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The Man's Secret (2023)

This mystery was full of twists and turns-- it's not clear until the very end what's going on. Reminded me a bit of The Usual Suspects. It also features some of the highest hair arrangements I've seen in any C-drama! Check out the promo photo above.

Oddly, while Di Renji is name-checked, and there is a mysterious (un-named) Empress , it doesn't actually mention some of the usual characters in a period detective mystery.

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This Easter, we will be watching this completely bonkers movie: The Legend of the Ancient Sword. If you wanted someone to put together robots, wuxia, Talking Pandas and flying boats, as well as a whole host of villains with a huge CGI budget, here you go.

It was widely panned upon release in 2018, but it's actually very fun if you don't expect anything but weird chaos and entertainment. There also are some really fantastic design elements -- the flying boats are wonderful. Here's the trailer.

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Sword E Flag

My goodness, this was entertaining, but the CGI was pretty terrible. It's a murder mystery with telekinetic drought demons. Don't miss the final disco sword battle!

Synopsis: Amid ongoing internal strife within the court, the Crown Prince, under the protection of the Six Ministries, went into hiding, his whereabouts unknown. The Dongchang forces launched an aggressive pursuit, determined to capture the Crown Prince and reclaim control over the court. Two hundred kilometers away from the capital in Qinghe Prefecture, a sudden and mysterious murder occurred. Leng Lin, the chief constable of Qinghe Prefecture, was killed in a bizarre manner. At the crime scene, aside from a peculiar monster drawing, there were no other clues. Due to the eerie and terrifying nature of the death, rumors spread about a drought demon, causing panic throughout the city. A young martial artist, Leng Luofeng, investigated the case of the drought demon killings with exceptional diligence. Leng Luofeng, a student of the Bellflower Academy, an institution dedicated to nurturing talents for the court, possessed formidable martial skills and excelled in his studies.

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Taoist Master (2020)

Yes! Another Taoist Master, and this one is apparently first in the series; I covered the Taoist Master: Kylin earlier. Kylin holds together better, but this is still an engaging movie, with some nice choreography.

Also, this movie had the highest per capita amount of centipedes in any movie I've seen so far.

Synopsis: Zhang Daoling received a letter of help from his friend Wen, an adult, and took his disciple Wang Chang to Bashu. However, he found his friend was dead and was involved in a terrifying conspiracy. Zhang Daoling insisted on his own heart and was not fooled by foreign objects. Eventually, he stopped the evil sacrificial activities of the local evil organizations to ruin the people and educated the local people.

You can absolutely tell Louis Fan has classical martial art training in this and the Kylin sequil. Some lovely work. Also look for him in Ip Man. Su Mao steals nearly every scene he is in.

Learn more about Zang Daoling

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There are a LOT of movies called the Tai Chi Master; this one is from 2022. As is customary, most of the characters do not survive. If you watch any wuxia, this is not a spoiler.

Set in the last years of the Southern Song Dynasty, when the country suffered from internal and external problems. It tells the story of Zhang Sanfeng who was obsessed with martial arts. Once his sect was destroyed, he was also involved in the conspiracy of the Demon Sect, and created the peerless magic skill of Tai Chi in the precarious society.

My favorite part of this movie was the giant silkworm caterpillar. I cannot tell you how much I want to ride into battle on a giant caterpillar that will helpfully spit silk to slow down my enemies.

This movie is loosely (VERY loosely) based on the life of Tai Chi Master, Zang Sanfeng

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Song Ci

This movie was not what I expected. The first time we see Song Li, he is hanging 10 on a coffin lid, surfing a sea of mercury. Why, exactly, he and the other protagonist Xiaowan were wandering around in a cave full of corpses and sudden massive spills of mercury is unexplained. Things do not get much clearer:

"In order to save his sweetheart, Xiaowan, a native of Linglong County, she traveled thousands of miles to ask Song Ci, who had already moved on from evil deeds, to come out and find out the truth. The case was full of suspicions. Song Ci and Xiao Wan joined hands to overcome many difficulties, and finally found out the truth"

In Gong'an mysteries, unlike western mysteries, there are usually supernatural elements. In addition to mystic forensics, there is also a dragon, child sacrifices, and a few decent fights. I won't spoil the bizzare subplot involving a cesarian section.

Learn more about Song Ci, the first forensic scientist

Also, while looking up this movie I found out there is a list of 23 (!) different Song Ci movies, so I may be a while. 🤔

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Detective Dee and the Dragon of Fire (2023)

Another fun Di Renji mystery, with some spectacular couture on Wu Zetian as a bonus. This is Detective Di (Dee) as a relatively young official, played by hottie Narisu Bai.

"Rumors spread that on the night when the new Imperial Palace in Luoyang was constructed, a divine dragon appeared, breathing fire and burning down the palace. The carpenters involved either died or went missing. Di Renjie was promoted, unusually, and appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice to handle this "palace arson case." Throughout the investigation, he faced obstruction from mysterious forces, and he gradually uncovered the truth."

Flying, poisoning, archery, double crossing, and also romance.

Di Renjie, also called Detective Dee, is in some ways the Chinese equivalent of Sherlock Homes. He's renowned for his ability to notice small details, crack hard cases, and his intense sense of justice. The real Di Renjie was somewhat less acrobatic than this version.

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Taoist Master Kylin (2020)

This movie has lovely choreography. I loved the ending, which was very... well, Taoist.

Zhang Taoling, the founder of the first organized form of Taoism, arrives in a village near Mount Yun Jing, where Kylin, the legendary God of the Mountain, is rumored to prey on hunters and those foolhardy enough to venture into the mountain.

Learn more about Zang Ling

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The Cold Fragrance of Crown Prince (2020)

I suspect something in this title was lost in translation. An enemies to lovers plot with a lot of cliches. But the over the top giant snake monster was very entertaining.

Synopsis:

"Helian Yi Zhou is stunningly beautiful lady and she is the first female master of Qing Li Si. She was married to the Crown Prince " God of War" as his wife. But, what she didn't expect was that the Crown Prince was actually the one she wanted to kill."

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Novoland Castle in the Sky (28 episodes)

So many pretty people! So much teen angst and drama! I didn't watch all the episodes because it was just too many emotions. Great for teenagers but I’m just too old for that ish.

Synopsis:

Peace had been maintained between the Human Clan and Winged Clan for a century. However, the Winged Clan grew weaker as the Flower Fairy of Shooting Stars they relied on for their ability to fly went missing. Meanwhile, the Human Queen had been secretly constructing a floating castle with a blueprint stolen from the Winged Clan, preparing for war. Eighteen years later, Yi Fuling, the reincarnation of the Flower Fairy, escapes from a forced political marriage to the Crown Prince. With her father kidnapped and the whole country going after her, she seeks refuge from the Winged Clan's King.

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Shaolin Traitorous (Chinese: 大太監) is a 1976 film with Sammo Hung as a very evil white-haired eunuch. That's honestly the only reason I watched the film; I am an unapologetic Sammo fangirl.

This is an unremarkable 70's kung fu movie except for the hilarious drum plot point. Maybe your ultimate weapon should not be easily musically confused. Other standout element is a lot of extremely dramatic dying.

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Yes. Accurate 🙂

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Novoland Floating Heart

I did not realize that Novoland was a series when stumbled upon this comedy. Shi Xue Jing (or Xuejing Shi), shown above, is adorable. And also can mold metal.

"In the chaotic world of the Novoland, Nan Xing, the daughter of the Imperial Master of the Yin Dynasty, died tragically in her boudoir on the day before her wedding, shocking the Eastland. This leads to the investigation of various clans of strange masters, the strong loli Wang Gang happened to encounter the strange "resurrection" of Nan Xing, was taken step by step into the mysterious cave, and became involved in a larger conspiracy."

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The Knight in the White Knight

As you might guess from the title, this is a comedy. It also involves ninjas, theoretical immunity to bullets, and a few cringe moments.

Venerable actor Norman Chui gets to kick some butt in addition to just being evil.

Synopsis:

"During the Ming dynasty, Japan invaded China with an army equipped with guns. The union chief of the martial arts clans revealed in his deathbed that there is a rare book containing secrets that will make a person immune to gunfire. His last words sparked the clans to contend with each other to find it. Also in search of the book were the Japanese who dispatched a team of ninjas to go after the book. The imperial court also secretly intervened in this dispute. The emperor secretly dispatched a Kung fu Master and ordered him to find the book within seven days."

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The Fox Spirit and the Golden Seal

Apparently "demon tree grandmothers" are a thing. Like most movies with Taoist priests, situations change quickly and a lot of very strange things happen.

"Taoist Yan Chi Xia and scholar Ning Cai Chen, in order to get rid of the tree demon grandma and rescue Nie Xiao Qian who was controlled by her grandma, they fought against her grandma in Lanruo Temple with the knights, accidentally triggering the time and space shuttle power of the golden seal of the universe, and was transmitted by the golden seal to the modern age. Yan Chi Xia, Ning Cai Chen and Nie Xiao Qian who came to modern times rescued the heroine Yuan Yuan from the demon. The three temporarily settled in Yuan Yuan's house, but they caused a lot of trouble to Yuan Yuan. On the other side, the grandmother and the snake demon who came to the modern age deliberately wanted to use the magical power of the golden seal of the universe, in an attempt to move Lanruo Temple to modern times and turn the world into a paradise for demons. They had no idea that they had entered into grandma's huge conspiracy, and because Nie Xiao Qian had been away from Lanruo Temple for a long time, she had insufficient mana and yin and was facing the danger of being wiped out."

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Shennong Ruler (unsure of the actual Chinese title)

This is a high fantasy Xianxia, and honestly who doesn't want to ride into battle on a... giant horned quadruped of some sort.

Shennong is a famous mythological emperor; you can learn more here.

Synopsis:

After the war between ancient gods and demons, the god king used the demon refining furnace, the Tianjing sword, and the Shennong ruler to seal the demon god Potian, imprisoned him in the dry well of purgatory, and passed the three artifacts to the Moyue clan, the Xuanwu clan, and the Xiuxianyuan respectively.

Thousands of years later, the king of gods fell, and the Xuanwu clan, regardless of their ancestors' training, launched a war to obtain the artifact for the sake of greater strength. The relatively weak Moyue clan was slaughtered, and the patriarch had to send Mo General Yue Jiang Cheng went to the Temple of Gathering Spirits, a mysterious forbidden area, to ask for help. As a mysterious organization guarding the well of purgatory, Xiu Xian Academy, in order to prevent the aggregation of artifacts from being publicly revealed for the first time, Patriarch Mo Yue was worried that the Xuanwu clan would make a comeback, and sent Jiang Cheng to worship in the Xiuxian Academy. During the tricks of his fellow robes, Jiang Cheng worked hard to cultivate, and Jiang Cheng grew by leaps and bounds. With the death of the head of the Xiuxianyuan, a big conspiracy began to surface. At the time of life and death, Jiang Cheng led the brothers and sisters to fight against the spies of the demon tribe, and finally Stop the devil from coming.

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Dr Yu Sang from the School of Languages and Culture explores how China’s Xianxia TV dramas, a growing pop culture phenomenon in the country, are inspiring contemporary citizens to reconnect with classical traditions.