout, but the story and characters didn’t fully captivate me. I was entertained but not obsessed. Only as it was nearing its end did I realize how much the characters had grown on me, and that I had enjoyed this show maybe more than I realized.

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





It’s probably not even a spoiler to say that they solve everything and defeat the enemy, and everything works out. I guess the show was not that suspenseful because I don’t remember ever doubting that they would triumph. But if I recall correctly, the ending was even fluffier than I anticipated, with minimal sacrifice. You don’t even feel bad for the enemy, like there was a whiff of that and they snuffed it out. And Chu Chu even gets to keep her job (which was in doubt for a minute). You know what, I don’t mind, sometimes I just want to feel good.

I wasn’t too concerned by lack of resolutions because I was convinced that there was a second season. I wouldn’t have thought this show needed a sequel, but S2 has a page on MDL. Only after I finished and went to look for it, did I realize that it doesn’t exist yet. As of Q1 2025, there are still fans regularly hyping up S2 on MDL… but I’ll believe it when I see it.

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A high-budget production that sets off the imagination

I think what The Long Ballad does best is paint a picture of a time long ago, a land far away. It’s very evocative and really set off my imagination. It also inspired me to spend hours on Wikipedia reading about the Tang dynasty, the Ashina tribe, and so on… later when I checked up reviews, I realized I was not the only one! You know a show is doing something right when it inspires so many people to start googling.

TLB has a high budget feel. I saw some Behind the Scenes videos that discussed the production, set design, costume making, music, etc. A lot of thought and effort went into all these things. I really liked the music, both songs and BGM (which used instruments from around the world). Other details stood out too, like Ashile Sun’s furry costume which had Wu Lei sweating during filming. The presence of such fully produced BTS in and of itself is, I think, another example of all the effort that went into this show.

All the attention to detail really paid off in capturing a certain feeling of a bustling, distant past. This is a good example of lots of little details adding up to elevate a show.

TLB is not just set in a historical time period, but actually features real historical figures and events (thus inspiring my Wikipedia binge). Bold. In general, I think it’s hard for historical fiction to steer too close to real-life figures, because then it’s bound by recorded history. …this show sort of just tossed all that aside and bent history as necessary. I for one didn’t mind as I still enjoyed the story, and we don’t watch Cdramas for logic or historical accuracy.

Character-wise, Li Changge is the eponymous FL and much of the story follows her journey after her world is turned upside down. I personally found her character really irritating for awhile, as she does a lot of drastic, hostile things without first understanding the situation, which is clearly more than what it seems. Perhaps this is all we can expect from a child (the show is vague about her age, which I think is the right move; historically, an unmarried Tang princess would have been too young for this entire thing to work out). However, I’m not that interested in watching children be children.

Luckily she stops short of being truly unlikeable, because through it all she hangs onto her conscience and an overall picture of the greater good. And her difficult personality sets the stage for some character growth. She’s tough and capable, and after she grows up a little I began to see her more as lost than anything else, and then I could sympathize with her.

The male lead, Ashile Sun, is (as I saw somebody describe) the “perfect boyfriend”. He is really badass, but also so sweet to her and always watching out for her. As an aside, the number of coincidental run-ins he has with Li Changge in the first quarter or so of the show, across such a large city/nation, is a stretch even for a drama. Gosh, I wish I were also always randomly running into a hot mysterious stranger.

The thing is, with Changge, Sun, and the romance between them- all three of these things- I liked them and was invested in their story for awhile, but sort of lost interest as the show went on. Luckily, the second couple has a very sweet story that picks up as the first one is getting less interesting. I liked Li Leyan’s character arc because she never pretended to be extraordinary or even capable, but you can see how she was forced to grow. Props to Zhao Lusi for playing, as she herself said, a character very different from her own personality.

There are a lot of other characters in this show, that come, go, and sometimes come back. It’s a great cast and I liked most of them. Except maybe Mimi… sorry, Mimi.

And all the acting was quite good, both from main and side actors. Pay attention, for example, to some of the older actors- some of them were really exceptional.

Technique-wise, this show is not quite a wuxia, so while there are some stunts, there’s a minimum of flying people, flashy choreographed fight scenes with unnecessary spins, and so on. It’s more “realistic”. There is a little sloppiness sometimes (uncontrolled sword strikes, arrows shot from the chest, etc), but the archery at least is mostly solid, (almost) none of those funny arrow grips you see sometimes. I always find it fun to see who rides their own horse; several of the actors here seemed to be decent riders, and Wu Lei stood out enough that I googled and found out he’s been riding since he was young.

Stylistically, this show pays homage to its comic book source material with some manhua cutscenes at key points (still frames in sequence, not moving), as well as random scenes with actors in front of green screens. Some people liked them; I personally did not. But I’m here for the story, so something like that wouldn’t stop me from watching.

I’ll just close off by saying that this is not a lighthearted, feel-good show. It’s not as dark or depressing as some shows can be, and has some fun moments (like that whacko COVID dance), but I cried more than I laughed. After watching this, I had to cheer myself up by watching only lighthearted shows for several months.

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





The ending is mostly happy, and does sort of tie things up as well as give you a hint as to where some of the characters end up. I wouldn’t exactly call it satisfying, but by Cdrama standards it’s not that bad. I had read in some other reviews that it’s an open ending, so I thought they would just tie up the main conflict and that’s that. What we got I would consider to be a bit more than an open ending, so it’s already better than I expected… but that’s a low bar.

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Main relationship grows well, rest of it is alright

I almost stopped watching this show. I was expecting a smart and capable female lead, but within a few episodes she was screaming and wailing while still being full of herself. Maybe it was supposed to be funny, but I didn’t find it funny. At the same time, I found the male lead to be rude and unlikeable. Even though the FL was legit obnoxious and annoying, the total contempt he directed at her still made me angry. And I don’t think this was the best styling for Allen (ie he didn’t even look good while he was being an asshole).

I’m glad I stuck it out, because it did improve significantly. It took me almost 20 episodes to get into this show. Both characters grew on me, and their slowly building relationship ended up being a highlight. I even started to find the ML better and better looking, haha.

Strong female leads are my jam, and Jinxia did alright. She becomes more down-to-earth and likeable, just a cheerful person trying to do her job… I think she’d be an excellent coworker. And she is shown to be capable in her own right. Unfortunately her abilities are pretty much overshadowed by the ML’s at all times. Ah well.

I wasn’t sure at first how I felt about their boss-subordinate relationship. There’s a reason these are problematic and banned in modern times- unequal power dynamic, relationship affecting work, etc. Luckily it’s handled pretty well. Even as she idolizes him, she keeps her head screwed on straight, and he also maintains his professional bounds. Whether the screenwriters actually considered it or not, I did notice that he confirms it’s mutual before doing anything (otherwise the unequal power dynamic is a problem). His love feels very selfless; no need to assert. After they get together, their dynamic becomes more typical overprotective and overdevoted ML, which I liked less, but it happens fairly late in the show.

More problematic, perhaps, is the male characters who do not go away after being rejected. Personally I found it very irritating. Xiao Xie is annoying but mostly harmless, actually thought Jinxia handles him pretty well. Yang Yue, on the other hand, should have a restraining order against him and be arrested for stalking. Some of the things he says would be modern day sexual harassment. In real life his behavior would be considered creepy and inappropriate; is it supposed to be cute just because it’s in a show? I’m actually a little upset that his unwelcome and disrespectful behavior somehow paid off. I understand it was a sexist society, but as a viewer I had a hard time rooting for this character who’s supposed to be a “good guy”.

There’s also quite a lot of mention of sexual violence in this show. I have no opinion about it, I just found it somewhat surprising because I haven’t seen it much in other shows.

As for the actual story… it’s alright. There are many story arcs but in the end it all comes together under one villain, Yan Shifan, who is not particularly morally complex (eg I never felt sorry for him), but who is quite crafty and also very smarmy. There is the mystery of the FL’s past, which is interesting enough as it unfolds, but in the end I have to subtract points for it (see section on the Ending, contains spoilers).

I feel the strength of this story is really the main couple’s relationship. The story arcs seemed most interesting as a mechanism to watch their relationship develop, leaving a slight void after they finally get together. I wish they had developed some side stories a bit more, especially with many potential great side characters who came to nothing. For example, I would have loved to see more development of the sisterhood between Zhai Lanye and Shangguan Xi.

Stylistically, I was not a huge fan of the director’s style of shooting peoples’ eyes up close. I saw people making comments about Allen’s X-rated stares, I honestly think it was just this stylistic choice which personally I was not a fan of. That aside, I do think Allen did a good job and I could see his character’s emotions evolve. He’s able to convey subtle emotions without overacting.

Technique-wise, the fighting is flashy but decent, and many actors and actresses in this show seem to have some degree of training. Some are better and some are worse; Seven Tan has a nice crescent kick, great flexibility. The choreography doesn’t exactly display supposed skill differentials (eg FL is a great fighter until suddenly she gets beaten badly) but that’s a minor quibble.

World-building is well done. This show is set in the Ming dynasty, which means it’s in the past but not too far back. It’s fun to see signs of modernization that aren’t in more historical Cdramas, like the beginning of guns. I also like that there is no random supernatural phenomenon or unexplained plot devices; although there are some logic leaps and unbelievable developments, at least everything supernatural has an explanation. A little realism is more suitable for a show like this, which dared to declare a specific historical period. And the costumes were gorgeous, especially the embroidered uniforms that give this show its title in Chinese.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW





In typical Cdrama style, the story gets a bit rushed at the end with too many rapid fire twists and turns. Although I saw it coming, I was a little upset they killed off a well-loved character for seemingly not-great reasons. And the final defeat of the main baddie is more a whimper than a bang.

The ultimate ending is happy, but we only get about 10 seconds of seeing them happy together. I had to find the novel online and read its appendices to get closure. I recommend doing this, it made a huge difference for me.

MORE MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD





My main issue is with how the story of her past plays out at the end. I felt very frustrated watching it. Perhaps I just have a hard time resonating because I didn’t grow up in a culture like this. The concept that, because of familial ties, people can be guilty for things they didn’t do or even know of, is so clearly ingrained in all the characters that I’ve tried to accept it as a premise, but I still have a hard time sympathizing with their choices.

Why did he break up with her without telling her- why not let her make her own decisions? But her reaction when she found out- was that really her character all along, and what about their relationship that I was so invested in? And why did he feel the need to pointlessly self-destruct? Could he maybe have done a better job trying to figure out what she actually wanted?

I think the book handles it a bit better (not just her giving him the cold shoulder), but the full-blown last-minute implosion is actually right from the source material. Not an excuse, though; dramas can and do change things. I do think I would be less frustrated if I also felt, intuitively, that family guilt should be inherited, but right now I just feel like I’m missing something that would make all this make sense.

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A forgettable little story with too much out of nowhere

Wanru’s Journey is not the worst show I’ve started, but ranks low on the ones I’ve finished. I probably wouldn’t have finished it if it hadn’t been so short. But by the time I was ready to give up, there were only so many episodes left… might as well see it through and learn the mystery behind her past.

First, characters. This show was recommended for having a smart female lead, but actually I found her kind of annoying. There are a lot of eating scenes where her slurping and chomping noises are really loud, and she’s extremely, exaggeratedly, rude and uncouth. Maybe it’s supposed to be funny, but I just found her unlikeable, which makes it hard to root for her. She’s also a bit dopey-looking- I think it’s the way she acts, not the actress herself.

All of this later gets better when she starts to show signs of competence, but this transition is done so poorly. If she were really smart and capable (and can fight that well), it should have come through earlier, even if she hid it from everyone else.

Her romantic endeavors are likewise sudden- no explanation, out of nowhere. One leg of her love triangle is worse about this than the other, hate to love in the blink of an eye. It was so ridiculous, I didn’t feel anything about this pairing. We do, however, get the longest kiss I’ve seen to date in a Cdrama.

The two male leads were more likeable, but I still didn’t care too much for either, and I couldn’t decide how I wanted their love triangle to resolve. I did think the bromance was well-done. People kept wondering if this is BL… come on, can’t they be really good friends without it being BL? *rolls eyes*

As for the plot, I guess at the core it’s about everyone killing each other for some secret manual. Not the greatest premise, but they could have pulled it off better. There is too much random stuff pulled out of nowhere. Lots of vicious mass massacre scenes that make little sense. And as we get closer to the end, a giant mass of scheming and plot twists. It’s honestly a bit of a hot mess.

I normally care less about production, but scene transitions were bad enough that I noticed them. That and the too-loud sound effects makes me think it was just a lower budget production.

What did it do well? It does have some legit good humor that had me laughing. In general, the humor is more slapstick which is less my style, but at least it has a nice lighthearted feel- for half of the show or so. Also, I still finished the show, so it at least had enough intrigue to keep me going.

By the way, normally I would hide this in the “ENDINGS” section, but I feel it is important to state early on in case anyone is strung along like I was, slogging through to the end out of curiosity about her past: you never find out. It’s such a tease, SHE finds out, you don’t. I think it’s scriptwriter laziness, they hyped it up so much that they couldn’t figure out a good enough truth and left it open instead.

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





Happy ending. Somehow, despite all the twists and turns, it all works out.

Somebody on reddit said “if you’re a woman who likes to have your cake and eat it to, you’ll like this ending!” which made me really curious and excited. Ok, turns out it’s about the love triangle, she chooses neither and they go traveling. I happen to like this because I couldn’t pick, either. However, I was so irritated that they didn’t reveal the secret of her background, that drowned out whatever appreciation I had for their unconventional resolution of love triangle.

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Likeable characters and a fun watch

BFTB remains one of my favorite Cdramas. This is a fun watch with a great story, likeable characters, and great humor. Humor is a little subjective but this one jibed with me- I laughed out loud many times. The show is also pretty straightforward in who to root for and who not to, with a nice anti-racist underlying message and only a few characters to feel ambiguous about. This makes it easier on my emotions. (There is still heartache, but only just enough).

Yanhui, the female lead, remains one of my favorite characters in a drama. Although she’s not particularly skilled or strong, she is self-aware and down-to-earth. No BS; she sees situations for what they are and calls it out. She is cute, funny, and not a racist. She’s also great in a lot more subtle ways… I could go on and on, but I’ll stop. Zhou Ye plays this cheerful character quite well.

The male lead, Tianyao, is a little stiff, but also fairly likeable and oh-so-good looking… great styling for Neo. I thought the development of his relationship with the FL was exceptionally good for about 15 episodes. They are both so sweet and have a mutual respect, I loved watching their relationship grow.

Then the Dragon Valley story arc happened. I found both of their behaviors a bit annoying during the arc, but overshadowed in annoyingness by what happens next. Less than halfway through the drama, a nonsensical event occurs to stir up trouble. It made no sense, even after it was explained. The development after this fallout was fine, just the plot point felt so forced that it took away from my enjoyment of watching them recover. For my own sanity I ended up just seeing it as a device to advance the plot (something has to happen with this outcome) rather than looking too carefully at what actually happened.

The second male lead, Bai Xiaosheng (aka dimples guy), was a drama addition who was not in the book. I personally thought he was hilarious. Loved his style, which I think also matches Riley’s personality. Unfortunately after the nonsense plot point mentioned above, he becomes less likeable. I feel he got used for plot development; he’s forced into a silly love triangle that doesn’t match his personality, and he never stood a chance. Even accepting this, his trajectory afterwards is a missed opportunity… they could easily have done a lot more to develop his character in the latter half of the show. Instead, he gets sidelined. Poor guy.

There were also several likeable side characters in their merry band of friends, many broken up neatly into side couples. I enjoyed seeing them on screen, but they weren’t as captivating to me as the main characters.

The villains are a mixed bag. Suying might have been interesting but ends up being a bit too obsessive and one-dimensional. She spoke so slowly and mostly said predictable things, I wanted to fast forward through all her dramatic speeches. The story of the twins is sad. Unfortunately the main villain is somewhat one-dimensional and not very interesting, also shows up midway out of nowhere. I do wish he were more nuanced and less cliché, but ultimately I enjoyed the protagonists’ story enough to overlook this lameness.

I thought the sets were pretty and the costumes looked good- the colors of the clothing often reflect the character. I also liked the music, both BGM and songs. I will point out, though, that the CGI is kind of bad. It makes the entire thing feel lower budget. This didn’t matter as much for me because I’m here for the story, but I did have to laugh a few times at how bad it was.

There was some sloppiness in filming, like things moving around between when the camera cuts away and back. And of course, regular inconsistencies and plot holes, both big and small. This was the first xianxia I watched so I don’t know if I’d still be so horrified now that I’m more used to a bit of nonsense.

Ultimately, despite some flaws, this is still one of my favorite shows and the only one so far that I have fully rewatched. I like the lighthearted feel and lovable characters. It does get darker towards the end, as many shows do, but it still has some humor even in the last 10 episodes.

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





The ending is happy, but also a typical rushed and unsatisfying Cdrama ending. It’s probably one of the worse ones I’ve seen, because random things happen out of nowhere. Couldn’t they have played fewer flashbacks near the end and used that valuable airtime to explain some things?

The resolution of the final conflict is very confusing. Explosions, sparkles, and dramatic-looking scenes are great and all, but what I really care about is what’s going on. My bafflement changed to vague horror as I started to realize the net outcome, which was looking quite sad… then in the last minute or so, everything turns around and an unexplained happy ending arrives. Fin.

They had to deviate from the novel because censorship bans reincarnation, but I don’t think that’s a good excuse. I was really attached to the characters by the end of this drama and wish we had gotten more closure.

Sometimes I read the novel or just its epilogues to get closure, but in this case the novel seemed quite different- my beloved characters were a bit less lovable, and the ending premise was also different- so I didn’t bother. Random fan theories on reddit helped me come up with a conclusion of what happened.

By the way, Yanhui’s transformation into a dark magic user in the last 10 episodes wasn’t in the book, but I think it worked well with the plot and story development of the drama. Still, I thought it came a bit out of nowhere and her change in personality was a bit jarring. It probably could have been pulled off better.

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A fun watch, not too deep

Royal Rumors is a cute, light-hearted show. It’s not very long, and a fun watch, which I’d say I enjoyed but didn’t adore.

The show starts with a lot of good humor, but it seems to die down later on in favor of pure story. I really liked the humor and wish they had just focused more on comedy throughout. It gets a bit darker but at least becomes a fairly straightforward good-vs-bad kind of deal, so you don’t feel too many ambiguous emotions. When I’m here for fluff, I don’t need strong, nuanced emotions.

This FL is one of those secretly smart, capable protagonists hiding her true abilities. It’s a classic plotline but always fun to watch. I did find the sickly act to be a little annoying (more powder ain’t gonna help, girl), but at least it sort of disappears after awhile. It wasn’t until the end that I realized she actually WANTS to be known as a sickly beauty (this is in the book too), which makes me wonder- self-defense I can understand, but why would you WANT to play into such a dumb stereotype?

The relationship between the ML and FL starts out fairly hostile, although I’m not really sure why. There is a background of cute childhood letters between them, and the ML seems quite nice and sentimental about them. I guess the FL is just very cautious, but I felt a little frustrated at her as she kept trying to hold up her act. After that goes away and they get together, though, I found them less interesting. Guess I’m hard to please.

I do like this ML- he’s not full of himself, and he doesn’t fall for flattery. He has the best “ORLY?” face as he deals with all her BS. (He is a bit too clingy, though.) I like Jeremy Tsui’s style here- he has the best eye roll, deadpan stare, and funny facial expressions. But, sorry to say, I think he looks too old for this role. It’s not that Meng Ziyi is too young, per se, it’s that her character is young (18), and she can pass. Jeremy in his late 30s, unfortunately, can't really.

Although I wasn’t totally into the main characters’ relationship, I really liked the side characters. I read somewhere that the author of the book felt that women should support each other, and this comes through with great sisterhoods. I found many of the side characters to be very likeable, both male and female, and I was very invested in their stories. This is one of those fluffy shows where I’d expect everyone to pair up, and they mostly did, but unfortunately most of these side couples didn’t seem to get very far- at least, not as far as I wanted.

Not a big part of the story, but we also, refreshingly, get an emperor who actually wants his kids to be happy. That’s a pretty rare one.

The fighting in this show isn’t that flashy (or frequent), but it’s not like this show is a wuxia. Martial arts is clearly not that important because many of the male characters are surprise good fighters out of nowhere… impressive and all, but they didn’t even feel the need to set it up or explain it. The FL has better development in this aspect- she’s supposed to be good and she is, but I also like that she’s not invincible… more realistic.

Another quibble- I’m sorry, but who entrusts national diplomacy to an 18 year old? Never mind that her counterpart doesn’t look much older. No wonder their negotiations were such a sham. “Give us the land.” “No.”

Anyways.

My good feelings for this show are mostly running off the humor in the first half and my attachment to the side characters, and I probably would rate higher if either of those played a bigger role. As is, it was fun to watch but not the kind of show I felt obsessed about.

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





It’s a fluffy story, of course it has a happy ending, and the finale is pretty exciting. Only one big sacrifice, but it was sad- I guess they had to kill off somebody we all liked to create some emotional oomph.

I was, on the other hand, not too happy with the level of closure I got on many of the side couples. I was really invested in them. How come the relationship between Pei Jihuai (ML’s BFF) and Yuan Wei (FL’s maid) never went anywhere? And the story with Yun Han (pretty boy) and Du Xiuying (scholar girl)… my gosh, how could they leave it in such an unsatisfactory position? That was the worst.

Speaking of that maid, I thought she was super cute, but her RANDOMLY being a general of the army just doesn’t make sense. If she were, she would have acted very differently throughout the show. And at the end where she finally rushes in with a sword… wow that was the worst sword swipe I’ve ever seen. Sorry girl, I know you were in the background, but could you have at least tried? I liked her a lot (adorable!) and really wished for her to be badass, it’s too bad they couldn’t pull it off better.

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Lots of crying, both the characters and me

Well, this show was quite a ride. While watching, I could not tear my eyes away- glued to my screen, binging past bedtime every night. But by the time I came back the next day, I felt nervous and reluctant to resume.

So first, yes, it was riveting. I couldn’t look away. But that's partly because I was trying so hard to figure out what’s going on. This show is on the confusing side. Even after you figure out roughly how the world works (which took me approximately one muddled story arc), subsequent story arcs still manage to introduce more jumbled backstories and secrets revealed in tangled ways. It’s hard to keep track of everything, and sometimes it’s not clear what’s plot hole vs world building vs important clue.

That said, each time the reveals are finally out and the pieces come together (minus a few lost along the way), I did find each story to be interesting and touching. So I could also say, the plot is full of twists and turns and is constantly moving, which keeps things exciting.

It also yanks your emotions around on a leash, which brings me to the reason I felt nervous to watch. This show is just too absurdly tragic sometimes. eg people suffering out of selfless love, kind people forced into heartbreaking situations, etc. If you pull out of immersion for a bit, you might call it emotionally manipulative. The characters were constantly crying, and so was I.

The saving grace is that it is pretty clear how to feel. Everyone- me, the characters, other audience- could all feel bad together. This doesn’t totally make things ok, and tragic story following tragic story really does get tiresome. But the sense of commiseration helps a lot. Ji Ling is a good example: I badly wanted the best for this super likable, sympathetic character, and it made me so happy to see other characters step up for him.

So the show is emotionally taxing, but not in a frustrating way. It’s nice that the protagonists are mostly on the same page, with minimal miscommunications, while the ultimate villain is pretty clear-cut and evil. There are five actors listed in main roles and the show really does have five leads- they all have their own backstories, personalities, and goals, as well as different interlocking relations. I really like how this show is able to distribute the focus and maintain so many different kinds of positive relationships. The two romances are very sweet. There are also some very likable side characters.

By the way, the two foxes seem to be going for an alluring, seductive, and otherworldly vibe, especially at the beginning. This distinct character type does match the classic nine tailed fox, but I wasn’t sure I could take it from main characters that I have to watch the entire show. Luckily it dies down, I’d say within 10 episodes or so, as the foxes get down to business.

The show gets wilder towards the end. The plot gets whiplashed around a bit, sometimes via deus ex machina plot devices. For example, dramatic sacrifices are subsequently undone by some world mechanism that was never hinted at until now, repeat again and again. But the show is only a trim 29 episodes so you just get yanked around for a bit and then it’s over.

Acting-wise, I think people in general did a good job. I really like Tian Jiarui’s character and that might be why I think he did such a great job, so adorable. Ju Jingyi is very pretty, but I’ll be honest, her classic-beauty aura is just not my thing- eg the way she will slightly tilt her face from here to there, like she’s letting us admire it from different angles. It might be the director’s decision to capture a certain vibe. I also, sorry to say, think Yan An is too good looking that it’s distracting. I kept admiring his face rather than focusing on what his character is doing (I ended up really loving his character’s story, though).

But in general I wasn’t a huge fan of the styling. I think Joseph Zeng and Chen Duling have both looked better in other shows. All around the faces were too pale and smooth- even more unnatural than the normal Cdrama.

The cinematography is quite artistic (it’s a shame it came out right after Pursuit of Jade which still did better). The fighting is a good mix of CGI and performed choreography. I thought it’s done really well, both technique and choreo, and fun to watch. I really like how different demons and hunters have their own unique weapons, skills, and spells. This would make a super fun RPG.

But this show also really loves poses, wind machines, and thumping techno music. It actually worked on me a few times (ie I thought it was cool) but mostly I thought it was trying too hard. In fact, a lot of parts of this show are overly dramatic, like all the slow speech with lots of pauses, and the pretty-crying with a single tear. It sometimes made me cringe, just a little.

In general I liked the music (yes, even the techno!) The show tends to play soft and gentle tunes during the most dramatic or heartbreaking scenes, which turns out to be a sure formula to make me cry. The OST also played at the all the right moments, to good effect.

Overall, I like this show because it’s emotionally engaging, has some really sympathetic and likable characters, and is just... riveting. It’s full of plot twists that kept me on my toes- in a steady haze of mild confusion, yes, but aside from some parts not quite adding up (perhaps it’d be clearer on a rewatch), things mostly straighten out into touching stories in which it’s clear who to root for. The excessive, nonstop tragedy gets a bit exhausting sometimes, and the overly dramatic plot whiplash towards the end is a bit much. But I guess the emotional manipulation worked on me, because even though I didn't particularly like the ending either, I felt so attached to the characters and story that I still walked away with a real soft spot for this show.

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





The ending is... confusing? It’s not as tragic as this director is known for, but that’s not saying much.

Throughout the story, likable side characters were getting killed off left and right, so it’s no surprise that this trend continues right up to the end, even adding in some of the main characters. I was honestly kind of immune to the tragedy at this point.

But it is all undone by time travel stuff. The time loop makes as little sense as it ever did in a Cdrama. For some reason Wu Shiguang is the only one who seems to remember “old reality”, and we get some scenes from "new reality" but not enough for a clear picture of the situation. The time travel allows many people who died to be alive again, but this never made me feel better, because with a different set of memories they’re pretty much just different people.

WuWu couple still gets to be together, but Wu Wanyan has no memory of him. As for Ji Ling and Lu Wuyi... ok, I have no idea what happened inside that star thing. But at the very end there is some scene of them living as normal humans and meeting again. I don’t know if it’s an alternate universe or reincarnation or what, but since they don’t have their old memories anyways, as far as I am concerned the Ji Ling and Lu Wuyi we followed through the story are gone. ...which is actually really upsetting. Like come on, after all that?

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Artistic and beautiful cinematography dressing up a just-ok plot

The main thing that stands out about this show, to me, is its sheer artistry. The cinematography is amazing. The director’s use of colors, light and shadow, framing, symbols and motifs, etc creates such a lingering and evocative ambience. Even the posing and slow motion scenes- normally I can’t stand them, but here they were so artistically done that I actually liked them. This show is beautiful to watch.

On top of that, everyone looks so good! Especially the male characters- good or bad, major or minor, this show is overflowing with hot guys. I mean, kudos to everyone’s face of course, but at this scale I have to credit the styling (hair/makeup), lighting, camera angles, even directing to avoid less flattering expressions. The director made everyone look good. So next time you look away from the show and wonder why everyone around you is so ugly, keep in mind that it’s kind of artificial.

As for the plot, I wish it lived up to the great directing. The first 15-16 episodes follows the two leads in a small town. It is sweet and nostalgic, full of warm and fuzzy vibes. This part feels more slice-of-life. I tend to appreciate this sort of thing more after the leads have gone through some crisis, so I thought it was a little slow, but still cute and enjoyable.

After that the series explodes into action, battles and a mess of politics. Some of it is a little draggy (eg manufactured drama between the leads), and then I had a hard time piecing the backstory together from the fragmented clues scattered throughout. Even after the answer is given, the pieces don’t seem to add up. It doesn’t help that the last few episodes feel so rushed, but also I think they just left out some information from the book. In general, I think the backstory is good but not conveyed well, leaving people puzzling over the tangled mess rather than being properly emotionally impacted.

Plus, I kind of soured on the main character. Fan Changyu in the first half is the kind of down-to-earth FL I like. She’s kind and sincere, ready to provide for her new house husband. She’s also really tough and an excellent fighter- not in, like, a realistic way, but still in a fun way. Her impressive skills made her somewhat unrelatable to me (we don’t see her train, she’s just a genius), so I liked her but felt a bit distant.

As the show progresses, though, her super strength and martial ability get overdone to the point where it’s just ridiculous. Perhaps her flaws should make her more relatable, but I found them annoying. Her impulsiveness and emotionalism result in some hot-and-cold treatment towards the ML, which is mostly just frustrating to watch, and her lack of education is endearing until it's not. For example, her sneaking off during an imperial decree is probably supposed to be funny, but I thought it’s really disrespectful. And the way she celebrates her undeserved promotion without worrying about how she’d actually do her job- carefree and confident are good and all, but there’s something to be said about some self-awareness.

Well, I seem to be alone on this, so take it how you will. Either way, I had a harder time rooting for Changyu as the show went on, which made the last 10 episodes a bit of a struggle.

On the other hand, for a ML we get Xie Zheng, one of those perfect dreamboat MLs constructed to fulfill your fantasies. Badass, highly skilled, and commanding, yet gentle, supportive, and totally devoted towards her. He loses his composure a few times in the middle, just enough to make him feel human and convey how much she means to him. I wouldn’t have minded if he had more depth, but overall I liked him.

The romance is well done, mostly thanks to the cinematography which creates a simmering tension between them, the kind that makes your heart skip a beat. There are two other romances in the show that also benefit from the director’s skill- one of them is smoking hot (and highly toxic), the other is cute and sweet. The female characters involved are also highly (and unusually) skilled at one thing or another, and have good relations with Changyu, which is nice to watch.

There are several other likable side characters as well- like the FL’s squad, the ML’s sidekicks, etc- though I felt they didn’t all get the attention they deserved.

On the villain side, the true political villain takes some unravelling and isn’t clear for a long time. In the meantime, there are several intermediate villains, like two crazy brothers that are so obviously psycho you can't look away.

But of all the villains big and small, I ended up feeling sorry for quite a lot of them, even despite some irredeemable actions. I don’t really like feeling this way- kind of sour- but my consolation is that many other audience members seem to feel this way too.

Acting-wise, I thought Tian Xiwei does a good job. I’m really impressed by how physically strong she is. Zhang Linghe seems pretty good too, though maybe I am most impressed by Lin Muran who conveyed the crazy, taunting energy of Sui Yuanqing well. A lot of the supporting actors had great performances.

The fight choreo is pretty good, not too flashy but solid- like the weapons actually have some weight- and, not surprisingly, generally quite artistic. Tian Xiwei looks pretty good with fluid movements into solid hits. I was less impressed by Zhang Linghe’s hand-to-hand, but I thought his horseback fighting (choreo and execution) was quite good, as was his riding.

I really like the costumes, especially the working-class clothing and the armor. The music is the kind of songs that I like now because I have emotional association from hearing them during iconic scenes of the show. There is some CGI that is surprisingly bad, but the rest of production makes up for it.

Overall I think this show is artistic and beautiful. But the plot is not the best, with the politics and backstory told in a confusing way, draggy bits in the second half, Changyu sometimes annoying, villains I also feel deeply sorry for, etc. I still think it’s worth a watch for the excellent cinematography, but don’t expect an equivalent mastery from the plot. Readers of the book might enjoy it more (or not) and I had to benefit from their forum posts to understand some of what’s going on.

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





The last few episodes are quite rushed, and the backstory is not fully revealed until the very last episode where it is unceremoniously narrated. But at least most of the last episode is reserved for wrap-up. It is a happy ending for our leads and most of their friends. Villains get their due and the country returns to stability.

We get a 5-year-out view of the leads to know they are doing fine, which is nice, though I wish we saw more of the side characters. We can assume they are mostly doing well- except maybe Li Huai’an, poor guy- but we don’t see it. I found out from book readers that Yu Qianqian is a transmigrator... what a detail to whittle down to a mere hint in the show.

In the last 10 or so minutes we get an “alternate reality” version where the old tragedy never happened. Then some of the sympathetic villains can be good people, tackling issues alongside our protagonists. I was looking forward to this bit to feel good, but actually the main point seems to be that Qi Min and Yu Qianqian cannot be together even in an alternate life, which I thought is a dumb final message.

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