The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty: episode 1

[selenay]

So, going into this, I know exactly this much:

- It's based on a novel that was originally a BL novel, but as per usual, that element has been carefully written out/around.
- There is a lot of food porn.
- One of the heroes wears hats that look disturbingly similar to JGY's.
- Lots of people have really enjoyed it.

I have no idea whether it's another total heart-wrencher, although the clips in the credits don't indicate I'll have to live through my favourites falling off cliffs or dying together, so hopefully it's going to be okay?

The first episode was, as usual, slightly confusing due to the sheer number of characters and plot threads just thrown at us all at once. I'm learning that C-dramas do not believe in easing you into the world gently, but that's okay, I'll figure them all out.

So far, I've managed to hold onto one name. Hat guy is Tang Fan, and hockeybosh's description of him as "foodie Sherlock guy" is an accurate-ish summary. He's not an asshole, but he definitely shares a lot of traits with Sherlock in his investigative style. And OMG, he's totally a foodie. This is not a show to watch without snacks at hand!

Tang Fan is some kind of official investigator for his prefecture. Which makes him a government official, but not a well-paid one (and he spends most of his wages on food anyway), so he apparently supplements his income by writing novels. Possibly romance novels. And he has book smarts but no practical smarts, because he's got so many candles balanced on the books in his room. Honey, that's a fire hazard. Stop that. He's also terrible at not inciting people to possibly punch him, although he hasn't been punched yet. He's going to need someone to protect him from all the people who want to punch him ;-)

I kind of adore him. Do not hurt him, show. Oh no, he's going to be hurt a lot, isn't it?

The other lead is either a bounty hunter or some kind of roguish soldiery official, I can't decide yet. He was hunting down an escaped and very deadly soldier, but then he got a summons back to the city and left his bounty behind, so apparently that's not all he does? Whatever, he's teaming up with Tang Fan and I'm good with that.

There appears to be multiple conspiracies going on, with someone who heads up something called the Western Depot scheming against...everyone as far as I can tell so far. He's one of the emperor's advisers, so this seems dangerous.

Tang Fan also seems to have a strong sense of justice, or at least an incurable need to know things, because he was very annoyed at not being allowed to investigate the death of a local wealthy awful person in a brothel. He also seems politically savvy enough to advise his boss on how to spin that into a good thing when it became apparent he'd get to investigate after all.

Apparently a companion of the emperor's son went missing (this is what possible soldier dude is investigating) and that seems to be tied into Tang Fan's investigation. When we left them, our two heroes were just about to meet for the first time, so that should be fun when we watch tonight :D

So far, I have to say it's very engaging and I already like Tang Fan, soldier dude, and the girl who was visiting Tang Fan and roasting him for everything. So that's good! It's also got some interesting musical cues for a historical, so between that and a different filming style, it's got a very different feel from The Untamed (which is also good). Apparently Jackie Chan produced it, so that's interesting.

I think this is going to be fun!

(Check back on me in about twenty episodes when everything is terrible.)