The Imperial Coroner (2021)

The Imperial Coroner - the dark horse that captivated me

In a Nutshell:
The drama is set in the Tang Dynasty, where our main female character Chu Chu travels to Chang’An to take the Coroner entrance exam in order to work for the Capital’s legal department. The man in-charge of the Judicial Office is Prince Xiao Jin Yu (official title: Commandery Prince An), who takes an interest in Chu Chu’s natural talent for fact-finding and unique methods of performing autopsies. He hires her as his Coroner to solve a string of murders involving several high ranking officials. In the process of unravelling those mysteries, they uncover historical State secrets that cause them to question their own positions in the Empire.

The Highlights:
The Imperial Coroner is one of those rare gems with a meticulous screenplay that ensures a coherent plot. The result is a drama that doesn’t contain random filler episodes that add no value to the overall story. Character motivations remain consistent from start to finish and there is a good balance of comedy, action, suspense, slow burn romance and drama.

Despite this drama being promoted as a whodunit murder mystery, the heart of what drives its narrative is the timeless theme of identity and family relationships. The story connects with our innate desire as human beings to know where we come from, who we consider as family, and what our purpose in life is.

The drama is also a good example of an ensemble cast that work well together, with everyone playing their role to perfection. You can almost believe that these characters would exist in real life. Su Xiao Tong perfectly encapsulates the bright eyed and bushy-tailed curiosity of Chu Chu, yet at the same time is able to convey her natural knack for critical thinking and problem solving. Wang Zi Qi gives us a refreshing take on a male lead that doesn’t fall into the boring C-drama trope of an ice cold brooding dude who never smiles but is secretly in-love with the female lead. On the contrary, his character Xiao Jin Yu is not just highly intelligent and respectful of others, but is witty and actually has a good sense of humour.

The lowlights:
If there was one thing that bugged me throughout the whole drama, it was the caricature portrayal of the Eunach and his goons. Perhaps it was intended to be more of a comedic representation, but whatever it was, the performance of the role just didn’t gel with me. The OST/music was also pretty mediocre and largely forgettable.

The verdict:
The Imperial coroner was certainly the dark horse of 2021. With very basic promotional marketing and no big names attached to the production, the show definitely deserved its unexpected popularity and success.

FAQs
1. How many episodes? 36. Each 45 mins long
2. Where can I watch? All episodes with English subtitles on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8SnPKMwiCo&list=PLs3DOuT3JlGT3nMBwEzQzjUwOyuTgu3eU

Lire davantage

Delightful and Captivating

Once in a while, a fresh and unknown cast captures one's attention because of an excellent plot and superb acting.

Found the storyline refreshing (a young, female coroner) and ended up binge watching and finished the 36 episodes over 2 days.

Plot intriguing and appropriately paced. Like the illustrations as FL (played by Su Xiao Tong) looked into the cause of death in each case.

Love the character of Prince An (played by Wang Zi Qi) - impressed by the character's logic and ability in solving the cases.

Fabulous chemistry between ML and FL. - no overdose of kissing scenes.

Good performance by supporting cast, especially the outstanding acting by Mu Huai Hu as the villian Grand Eunuch.

Gladly recommend to watch this drama

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Worth the time to watch!

I really love series with substance, like not just about love story or plainly because the ML is handsome or cool. Also, aside from rom-com, I really love and enjoy watching suspense-thriller, mystery and action. This drama is more on the mystery and coolness side, what's with Chu Chu as your unconventional female Coroner. I really love her character as well as Prince An and the support characters, they really did a very good job with acting. Even the chief Eunuch is good with his role that you wanted to slay him personally. Anyway, the phasing of the story is fast phase, so you'll not notice, you're almost finished.

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Expected more.....

This series was ok - expected more with the high douban rating as well as mdl rating of 8.5.

The story didn't draw me in that much and I was not anxiously waiting to see the next episode. Also no slow burn romance as there was no chemistry between the couples.

The head eunoch serving the emperor was really annoying and didn't come across as a villain - maybe he wasn't supposed to be seen as a villain? Historically eunochs did usurp power and believed themselves to have as much power as the emperor but this character did not portray that - more of a delusional crazy person if anything.

Everything else was just so so. Finished the series just for the sake of seeing how everything would unfold. The Coroner findings and how it was reached was interesting though.

Rewatch value 0

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Drama dengan Alur Cerita Terbaik

Imperial Coroner tidak seperti serial drama lainnya yang melulu tentang percintaan. Saya langsung suka dengan jalan ceritanya sejak episode 1. Serial ini sarat dengan pengetahuan. Mengenai forensik, konspirasi, strategi politik, relasi keluarga. Kisah percintaan di serial ini disajikan melalui porsi yang proporsional. Salut dengan pembuat yang membuat jalan ceritanya sukar ditebak hingga berhasil membuat penonton penasaran hingga episode terakhir.
Meskipun tidak menyuguhkan adegan kungfu yang berlebihan, cerita tetap menarik dengan memberikan keunggulan analisa dari para tokoh utama.
Luar Biasa.

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A hidden must watch GEM!

I'm trying to keep it short

The thing I really love :

1) Of course the healthy and matured relationship of Xiao Jinyu and Chu Chu <3
2) The brotherhood and sisterhood relationship were so strong and I love it sm, wishing for more!
3) How they make full use of all characters as they complete each other. Jinyu with his high IQ, Chu chu with her exceptional coroner skills, Jing Yi with his exceptional abilities to read facial expressions and light kungfu, Leng Yue with her martial arts and medical knowledge and our General Xiao Jinli as everyone bodyguard.
4) The plot was fast paced, every mysteries connect the dots and lastly the villians got turn over.
5) A non skip drama because every scene was important!
6) They don't just put the soldiers/armies as a standing still or dumb characters. This is really rare!!
7) I end up hating no one lmao that's really rare because the villians plot twist was kinda funny

Something you might want to know :

1) The romance is not the main focus
2) The ending was abrupt (SXT said they act cut A LOT of AFTER WEDDING SCENE because of 36 eps limits) ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
3) You'll know who's the villians pretty fast
4) yess there's some misunderstanding but solve by our lead face-to-face with matured talk!
5) A lot of palace ranks involved, might stress out by the characters name

THERE'S HOPE FOR SEASON TWO HEHE.

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An Excellent Gem

There are so many good things to say about this drama! It may not have the highest budget but it has a lot of brains and heart which more than make up for it.

Plot: it's been a while (or ever) since I've seen a drama with such good pacing. The plot never slows down and keeps going right until the end. No time is wasted on silly, unnecessary drama. I blink and the episode is over. One mystery leads right into another. All the clues fit together and even link back up to previous ones and more importantly, it all make logical sense (aside from a coupleee of nit picky things). While the answer often require some deep deduction, the rationale is sound.

Characters: I really appreciate the fact that everyone in our main crew of 4 (technically 6?) has their strengths and weaknesses and they all have to work together, each with their own chance to shine. I also appreciate that despite the fast pace, each character gets to have his or her own personality and they more or less act like normal people. I like how while the main male lead is smart and clearly the brains of the group, he does not overshadow everyone.

And finally, a drama writer that knows the difference between being naïve and stupid. I feel like a lot of drama writers tend to struggle with this distinction, which is why many of these naive/sweet/innocent female leads in drama tend to come across as dumb. No such problem here! Our main female lead, despite being a little unworldly and cute as a button, is an expert in her field and stays that way until the very end of the show. What she knows and does not know aligns very well with her character setting.

The romance and chemistry between our main leads was so sweet. I loved the trust and open communication. Their chemistry was so sweet and the group chemistry as a whole was amazing. I also really appreciated the camaraderie between the two female leads. While deep friendships between females do exist, oftentimes "the best friend" is a side character whose purpose if to be the FL's best friend. Or, especially in historical dramas, she is a servant or someone under the female lead's care. It was nice to see a friendship between two females on equal grounds where both have their own development.

Acting: The actors are all pretty new but they did a very good job and displayed the emotions they needed to display. I will admit the the FL tended to carry a deer-in-headlights look a few times more than needed, but unsure if this was her or what she was instructed to do.

Music: added to the watching experience nicely. I really liked the how they recapped the previous episode and kept changing the intros. Not a big fan of the second intro though.

Rewatch: While this is rewatchable, because it is a mystery drama, it just will not carry the same punch.

Overall: tldr, this drama shines with a well-paced mystery story where the clues fit together and sequence of events (for the most part) make sense, great characters with quality teamwork, multiple intelligent female (and male) leads and cute romances.

Lire davantage

Best crime drama

This was a good drama. It was fresh different and engaging. I loved the focus on crime solving, the cast were great and kept you engaged. the story did not deviate or have some long draggy scenes everything was tightly connected and had purpose. I loved the bad guys as much as the good guys. .Great friendships and bromance with no ridiculous triangles smart characters who were developed meticulously. It was beautifully done. This is one of those gems that made 36 episodes look easy to watch.

What didn’t like was the rushed ending i thought they could have tied up the other characters romance and stories a bit more. the lack of chemistry between the main leads although i liked them i didn’t buy the romance part of it , the fact there was no real kiss in 36 episodes i hardly think an almost kiss and mouth to mouth is a kiss. all in all it was a great watch, would I rewatch probably not.

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What an odd little goldfish in a bowl of tropey rom-coms

It is rare to watch a Chinese period drama that paid so much attention to details and the coherence of the script.

Unlike many dramas that have a weak plot or poor script and relied heavily on star power or tropey sugar romance to carry the show, this one really went out of its way to put the story front and centre. The fact that the production value was good and the acting in general was superior were just icing on the cake.

While having a detective or a doctor as the central character is not new but this drama took it to a different level. It started with a fairly forensic look at the job of a coroner in ancient China (probably fanciful to be honest) but it also added scientific law enforcement into the mix. The script writer then built up a very complex overarching plot that spanned a generation just so that the M/FL can work as a team and unravel the mystery together (and fire up the romance).

If this was the only positive aspect, the show is already doing well but on top of that, most of the support characters were also quite intelligent and at worse, competent in their roles. There were no tropey love triangles or crazy subplots just to stir things up. Everyone had a job to do and they did it to their utmost abilities. It was refreshing to have storylines that were just "normal" and people were treated as professionals regardless of their birth or gender. Bravo, writers and director!
The plot was a real cat and mouse game. The villains were setting clever traps and playing the long game while our young guns were using their brains and skills to work through the leads, solving cases and laying down their own counter traps.

This is great if you like a good detective story and the whole logical deduction process. If you came in thinking that this is another cute period rom-com then you might be disappointed. Not that there wasn't romance. The CP's were quite cute together and there were swoon worthy moments. There was a little bit of skinship but very tame. There were some action but a lot of talking and expositions on the complicated plot. Your mileage will differ.

Another aspect I appreciate was the production values. The sets were of good quality and formed a coherent backdrop. I really liked their lighting design. They used a lot of natural lights during the day and candles were used extensively at night . Most of the time, the artificial light mimicked the natural light sources. Flickered and glowed as appropriate. I find it disconcerting when some period sets were lit up brightly and uniformly or have spotlights from the ceiling.

The acting of the ML was great. He started like Mr Spock but as the show progressed, he became more human and showed all the emotions. He had some very emotional scenes later on in the show which he did very well. The 2ML was quite a fun and lively character by comparison, there was a nice bromance between them as well. On the other hand, the FL felt a little out of her depth. She started well enough in the coroner role but around the mid to late show she was over shadowed by the ML and the villains so her acting seemed muted and a little wooden. Other support casts all made good contributions. Good dynamics between them.

OST was nice and easy listening. Rewatch value is hard to gauge because it would be like rereading a detective novel. It is up to the individual.

P.S. I deliberately kept this review spoiler free as any spoiler will give the plot away and I don't want to tell you up front that the maid did it. (oh damn!)

Lire davantage

I loved it and rewatched it thrice!

I’ve always been more of a fan of Korean dramas, but decided to try this drama out after hearing good things about it. It’s definitely worth a watch and got me hooked on Chinese dramas.

The plot is amazing and compelling. Super well written with no plot holes. When rewatched the drama, I realized how beautifully the story has been written.

I love the drama characters, not just the main leads but the supporting characters as well, such as Jing Yi and Jin Li. They made the story so much richer. I really liked how there weren’t any toxic people in the drama (other than the bad guy). Everyone else was so loving, supportive and smart. Worth a watch!

Lire davantage

Best Costume Drama So Far in 2021

This show kept me going week after week. The story built up was just nice. Great ending, fun to watch. The Xiao Jinyu was good at acting out his stiff neck character but it just a little weird when he was trying to be cute and adorable with Chu Chu.

I do love how Leng Yue was with Jin Yi. Overall, loved the show. The romance was well incorporated. Given that it was about a coroner and serious investigations, it would have been too much if they did too much romance. So, I am glad it was not overdone.

The Eunuchs rebellious lot were a good plot. I did feel the Chief Eunuch should have gotten a more severe punishment. Felt it was not enough punch on this point. Especially since he did so many evil deeds.

The discovery of Jinyu's real profile was kept a secret from the King up to the end....which is really cool. Usually, secrets always get revealed. I'm surprised the romance between Leng Yue with Jinyi didn't get further. I was hoping the two would be together. Oh well...too bad! Maybe a spin-off drama of the two....who knows.

Will definitely watch this again. I already watched the initial episodes twice....will re-watch the whole series again soon.

Happy watching to those who haven't seen this series yet! :)

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