#Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty

[movielosophy]

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 - the monks are not monks, the wall is not wall.

[swiftletinthecloud]

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 唐朝诡事录 (2022)

@asiandramanet july bingo: free choice | S01E01

[dangermousie]

Every costume cdrama ML summed up in one sentence omg ahahahahhahaha

[deng-yi-deng]

Cdrama: what I watched 2024

This year I got suuuuper picky and also pretty much stopped watching cdramas. Will this be my last wrap-up post ever? Tune in next year! Normally I keep a running draft review going that I can just post at the end of the year, but this year I forgot - which really signals my waning interest in cdramas generally - so my reviews are kinda vague.

No shade to folks who loved the big popular romance dramas but I completely gave them a pass. As a result, I had a great drama year - nothing under a 4/5 for this viewer!

Best drama this year: Heroes 天行健 (2024). Y'all slept on this one. Watch it now!! Even better than JoL2. Yes, you heard me. Shoutout to @lyxurious for reccing it to me. She has the best taste 💜

Mostly spoiler-free reviews of what I watched in the order I saw them under the cut

Follow Your Heart 颜心讥 4/5 (iQiyi)

(score includes extra credit for LYX bias)

Easy-watching, low-stakes, funny, and sweet. If I'm honest, one of the better plotted dramas that Luo Yunxi has been in. You know him as the beautiful crier, but his rom-com is not to be trifled with. Luo Yunxi is great as Jiang Xin Bai, the face-blind detective, but I was so happy to see Song Yi (Yan Nan Xing) in something where she wasn't playing a helpless girl or demure lady. It's the most enjoyable role I've seen her do apart from RuoRuo in JoL. Her comedy chops are also very solid, and she and Xixi were very cute together. The plot does falter a bit in the last 3/4 and slows down as they focus on the other couples, but then picks up and ends happily. Some great comedy characters - Jiang Xin Bai's mom is hilariously over the top - and fabulous performances by guest actors who play "Yan Nan Xing" when she shape-shifts. Also some good fight scenes! This is one I'd re-watch to de-stress.

Judge Dee's Mystery 大唐狄公案- (4)?/5 (Youku, Netflix)

Overall good, with movie-quality visuals, but I was disappointed by the last two mysteries which were simple and lacked oomf - I think the drama was split into two parts due to the new <40 rule, which would explain the fall off in momentum. As such I'm going to reserve a rating until the second half drops. Some of the individual mysteries - especially the one with Zhang Ruoyun - were fabulous. Acting was great from all the leads - don't believe anyone who tells you Ma Rong was annoying, she was not. The gender swap the writers did for that character totally worked for me. And I absolutely bought Zhou Yiwei as Di Renjie (though tbf I've only seen the Detective Dee movies).

Looking foward to s.2 (or part 2 however you want to count it)

Joy of Life 2 庆余年 4.5/5 (iQiyi)

Lots more people have reviewed or commented on this so I will be brief - I enjoyed the focus on politics and the machinations of the emperor, so this season really worked for me. I also thought Wu Xingjian did a great job as Yan Bing Yun, taking over from XZ. I loved the interactions between Fan Xian and Wang Qinian, adorable. There was one scene where the emperor and Fan Jian were talking/ploting/negotiating and the dialog and acting were so aaagh. so clever. I was kicking my feet and squealing. It is nice when a drama does not assume its audience is stupid. And of course we can't forget the 'power point' Fan Xian and Fan Si Zhe give about treasury bonds. Worst part: Uncle Wu doesn't show up until nearly the end ;_; looking forward to LOTS of Uncle Wu in s.3

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 To the West 唐朝诡事录·西行 4.5/5 (iQiyi)

Better than season 1 in production quality but particularly in terms of the mysteries themselves. Where s.1 gave us Scooby-gang like "the demon is just a guy in a mask" solutions, the mysteries here have a bit more to them, and plenty of cultural interest as they journey farther into the west, ending up in Dunhuang! Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming still have unbeatable chemistry, but I feel like LLF got the spotlight a bit more this season. I love them both, but hope my man Wuming doesn't get the short end of the stick again. Let's please not forget who the disciple of Di Renjie and all-around genius is?

S.3 they should head back to Chang'An and maybe??? get back to the original mystery of who is the worst royal in the capital!

Heroes 天行健 5/5 (Tencent, YouTube)

Some of the best and most entertaining storytelling in a cdrama that I've watched. The setting at the very end of the Qing, with the turbulence and uncertainty works perfectly to explore the question of who really is a hero, and for whom. And the fights! There are so many!! sometimes more than one per episode!!!! The characters are well written and well-acted. This drama cements Qin Junjie as one of my favorite actors now (having previously only seen him in Fox Volant). Also one of the few guys who can rock the queue and still be handsome. We follow three groups of characters as they try to find the pieces to a puzzle that will lead them to a treasure. One group is the old guard (royalty, the establishment), one the outsiders of the jianghu, and the third are the rebels - the new China. The stories and character relationships are woven together really well, and the pacing of each episode pushes you forward to the next, always wondering what will happen. I seriously did not think they could keep each episode as interesting as the last but they did - with twists that were surprising, but logical in hindsight. Each 'hero' is trying to find their place in the world and do what they think is best for their people - by following the rules, by breaking them, and by making new rules. It's as much a competition between philosophies as it is between individual groups or individual people. This drama is intelligent, but first of all it's entertaining. It understands exactly what it is and what it's trying to do and is very self-aware. Please please pay special attention to the opening credits because they change...(also kudos to the composer who so ably channeled Enrico Morricone when necessary.)

I Am Nobody 异人之下 4.5/5 (Youku, YouTube)

Though this came out in 2023 I didn't manage to watch it until the end of the summer (2024) and I'm glad I did. Pure fun. Hilarious, great concept and characters, well done all around. It gave me major KO One flashbacks - mostly because of the style of humor and the focus on 'teenagers' - but was completely it's own thing. Great characters with sweet and sometimes heartbreaking backstories. Bao Bao you deserve all the hugs forever 😭.

Highly recommended if you enjoy fun comic book style fights, clever storytelling, and slightly sophomoric humor with lots of heart.

Dramas I dropped:

Not as many this year, since I didn't even try any of the big popular idol dramas. Eternal Brotherhood lost me around the 2/3 mark but I can't explain why! It had a great plot, and I love Yang Xuwen, but maybe I just got distracted? When the second half comes out I'll probably try it again.

Kill Me, Love Me had a spectacularly plot-packed first couple episodes and then they put on the brakes. That kind of uneven pacing, and focus on secondary characters led me to drop around ep 9. Which was sad because I like all the actors and the plot seemed good, but I lost interest.

[marilearnsmandarin]

一路平安

('Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty', episode 21)

[lostinadrama]

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐲 (2022)

[waegashi-tofu]

[roseunspindle]

New ships I've stumbled into

Yalex - alex rider x yassen gregorovich (more book than show)

Bingqiu!

Hualian

[heedodo]

The third season of Strange tales of Tang dynasty ! IM HEEERE FOR IT ⚡️💥🔥💥⚡️🔥💥⚡️🔥💥⚡️

I’m so happy that the cast will reunite for another season!

[chineseredcarpet]

Yang Xuwen for Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty II To the West promos

[movielosophy]

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2 - Hermit Jiang

[swiftletinthecloud]

STRANGE TALES OF TANG DYNASTY II TO THE WEST (2024)

@asiandramanet august bingo: poster design

@asiandramanet event 10: scenery

[dangermousie]

I decided to check out Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty and am a couple of eps into s1. I like it (which is surprising, given that it’s largely a period procedural) but the thing I love the most is that the two investigator protagonists fight over jurisdiction and threatening to complain to their superior and not giving up paperwork in their control and who’s in charge even more than they spend time solving cases.

ANCIENTS, THEY ARE JUST LIKE US!

[deng-yi-deng]

I love you su wuming but you need to stop being mean to my girl ying tao.

And ying tao, sweetie, we know he would die if you stopped magically appearing to save his scholarly ass, but at least next time be a little late.

[lostinadrama]

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐲 (2022)

[ellsieee]

Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty is getting a second season!! 🥳🎉🍾

They start filming in March and all of the main cast will reprise their roles. Though I don't see the name of the general's disciple, I hope he's in it too.

I'M SO EXCITED! My favorite non-bl m/m dynamic of last year. They're filming for 160 days which seems rather long but hopefully that means better production. Factoring in the filming time, post production, and passing review, STOTD 2 probably won't come out until next year. 😭