For those unfamiliar with accounting, a little explanation about the problem this drama addresses:
Each year companies with public shareholders (where anyone can be an owner) have to issue an annual report to the public explaining their current financial situation. This includes:
1) How much money they earned and spent for the year (the income statement) 2) A list of all of their resources and debts (the balance sheet) 3) An explanation for where their cash has come from and where it is going (cash flow statement), and 4) A statement regarding how the value of the company has changed for the owners (did they earn money or not) (statement of owner's equity).
Basically. . . . how the company is doing and a detailed report of where it got and spent money or resources over the past year.
The main terms to know are:
1) Assets = Resources (cash, equipment, property, inventory) 2) Liabilities = Debts (bank loans, credit card debt, unpaid wages) 3) Equity = The value of the firm for the owner's (if all debts were paid) 4) Revenue = The money earned from operations in the past year 5) Cost = The money spent on operations in the past year.
^These five things are the big numbers. . . the annual report just explains them to the public with lots of details (e.g., how much is spent on gardening or buying new equipment).
Of course, the company could just be lying to us all. . . . sometimes they are trying to hide their debts to make it look like they have more money than they do. Sometimes they are trying to decrease their profts so that they have to pay fewer taxes. Large, massive corporations like the ones in this show have many, many accounts in which they can hide or disguise bad transactions. It would be almost impossible for the public to have the time or access to the information to know if the financial report is true or a lie.
To reassure the public and to encourage us all to trust and invest in companies, the government requires that the financial report be checked and double checked by a third party known as an AUDITOR. The auditor is an outside person (licensed by a government or national organization of Auditors) who reviews the financial report and tells the public if it is reliable or not.
If they believe the company's financial report is trustworthy, they will file a public report that either says the company is a GOING CONCERN (going to stay in operation) or that they think it is okay but have some reservations. If they believe the firm is in serious trouble, they say it is NOT A GOING CONCERN (heading into bankruptcy).
This show is about an Auditing Firm and how it handles this job.
There are two issues they address:
1) The fact that the Auditor themselves are at risk. It is possible that they will overlook something or that they will be tricked by the company into thinking things are okay when they are not. The job of an auditor is difficult. . . they have to read through thousands of files and transactions and try to find any places where a company may be lying or have some mistake. If the auditor says the company is okay and it goes bankrupt later or a mistake is found, the auditor's reputation will be damaged. This is a DISASTER. If we can't trust the auditor on this one, we can't trust him to do his job at all
2) The fact that the Auditor has a significant amount of power over a company. Even if the company has told the public "Hey! We have billions of dollars" . . . if the auditor's public report says this is a lie, the company could be in massive trouble. It may not survive the damage to its reputation. That being said. . . . the auditor could then be bribed to help the company hide things from the public. Or the auditor could force the company into bankruptcy by destroying their reputation and then buy their resources (land, equipment, products) really cheap. Both happen in this show.
In the beginning, the drama is slightly confusing, but the basis are that the company reported that everything was okay to the public. The auditor however issued their report by stating that the company was in trouble. This scared the public and their debtors. . . the public pulled out their investments and the debtors demanded to be paid immediately. The company couldn't survive and really did go bankrupt. The main star doesn't understand why the auditor ruined the company when it seemed like the company was doing fine. . . . he thinks something was corrupt in the Auditor's report. So he studies accounting and joins the Auditor's firm to get access to their reports and records.
Towards the end they get into the fact that auditors also perform the same task for Banks. They audit the financial report and tell the public if the bank is doing well or not. If the public hears that a bank is not doing well, they reasonably run to the bank to get their money back. If too many people do that, the bank will not have enough cash on hand to pay everyone back (this is a RUN ON THE BANK). Eventually, the bank itself may go bankrupt and be sold on the market. Then whoever wants to can just buy up the bank and everything it owns (mortgages, student loans. . . . everything).
**The problem of Auditors is important in the real world. In the 2001 and 2008 financial collapses, it was discovered that the auditors had failed the public. Companies who should have been found to be bankrupt or operating illegal scams had been given good reports by the auditors. Eventually one of the largest auditing companies in the world "Arthur Anderson" collapsed. Today, only four firms audit approximately 88% of all of the major corporations. You might have heard of them: Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), and KPMG. That means that all of us who rely on public investments are generally depending on the honesty and ethics of FOUR COMPANIES. If even one of them was corrupt, that means we cannot trust about 25% of the corporations in the world. It's a MASSIVE issue.
He actually is listed in the cast the whole time, I think you overlooked him by accident.his role for me personally…
Ah, he is now but he didn't appear the other day. I even tried searching for him on MDL in general but he wasn't appearing. Glad he shows up now! He was really important not only for himself but later as a motivator for others.
Lee Sung-Yeol from the band Infinite is a very significant cast member in this show He would be at the top of the supporting cast but can't be added to the cast list because he isn't in the MDL list.
Random note, it's available on Iqiyi, but the new season is being added as Episode 13 and so on rather than a whole new page for Season 2. So go back to the first season's page and find Ep. 13.
^This is our recommended watching / chronological order.
The show starts with Mystic Nine which is probably the best place to start if you want to understand the universe, structure of the society, characters, etc. Latter shows refer or link back to the Mystic Nine. It was also one of our favorites although reviews are mixed - great bromance! *It did have a bit of an odd ending / explanation for the supernatural stuff because of Chinese censorship, but just know that's why and get past it. 😂
Then you would want to watch The Lost Tomb in order (1, 2, 3, and then Ultimate Note).
You can pick up the side films and sequels (e.g., Tomb of the Sea, Sound of Providence) after that.
The cast is not the same in every show which is frustrating to some - we all have a favorite Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling (stars from The Lost Tomb series). It made things a little confusing at times, but it is still easy to follow.
The whole series is massive bromance with only a few actual romances. Most of it is adventure, not romance (small exceptions in Mystic Nine, but the couples are very sweet and not annoying)
I just finished it and I’m just… so confused? Nothing made any sense to me, and it doesn’t seem to tie into…
Technically, it's supposed to be based on the novels before UN. This show covers novel 4 (sequel to Lost Tomb 2) and UN covers novels 5-7. But they made Wu Xie look so young in UN when I think he should be a lot older (closer to Sand Puzzle)? It throws everything off for me. Plus, they bring actors back in new roles which is confusing or add and dropped information in UN that didn't align. I think they lost continuity between The Lost Tomb 2 (before this) - this film - and UN. 🤷♀️ Plus, this one seems to veer from the novels / character depictions quite a bit which is frustrating, but we could just see it as a new story 😂
e16 QDidn't Pang Zi get the names for the Superior 3 wrong? It should've been Fo Ye (Zhang Qi Shan), Er Ye (Er…
I don't think so although it's a pet peeve of mine - Ba Ye deserves so much more because he was AWESOME. But from our understanding of the setting in Mystic Nine, Ba Ye is meant to be more like Zhang Ri Shen, a supporting character who just got a ton of screen time. He's actually from a weaker family (Lower Gate) and is maintained with Fo Ye's support (thus the fight where Fo Ye rescued him from the gangsters). He's a friend, but not a powerful character within the Old Gates themselves. According to ranking, the three Upper Gates were houses Zhang, Er, and Ban - in terms of authority, Ban ranked pretty high which is why there were quite respectful of him when he did appear on screen. I'm not sure what happened to the Ban family though. . . their don't seem to be any major players in the later shows (though Ba Ye doesn't have any either).
I've seen a lot of poor reviews for this drama, but it wasn't that bad overall. Perhaps not as good as the anime or manga, but as a standalone - it's fun. If you're wanted an "epic drama" like Untamed or Word of Honor . . . . this ain't it. For one thing, this is only the beginning of the story - how they met if you will. So depth . . . . there is not.
It's more along the lines of other cheap / cheesy web-dramas that China has produced recently. It actually puts me in mind of "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" or Love 020 (the movie) or The Four Horsemen - at least in terms of quality of production and depth of plot.
It's something fun to watch during the day over lunch or with your friends at a night in with popcorn. Kinda funny, kinda sweet - with some mystery to the plot. Not much romance so there's that.
The storyline is easy to follow overall. The ending wasn't SUPER clear about what was going on, but it's understandable pretty much. I wasn't left unhappy at least. . . . The characters are traditional "slightly-over-the-top" but "fun" in the normal Chinese style for this kind of film. Zheng Yu is a bit over the top on the "Cold, Distant Male Lead" persona, but that's not surprising - Cdramas love that kind of guy. I thought Zi Di actually did a pretty good job.
I enjoyed it and if you don't want something too deep or angsty, it's cute.
*If you do want something deeper, I'd recommend "Ferryman" (available on Iqiyi). It's got a ton of the same themes and plot lines, but is something of a darker version of Spiritpact. The latter part of Spiritpact's manga/anime is different, but this particular film and Ferryman share a lot in common. Ferryman is about a guy who sees ghosts and ends up being used for his special vision by a Grim Reaper. It ran 3 seasons and was pretty good.
iQiyi's translations were excellent, so they must have fixed them from before. No trouble following. I'd like to save it too, but haven't found a way other than having it downloaded to my phone :P
This show still hasn't aired, but is currently listed as an estimated 2021 (https://www.ijq.tv/yingshi/15937615576919.html###). The description on kisskh says 24 episodes, but other sources say 40 episodes.
1 
Each year companies with public shareholders (where anyone can be an owner) have to issue an annual report to the public explaining their current financial situation. This includes:
1) How much money they earned and spent for the year (the income statement)
2) A list of all of their resources and debts (the balance sheet)
3) An explanation for where their cash has come from and where it is going (cash flow statement), and
4) A statement regarding how the value of the company has changed for the owners (did they earn money or not) (statement of owner's equity).
Basically. . . . how the company is doing and a detailed report of where it got and spent money or resources over the past year.
The main terms to know are:
1) Assets = Resources (cash, equipment, property, inventory)
2) Liabilities = Debts (bank loans, credit card debt, unpaid wages)
3) Equity = The value of the firm for the owner's (if all debts were paid)
4) Revenue = The money earned from operations in the past year
5) Cost = The money spent on operations in the past year.
^These five things are the big numbers. . . the annual report just explains them to the public with lots of details (e.g., how much is spent on gardening or buying new equipment).
______________________________________________________________
Of course, the company could just be lying to us all. . . . sometimes they are trying to hide their debts to make it look like they have more money than they do. Sometimes they are trying to decrease their profts so that they have to pay fewer taxes. Large, massive corporations like the ones in this show have many, many accounts in which they can hide or disguise bad transactions. It would be almost impossible for the public to have the time or access to the information to know if the financial report is true or a lie.
To reassure the public and to encourage us all to trust and invest in companies, the government requires that the financial report be checked and double checked by a third party known as an AUDITOR. The auditor is an outside person (licensed by a government or national organization of Auditors) who reviews the financial report and tells the public if it is reliable or not.
If they believe the company's financial report is trustworthy, they will file a public report that either says the company is a GOING CONCERN (going to stay in operation) or that they think it is okay but have some reservations. If they believe the firm is in serious trouble, they say it is NOT A GOING CONCERN (heading into bankruptcy).
This show is about an Auditing Firm and how it handles this job.
There are two issues they address:
1) The fact that the Auditor themselves are at risk. It is possible that they will overlook something or that they will be tricked by the company into thinking things are okay when they are not. The job of an auditor is difficult. . . they have to read through thousands of files and transactions and try to find any places where a company may be lying or have some mistake. If the auditor says the company is okay and it goes bankrupt later or a mistake is found, the auditor's reputation will be damaged. This is a DISASTER. If we can't trust the auditor on this one, we can't trust him to do his job at all
2) The fact that the Auditor has a significant amount of power over a company. Even if the company has told the public "Hey! We have billions of dollars" . . . if the auditor's public report says this is a lie, the company could be in massive trouble. It may not survive the damage to its reputation. That being said. . . . the auditor could then be bribed to help the company hide things from the public. Or the auditor could force the company into bankruptcy by destroying their reputation and then buy their resources (land, equipment, products) really cheap. Both happen in this show.
In the beginning, the drama is slightly confusing, but the basis are that the company reported that everything was okay to the public. The auditor however issued their report by stating that the company was in trouble. This scared the public and their debtors. . . the public pulled out their investments and the debtors demanded to be paid immediately. The company couldn't survive and really did go bankrupt. The main star doesn't understand why the auditor ruined the company when it seemed like the company was doing fine. . . . he thinks something was corrupt in the Auditor's report. So he studies accounting and joins the Auditor's firm to get access to their reports and records.
Towards the end they get into the fact that auditors also perform the same task for Banks. They audit the financial report and tell the public if the bank is doing well or not. If the public hears that a bank is not doing well, they reasonably run to the bank to get their money back. If too many people do that, the bank will not have enough cash on hand to pay everyone back (this is a RUN ON THE BANK). Eventually, the bank itself may go bankrupt and be sold on the market. Then whoever wants to can just buy up the bank and everything it owns (mortgages, student loans. . . . everything).
**The problem of Auditors is important in the real world. In the 2001 and 2008 financial collapses, it was discovered that the auditors had failed the public. Companies who should have been found to be bankrupt or operating illegal scams had been given good reports by the auditors. Eventually one of the largest auditing companies in the world "Arthur Anderson" collapsed. Today, only four firms audit approximately 88% of all of the major corporations. You might have heard of them: Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), and KPMG. That means that all of us who rely on public investments are generally depending on the honesty and ethics of FOUR COMPANIES. If even one of them was corrupt, that means we cannot trust about 25% of the corporations in the world. It's a MASSIVE issue.
^This is our recommended watching / chronological order.
The show starts with Mystic Nine which is probably the best place to start if you want to understand the universe, structure of the society, characters, etc. Latter shows refer or link back to the Mystic Nine. It was also one of our favorites although reviews are mixed - great bromance! *It did have a bit of an odd ending / explanation for the supernatural stuff because of Chinese censorship, but just know that's why and get past it. 😂
Then you would want to watch The Lost Tomb in order (1, 2, 3, and then Ultimate Note).
You can pick up the side films and sequels (e.g., Tomb of the Sea, Sound of Providence) after that.
The cast is not the same in every show which is frustrating to some - we all have a favorite Wu Xie and Zhang Qiling (stars from The Lost Tomb series). It made things a little confusing at times, but it is still easy to follow.
The whole series is massive bromance with only a few actual romances. Most of it is adventure, not romance (small exceptions in Mystic Nine, but the couples are very sweet and not annoying)
https://thesuitcasedetective.com/2021/02/15/the-lost-tomb-in-chronological-order/
It's a list matching the films to their novel in order (we sorted the side films as best as we could based on reviews and discussions). 😁
Mearbear is also a great source regarding the novels!
**Also, if anyone knows where to find translations of the "Sand Puzzle" side films, let us know. We'd love to watch them!
It's more along the lines of other cheap / cheesy web-dramas that China has produced recently. It actually puts me in mind of "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" or Love 020 (the movie) or The Four Horsemen - at least in terms of quality of production and depth of plot.
It's something fun to watch during the day over lunch or with your friends at a night in with popcorn. Kinda funny, kinda sweet - with some mystery to the plot. Not much romance so there's that.
The storyline is easy to follow overall. The ending wasn't SUPER clear about what was going on, but it's understandable pretty much. I wasn't left unhappy at least. . . . The characters are traditional "slightly-over-the-top" but "fun" in the normal Chinese style for this kind of film. Zheng Yu is a bit over the top on the "Cold, Distant Male Lead" persona, but that's not surprising - Cdramas love that kind of guy. I thought Zi Di actually did a pretty good job.
I enjoyed it and if you don't want something too deep or angsty, it's cute.
*If you do want something deeper, I'd recommend "Ferryman" (available on Iqiyi). It's got a ton of the same themes and plot lines, but is something of a darker version of Spiritpact. The latter part of Spiritpact's manga/anime is different, but this particular film and Ferryman share a lot in common. Ferryman is about a guy who sees ghosts and ends up being used for his special vision by a Grim Reaper. It ran 3 seasons and was pretty good.