Covens, Cabals, Conspiracy, Costumes and Compelling Characters.
If you want to watch a series that looks like it was shot with the cinematography and production values of a big budget movie, this is the one. A supernatural drama with 4 main leads (2 males and 2 females), Tientsin mystic starts with some dead bodies being fished out of a river, which becomes a huge conspiracy to kill / convert many many people even resulting in an international incident! So the plot starts slow and when it gets going there are revelations everywhere!The acting by all 4 leads is stellar. Li Xian's portrayal of Guo De You is so convincing I became a fan instantly. Similarly the other 3 leads also embody their characters. What I loved the most is how they all interacted with each other naturally, and the women aren't stupid or hiding in the background. In fact, Gu Ying (Cici Wang) is the best fighter among them all, and kicks a lot of ass. Xiao Lan Lan (Charlene Chen) is as smart as both male leads even though Ding Mao (Zhang Ming En) has had the advantage of having studied overseas.
As previously mentioned, the production values are stellar. There are very interesting shots, and very well done underwater scenes. The way the camera pans drawing in the viewer is phenomenal. The costumes are gorgeous and unique to each character, even the supporting roles. Also, shout out to the action choreographer for the many many well shot action scenes of mass battles and underwater shenanigans.
This drama really ups the standard of what is possible even with a low budget and a short filming time. Thoroughly enjoyed it and looking forward to the sequel. Note: Tientsin Mystic Season 1 was the winner of Best Visual Effect & Best Direction at the 2018 New York Festival World Best TV & Films Competition
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It tried to be dark and Scooby Doo at the same time...
...and I'm not sure it worked out well.The thing is, the plot is quite interesting. I was curious about what will happen and where the events are leading me. The way it was presented, though was quite questionable. They switched from fun Sherlock Holmes with bits of Scooby Doo, to dark, gruesome and disturbing in between scenes. In the end, it was neither a light, fun and entertaining crime story, nor a psychological thriller with fantasy elements. Not to mention the pacing, with the first half of the show being just a long exposition, and the second half not having enough time to truly dive into the main villain's plan and the interesting interactions between him and the leads.
The best aspects of the show are the characters and the aesthetics. All four of the main cast did an amazing job portraying their given characters. The relationships between them were formed in a natural and gradual way. I truly believed that they became close friends by the end. That said, saying this show has a bromance is an overstatement. Not every male friendship would be a bromance, and here it did not feel like what I would usually call one.
Gu Ying, was for me, a star of the show. I liked her from episode one till the last second. She was strong and vulnerable at the same time. She was loyal, brave and driven. She was a bit of a busybody, but that made her character more realistic and adorable.
As I mentioned, the show is extremely aesthetically pleasing. The whole folder of the screenshots I took proves it. The set design was amazing, and the cinematography quite nice, taking into consideration, the whole plot takes place technically in one city.
So, what were my problems? As I have already mentioned, the weird mix of fun, light detective work and the dark and disturbing plots/scenes and the pacing were the main flaws. I have to add the police chief, who was more or less useless, and yet was given more screen time than Lan Lan, who was one of the main characters.
While the songs and instrumentals used in the show were good, the placement of them was unfitting at times, which ruined the emotional aspects of quite a few scenes.
Overall, I kind of had fun? I liked the first and second half for different reasons. The first one focused more on the main characters and their detective/investigations, seconds went full craze and entertaining. They, sadly, did not match well together. With the ending presented, I am going to pretend the second season does not exist and put that story to rest.
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This review may contain spoilers
Sad ending
Okay, first ima talk about how good is their acting skills. Amanzing! 4 of them are very good at acting. My favorite couple is FL and ML . But, kinda sad that season1 just end like that...... Season1 is sad ending. I have wacth season 2, but I not so enjoy the drama, caz the ML have replaced. No hate, but I like the Season 1 ML more. I not very enjoy the season 2, and I skip alot. Hope one day, they all will work together again..................This is one of my favorites chinesse drama, when u go sreach at YouTube doesn't show a full ep. Y'all can only wacth at iqiyi, but is vip version. So, u y'all wanna wacth log in and get vip version. I just gonna say this is one of the best drama. Which I wacth over and over again.
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