Excellent melodramatic romance

This show is really, really tropey--misunderstandings, forced weddings, and terrible families abound--and as a person who loves tropes, I had a great time. Tianying and Fusheng are excellent characters and very well acted, and the minor characters (Xingcheng, Hong Lan, Luo Cheng, Lin Qikai, Duan Tianci, etc) were interesting as well. The plot constantly moved forward; there was rarely a dull episode. And of course there's the fact that my preferred side of the love triangle won out :)

Some things this show has include:
-Stolen dumplings!
-Singing opera during a one against many brawl!
-People getting stuck in a cave-in together after running from wolves!
-Tianying saying ACAB and being right about it!
-Slow burn character development, both negative and positive!
-Long lost sisters! and brothers and fathers and mothers!
-Literally so much drama!

I'm only a bit miffed at the last five episodes. Was there a reason to introduce an anti-Japanese espionage plotline that late in the show? I feel like I could have gotten into it if it had been incorporated sooner. As it was, it felt like the Big Bad not being the Xu family was a bit of a sudden swerve--and some of the deaths felt like arbitrary tragedy rather than earned tears.

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Liked the characters, not so much the story

This movie has some interesting characters in it--especially the Northern Yan slave who I don't believe was ever given a name but who was interesting to watch, and Dong Yilong. It also had some fun actions scenes and a lot of cool ideas in it (the secret of Dong Yilong's birth, Grant Tutor Guan's scheming, the various revenge plots, etc).

What I didn't like was that these various ideas didn't tie together very coherently, and some of them weren't given much of a satisfying resolution. Additionally, the level of violence was higher than I expected, and both major female characters ended up dying while both major male characters survived, which pissed me off.

Overall, it wasn't a bad way to pass a few hours, but I don't think I'd recommend it either.

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Melancholy and goofy and slashy and fun

I loved this show! Here are some of the great things about it:
-Shang Xirui ranging from subtle and highly skilled actor to over-the-top emotional to peevish to childishly amused from moment to moment. I loved every single one of those moods.
-Cheng Fengtai's facial expressions, especially whenever Shang Xirui did something to surprise him.
-Shang Xirui and Cheng Fengtai's many scenes of just eating and drinking together or going for walks in the late evening or talking for hours on end... it's so intimate and lovely and so often a little melancholy, with the sense of longing.
-The operas. The only other show I've seen with Chinese opera as a major plot point is Granting You a Dreamlike Life, but in this show the opera is far more essential to the plot. I loved watching Shang Xirui brainstorm how to stage and perform various shows, various characters, and watching the troop rehearse. I loved each and every performance involved in the show. My one grudge is that sometimes the show would play unrelated music OVER the opera shows during important emotional moments--what's the point??
-Bandits!
-Opera circle petty drama, mostly in the first half of the show.
-Family drama both serious and less so.
Idk everything about this show was basically great. I loved every episode (...except one where a Certain Character died but I won't go into that).

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Great characters, so-so plot

I really loved the characters of Ancient Detective. Imo all the actors did a really good job. My favorites were probably Zhan Shiqi and Ye Xiaoxiao. For Zhan Shiqi, I loved her desire to become a person rather than just an assassin, an organization's tool, a number. And her romance with Jian Buzhi was very cute ;). For Ye Xiaoxiao... he was just so bizarre! and also very competent, but just so bizarre!

Jian Buzhi, our male lead, is mostly interesting in how he plays off others. While his investment in solving the case of Wang Hua makes sense, the answer to the mystery is fairly obvious and so it did not hold much tension for me. But it was always fun seeing Jian Buzhi sleuthing around or being a damsel in distress for the other characters to rescue. Speaking of which, Zhao Wohuan, the second male lead, is also excellent. I love his friendship with Jian Buzhi. 10/10, would ship.

So given all that, why don't I love love the drama? Well, the cases kind of dragged for me. I always get frustrated when a detective is unable to solve a case until two or three (or more!) more people have already been murdered, and these cases were no exception. I also prefer with mysteries when you can solve the mystery along with the characters, but apart from last minute clues, the answers to the mysteries would have been very hard to predict (most of the motives were buried deep in the past, for example, and could not possibly have been predicted). I also thought Zhao Wohuan's romance with Mingyue was kind of boring. So not a perfect drama, but still pretty good.

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Funny but should have committed more to unrelatable FMC

The concept of an accidental kidnapping of a superstar is fun, and there are certainly some scenes in this show that play with that concept for all it's worth. Nak Goo helping Lee Yeon Seo to keep Kang Joon Hyuk prisoner because he doesn't realize it's a kidnapping is probably the funniest running gag, and it has a good payoff with Nak Goo eventually being willing to aid and abet anyways because of his crush. Other funny aspects include Kang Joon Hyuk and Lee Yeon Seo occasionally having awful priorities, Nak Goo's possible chaebol background (??) and Kang Joon Hyuk's general outrage at his situation.

However, I think it was hard for me to get into this drama partly bc despite the female lead kidnapping Kang Joon Hyuk and twice almost murdering him, we're still supposed to find her more mundane struggles relatable. Like, you get the sense that we're meant to sympathize with Lee Yeon Seo's job and money struggles and see Joon Hyuk as kind of a spoiled brat when regardless of their financial situations, she is literally the kidnapper here. The show constantly shows Yeon Seo being used and abused by Joon Hyuk's demands for better treatment and his rudeness towards her, which is ridiculous. She is still obviously the villain in this situation. I'm fine with Joon Hyuk eventually deciding to sympathize with her (and maybe getting a little Stockholm Syndrome) but does the narrative have to constantly side with Yeon Seo too? In fact, when Joon Hyuk gets away from her and comes back to sort of befriend her outside of a kidnapping context, Yeon Seo not having to follow his orders is shown as her gaining power in their relationship, which is just kind of weird...

Moreover, to completely lift blame from Yeon Seo, the show randomly adds in another villain as the person who "actually" attacked Joon Hyuk, which is just stupid. While I wouldn't be against Joon Hyuk facing a more serious threat than Yeon Seo, the fact remains that Yeon Seo still did attack and kidnap him. That was a thing that really did happen. The show wants to have some dark humor with Yeon Seo kidnapping someone but it feels like it's unwilling to actually admit that she really did kidnap Joon Hyuk and is really holding him captive. Well, maybe I'm taking the premise too seriously... But if the show was more willing to commit, and maybe go a bit darker, I honestly think the funny parts would only get funnier, and it would help the tension and characterization a lot too.

Anyways. It was still pretty funny if not all I could have hoped for. My favorite part was Nak Goo, honestly just a sweetie if kind of a weirdo.

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Mostly this show is just really fun and cute. Tao Mo the naive and awkward but well-intentioned and sometimes quite sharp mayor is definitely a new fave character, and his and Gu She's relationship is lovely, how it moves from "I barely know you but it's love at first sight" (though of course the romantic angle remains heavy subtext) to "I would charge into danger for you/probably die for you" and all the shades in between. The minor characters are also quite fun, though somewhat undeveloped.

The frustrating thing is the lack of development in the plot. I heard this show was originally supposed to be longer but was shortened due to censoring--well, it shows. Tao Mo and Gu She's backstory is only slightly explored, the demonic cult angle is left as a random side element, and the ending is quite unresolved (though lovely and very romantic, of course). I may have to actually read the novel to get the resolution, something I was not initially planning on doing.

On the other hand, the individual cases of the plot are quite interesting, as is seeing Tao Mo and Gu She try to resolve the various problems both in the county and in their own lives. And again, the characters' relationships are great, and the production value, costuming and music and all that, is beautiful. I suppose I'd recommend if you don't expect anything too deep and want some good mellow romance/bromance.

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When this show is good, it's really good! Eun Dan Oh and Haru's romance is cute and sappy as heck, Dried Squid Fairy and Lee Doh Hwa are great supporting characters, and even Baek Kyung made me feel a lot of feelings. It's also notable that this show manages to balance comedy, romance, and psychological horror at the same time. Everyone's comic book characters and only a few are self aware about what's going on! Haha.... but also, the existential dread is There. I love it.

The Trumpet Creeper flashbacks were also pretty good, and they were the best part of some episodes. Extraordinary You lowkey trying to be a historical drama on top of all the rest lols. Have to say the most interesting parts of Trumpet Creeper were Dried Squid Emperor's everything and whatever fucked up relationship was going on between Baek Kyung and Haru (is it just me, or is Baek Kyung's attitude towards past Haru like his attitude towards present Eun Dan Oh? It was weird and good and bad).

However, I still rated this only 7/10 because there are a solid number of episodes in this show that do basically nothing for me, repeating plot points with no progression over and over again. How many episodes are basically Haru saying "We'll change the plot", Baek Kyung saying "Don't change the plot", and Eun Dan Oh waffling while Lee Doh Hwa and Dried Squid Fairy et al play around in the background and no scenes are actually changed, or plot relevant? Too Many, making the second half of the show drag. Still, the last couple episodes have the pacing speed up again, and overall the show is pretty good.

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Exactly up my alley

I can't be remotely objective about this show because it had two of my favorite things:

1) Kidnapping--my favorite trope of all time! I love how this show portrays the difficulties of actually holding someone captive when you don't really have the resources for such a task. This isn't the story of some serial killer with a murder basement; our protagonists only have a closet, and very nosy neighbors, and very thin walls! And I loved watching our kidnapping victim going through it. His moods veer from defiant to desperately pleading to so exhausted he can't even bother fighting back... but is he really resigned or is he still secretly plotting? Not that ANYONE'S plans in this drama ever seem to go right lols, kidnapper or kidnappee or attempted rescuer. NO ONE'S. It's a mess!

2) Toxic friendship--Specifically Jun-seong and Jae-hyo absolutely make each other worse. In particular, Jun-seong would never have thought of going into a kidnapping scheme without Jae-hyo coming up with the idea first. But having an accomplice is what allows Jae-hyo to go through with that brainstorm, and when it comes down to it, Jun-seong is usually willing to back him up even with his more questionable and messed up ideas. So throughout the drama, you're constantly questioning how far these two are willing to go together, whether they can trust each other, etc etc. Of course, for Min-woo's purposes, the more unified they are, the worse.

Apart from these elements--the neighbor subplot is not incredible, as other reviewers have noted, but it does add tension. The pacing is fast (we only have 6 episodes, after all!) and the acting is great (especially Yoon Seung-ho <3). Would definitely recommend if, like me, you enjoy these tropes.

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