Let me tell you straight up other than having the same genre as Mystic Nine(and same Lt.Zhao) there is nothing similar of TM to Mystic Nine at all. This is a masterpiece compared to Mystic Nine and I can't believe that people don't talk about this more. I have seen that those who have watched both Mystic Nine and this always prefer this over it but it's only that minority.
The main reason for this to actually be better is the full fast paced story line with completely lovable characters. Starting from our MC Guo De You, he was simply amazing. He had everything I loved in my MCs. He was fine mix of intelligent and mischievous and was hilarious to boot. This was my first time watching Li Xian and now I'm an official fan of him. Having watched Medical Examiner Dr.Qin and Only Side by Side with you just for him I can't wait to see him in Go Go Squid too(which is I'm impatiently waiting for cuz it's based on one of my favorite books). Next we have Mao Ding. He was the perfect Dr.Watson to our Sherlock. Being a rich son didn't make the least annoying, he had his own agenda but that didn't mean he totally rebelled either. He cared enough for his company when needed. Next up is my favorite in the whole story, Gu Ying. I swear I didn't love female MC as much as I loved since Zheng Shuang in Love o2o. Despite the little knick of hers to totally follow Guo De You, this girl was the best. Not that I'm comlpaining about that either. She was the perfect badass leading lady we needed. She had so much spunk that I felt even if they put Guo De You and Mao Ding together they can't fight as well as her. She was hilarious to boot too. I saw few people complaining about her clothes but man I loved every single one of her outfits. That girl rocked them. I mean not everyone can have a freaking bird nest on top of their heads and make it look bad ass. Our second leading lady Xiao Lan Lan was the perfect rich girl and once again like Mao Ding she didn't act the spoilt rich girl. She had her own strengths and pulled similar weight of the group. Not only these character shone on their own but when you put them together in one screen, the chemistry was off charts. Each character fit with the other perfectly, The bromance, the romance (or lack of it) was perfect. Each adn every character added something to the story to make it amazingly balanced, from the ineffective police head to Master Guo to the Head Shaman to even Chairman Ding.
Talking about the story, like I told before it was fast paced and didn't leave the audience hanging even for a second. For me every single scene was engaging and believe me after having more than a decade of experience of watching all Asian dramas this is a first where I didn't skip even a second of a drama. The mystery kept me guessing even till the last moment and you won't believe what kind of secrets come up in the episodes at all.
The cinematography was also perfect for the tone of the series with a dark, aura being around through out the drama with perfectly balanced colors here and there. The republican China was adapted better here for me than that of Mystic Nine and we don't see the normally seen parties and high end houses but we get to see the more street life giving this a nice touch. The clothes were on point and I loved how different the four were in their own statuses.
And can I tell that I love the ending song. Jam Hsiao did an amazing job with that and it perfectly blended with the whole series.
This is also the first time I have written such a big review to a drama and first time I've given a complete 10 for everything. Another first fir me was rewatching the whole thing as soon as I finished it. I opened up a netflix account just to watch the rest of the drama. Take my word for this and do not miss this drama. Have no doubts when watching this drama. You will not regret it even for a second. Now patiently waiting for second season as I've heard rumors that it's been green lit. Hopefully the full cast returns for at least 4 episodes to give us closure for that open ending.
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Anyways, this is fairly unique drama, it's I think best described as a mystery thriller with a dab of folklore and mysticism which I was 120% in for but also mix in some cult and other odd supernatural elements that left me mildly confused. There is bit of romance but it's probably 1/10 of the drama if even that. (mostly blatant crush, little bit of flirting and a few scenes here and there) so don't come in looking for them. The duality of mysticism/traditionalism vs science/modern sensibilities embodied by our two sets of main character adds interesting layers to the plot.
I can't tell you how happy I am by the Shuo Shu (storytelling?) style of recapping at beginning of every episode, all the tidbits about local customs of Tianjin, particular accent of a supporting character; they all subtly bring the setting alive. I think the plot started out pretty engaging, as they seem to stumble into more and more mysteries that's interconnected. The relationship between the two main characters were pretty fun, since they played off each other well and the banter was delightful. I'm rather unhappy with the antagonist side though, from disappointing resolution of minor antagonists, to what I think rather ineffectual evil plot, not to mention supernatural bits that I think could be better utilised in other stories, but I digress.
I was pretty surprised by the use of fresh faced young actors in this drama but I'm happy they did so. Li Xian did an excellent job as Guo De You, his character has the most nuances, and can spout out unpopular opinions but the acting makes it perfectly believable that it's something he would do, Zhang Ming En started off over acting quite a bit but I think settled in his role as Ding Mao fairly nicely after few episodes. Wang Zi Xuan had the hard job of playing the somewhat annoying, overeager Gu Ying, but I personally wasn't bothered by her and she's the brawl of the group! Charlene Chen's Xiao Lan Lan was probably my favourite character, but she was bound to be by the virtue of being a daughter of a well off and powerful family who's determined to have her own career in those times. Honestly, the two female characters could use more character development and more layers, but they aren't boring one note characters so I'll take what I can get.
I rather like the aesthetics of the drama, even though the somewhat muted filter threw me off so much when I first started watching it. Some of the hairstyle are a little wait what? Like Ding Mao's Doumyouji hair, but I got used to that; Guo De You's....I don't even know what that is, I adapted to surprisingly easily due to what I can only presume to be Li Xian's sheer charms; Gu Ying's damn frizzy pigtails with bird's nest on top is a sight to behold though'. She also have this unfortunate plait wrapped around into a bun on top of her head with dangling flowers or some bits on the side at some point that convinced me the stylist really hates her. The patchwork whatever clothes they wear are confusing but seems to make sense in this bizzaro world.
Wait, I was talking about liking the aesthetics...! Right, there are some bits of animation in the drama that's drawn in a fairly realistic style that I really liked. The OP was....literally the characters yelling out their own characteristics while random images are cobbled together into a creepy unsettling montage that set the tone of the series really well but freaked me out quite a bit for the initial few episodes. Love the ED a lot which was by Jam Hsiao as well as the deleted scenes? that plays before the ED at the end of every episodes since they fill in some gaps and you can hear the drama without the dub! (This being a web drama, I think the actors all dubbed themselves but don't quote me on that.)
All in all, I think it's a drama worth watching despite all of its faults, which I have detailed far more than its good points, but please believe me when I say I did enjoy this drama a lot and love some of it to bits. Season 2 has been confirmed so I'll definitely be on a look out next year!
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This review may contain spoilers
This series is a lot of things, and in the end I can say it's right on top with my other favourites. Story: At the beginning the story seemed to be surreal, for the first 3 episodes I didn't know where I stood with it, it had a slow story introduction with bits of odd elements with how characters acts. After that the story suddenly started to make more sense, the detective elements and the true storyline got introduced slowly, but somehow in the long run it served good to the series, it added to the mystery element. It really got me hooked up and by the 5th episode I couldn't stop watching the series. I loved how the different customs and everyday life of Tientsin city unfolds in front of me, from the way a temple works and how it treats their dead to more comical shamanistic rituals, the police who might or might not be powerhungry and neglecting, but still somewhat caring about their profession even if in a cowardly way, the mysterious "udnerworld system" whith illegal activities from opium smoking to grave digging.
There are two negatives in the story that I feel weird about. First time they introduce the zombies, the way they suddenly started reanimating and hunting down our main characters in the hospital, it definitely reminded me to a B rated horror movie. Not sure if it was intentional to add a bit of parodic value or not. The second and main reason most of my downvotes are coming from is the ending. Dear director, this is not how you end a series!!! Seriously, no closure at all, we find out the motive behing the Evil gang boss and what caused the illness, but that is all. Suddenly the old master of little river god reappers without explanation of where he was all along and what the heck happened, a heroic battle that ended with some relevations and a scene cut right when our main here ...
and yes that is how I felt about the end, just cut out, like when in the middle of the episode you got advertisements pop up and and you wait patiently for the 2 minutes to be over to continue to watch your series, expect it never happens. And now we will have season 2 sometimes with a complitely different main actor ... that is a story for another time but certainly made me pissed off.
Where this series really shines is the cinematography which is amazing, the quality is really unique and outstanding regarding other Chinese dramas, the costumes are made very well and perfectly reflect the time period, the mysterious elements and uniqeness of each character. The way they used different camera recording methods is amazing, each time it reflected well the scene and the story. The colours too, mostly it is kind of dark, but certain clothes and scenes are so bright and colourful, it's amazing how they played with these elements. It's very obcious this is not your usual cheap budget Chinese drama.
Music: I gave this a high rating even though most people don't think much about it. Well I guess most westerner people are used to big hits action drama Two steps from hell kinda epic battle songs or such, here you get little background music, some during fight scenes, and to be honest this is the case where less is more. It reflects perfectly the state of the story and the way it doesn't take the spot from the scene unfolding is actually very refreshing. So yeah there is not much typical soundtracks here, but the ones we have actually suits imo this type of show. Pity people don't even realize it.
Acting and characters: it's very good, in fact I'm amazed by most of the acting, from the old lady to the main characters they executed it really well. The 4 main characters have a very unique bond and a chemistry, it's lovely to see them together, and it seems very natural, the friendship, little bit of rivalry and doubt in the beginning, the ever loyal and brave, kind hearted girl who in her simply ways is just amazing, the super inteligent female journalist, what a refreshing thing to see strong and not stupid females! The mysterious and scientific approaches of the detective element is also very intersting. Each are well conveyed through perfectly by the actors.
All in all this is a great series, but the way they ended it is kind of unforgivable., even if you want cliffhangers this is not the way to do it.
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This review may contain spoilers
First, I watched this drama with a full preparation of big heart towards LiXian x Wang Zixuan and. I prepared my feeling towards them without hatred and biased.
I watched this series on Netflix and The drama started really well, I was expecting it would be the best LiXian drama and then it's getting weirder and weirder so I claim maybe he will get a better drama with "Republican Era" later.
It's very unique drama with a little touch of folklore, mystical and superstition which is I was completely hooked up by watching their first 10 episodes.
The drama is set in the republican era which with aesthetic props and setting even the costumes. They introduced the drama with some kind of "shaman" annual ritual in Tientsin and lead the audience to get know Guo Deyou and Ding Mao. Guo Deyou (LiXian) who salvaged corpses from the river and known as "Little River God", the ability with kind of smoke spiritual method meanwhile Ding Mao (Zhang Mingen) is a son of the chamber of commerce and forensic scientist enthusiasm lead them together to try solving mystery about the murder in Tientsin, up to this point the drama was excellent. Gu Ying (Wang Zi Xuan) character is very refreshing at the same time dumb and I love Xiao Lan character the most which is thanks to Charlene Chen for played it really well. The combination between mysticism and modernity (at that time) blended together to add the uniqueness of the story. The relationship between four characters were pretty decent and the bickering was pretty delightful. The humor is sometime on point and mostly are dull.
Like I said before, The drama started very well and it's getting weirder and
I couldn't cope what the hell happened between leads, antagonists and the main issue. When it started into Evil Gang Cult and holy child went to zombie apocalypse to psychotic magicians and they didn't even explain the relationship between the main issue and them which is I found it was really confusing, ridiculous and outrageous to digest.I just can't stand with their beating around the bush conversations and didn't come straight to the point what they wanted to tell the audience about. The writing was very dull, I am pretty sure the one and only who understood the story only the writer himself and he even couldn't let the director understand it so the directing skill is quite off.
The drama didn't realise that they need a plot so they could engage the audience into their story very well. They have to enhance the character development to get the drama more well executed. Even me as the audience cant feel any "villain" characters at all. The drama didn't grasp each characters really well even the four main lead which is disappointed.
Sometimes they started off over acting a lot especially Gu Ying ( Wang ZiXuan, well if she doesn't do over acting, I found her quite decent in acting) and Ding Ming (Zhang Mingen) and make have no choice to move forward it. I don't mind with the dubbing except Gu Ying , it wasnt match with her body and age at all. Though maybe at that time either LiXian or Charlene Chen were inexperience, so their acting are not at their best. For Wang Zixuan and Zhang Mingen, they have to improve and learn more about acting, I watched their acting are really stiff.
For the cinematography, it's very beautiful with a little touch of "mysticism" and "republican era" and I love it. The costumes are made very on point and perfectly suit of each characters. The setting and props are so stunning and color palette of cinematic are stunningly great but I hate myself when it comes to small details like how they used camera, film camera, writing with pen, using medical mask and microscopes biology all of them are WRONG USED and it's such a shame they didn't use it very good props properly. They shot it fantastically so we could watch it the sense of frightening and creepy montage and creativity to put the deleted scene.
ENDING EPISODE
I didn't know how to explain how disappointed I am, watching last episodes that left us so many unanswered questions that still mystery. The ending was really ridiculous and abrupt. I couldn't say any words except "WTF is this"
1. They didnt tell us why the master is gone and suddenly he is back and told Gu Ying that he searched for Dark Waters. Where is the explanation about the water and the missing master himself?
2. Unnecessary kissing scene
3. The holy child is Gu Ying yet I have no idea wtf happened in the end, what kind of spiritual she has that she can jump to the water while she lost her sight.
4. Where is the explanation between Zombie, Evil Gang Cult and magician psychotic? and they just killed Huang Yu like that?
OVERALL
Overall, Despite the ending was abrupt and disappointed. We could tell that is the conclusion what the drama has actually happened, "weirdo". It had enough fantasy and mystery to satisfy me. I was hoping for more of an explanation as to how the Little River God could stay submerged for such a long time and his mystical other worldly wandering. He seem more magical than the Holy Child. it’s a cliffhanger for a season two, I hope it will answer all our questions. TBH, I would never to recommend this drama to my friends who has prejudice towards LiXian.
LiXian has that talent to improve and promising, I do hope he could break away his image with a well written, well directed and well casted drama.
I will give another chance to Tienstsin Mystic Season 2. I hope they will give us a better well packaged drama than this one.
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What I liked about this drama was how Tientsin itself feels like a character and this is a credit to the attention to detail in regards to the production/set design. Just as the characters may be of afraid of what dangers may be lurking in the water, there are also dangers hiding in the shadows of Tientsin. Throughout the drama, we are taken to seedy areas such as a brothel, prison and even a literal black market. It is assumed that since Tientsin is a coastal city, it is isolated from the outside world. As a result, they have developed their own customs, culture, traditions and superstitions that they strongly believe in that are free from any outside influence. However, in more recent times, with the development of ports and canal system, outside/foreign influences are starting to seep in. It was certainly interesting to see how characters that never left Tientsin and those that were educated abroad/experience with the outside world collided and came together in solving the mystery.
Speaking of the characters, Tientsin Mystic has assembled an interesting group of them. I briefly read up on Taoism (Read: skimmed the Wikipedia page) and learned that women shamans play an important part in Taoism. I think the reaction to Gu Ying may be mixed, some may find her annoying but I liked what her character brought to the drama. We're given the reason as to why she constantly follows around Guo De You but she also plays a role beyond merely being a love interest for his character. It was interesting to see the rituals/practices that Gu Ying and her mother engaged in. More than that, I really enjoyed the character of Xiao Lan Lan and the similarities she shared with Dao Ming. Both have prominent family backgrounds but are trying to break free from the roles prescribed to them. The drama also deals with cults and brainwashing. Xiao Lan Lan works as a newspaper reporter and even though her father is the Secretary-General with influence over Tientsin which includes the newspaper (manipulating the information so as to not cause panic amongst the people), Xiao Lan Lan remains committed to finding the truth.
Beyond all that, the drama is just a lot of fun despite dealing with some dark subject matter at times. The drama mixes a variety of elements such as: supernatural/mysticism, action (there are some great setpieces that take place in the hospital/prison), romance, comedy, mystery all with its own distinct touch. Fair warning, the drama does end on a cliffhanger but unlike other Chinese dramas that have done the same, this one does have a confirmed second season. Credit and admiration goes to the production team for rendering Tientsin and this world so vividly, a world that I would be happy to return to.
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Which is why I liked the first half best. When the Preacher then arrived and Guo Deyou & Ding Mao were split, each following his own storyline and with a heavy focus on Guo Deyou - who was the lead, so no wonder - I admit I started to lose interest a bit. Still, Ding Mao’s endless trust in Guo Deyou, even when everyone else turned against him, that was a thing to behold, really. And the ending, the last moments of the final ep, made me very emotional.
Guo Deyou, Ding Mao, Gu Ying & Xiao Lanlan, their friendship, the way they went through thick and thin together, the way they supported each other and had each other’s back, that neither Ding Mao, nor Xiao Lanlan, both born into wealth, were ashamed of their working class friends, that they all as a group respected each other’s… well, idiosyncrasies… that gave me much feels.
Also, I wish I could get my hands on the OST. The instrumental tracks, so very similar to Sherlock Holmes’ - both Ritchie’s and Moffat’s - they just hit the right spot for me. Alas, it’s not available anywhere. Pah, humbug!
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This review may contain spoilers
It's good but there's a surprise
After seeing several friends enjoy this i decided to give it a try because Chinese Republic era dramas are among my favorite. The sets, costumes, and styling were excellent! The mix between science and magic was really cool too.Until.
And here's the spoiler.
When we finally start to understand the Big Bad Guy's plan, it involves zombies. I was not expecting a zombie drama at all and it is one of my least favorite genres.
I finished the series because i wanted to see why there's a season two. But the surprise appearance of zombies really killed my enjoyment of the series.
Other Good points: i thought the cast did great. I enjoyed the relationship between De-gou (Little River God) & the Sorceress, there wasn't as much bromance as i hoped but it was still solid.
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This review may contain spoilers
I have to be honest with my disappointment. Season one ends with a mid-sentence cliffhanger. So for anyone that is thinking about watching this drama, you are forewarned that you will finish 24 episodes feeling unsatisfied. This drama can be broken up into two portions. The first half was about Little River God (Li Xian) and Young Master Deng (Zhang Ming'en) teaming up to solve murder mysteries. It was a fun tandem and I enjoyed that portion of the show a lot. Then the second half of the show was all about the zombies and the Ancient Evil Cult which was interesting but very one toned. The writing for the show really took a nose-dive into the supernatural, mystical turn in the second half of the show. So if that is your cup of tea, then you will really enjoy this show.
Personally, I am not a fan of zombie shows. When this story took a turn into zombie land, I really struggled with thoughts of dropping this show. My qualm with zombie shows is that the writing for the show most often take a backseat to the zombies. I hate watching zombies chasing humans (because how many times have we seen variations of that...ZzzZzz) and there is a whole lot of that in this show. Not to mention the twisted logic of how the zombies were formed and controlled... all that wompy, mumble, jumble is not my favorite.
Pros for the show. I like the general look of this entire drama. The costumes, props and sets were all really well done. I really liked how they incorporated animation into the retelling of historical events. I enjoyed the tandem between Deng Mao and Deyou and then Deyou and Gu Ying. The mystery of the Ancient Evil Cult was somewhat interesting but it kind of dragged. Really, I found myself not really caring about the cult all that much, despite the entire drama revolving around that story line.
Anyway this drama was just okay. I probably wouldn't re-watch and if they take too long to release Season two, I'd probably skip out on wanting to know the ending to the story. Truthfully, I don't care enough.
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I was disappointed though on how long it took to start revealing the essence of the show. Everything was revealed during basically the last four episodes and at that point it felt rushed.
I wasn't too happy about the way it ended. It left a lot of questions for me unanswered. The ending makes me believe that there will be a season 2(at least I hope). I love Guo De You and his love interest. I was not happy about how it never really developed in to anything. The movie was very dark not just in context but in filming wise. All the scenes were dark even when filming in the daytime.
Music was nothing worth remembering.
I think it gets such a high score from me because of Li Xian. I loved everything about him in this drama.
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Highly recommend
I watched the show with my flatmate and we were both constantly positively surprised, even though she has a phobia of worms and had a difficult time dealing with those scenes. I have to warn those of you who have any water-related phobias as well. Li Xian shines bright and I do admit I'm a little worried for the second season. The visuals and story would hold up even with a weaker cast, but it is clear that Li Xian will leave a void in the series and that it will take a heap of charisma to fill it.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Good storytelling, Interesting Characters
This is a cross-genre series of sorts, with elements of mystery and zombie apocalypse and even a bit of sci-fi. The premise is rather interesting if a tad bizarre--a cult is scheming something evil. It must be stopped, and ultimately, the main characters must stop them.The story may not draw viewers in that well if it were not for the interesting characters and their relationships. The dynamics between main characters, Gup De You and Ding Mao, are engaging without being cloying. Each of the four main characters, as well as most of the secondary characters, is interesting in his/her own right, and this is something quite rare.
The story would probably have been better without the obligatory quasi-scientific posturing. The seemingly supernatural occurrences must be scientifically explainable even if the explanations are implausible. This is thanks to China's censorship laws as usual, but I also wonder if there is a subversive mockery of the censorship itself. After all the scientific explanations, portrayed as a Western import, ultimately fail to account for everything.
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After watching this drama I searched for the novel versions and was shooked as the novel version is so much different from the TV ver. They have kept some of the characters' identity but have changed most of it and also the plots. I'm very fascinated by the producers and directors and all the workers that had produced such drama almost out of nothing though its based on a novel.
Though I love this drama as it has its own unique way and beautiful filming set and a pretty nice plot with talented actors and actresses there are still flaws and potholes here and there in the drama based on logics and sciences. But overall I had so much fun with this drama and I'm looking forward to the sequel next year! I'm so hooked until I'm willing to watch the season 2 though they don't have Lixian as Guodeyou anymore. To all the drama lovers out there if you are sick and tired of all the lovey dovey do try out this adventurous tientsin mystic that will bring you into a whole new world!
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