This drama knew what it wanted to do and it delivered.
The thing about this drama is that it knows the story it wants to tell. It's not episodic (so there's an overarching mystery), and the risk or challenge with putting out a non-episodic mystery drama is whether you can keep the audience engaged and convince them that yes, this is the story we're going with. Personally, I think the drama held the fort down and allowed itself a graceful exit.What I Liked:
1) The characters—both the protagonists and the antagonists (some).
Our protagonists have experienced a three-year timeskip and we see them happily married. I've always liked the dynamics of the main four, and while they're the same, I still think there's depth to them. They still feel fleshed out enough even if they're just good guys. We can see what makes them tick, what makes them cry, what makes them motivated. One criticism I've seen is that Chu Chu was too obsessed or "societally tone deaf" with being a coroner, like it's been regurgitated as a line throughout the show. The funny thing is, this repetitive reference to her identity IS addressed in a later episode, and Chu Chu herself learns (or re-learns, since this was a dilemma in S1, too) that being a coroner is not what is important, but being able to help people. So, it's intentional storytelling that her obsession is something that serves as a stepping stone for character development.
The villains (some) have won me over. They started as typical villains - the sleazy foreign ambassador (Gao Luoqian), the dumb foreign prince, the corrupt local officials, the deceptive one, and the ones from S1 who made a comeback. Gao Luoqian, in particular, is not as domineering and mad as the eunuch Qin Luan from S1, but his slimy delivery of words was enough to frustrate me. S1 "antagonists" also have their "time to shine" moments. I appreciate how the story treated them in S2, short of spoiling why or how.
2) The fact that there was an overarching mystery—It's always interesting to figure out which parts in the earlier episodes are actually foreshadowing elements of the bigger plot.
3) The soundtrack—I think both the OP 《执光者》("Lightbearer") by 毛潇曼 and ED 《不易》 ("Not Easy") by 陆瑶 were chosen and used well not just as OP and ED but as insert songs in a lot of scenes, but my fave song is the insert song 《共渡》("Through It Together") by 池约翰CJ. The other parts of the OST as well, the ones which didn't have words, a lot of which were used in S1, are as distinct as ever.
4) The comedic moments
5) The sad moments—One character death in particular had the right impact for me.
6) The sweet moments
^ It seems that I just like a lot of the bits of the story, don't I?
7) The progression from episode 15 onward
What I Didn't Like:
1) The "dis"continuity in the timeskip.
We have a three-year timeskip but there was something in the way that the story opened that the interactions and conflicts feel like it's only been weeks/months since S1. There are some characters that show animosity to our protagonists that time would've/should've weeded out, there are some characters from S1 who should be in S2 that don't appear at all for no good explanation when a recast is simple or otherwise reappear too late in the story (unless it was just a cameo).
2) One case overstayed its welcome.
I think one case took too long to solve so the pace seemed "slow" mostly because our protagonists were left in the dark a bit longer than I would've prefered.
3) The casting of You Chen'an
I think he was effective enough, but I'm sure there could've been a better choice, and maybe this better choice would've made all the difference.
4) The haters
LOL jk. I mean, I don't know why this sequel has invited quite a number of trolls or ragebaiters. If S2 had been as flawless as S1, which I admit it's not, they'd have no ammo against this show honestly.
The actual 4) I AM TRYING TO THINK OF A NUMBER 4 TO BE FAIR BUT I CAN'T THINK OF ANY RIGHT NOW. I'll leave this blank and see if I can find something else I disliked about the show after a proper rewatch.
But as you can tell, I think S2 delivered. As I've said at the start, the crew (director/scriptwriters/etc) knew what story they were going with, and that's evident with the 28 episode count. They knew that they wanted to portray certain characters this way and what principles they wanted to explore at the risk of sounding preachy.
It has been a fun ride and I have absolutely no reservations recommending this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is a shounen anime packaged in a cdrama.
Overall Impression: I thoroughly enjoyed this drama and the creative effort, even when and even though it ran out of steam by the end.IMPRESSIONS ON THE STORY:
A. Plot - This drama had a clear goal (treasure-hunting) that was easy to follow and a pretty linear timeline. If you don't really enjoy slice of life stories but ones where there are mysteries to solve or a quest of some sort, this is for you. The problem is that the scriptwriter probably ran out of decent ideas at the end to execute the plot points they had in mind. Like, you can tell they wanted to present this type of conflict, or this type of story arc, but they couldn't come up with a believable way to execute said conflict, so they end up repeating certain elements they've done before, OR they make the circumstances for a villain so favourable even though it doesn't make sense for them to have that favour (#iykyk). But this is still a fun, adventure-type of show.
B. Characters and Relationships - I loved our main trio who are all good guys. I watched this because of Su Xiaotong who played the FL, Wen Jue, so naturally, she was my "bias" (in kpop terms lol). Her character kind of reminded me of Hermione from Harry Potter, where, although she wasn't the smartest of the trio like Hermione was, she could set the two boys straight and deal with them without missing a beat. Our ML, Fu Sheng, was very fun to watch because of his oddities--he feels very much like a shounen anime MC (main character) who is dead set on his goal and is very skilled at what he does and tries to become more skilled with each challenge. That being said, his character development was almost non-existent. Our 2ML, Gu Tian, was someone I did not like at the start (lol)--I'm just not into this playboy type of characters plz. But he completely won me over with his comedic timing and gentleness despite being strong, as each episode passed. He might even have the most character development out of the three. All in all, our main trio had an excellent balance and they as a unit carried the show. I loved the scenes where they weren't even solving crimes and instead doing normal shenanigans.
As for the supporting characters and villains, most were effective and memorable for what they were. I loved the Wen family so much and wish we had more scenes of them and their fun dynamic. Sun Siming is definitely the talk of the town (whether in a good way or a bad way, that's up to you). Hearsay-Capturing Pavilion affiliates have my approval as a good support system for our trio. The Ma Gang and Chamber of Commerce members were cookie cutter "strong" men or despicable leaders, except for Tuoba Ruo who was graceful and selective with her words. Breakwall characters except Su Rong, who did feel evil enough, were meh af. The female subordinates of Breakwall in particular were so out-of-place-pretty and contributed nothing.
WHEN IT COMES TO ROMANCE - I don't want to rant about this so I'll keep it as brief as possible and will give slight SPOILERS because people just keep asking if this has romance. I shipped ML and FL in this story a lot, and replayed their "cute" scenes (which are in eps 7 and 14, IIRC, for those curious), but FL's crush is unrequited and no romance develops between them. You can't blame her for being attracted to the ML 'cause he's good-looking and smart and he could heal her dad, but romance is not on his mind at all (surprise, surprise, another typical shounen anime MC trait). So, while I would have loved it if there was romantic development because they match each other's vibe well, I don't want shoehorned, underdeveloped, unbelievable romance. And we didn't get said shoehorned, underdeveloped, unbelievable romance. If we get a season 2, which is kinda impossible, then maybe romance could be developed, but as for now I will just have to live with my headcanons as to how they could end up together.
Gu Tian and Yingying (supporting character) also have their own romance (and a kiss scene), which is less frustrating, but also not that rewarding since it's pretty much expected. They are cute together, though, which is what primarily matters when you want to ship their characters (and apparently their actors have a previous work together).
C. Screenwriting, Dialogue, and Worldbuilding - I think the script's strength is in the comedy, more than the mystery-solving, since, as I said in the plot discussion above, there were plot points that felt poorly developed OR forced and unbelievable. If you ask me if there are any memorable exchanges between characters or lines mentioned, I'd say the exchange between Lord Wen and Wen Jue talking about balancing power, using koi fish as an illustration, was creative. I also loved Wen Jue's monologue before Fu Sheng, showing how she understood her father's motives all along and begging Fu Sheng to heal her dad. Worldbuilding-wise, Xichuan's setup is pretty good. The concept of Star Gold and there being a mine for it made Xichuan as a city in cdramaland very memorable, kinda like how the Dune series' Arrakis has spice.
Most importantly, Fu Sheng's "thinking" scenes add a uniqueness to this show and is arguably one of the biggest strengths of this series. I will miss Duck and Wooden Man.
IMPRESSIONS ON THE PRODUCTION:
A. Directing/Cinematography/Set Design/Editing - I am no expert on directing, cinematography, and editing so I'm just speaking as a clueless audience member. I liked majority of the way the scenes were shot. Maybe some scenes looked a little awkward because it felt like I was watching a theatre play at times, with a wide shot featuring a bunch of characters all onscreen, not referring to the army fight scenes or the theatrical dances done, but like, the confrontational scenes where every character was seen on screen when I felt that it wasn't necessary to see all of them at once.
I think there was a nice use of "height" here because a lot of the scenes that were memorable for me involved characters looking from above in a watchtower, or sitting in an open room jutting out of a roof. There was also a nice use of "depth" here because mines and caves are part of the story, and the scenes shot for those parts of the story did feel cave-like enough.
B. Music - When it comes to music, I always feel like as long as there's one track from the OST I'd want to save to my music library, that's already a win. The opening song by Chen Lingtao is a certified banger. The ending song by Zhao Lei works, though I do skip it. There's only one other insert song with lyrics by Minnie Yang which is pretty good, too, and it was played in a part with a good emotional impact. As for the rest of the OST with no lyrics, there are 10 tracks available on Apple Music. Pretty conventional OST, good but not exceptional. The sweet piano melody with a bit of strings they played during romantic scenes was the most memorable, but it wasn't part of the official OST uploaded on Apple Music for some reason so I'm guessing it wasn't an original composition for the drama? I tried Shazam-ing it and it led me to "Oktoba" by Ziino, a house song which is definitely not it LOL.
C. Costume, Hair & Makeup - Thank God there was no annoying douyin makeup here because it would've been so out of place. The costumes and styling felt appropriate for our characters. Maaaaybe some beards looked too fake (looking at you, Jibei King! lol). Yeah, let's end this long-arse review with the fake beard XD
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