Tientsin Mystic (2017)

I have to admit I was very skeptical about watching this at first. I downloaded 10 episodes of it thinking its short and had even Mystic Nine on my list. Hearing that they both were from the same author I wasn't sure which one to watch first but my partiality towards Yixing(Lay) took over and I ended watching Mystic Nine first. Also it had the plus point of having William Chan and Zhao Zhanilla later whom I simply adore (after watching Boss and Me and Rise of a Tomboy). But unfortunately I was left completely disappointed in it and I think my love for Lay also reduced. I couldn't even finish the whole thing and ended after 17 episodes. After that catastrophe I was even more skeptical about this but one day when I had simply nothing else to watch I just gave this a chance and boy don't I regret not watching it before.

Let me tell you straight up other than having the same genre as Mystic Nine(and same Lt.Zhao) there is nothing similar of TM to Mystic Nine at all. This is a masterpiece compared to Mystic Nine and I can't believe that people don't talk about this more. I have seen that those who have watched both Mystic Nine and this always prefer this over it but it's only that minority.

The main reason for this to actually be better is the full fast paced story line with completely lovable characters. Starting from our MC Guo De You, he was simply amazing. He had everything I loved in my MCs. He was fine mix of intelligent and mischievous and was hilarious to boot. This was my first time watching Li Xian and now I'm an official fan of him. Having watched Medical Examiner Dr.Qin and Only Side by Side with you just for him I can't wait to see him in Go Go Squid too(which is I'm impatiently waiting for cuz it's based on one of my favorite books). Next we have Mao Ding. He was the perfect Dr.Watson to our Sherlock. Being a rich son didn't make the least annoying, he had his own agenda but that didn't mean he totally rebelled either. He cared enough for his company when needed. Next up is my favorite in the whole story, Gu Ying. I swear I didn't love female MC as much as I loved since Zheng Shuang in Love o2o. Despite the little knick of hers to totally follow Guo De You, this girl was the best. Not that I'm comlpaining about that either. She was the perfect badass leading lady we needed. She had so much spunk that I felt even if they put Guo De You and Mao Ding together they can't fight as well as her. She was hilarious to boot too. I saw few people complaining about her clothes but man I loved every single one of her outfits. That girl rocked them. I mean not everyone can have a freaking bird nest on top of their heads and make it look bad ass. Our second leading lady Xiao Lan Lan was the perfect rich girl and once again like Mao Ding she didn't act the spoilt rich girl. She had her own strengths and pulled similar weight of the group. Not only these character shone on their own but when you put them together in one screen, the chemistry was off charts. Each character fit with the other perfectly, The bromance, the romance (or lack of it) was perfect. Each adn every character added something to the story to make it amazingly balanced, from the ineffective police head to Master Guo to the Head Shaman to even Chairman Ding.

Talking about the story, like I told before it was fast paced and didn't leave the audience hanging even for a second. For me every single scene was engaging and believe me after having more than a decade of experience of watching all Asian dramas this is a first where I didn't skip even a second of a drama. The mystery kept me guessing even till the last moment and you won't believe what kind of secrets come up in the episodes at all.
The cinematography was also perfect for the tone of the series with a dark, aura being around through out the drama with perfectly balanced colors here and there. The republican China was adapted better here for me than that of Mystic Nine and we don't see the normally seen parties and high end houses but we get to see the more street life giving this a nice touch. The clothes were on point and I loved how different the four were in their own statuses.
And can I tell that I love the ending song. Jam Hsiao did an amazing job with that and it perfectly blended with the whole series.

This is also the first time I have written such a big review to a drama and first time I've given a complete 10 for everything. Another first fir me was rewatching the whole thing as soon as I finished it. I opened up a netflix account just to watch the rest of the drama. Take my word for this and do not miss this drama. Have no doubts when watching this drama. You will not regret it even for a second. Now patiently waiting for second season as I've heard rumors that it's been green lit. Hopefully the full cast returns for at least 4 episodes to give us closure for that open ending.

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I had high hopes for this drama, it's rated 8.2 on douban, and c!netizens are incredibly harsh on cdramas, some of  the beloved popular dramas on here range from 5 ~ 6. I should probably note I'm even harsher than douban though. I haven't read the novel which was by the same guy who wrote the well known Candle in the Tomb series. It was half talking about Tianjin and half (rather simple) plot, and the drama added the much needed two female main characters to add more interesting dynamics, so I won't touch how it adapted.

Anyways, this is fairly unique drama, it's I think best described as a mystery thriller with a dab of folklore and mysticism which I was 120% in for but also mix in some cult and other odd supernatural elements that left me mildly confused. There is bit of romance but it's probably 1/10 of the drama if even that. (mostly blatant crush, little bit of flirting and a few scenes here and there) so don't come in looking for them. The duality of mysticism/traditionalism vs science/modern sensibilities embodied by our two sets of main character adds interesting layers to the plot.

 I can't tell you how happy I am by the Shuo Shu (storytelling?) style of recapping at beginning of every episode,  all the tidbits about local customs of Tianjin, particular accent of a supporting character; they all subtly bring the setting alive. I think the plot started out pretty engaging, as they seem to stumble into more and more mysteries that's interconnected. The relationship between the two main characters were pretty fun, since they played off each other well and the banter was delightful. I'm rather unhappy with the antagonist side though, from disappointing resolution of minor antagonists, to what I think rather ineffectual evil plot, not to mention supernatural bits that I think could be better utilised in other stories, but I digress.

I was pretty surprised by the use of fresh faced young actors in this drama but I'm happy they did so. Li Xian did an excellent job as Guo De You, his character has the most nuances,  and can spout out unpopular opinions but the acting makes it perfectly believable that it's something he would do, Zhang Ming En started off over acting quite a bit but I think settled in his role as Ding Mao fairly nicely after few episodes.  Wang Zi Xuan had the hard job of playing the somewhat annoying, overeager Gu Ying, but I personally wasn't bothered by her and she's the brawl of the group! Charlene Chen's Xiao Lan Lan was probably my favourite character, but she was bound to be by the virtue of being a daughter of a well off and powerful family who's determined to have her own career in those times.  Honestly, the two female characters could use more character development and more layers, but they aren't boring one note characters so I'll take what I can get.

I rather like the aesthetics of the drama, even though the somewhat muted filter threw me off so much when I first started watching it. Some of the hairstyle are a little wait what? Like Ding Mao's Doumyouji hair, but I got used to that; Guo De You's....I don't even know what that is, I adapted to surprisingly easily due to what I can only presume to be Li Xian's sheer charms; Gu Ying's damn frizzy pigtails with bird's nest on top is a sight to behold though'. She also have this unfortunate plait wrapped around into a bun on top of her head with dangling flowers or some bits on the side at some point that convinced me the stylist really hates her. The patchwork whatever clothes they wear are confusing but seems to make sense in this bizzaro world.

Wait, I was talking about liking the aesthetics...! Right, there are some bits of animation in the drama that's drawn in a fairly realistic style that I really liked. The OP was....literally  the characters yelling out their own characteristics while random images are cobbled together into a creepy unsettling montage that set the tone of the series really well but freaked me out quite a bit for the initial few episodes. Love the ED a lot which was by Jam Hsiao as well as the deleted scenes? that plays before the ED at the end of every episodes since they fill in some gaps and you can hear the drama without the dub! (This being a web drama, I think the actors all dubbed themselves but don't quote me on that.)

All in all, I think it's a drama worth watching despite all of its faults, which I have detailed far more than its good points, but please believe me when I say I did enjoy this drama a lot and love some of it to bits. Season 2 has been confirmed so I'll definitely be on a look out next year!

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