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Dropped: Anti-Fraud League (反騙天下) (2019)
This show was very much angling for the buddy cop BL vibes drama but it was too forced for me. Probably not one of the better ones out there.
Spoilers.
Story
The story focused on the two main characters, Fang Yuan and Mi Ruo.
Fang Yuan was an investigator for an insurance company. He was more of a rough guy, using alternative means to get the information he needed. He also had a tragic backstory relating to a fiancee/girlfriend who passed away.
Mi Ruo was a genius who was captured by some rich guy and was only working with Fang Yuan to get out of his own sticky situation.
There wasn't really a clear split between the various cases for me. By the time I dropped the show, the story was on the second major case. However, the show doesn't really flow like a regular procedural, in that the cases felt really blended. Not sure that it's necessarily a good or bad thing, but it kind of caused me to lose focus.
The dialogue writing in general was not great. Very awkward. Nothing about it compelled me. Fang Yuan was not as cool as the show wanted him to be. The show really wanted to set up our four mains as an investigative group but it didn't really hit the way it was intended. I didn't feel hyped seeing the characters work together.
Also, there was hardly any romantic or sexual tension between Fang Yuan and Niu Meng, as the show wanted us to perceive...
At the time I dropped the show, Fang Yuan and Mi Ruo were fighting because Mi Ruo got into trouble trying to get rid of past debts and Fang Yuan didn't want to be involved. They were also fighting because Fang Yuan had lied to him about getting money and Mi Ruo really needed that money for his debt. Which was how he got into that trouble where Fang Yuan had to bail him out. The show wanted to portray it as a dramatic break, but they did not have a bromance to begin with to anchor me.
So overall, weak story that did not draw me in.
Production
This show was trying so hard to make the relationship between the two leads full of tension but it was not there. Neither of the actors were very convincing, though Fang Yuan's actor had a tougher job due to having to be the charismatic one. Mi Ruo just had to be the boring loser genius and he was fine, but I didn't care about him either.
The showrunners really wanted to portray a certain dynamic between the characters but it was just not there. There was no chemistry.
Characters
Fang Yuan was the charismatic guy with a tragic backstory. Nothing I haven't seen before, and nothing that Fang Yuan has done in a particularly outstanding way.
Mi Ruo was acted as a typical idol drama pretty boy. He was meant to be a genius but also unaware of a lot in real life.
Niu Meng was the boss of the little investigative team. According to Fang Yuan, she used to be an insurance cheat but it looks like she's "changed her ways." The show wanted her and Fang Yuan to have sexual tension so bad. No, she's just a boss woman.
Luo Xin was the tech expert. Her first appearance, she was just messing around a lot with Fang Yuan's phone and making fun of him for being old. Which is fine and all. Whatever. While she wasn't as big of a fail of Fang Yuan's character, there wasn't anything that made her special either.
Overall
I am disappointed as I was expecting this to be a fun procedural show. Unfortunately it was too cringe for me.
Spoilers.
Story
The story focused on the two main characters, Fang Yuan and Mi Ruo.
Fang Yuan was an investigator for an insurance company. He was more of a rough guy, using alternative means to get the information he needed. He also had a tragic backstory relating to a fiancee/girlfriend who passed away.
Mi Ruo was a genius who was captured by some rich guy and was only working with Fang Yuan to get out of his own sticky situation.
There wasn't really a clear split between the various cases for me. By the time I dropped the show, the story was on the second major case. However, the show doesn't really flow like a regular procedural, in that the cases felt really blended. Not sure that it's necessarily a good or bad thing, but it kind of caused me to lose focus.
The dialogue writing in general was not great. Very awkward. Nothing about it compelled me. Fang Yuan was not as cool as the show wanted him to be. The show really wanted to set up our four mains as an investigative group but it didn't really hit the way it was intended. I didn't feel hyped seeing the characters work together.
Also, there was hardly any romantic or sexual tension between Fang Yuan and Niu Meng, as the show wanted us to perceive...
At the time I dropped the show, Fang Yuan and Mi Ruo were fighting because Mi Ruo got into trouble trying to get rid of past debts and Fang Yuan didn't want to be involved. They were also fighting because Fang Yuan had lied to him about getting money and Mi Ruo really needed that money for his debt. Which was how he got into that trouble where Fang Yuan had to bail him out. The show wanted to portray it as a dramatic break, but they did not have a bromance to begin with to anchor me.
So overall, weak story that did not draw me in.
Production
This show was trying so hard to make the relationship between the two leads full of tension but it was not there. Neither of the actors were very convincing, though Fang Yuan's actor had a tougher job due to having to be the charismatic one. Mi Ruo just had to be the boring loser genius and he was fine, but I didn't care about him either.
The showrunners really wanted to portray a certain dynamic between the characters but it was just not there. There was no chemistry.
Characters
Fang Yuan was the charismatic guy with a tragic backstory. Nothing I haven't seen before, and nothing that Fang Yuan has done in a particularly outstanding way.
Mi Ruo was acted as a typical idol drama pretty boy. He was meant to be a genius but also unaware of a lot in real life.
Niu Meng was the boss of the little investigative team. According to Fang Yuan, she used to be an insurance cheat but it looks like she's "changed her ways." The show wanted her and Fang Yuan to have sexual tension so bad. No, she's just a boss woman.
Luo Xin was the tech expert. Her first appearance, she was just messing around a lot with Fang Yuan's phone and making fun of him for being old. Which is fine and all. Whatever. While she wasn't as big of a fail of Fang Yuan's character, there wasn't anything that made her special either.
Overall
I am disappointed as I was expecting this to be a fun procedural show. Unfortunately it was too cringe for me.