Just a heads up: I have not read the novel yet, so this review is based solely off my experience from going in blind. (Also, I am a BL fan and shipper, so I will touch on Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei's "bromance".)

Story

I did enjoy the story and the setting for Guardian as it was something I personally hadn't seen too much of (not sure how many are similar out there). The show felt quite lighthearted most of the time despite the themes and cases the characters experienced, but still managed to make me cry in a few scenes (always a good sign). I felt that the show kept a good pace most of the time, and only on a couple of occassions was I a little jarred because they rushed through something. The ending was alright, a bit more open ended than I would've liked, but didn't diminish my enjoyment of the show at all.

Acting/Cast

Overall I thought the cast did a good job. Just a bit of overacting at times (though mainly revolving around the SFX rather than in emotional scenes, which I felt were handled pretty well), but the two main characters had brilliant chemistry and I always looked forward to their interactions. The rest of the characters all had interesting dynamics and were fun to watch interacting too, and I was glad most of the characters were developed with backstory, relationships and circumstances surrounding their powers etc. Another thing I did enjoy was the use of good whispering, unlike most stage whispers you hear in dramas, though one minor character uses it a bit excessively towards the end of the series, which was amusing to watch.

Bromance

There were two bromances in this show. The one not between the two MCs took a little warming up to, but I could see the potential from early on and grew fonder of them over time. Brotherly love with teasing, protectiveness and a smidge of idolising.

However, for me, the realtionship between the MCs does go quite a bit beyond bromance. From their first few encounters you can feel the different energy between them, and I think by ep 3 I was sold on the ship. As usual, the relationship is toned down from the BL in the novel, but the way these two care for/look after/look out for each other just spoke to me of much more. Also, the side characters do hint at and tease about their close relationship several times during the show.

Basically, you /might/ be able to watch without noticing anything beyond a VERY strong bromance between the MCs (platonic soulmates, if you're wanting to go that way), but personally I couldn't help but see around the censoring, and really did enjoy the MCs' relationship and dynamic (fun, flirtacious and caring).

Music

Not too much music in the show, but I did enjoy what music there was. The opening was alright, good enough that I didn't feel the need to skip every episode after the 1st episode. I would recommend not watching the opening as, like with a lot of dramas I've seen, they like to show clips of scenes which I don't like to spoil myself with. During the more emotional scenes, there were some lovely songs.

SFX 4/10

This is probably the lowest part of the show for me. I haven't been watching dramas for too long, so I might not have the best judgement when it comes to the quality of SFX to expect. I must say, if SFX quality is a big thing for you when watching a show, Guardian might be hard for you to watch. A lot of the powers didn't look too bad, however, any animals or creatures animated in CG were so bad to the point of just being more funny than cringey. I mentioned about a bit of overacting, and this is usually tied with someone using/being attacked by powers as the actors are really having to use their imagination, and might have been a bit too strongly directed at times. Some of the editing wasn't very clean either, though most transitions were pretty good (only remember flinching back once when it was very abrupt). The green-screening was a bit ridiculous at times, espicially towards the end. Any blood or injuries were very halfhearted, at times literally just a stripe of (VERY vibrant) red, where you can actually see the texture from the bristles of the brush used to paint it on. I suppose if you're someone not keen on injuries, this would make viewing easier.

Overall

I'd be happy to rewatch this show with a friend as the plot and characters are interesting, but mainly because I really enjoyed the relationship and dynamic between the MCs. The show was very easy to binge (thanks to nearly every ep ending on a cliffhanger/mid-sentence) and a fun experience which managed to always keep quite lighthearted despite the events taking place.