MyLangyaList

For LOCH, it's fairly obvious who the FL interest is so I don't really need to tell you. For HSDS if I tell you it kinda spoils things. Fine ... she doesn't show up until halfway in the show 😂.

Do keep in mind though that these are classic style Wuxia, so romance isn't the main focus. Many so-called Wuxia shows today are really just romcoms with Wuxia slapped on.

That said, with your criteria, Mysterious Lotus Casebook is the far safer bet. It has an extremely similar vibe to TBoY, and negligible romance. The plot is also tighter than the other 2 shows and a lot of MDLers have been raving about it lately.

LOCH and HSDS are a different type of show, with some flaws, but also their own charms.

NiF series are actually self-contained stories that exist in the same universe. So 'seasons' is really a misnomer. They are really NiF1, NiF2, etc... You don't need to watch 1 to see this.

So if you are waiting for the show to finish before diving in ... well good news, you can do it now as they are fully finished and spectacular shows.

Yeah, can't see how the dubbed version can be good especially since the veteran actors here deliver their lines with such nuance. Also it's a serious period drama, so foreign dubbing would be especially out of place.

That said I've come to really respect all the subtitle viewers for Asian dramas. Since I have the fortune of watching Cdramas without needing subs, I never realized how difficult it was until I tried watching the Kdrama Reply 1988. I know it's a masterpiece that I'll love, but the first episode left me hunting for a dubbed version in ENG/CN like some degenerate pleb.

So I can totally understand how many of the inaccessible Cdrama masterpieces doesn't resonate with international audiences. And as much as I sometimes bemoan all the derivative romcoms taking the spotlight over more refined shows, I can see where they are coming from.

Nice, welcome to the Lanya Club

lolol

It was actually the 2nd funniest show after JOL for me, though I haven't watched many shows. Some of the humor actually reminds of Wang Juan. I hear some don't like the 2 leads of Cheng He and Wang Ziwen. I haven't seen enough shows to be impacted by their past work. Only seen WZW in this and Three Body, and her acting impressed in both.

Sounds good. Almost done with S1, can start on this after.

Mengmeng (daughter that died) is the cause of the loop. In Chinese cultural context, tragic deaths can leave the spirit of the deceased not being able to rest, resulting in ghosts, haunting, and other supernatural phenomenon. So even if the precise mechanics are not explained, a supernatural time loop would be reasonable within the lore.

In the end, the tragedy had been resolved. The leads not only prevented her parents from multiplying the tragedy by killing more innocents. They also compelled a police investigation that brought Mengmeng's victimizer to justice. Her parents were saved, innocents were saved, and Mengmeng finally got an actual investigation to hold the wrongdoer accountable. So finally her spirit can rest/return. The ethereal image of Mengmeng at the end would be enough of a hint to Chinese audiences aware of the cultural context.

Yeah even though this show is low budget, the writer Wang Juan is top notch. Same guy behind Joy of Life and Sword Snow Stride. He's really good at creating dimensional characters and weaving humor and heart into the plot, and does it here once again.

He was also a pretty good leather-jacket gangster cat-lover in Bureau of Transformers. It's actually the best Cdrama procedural I've seen based on a very small sample size. Lots of absurdist humor, decent acting, and pushed the boundary enough to make me wonder what if NRTA didn't exist and they went all out.

That's great to hear. Was a bit nervous due to mixed reaction based on early episodes. But it sounds like the doubts have been shattered. Was it comparable in quality to S1 for you?

I returned LXY's favor w/ an alternate ending / S2 Epilogue

This is the 10k-1, or 9999 comment, an auspicious number for 'Auspicious Lotus Casebook'

This is the 10k comment

For comparison, Long Ballad is a decent show which I personally enjoyed. But most natives would put NIF several tiers above (in the highest, in fact) because of the excitement from its exquisite plot, characters, dialog, and strategic depth. But I would also put it 2 tiers lower in terms of accessibility. In addition, the romance is minimal, even compared to Long Ballad, if that's important to you.

Now the good news is that once you do get the hang of it, the payoff is enormous. People really end up marveling at how all the details in the beginning are tightly interwoven into the plot. Each detail is consequential and subtly revealed to let the audience 'think along' for the ride. That's why even native speakers can rewatch this 10 times and still be mesmerized by all the new important details they pick up.

If you don't speak Mandarin, it's highly recommended that you look for a character chart or even synopsis for the first few episodes to get a hang of things. Even though it may seem like just a bunch of new characters talking, there's a ton of juicy details introduced that's meant to tantalize the native audience. Unfortunately that also makes the show somewhat inaccessible to foreign audiences, as relying on subs and not having the benefit of cultural context can make the early episodes especially overwhelming.

This is a pretty cerebral show for even native speakers. So if you are looking for a light, easy watch, this is definitely not it. If you still feel lost or bored by ep 8-12, then it just might not be for you and there's no harm in dropping it.

Nah, he just need to hike up his robe, stick his junk out the back of the Lotus Tower, and drop a brown aromatic trail while the house is moving.

LLH, certified ancient Chinese trailer trash.

I'll preface my thoughts by saying that I enjoyed this drama quite a bit, and the plot was pretty good throughout. So my suggestions are in context of how it could have been more polished and impactful for me as a viewer.

There are primarily 2 issues with the leadup--the core motivation of LLH to exit Jianghu, and the overall mood/spirit of the show.

For core motivation, LLH's resignation is shown to be mostly derived from the guilt over the death of SGD, death of the Sigu members, and all the chaos surrounding the initial battle between Sigu and Alliance. But by the end of the show, we find that LLH is in fact the most innocent and noble of them all. So the overhanging guilt no longer make as much sense. I also don't see LLH as having lost all motivation, since he's shown to still be quite forceful in pursuing justice and protecting those he care about. This includes saving Ah Mian, initially searching for SGD for 10!! years, his anger regarding the death of his Shifu, stopping the Nanyin conspiracy, etc. I suppose you could say SGD's betrayal thoroughly broke him, but I saw more rage than resignation.

So onto the mood/tenor issue. Lighthearted, humorous bromantic adventure is what makes the show so enjoyable. So even though LLH repeated disavows the LXY lifestyle, it's never shown at a profoundly melancholic level. I understand, and support the decision to keep the show lighthearted, as doing otherwise would be quite risky. And up until the end, that mood is maintained. Only in the last episode do we get such a huge drop-off into a sad, then open ending.

Also since letting go (of past, grievances, regrets, ambitions, etc.) is a big theme of the show and the motivation of the ending, it begs the question of why LLH can't fully let go of his misdirected guilt/regret as well. Instead he seemingly sacrifices himself and these genuine friendships when it wasn't necessary.

I think a much happier retreat from Jianghu for LLH would have been more appropriate. Or better set up is needed to justify the sadness and his decisions in the last episode.

That said the extra episode kinda brings it back. And it's so easy to glance past the last episode as it's not that impactful in the grand scheme of the 40 episode show.

I'm glad this person has finally erased self to attain Buddha state, at least in this thread. And you deserve extra karma for helping this person achieve nothingness : )

Leave quietly for sure. In addition to his uncured poison, LLH letting go of his competitive LXY past is a big recurring theme. It's also the same motivation that led to the open ending, even though the show could have seemingly written a bombastic HE with LLH fully cured, powers recovered, and face off against DFS in an epic display. Instead we are led to believe that he chose to retreat from the world in the OE.

My only gripe is that the OE could have been better set up in previous episodes and executed in the end.