The Lotus Casebook (2023)

a well written male centered drama

I was surprised knowing that the original source was never a gay romance. The drama sure know how to up their bromance lol.

Personally I am not a fan of any type of romance in a drama that is heavy in friendship and brotherhood/sisterhood. But I like the bromance in this. If you see it from different perspectives, it actually fits in every one of them. Truly up to viewers' interpretation. You may see romance, or just friendship, or brotherhood, or even father-son bond between LLH-FXB (not entirely but it's there, you just have to see it from that angle).

I think even if people dislike the ending, I quite like it. I don't think Li Lianhua is still alive. He most probably have long been dead when DFS and FDB went to the beach. LLH has been lying to people thag Li Xiangyi is dead, and he lied that LXY was found dead on the beach and the body swept away by the ocean. Personally I think it foreshadowed the way he actually died. LLH chose to die that way because he wanted it.

Saving him is a bit unrealistic. He has said so many times that someone needs the cure more than him. While he was the best during his prime, his time has long passed and it's time for the new generation to surpass him. For him 30% chance is a 0 chance. If someone has 100% survival rate with the antidote, why waste it on him? He's both selfish and selfless in a sense, again depends on what way you see his action.

I personally think people forcing him to stay alive is also quite selfish of them. If LLH chose to die peacefully with his illness, why are you so adamant to make him alive? DFS did it for his long obsession of defeating him. While I get FDB just wanted him to just live and be the LLH and enjoy adventure with him, I think FDB never understood LLH in this case. He's supposed to understand LLH and all his reasoning, but he just refused to accept this one.

Overall this drama is truly one of the best Chinese drama in 2023 aside from The Blood of Youth. Do I want a season 2? Perhaps, with FDB and DFS looking for LLH, dead or alive. And them forming a bond that they didn't know they could build. It would be lovely to have it.

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MLC - Mystery filled with Legendary Characters.

An Epic series my current no.1 non romantic drama. I dont usually write reviews but this one forced me to write. This is an underrated gem i feel, it deserves hype and popularity among more international audience so tht they can savour and appreciate this beauty cause i myself had no clue and just stumbled into this legit great wuxia adventure that just brings on addiction from the get go till the last episode. Those who dont watch spoilers it just has right amount of twists. The Mystery cases also has a good no. of clues but requires lot of guesswork but it is explained in detail and those are legit and believable ones.
Before going into the actors lets take a moment to appreciate the production. So many tiny tiny details i literally had to go through so many comments and rewatch for those. The color textures, accessories, scenery all are simple and classic and top notch. Its a diff world tht wants us to dive into it.
Next the OST chefs kiss, so smooth and relatable to the storyline and my fav liu yuning opening theme is just fab. The songs all contribute to the feeling of belonging and connection to the storyline.

Thn the actors and acting
Sorry but xiao rijin was not only an irritating annoying character but the actors acting was also not very appealing.

Qiao mian lxys ex lover atleast she had conscience atlast the only episode i appreciated her was her breakup with the lead and taking back leadership, its just tteotm her character left so stinky taste in my mouth i am not able to see her as an acter and again her crying face here just reminds her bitch face thr in tteotm i thnk the actress shd try modern drama for a while till people forget her stint in tteotm or else the influence will srill be there.

Sxy - she was a breath of fresh air in the nerve cracking serious mystery though it wad one sided crush , she respected lxy boundaries and helped him when ever necessary, it was a cute character

Fo bi bai shi - the elders of the sigu sect are just stupid people i guess being detectives they couldnt find lxy and they forgave bique for poisoning their leader later made a scene of executing him, though they all loved lxy its just the storyline msde me wary towards them.

Jiao liqao - sick poisonous beauty honestly she is the kind of third person i want in any drama , instead of a dumb not beautiful actress just to seperate the mainleads ,rather someone who truly loves and ml in a sick way her acting is so perfect tht we can hate her or love her no in between. Somewhr i wouldnt have minded her marrying dfs and having llh as side concubine, just kiddin. But her ambition to control the top 2 powerful man in history in applaud worthy.

Di fei sheng or my cutie A fei - no words just the right amount of gray in the black and white world. The anti hero kind. His backstory was nice tht it had a continuation and ending in the present time. That swag after he recovered fro weeping guyanin . And his true respect for lxy and extended fdb is appreciated. My voice chocked whn his emotions bubbled over him killing jiao liqao the first woman he slew. He is a decent guy and the middle stint without his memories as A fei even tht time he was praiseworthy cunning and demanding favor for a secret. Want to see more of this masculine actor as a male lead soon and hope this character becomes an inspiration to future drama writers.

Fang doubing - or xiaobao as I and llh likes it , joseph zheng played this character really well and xiaobao's character is the one that had max character growth, from a spoiled rich kind hearted curious irresponsible and shifu's child to a man full of responsibilities, determination, hope and experience filled wanderer each teaching him a lesson and fondness to those who deserve it. From being stubborn and stupid to becoming LLH's confident and first friend having that understanding and supporting when ever needed that brotherhood is something more thn just master disciple. Even after getting to know llh is lxy he still called him llh which just shows tht he is true to their present relationship nothing of the past matters. And his calmness and the villainous reveal of sgd was not really surprising but pleasantly welcomed Tianji manor with his mom and aunt both were really good characters and his bonding towards them also showed. I loved tht kid fangxiao bao but at the end i admired fdb who had bested lxy's shifu ,created his own swordplay, stood up against his dad after knowtowing, and also not running away from the princess instead understanding responsibility and her affection. He is one of a kind.

Li lian hua or li xiangyi - i fall short of words describing him , please watch the series and you will understand this guy is nothing short, truly majestic who made us all fall in love with his character and the one tht made me crave cheng yi's acting. Both actor and character deserve 100% standing ovation so freaking good.

I just want to delete the whole series and rewatch it without knowing the ending.

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Best of The Best Costume Serial

The storyline/ plot, actions, dialogs, background musics, character introductions, and scenes are just PERFECTLY planned and executed. From multiple points of views this is BEST of the best costume drama serial so far I ever watched. Every scene of this drama is meaningful.
I hope this drama wins the best costume drama this year.

Note: I have watched many classic and modern costume dramas such as Nirvana in Fire (#2), Reset (10), Joy of Life (11), The Untamed (didn't finish), Legend of Miyue, Princess Agents, Amazing Detective Di Renjie (2006), The Condor Heroes (1983), and many more.

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Disappointing ending

Story line is good up until the ending. The story takes you to solving mysteries like a Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick.

The choreography of the fight scenes is fantastic.

Be prepared for disappointment though.
Character development is good.
But the endings in these dramas are too often disappointing as is with this one.

Li Lianhua is an amazing character but has a character flaw where others care about his life more than he does.

I feel robbed of 40 hours watching 40 episodes to have this nebulous ending where they built up thos story line beautifully.

The writer should be shot for writing this.

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Best drama, extradionary casts

This is the first time i wrote a review for any drama. This drama is a surprise for me. I saw it on you tube and decide to give it a try. Since then i got caught and can´t stop. Never once i fast forward . It really a refreshing to see a drama that is different from other drama. It about life journey and friendship while investigate all this weird cases. You laugh, angry, cry together with the characters. The feeling is real. It done beautifully and i would give a BIG applaud to all who involved in this production. Hats of to all the actors/ actresses esp. Cheng Yi, Jospeh Zeng and Xiao Shunyao. Cheng Yi is so amazing with his expression , body language and the way he talk. He is really a remarkable actor, a gem. He prefect for this character . I watched few of his dramas but this make me a fan. A new fan of him. A best drama so far in 2023.

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Wuxian Sleuthing And The Search For Peace

Rated= 8 ~ 42/50 ~ 8.4
Scene // Mermaid Floating through Sky City. Excalibur glowing blue like Li Xiangi's LOL

I need to be hooked from the first few episodes or the a.d.d drops the show. I was about half way through episode 2 when I had an itching to stop watching but I didn't and holy cow, am I glad I didn't. (I now need to go and give the other shows I dropped a chance lol)

Plot -
I love watching a mystery unfold. Battle of wits can be just as, if not more entertaining that combat. There's a lot of information to digest though. There were a few times i had to rewatch just to understand what had happened. It's one of those mysteries that deliberately with hold information to surprise you. I dont mind that but I can imagine some people might find that annoying and perhaps even lazy for detective writing as it can be fun to try and work it out with the characters. I loved watching the characters unfold their pasts and it was done without too much melodrama and was very human. As is the case with c-dramas there's so much happening and such a big cast that there were things kind of being cut or left out, never revisited again simply because it just wouldn't fit into the timeframe. Minor complaint though as I found the pacing pretty consistent over all. I'm usually pretty good with foreshadowing so there were a few things I predicted but there were also some things that got me. The villains were a little unpredictable at times and weren't too cliche for this genre.

Fang is a slow evolution. It was only when I was in the 20s episodes that I began to notice it. At the start, he really was very spoiled and arrogant and had to be guided through the mystery solving and watching him mature slowly is like watching a child grow up. He really does come into his own character eventually, both by Xiangi's teachings and also, most importantly, through his own merit, so that by the end, you really do believe that he is the next big thing in the martial arts world, and that is enjoyable for me as a viewer.

Xangi definitely needed new friends though. Once the Ex arc was dealt with they kind of just disappeared until the end and I kept wondering to myself if I was going to see them again. They very much took a back seat when I thought they would play a larger role but again, c-drama's love a 100 character cast and then can't fit them all in. All but one, I honestly felt like these glorified friends were pretty useless. Thankfully, they didn't play too much into needless drama which I am thankful for because I really hate that. The traitor friend was the only friend I liked because he was the only one that showed some kind of depth. The rest of them just kind of stood around or just whined.

Music -
The music was awesome in this show lol I loved the tribal humming happening during the fight scenes. It was a beautiful mix of the traditional chinese instruments combined with the more tribal slightly middle eastern sounds to add to that ancient dark magic feel that follows the main plot.

Acting -
Shout out to the ML, Cheng Li because there were a few times I kind of wanted to cry with him. He was both hilarious to watch and also got me in my feels a few times. I only call out actors when they really get me and his work here will definitely have me looking into more of his shows.

Designs -
There were so many sets in this one I could not keep up but it's ok, they all were a backdrop to the variety of mysteries being solved so well done set creators, they had their work cut out for them in this one. But mostly importantly, the creativity of that ancient chinese mobile home. That is straight out of a ghibli anime, it's so cute LOL The outfit designs weren't too stand outish to me but I think that's good for this kind of show. There's so much happening and so many places that a simple wardrobe looks better. There are plenty of visuals already in the background that if the characters were in anything more ornate, it would be just too much.

Ending Thoughts -
It is an open ended ending so forewarning for that, seen in the special 41 episode. However, this is the first time I've watched a show and my brain saw two endings at once lol It really is a choose left or right kind of ending so I can absolutely accept either one but when I put the rest of the plot into perspective, the themes it dealt with and the consistent messages it kept coming back to, as well as the Lead character's journey, I'm inclined to lean more into the bittersweet ending.
We begin the series at sea and end looking out at sea. Xiangi was meant to die in that opening scene and somehow survives. In his quest to find his marital brother's remains, he finds another reason to live. Martial arts was thrust on him from he was a small child and then propelled forward by his genius and youthful arrogance, so when he was alone and making decisions for himself, he found that a simple life was what he actually wanted. It gave him the peace and wisdom he needed throughout the series. Even though it feels like he's a character that doesn't seem to change, it's because he doesn't really have to. He's dying, We're told that right from the start and that he's tired. All he wants to do his find his friend's body so he can die in peace. The only change he makes in the whole series is opening himself up to being cared about again. This might annoy some viewers as it can feel like he's just martyring himself and running away from his friends again but I can understand his reasoning here. He's already learnt what he needs to know throughout the whole show, and he brings that sense of peace to help heal old wounds and tie up loose ends, from his youth. He admits his fault and regrets and does what he can to right those wrongs, and teach what he's learnt, so that when I got to the ending scene, it honestly just felt more natural to end with his death and that his body had gone back out to sea like a karmic completion. He was given a second chance so that he could be at peace. And honestly, I don't feel like that's a sad ending. The character feels finished.

EDIT- I was reading some other comments from viewers and realised that some of them felt like Xiangi had unalived himself at the end and since I'm going with the death ending, I don't want to stress anyone out so if you've read my spoiler, hello, don't worry, let me explain.
I personally don't think he would do that. We seen in a previous scene with Fang that Xiangi is pretty much at death's door by the end. I understand that Wuxia is based in Buddhism and there's a shot of the Monk that Xiangi was in touch with meditating and then stopping suddenly to look up at the Buddha statue when the sunlight hits, reminiscent of the first mystery, signifying a spiritual ascension. Xiangi explains briefly in an earlier episode that he was told he didn't have any Buddha threads in him, as though he was just destined to repeat his karmic cycles as per Buddhist beliefs. When we see him dressed up in all white on the beach, I feel like that's a portrayal that he has died on the beach but has repaid his karma and that's his soul ascending into his next life, to be reborn free either in another life or in Nirvana. Xiangi wanted to go fishing and feel the sun, so going to the beach feels right, and just as the waves washed him up there, it took his body back out to the sea, and that's why we're looking at the waves in the final shot. From a Buddhist perspective, that's not a sad ending. His soul was set free. He was long done with the martial arts world and passed his torch to Fang, while also sparing him and his family from the Emperor's wrath and paranoia. For me personally, I feel like that's what truly makes him an Ascended Master. He proved himself to be noble and a true leader and his afterlife will reward him with that, in whatever form that takes.
****


Overall, I would sit and watch this again. Don't know if it's something I'd on in the background though. I think this is one I would have to want to sit and watch through all the mysteries again with a snack.

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A lotus in full bloom

This is a story about a hero who once stood at the top of the world, before his whole life changed overnight. Through his journey as a wandering physician solving mysteries and closing the lose ends of his past, he forges everlasting friendships with two if the most unexpected people. This drama was a meaningful one as it illustrated various life lessons stemming from human desires, resentment, loss and letting go.

Although the first chunk of the series is relatively slow paced (and a bit dry), the story unfolds to reveal events that are intertwined allowing the viewer to appreciate the first few cases that set the stage and tone for the main plot.

From the amusing bromance/friendship between the main leads to the beautifully choreographed martial arts scenes, this drama leaves a deep impression that was only strengthened by Cheng Yi’s elegance and good grasp of his characters. Not all heroes wear capes and wield swords. Some carry a heart of the lotus in full bloom.

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finally some good food!!

Nothing major that other reviews haven't said, so reviewing just for the vibes and putting my rambling (as usual) thoughts out there:

i would give it a 9/10 but it took me a while to get into the groove of the show (i had to skip straight to ep 4 to get the pace up) the premise and building was taking too long and i kept getting bored (li lianhua/cheng yi in the beginning didn’t excite me that much as a character bc we didnt see how op he is at crime busting, and fang duobing/zeng shunxi was too young and inexperienced at case cracking for me to feel satisfied when watching).
it was only until di feisheng (xiao shunyao) appeared when i was like FINALLY SOME GOOD FOOD (it was like ep 6 or 8 iirc) bc his visuals, the characterization,,,,, ugh
ah fei is like a sports-type male lead who is wholly focused on just being the best at martial arts but he slowly learns to trust the leads and we can tell that from the beginning he’s always had righteous and good intentions (if not good, def he has his own moral code that he sticks by, no exception).

i really enjoyed it when it was the 3 of them trusting each other (mostly) and solving cases (around when fang duobing didn’t know about di feisheng and when di feisheng forgot his memories) they make an incredible team and whenever ah fei wasnt there i got sad bc whenever ah fei is there its like lu lingfeng.. like i just know that no one can get hurt bc hes just that strong + that much 安全感

li lianhua vs nirvana in fire’s mei changsu/lin shu is really interesting and the discussion of mortality, what it means to live, and philosophical life outlooks is def something i didnt expect going into this show.

the martial arts fight scenes are super fun to watch. everyone could fight and they filmed the fight moves really well (the weiya and no stunt doubles was super impressive)

really enjoyed the costume, makeup, set design. esp the costume like not a single flop outfit the entire time for all the leads…. they always look so good (this drama made me understand cheng yi’s appeal and also to look up xiao shunyao….)

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Great acting, and action

This is my first review on the site, although I have been a member awhile now.

So I binged watch this within a week and just finished it around an hour ago. It had me glued to my seat and other than work and eat, I wanted to just watch and finish the drama. Kinda zombie mode.

From the start till the end it had my full attention. The humour was great whenever you see the trio. The fighting scenes was fabulous. The actors that portrait each of their role was really good, strong cast. I love the detective/mystery of the drama the most. But I hated the ending and just before, I know I seen the special, it seems like an open ending, wish it was more concrete.
To be honest 2/3 into the series , I cried in frustrated tears for LXY, he could have been on top of the wuxia world but was tricked to crashed down to the bottom and dying! Most of the ending was pretty stupid, I didn't like it and wish it was different. For this reason I only have it 9.5 out of 10, else this drama is perfect

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My Favorite Drama of The Year

Story:
Mystery is always an intriguing trope in wuxia drama. In this drama, the mysterious cases continuously hooked me. The script is written very compelling, though they were some plot-holes. Yes you can call this drama a cliche wuxia, the goal of everyone who live in jiang hu is to be no.1. But the process every person go through is not the same, the choice they chose, the action they took based on their personal value make eye-opening thoughts about someone personality. Although I found the court politics an unnecessary trope, overall the story and the emotion's knot they tried to show audience is very much moved my heart.

Acting: Li Lianhua is one of the most hilarious character I've ever met. He is carefree, annoying yet kind, compassionate and smart. It's a pity we don't get many scenes with Li Xiangyi with his arrogant, selfish and stubborn character to show us. Or I will give Cheng Yi two thumbs up for his top notch acting. Joseph Cheng has a big improvement in acting as Fang Duobing. His emotions showed in every scenes with Li Lianhua. Their friendship/bromance is warm-heartedly deep. Yet the relation between Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng is the most fascinating one. I crave for their goofy interactions as enemy to bromance. Can't help but shipped them.

Overall: I recommend this drama if you are action, mystery and wuxia lover. Because this drama is S+ drama, so the production is so much better than other recent wuxia drama. Yet the impressive story and the excellent acting are the most substantial points for this drama.

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