If you are ?reading? this review to decide if you should watch this or not, WATCH because you will not be disappointed. You will laugh and enjoy this wonderful series. It’s well balanced and there’s not a dull moment wherein you’ll want to fast forward. It’s 20 episodes plus a separate one titled Mr. Queen: The Secret which is an additional 2 half an hour episodes wherein you’ll laugh some more. The ending for this series is nice. Nothing will disappoint you. You’ll watch and feel entertained rather than sad or irritated or frustrated with the way the story flowed and ended. Highly suggested that you start to watch this series. I waited so long because I don’t prefer time crossing story but after watching this, I regret that I just watched this now

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Good plot

I gave this a try because the plot intrigued me. I am biased to costume mystery so I decided to watch this.
Best thing I can say about this series that I like is casting Lee Ha Nee. I am glad to see an Asian drama series that portrays a woman that fit the role to a tee. (I don't know her before watching this series, and found out she was once crowned Ms. Korea. She also led me to Phantom - another series I added on my watch list.)
First episode didn't grab me at all. From experience, I learned to watch at least 3 episodes before deciding to drop or continue. It is slow, and probably due to it being a low budget series, some of the lighting, scenes, and props are not as how I see it with high budget series. Nevertheless, I stayed for the plot and for the character portrayal of the female lead. She is quite interesting, and related to the character well. She really carried this series along with the other casts, in my opinion.
I like the change of watching Korean costume drama that doesn't revolve around the royal family for its entirety and this is one of them.
The relationship dynamics of the two male leads is also intriguing. It made me anticipate understanding the story behind it which came to light as the series progressed.
Overall, I will recommend this for those who like light costume drama that comes with humor, with no heavy conflict/ drama, and has interesting real life characters. I enjoyed this series and most likely will include on the list of my "Long weekend girlfriend's pajama party" binge watching list.(Shout out to my LoWeGiPaPa Members)

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Too long for me

66 episodes that I thought I will enjoy because I love all Dee Renjie works however, this dragged for me.
It may be because I have seen all the recent Dee Renjie works that this click for me. The story was slow and the romance added seemed forced. I may be biased because I prefer mystery without an added romance. There was more chemistry between renjie and the empress than the female healer that us supposedly his love interest.
The character of Dee Renjie here seems off from the typical Dee Renjie character played.

This is available in YT to watch for free.

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Could have been edited better

Pack some patience when watching

Multiple stories of different characters wasn't shown relevance with fluidity.
There's a scene that was repeated.
The transition of scenes weren't smooth.
To surmise, it's a chaotic way of telling the story of demons who take over human bodies and are openly living in society but being hunted by demon hunters/alchemists which do not make sense to me.
A man who was saved by the cat he took care, sold her out. His reasoning was absurd and the story showed him as someone who cares for the cat, even stealing fish for her. So sending her to her death out of the blue didn't make sense.
This could have been a good fantasy movie if it was directed and edited well. Best part of the movie is the fight scene between the demon cat and alchemist.
The set scenes were great and wardrobes used were beautiful. Production did a great job in this aspect. The ending credit song is nice and sweet.

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Endearing

I find this short series endearing. The story contains or/& mentions bullying, mental issues, homophobia, family issues, crammed within 8 episodes of 30m each episode. Having done this, there are some issues that were left unanswered or unsettled like the confrontation with the father, the vagueness of the 2nd CP's relationship, and the suicide of one of the characters. The series felt rushed to me, or I may be just wanting more.?‍♀️
If you are into jazz, you'll enjoy the pieces played here and the melding of pop and jazz towards the end.
I appreciate the production for a good wardrobe selections and not recycling for other scenes, scene set-up and props.
At first, I made a mistake that one of the main actor is the same one as 8 sense. This series has also same vibe as 8 Sense which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Recommend to any BL genre fans.

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Awesome Fight Choreography

This is one of the best martial arts movie I have watched. The plot is simple and direct but the way it was directed kept me glued at my seat. It is fast pace, shot in beautiful locations, wonderful sceneries, costumes and wardrobe fit perfectly with the scenes, all artists were convincing in their portrayal of their characters.
One of the best movies in this genre that I have seen.
of there is one thing negative to say, it will be somebofnthe brutal scenes but then again, it's my personal disposition. My brutal may not be anything remotely close to others' meaning of brutal.

Highly recommended watch. I will now watch the season 2. Hopefully, it will also keep me glued.

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Exquisitely directed

This is a hidden gem. I am two years late watching this short film. It’s a shame that this wasn’t promoted well because everything about this film is exceptionally great. Newcomer actors portrayed their role really well you can’t tell that they are still new actors.

It has a dark and mysterious theme but done jn an exquisite way. The director is known for dark themed work that leaves a viewer enthralled.

The entire production did well with wardrobe, scene sets and props. It will not disappoint.
You need to focus on every detail to truly grasp the story and watch til the very end to explain few things.

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Apprentice of Dee Renjie?

The story is similar to any Dee Renjie mystery film. Although the protagonists doesnt know any martial arts, he has a sidekick who accompanied him in all his investigations.
Low ranking official who received a letter from his mentor and upon visiting him, he found suspecting situation that caused him to investigate.
Although he has limited resorces and power, he persevered. He is witty and brave. He investigated scary places by himself and I was wondering how he will protect himself without knowing any martial arts.
The production is good. Scene sets were fitting, props were placed well and wardrobes were nicely chosen for each scene.
It is a recommended viewing for any period mystery fanatic. As to rewatch value, this is my second time watching this film. I still enjoyed it. Actually came across scenes I missed for some reason.
Enjoyed this film. Thank you to the producers.

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2nd watch a year later made it better for me

Watched this over a year ago and receny completed watching it again. It may have been my liberal use of the fast forward button before that made me understand and enjoy this series this time around.

I was so confused the first time i watched this causing depletion of my interest that itched for that fast forward button. I can now say the reason is the switched of the leading character wasnt done smoothly. The transition could have been done better.

Zhao Lusi did improve in her transition acting since this series. She is awesome in fun, comedic and quirky roles but in this series, I believe she was still on the learning phase for transitioning role from comedy to serious character role. Her acting nowadays is way, way better than from this series. She excels in smoothly transitioning roles.

Production wise, it is obvious the set, wardrobe and props were invested on heavily. I wish they took parts of it to invest more on editing.

The story plot is challenging and truly could have been a great one.

Rewatch value, like I mentioned here, I am doing this review after rewatching it over a year later. I honestly like this series more now than the first time I watched it. So my recommendation is reserving judgment after watching it the second time. Giving it a bit of time can make a difference based on my own experience.

All casts in this series were awesome and seemed to have portrayed their role well. It is interesting that I even noticed the acting of couple of extras who didnt have a line - just a facial expression.

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Watched in Iqiyi

Review is after second attempt to watch. My First attempt: 15 minutes through episode one and I was going to add this to my dropped list however, I read other viewer review first, and it convinced me to give it a second try.

This could have been a good one but.....
The director and film editor obviously didn't give their heart to this project. It reflects no care at all and that they did the bare minimum and collected their paycheck. The editing is horrible. Cut scenes were so obvious, and theres instances of camera not being focused or angled right. Theres scenes that were included that didn't make sense. Cheesy lines caused me to fast forward a lot. Awkward scenes are also included. And come on.... a threesome out of nowhere of people who works closely together???? I truly didnt see the necessity to add this to the story. Piano BGM was used too much in this series that it was hard to focus when hearing same BGM for almost every kind of scene. Wardrobe is off in some scenes and seemed like revolved within just 5 sets of outfits (I may have overcounted).
Ton Saran Anantasetthakul needs to take more acting class. Casting could have been done better; hardly any chemistry within the entire production casts.
This can be a construed as a mean review however this is my honest take for this series. I feel regretful because to me it is a good simple story that could have turned good if directed and edited better. As many negative things I noticed, I didn't drop watching it after my second attempt of watching because it has an "it" factor that kept me in my seat after I finished episode 1.
So give it a try, pass episode 1 and see if you wont finish it. I don't think it is enough for rewatch value tho.

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Another Mystery of Song Ci

NOTE: After much confusion I discovered the title in iQIYI and the title here in MDL is different. This movie has a different title in iQIYI - Work Vain Song Ci. My feedback and rating is for (titled here in MDL )as Forensic Scientist Song Ci
: The Fraud


I enjoy Dee Renji and Song Ci movies and surprised that there's no review for this movie yet.

Plot is around Song Ci - SC assisting the emperor get back his throne after being plotted against by his trusted Shaman.

The production is not a huge budgeted film. It is simple yet perfectly done for each scenes. The location shoot was minimized but it didn't affect the way the story was relayed on the screen. Wardrobe was perfect for each scenes and each character that you won't feel slighted as a viewer. Even though it wasn't elaborate, the focus was majnly on the story.
I like that the simplicity of this movie still provided a satisfying watch.
The artists who played each character were professionals. They portrayed their character well enough even tho there are couple who probably could have rendered their lines and facial expressions better. This didn't impact the overall outcome of the movie anyways for me.

I am recommending this movie for anyone interested in period, costume and mystery movie.

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Typical but done very well

The story here is the typical two main male characters who does not get along due to past incident happened to end up working together to solve crimes.
As crimes are solve, it also allowed for each other to settle and clarify their anger and frustrations with each other.
I wasnt invested jn this series at the start but as tje story got more mysterious and intriguing, I ended up binge watching it.
The role portrayal is good, wardrobe was in queue, location fits, direction and flow of story is good.
If you are not a fan of detective story this might not be for you but i suggest to give it a try til episode 3.

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Iqiyi

When story is written with with overly victimized lead character that runs 3/4 of episodes long, it gets tiring and exhausting. The romance and triumphs were overshadowed by excessive degradation of the lead character and couple of other female characters.
It would have been nice if there was a balance but mostly the story from beginning evolves around the lead character being put down, degraded, humiliated, hurt, set aside, bullied, plotted against, etc. Gets exhausting to watch something like this even when the ending is in positive good light.
The lead female doesnt seem to fit the character. I was not content with her portrayal of a victimized person that only knows how to be nice and sweet to get through the abuse. There were a few situations wherein by speaking up she could have avoided the chaos but it was written to produce chaos to solve.

The male lead was convincing with his portrayal.
The wardrobe dept did a great job. Production obviously put a lot of work on details.
There's light humor that if you dont pay attention, youll miss. Many scenes that were unnecessary.

All artists were excellent in portraying their roles. Its the way the story was written that exhausted me emotionally.

I am seriously wondering why the writer didnt consider writing this story in a way that showed a much stronger character for the female lead.
At any rate, for me, I prefer to be entertained not be irritated consistently enduing 45 episodes of consecutive bullying, plotting, chaos and problems.
I probably wod have not fast forward a lot if theres a hook of triumps & accomplishment for every 10 degradation, bullying, and abuse but its a continuous negativity and suffering for the female lead and other female characters that i got exhausted and frustrated.

The ending is good but just like anything positive ornrewarding it was short and glossed over.

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Hidden Light Drama

I didnt hear nor read anything about this series and just happen to ckme across it in iQIYI.
First off, it has a cute & charming casts. The story plot is charmjng, stable and consistent. Its short 8 episodes that can be a weekend night binge. The cast were good in portraying their roles and if there is anything that viewers might notice, it'll be extras on the background here and there looking awkward. Wardrobe was also slightly off. Aside from those, its a relaxing series to watch.
Keep in mind that they concised the story so a lot of background stories were left out like how they ended up living together-this was pretty much explained in one sentence. First lead's family background is totally missing. Friend who is part of their band owns a bar but story added scenes of having to have a place for band practice which left me questioning it. ? overall it is a good one to watch.

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