The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty (2020)

I actually enjoyed this drama very much.

Many were complaining about how Tang Fan was annoying though. But for me, that's why I enjoyed watching it. Tang Fan seems like a really fun person to be around for me, I really liked his personality. Darren Chen's acting was also very good, same goes to Fu Meng Bo. Their acting seemed natural and comfortable to me. And Wang Zhi's character really gave me the impression that he would betray Tang Fan any time, but I was wrong. I even ended up shipping them more then the main couple at some point. The other actors were doing a great job as well!

The fighting scenes were really enjoyable as well as watching them solve cases. Usually, I like to guess what will happen in the drama before it happens, but for this drama, there are cases that had unexpected outcomes (?).

I loved the fact they did not end up with any female, which is why I would watch the drama in the first place. At first, I really thought that Duo-Er'La was going to end up with Tang Fan, but then I started viewing their relationship as brother and sister, because it really came off that way.

Also, even though this is not BL, being the delusional person I am when it comes to BL, I can't think about this as being Bromance. Tang Fan is just on the dense side and doesn't realize how much his man loves him :P

I started reading the Novel because of this and I'm enjoying it as well.

I hope for others to enjoy this as much as I did.

Overall, I would definitely watch this again, and I will pray everyday for it to be adopted into a comic. This is my only wish as of now :')

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it's my first time writing review. i am also not very fluent in english, so forgive me if there is any mistake.

i love ''the Sleuth of Ming Dynasty'' very much. i recomend all of you watching this drama. at first i am not interested to this drama, i just trying to watch because i have not anything to do during covid-19 quarantine. after i watch this drama, it become the best drama i ever seen. i think all things in this drama are perfect :)

1. DRAMA's PLOT
the plot is really interesting. this story not just about investigation, but also about friendship, family which is really funny, touching and suprising. i finished watching all episodes an it was amazing :D
there is no BL (boy's love) story in this drama although this drama based on BL novel. so if you looking for BL it not suitable for you.

2. DRAMA's CAST
i love all character in this drama, especially
the male leads (tang fan, sui zhou, wang zi).although they have different character, but they really look so good together in one frame. all the other cast also act really good and complete each other (there is no unimportant role in this drama).
let's talk about three male lead one by one :

a). Darren chen as Tang fan/ Runching
although it's the first time darren chen play role in costume drama or historical drama, but he did very great job. then the character i love the most in this drama is tang fan.
the drama story shows he is very smart officer. he can solve many difficult cases, but he is very weak, noisy, lazy and just love eating food. but actually he is really wise, kind heart, gentle, and always caring about other than himself, even just a stranger. he awalys care and treat his friend (guangchuan, dong er, wang zhi, doerla, wuyun, doctor pei) sincerely like his own family. it makes many peoples being comfortable around him and trust him.
Just watch the drama and you definitely will love tang fan character to :)

b). Fu meng bo as Sui zhou/Guangchuan
i never seing his acting before, but he did a great job in this drama. i also love sui zhou character.
at first Sui zhou is very strong, wise, seriuous, quite and cold officer, but slowly he become warm heart after meet tang fan and dong er. he always treating tang fan and dong er like his own family and always trying protect them. Tang fan also make him forget his trauma in the past and forget his hatred to oirat people. so he finally being friend with doerla and wuyun.

c). Lui you yuan as Wang zhi
Altough ''the Sleuth of Ming Dynasty' is his first drama, but he act very well. he didn't look like rookie. and i love wang zhi chacacter also.
wang zhi is very mysterious character than two other male lead, i don't know what in his thought sometimes. he is very tight officer. he often used violence to defendant to solve the case. it because he is very loyal to ming dynasty, emperor and consort wan. but actually deep in his heart he also care about his friend like tang fan, sui zhou, dong er (especially tang fan). he also become kind heart after knowing tang fan.

3. CINEMATOGRAPHY
the cinematography of this drama are really awesome. fighting or action scene are look so real. the cooking scene always looks so yummy and make me feel hungry. dinner/breakfast together time scene always make me feel the warmth of family :)

4. DRAMA's PROPERTY and COSTUME
All property in this drama is really awesome and detail, such as the martial art tools, medical tools, books, all the palace things ect. i also love all costume in this drama that really suitable to each cast.

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This drama felt like 60 episodes even though it was 48. I was quite exhausted after I finished watching it. The first few episodes were quite engaging but the storyline somehow started lagging in the middle. If you've watched The Untamed and Guardian, and you're looking out for something similar, then I'm afraid this is not the drama for you.

I liked the action scenes which were, of course, Jackie Chan quality. The side couple was adorable, and Wang Zhi was probably my favourite character. Certain female characters were annoying and there was too much politics involved for my taste in the latter episodes of the drama. But still, it was a decent watch and some cases were definitely interesting.

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This show was by no means perfect, but it was super enjoyable, and definitely got better with time.

BL - Can confirm the BL aspect is very light but enjoyable and definitely not broken up with a het romance! I promise the show will be way more fun if you're not fretting about whether every new female character is supposed to be a forced love interest - they're not. Actually, a lot of people are pretty shippable in this show imo, but you have to like non-canon pairings.

That said, if you're hoping for a more romance-y story (like the way Untamed or Guardian, even with the BL technically removed, was heavily focused on the main leads and their relationship), this really isn't that kind of show. But if you're like me and enjoy stories where the "couple" are doing other things and there are just some side hints at romance, that's more of what this show is.


Story - this one went a bit back and forth for me, as the pacing earlier in the show was a bit slow in places. Several of the Dorla scenes felt unnecessary and slow, and the Yunhe arc could have probably been better condensed. The later part of the show (about the last quarter) was very fast-paced and much better in this regard, and there were a lot of tie-ins that came back, which I loved. Probably one of the biggest weaknesses is that it does sometimes rely on people missing things that seem obvious to the viewer - it's often fair in-story why they would, but it can be frustrating if you're used to American-style procedurals.

Note that this show isn't exactly a whodunnit/procedural, and more of a story-based crime-themed show, so I recommend setting your expectations accordingly.


Cast/Characters - the actors all did a great job, but the top spot has to go to Wang Zhi for me. You'll find yourself rooting for a eunuch! Who is adorable! And he has a tiny gun and rolls his eyes like a PRO.

The two leads (Tang and Sui) admittedly get a bit of a slow start, and it will take a while to like them and get more of a sense of chemistry in their relationship, but it's very very cute by the end. I didn't read the novel so Tang's character didn't bother me, but it sounds like he's pretty different from how a lot of people thought of him from the book. I still enjoyed him even if sometimes he was a complete idiot. Also don't let anyone tell you Sui Zhou was too emotionless because he had the BEST facial expressions. I also got pretty used to his looks and accent after a few episodes (although warning: he keeps getting demoted and forced to wear really dorky uniforms).

The side characters are all excellently done - I loved the Emperor and consort (who were adorable, badass, and harsh all at once), Eunuch Ding and Jia Kui (who were just super competent), the brothel Madam (hilarious), General Chen (just a good guy surrounded by corrupt shitty people), General Gao (bad. ass.) and Dr. Pei (super cute and has a great friendship with Tang Fan). Even many of the antagonists were well done albeit often intentionally unlikable - I especially want to mention Sui's boss, who was /hilarious/ even if a terrible person. And since I saw this mentioned, I just want to say I actually didn't mind the sister of Dong'er, or any of the other female characters. Dorla even gets way better once we move on from the weird vaguely romantic vibes they give her with Tang Fan earlier on.


Production - overall really nice for a drama. There are a few props/effects that look a bit cheap or feel unrealistic if you think too hard about it, but I was willing to overlook it because everything else was so enjoyable. The fight scenes are SUPER nicely choreographed (even if occasionally a bit wuxia) and the costumes and sets are gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. The use of music is really well done too.

The one big issue with production is the weird cuts. Several episodes end on very odd cuts, especially later. Also, due to fan complaints about Dorla, it seems like they cut a bunch of her scenes (and possibly some with Qingge later?), which was mostly fine since her earlier scenes were often slow and repetitive, but this did result in a) some weird scene transitions, and b) an occasional scene where someone confusingly mentions something that presumably only occurred in a removed scene.


Overall, I had a really good time, and there were some great tense moments! I loved the vast majority of the characters (or, at least, how they were portrayed) and the story kept me hooked, especially as we approached the end.

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Pretty nice.

The beginning of the drama is very interesting, the characters are very good too. As expected of Jackie, the martial arts are very nice and are actually a possible move, unlike the others. Love the casts, they picked good ones. The family dynamic is very sweet, and so cute. It makes you feel warm all over. Scenes are also quite hilarious.

Sui Zhou- is smart and protective of those whom he cares about.
Wang Zhi- my absolute favorite. At first, you'd think he's an antagonist, but he's actually not. He's smart and is able to gain the upper hand. As the emperor's eunuch and the leader of a department, it's no wonder why he's always outside the palace. At the first half, he's cold and unfeeling, on the latter half, you'll see that he really cares for Tang Fan (and Suzi Zhou). His development is the one that stands out, out of all three.
Tang Fan- now where do I start. He's very smart and witty in the first half, but when the girl appeared, he'd suddenly be dumb down. For a BL novel, the drama would of course need the censorship but this- this is too ridiculous. He blames Sui Zhou for things he did not do. The girl suddenly seemed like his love interest and his IQ would suddenly low because of her. He's impulsive because of her. Because of that, it seemed like Sui Zhou is having a one-sided love when it's not supposed to be like that. Then they suddenly kill the girl? This is too ridiculous hahah. Out of all three- for an MC at that, his character development is really not good.

BUT, I still loved it because of its mystery aspects and it really is hilarious. If you put your brain on the shelf when the girl comes into the scene, maybe it wouldn't be so unbearable for you haha.

The casts are very good. Darren Chen really suits his character, Meng Bo slew it in this scene! For Liu Yao Yuan, need I say more? He really is too amazing considering that this is his debut drama. He's versatile and can really act. He's also so adorable!

Aside from the girl one and Tang Fan's sudden dumbing down, this drama is very good.

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there are some storylines that look a little pushy and , there are some stories explaining history

Maybe stilk worth it to watch


A little boring，a lot of unimportant scenes

And the the action part compared to kung fu more to boxing or western martial arts

at first it was still quite connected, but then the scene seemed like something was missing, the incident seemed to happen suddenly, especially when the film duration was reduced,

for ep 27 the duration is only 35 minutes and even then there is a review or scene of the previous episode for 1 minute , and have some eps only 32 minute duration

in the previous episode there was nothing like that, so that it made a scene like it happened suddenly

the duration is getting less, it is not clear that the original was like that or was reduced by the website

after the antidote problem(do er la and tang fan), the storyline got more abrupt,all the problems happen suddenly, writing, arras and antidote relationship ?, how can they link arras and antidote just like that, so absurd


And it seems strange that Qingge and dora get close so suddenly. Tang fan and qingge are not close enough to confide

Most cases in this drama are 2 types of cases combined into 1 problem, which sometimes makes it too pushy and confusing

Ep 32 15:07 and 34 08:22
The scene is same


Ep 45 when li zi long use one bolang to know the others bolang ,, so absurd! Omaigot, how stupid tang fan ,coward ,fool ，Obviously reluctant

What i said , it would be better if the role of Li zi Long was a descendant of the Xia Dynasty, because if the Tang Dynasty was too far apart , same li family name

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The Most Wonderful Bromance

This was a wonderful series. The last time I was so caught up in watching a Cdrama was during The Untamed craze. Tang Fan, Sui Zhou and Wang Zhi, these three and their odd friendship made the drama for me. For once, though, it wasn’t just the characters but the story itself, the cases, the plot what caught my interest because the storytelling was wonderfully smart and woven together with meticulous care which at the very end bore fruit when the various people our heroes met during their previous cases came together to help them save the emperor and the whole Ming Dynasty.

So yes, the story was so good and the characters - the found family trope - were the sweet cherry on top. This drama was based on a BL book but because of censorship, the love story between Tang Fan and Sui Zhou couldn’t be portrayed as such. Instead we got the most wonderful bromance with deep devotion and much care - but mainly, no shoehorned love interest for either. So, just like in The Untamed, the leads might not have kissed on-screen but their love for one another was undeniable. And the characters were portrayed just wonderfully by the actors! Kudos for the excellent job they did!

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Surprisingly Delightful

Unexpectedly this series cracked me up. And it was rather a delightful experienced to watch this drama. Though there were some annoying parts here and there, but hey what drama doesn't. It's refreshing to watch all these male leads without extreme interruption of possible female mate. Others say that this is some kind of BL story. For me it's not. It's about friendship who happens to be all male species. It's about working in collaboration with a male specie. And this happens to us a lot - the female species. We have deep friendships with our female friend, childhood friend & etc. When there's misunderstanding we are bothered and it threatens our sense of belonging.

Now Tang Fan is a very annoying character at the same time funny. I believe that's the intention of the creators. And Kudos to them for coming up with this kind of character. Darren Chen for me is extremely thin. I wish he could bulk up a bit. His portrayal of a young, intelligent scholar who happens to work in the police bureau at the same time with penchant to good & tasty food was spot on. But his voice tends to sound whiny at most which is very irritating.

Sui Zhou's character is a matured, melancholy one who happens to suffer from PTSD. In other words he's a veteran of war. Fu Meng Bo was actually good with his acting. He displayed a serious demeanor as a police officer and as a person.

Furthermore, Wang Zhi's character is full of nuance. And the actor Liu Yao Yuan was excellent in his portrayal. Playing as an orphan eunuch who happens to possessed a lot of courtly powers as endowed to him by the emperor. A eunuch who investigates crimes and sometimes an envoy of the emperor. Very good.

Lastly, Dong'er's character is good - not the typical whiny female teenager. Excellent idea that she's bright and has photographic memory and assisted her friends in the investigations. I love this teen-age actress' portrayal. She's brilliant.

I hope there will be a season 2 since the last episode ended with purportedly black death epidemic. I would definitely rewatch this series sometime in the future.

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What a surprise!

When I first started watching this drama series, I gave up after the first episode mainly because the ML Sui Zhou or rather Fu Meng Bo's modern Taiwanese Mandarin, which seems a little out of place and out of synch with the Ming Dynasty backdrop. I decided to move on to watch other drama series, and after a few disappointing and let down by other dramas, I decided to go back to SoMD (Sleuth of Ming Dynasty). This second time around I decided to give it a chance, I mean, after Ancient Love Poetry, how boring can it be? I am glad I was right in giving it another chance!

I found myself totally enjoyed SoMD, once I got used to Sui Zhou mumbling accents by the 2nd episode, and even fall for his ramrod-straight character! Then Derren Chen (Tang Fan) was just brilliant and in character, as he plays the soft and effeminate character opposite the butch and brawny Sui Zhou is just marvellous. Their chemistry is simply amazing and the discrete flirtings between them and the spats they have just made you smile, they fought like all real couples, they should be given an award for the Best Couple in the dramaland. All those comic moments were timed perfectly and both leads delivered them so well.

The plots are not numerous but they're not lacking either, and they are all pretty well written and tight! That makes the drama so much more of a joy to watch! All those great moments and storylines made me forgot all the shortcomings and some flaws I noticed earlier.. it is that entertaining!!!! One of the best Dramas thus far in 2021. SWEEEEETTTTTTTT

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Rather simple, but well constructed plot that, thanks to the interesting cast of characters, serves as an entertaining watch.

The best thing about this show was for me Wang Zhi. While at first I was quite cautious about him, soon he became one of my favorite characters from all the shows I have seen in 2021. Loyalty, desperation, wits, drive - all fitted into this one, morally gray character. Whatever he said or did, I could not stop myself from thinking “he makes sense here”. Did I sell my soul to Wang Zhi? Maybe. He could be going around killing and torturing people and I’d be like: good for you honey, keep it up!

Even though Tang Fan and Sui Zhou were not as complex of characters, they still presented some nice nuances. On one hand, Tang Fan, in a quite refreshing way, combined reasoning brilliance and social stupidity. At the end of the day, a lot of problems he solved in a clever way, happened because of his social ignorance.

On the other hand, Sui Zhou represented both strength, emotional maturity, but also vulnerability and emotional struggles. It was interesting to see that the character who seemed the strongest, was the one that had to face his internal demons and tragic past the most.

The trio had an amazing dynamic, pushing each other to strive for better, while not ignoring each other's shortcomings. How it usually went, you ask? Tang Fan causes the problem, Sui Zhou tries to help Tang Fan, Wang Zhi actually does all the work to clean the mess - what a perfect group of friends, relatable af.

All the supporting characters had their place in the story, and none felt redundant. What's important, most did not just vanish after their cases were solved, and they've been brought back at the important plot points. This small detail of not removing characters from existence after they've done their part, made this whole fictional world seem more real.

Another aspect of the show I had to appreciate was the pacing. For some, it might have been slow - it took them quite a few episodes to deal with each case. For me, it was perfect. Watching crime related shows, I want to witness how the cases are solved, what actions and steps have been taken, and it’s impossible to achieve in the "one episode for one case" format.

The Sleuth of Ming Dynasty presents the viewers with some amazing visuals - from the scenery, sets to beautiful costumes. Do you like food? You might want to prepare some nice snacks before watching the episodes - the cooking scenes will make you hungry even after eating dinner.

That said, the show is far from perfect. To be honest, I did not notice many flaws since I was preoccupied going crazy over Wang Zhi, but there are a few that caught my attention. First of all, there were not many characters that were just… normal people. Everyone was highly skilled in something, and me being a typical potato could not relate to the skills and brain power going on. At the same time, around episode 44-45 everyone’s brain collectively shuts down, to make room for the villains to try their schemes.

While I found Tang Fan being an idiot, cute and funny, I can see how he would make some people’s blood boil. Some mistakes this child made were on a whole new level of “I forgot to bring my brain to work today”.

Since this is an adaptation of a BL novel, it will not satisfy people who watch it for the bromance. Honestly speaking, the show has little “censored adaptation of same sex original work” vibes, to the point that these few scenes, giving the bromance feeling, actually felt out of place for me.

Overall, great directing and writing, good acting, nice soundtrack - everything making this story an addicting and fun ride. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me bang my head on the wall. I became obsessed with Wang Zhi, and had withdrawal symptoms right after I saw the last episode.

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I love this series. I do have to say the first half was great. As you move along, it got a little bit boring. I think it should’ve been like 36 Or 40 episodes. I actually fast forwarded a lot of the last 20 episodes to get to the ending quickly because there was so much talking. Overall, great watch...lots of bromance and mystery solving. Toward the end, it became a palace drama.

The hidden “gay” undertone between the two male leads was played down by Dora’s character. I would’ve not tuned out toward the end if they kept it going quicker without all the unnecessary episodes.

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A good and well acted series!

I'll make this short! Go watch this series it is really fun, hilarious full with some action, friendship (or for those who like the term Bromance ;-), you'll be served).
This was on my watch list for a moment and since I was reading the book at the same time, I wanted to wait a little bit. But after finishing Winter Begonia (yeah both are Bromances), I had to follow up with this one.

It has 48 episodes which met seem to be long but actually once you start, you don't see time pass.
I liked the 3 main actors, they were perfect and the supporting cast was great too. now my favorite CP (coz in the book they were a couple) did impress me even though it was basically frindship/brotherhood. Darren Chen an Fu Meng Po are great actors and not forgetting Liu Yaoyuan.

The action part were of course choreographed by «Jackie chan» so they were beautifully made.

As for the music, I liked everyone of them but mostly the opening song.

All in all, I loved this drama hope they can give us more of this and hoping that season 2 will be coming out soon!

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