The Imperial Coroner (2021)

Truly A Gem. One of A Kind.

I totally loved this drama.

What I like about this drama is the script itself. This drama must be the one of few good chinese drama with well-written script ever. Though I haven't explored much drama in this genre, but I can clearly tell that the script for this drama is beautifully done by our two female writers and the director. I love the fact that they put a lot of consideration to the script. This drama is doing good breaking all the cliches and stereotypes in chinese dramaland.

Not only the story is well-written, but all the characters are also well-written especially the main characters. They are lovely and likeable. Start from our four main characters, they have the most healthy relationship to each other to the point that I could even feel the supportiveness through the screen. These young people are so respectful to each other, they're standing on the same ground despite some of them having high status and positions, they know each other the best and act on it. It is so rare to see this kind of relationship between the main/second characters that they stand on equal footing.

Chu Chu is a hardworking coroner that puts all of her efforts to her work, Jinyu is fair and humble judge that never speaks without evidence, Jingyi is a loyal partner, and Leng Yue has a good martial and medical skills as she's a granddaughter of a General. Four of them work in harmony and compliment each other so well--and of course respect each other so much. In addition, our best Gege, Jinli is also such a great help in protecting four of them in investigation.

The old generation characters are also wonderful. I love how forgiving they are and they listen to the young generation very well.

Though we can see a lot of flaws and shortcomings in the production, but the script of this drama is awesomely solid to the point that it covered all the flaws the production had.

This is my second time being impressed with chinese costume drama since I'm not a fan of this kind of genre--like period and costume drama. This drama is truly a gem that deserves a lot of praises for its writing quality. The actors are not very well-known with big fame, but they done the drama really well.

Nothing about this drama is out of the order, everything is on the track and makes sense. The script and the characters are written thoughtfully, that's the charm of this drama for me. There's literally nothing problematic and unnecessary things like misunderstanding or jealousy stuff in this drama and they did the romance part just in the right amount. Everyone is on healthy and mature relationship with each other, they listen and respect each other opinions and sayings. No unnecessary misunderstanding to test their relationship. The villains are also doing their job going against our good characters.

Ah, maybe at some point it felt like you missed the "woah" moment because some of the villains characters are written comically and some of them are dumb, it made the scenes less intense. It doesn't really matter tho, the script is still amazing despite that.

I also love the comic or illustration to explain about some details in cases and when they made summarization about what happened on the previous episode from our main leads' perspective in the beginning of every episode and also they gradually put intro video when the early episodes don't have intro. Details like those are very charming to me.

Absolutely worth to check out.

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One of the best dramas of 2021

This show had it all..... mystery, some romance, and palace intrigue.

The story centers on Prince An (Xiao Jin Yu), who controls the three judiciaries at a very young age, and the Chu Chu who comes to take the coroner examination. Along the way Chu Chu helps Xiao Jin Yu solve cases from murder, to counterfeiting, to an attempt to overthrow the emperor. Along with them are the second leads Jin Yi and Leng Yu with an occasional inclusion of Xiao Jin Yu's brother Xiao Jin Li.

I'll list all of the best things about the drama.

First for me are the main characters. The 2 leads are well written, fully rounded, mature, and intelligent. Chu Chu may have a rose colored view of the wold but she is no one's fool and is equal to the Prince and his group from the beginning. The two leads work well together, trust each other, and only have the best intentions and concerns for each other. What little understandings they have are normal issues from awkwardness and their different social standings but these never last more than an episode and the 2 actually talk about the issue. It's so refreshing to see a well-rounded and equal couple.... and since stupid, immature, silly FL leads is the worst thing for me, I cannot be more happy with Chu Chu. Added to that are the second leads. Jin YI is Xiao Jin Yu's best friend and confidant. There were a few episodes were you worry about his intentions but again that is resolved immediately and you really get the sense that the ML and the 2nd ML totally respect and trust each other. Added to that is Xiao Jin Li who is a general in the army and basically would do anything to protect his brother, It is refreshing to see two princes not backstabbing their way to the throne and really caring for one another. Another fantastic departure from normal Chines palace dramas that made me love to see the relationship with the 3 main ML. The second FL Leng Yu is a martial artist, that maybe more standard for Chinese dramas, and a town boy but even her character has depth. She protects and becomes friends with Chu Chu along with being the "sister" of the two princes. She is also written to be intelligent and not just a typical female trying to be a male martial artist. In fact all of them each help to solve the crimes together and the underlying plot, and each is important and brings something to resolve the cases, except maybe Xiao Jin Li but he admits he is just a military person,

Which leads me to reason two, the story. This is a very well written drama. All fo the cases from the beginning tie into the overall story so you need to pay attention. veery scene has a reason for being in the story, even Chu Chu's chickens which are not forgotten. The story is constructed to make the cases intestine along with the resolution. I've seen other dramas where the cases were simple, like Miss Truth and sometimes Maiden Holmes, so they were not interesting, or solved in a way that was almost downright strange just to show you how smart the lead was, like My Roommate Is a Detective. These cases make sense but even more the resolution makes sense. Then add to that the fact they all tie into each other makes this a well written story. Plus there is the added bonus of well written leads, and even the supporting cast, I call them the older generation, are well written. I love Xiao Jin Yu's mother and actually wished there was more about her, and Jing Yi's father and mother, along with Chu Chu's family all show a loving and trusting family. Again, all of them love each other and work well together even if they sometimes seem like they are not. The least developed character were the 2 bad people. The first was an over the top character that could be annoying, and the second was never fully defined, like I'm still not certain if he was or wasn't the son of the Duke of Chang, I believe they proved he wasn't, but then what was hi actual motivation? It was just a bit odd. That may be because a lot happens in the final episode and it feels rushed, like that should have been 2 episodes with some explanations.

The weakest part for me where the villains of the show, one being over the top eunuch, I am not giving anything away since it's obvious from the beginning, and then the second villain more of the behind the scenes mastermind but he was never really fleshed out other than the reveal oh he is the bad one, which again was fairly obvious. I really cannot think of anything else.

I highly recommend giving this a try id you liked Maiden Holmes (i did!), Miss Truth (so so for me) or the mystery genre. This has less romance than Maiden Holmes, which was fine since with me, and the mysteries are far better than in Miss Truth. If you want more romance than this may not be for you as the romance is there the whole time with their mutual respect and care for each other, but there is no overt scenes.

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Excellent story, beautifully unraveled

How do I even begin to praise this series after all the praises that have been heaped on it?

Perhaps I should start by mentioning how unassuming it is. It doesn't try too hard to impress. Instead, it tells a very solid and well-constructed story without convoluted plot twists. It also doesn't organize the story according to cases, as many "forensics" series do. This means that we have 36 episodes of an increasingly complex mystery and as truths are revealed, more needs to be discovered. This culminates in a interesting climax. I particularly love how the series does not pretend that it has impressive plot twists or is revealing things that are totally unexpected. It strength is that even when there are events we see coming, we remain engaged because we want to find out more about these events (such as the real identity of the ultimate villain of the series).

The series is also likely to appeal to viewers because of the very likable characters. The romance and friendship between the characters are given just enough attention to make us care about them but the moments showing their relationships do not stray from the plot. I particularly like the friendship between Xiao Jinyu and Jing Yi as well as the relationship between the brothers, Xiao Jinyu and Xiao Jinli. (I bet many are fantasizing an alternative universe in which Xiao Jinyu and Jing Yi are a BL couple, and there are a couple of moments to tease us about it.) Occasionally, I find the coroner's lines a little repetitive: she's always mentioning how she finds certain things very strange, for instance. But this is not a major issue. After all, her expertise is in examining the bodies and she complements Xiao Jinli's brains by providing critical information with her expertise. This makes the series rather unique. Rather than focus on how a single detective figure manages to solve all the cases, the teamwork here is made very believable.

It's rare these days that we get an interesting story told without resorting to plot twists that stretch the limits of credibility. The Imperial Coroner manages to do this. It doesn't aspire to be too many things but it punches way above its weight in whatever it is doing.

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Excellent mystery, keeps you on your toes til the end

This drama is well written and well executed. The pacing is just right. Clues are revealed logically and in a way that is sophisticated, yet easy to follow.

I'm not a big fan of overly romantic drama. I like it when something else is the main point. There was just enough romance and it wasn't overly done.

The secondary characters are fun to watch as well. They're quite funny.

It was interesting to watch a somewhat medical drama from the Tang and Song Dynasty. I don't know how accurate it is to the times, but they seemed to have a good grasp of human physiology and disease processes.

A delight to watch. I want to go back now and see if there were any clues missed!

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Loved it! What an unexpected gem!

First, at 36 episodes, having no boring or lagging bits is a miracle.
I was so impressed at how they made it so modern and accessible for young people who grew up watching CSI and House MD, and yet kept the flavour of it so traditional Chinese. The perfect balance between comedy and seriousness was kept as well.
It's the sort of drama that has you falling in love with the main characters but also with the support cast and even the bad guys. They are all so well rounded with strengths and weaknesses. Chu Chu and prince an were so refreshing as leads: you don't often see badass nerds as the heroes of a show.
And I loved the soundtrack, again with the balance of modern and traditional.
The thing that struck me the most though, was reading that this drama is considered low budget. How could that be, when it felt so opulent with all the lovely costumes and horses???
Recommended to anyone who loved the Korean classic Jewel In The Palace and its message of a strong and highly professional waman, even in the old times.

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CSI in Costume Drama

I watched this on the recommendation of two credible sources and am glad I did. It was witty, intelligent, and was a very serious whodunnit. What I liked about it was that all characters including the leads were very strong and equal to one another. I do wish there was at least one real kiss between the leads. Everyone had each other's backs and there was no jealousy or backstabbing amongst them. I enjoyed another drama without the cliche or tropes that these dramas are famous for. Very obvious the drama was lower budget but it really didn't need a large budget as it didn't have anything save martial arts which were done really well. Also obvious the main cast was compiled by new actors but they all held their own and were very convincing.

What I wished there was more or less of was more of our leads and their friends and less of the palace politics. The old evil eunuch guy looks like Grima Wormtongue and sounds like Gollum (for anyone who knows LOTR). I wish he was done away with sooner and the way he went was a total cop out considering this was a CSI crime solving story, not very convincing. The ending itself could have been done better and smoother for our two leads, especially since the literal last scene was of their marriage. Definitely some bumps and holes along the way but other then that, it was something that I'd recommend especially for crime drama loving people.

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Nothing's perfect, but this is close

So I've never written a review before, and I posted this in the comments section, then was suggested by a commenter to put this in the review section hahaha. So here I am, with some editing done to this review I originally wrote. The only 'spoiler' is whether it has a happy or sad ending for this drama, but I wouldn't categorise the rest as spoilers.

First off, let's just say nothing's perfect, but if there's something close to perfection, I think this one is close to it for its genre. I'd 100% rewatch it. In fact, I just can't find another mystery, crime and romance drama quite like this one right now and am currently in a slump, watching random dramas that just doesn't give me the same feeling as this one, and even contemplating rewatching if I can't find any others (and probably will rewatch it soon).

Some say the ending is rather rushed, and while I agree somewhat, I think it's still a great ending. The balance between mystery, suspense, humour and romance was great. I can't say it was excellent, but I'd give it a 9.5/10 for this show over all, particularly for its fast-pace that really made every moment interesting. Kudos to the scriptwriters because the script and plot were amazing! (I mean, I heard that apparently one of the scriptwriters was the writer of the novel this was based on. But the drama is actually better than the novel, and you can consider the novel as a draft and the drama as something that was based on that draft. That's what I heard anyways).

I love all the characters (the actors did a great job portraying them! The really deserve more credit than they are and I wish them al the best in their future dramas!) The story doesn't follow the bad cliches, and is honestly a hidden gem. They resolved everything, tied everything up, mysteries and details were consistent and made sense, no annoying cliches between females, honestly didn't drag at all, and it had a very happy ending. The romance definitely wasn't the focus, but it was definitely there, and I say it's GOOD romance. Respectful male lead and mature female lead with a cute face (and personality), but ACTUALLY USEFUL and NOT annoying. The mystery is all linked together and it's interesting until the end, at least in my opinion.

Honestly, for those who are looking for something with a bit of everything, but most importantly, wonderful characterisations, no cringy humour, great side-plot romance (for those who avoid romance because it's usually bad, well, there is absolutely NO NEED to worry about that here AT ALL!) with a focus on mystery, then this would be your cup of tea. I personally like stories with romance, but I will avoid anything that has bad romance. This had a great plot and a great mystery, but if it had bad romance, I wouldn't watch it. If it had no romance, then I can consider it - in short, I avoid any drama with typical, annoying depictions of romance.

But seriously, it's a series that shows that a plot can be INTERESTING and CAPTIVATING without all the useless and stupid relationship drama or other cliches that are sometimes used to drive the plot. With well-packed mysteries and fun dialogue, avoiding most cliches (and leaving the good ones) it's honestly praiseworthy. I looked at the recommendations list for this drama and none of the shows on the list is quite like this one.

Special note: THE MUSIC. There was one episode where it the ost was just PERFECTLY times and used. There's also a song called 此生来了 (This Life is Not Over) in the drama and I'm in love with it. Unlike perhaps most others who have perhaps hundreds, or thousands of songs on their playlist, my current playlist only has 9 songs HAHA. I've had dozens of songs before, but then I cut it down to 21 specific songs. Then I cut it down to around 8 this year, and now it has 9 because I added this song HAHA. I do have my personal reasons for being this picky with songs, but either way, it managed to be picked by me and I've been listening to it on repeat ever since XD I only gave 'music' a 9.5 because it wasn't perfect all the time in the drama, and same with the acting. But honestly, the plot is the tightest plot I've been exposed to with really not a moment of boredom, though there is one moment I could think of that made me actually go UGH but that was just a very, very brief few minutes and can be over looked. I'm perfectly fine with rewatching the scene when I rewatch the drama again.

The reason I gave it an overall 10 is because it is close to perfection in my heart. Like I said, I believe nothing is perfect, so a 10 is my way of saying it's the closest to perfection.

My one biggest wish was to see a bit more kissing scenes because there's really not a lot, but their romance is wonderful without it still.

Anyways, give it a try at least. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but you never know until you try.

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One's life story can be told on the body

I like strong female leads and although this one isn't a master at martial arts, she is an amazing coroner. Chu Chu has lead a normal, yet unlucky life. Coroners have a bad reputation as being unlucky and dirty for spending time with corpses. Her and her family live rather secluded because of this, and work for the local government as coroners. She is also bullied for her unknown birth. Chu Chu knows her status and place in life and doesn't dare go beyond it. Through it all she becomes one of the best and helps a critically thinking and deductive Prince with his cases. Normally, I dislike naïve females, but in this case it works. She's not naïve to the point where she is just stupid, but rather due to lack of experiences. Her naivety and simple way of thinking is hilarious at times because it renders the Prince useless. She is courageous, forgiving, nice, respectful, observant, and talented. Su Xiao Tong does a great job of portraying Chu Chu.

Prince An/Xiao Jin Yu is strict, law abiding, and truth seeking. Like Chu Chu, he isn't a martial arts master, rather he is meticulous and thorough. He leaves no stone unturned and will always look for the truth even if he offends people. He has never been in love until he met Chu Chu and watching their interactions is cute, cringeworthy, and sad. Although he wants to protect her, he can't help but say things in such a harsh way so she would understand how serious it is. It makes you want to hate him, but you can't help but forgive him because he is really at a loss on how to deal with his feelings and does try hard to protect her in every way possible. He doesn't think of her as dirty because she is a coroner, but rather falls in love with her.

Separately, I like the two lead characters, but together, I feel as if there is no chemistry and only come together for the story's sake.

Leng Yu is a skilled martial artist who comes from a military family. She grew up with Jin Yu and Jing Yi and longs for freedom from her family (mostly due to some misunderstandings), so she spent most of her life roaming the country. I like her character a lot. She is smart and playful, and takes a liking to Chu Chu right after meeting her. Jing Yi at first seems like he just loafs around, but he is actually very skilled at gathering information and martial arts. Leng Yu and Jing Yi appear more realistic as a couple than the main leads.

The overall story is pretty good, setting it up with seemingly random cases, and slowly unraveling the connections to the major plot and backstory. I don't want to give away the underlying plot, so I will end at that. It's a pretty good drama, and I would recommend it. Many twists, turns, traps, add in some laughter, romance, and mystery and that's this drama. Enjoy!

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Here we go again

Going by the high ratings I was prepped to watch what I assumed would be a delightful romance that was interspersed with some mystery, but what I got instead was case upon case of murders being resolved by the leads without even a modicum of romantic feelings. Undoubtedly this was a well written script, however, and while it satisfies the sleuth in me, it was a let down in other ways. For one, I didn't expect the FL to look or act so childlike which is one of the biggest problems I have with most Chinese dramas. This need to infantalize the FLs in C-dramas has got to stop. The actress had this deer-in-a-headlights look whenever she wasn't performing an autopsy and her interactions with the ML and supporting actors were painful to watch. While this might be a script issue still there was that disconnect that gradually got me so exasparated I had to watch at 2x speed.

I think the ML together with his sidekick brother carried the entire series with their performance.

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Great suspenseful drama

The drama is excellent and kept me on my toes from the beginning. The pace is quick, and the heroes are both exciting and lovable. While every episode up to 16 provided some clues, they were never enough to guess who the heroine's family was and where the hero's father could be. However, it was clear from the little clues that she was not a peasant and could marry her prince.

Despite all this, I must point out that the director and scriptwriter are to blame for many stupid acting choices, such as the bang on the door and the plant sent to the villain or the lousy eunuch's crazy acting with his two sidekicks and the brother repeatedly insisted that sharing important information was too complicated. These little things were very childish and spoiled an otherwise excellent drama.

I found the heroine's competence and the non-genre bias to give her the coroner position to be the most enjoyable aspects of the story. Though unrealistic, it still pleased me. However, I couldn't help but feel very annoyed by the main female lead's blind trust and submissive attitude. I have to be honest, I disliked her. Despite being good at her job as a coroner, her character adds no value to the drama. Her personality is dull and irritating. I strongly believe that she lacked the necessary confidence, charisma, and maturity for the role. Despite possessing acting talent, she came across as too infatuated with her pop artist idol at first sight and lacked the required edge. Therefore, I believe that casting her was not the right decision.

Let's be clear, If you're looking for a love story, look elsewhere because this drama doesn't deliver. The main couple lacks chemistry completely. However, the second couple is much more believable—the main plot centers around two opposing sides in a fierce battle. One group intends to take over the throne and dethrone the Emperor, while the other is determined to stop them at any cost.

I found the reconstitution of scenes and multiple-camera shots highly effective in providing a better perspective, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The drama director presented the audience with an incredibly captivating view. The music was frequently disruptive and bothersome. The way the story ended left me feeling disappointed. After all the ups and downs, the final two minutes seemed out of place and didn't quite fit the rest of the plot. It was like a sudden change in tone that took away from the overall experience.

ML episode 32 deserves a standing ovation for his exceptional acting. The casting team missed a big opportunity by not choosing another female lead to showcase the actor's talent. It's a shame because it would have added more highlights to the movie. On the other hand, the performance of the evil eunuch was outstanding and cannot be overlooked.

I must emphasize that the generic first season used here is simply outstanding. It has a striking resemblance to the iconic Game of Thrones. This is a job very well executed!

Overall, it is a good drama if you do not expect a love story.

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