The Mystic Nine (2016)

A happenstance, or My instant crush with the very second drama I 've watched

Unlike American films, this series has kind of fragile happy ending for some of the characters, showing the complex reality they have to face. That’s great (I love open endings where nothing is decided by a static ‘they lived happily ever after’ without any spark of adventure and a chance to develop), although when I was watching this for the first time, I decided that everybody was doomed to a certain death and only then I realized it was on the contrary their chance to save each other (still, I haven’t watched ‘The Lost Tomb’, the continuation of the ‘The Mystic Nine’, so I don’t know). So be warned those who seek fluff in the end, there isn’t much of it in this drama at all.

My favourite character from this series (and probably from anything I’ve seen so far) is Fo Ye (or Zhang Qi Shan). I think William Chan is awesome in this role. We first meet the character as a full-hearted energetic man who does not believe in any mystic curses and performs his duty while defending his city. He will risk his life but also handle anything. Being a human he at the same time seems almost invincible (which isn’t quite accurate and sometimes only luck and his friends can save him). He can be humorous, serious, friendly and menacing and all mentioned is natural for him. I really love him teasing people and showing the bright and dark sides of his nature. He’s pretty much exploring himself as well as the tomb he has to search through.

I really enjoyed Zhang Qi Shan and Xin Yue's relationship. A wonderful mischievous music shows how they would probably like to see their relationship, but how much tragedy and seriousness they actually had to face! I was inspired by the way she was ready to sacrifice everything for him and did not want to leave him no matter what. This is an image of a multifaceted heroine: a capricious, gentle, but very strong and proud woman. Xin Yue's probably one of the most memorable characters there although she only sometimes influences the plot.

Ba Ye and Lieutenant Zhang are great, and it’s really fun to watch how they compete for Fo Ye’s attention and approval, while all being friends. Ba Ye is quite cute because he’s the most human of all; he fears the dangers and expresses his emotions freely. Still, his predictions are not entirely tricks and this intrigues the watchers of the series. Lieutenant Zhang is just amazing. When even Zhang Qi Shan can’t handle everything, his lieutenant can. So devoted to Fo Ye, so loyal and talented; Zhang Qi Shan is very lucky to have him on his side. I’d never get enough of watching these characters interacting.

Er Ye is a great character, too. He’s passionate as well but seems either calm or self-contained. Still, his warmth towards his wife is almost palpable. Why did Zhang Yixing say in one of the interviews he could have shown more love for Ya Tou? He did it just perfectly! Er Ye as a character is very restrained but suffers deep inside as his family business contradicts his unfailing love to Ya Tou. From the first episodes, we can see a foreshadowing of their separation. Despite fate and common sense, I still was hoping they would save her and the episodes with Er Ye and Ya Tou were the most emotional ones. The impression does not wear out even when you rewatch the series. It is interesting that Er Ye seems to exist in his own world, as if he could not quite return from an underworld. I think, that’s shown in a right way psychologically. And definitely looks right aesthetically. Ya Tou seems really fragile and yet protective as she wants her husband to live a happy life. She never complains and always takes care of Er Ye, be it some new clothes, dinner or flowers only she can attend. She feels as if very young and quite adult at the same time, so noble, even-minded, resigned and eager to share the blink of happiness with her close ones.

The antagonist, Chen Pi, can be despised, pitied, despised and pitied once again throughout the entire series. He is a perfectly conveyed restless archetypal disciple. He might seem very impulsive and crazy. But in general, he has some motivations, and his torment, illness and unknown fate still make you feel kind of sympathetic for him.

There are some flaws or questionable parts in the story as well. The American dug up a gold trinket from the place where it was buried half a meter in the ground. How come? What happened to the meteorite in the end? This series does not answer to that. Despite the title, there was almost nothing mystical in the story. And you know what, it's still good, because a good story is the one that seems realistic. This rises it up to a new level. The heroes of this series are almost common people, I mean, they can be injured, deceived, and they cannot solve all the problems by magic. Nevertheless, the story would be more logical if there were some mysterious events explaining what was happening to Zhang Qi Shan (you can get an idea if you watch the cut-out scenes). And finally, my biggest question is where the members of the Nine have been throughout half of the series. (Ok, not half, about 80%, right?) The story is about Fo Ye (plus his friends and a bunch of ever-plotting enemies) but what about the Nine? Never mind, I do love Fo Ye, I don’t ask for the detailed storylines of all nine families.

Some plot twists also seem strange when you watch it for the first time. I believe, the pace of the narration’s a bit unbalanced (the first half of the story is really catchy and the events keep happening one after another but later the pace slows down until we almost have a typical ‘ending’ episode; after that, though, some more of them follow giving us some plot-related answers in a rather hurried and yet believable way). However, it’s one of the best dramas I’ve seen so far. And I rewatch it like once in a year, so it’s definitely stolen my heart.

The music is also great in this series. I loved many tracks but the most memorable ones were those of Ya Tou’s fate foreshadowing and the opening songs. So awesome and setting the mood!

Actually, even I’m surprised at how much I’ve written and I believe one can read as much only if they are totally into this series, just as I am. Still, I feel I haven’t said everything I wanted to. This series created not only great alternative universe, a personal new world for any of the characters. It has done so for me as well. And sometimes you don’t want to give up an illusion for the real world, right? This is the question the characters should answer but we as watchers can just… enjoy it with our whole heart.

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Mystic nine is such a mess

One thing that put me a very great concern are the final 2 episodes. These stories undergo so heavy editing until the storyline is such a mess. I had no issue if the drama producer cut off the Japanese invasion scene because it is a totally different storyline segment but the ongoing scene which features Foye battling Chen Pi and the gang should not be cut. I do not understand why does the producer done this so perhaps to save some airtime , maybe? I willing to pay a bit extra to enable the drama be extended 2 extra episodes rather than seeing every scene hanging without a head or tail

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I really missed The Mystic Nine after I finished it. Its one of those dramas that you miss because you really want to see the warmth and 'brotherhood' of the cast and their respective characters again. After every episode, there's always a BTS (and a bit of product advertisement) of all the cast and it never fails to crack me up.


The story of The Mystic Nine to me is quite a boring one. I never really liked tomb mysteries and I still don't. Some parts of the story are intriguing and cool, some boring and complicated. But what I really liked is the few gates all plotting on how to take the bad guys down that sort of thing. I'm quite a sucker for 'friendship' shows and the bromance in The Mystic Nine is very good plus its not just between two guys but a couple of them which is really what kept me watching.


The romance in this is a bit of a meh, the love story between Ya Tou and Er Ye is pretty boring. The scenes between Xin Yue and Fo Ye is very cute though albeit not frequent enough. So if you're watching only for romance/ Zhao Li YIng x William Chan, don't bother. But the scenes are still cute.


The cast is great I would say. I think everyone suits their roles quite alright and I love all their characters especially Lieutenant Zhang and Ba Ye !!!!! The on set and off set chemistry between the entire cast is good in my opinion. Some of the acting is off (esp with the caucasian actor maybe it was his accent that annoyed me lmao) but nothing THAT offputting.


OST is not bad. Really like the opening song, I listen to it every now and then.


All in all, although the plot is a tad bit boring with complex situations, the bromance and friendship of most of the characters (Fo Ye, Er Ye, Ba Ye, Lieutenant Zhang and Xin Yue) are really heartwarming. And with all the quirkiness of Ba Ye, you'll have a few laughs here and there. So if you have some time with nothing to watch, consider The Mystic Nine. You might like it.

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The storytelling was very good as you are not given much of a backstory of the main characters and you find out through out the drama. There were a couple surprises that I didn't expect but overall it was interesting enough to keep me entertained. However the last few episodes you can tell it was very rushed and they cut out a lot of scenes making leaving you very confused at certain parts and scratching your head. I felt a lot of characters were underutilised especially the other members of the Mystic Nine as they aren't even in most of the drama.

All the actors did a good job especially some of the small supporting characters. Our main leads William and Zanilia have some very good chemistry maybe because it isn't the first time these two are paired together. I could see Lay and William acting has improved a lot over the year. Zanilia plays her character well as always but i feel that she played a 'flower vase' in this drama because the plot line would have still carried on pretty much the same without her. The multiple antagonist did a good job but sometime i feel like that the things they do don't

There was nothing to complain about the music. The opening theme was good and i liked how they changed the images used in the opening theme several times rather than having the same images for 48 episodes. The music through out the drama was used very well especially during the emotional scenes especially with Lay's character and her wife.

There isn't much re-watch value in this show because one you know the storyline there isn't much you are looking forward to. The things worth re-watching are probably some of the outstanding action scenes and the interaction and chemistry between our characters.

Overall I enjoyed this drama a lot. It exceeded my expectations and I would recommend people to watch it if you are into action and mystery genre. There isn't that much romance but enough to get you intrigued. When you finished this and are thirsty for more there is always The Lost Tomb you can watch.

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Roast Review - too much politics, draggy middle, not enough tomb raiding, epic ending.

First episode grabbed my attention right away as you can see this series has high production values. The sets feel lavish, the streets dilapidated and yet there's a palpable aura of doom surrounding the train. This makes me think maybe the author had the right idea in forming his own production studio to produce his work. Unfortunately the promise shown by the initial episodes slowly devolved into slow and seriously meandering political shenanigans, instead of focusing on tomb raiding.

The acting is of uneven quality. Both MLs (Fo Ye and Er Ye) are not great at acting and need more polish. In contrast, Chen Pi was able to very quickly convey, with just a glance, that he was in love with the Boss's wife. Unfortunately this was the only chance he had to do that, as the rest of his character was pretty much angry one note guy which gave him no more opportunity to flex his acting chops.

The characters are as a whole, not well written, with the exception of the Villains which stole the show, in particularly Hendry, Ban and Tanaka Ryoko which played her bit part to perfection.

Zhang Qi Shan / Fo Ye (William Chan) - stoic but smart. This guy ... had a Bad-Ass moment in the very first episode. Wow.
Er Yue Hong / Er Ye (Lay Zhang) - let's just say no amount of make up can hide the sheer perfection of his features. He is devoted husband but is a few cards short of a full deck.
Qi Tie Zui / Ba Ye (Hanson Ying) - not powerful but ended up being the least annoying "main" character
Chen Pi Ah Si (Harry Hu) - devoted, jealous AND dumb.
Yin Xin Yue (Zanilia Zhao) - fell in love at first sight. She's honestly the smartest character in the whole bunch. And she's a girl.
Ya Tou (Crystal Yuan) - eye candy, weak, useless.
Lieutenant Zhang (Zhang Ming En) - actually the second least annoying character.
Cox Hendry (Andrew Stokes) - Best villain. Even his dubbing was done well.
Ban Jie Li (Li Nai Wen) - Second Best Villain.

Things kind of picked up in the last 3-4 episodes, but by then the damage was done. The ending 2 episodes were as epic as the first 2, if only the story quality had been even throughout this would have been a much better drama.

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I had a lot of expectation because of the cast and the sequel Lost Tomb but this drama is worse than I thought.
1. Too many flashbacks and almost all of them are in slow motion.
2. The dead supporting character got more screen time than the main female character because 2 guys keep on remembering and hallucinating about her and every flash back is in slow motion.
3. The story line doesn't tell you anything about the mystery and supernatural part. Like they will go to a mystery place and some supernatural stuffs happens or about to happen, then they we will be like "It's dangerous! let's get out of here" without explaining much.
4. Not sure if it's because of the cut but I feel like some story line are skipped. (No idea why they would skip it since they have so many flashbacks in slow motion)
5. My favorite is the casts and chemistry between them. Love the small comedy around them
6. In some scenes, the characters were acting out of characters. For example, one is normally cool and calm but suddenly burst of evil laughing then becomes calm again. It was awkwardly funny.

Summary:
Great casts and costumes but story line destroyed it. Main point is cut short while side story lines are dragged out. Would recommend watching if you like The Lost Tomb and want to know the prequel story.

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Compelling -- until episode 42.

If they'd stopped after episode 42, this series would have earned a solid 9 from me. As it is, the last story arc was crammed into 4 of the last 6 episodes, with the last 1.5 episodes dedicated to flashbacks and battle scenes. That last story arc had scenes cut, which made it almost incomprehensible. I wish they'd cut some of the romantic flashbacks, of which we had entirely too many, instead.

Other grievances:
* The show is, like all of the Lost Tomb series, quite misogynistic. All of the women are only there to serve the men's plot, one of them is even a classical case of fridging. At least they put the female characters in less revealing clothes, but that was probably because of the historical setting.
* Clichéd depiction of non-Han, "tribal" minority groups. Why would you think that they all dress the same? And what's with the face paintings? (Although, tbh, C-Dramas tend to be Han-nationalist, so it's not every surprising.)
* I would have liked to see more of the other families. Why is the drama called "The Mystic Nine" if we see three of them only in few short scenes?

But:
* The sets are better than some C-Dramas, the acting is superb, the mysteries are compelling -- all in all a great watch. If you liked the other Lost Tomb dramas, you'll like this one.
* Ba Ye and the lieutenant held the story, they are hilarious together.

Recommended, if you like action and mystery and also don't mind some romance or if you want to collect all you can from the Lost Tomb Universe.

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Bromance drama with lots of tomb exploring and little romance a side

I delayed watching this drama because of some reviews about it also I've watched most of the lost tomb drama not in order before this one and despite me knowing it's prequel ,, I wasn't eager to watch it but I was bored this summer and I stumble on it again ,, I gave it a go and I'm surprised that I actually loved it and enjoyed it so much WHY ??
It has Bromance and really good friendship between the four male leads not just the main two
The Bromance was the thing that made me fell in love with it
Fo ye is a very caring loving friend who thinks and cares about his best friend's happiness even if he himself will get hurt because of it
The character of the Main lead is very Charismatic charming yet powerful commander and devoted friend to his best friends not just Lay Zhang's character which was annoying most of the time and really selfish yet his best friend didn't hate him or fight him even when he was about to kill him two times
The main character hold the story together really well ,, he earned his place as the head of the nine families and the best soldier protecting his town from it's enemies
Lay Zhang was ok as an actor seemed off sometimes with his lack of expressions but it was ok ,, his character was really annoying sometimes because of his obsession about his wife ,, his whole story revolves around his insanity following his wife's death and hurting his friend over and over again because of it
they made every female except the main FL fell in love with Lay Zhang's character hahahah that was ridiculous
the story had it's flows and the drama sometimes get draggy but not too much skipping few scenes especially the scenes of the evil guys plotting it was draggy a bit and annoying sometimes
but overall it's quite an adventurous ride with lots of Bromance and comradery
I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed every lost tomb series may be more
I recommend it so much and don't just judge by anyone's saying it's boring or it's about politics because it's not at all
The fighting scenes yes there were plenty of it but it was good Wu Xie like fighting a bit exaggerated but also the whole story is fictional so it's fine by me
the secondary two friends who stood by their boss and his best friend were amazing ,, they had their own bromance too helping the main two characters and putting them first ,, they endangered themselves to save their friends both of them
they were crucial to the story without them the main two male lead would have died in the middle of the story
also the female lead is really nice and caring person not over baring or annoying

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Bromance overload, with a side of "what?"

Story
As a DMBJ fan its not the best-woven tale, but it does a good job of setting up the lore for the consequential DMBJ shows. Now, I went into this show knowing none of the actors and frankly confused most of the time. The DMBJ universe is known for poorly written females and this show went along with this trope. I also believe that if you are to watch a DMBJ show you must understand that the plot will not normally make sense. I have come to terms with tht, and have not thought much about the plot holes. It will hurt your head more.

I really enjoyed the character of XinYue in the hotel arc but really was upset with her after she joined them back in Changsha. She was shown to be witty, not caring about how people viewed her, wore men's clothes, gambled. But once she saw Zhang Qishan she changed into wearing very frilly dresses, and her hair is always done. She changed who she was for a man she barely knew. And a man who rejected her over and over again. He essentially was bullied into allowing her to stay in his house, and she disobeyed him over and over. I felt no chemistry between the two, even though they have acted with one another before. It was disappointing to say the least that she become a tool for him to be “humanized” when he didn't need that. He already was a human without her. I dont think she aided much in the story, nor did their romance. I did not see much development in their romance and he was always eager to push her away. UNTIL the arc where he kind of loses it and he only is kind to her, but assaults his literal best friend. I will not go into that, but I do not think their relationship was healthy to begin with. As the "main romance' in the show I was annoyed that they tried to push it on us, while Zhang Qishan literally didn't need a wife.

Yatou and Er Ye were such a tragic couple. While Yatou was a weak woman who did need her man to protect her, I did like her. I was upset at her death and I just wanted all women to leave him alone. I think it was rude of XY to push her cousin onto him when he was very much still in mourning. Er Ye was also terribly written. I know he could have been a stronger and snarkier character, but they dulled him down after the death of Yatou. I did really like his fighting scenes though because he had a very fluid way of fighting. He got better as the show went on, but most of the time I wanted to yell at him. The writers making him see images of Yatou wherever he went was...a choice. But I wish we had more time to understand the couple and why they loved one another so strongly.

The story in a way was straight forward. The Japanese and Americans are working together to do experiments, and bring down Mystic Nine and Changsha. There are delusional big bads who can't think for themselves. And the merry band of brothers will die for one another and for the safety of Changsha. I think the story leaned TOO MUCH on showing us what the villains were doing. I could care less about their whereabouts. Chen Pi was a character that made me audibly groan every time he appeared on the screen because of my disdain for him. Cox Hendry was someone that I have never liked anyway, but his snark made me laugh at times. Miss Huo was an interesting character.

For me the best part of the plot was actually Zhang Qishan and his right hand men. There is no secret the bond that ZQS shares a bond with Er Ye, Qi Tiezui and Zhang Rishan. They were the trope, “through love and trust, we will defeat the villain”. Since episode two we know the relationship between ZQS and QTZ runs deep. And while we never get the full explanation of their friendship there is enough scenes and actions to know that these two would die for one another without a second thought. QTZ is the force behind ZQS, and Cox Hendry even suspected that QTZ was the reason why the Buddha statue was moved. Engraving Fo Ye into the history of Changsha forever. I yearned for more backstory behind Er Ye and Fo Ye and was upset we did not have more. They fight well together and seem to always be in a tumultuous relationship, always at one another throats. But that is it. They seemed to always be tense around one another, but in the end they worked with one another and had the same goal. Zhang Rishan was essentially Zhang Qishan’s witty lap dog, but he grew in the story. He was someone else who would do anything for Fo ye, and in the end he would do anything for Ba Ye.

While Ba Ye is listed as comic relief for many people, I think people tend to ignore that without him, Fo ye would be dead multiple times over. He is very cunning and extremely manipulating. Where the goofiness in him seems more like a facade at times so people's guard will be down. He is very serious at times and is known for basically convincing people to do things with very little work. He is also extremely smart and knows a lot a knowledge, aka they need in order to survive most of the time.

Acting/Cast
Honestly, a good cast. For me, the stand out was Ying Haoming (Hanson Ying) as Qi Tiezui. He was honestly the one who held the tone of the show and was the most human. I believe that without out then Zhang Qishan would not have landed as well. ZQS is an arrogant man who acts with a large ego that not many people actually seem to enjoy his company. While QTZ is someone who doesn't seem to enjoy being around people and prefers the company of a few. And yet they work with one another, and bounce off each other well. I think this was because of the friendship between William and Ying Haoming and they were able to work well in these roles. (they have been friends since 2013, and behind-the-scenes shows they were close even sharing friends). The touches, glances, and looks they shard with one another helped solidify the "they were each others, first friend".

With this show, Zhang Mingen (zhang rishan), LAY (Er Yuehong) both debuted. While William Chan earned a wax statue for this role as Zhang Qishan. And Ying Haoming (Qi Tiezui) was given an award for this role, and this was considered his stand-out role. I do not think I would enjoyed this show as much if it wasn't for the four of these actors and what they brought to the characters. I always laugh that Ying Haoming is literally became Qi Tiezui. He was able to become small and cowardly when he needed. But then also stood tall and acted as Zhang Qishan’s guard dog. I can talk for hours about his success in the role.

I had no qualms with anyone acting per se. I just think better writing with the females would have made the acting stronger. But they frankly didn't have much to work with compared to the other people. I know Zhao Liying and Crystal Yuan are better actors and I have seen them in roles that I enjoy. I just blame the poor writing for the most part.

I think all the actors pulled their weight and are the reason for the success of that show.

Music
I love this OST. It was funky at the right times, and it fit the show. I do love the theme song that Wiliam Chan.

Rewatch Value
I have rewatched it multiple times, so I guess it is good. I do not think the entire show is rewatchable. I skip a lot of scenes and focus more on the tombs and high-action moments. Sorry, XinYue but I skip all of her scenes.

Overall
It is not the best show and not my favorite show. But it is one of the shows that keeps me thinking. Not because of the lore but because of the characterizations. The show introduced us to so many people that of course, it is easy to get lost into who these people are and their backstories. But because of this, we get lost in this and do not get to actually see more of the main characters growing. Even though the people who were main characters, Xinyue and Yatou, were not present a lot. I think if the story focused on the actual main characters it would have been more streamlined and easier to get behind at times. But i should not go almost an entire episode of just the Japanese and their backers before I even get a smidge of Fo Ye.

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“If there is an afterlife, I must find you again” -Yatou

General:
I decided that I was going to watch the whole The Lost Tomb franchise in order. The Mystic Nine was first with it taking place in the 1930s. This series gave you the context of the nine families within The Mystic Nine and background information.

Going into it I had few expectations and I’m not saying that in a bad way. I just did not know what I was getting myself into with The Mystic Nine. One thing I did expect was seeing tombs and getting more detailed information on the lore. It’s a show about tombs and nine important families, where could it go wrong?

Production:
The very beginning of the majority of dramas starts with an intro. The Mystic Nine does not hold back with their intros. Every two to a couple of episodes the intro would change. My favorite intros come from episodes 25, 28, 33, and 38. The intro changing so many times during the drama was odd to me. Many dramas do change their intro, for example, S.C.I (a Chinese drama) would change their intro when their investigation case changed. The Mystic Nine, on the other hand, would change their intros like rapid-fire and to me, there was no big reason. The only reason I could assume was to add more characters in the intro but still, they wouldn’t need to change the intro that often.

Moving onto the camera work, it was nothing that special nor did I have the expectation it was going to be. There was never really a moment that made me go, “wow, love that camera work”. Overall, it wasn’t that bad and I feel neutral about it. Now, the CGI is a very different story. I always have low expectations going into a show with many CGI scenes and I don’t even think The Mystic Nine even met my low expectations. Out of all the CGI scenes, there was only one good moment. In episode 36 the CGI hit rock bottom, I thought it couldn’t get worse but it proved me wrong again. It felt like they knew the end was coming near and felt like they were working on little time. The CGI after episode 36 until episode 48 was worse than episode 35 plus under.

There were some bad moments in the production but I didn’t discredit the show for them as I found them quite funny. For example, at the beginning of the series, Zhang Qishan kicked down a door that flew off its hinges. Based on the look of Lieutenant Zhang that door seemed like it was not supposed to fly off the hinges. Another scene was when Zhang Qishan, Lieutenant Zhang, and Ba Ye were walking along the railroad tracks. Zhang Qishan accidentally stepped in between the two boards in the middle but they just kept rolling. Another moment was when Lieutenant Zhang lifted a casket from a tree in episode 31. I remember thinking to myself, “I knew he was strong but how strong is he really?”.

The music was nothing special either as it was forgettable. Music is something that I usually never take off points for. It takes a lot for me to hate the timing and music being played. The Mystic Nine didn’t make me hate the music being played and I guess that could be considered a victory.

Plot/Setting:
The plot of this show is where I have some mixed opinions. While there were some really fun/interesting plot points like searching through the tombs, the auction, the look for Fo Ye, and the lore of the Zhang clan. Other moments of the show felt like they were slightly dragging and gave me the feeling that we were running in circles. Some of the other reviewers have stated that “Even after so many episodes it felt like there was no growth or progress”. Looking back I wouldn’t say that there was no progress as there was some. The drama just took so many detours which led to the central plot of the story getting pushed to the back burner. An example of this happening would be when they wanted Er Ye to go to the tomb with them. They had to take a long detour because Er Ye wouldn’t leave his sick wife’s side. This detour consisted of the auction and getting the medicine for Yatou.

There were also many detours due to the villains/antagonists of the drama. This is more typical in dramas or stories in general. The villains/antagonists are supposed to go against the protagonist/hero. Which would lead to the protagonist/hero having to do something about it. Relating to The Mystic Nine, when they (Fo Ye, Er Ye, Ba Ye, and Lutentinent Zhang) had to go back into the tomb for a second time to try and stop the antagonist from finding what they wanted to. This leads them to get stuck in an illusion.

While the pacing was off because of the many detours we had to take. At times the pacing was naturally off, especially with Zhang Qishan and Yin Xinyue’s relationship. While I will not get into detail on how I felt about their characters their pacing was just off. The start of their relationship started fine until Fo Ye got severely ill. This was caused by Fo Ye going into the tomb the first time around. It was claimed that the devil side of his heart had taken over and he couldn't escape it. That was until they went back to the Zhang clan’s old stomping grounds. This is when Fo Ye woke up and seemed like he had always loved Yin Xinyue. While you could argue that this is because Fo Ye had a near-death experience. To me, this was odd because even if he loved her all along it was such a sudden shift it threw me off the course of their relationship.

The ending for the series threw me even more off as the last couple of episodes left me feeling unresolved. The antagonist of the series either had a not-so-detailed death, disappearance, or forgiveness (by the protagonist from the story). While ending with the Battle Of Changsha which started in September 1939 (autumn of 1939) was good clarity for when this series took place in the 1930s. Off-topic, the outfit for the period seemed fitting (I am no expert so take that with a grain of salt).

I debated including this in the character section but in this series, it was used as a mere plot device. Around the last sections of the series, some moments had a voice-over. I am not referring to the voiceovers that were over the characters (as that was a constant recurring thing in the drama). I am referring to the voice-over narration that took place. According to a website called perdue, “In voice-over narration, one hears a voice (sometimes that of the main character) narrating the events that are being presented to you.” This is what occurred. This narration confused me as the information at first seemed like it was giving context. Yet, the information was knowledge as a viewer we already knew or could assume based on the plot/dialogue. This made me think, is this a retelling of this story? If so, then who and why? I guess we’ll never know

Acting/Chemistry:
This will be my shortest section as always. I rarely have things to say about acting the majority of the time, as usual, it is subpar. This drama is no different from the best acting performance coming from Zhao Liying (Yin Xinyue). While I wouldn’t say this is the best acting performance out of all the dramas I have watched this year. I would say it is the best one from The Mystic Nine. I honestly expected Lay (Er Ye) to have the worst performance but he did decently.

The chemistry between the characters was there also. The most obvious ones are Fo Ye and Yin Xinyue. Also, Er Ye and Yatou are the obvious picks for good chemistry. For me though, the best chemistry comes from platonic friendships/dynamics. Like Fo Ye and Yatou, I bring them up because of the gate scene at Fo Ye’s house. Even though there was a minimal discussion between the two you could tell that Fo Ye cared about her (in a platonic way). A review from me wouldn’t be from me if I didn’t bring up a bromance. The bromance between Ba Ye and Luteninent Zhang was really good. This bromance started from the beginning but it was truly aforementioned during the hunt for Fo Ye.

Characters:
While I have been talking about the protagonist of the story for the majority of this review. I am going to be talking about them a little more. Starting with Fo Ye/Zhang Qishan, to state it simply I liked his character and was interested in his family history. I think his strongest point would be his willpower to achieve anything even if that means losing everything. He is the character that takes action and is one of the characters that help progress the plot. His Wife, Yin Xinyue was also headstrong and I liked her character for this. She would call someone out in a heartbeat and would always do what she thought was best.

I have noticed that some Chinese dramas specifically Chinese republic era dramas are that you sometimes have a ‘golden trio’ as I call it. This trio has three types of people: the leader (and usually one of them or is the main character), the wingman (they are usually smart or strong and actually very helpful), and then you have the comic relief character. We see this trope with Fo Ye, Luteninent Zhang, and Ba Ye. This trio is usually one of my favorite aspects of these types of dramas. A character that always has a 50/50 shot of failing for me though is the comic relief character. In which the character that has gotten the role of the comic relief is Ba Ye. I had a hard time liking his character as I found it difficult to like him as comic relief. I only started liking him once the hunt for Fo Ye Arc started. The bromance/chemistry between him and Luteninent Zhang helped me like his character and how he was actually reliable. Now, the best character in The Mystic Nine is the one and only Luteninent Zhang. Something drew me into his character from the get-go. There was also much history with him also being from the same clan (I called it the Zhang Family but I think that is incorrect wording so I’ll call them a clan) as Fo Ye. I just generally liked how the character acted and how the character carried himself. He was a character that came off cold and always doubted until proven. He also carried lots of dedication for Fo Ye but also he was able to have his moments of letting go. This especially happened with Ba Ye as you saw more of his inner personality.

Er Ye, you could say that I liked him the least out of all the protagonists but he was also the character that went through the most due to his wife’s death. I saw him as irresponsible but knowledgeable. He was helpful in the tomb episodes mostly but was easily sidetracked due to the illusions of the cave. Yatou was shown more than the female lead even though she was dead for the majority of the time. I had no big issues with her character and liked her character as she seemed like such a nice person at heart.

The antagonist was to put shortly ‘a piece of work’. These characters had motivations even though they were all different. In certain dramas showing the villains, when they are not our main characters/focuses makes us aware of the villain’s plan and makes the plan lose its meaning. My least favorite out of all of them was Chen Pi. He became a villain through manipulation and he sought revenge without knowing the full story of why Yatou died. Mr.Cox plays a huge role in this with his words that seem to go over Chen Pi’s head. Mr. Cox once stated, “Knowing yourself and your enemy” while trying to convince Chen Pi to join their side. I scoffed at this line as I described it in my notes as, “Chen Pi is such a dumb person. He doesn’t understand what is really going on. I find it interesting that Mr.Cox talks about knowing yourself and your enemy when Chen Pi doesn’t know either.” Chen Pi was also the only villain to get a full backstory. The backstory happens in the later second half of the drama. At that point, I had no sympathy for his character

While Mr. Cox and Lu Jianxun were just massive manipulators with different motives. These characters were also introduced very early on as what Mr.Cox wanted was jumped right into in episode one with the train. As we later find out that what the people on the train were looking for was the meteor which we find exactly later on. Lu Jianxun and Huo Jinxi just wanted power and that was enough motivation to try and take out Fo Ye. I simply was annoyed with the characters by episode 26 and at that point, I had so much left to go. Also getting left with their endings being open was more annoying.

Conclusion:
In the end, I am glad that I watched it but I wouldn’t go out of my way to rewatch it. I would only recommend you to watch this if you are dedicated to getting some of the background information to the present characters.


I would like to end this with my tweets while watching the series:
“The romance between Zhang Qishan and Yin Xinyue in the mystic nine got me in a chokehold…”
“Okay but Lieutenant Zhang sir what’s your ring size?”
“If Lieutenant Zhang dies at any moment…this drama’s rating about to go DOWN ”
“Not Lieutenant Zhang taking the blame :( I love him ”
“OMG MY MAN IS A PART OF THE ZHANG CLAN I DON'T KNOW WHY THAT MADE ME SO HAPPY LIKE???”

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Very disappointed in this drama. I truly believe that the edition I watched was improperly edited because the story did not flow. It jumped all over the place and left more questions than answers after each episode. The potential was there and since it is more than 20 episodes the time investment was not worth it. In the beginning seemed intriguing but became more lack luster as each episode was added. Too many loose ends. The actors were good in the roles they had to play but again -- the roles were just messy sometimes. WHen I ask why, what, who, and where too many times it is not good and that is what I was doing all throughout.

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Mystic Nine was awesome! William Chan... what can I say "Wow", I applaud you, one of my top 10 actors. I was awed by Lay Zhang with your NAMANANA voice AND the acting is just over the top. Xiao Li Ying, you made me laugh, what a lovely actress you are, loved it! Ying Haoming, what a character you are in your acting, superb! The rest of the main and supporting cast you get that applaud too. Whoever wrote this, great storyline! Thanking the Mystic Nine Writers, Producers, Audio, Visual Effects team, EXCELLENT! This was an all-around "Standing Ovation" Drama! #Rewatch4ME

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