Chang'an shi er shi chen

The first 5 EPs seem a bit slow but it gets better and better. The best Chinese series ever. Great sound tracks, beautiful costume and most importantly, the love for ordinary people, which is rare in TV shows from the western world.

The author of the original novel is the best novelist (maybe one of the best if you want to nitpick) and the show kept all its spirit and visualized all the elements from Chinese culture in a splendid way! Bravo! (It's not a paid endorsement.)

This is high quality and scores in many aspects including cinematography, acting, intrigue, attention to details, costume, execution, lighting and believable fight scenes. In a nutshell, it tells of a terrorist attack on the city of Chang'an on the day of the Lantern Festival and follows through our hero's efforts to investigate and prevent the attack on the city. There's many characters in the entire series and I definitely got lost and confused many times. Much time and effort is given to the development of each character. There's no shortcuts in this series and if you don't follow through it, you will want to rewind and catch up again to continue with the story. The series is interesting, fast paced and beautifully made, so you will not want to give up at any point. It also builds up and you just want to solve the mystery.

A high-quality series with dynamic scenes, action in almost every episode and no wire fu. Chang'an life, architecture, and crowd scenes are well covered. I can't comment on the historical accuracy, but the attention to detail seems more thorough than in other Chinese series I've watched.

The show has many pros and the script is not one of them. The plot twists are predictable. They focus on the main character until the last episodes, where the focus shifts towards the secondary characters. As a result, it is not clear who to feel for and why.

It is commendable that there is no division into good and evil. However, there are so many characters and not one of them opens up completely. They try to use flashbacks, but it doesn't work well: here are some tough guys today, and here's a five-minute dive into the past. Now I know them well enough to drop a tear! It would be easier to sympathize with Zhang Xiaojing if he was the main character in more than just the first 2/3 of the series.

The last 1/3 of the script seems to have been censored and rewritten due to some political reasons. The conversations in favor of the poor look ridiculous. Officials lecturing the emperor in the presence of the crowd, seriously?

In short, the series raises the quality standards for subsequent shows. It's nice to watch and never gets boring. Personally, I won't watch it again: it doesn't evoke any deep emotions because of the flaws mentioned above.

My favourite show in 2019 so far. Loved the cast, the set up, and the storyline. They have created an absolute beautiful Tang Dynasty in this show. Very joyful to watch.