Plot Twist here Plot Twist there
I don't understand why this drama don't get talk about. This is hidden gem! Usually, I really skeptical about detective drama since the plot is quite obvi. But this one is soooo clever and smooooth. It was like watching Sherlock Holmes, he always get a step ahead of the villian.Every case is unique and what I like is, the villain is not obvi. And the deductions are pretty sharp and on point.
Every characters are on point, they get their own 'life', not just some figure to add on.
I don't really get the "romance", why is he falling with her? Why she falling for him?
I really hope this drama get season 2 !
Do I recommended this series? YES ! A HUNDRED YES!
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I gave the lowest score for music, which is really great, but a few songs are, um, say, from a different fairy tale.
I forgot to add that the battle scenes were great! Excellent wuxia!
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This review may contain spoilers
This show is the perfect blend of all the genres I love: mystery, thriller, romance, historical, martial arts. There is a clear quality to this drama that sets itself apart from conventional martial arts shows we see nowadays. It reminded me of classic films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The fight sequences are well choreographed, and are actually there to serve the story, as well as pump excitement into the show.The story revolves around murder mysteries in the vein of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Tim Yu plays the titular detective, Jian Bu Zhi. Highly intelligent and observant, he commends respect with his calm, rational assessment of the puzzling, and sometimes supernatural, events in the drama. But unlike other famous detective characters like Sherlock Holmes, he is friendly, warm, and humble. And for that reason, he has not only the admiration and respect from those around him for his detective skills, but love and support, because they actually like him as a person. And because he isn't a martial artist in a world filled with skillful fighters, there are a number of characters that are fiercely protective of him. One in particular is his best friend, Zhao Wo Huan (Wang Yan Yang). The story begins with the two of them as strangers, crossing paths unexpectedly and becoming fast friends. I was not familiar with either of them as actors before this, but found they have excellent screen presence and carry the show with ease. Personality wise, they are complete opposites, but somehow, they complement each other. Their bromance is strong here and the two friends have a natural ease to their relationship that is fun to watch.
Along the way, the duo meet a myriad of characters. I particularly love the introduction to each new character. Though short and often plays in flashbacks, the show effectively lays the ground work for the role each would play in the current environment. I especially love the look back on Zhan Shi Qi (Rachel Wang), shown with a beautifully shot fight sequence, and a moving soundtrack and narrative that perfectly captures the essence of her character and the hopes and dreams she has. The scene evokes vulnerability and humanness to her assassin character that had me invested in her romance with Jian Bu Zhi right away. I don't agree with other viewers that their romance is unnecessary. Though not central to the story, it stands on its own and it was riveting. What I couldn't get behind is the romance for the second leads, between Zhao Wo Huan and Ming Yue (Miranda Ma). It's unfortunate because this is a story that had so much potential for a cute romance. But I just couldn't get pass the fact that for the majority of the drama, he is being lied to. Ming Yue is a spy; to infiltrate into the group without suspicion, she pretends to be a damsel in distress in need of a rescue and her easy target is Zhao Wo Huan. Though it is hinted early on that she may have sincere feelings for him, there isn't much development to their relationship except for the fact that she continues to pretend to be weak to take advantage of him. It isn't until the very end that he finds out. But fine, whatever, I've made peace with my disappointment in that regard.
I'll admit the culprits to some of the cases are easy to predict. What is done well, however, is in the presentation of the how and why. I loved watching Jian Bu Zhi get to that light bulb moment and then explains how everything works. Don't worry about what is often the case with long, drawn out Chinese historical dramas, where you may find yourself skipping to "get to the good parts," because I don't recall skipping a single scene here. The mysterious happenings are interesting throughout, and the reveals are clever and satisfying. Maybe that's also because it is 24 episodes in length, which is a lot shorter than others in the same genre. It is the perfect amount of episodes to flesh out the characters and stories, and still keep an exciting pace as we move along from one story arc to the next. The show's use of background music is also something that stands out. As I heard the music prepping for the next scene of action to start, it had me brimming with excitement for what was to come.
There is an amazing twist at the end that I felt blindsided by. This is one of those few dramas where I believe a second season will work. That's not to say the ending isn't satisfying for the hours I put in. We get sufficient closure, but simultaneously, there is opportunity for the next chapter to be written, which is something I am certainly looking forward to.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is my first review after watching many dramas and the reason is because this is one of the best shows I've ever watched. So when I first started watching I didn't think too much and just wanted a costume drama to watch since I saw way too many contemporary dramas in the past few weeks. I thought that this would be a low budget drama with a inexperienced cast, but I was wrong. After I watched the first episode, I was already hooked, and I couldn't wait for new episodes every week. This is really worth watching so everyone should go check it out, and I hope there is a season 2.Story: the story is really interesting and the main female lead is really nice to watch. It shows how nice it is to be with the person you love and to live a regular life. All the side characters are also well written and the acting of them were also good.
Acting: The acting had zero problems and the thing with the acting is that all the cast had good acting from all actors, even the side characters. It looked like these actors were inexperienced but they honestly were really good, and also all the actors used there own voice so it didn't sound awkward.
Music: the ost was good and the main theme is good as well, nothing wrong here
Rewatch: I usually don't rewatch shows ever but I might come back when I'm bored, but other people definitely would rewatch this show
basically if you watch this you will not be disappointed at all, this is definitely a really good drama that I highly recommend.
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Lots of bromance and romance, but I like that there’s no dumb silly female lead like so many other series. The chemistry between the characters and actors are great.
I recommend this series if you’re into bromance and fast pace series. It’s a murder mystery drama. Thumbs up!
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A surprising hidden gem
This was surprisingly a hidden gem of a show I decided to watch it out of boredom and somehow got hooked in. The cast are alot of new faces so i was kinda skeptical but It has a little bit of everything packed in a nice 24ep show so an easy binge watch . The characters on the main cast are likeable and its fun to see them develop and learn more about each of them. I was not expecting the romance but actually glad they added that in along with some of the more light hearted stuff. I'm not someone who generally enjoys detective dramas but i felt like this was well done. My only beef with this show was who ever audio mixed it has the sound and special effect noises way to loud so its hard to hear the dialogue at times but honestly it didn't bother me enough to not have me watchWas this review helpful to you?
Side stories/characters, Depth of MCs + MLs + their relationships/friendships, also hilarity
I got the recommendation to watch this from the AvenueX YouTube channel.Amazing plot line, great acting, great structure, great characters, serious but also witty and funny. I really loved the multidimensional characters, and I loved that there was an overarching plot line, but there are also many many plot lines and many side characters with developed storylines.
Doesn't feel like a show that you're going to binge as you watch the episode, but at every end-of-episode cliffhanger I wanted to click to watch the next one.
I liked that they didn't use skin smoothing.
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This review may contain spoilers
Underrated Bromance drama full of witty cases and twists
At first episodes I was a bit bored and felt they dragged solving the first two cases then after episode 7the bromance started strong between the two male lead ,, their brotherhood was amazing
I loved the second male lead more than the first
he's so naive and simple yet he has a big heart ,, very loyal and caring to his friend never put himself first
always running to protect his friend no matter what
their friendship started fast and out of no where but when it started it became a strong force that saved lives and solved cases while staying safe and protected from the people that tried so hard to kill the detective
I loved the Whump of the first male lead ,, falling sick most of the time , being week most of the time despite his intelligence he felt short in martial arts and his friend completed him in that matter ,, never failed to protect him
The story didn't need the female assassin who loved the detective ,, the story would have been perfect without her ,, yes she saved him sometimes ,,helped him sometimes but that's it ,,, her character didn't add much ,his friend did what she did most of the time .. she was there so the bromance can't be turned into BL love that's it
The drama had lots of funny scenes made me laugh so hard especially from the second male lead ,, he was so funny and had lots of funny reactions with his broad body and handsome face ,, yes I loved him
I felt sad for the first male lead at the final episodes ,, he was falling sick a lot and all around him wanted to save him
all that threw me off the enormous twist at the final scenes of the final episode
What ?? How ?? all that and he was what ??
really really exciting twist that changes everything
I recommend this drama so much ,, it's so good and thrilling in every way
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incredible detective story
I absolutely love detective stories and shows, I've watched so many in my life and when I saw this drama I couldn't help, but want to watch it. The casting was so good and I saw a familiar face here as well (Wang Yan Yang).What I love about this show is that it's unlike other crime shows where they spend one episode just solving one crime and the episodes have no connection. The characters are also good and their storylines are interesting. Although I tend to dislike female characters in Chinese dramas, I quite liked the female characters in this and they weren't annoying or crying every five seconds.
This drama is among the series I have rated a 9, which isn't many and it deserves it. It's full of plot twists and mystery, I love it. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery and a detective story.
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Well-paced, but just okay
Objectively I think this was a well-written drama. The mystery subplots were interwoven well with the main story, and I liked how they gradually added more characters to their party.However, I did find it difficult to connect with the main characters and was very confused about the story until many episodes in; I do want to say that a caveat is that I haven't really watched historical/costume/wuxia/xianxia dramas so the language was something I wasn't that used to.
In terms of romance, the main one was decent, particularly because I enjoyed the FL's strong, no-nonsense personality. The secondary romance was less enjoyable though — the SFL's motivations and emotions were kind of unclear throughout, and overall the dynamic just felt uneven. I didn't really want them together and didn't really understand when development took place.
It's really the bromance that stands out in this show. The relationship between Jian Buzhi and Zhao Wohuan has its ups and downs but it's clear how much they grow to care for each other and it's really great to see that the unconditional trust they have in each other.
Another thing was I wish there were higher stakes. Sometimes it felt like the deaths didn't hit hard enough, or there wasn't a feeling of real danger for the leads.
Nevertheless, ultimately, I do think this was a decent drama — but someone who enjoys wuxia might enjoy this better than me.
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