I watched this drama a year ago for the first time and I'm currently rewatching both seasons, and they are even better than I remember.
I seriously don't understand why this one doesn't have a higher rating, though. I loved season 1 of "Tientsin Mystic" to bits, but season 2 is just better in every aspect: visuals (especially lighting and special effects), dialogues, the villains, the chemistry between the actors, the pacing, the world-building – just everything. It took me some time to get used to Jin Shijia's portrayal of Guo Deyou, but I quickly learned to love him just as much as Li Xian in that role.
And while in season 1 everyone was still getting acquainted with each other, the bond between the four main characters gets put to the test in season 2. Watching them go through hell and still choosing each other every time is just so satisfying. These characters will stay with me for a long time. ❤️
Oh, so it wasn't just us!Berlin had the same problem last night; the entire movie came without subtitles.Since…
That's nice of them. At least they knew there were issues. We didn't even know that something was wrong until the movie started. I would have expected that someone would check that kind of thing first before showing it to an audience, but that's apparently not the case.
Yeah, I can relate to that. I live not that far away from the movie theater, but I'm familiar with the problem and in your case I would have stayed, too. Even without the dialogues, the visuals and actions still speak for themselves.
I got lucky and watched it yesterday in Frankfurt, Germany. Not so lucky were the technical difficulties the cinema…
Oh, so it wasn't just us! Berlin had the same problem last night; the entire movie came without subtitles. Since the issue couldn't be fixed, I just asked for my money back and left. I mean I know the basic story, but I'm not enough of a die-hard fan to watch a 2.5-hour movie without knowing what the characters are talking about. Most people in the audience were Chinese expats, so they understood at least the Mandarin parts, but I guess they had trouble with the Mongolian ones as well.
I notified the staff of the movie theater, though, and they promised to contact me if the subtitle problem gets fixed. Hopefully I can watch one of the other screenings.🤞
There'll be 3 screenings of the movie in Berlin - as well as a few other cities in Germany - starting tomorrow. A lot of the tickets for tomorrow's screening are already sold out, let's hope I'll be able to get one. 🤞
[Edit]
Okay, so in Germany there will be limited screenings via the Cinestar movie theater chain in Berlin, Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Ingolstadt, Karlsruhe, Leipzig & Mainz. Most of them will only have 1 or 2 screenings, though, starting TOMORROW (January 30). So time is of the essence here. There will be probably a few more independent movie theaters showing the movie as well, but idk which ones.
I don't understand the rating, this drama is SO GOOD. I'm so glad to have found something that can fill the hole that Guardians of the Dafeng has left.
This season is different than season 1, it's darker and more personal, but the humor is still there, as are the intriguing relationships. Personally, I love all the new characters, they're just so interesting. I'm especially impressed by Chen Wenqi, she's incredible for an actress of her age! Her portrayal of Chen Duo is so heartbreaking. But all the performances this season are once again top-notch. Also, I don't mind the new actor playing Zhuge Qing, I think he does a great job. I guess the main reason why he's less carefree here is not because he's a bad actor but because this season takes a deep dive into his ambitions and insecurities and is, as I already said above, a lot darker than season 1 was.
Anyway, I couldn't be any happier with this season. The only issue I have with it is the fact that there are only 13 episodes, though I'm glad they're longer this time. 💕
if you only knew how silly the comments are against this drama and therefore ranking it 1,2, 3....
I can imagine. I witnessed the same thing happening to Fangs of Fortune recently, which took about a dozen episodes to really get going – but when it DID, the drama hit you like a freight train and didn't stop until the very last episode. Sometimes it takes TIME for a story to really unfold, and although I understand the people who don't have the patience to invest that time, I think it's still kind of a missed opportunity on their part.
How does this drama keep getting better and better with each new episode? This will be easily my first 9-10/10 (depending on how the rest of the season is done) drama this year, it's just so good. 💜
To all the newcomers who think this is going to be "only a comedy wuxia drama" after watching the first couple of episodes: it's really anything but.
It's the adaptation of a novel set in the DMBJ universe. Even if they're not "officially" BL, they're usually…
They belong to the same clan, the Zhangs, that's why they share the same name. It's a pretty big clan with several branches, though. :)
DMBJ (Dao Mu Bi Ji) or "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" is a book series by Xu Lei, who is also a screenwriter for The South Bureau. Most of the books have been adapted into a series called "The Lost Tomb", with different actors portraying the same set of characters in each season. The most popular drama/season in the franchise is "Ultimate Note". If you've seen that one, you know what to expect in terms of gayness from this universe.
The South Bureau is a spin-off of the main series with characters that don't/barely appear in the main series.
It's the adaptation of a novel set in the DMBJ universe. Even if they're not "officially" BL, they're usually still gay as hell. Just trust me on this. 😂
2 
Before I watch it illegally (which is really the very last resort for me), I want to at least consider all the options here.
https://support.viki.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034633713-Request-a-TV-Show-or-Movie
Viki picking this up like they did with The Spirealm last year would be a huge win. ❤️
I seriously don't understand why this one doesn't have a higher rating, though. I loved season 1 of "Tientsin Mystic" to bits, but season 2 is just better in every aspect:
visuals (especially lighting and special effects), dialogues, the villains, the chemistry between the actors, the pacing, the world-building – just everything.
It took me some time to get used to Jin Shijia's portrayal of Guo Deyou, but I quickly learned to love him just as much as Li Xian in that role.
And while in season 1 everyone was still getting acquainted with each other, the bond between the four main characters gets put to the test in season 2. Watching them go through hell and still choosing each other every time is just so satisfying. These characters will stay with me for a long time. ❤️
Yeah, I can relate to that. I live not that far away from the movie theater, but I'm familiar with the problem and in your case I would have stayed, too. Even without the dialogues, the visuals and actions still speak for themselves.
Berlin had the same problem last night; the entire movie came without subtitles.
Since the issue couldn't be fixed, I just asked for my money back and left. I mean I know the basic story, but I'm not enough of a die-hard fan to watch a 2.5-hour movie without knowing what the characters are talking about.
Most people in the audience were Chinese expats, so they understood at least the Mandarin parts, but I guess they had trouble with the Mongolian ones as well.
I notified the staff of the movie theater, though, and they promised to contact me if the subtitle problem gets fixed. Hopefully I can watch one of the other screenings.🤞
https://dramapanda.com/2025/01/chinese-actor-marcus-li-mingde-slams-entertainment-industry.html
A lot of the tickets for tomorrow's screening are already sold out, let's hope I'll be able to get one. 🤞
[Edit]
Okay, so in Germany there will be limited screenings via the Cinestar movie theater chain in Berlin, Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Ingolstadt, Karlsruhe, Leipzig & Mainz.
Most of them will only have 1 or 2 screenings, though, starting TOMORROW (January 30). So time is of the essence here.
There will be probably a few more independent movie theaters showing the movie as well, but idk which ones.
https://wiki.d-addicts.com/I_Am_Nobody:_The_Showdown_Between_Yin_%26_Yang_OST
It's almost like they don't want this season to be successful enough to justify producing a third one. It's a shame.
I'll wait for the final rating until after this one has finished airing.
This season is different than season 1, it's darker and more personal, but the humor is still there, as are the intriguing relationships.
Personally, I love all the new characters, they're just so interesting. I'm especially impressed by Chen Wenqi, she's incredible for an actress of her age! Her portrayal of Chen Duo is so heartbreaking. But all the performances this season are once again top-notch.
Also, I don't mind the new actor playing Zhuge Qing, I think he does a great job. I guess the main reason why he's less carefree here is not because he's a bad actor but because this season takes a deep dive into his ambitions and insecurities and is, as I already said above, a lot darker than season 1 was.
Anyway, I couldn't be any happier with this season. The only issue I have with it is the fact that there are only 13 episodes, though I'm glad they're longer this time. 💕
I witnessed the same thing happening to Fangs of Fortune recently, which took about a dozen episodes to really get going – but when it DID, the drama hit you like a freight train and didn't stop until the very last episode.
Sometimes it takes TIME for a story to really unfold, and although I understand the people who don't have the patience to invest that time, I think it's still kind of a missed opportunity on their part.
To all the newcomers who think this is going to be "only a comedy wuxia drama" after watching the first couple of episodes: it's really anything but.
DMBJ (Dao Mu Bi Ji) or "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" is a book series by Xu Lei, who is also a screenwriter for The South Bureau.
Most of the books have been adapted into a series called "The Lost Tomb", with different actors portraying the same set of characters in each season. The most popular drama/season in the franchise is "Ultimate Note". If you've seen that one, you know what to expect in terms of gayness from this universe.
The South Bureau is a spin-off of the main series with characters that don't/barely appear in the main series.
The only drama of his that I've seen so far is "A Familiar Stranger", but that one was pretty good. ❤️
And good luck with your fic! Writing is HARD. 😂
I think I broke my own heart when I wrote this one: 💔
https://archiveofourown.org/works/60670588