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Review: Ancient Detective (俠探簡不知) (2020)
This was a neat little show. I can see why it was a hit. It was an uncomplicated show set in a setting that just isn't really explored anymore.
I'd recommend this show for someone who likes wuxia themed shows.
Spoilers.
Story
I was originally under the impression that this was a crime procedural show, but there were only a couple of crimes. The overarching stories regarding the massacre of his father and his friends, as well as the one about the assassin group.
Along the way, our main characters Jian Buzhi and Zhao Wohuan solved their mysteries, met new friends, lost some friends, and embarked on new adventures. To be honest, I didn't pay too closely to the mysteries because I was mostly chilling while watching the show lol.
It was a feel good ending, until we got to the real ending.
Jian Buzhi was trying to find out more about the massacre of his father because he was an amnesiac. The truth was that Jian Buzhi was the killer of the massacre, Wang Hua. Hu Bayue/Cao Baozhe, one of the people who was at the massacre, recognized Jian Buzhi as Wang Hua, but saw that this Jian Buzhi was very upright and decided that Jianghu needed people like him. Thus, he went on a mission to kill the other witnesses so that Jian Buzhi could go on living his version of the truth.
The story ended on a cliffhanger, showing Wang Hua's associates finding out about him still being alive.
Apparently there are two extra episodes that were later released. I have not watched them as of writing this.
Production
The production was okay. At least there wre some good fighting scenes which are crucial to wuxia shows. The acting was fine. Not top rate but it was immersive enough. And the wardrobe was fine.
Characters
Jian Buzhi
Our extremely upright and smart protagonist. He was on a mission to find out the truth about his father's death. The show involved a lot of internal dialogue from him as he worked through the mysteries. As well, Jian Buzhi was not a martial artist at all, nor did he have specific skills, so he had to be protected by his friends.
Jian Buzhi had become sworn brothers with Zhao Wohuan shortly after meeting him. They were pretty solid, though they did split when Jian Buzhi was determined to go to Zhan Shiqi because she was in danger, even though he was in ill health. However, they reconciled shortly after.
Jian Buzhi also had a romantic subplot with Zhan Shiqi, the assassin from Shishamen. I think their relationship was interesting and nice. They had a very serious, very solemn romance :3
From the first case, Jian Buzhi had contracted an illness due to poison and he had limited time to live. By the end of the show, he got the cure and wasn't doomed to die anymore.
At the end, Jian Buzhi, Zhao Wohuan, and Zhan Shiqi decided to set out on an adventure together, first going to Shenjigu to pay respects to Jian Buzhi's father.
As mentioned, the reveal was that Jian Buzhi was actually Wang Hua. He was the one who had killed Jian Buzhi's father. Apparently, the true Jian Buzhi had never left his town. After the massacre, Jian Buzhi had woken up with amnesia and incorrectly drew the conclusion that he was Jian Buzhi. However, he had woken up very intelligent, very upright, and without any martial arts, and Hu Bayue decided that he was a hero the world needed.
Zhao Wohuan
Zhao Wohuan was Jian Buzhi's martial artist friend and sworn brother. He was naive and optimistic, a nice contrast to Jian Buzhi who was very serious.
Originally he presented himself as the son of a famous martial artist. However, he later revealed that his family wasn't really all that, and that his own martial arts weren't that great. He later grew stronger, picking up martial arts tips from the monk at the inn.
Zhao Wohuan had a romantic subplot with Ming Yue, aka Ming Er. She presented herself as a mute lady to purposely get him to feel sorry for her and it worked. Zhao Wohuan was none the wiser until she later got him drunk to steal the crystal. Zhao Wohuan remembered her confession and thus determined that she did actually love him, but she would not stay and he could do nothing but let her go.
At the end of the show, Zhao Wohuan joined Jian Buzhi and Zhan Shiqi on their adventures. After going to Shenjigu, they would go to Zhao Wohuan's hometown.
Zhan Shiqi
Zhan Shiqi was an assassin, a cold woman. In her internal monologue we found out that she grew up as an assassin, she found herself drawn to beautiful things such as clothes.
She later defected from her assassin group and joined Jian Buzhi's group.
Though there were inconsistencies in her character, I could forgive them as overall I still think the character was done well enough. She was based on a bit of a stereotype so it would be hard to give her dimension while keeping the fundamental truths about her personality, so I think allowing the directors and writers to bend that a little was fine.
Ming Yue
Ming Yue was the daughter of the assassin group, and the only member with a name instead of a code name. The name was given to her by her brother. But otherwise she was Ming Er, being ranked second in the spy part of the assassin group.
Ming Yue was assigned to find the document that was held by Jian Buzhi. She portrayed herself as a helpless mute lady to get Zhao Wohuan's attention, as she knew he was Jian Buzhi's good friend.
She did develop real feelings for Zhao Wohuan. Even after the time gap in which they were away from each other, they maintained their feelings. However, unlike Zhan Shiqi, Ming Yue was more devoted to the assassin organization (which makes sense, given her tighter connection as daughter of the leader). Zhan Shiqi was already not fond of the lifestyle and Jian Buzhi gave her a reason to leave. But Ming Yue could not leave her life for Zhao Wohuan.
On the night before things went down, Zhao Wohuan proposed to Ming Yue, which made them both very happy. Ming Yue got Zhao Wohuan drunk so she could steal the crystal with the document on it from him. While he was drunk, she confessed her feelings to him (also revealing that she was not mute).
Ming Yue left Zhao Wohuan, taking the crystal. Realizing what happened, Zhao Wohuan caught up to her to get her to confess her feelings. She insisted that the feelings were not real but Zhao Wohuan knew she was lying. If she didn't love him, she wouldn't have confessed while he was drunk, thinking that he wouldn't remember. As well, when Zhao Wohuan proposed he had given a bangle to Ming Yue, saying that it was a gift that could only be given once (implying that he would only have one love). When Zhao Wohuan let Ming Yue go, he asked for the bangle back, but she declined, saying it was hers, and showing that she accepted his feelings.
I'd be interested to learn more about Ming Yue's background, including both the assassin organization and her moral conflict about falling in love.
Sima Dang
Sima Dang was a historian. His schtick was that he wrote everything down, as was his job. I imagine he was given the surname of Sima Dang to mirror Sima Qian, a famous historian. He was also very quick with his lightness martial arts.
Gong Que
Gong Que was one of the doctors at the inn. She was known as Xiaoyaonv (little demon girl). She was known to have healed members of the Shishamen assassin organization as she accepted patients as long as they could give her money. However, she kept her lips tight about her patient list.
Jian Buzhi originally tried to get close to her to learn more about Zhan Shiqi. She later fell in love with him, but realized that he loved another.
Later, Gong Que gave up the patient list to Sima Dang, so that Sima Dang would fulfill Heiwu Niangniang's request of changing his description in the historical records, so that Heiwu Niangniang would save Jian Buzhi's life by expelling the poison. Heiwu Niangniang got what they wanted, but burned the historical record, being moved by their devotion to one another (and Gong Que's to Jian Buzhi).
Gong Que later left with Sima Dang.
Ye Xiaoxiao
Ye Xiaoxiao was another doctor. His thing was that he was able to change faces and Ye Xiaoxiao wasn't actually his true identity. However, he did not remember his original identity.
He tagged along with the group. At the end of the show, he said that he would go off to visit Heiwu Niangniang, as they were friends.
Themes
This show had some of the typical wuxia themes, which is why I think it felt familiar and comfortable.
Long dialogues and discussions were common, especially when Jian Buzhi was explaining his deduction. Poison and other health-related things were basically magic. And of course, we had martial arts techniques such as lightness martial arts.
Overall
As I said, this was a neat little show. I can understand why people liked it so much. For me it was alright, but I'm not brainrotting over it.
I'd recommend this show for someone who likes wuxia themed shows.
Spoilers.
Story
I was originally under the impression that this was a crime procedural show, but there were only a couple of crimes. The overarching stories regarding the massacre of his father and his friends, as well as the one about the assassin group.
Along the way, our main characters Jian Buzhi and Zhao Wohuan solved their mysteries, met new friends, lost some friends, and embarked on new adventures. To be honest, I didn't pay too closely to the mysteries because I was mostly chilling while watching the show lol.
It was a feel good ending, until we got to the real ending.
Jian Buzhi was trying to find out more about the massacre of his father because he was an amnesiac. The truth was that Jian Buzhi was the killer of the massacre, Wang Hua. Hu Bayue/Cao Baozhe, one of the people who was at the massacre, recognized Jian Buzhi as Wang Hua, but saw that this Jian Buzhi was very upright and decided that Jianghu needed people like him. Thus, he went on a mission to kill the other witnesses so that Jian Buzhi could go on living his version of the truth.
The story ended on a cliffhanger, showing Wang Hua's associates finding out about him still being alive.
Apparently there are two extra episodes that were later released. I have not watched them as of writing this.
Production
The production was okay. At least there wre some good fighting scenes which are crucial to wuxia shows. The acting was fine. Not top rate but it was immersive enough. And the wardrobe was fine.
Characters
Jian Buzhi
Our extremely upright and smart protagonist. He was on a mission to find out the truth about his father's death. The show involved a lot of internal dialogue from him as he worked through the mysteries. As well, Jian Buzhi was not a martial artist at all, nor did he have specific skills, so he had to be protected by his friends.
Jian Buzhi had become sworn brothers with Zhao Wohuan shortly after meeting him. They were pretty solid, though they did split when Jian Buzhi was determined to go to Zhan Shiqi because she was in danger, even though he was in ill health. However, they reconciled shortly after.
Jian Buzhi also had a romantic subplot with Zhan Shiqi, the assassin from Shishamen. I think their relationship was interesting and nice. They had a very serious, very solemn romance :3
From the first case, Jian Buzhi had contracted an illness due to poison and he had limited time to live. By the end of the show, he got the cure and wasn't doomed to die anymore.
At the end, Jian Buzhi, Zhao Wohuan, and Zhan Shiqi decided to set out on an adventure together, first going to Shenjigu to pay respects to Jian Buzhi's father.
As mentioned, the reveal was that Jian Buzhi was actually Wang Hua. He was the one who had killed Jian Buzhi's father. Apparently, the true Jian Buzhi had never left his town. After the massacre, Jian Buzhi had woken up with amnesia and incorrectly drew the conclusion that he was Jian Buzhi. However, he had woken up very intelligent, very upright, and without any martial arts, and Hu Bayue decided that he was a hero the world needed.
Zhao Wohuan
Zhao Wohuan was Jian Buzhi's martial artist friend and sworn brother. He was naive and optimistic, a nice contrast to Jian Buzhi who was very serious.
Originally he presented himself as the son of a famous martial artist. However, he later revealed that his family wasn't really all that, and that his own martial arts weren't that great. He later grew stronger, picking up martial arts tips from the monk at the inn.
Zhao Wohuan had a romantic subplot with Ming Yue, aka Ming Er. She presented herself as a mute lady to purposely get him to feel sorry for her and it worked. Zhao Wohuan was none the wiser until she later got him drunk to steal the crystal. Zhao Wohuan remembered her confession and thus determined that she did actually love him, but she would not stay and he could do nothing but let her go.
At the end of the show, Zhao Wohuan joined Jian Buzhi and Zhan Shiqi on their adventures. After going to Shenjigu, they would go to Zhao Wohuan's hometown.
Zhan Shiqi
Zhan Shiqi was an assassin, a cold woman. In her internal monologue we found out that she grew up as an assassin, she found herself drawn to beautiful things such as clothes.
She later defected from her assassin group and joined Jian Buzhi's group.
Though there were inconsistencies in her character, I could forgive them as overall I still think the character was done well enough. She was based on a bit of a stereotype so it would be hard to give her dimension while keeping the fundamental truths about her personality, so I think allowing the directors and writers to bend that a little was fine.
Ming Yue
Ming Yue was the daughter of the assassin group, and the only member with a name instead of a code name. The name was given to her by her brother. But otherwise she was Ming Er, being ranked second in the spy part of the assassin group.
Ming Yue was assigned to find the document that was held by Jian Buzhi. She portrayed herself as a helpless mute lady to get Zhao Wohuan's attention, as she knew he was Jian Buzhi's good friend.
She did develop real feelings for Zhao Wohuan. Even after the time gap in which they were away from each other, they maintained their feelings. However, unlike Zhan Shiqi, Ming Yue was more devoted to the assassin organization (which makes sense, given her tighter connection as daughter of the leader). Zhan Shiqi was already not fond of the lifestyle and Jian Buzhi gave her a reason to leave. But Ming Yue could not leave her life for Zhao Wohuan.
On the night before things went down, Zhao Wohuan proposed to Ming Yue, which made them both very happy. Ming Yue got Zhao Wohuan drunk so she could steal the crystal with the document on it from him. While he was drunk, she confessed her feelings to him (also revealing that she was not mute).
Ming Yue left Zhao Wohuan, taking the crystal. Realizing what happened, Zhao Wohuan caught up to her to get her to confess her feelings. She insisted that the feelings were not real but Zhao Wohuan knew she was lying. If she didn't love him, she wouldn't have confessed while he was drunk, thinking that he wouldn't remember. As well, when Zhao Wohuan proposed he had given a bangle to Ming Yue, saying that it was a gift that could only be given once (implying that he would only have one love). When Zhao Wohuan let Ming Yue go, he asked for the bangle back, but she declined, saying it was hers, and showing that she accepted his feelings.
I'd be interested to learn more about Ming Yue's background, including both the assassin organization and her moral conflict about falling in love.
Sima Dang
Sima Dang was a historian. His schtick was that he wrote everything down, as was his job. I imagine he was given the surname of Sima Dang to mirror Sima Qian, a famous historian. He was also very quick with his lightness martial arts.
Gong Que
Gong Que was one of the doctors at the inn. She was known as Xiaoyaonv (little demon girl). She was known to have healed members of the Shishamen assassin organization as she accepted patients as long as they could give her money. However, she kept her lips tight about her patient list.
Jian Buzhi originally tried to get close to her to learn more about Zhan Shiqi. She later fell in love with him, but realized that he loved another.
Later, Gong Que gave up the patient list to Sima Dang, so that Sima Dang would fulfill Heiwu Niangniang's request of changing his description in the historical records, so that Heiwu Niangniang would save Jian Buzhi's life by expelling the poison. Heiwu Niangniang got what they wanted, but burned the historical record, being moved by their devotion to one another (and Gong Que's to Jian Buzhi).
Gong Que later left with Sima Dang.
Ye Xiaoxiao
Ye Xiaoxiao was another doctor. His thing was that he was able to change faces and Ye Xiaoxiao wasn't actually his true identity. However, he did not remember his original identity.
He tagged along with the group. At the end of the show, he said that he would go off to visit Heiwu Niangniang, as they were friends.
Themes
This show had some of the typical wuxia themes, which is why I think it felt familiar and comfortable.
Long dialogues and discussions were common, especially when Jian Buzhi was explaining his deduction. Poison and other health-related things were basically magic. And of course, we had martial arts techniques such as lightness martial arts.
Overall
As I said, this was a neat little show. I can understand why people liked it so much. For me it was alright, but I'm not brainrotting over it.