The only word that kept coming to mind after each episode was "bland". The acting from the mains and supports felt pretty subpar and none of the characters really stood out. In addition to not buying into the acting, the plot felt rushed in areas where it should have had more focus, lingered too long in other areas, and there weren't enough details to glue it together.

This one was tough to write about actually because it had the ingredients to be pretty decent so it's hard to describe or pinpoint what was missing from it. Despite some heart-warming scenes and bonding moments, it somehow felt shallow at the same time. It didn't help that the main character was also pretty obnoxious and unappreciative.

I would normally stick with a series if at least one or two aspects were done well enough especially because this one has a relatively short number of episodes. But the overall feel of this one just didn't intrigue much, and less so with each episode. Onward to the continuous search of good series that involves the afterlife and/or spirits.

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Almost but not quite...

The series started off with a bang and jumps right into action, which may cause some confusion as to who is who and what's going on with the different factions. It does come together more with each episode and it kept me engage until around episode 10 (less the FL/ML flirtatious scenes). I've been debating on whether to sit through more episodes for the positives, but the negative are starting to outweigh.

Positives
- An interesting underlying plot and somewhat unique relationship with the three main princes. There is quite a complex relationship between the three which is intriguing.
- The overall actors are great and the action scenes are done well.
- The gradual unfolding of various character histories would be a reason why I'd want to continue watching.
- The ML has been the most interesting character so far with his multiple roles (though his skills and charm are starting to falter slightly).
- The politics (so far) are actually not as boring and long-winded as with other palace dramas, though I can see its potential in becoming repetitive with 40 episodes.

Negatives
- The FL is supposed to be on par with the ML per the synopsis. But other than having high martial arts skills, she's been quite useless. I've been waiting episode after episode for her to step up to the plate to no avail. She's yet another one of those FLs who constantly states she doesn't want anyone's help, but then requires help from the ML over and over again. You'll get scenes such as her twisting an ankle and the ML is then carrying her on his back. But we are supposed to accept that she is jianghu tough and independent.
- The romance between the FL and ML feels overwhelmingly forced. And the corny of their scenes together has been so bad that I've been skipping through most of it to get to the other parts of the plot. One scene in particular that was so off, I would have fired whoever wrote it in. In the middle of a conversation between the FL and ML, two birds just suddenly falls from out of nowhere giving her the opportunity to just randomly ask him to take care of the white bird while she takes the black bird for obvious symbolic reasons. What??

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Although the mortician aspect would have been interesting, this series is a poor imitation of The Longest Day in Chang'an. While the dramatics actually worked there, it was poorly executed and unnecessary for this plot. I do appreciate that more Chinese dramas are starting to bring back some of the essence it once had, before they tried to incorporate poor graphics and terrible costume work. The action scenes are feeling more skill-based again instead of the floating around nonsense or having characters with strange hairdos that are ridiculous for any time period. One of the mains here also starred in The Untamed and while that one was also somewhat gimmicky, it wasn't as severe and it made more sense due to the supernatural aspect.

Nevertheless, at least visually, this series was done better than some of the others I've seen but it still had too many gimmicks attached to a poorly written script:

- They make Gao Bing Zhu seem like some brilliant fighter and observer but for some reason, he doesn't realize the guy he killed was wearing a completely different mask and didn't have the wound he inflicted earlier? Ugh.
- Baili Hong Yi ties a flimsy white cloth around Gao Bing Zhu's wrist and tells him it's some type of magical knot that he would never be able to untie himself from? And Gao Bing Zhu is somehow threatened enough to give in to his demands? Ugh again.

For what seems like a fairly expensive production, the camera work was subpar. Each episode also made less and less sense and the cheesy dialogue only became more cringe. This series really felt like they tried to reuse or combine all the elements of what made The Longest Day in Chang'an, Nirvana in Fire, and The Untamed successful, but didn't bother to care whether the effects actually made sense for the plot. Note that what didn't make this one work for me wasn't because of the actors but from the cards they were dealt.

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Not Great

*Minor spoiler

Eight episodes in and while the pacing of the plot has stayed steady since the first episode, it has also yet triggered much intrigue. While the ML did a decent job in portraying his character, the dialogue he was given wasn't great. The FL was a dull and unimpressive character, and there was zero chemistry between the two. The relationships the ML develops so far also doesn't feel natural. I had planned to give the series a few more episodes to see if it better evolved but the cringe scene with the rescued little girl solidified the decision to drop. She's supposed to be an orphaned child who was then placed into an abusive environment and witnessed multiple murders. Yet, she very oddly breaks into a happy song (with poor dubbing) the same night with over-exaggerated acting and then turns into an obnoxious spoiled brat the next day? This further highlights the misplacement of emotive focuses such as how the series attempts to lighten up the mood every so often by switching to playful music and banter in between, but it just doesn't feel natural and it doesn't help with the chemistry-building.

The biggest positive about the series are the action scenes. The fight scenes were done really well. I just wish the plot and dialogue matched.

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Not For Me But...

I'm dropping the series mostly because even up through episode 8, the action aspect of the plot never picked up pace. And personally really dislike the typical romance stories with overly innocent and useless women. What's worse is the rest of the other women so far have been portrayed as either being just as useless, full of drama, evil, and/or manipulative. This is very typical of the old-school ideal of Asian romance and couple portrayal. Poor woman/rich man, innocent and sweet woman/powerful and misunderstood man, attached with unrealistically cute voices that belong to girls who haven't gone through puberty.

But for those who love these types of sappy stories, I can see why this one is on the higher-rated end and would definitely recommend. Personally I was putting up with the heavy romance scenes for while hoping the action and backstories would pick up at some point but it's been a slow burn.

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Uninteresting

It's been four hours or four episodes and both the characters and the pacing are exhausting. It started off with an interesting concept of assassins infiltrating the Gong family but the assassins are so monotonous, it doesn't really make sense for them to "blend" in anywhere as they only seem to have skills for stealth. As grandiose, secretive, and careful as this Gong family is, their way of choosing brides also don't make much sense. The same goes for their "rule" of having to have a leader at all times based on who is present, no matter how incompetent the next leader is, also doesn't make sense.

- The conversations are all seriously snail-paced and not very effective.
- The two main FL assassins are uninteresting.
- The main ML (incompetent leader) is uninteresting and is a fool who falls in love foolishly.
- The flamboyant elder sister who's supposed to be the humor lifeline so far in the series, is also uninteresting.

The only character that seems to be interesting at all so far is Gong Shang Jue, but he hasn't really officially entered into the scenes yet. Nevertheless, four hours later and my facial expression from watching the series has been as expressionless as the characters so far. Slightly higher score is for production quality.

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Let me start off by stating that I've watched this series years ago and this review is an attempt as a re-watch.

Although I've only re-watched a few episodes, I decided to drop it. It captures your attention quickly and easily with the initial backstory of your leads. But the script feels shallow for its setting and genre, even with its good attempt to build intensity into each scene.

1. The male lead for example who tries to hunt down his "first love" in the streets by following strangers. It isn't as if she changed her name from when they met or internet wasn't available. So it doesn't make much sense even when we exclude the fact that he apparently can recognize her by face a decade later (especially when they met as kids).

2. The female lead was fantastic as a child but she somehow turned into a rude, extreme snob as an adult? So much so that she can't say a simple "thank you" when someone finds her wallet and is outwardly rude instead? Very odd. While it was believable that she was a shitty lawyer, it is nonsensical that she somehow gets chosen as a public defender just because she told a tale of her past. It would have made more sense if she had credentials to back it up but she doesn't even know how to search for browser history on a computer?

Her mother got fired as a housekeeper and they had to move out. Not a big deal. It isn't as if she didn't have a loving mother who had her back and a decent roof over her head. Even if you try to apply the "she conceded to societal norms", it is still overreaching. Maybe her one traumatic incident as a kid, just wasn't traumatic enough (especially compared to a kid who saw his father murdered). Yet the series builds so much around this.

Then, somehow her moral fibers start to kick in within a couple of days because of some lecturing and a sudden reminder of how she was once falsely accused herself? What has she been up to all her adult career life then?

3. Who in the right mind would decide to hang on a windowsill just because they didn't want to get caught smoking? Ever heard of dropping the cigarette and saying you just walked into the room? It's not as if the room was barricaded.

It's tough. As mentioned, they did well with the intensity level and the light comedy so I can see why it would capture high scores with some. But if you really look at the basis, there just isn't much depth. I wouldn't have been so judgmental if this was supposed to be on the lighthearted side but it really isn't. Would have given it a lower score but because the actors were able to make it somewhat entertaining, I could have probably sat through it to the end.

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Poor Plot Flow

While this series isn't one of the worst as there are flickering moments of relatively good scenes, it's pieced together pretty poorly. The introduction in itself wasn't done well with a slapping together of the main leads who continued to not have much chemistry with one another. But when the supporting actors do a much better job in acting than the leads, it's difficult to stay interested. The lore of the reapers world was not believable even for a fantasy/supernatural genre. As a minor examples (among many), the comatose state of the "new guy" was at the fault of the reapers, and yet the choice they gave him was three years of coma which could be reduced to six months of coma if he joins the team. There's no explanation of why they can't just reduce the come to a month or to just release him from it, if they are capable of providing different time ranges. Another example is when they are apparently forbidden to change history when going back into the past, but the "new guy" is pretty much allowed to make drastic changes to the past like preventing a death from occurring and yet, there's barely any repercussion before the plot just moves on.

Because I can probably continue watching this on a very casual mode mostly due to the supporting actors and their stories (hence the slightly higher score), but as none of the mains are likeable, prefer to drop it instead.

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Average but charming

It's a good series to watch if you aren't looking for anything that can cause lack of sleep due to wanting to get to the next episode. Having recently getting back into the Asian series mode, I was super excited to see a new Wuxia series with high ratings. However, the series has the same flaws as with many others. The acting of the main protagonists are just slightly less than average and the only saving grace is they have some chemistry with each other. It feels like actors these days are chosen based on looks and less on their ability to act and draw the audience in. The actions scenes were below average and it made me miss again the days when actors with some actual martial arts skills were chosen for these types of roles. The plot had potential but the transitions were choppy.

I did appreciate that the historical costume and makeup weren't as ridiculous as some other series, and nothing was too overly dramatized. And despite it being an overall average, it was still entertaining enough to finish.

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No Chemistry

The series isn't necessarily bad (based on the four episodes seen) and the actors are actually pretty good. But it's just lacking chemistry in all sorts of ways and it's hard to pinpoint why. The first episode is nothing like the second episode forward as it takes a leap from somber to an infusion of comedy. I was pretty excited that it had a relatively similar feel to the Fiery Priest in the beginning but it was short-lived. The ML/FL characters were made to be too extreme in personalities from the start and then shifted out of character very quickly and continually, which made what would have given them their individual charm a blur instead. The supporting actors were even more extreme with their personalities/quirks and it took too much realism out of what is actually quite a decent plot.

As some minor examples, the ML is supposed to be a badass high up on the chain in the Italian mafia. Yet when he arrive in Korea, he's easily drugged by a drink offered by a cab driver and then mugged? I mean, even normal tourists with any common sense would have known to not get into a random black car at the airport when the driver is being overly pushy about using their services. As for the FL, while the actress did the best she could with what she was dealt, the character was spicy but didn't make much sense. They should have highlighted more on the reasoning behind why she was working against her father before she suddenly decided to have a change of heart. The tiny explanation of their relationship right before a major event really didn't do much. Then there are the tenants living/working at the building who are supposed to be regular folk but their characters leans more towards a circus-asylum feel. The ML's interaction with them is equally awkward.

Should reiterate that the series isn't necessarily bad but unfortunately dropping the series because I've already seen how well it can be done with the Fiery Priest.

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Missed the Mark

Always on the lookout for plots that involve undercover characters who go out and help people. One of my favorite childhood series was when the Emperor himself strolled the streets in plain clothes so he can understand his country. So I definitely wanted to like this series but I've been emotionless for all three episodes.

The acting wasn't terrible but was subpar and the main characters had no chemistry with one another (or with any other characters for that matter). But the biggest cause of the series missing the mark wasn't the actors but the actual plot flow. You can see the potential but the execution of each scene was done with poor timing and execution.

As an example, when the FL is helping with the birth of a baby to a dying woman. The male doctor and her are both looking at the baby's entrance point. In historical times, it's unlikely a male doctor would be at ease even being close to that area. The FL admitted she had no experience and despite the dying woman having an arrow stuck in her chest while pushing the baby out, the birth was super effortless. It's difficult to describe in words but you can tell that not much thought was put in with no attention to detail throughout the series. And it resulted in a very unnatural plot flow.

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Long-winded

The beginning few episodes were relatively captivating. The CG work was done pretty well (felt like I was watching video game graphics) and the famous chicken scenes were quite funny. The build-up of the main romantic couple was well-paced before it dipped into fast forward mode. There's nothing negative to say about any of the actors or characters but also nothing outstanding.

After those first few episodes, I found myself fast-forwarding through the endless and repetitive scenes of the couple's interactions. The typical long stares, constant falling into each other's arms, the incessant ways they find reasons to hold hand, and many other standard romance-heavy tropes. Because my interest was peaked enough to want to know the backstory behind our enigma male protagonist, I made the effort to truck on. The series is mostly a mishmash of lighthearted comedy, romance, and drama but without the best flow. And having gone up to episode 13 with almost zero development in the plot and characters, it was time to drop the series.

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Not Bad, Just Not Enough

Foremost, I really can't stand this type of costuming in historical settings. But every so often, if the plot and actors do a good enough job, it's something that can be overlooked. It is still cringy though. The long stringy bangs that half of the male actors have and the over-bleached hair colors. I mean, for characters that are supposed to be highly skilled in martial arts, apparently their bangs don't seem to get in the way...

However, the characters were pretty charismatic and the plot flow skipped along okay. The action scenes were typically of series with this type of costuming: lots of floating around, actors who try to make the martial arts believable but it's obvious they don't have any real training, and attempts to make up for the lack in martial arts by incorporating heavy CG (of which, some were pretty decent). It's a fantasy setting so there's no high expectations of realism and while the negatives mentioned above are not as bad as some other series, it's still a bit overdone for my personal taste.

Stuck around for 11 episodes mainly for the plot, the charismatic actors, and the nicely incorporated humor. But it was one of series where you can do some chores on the side, miss out on some dialogue, and not feel like you've missed much. It's good enough where I can probably continue to watch to the end but not enough to feel like I have to get to that next episode.

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The positive. The team has a nice bond between them and it has a fun vibe. Got a few laughs out of it.

Started the series in the mood for a bit of the supernatural but this didn't quite cut it unfortunately. Reminds me of anime live actions where it tries to but fails to capture its essence. That's in my personal opinion of course, since taking an imaginary world of endless possibilities and trying to bring it into the "real world" is a daunting task.

I think they tried so hard to incorporate a little of everything that no one bothered to actually sit through it to consider whether any of it made sense. It's like let's just make it look cool and hope no one notices. There are times when things can and should be overlooked but if even the actions scenes felt mundane, it accentuates everything else that much more.

- A high school kid (as usual) has become the team's main hope to defeat demons and despite having a zero fighting background, he ramps up almost immediately (of course). How did the supernatural spirit survive without him all this time?
- The detective who has amnesia knew enough facts about his prior life but apparently spent the last seven years not caring to look into it? He knew he was a detective and at which station but again, never even met the female detective who signed off on his suicide case? Nope, didn't get emotional or care until he met the high school kid who reminded him of a business card he had in his pocket.
- Ignoring the corny theme of spirits choosing human grim reapers and living in a white room, the grim reapers only exorcise demons but only the ones who commit violent murders? Who takes care of other demonic predators then?
- Having been given instant superhuman strength, what was the point in dramatizing the detective doing calisthenics on the bars? It would be impressive for a normal human but completely pointless for him otherwise? And worse, it hints that the high school kid who was handicapped for years and never worked on his physique is actually the stronger one in strength?

Only being four episodes in, the reason for dropping it isn't even about the inconsistencies because it could have just been categorized as entertaining. However, the flow was just all over the place. You couldn't really tell if you should find the serious moments amusing or if it was meant to be taken seriously. Then the obvious scenes that were meant to be serious transitioned with poor timing or just didn't make sense. If they focused more on the fighting demons aspect instead of trying to incorporate multiple genres right off the bat, I might have made it through more episodes.

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If a high school drama club wrote the script and played the roles, they would have probably been graded pretty high. Unfortunately, there just wasn't a "good enough" reason to keep watching.

They tried to incorporate a bit of everything into this when it comes to martial arts, the supernatural, detective work, etc. but didn't execute well. I initially overlooked the less than average acting, fight scenes, and the odd modern music attachment because it had a lighthearted, comedic undertone but there were just too many fails in the plot and character builds. One example is you have a character who is supposed to have some type of super strength but yet they couldn't get themselves out of being tied up with normal ropes? There just isn't any consistency.

The one positive is that at least the costume-work and makeup wasn't as tacky as I've seen in some of the other historical series. Whenever I attempt to watch series in the historical era and they change the image of the leads into a boy-band looking outlier, it usually lays the groundwork of someone trying too hard to appeal to other cultures or the younger generation. Fortunately, they weren't too heavy-handed in that aspect here.

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