My Roommate Is a Detective (2020)

This drama would be great and much more enjoyable if it weren’t for the female main character. I have never seen such an unlikeable and annoying main female lead in all the dramas I can remember, so much so that I created an account just to vent my frustration. I have seen many dramas with spoilt rich main leads but they all had some sort of redeeming and enjoyable qualities about them. I do not understand why the writer had to ruin the series like that. The romance was just so forced in this drama. I wish these writers understood that not all series require romance. The female main character is spoilt but not cute, an annoying bully and does not think she is wrong, manipulative and has a ridiculously “everyone has to listen to me” kind of attitude. The writers were probably going for a spoilt but good vibe but it was just poorly done. And the scenes between female and male main characters were supposed to be funny but it was just awkward. The crime solving and two male leads were the only thing that kept me watching. The crime solving scenes and the way it plays out also become repetitive but I could still carry on, it is the female lead that made me want to throw my laptop!

Read More

LONG POST AHEAD.

Ok, so, if you want to watch a light-hearted series of solving crimes, and enjoy the atmosphere of The Republic of China in the mid-1920s, then this series is suitable for you. The cases were well-written and the deduction was logical. Lu Yao and Qiao Chusheng, two male characters in this series, also have a good chemistry. Qiao Chusheng provided Lu Yao a comfortable life by buying things and protecting Lu Yao, and Lu Yao solved the cases for him, improved his reputation. Their chemistry was a big plus. Beside that, the filming set and the clothes were beautiful and stylish.
Now, let's come to the minus side of this.
The female character, Bai Youning, a journalist, is very irritating. Yes, in the first few episodes, I could still empathize with her, and hope that she could have some developments. But she just didn't change. After 7-8 episodes, she still wrote tabloids about cases. She belittled Lu Yao, and even pretended that she was kidnapped, made Lu Yao and Qiao Chusheng worried to death and tried to save her. She was just too annoying, and her chemistry with Lu Yao was just unbearable. I could not understand how Lu Yao could love her, because all they did through nearly 32 episodes was bickering and fighting. But then, in episode 30, they kissed, episode 36, they got married and went to Paris, left Qiao Chusheng all alone in Shanghai after all. Poor Chusheng, he had done anything and everything to protect both Lu Yao and Bai Youning, but he was left alone in the end.
In conclusion, if you don't really mind about the ending, then this series is suitable for you. If you do, then please consider twice before watching it.

Read More

Female and male lead have a happy ending! <3

It's a nice and simple detective drama with a slight romance and happy ending for the Ml and Fl. All the actors were nice and the friendship scenes of the trio was adorable.

If you like shows with Chinese Republican era decor and outfits and are a fan of shows like Detective L, then you will like this too.

About the Detective genre: There is a murder case story in every episode and even though some cases seem simple, some were really interesting, especially the cases which required the explanation of chemistry (subject matter) behind it.

About the Romcom genre: The ml and fl have a bickering type of chemistry throughout the show. Sometimes scenes get repetitive but towards the last few episodes, their story seemed to pick up.

Overall a decent watch for some tension free pass time. :)

Read More

I smiled throughout My Roommate Is a Detective. It's a bromance (yea!). It's a romance (eh!). It's a mystery in the most remedial of ways. But damn if it's not just a good watch. Lu Yao ( Hu Yi Tian), a money loving rascal, is recruited by Qiao Chu Sheng (Leon Zhang), a police inspector (once mafia boss) to solve murders. Initially based on money, the 2 develop a friendship and make quite the team. The main cast also includes Shane Yan as Bai You Ning, a reporter at a tabloid and the daughter of the War Lord, Mr. Bai, in charge of the British section of Shanghai.

As I stated the mysteries were remedial. Very little comes in the way of twists and the red herrings were more like pale pink. It was almost like watching an episode of Columbo. You know whoever he bothers is the killer. The who is a given. The how is what it's about. Unlike Columbo there is an underlying mystery/force behind all the other mysteries. The writers skim the political surface of the British annexation, racism, and ruthlessness. I wish they would have delved further. At first I had remind myself that this is Chinese drama and there's only so much one can air. After a couple of episodes the thought never crossed my mind.

The acting was very good. I loved every scene with Hu and Zhang. They had great chemistry. Yan had to be taken with a grain of salt. She is a bully and childish. The character can be great one second and completely annoying the next. Aside from her wardrobe, there was really nothing likable about her. The supporting cast was good. As a whole they were solid.

Let me take a moment to mention the production which was superb. The sets and wardrobe were sublime. Admittedly, I adore the fashion of the 1930's and 40's. The music was also great. I caught 2 modern songs that were out of place. One character was humming a song and a 30s style arrangement of "Dancing In the Streets" was played in a club. It makes me wonder what else I may have missed. The opening and ending titles are extremely good CG accompanied by fantastic songs. The opening theme "Enigma" by Chinese rapper After Thought sets the tone for each episode, while Shu Si Ding's sexy "Awake" leaves you with a sense of wonder.

While I wish the writer was more daring, I did enjoy MRIAD completely from beginning to end. I don't know if I'd ever watch it again, but I'd definitely check out a sequel. I'd like to know what's next for the characters. Overall, I'd give it a 9-9.5.

Read More

This show is really enjoyable in the beginning.
Until the FL shows up. She’s good when helping to solve the case, but when she interacts with the ML, it's just annoying. Also she almost didnt have any character development. Well, her character kinda grow on me as i'm watching. But then they started to spark the romance on FL and ML, i kinda lost it there. Their quarrels actually seems like more of sibling fight, unlike the usual hate-to-love bickering couples. Also it's too rushed, especially on last few eps. One thing i love about FL's character is her oufit/style.

Bromance were really good. I love their interactions. And it always makes me wonder why do they need to have an FL?, it's seems like they just forged her character there. Also how could they literally end it like that? Is that supposed to be a happy ending?

Intro and outro song are really good. I especially love the outro song. At first i think its kind of weird to have a rap song on historical drama, but the i realized that it does actually a good fit.

Rewatch? Yes, but not the whole show. Just my favorite episodes. I dont think i could stand seeing the whole thing once again, esp the ending.

Overall its a good crime solving detective drama. The case solving is really fun to watch. It does get predictable as they solved more cases, but its still enjoyable.
If you could stand weird-rushed ending (in my opinion the ending is weird) you should watch it.

Read More

Train Wreck in a Fancy Wrapper

Only watched this because I really liked Checkmate and this had the same theme and cast. However, I didn't expect a debacle of these proportions. How this has an 8.4 rating here is beyond me, unless its because of actor fans; but then different strokes for different folks.

Pros: Literally the SML or QCS carried the entire show on his shoulders. His character was intelligent, gutsy, had great martial arts skills, loyal, caring, supportive to all he cared about. Maybe not the full brains of the operation, but very close. Other likable characters were Old man Bai, Adou, and Salim. They rounded out the support nicely. Production when it came to sets and costumes was gorgeous as all Republican era dramas are. That's it, there were no other pros for me.

Cons: I could just say everything else and that would suffice but I will elaborate a bit. The ML had serious issues of laziness, greed, and multiple personalities that only seemed to slightly disappear towards the end. The FL was the usual toxic, prepubescent voiced, self entitled brat that thought the entire world owed her for her father's lack of parenting skills. There was zilch chemistry between the leads other then constant bickering, so them getting all lovey dovey towards the end and getting hitched was very much an afterthought that felt more like incest because they acted like siblings with QCS having to essentially babysit both even during cases, which made things look very unprofessional and half-assed.

The plots and cases were rather dull and unsatisfactory; all suspects confessed very quickly after always repeating the same remark about evidence; there was no real pull between ML and murderer. Like "Yep ok, I confess". The European additions to the cast had to be the worst and what got hit for ratings first for me was the nasty anti-Semitic remarks by both the Chinese and European cast. While I understand the time period and things were up in the air in China politically, Jews never posed a threat and therefore the Fascist comments were not only unnecessary but revolting. Had that continued, I would have dropped the series on principle.

The lack of cohesion of the Europeans speaking English, with their lips moving inaccurately to what was being said was sometimes hard to watch and often caused a headache. Also what was the point of them speaking English to their Chinese counterparts only to switch to Mandarin? It looked very sloppy. The ending was rushed and felt like it was filmed in a day. This was basically a train wreck in a fancy wrapper.

Would I recommend it? No, I absolutely would not. Yes, this was somehow a spoof on something to do with Agatha Christie, but for the life of me, I don't know how or where. This is probably one of my shortest reviews for a show, because it had literally just about everything wrong with it. So, save yourself the headache and find something else.

Read More

After watching this series, I feel like Shane Yan is going to be typecast as the annoying female character in all her series. Much like Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, I feel like as the series progresses, it got off track and I had to fast forward a few scenes. The two male leads are so cute together. I actually watched because of them. I thought they make the female lead a bit annoying. Of course, you know they would end up together in the end (ML and FL). Series has strong “Bromance”, and you are wondering why is there even a FL because it seems the two ML were meant to be a couple! Lol.

If you like murder mysteries, watch this series. If you can’t stand FL, just Skip through her scenes, although she pops up every time you think the two ML are going to make out. The writers really know how to “gay bait” the audience.

I wish they hadn’t made FL character so annoying. She’s good when helping to save crimes, but once she interacts with the ML, she gets under your skin. It’s the writing, not the actress. Still love this series!

Read More

It was a nice detective show, but it felt unfinished and lacking character development

Now I understand what everyone have been talking about.

1. Too much suggestive BL scenes - I wouldn't have minded this if there wasn't any romance between Youning and Maomao at the later part of the series. It felt really uncomfortable to me, especially since Chu Sheng is like a real big brother to Youning.
2. Very minimal to almost non-existent hint of romance between Youning and Maomao - Zero romance tension between Youning and Maomao 90% of the series. Then suddenly, it came out of nowhere. Ok, so I understand the first time they kissed had been an instinct to both of them and it would have been appropriate had there been any indication (no matter how low-key it was) that they were slowly developing to more than a bickering old friends, but no. It was like an unexpected slap in the face.
3. The last few episodes were rushed - I was impressed for the majority of the cases. The deductions were logical and the execution was great. But the last 5 episodes were rushed. I didn't get any satisfaction on how the villains got punished.

What I wished the Show should have explored more on:
1. Character development. There was ZERO. I wished to have seen a more mature Youning to become a real journalist and not just publish some catchy headlines to attract readers. Her ways had always been immature and that hasn't changed at all. Maomao has always been a little selfish and self-centered with no particular goal in life, and I am disappointed that there wasn;t really any change till the end. Yea, he held his ground and not follow his father's orders to return home, but that was only because he was having an internal battle with his father. There wasn't any real self-reflection on his part even after a near-death experience. But I do appreciate that he's always logical. Even his calculation of the reason why he wanted to be with Youning was romantic. The most stable out of the 3 and honestly the most likable and interesting character was Chu Sheng. He's smart, charming, and a good leader. Even if he grew up among gangsters, he maintained a kind heart. I was too heartbroken for him on that Tongli case. I want him to be happy again.
2. The tension between the elite Lu family and the Bai gang and how would they resolve their differences.
3. What happened to the looming war - but I guess this will be for another story

Overall, I enjoyed watching the show.

Read More

Good for it's trying to be

It's good for what it is, it was perfect for my mood during the last couple of months. A light comedy-detective show, with almost episodic cases. The 2 male leads had a lot of chemistry and I enjoyed their growing relationship throughout the drama. I enjoyed that Lu Yao was light-hearted as opposed to the typical mysterious oddball detective. As for the female lead, she did have her merits, and I find the actress performed her very well actually. It's just that her character remains flat, childish, and a bully who actually is very dependant on her dad despite denying it.

Cases varied from fun to tragic to boring. Overall it was a nice and fast-paced watch.

I enjoyed the setting a lot. It felt more like a 1920 setting with people from this era. The decor used was nice and neat, makes you want to live there, or at least visit. The fashion in the drama is also a lot of fun. They did great on the execution of the opening and ending song and clip. It made you eager to watch more. The opening clip was particularly very vell executed in an artistic way, in my humble opinion.

Slight spoiler (but not really) ahead.

The romance in the drama was SO out of place. The actors just didn't have such chemistry, I felt nothing. Also, the characters were just too toxic to each other. In real life, they'd be the worst type of couple. He's manipulative and she's abusive. Both are very childish. On the other hand, the side romance was beautiful.

Read More

Meh

The story is rich but I dropped it I don't know why but it feels off for me, I think the main reason is that the two male leads has more chemistry with each other. The placement of the female lead for me was out of place and I just dropped the drama even though I love Hu Yitian's work in this, especially his acting versatility shows in this drama. I mean the female lead's character is also good sometimes but I just find it annoying most of the times maybe that's why the reason I dropped this drama and never vowed to watch it again, but that doesn't take away the cool scenes on the drama, especially the story telling of the investigations, it's engaging and cool to watch but other than that I have nothing more to say, lol.

The highlight of the drama for me is Lu Yao's and the police man lead's chemistry.

Read More

Honset review

I actually enjoyed this drama and found it quite exicting to watch but for me there was one massive problem with it - the female lead.

Shes is so annoying that i wanted them to kill her off or just make her an irrelevant side character and as a female my self i felt very ashamed of her. I thought that perhaps this her annoying nature would lead to an extraordinary character develpment and when it didnt, i wanted to just drop this drama. Like the acting between the two male leads is phenomenal a 10/10 but no offence the female lead's acting was not great as all she knew was to 100000% over react on little things. The director should have used his/hers common sense and just left the series as pure bromance which i felt would have lead to the drama getting a much higher rating. As i was watching the first 4 episodes on YouTube when i was reading the comments, i read that loads of people stopped watching the drama due to the female lead which honestly speaks volumes

Additionally, she needed serious discipline- she has no manners or thoughtfulness i just wanted to have this girl sent to me so i could fix that her rotten attitude - i honeslty feel that she should have been slapped many times so that she knows that her doing all that shit isnt cute. For instance she belives that the whole world revolves around her but it doesnt - and even though she is a "journalist" she cannot be an official one and instead should just be called a tabloid journalist. In criminal cases she gets involved makes up random shit so that it could be on the headlines and doenst seem to understand how much everything she does affects everyone. She got one of the male leads fired from his job, came into his home and acts as if she is a queen and he must bow down and do what she says when she is just a spoilt rich brat running away from her problems. The worst bit for me is when she faked her own kidnapping just for attention

In all this series is hands down one of my favourite chinese dramas however the female lead just annoys me deep down my bones that i always ended up skipping all the scenes that she was in. Her role in the drama was the most irrelevant as she didnt do anything to speed up the plot she should have just been cannon fodder at most.

The male leads had more chemistry than the female lead had with her man throughout the drama. I highly recommended for more people to watch it but skip all the bits that the female lead is displayed at.

Read More

Great detective stories & bromance

I'm a fan of detective / mystery thriller drama for both western & eastern. I watched this drama while airing via Youtube.
Detective storyline is pretty remarkable. If you like detective type of drama, you gonna like this. It's a light and simple mystery solving, not deep like popular western detective series / drama.
Settings during Chinese era (circa 1920ish) are picturesque. Your eyes gonna like it feel like nostalgic.
Bromance was all over the place. Well, it's not actually bromance on paper, it's definitely a BL.
At first, I didn't realise it would lead to BL (didn't watch any review beforehand), however you can feel ambience and your cheeks were blushing while watching the bromance scenes - finally you realize, ahh!
They just fit the bill for the role (sugar daddy role, Yi Tian's soft personality, wealthy background, etc).
---
My utmost disappointment (until now and forever) relies on Bai You Ning's character. Her character was poorly written with no development & meaning for overall series. She is literally like everyone's said - annoying and useless. Her start was quite normal as spoiled brat, probably could be a soft / fresh colour between two men. Later on I found out, her character didn't contribute any good, even for professional or personal til the end.
She didn't help at all in solving cases, consistently stubborn / drama queen, and just bothersome for working environment.
If you want to form a group, they must be have their own ability to help each other.
In here, Bai You Ning was nothing.
---
The title is also misleading. Bai You Ning & Lu Yao were indeed the roommate. However, this story was fully emphasized (before episode 30ish) about Lu Yao & Chu Seng until finally Bai You Ning & Lu Yao forcefully by story got married. They indeed had bickering and teasing all the time, but those were family bickering. You may sense the bickering wasn't like romcom bickering turned into romance. At some point, I thought Lu Yao would end their friendship because of unforgivable attention seeking events caused by Bai You Ning.
Personally I thought Bai You Ning is a cherry on top due to censorship that leaded to forcefully happy straight ending.
If they stay as team without any romance, it would be better.
Hua Yi Tian is definitely handsome (every time) but I can't get enough of Zhang Yun Long. I started to notice him and suddenly my phone is full of him. He is so damn sexy with his sleek hair, police attire and his flirty gesture.
----
Overall, I recommend this drama if you don't mind the ending. I don't know about others, but I mostly skip hateful part at Chinese drama. You may skip sparks between Bai You Ning & Lu Yao.

Read More