A Good Casual Watch

After several starts and drops of various historical dramas, this one was finally able to keep my attention long enough to become invested. The first couple of episodes may be slightly off-putting but it does evolve well and the layer of corniness is part of its charm.

Positives:
- There's a good blend of serious moments and light-heartedness/comedy.
- Most of the actors did a good job with their roles.
- The mystery aspect was decent as well as the action scenes but nothing to write home about.
- Almost no romance.
- A good series if you need a break from heavy politics and melodrama.

Negatives:
- The biggest negative for me was the ML (Ding Yu Xi). His acting became increasingly not believable and he only seemed to utilize 3-4 different facial expressions throughout the series. Unfortunate because this really brought the series down a few notches. (And this is already overlooking the extreme corniness to his cat-human form).
- The story takes a somewhat convoluted turn somewhere in the middle, and the flow became messier. It's as if they spend the first half working on the build-up and then just decided to throw everything that was necessary for the plot all in at once, just to be able to complete it.
- While I may able to overlook things like poor villagers suddenly being able to build a hot air balloon in almost no time at all, it was difficult to overlook the reactions to character deaths. There is almost a zero grieving period or any needed emphasis on the deaths of even relevant support characters. Providing flashbacks that doesn't trigger any emotes doesn't cut it, and the almost instantaneous leap to laughing and having a good time shortly thereafter was just not okay.

However, it is a good series that one doesn't need to take seriously and is good for a casual watch. Despite some significant negatives, it still did provide some actual laugh out loud moments.

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You don't watch this for a logical plot or even realistic fight scenes in some instances. The intelligence of the crimes and crime-solving are a bit below average and the script is littered with cheese. But despite some poor execution, the concept itself draws interest. Who doesn't love the idea of having criminals with very different backgrounds team up to fight other criminals? Are there reasons to watch this? Absolutely- as long as you manage expectations.

Foremost, the team of "mad dogs" is ultimately what keeps the series entertaining enough. Especially when the leads were pretty much a perfect cast for their characters. The overall plot itself also has enough twists and turns to keep the viewer intrigued, even if the details don't always make sense and the decisions are sometimes questionable. There's enough fast-paced action here where there really isn't much room to fast-forward on and it thankfully doesn't have any sappy romance.

Although I've dropped other series that have similar flaws, this one was just fun to watch. After all, the focus wasn't meant to be around forensics or detective work but on the woven relationships of the characters. It's like watching a comic book movie of a super-hero team made up of criminals. If it consisted of more than the 11 episodes, then maybe they could have incorporated more depth. The ending felt rushed but still left me wanting to see more of them in action again.

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"People can forget about their past. But the past will never forget about them."

This series had its flaws but the specialness of it does a lot to override it and it exceeded expectations. This isn't one of your typical crime/suspense dramas where there are cool dudes or evil villains. In fact, having watched so many action-driven series prior to this, it took a bit to get used to this type of pacing (in a good way). The only way I can describe it is that it is closer to "real-time" pacing, where it gives off a "slice of life" feel despite its darker atmosphere.

The script is done wonderfully and is loaded with insight. I couldn't figure out which male lead I was empathizing with as it kept me switching back and forth until it neared the end when I thought I knew, and then it messed me up again. The female lead felt a bit one-toned for a large portion of the story but boy, was I appreciative of her presence. Almost all of your characters are humanized with realistic gray tones. I won't go into the plot details because I made the mistake of reading what was stated as a minor spoiler, only to realize it ruined quite a bit of what could have been a nice unique surprise.

The negatives for me that hurt the series was they spent too much time on emotional lingering with at least a couple of scenes an episode. I did fast-forward a bit on these sections and some repeated flashbacks but not in the areas of dialogue. The only other negative was the video shots weren't great and took some getting used to.

Don't go into this one expecting gruesome serial killings or exaggerated supernatural powers. This is actually another reason why it was done so well. It didn't need this to build up emotional intensity or suspense. I'm also confused as to why some state this one has no romance. Sure, there wasn't your sappy/tragic type of love story and it wasn't the main focus, but it is most definitely there.

I recommend this series if you are the type who values content over flashy. It isn't episodic in crime-solving but rather a movement across multiple crimes that all gather under one umbrella.

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Another series about politics between catty women that is drawn out and slow-paced? I went into the series without high expectations and it just ended up becoming one of my top favorites. Its magic just grabbed and held on, and you just have to go on your first date with it to see for yourself.

Based off of the higher than average number of episodes, I couldn't find many areas to fast-forward on because I didn't want to miss those key conversations and key events. It was refreshing to have a strong female strategist in a role that didn't revolve around historical royalty, war, or blind revenge. It should be noted that I equally fell for our male lead here as well and if he wasn't a fictitious character, I may have very well developed a crush. Following the two of them through their different lives of torturous endurance, the political moves they make separately (and together) for survival and to break free from those who've attempted to crush them was very satisfying.

The historical portrayal of the power play between multiple wives and concubines was also enticing. You will come across intense emotional manipulation and butterfly effects in choices made. You will feel for the ones you want to smack in the face and you'll want to smack the faces of the ones you originally rooted for, only to feel empathy for them again. You will gradually understand why some chose to live the way they do, what others held onto out of desperation, and what sacrifices were made in order to get there (or fail to get there).

Now let me emphasize that I usually try to avoid romance-heavy anything, and this happens to be one of those special ones (our lead couple) where I actually looked forward seeing them on-screen together. You have two equally strong individuals who are equally capable of supporting of one another- can't get better than that.

As much as the series took me on a lovely unexpected ride, nothing is perfect if you really want to nitpick. The actions scenes could have maybe been done better and minor parts of the character developments could have maybe been progressed more smoothly. But eh, it doesn't dampen the memorable effects it had on me.

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Meh

The series is getting a higher score only for its good-for-casual-watch aspect and the graphics being relatively decent. Unfortunately both the FL and ML were very one-note through the whole series and despite trying to force a romance between the two, it really just didn't work. The plot was both straight-forward and sloppy.

However, if you can turn off the analytical mind and are the type who enjoys watching an "eye for an eye" kind of of punishment, this is a good one to try. Note that while it's not the most graphic I've come across, it's graphic enough for queasy watchers to avoid.

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Foremost, this series is likely not for everyone. Although there is much less opera scenes than expected, this type of music/performance may not sit well with those less open-minded. Having been born and raised in the US, my exposure to Chinese opera has been minimal but fortunately being a first-gen, I still heard and saw enough through the media played by family members. So I'm really happy that there is a 2020 series that is looking to bring this wonderful art into display. Even for someone like myself who speaks conversational Chinese, the opera lyrics are still difficult to understand so I love that English subtitles are available. It's like listening to rap or other genres for the first time. Only if there is enough exposure, does one start to really begin to understand it. Now with that aspect out of the way:

The series was a solid 9.0 until around episode 30. This is when the plot takes a turn down soap opera lane a bit. They tried too hard to link everyone into having some type of familial relationship with one another which made it unrealistic with no added value. The other lesser negative is the unrealistic gun fight scenes and the unnecessary slow-motion effects during the other fight scenes. Otherwise, the action blend could have shone more.

Nevertheless, I was drawn in mainly by our two male leads from the very first episode. The contrast and underlying similarities between them created a chemistry that was addictive and fun. Cheng Feng Tai, is the true star here. He was able to portray the complexity of having to transition into multiple faces very well (and admittedly, his dimpled smile is too good). Shang Xi Rui comes as a close runner-up and I really adore the both of them on screen. There were also plenty of witty supporting characters such as Cao Gui Xiu and Du Qi who only added to the charm of the series.

There is a good surface attempt to explain the life route of opera singers, the royal family having fallen, and when Japan began its invasion. But for me personally, having read and seen many films and books that really dive hard into these events, these are just a backdrop to the ultimate love story in this series. And although I can't forgive the suffering Japan caused (read The Rape of Nanking or watch the documentary), I do appreciate that they didn't portray all the people of Japan as willing enemies.

There are some flaws that can't be overlooked with some parts of the plot and some loose ends that were never explained but everything else was done really well including the design set and outfits for the era and the incorporation of a bit of just everything. If there were some physical touch present between the leads (even if just hand-holding), I think it would have upped it by a notch. Although I took off some points for the mentioned factors, let's just say this is one of the series I made the effort to download for keeps.

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This one is a rough one. I was considering dropping it after the first few episodes because of our leads. This is no fault to the actors themselves but the male lead just didn't quite fit the role he played though it's still passable. The female lead's role was (yet again) written as a cutesy character who's obsessed with the "cold bad boy" but is just incompetent and unprofessional if you pay attention to what value she brings supposedly as a cop of a special team. Sigh to the Asian draw towards having to incorporate the "cute" even when it doesn't work for the genre, but at least she doesn't wear high heels on the job.

The blend of the crime and romance aspects of the series feels forced/confused as if they didn't know which one to focus on. Then the humor and lightheartedness that was sprinkled on would have worked if it wasn't sometimes done with bad timing. There also wasn't too much chemistry between the two leads and the number of times they made him lean flirtatiously into her face to apparently make her feel uncomfortable (try counting the times) just became an irritating thing to watch. What is also up with the male lead and his alternating of two hairstyles? At first I thought they were attempting to use it to differentiate between the past and the current, but no. Choosing just one or the other would have worked a lot better for the purpose of the character.

Despite all the above however and while the crime aspect wasn't amazing, there is an interesting overall mystery with the male lead's backstory and where it leads. The rest of the supporting cast did a really good job to keep me focused so I quite enjoyed it while skipping the majority of screen time of the female lead.

The concept of society blaming and looking down on (in hypocrisy) the "monsters" they've created themselves is quite evident here which I love. Nothing to do with the actual plot. but let's say a group of children were raised in an environment where murder was as normal and natural as eating a meal, would it be moral to blame the children for living in the same fashion? Then let's say, a few of those children were fortunate enough to later be placed into a gentler and warmer environment, and learned they can feel and live a different way. Would it be moral to punish them for their past deeds from their prior environment? And then to add to the complexity, what if some of those children were just born and wired a certain way?

The strange empathy you may feel for what should be the "monsters" in this is what hits the spot. Who's the one who's really ignorant? Who's moral and who's self-justifying on their own learned morals?

It is definitely very unfortunate that outside of a great underlying plot, the series couldn't pull it off better.

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Tried really hard to finish this series, even if just to unravel the obvious reveal of mysteries in the latter episodes and maybe even a twist.

I appreciate the attempt to bring to light various forms of abuse and its various lasting effects through adulthood no matter how stable one's life turns out. Also appreciate the highlighting that not all victims are saints themselves as everyone has their own type of sin.

However, while I'm not one who minds the slower-paced type of series/movies. This one just felt like a slow-pacing in circles over and over again. The actors were awfully bland even for a somber setting. Making it through over half of the episodes (with lots of fast-forwarding), there is pretty much zero character development. The female lead's character feels so one-note that I've grown annoyed by her screen time. Despite the trauma she's apparently gone through, she is really just selfish and self-righteous underneath her overbearing gentleness and occasional rage. For a child psychologist, she really doesn't have much empathy. It would have been fine if she was given any type of personality growth by now in the series. If the expressions on the majority of the actors didn't feel like permanent Botox, it might have worked better. The only actor that pushed the episodes along was really the main detective.

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Left Feeling Unsure

There are multiple factors that I really appreciate about the series and other factors that watered it down. Foremost, most of the actors did a good job in their roles, particularly our two main protagonists. It would have stepped up a notch if they provided more depth to the character's backstories. Although there were hints and minor flashbacks, it wasn't enough to really draw you in to any of them in particular.

Although the pacing was initially slower than what I'm accustomed to for this type of genre, it did create that essence of realism. The series did a good job transitioning Han Dan Soo's character from a struggling lawyer who kept getting screwed over by trying to do the "right" thing to finally getting fed up and deciding to utilize his skills to fight corruption by becoming corrupted. After all, those who have a conscious and have experienced something similar in life, would be able to generally relate to these multiple decision-making crossroads. It also secondarily depicts the realism of how people feel when they are being used, or when they are the ones putting in the "hard work" only to help others reap the large rewards. So there are multiple scenes where it has you questioning yourself on what you would do in their shoes.

However in the last three or so episodes, the pacing paradoxically became both too dragged while the plot felt overly rushed. It's hard to explain except that I started to lose interest in the heavy-handed shifting of the backstabbing between the various parties. So while the ending wasn't bad, it also felt rushed because of how slow the build-up was to it. If the positive factors weren't there for the overall wrap-up of the series, I would have given it a lower score. It's otherwise still an enjoyable watch but not one worth re-watching again.

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Still binge-worthy but...

Very happy to state that season two was done well enough to remain binge-worthy for those who enjoyed season one.

However, there are some reductions in quality that I'm hoping doesn't get carried forward into the next season.

- The charisma between the team is starting to lose its appeal. There has been absolutely zero character growth and everyone's personality is growing a little stale. There is also a subtle feeling of trying to force upon the importance of each member in the crew. After so many episodes, I get it already. Pei Xi is great at drawing and Ying Tao is a backup bodyguard who is just average in comparison to Lu Li Feng, and Fei is a miracle healer. How many times does Su Wu Ming need to complement them for doing exactly what they've always done? The worst part is when they tried to suddenly get the whole crew to play detective in the last arc and Ying Tao is hinted at being Su Wu Ming's apprentice? The best character in the series was Su Wu Ming and all of this has really diluted him.
- While the overall mysteries are still quite interesting, the actual investigation and autopsies are no longer given as much detail and emphasis anymore. On multiple occasions, apparently despite Su Wu Ming having conducted his autopsies, he misses relatively key areas for some reason that required multiple additional autopsies. This again, takes a lot away from his character and his character's abilities.
- And while I'm not a big fan of any heavy-handedness on romance, the interactions between the couples (particularly in this season) has no charisma and the occasional reminder of them being a couple really adds no value.

Hoping in the next season, they try to implement more character growth. Also hope they don't continue to try to muddle the dynamic by getting everyone on the team to suddenly become master detectives. It would be like trying to suddenly turn Su Wu Ming into a master swordsman. Nevertheless, season two was still worth the watch despite the slight trailing off near the end.

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Slice of Life Treat

I normally don't have much interest in slice of life genres but finally found one that gave a similar feel to The Fiery Priest with lesser dramatics. You wouldn't think a series following prosecutors living their day-to-day jobs would be interesting enough to pull off a 16-episode run but if a season two came out, I'd jump on it. Not only was the cast and their comradery fantastic, the cases based on real life that impacts regular people such as ourselves has the advantage of hitting close to home when it comes to empathy.

It's difficult to describe what makes this series great without it coming across as boring for those who are used to more action or romance heavy plots. All I can say is that it provides a great prospective on what prosecutors have to deal with or shoulder, while trying to balance the black and white facts of a case and humanizing the people involved. There's no dramatic tear-jerks but there is plenty of literal laugh out loud moments as well as warm and fuzzy moments.

All of the actors had great chemistry with one another that only continued to grow with each passing episode. There are some morals to learn and some self-reflecting triggers. Highly recommend for anyone who needs a break from heavy action, needs a good laugh, or just wants to watch something that manages to stay intriguing without the enhanced drama (other than some hilarious silliness). There's thankfully no romance other than a very adorable and lighthearted development between a young couple. Not sure why some reviewers felt the early episodes were slow when it was a good in-depth introduction of the team. I surprisingly never felt the desire to skip through any scenes or conversations.

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Wow...

When I read the MDL summary for this series, I imagined a plot full of super hero tropes layered with flimsy super hero power action scenes, and some standard sappy Korean-esque backstory with the parents/children. But in addition to the high rating, it came up a few times as a recommendation for other series I've enjoyed, so I gave it a try. And wow... did it far exceed my initial expectations.

Plot flow: Each episode was robust with action, excitement, and anticipation and it doesn't rely on ending on obvious cliffhangers or any particular over-dramatization. The care that was given to delve into the background stories of relevant characters is very much appreciated. The lore is believable and they did a great job between blending a slice-of-life feel with action/tragedy/politics.

Action scenes: Has to be one of the best ones I've come across when it comes down to showcasing superpowers. It was done so well, I didn't care to even make any attempts to even think about potentially critiquing whether it made sense or not (and still don't).

Characters: The characters (and their families) were uniquely interesting and with so many familiar faces in the cast, it's inevitable that they did a great job bringing the them to life. You will also sometimes find yourself rooting for both the protagonists and antagonists.

The only minor negatives were the scenes were sometimes slightly prolonged and the lighting could have been a bit clearer. The scenes shot in the dark weren't very easy watch when I was viewing some episodes during the day. And if it weren't for the obvious hint for a much needed season two, the ending would have been a discussion point.

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Exceeded Expectations

This is one that does a good job with blending drama/horror, humor, and tear-jerking moments. I've been holding off on watching this for quite some time because this is a genre/plot that usually isn't done very well. But happily, it became one where I continued to look forward to every next episode until the last.

The main crew of the cast had fantastic chemistry with one another- one that makes you smile with them, cry with them, and root for them. The plot flow was done really well and there was enough "houses to sell" stories in addition to the main underlying story to keep it satisfying. (Sometimes feel tricked with other series where they start off with one or two individual stories and then just drag the rest of episodes into the main one.) It isn't the most complex plot you'll come across but it also isn't an overly simplified one. There are some plot holes but a perfect plot with heavy attention to detail isn't something that should be expected too much for a supernatural genre.

There is a light layer of corny such as the FL always being dressed in black and the ML being dressed mostly in white, etc. But in this case, it works well as it's part of the charm. It is quite difficult to be able to smoothly incorporate a natural lighthearted feel for a plot with multiple darker undertones, so the higher score for the series is well deserved. The only distracting negative was the very obvious ad placement/marketing in certain scenes where it took it a bit too far with the selling of the drinks/snacks/skincare. Nevertheless, highly recommend for anyone who is looking for a balance of emotional triggers.

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Sort of tricked into somewhat completing the series

The series had a good introduction and followed up well on the suspense, until around halfway through at episode seven. Then it abruptly just nose-dived from the initial uncovering of the truth, which was pretty lackluster despite half of the episodes leading up to it. It continually only worsened with characters making odd decisions that made no sense. It's hard to describe but they spent so much time building up the ML/FL, only to have them look like blubbering fools for the rest of the series. The further diving into the truth also begins to develop large plot holes that weren't pieced together very well. I found myself becoming more and more disinterested with each latter episode and ended up not liking any of the characters at all. Because seven episodes had already been invested, the rest of the episodes were sped through with aggressive skipping just to get to the full unraveling of the mysteries (with exception of a few historical flashback moments). The slight twist in the end would have made the plot halfway decent if it weren't for all of the items mentioned above.

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This is a classy series. It may seem like an odd word to describe a crime-based genre, but for me, it is a fitting description. This one doesn't have the type of melodrama infusion that is sometimes typical (no intense cliffhangers at the end of each episode) but is instead, a steady captivation. Because of its pacing, it really hones in on the gradual evolution of the relationships, unfolding of linkages, and the peeling back of butterfly effect layers that were caused by a multitude of events.

At the same time, although there really isn't a glaring lull, the first half of the series was particularly prolonged and the flashbacks bordered excessive. I did find myself fast-forwarding every so often but not in the way where it deterred too much from the enjoyment. Instead of repeat flashbacks, providing more background on some of the supporting characters would have taken this up a notch.

Nevertheless, would recommend it for the days when you're in the right mood for its pacing.

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