Wenxia

I didn’t say the cinematography is bad. I just don’t like it. It’s mostly about the lighting and framing, and how a lot of scenes lack physical depth. I’ll give you an example - in the first half of ep8 before Hailou and the accountant jump the ship, they’re sitting on board and there’s very strong light in front of them that makes it feel like they’re on a theater stage with a 2D background behind them. It’s partly the sets that lack interesting details that’d give the illusion of depth. Same with the fights, I just don’t like how they’re filmed. I think they’re going for a comic book aesthetic with the speed ramping and freeze frames, but I don’t like the effect.

About the story, again I don’t like the chaotic way it's being told. It feels like they’re building a mystery upon mystery but don’t bother to explain things. I would prefer if they gave us more contextual information that would make the cases/arcs transition less abrupt e.g. some introduction to the revolving door of adversaries, what the mentor was doing that she couldn't contact them for 3 years, how did the bureau close down, etc.

It’s less about the genre and more about the chosen aesthetics and storytelling, and of course a lot of it boils down to personal preferences.

After 7 eps I'm kind of underwhelmed. The story feels choppy. I don't like the cinematography. Everything feels too fake, especially the fights. The music straight up irritates me. Comedy and acting are the two bright spots. I'm in awe of Zhang Hailou’s logic:D “If it's super dangerous, then there's even more reason to blow it up” Zhang Xincheng is on form lol. It's my first time watching Ding Yuxi and he's fun too. I'm mostly watching it in the background for now. I hope it smooths out later on.

If the grafitti was Suqiao's way of exorcising her inner demons, then maybe that wall drawing of someone being hanged on a tree is true. Maybe she killed her mom in a way that could be proven as murder if the body was exhumed.

Wasn't the escape room on the 18th floor? My first thought was someone with mental illness did it, but since she wants the whole building demolished, then hiding evidence is probably right. Maybe that's the reason Wu Shanlong recorded her.

I think she did something and Meng blackmailed her about it. Maybe killed real Suqing;)

Qian Dajun! Buahahahaaha😂
Should've listened to ‘psychic’ He’s warning about karma😁

Because there were a lot of witnesses? Did you notice that he distracted the guards from looking at the monitors?
Btw I don't think he did it, I just find their disregard hard to explain.

Yes! It was such an out of character moment for him.

I understand what you mean but still think he gave them enough reason to at least look into his background and connections. Btw I didn't mean they should've made him a suspect, just that the blind spot about him was hard to explain. Anyway, that's just my viewpoint and I don't think it likely we'll convince each other:)

Me! Feeling for hidden compartments is standard, he absolutely should've done it, especially since he was tipped off about the safe…or at the very least run his hands to see if nothing was taped to the top panel. He didn't even use a flashlight to see inside and just let it go with a casual glance?!
The sloppy searches in this drama are killing me.

Disappearance or murder,
that guy has access to everything, he's shady and the explanations for his strange behaviour are such obvious bs😁 How is he not arousing their suspicion?
Even if he's not the culprit, I think it would've been reasonable to assume he at least knew more than he let on.

Just finished ep14 and their lack of interest and leniency towards manager Qian is becoming hard to explain.

If you keep hearing 'yaode' when people agree, then it's Sichuan or Chongqing, but the story is set in Sichuan. Wang Hedi is from Leshan and I think there's a video of him coaching other actors in the dialect, though I haven't seen it.

5 episodes in: my empathy and curiosity fully engaged. I love the setting and all the details that keep the story grounded in the time and place, but that realism also makes this story weigh on me more than I expected. Maybe it's because the comedy doesn't really work for me (the banter felt really awkward and forced at first), so it doesn't balance the heavier parts of the story. I think I need a short break for some absurd comedy to shake off the emotional weight before continuing.

On second thought, that gang rebranding seminar was funny:)

Added it now:) I prefer the list layout with posters, so I can see the Chinese titles, but I don't think adding it as a compilation should be a problem. I can request it and see.

Not sure which song you mean but maybe you'll find what you're looking for on this playlist by YiguoSubs: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLt9c1_E0P9OSjNt5uATspaW8vkyoc1Jm&si=vJeT8RXHY0szSUjs
They cleaned up some of the background music and translated all songs. It's truly a shame the OST was never released. There's some beautiful music in this drama.

Iirc PS turns 22 in the show. He's 14 in the flashbacks. LWZ is 29/22.

I can't believe it's been half a year and jitd still hasn't been picked up by another streaming service! I guess it's destined to remain a buried gem...*heartfelt sigh* I was curious how it was doing in China and went to check douban but it seems to have been removed?! I got a message that the page doesn't exist. Don't know if it's just temporary or because of my location? It made me feel somewhere between sad and pissed because it's just so (I better self-censor here lol) I mean even if the drama was cancelled in China, people still could go there and show their appreciation. But I guess it was doing too well - saw screenshot it got to 8.5 with close to 55k votes - someone got butthurt or did I miss some drama online?
Anyway, this is still my favourite drama of the year (tied with US 'Interview with the vampire'. I just finished that show and loved it to pieces) and the diehard optimist in me hopes we get to see it somewhere, somehow this year;)

Ooh, the 'not me' dream team is back! I only planned to check out the first ep, but ended up bingeing all four. Loving it so far! Seductive and thought-provoking = the best combination. Plus, I really like this director's visual style. Haven't seen OffGun since not me and they're looking very very good.

Thank you for letting me know about the new drama! I've updated the list now. I agree, all these stories look quite interesting and more diverse than iqiyi light on. I just wish I had time to watch them all. Meanwhile, I'm trying to finish the dramas I started in July🫠

Yes, because some people believe there's a causal link between the zero degree empathy gene and criminal behaviour and demand mandatory testing on everyone as prevention I guess. It's sort of an ongoing social debate in the background.

Janitor is the big mystery of the series. At first we only know, because of the book choices, that the podcaster has knowledge on who's behind the crimes investigated by SID, but it's not clear how far they're involved or what their motivations are. It's all gonna be explained later on.
Happy watching:)