Story
As a DMBJ fan its not the best-woven tale, but it does a good job of setting up the lore for the consequential DMBJ shows. Now, I went into this show knowing none of the actors and frankly confused most of the time. The DMBJ universe is known for poorly written females and this show went along with this trope. I also believe that if you are to watch a DMBJ show you must understand that the plot will not normally make sense. I have come to terms with tht, and have not thought much about the plot holes. It will hurt your head more.

I really enjoyed the character of XinYue in the hotel arc but really was upset with her after she joined them back in Changsha. She was shown to be witty, not caring about how people viewed her, wore men's clothes, gambled. But once she saw Zhang Qishan she changed into wearing very frilly dresses, and her hair is always done. She changed who she was for a man she barely knew. And a man who rejected her over and over again. He essentially was bullied into allowing her to stay in his house, and she disobeyed him over and over. I felt no chemistry between the two, even though they have acted with one another before. It was disappointing to say the least that she become a tool for him to be “humanized” when he didn't need that. He already was a human without her. I dont think she aided much in the story, nor did their romance. I did not see much development in their romance and he was always eager to push her away. UNTIL the arc where he kind of loses it and he only is kind to her, but assaults his literal best friend. I will not go into that, but I do not think their relationship was healthy to begin with. As the "main romance' in the show I was annoyed that they tried to push it on us, while Zhang Qishan literally didn't need a wife.

Yatou and Er Ye were such a tragic couple. While Yatou was a weak woman who did need her man to protect her, I did like her. I was upset at her death and I just wanted all women to leave him alone. I think it was rude of XY to push her cousin onto him when he was very much still in mourning. Er Ye was also terribly written. I know he could have been a stronger and snarkier character, but they dulled him down after the death of Yatou. I did really like his fighting scenes though because he had a very fluid way of fighting. He got better as the show went on, but most of the time I wanted to yell at him. The writers making him see images of Yatou wherever he went was...a choice. But I wish we had more time to understand the couple and why they loved one another so strongly.

The story in a way was straight forward. The Japanese and Americans are working together to do experiments, and bring down Mystic Nine and Changsha. There are delusional big bads who can't think for themselves. And the merry band of brothers will die for one another and for the safety of Changsha. I think the story leaned TOO MUCH on showing us what the villains were doing. I could care less about their whereabouts. Chen Pi was a character that made me audibly groan every time he appeared on the screen because of my disdain for him. Cox Hendry was someone that I have never liked anyway, but his snark made me laugh at times. Miss Huo was an interesting character.

For me the best part of the plot was actually Zhang Qishan and his right hand men. There is no secret the bond that ZQS shares a bond with Er Ye, Qi Tiezui and Zhang Rishan. They were the trope, “through love and trust, we will defeat the villain”. Since episode two we know the relationship between ZQS and QTZ runs deep. And while we never get the full explanation of their friendship there is enough scenes and actions to know that these two would die for one another without a second thought. QTZ is the force behind ZQS, and Cox Hendry even suspected that QTZ was the reason why the Buddha statue was moved. Engraving Fo Ye into the history of Changsha forever. I yearned for more backstory behind Er Ye and Fo Ye and was upset we did not have more. They fight well together and seem to always be in a tumultuous relationship, always at one another throats. But that is it. They seemed to always be tense around one another, but in the end they worked with one another and had the same goal. Zhang Rishan was essentially Zhang Qishan’s witty lap dog, but he grew in the story. He was someone else who would do anything for Fo ye, and in the end he would do anything for Ba Ye.

While Ba Ye is listed as comic relief for many people, I think people tend to ignore that without him, Fo ye would be dead multiple times over. He is very cunning and extremely manipulating. Where the goofiness in him seems more like a facade at times so people's guard will be down. He is very serious at times and is known for basically convincing people to do things with very little work. He is also extremely smart and knows a lot a knowledge, aka they need in order to survive most of the time.

Acting/Cast
Honestly, a good cast. For me, the stand out was Ying Haoming (Hanson Ying) as Qi Tiezui. He was honestly the one who held the tone of the show and was the most human. I believe that without out then Zhang Qishan would not have landed as well. ZQS is an arrogant man who acts with a large ego that not many people actually seem to enjoy his company. While QTZ is someone who doesn't seem to enjoy being around people and prefers the company of a few. And yet they work with one another, and bounce off each other well. I think this was because of the friendship between William and Ying Haoming and they were able to work well in these roles. (they have been friends since 2013, and behind-the-scenes shows they were close even sharing friends). The touches, glances, and looks they shard with one another helped solidify the "they were each others, first friend".

With this show, Zhang Mingen (zhang rishan), LAY (Er Yuehong) both debuted. While William Chan earned a wax statue for this role as Zhang Qishan. And Ying Haoming (Qi Tiezui) was given an award for this role, and this was considered his stand-out role. I do not think I would enjoyed this show as much if it wasn't for the four of these actors and what they brought to the characters. I always laugh that Ying Haoming is literally became Qi Tiezui. He was able to become small and cowardly when he needed. But then also stood tall and acted as Zhang Qishan’s guard dog. I can talk for hours about his success in the role.

I had no qualms with anyone acting per se. I just think better writing with the females would have made the acting stronger. But they frankly didn't have much to work with compared to the other people. I know Zhao Liying and Crystal Yuan are better actors and I have seen them in roles that I enjoy. I just blame the poor writing for the most part.

I think all the actors pulled their weight and are the reason for the success of that show.

Music
I love this OST. It was funky at the right times, and it fit the show. I do love the theme song that Wiliam Chan.

Rewatch Value
I have rewatched it multiple times, so I guess it is good. I do not think the entire show is rewatchable. I skip a lot of scenes and focus more on the tombs and high-action moments. Sorry, XinYue but I skip all of her scenes.

Overall
It is not the best show and not my favorite show. But it is one of the shows that keeps me thinking. Not because of the lore but because of the characterizations. The show introduced us to so many people that of course, it is easy to get lost into who these people are and their backstories. But because of this, we get lost in this and do not get to actually see more of the main characters growing. Even though the people who were main characters, Xinyue and Yatou, were not present a lot. I think if the story focused on the actual main characters it would have been more streamlined and easier to get behind at times. But i should not go almost an entire episode of just the Japanese and their backers before I even get a smidge of Fo Ye.