If you get past the first two or three episodes where new characters are pretty much introduced non-stop without a real explanation of their role in the story or world, you're in for a treat: "Nirvana in Fire" has often been described as the Chinese "Count of Monte Cristo", and while that definition is a little lacking, it's a good general description of the main plot: man who has been terribly wronged in the past returns under a new identity to set right those wrongs and punish the evildoers behind it.
The plot is tightly knit, with interesting characters at every twist and turn, multi-dimensional to the point where even the most wicked of villains have a humanity to them that's hard to find in media. Some of the antagonists are really difficult to hate, and you even find yourself rooting that some of their plots against the hero of the story might work out.
Alas: they never do, and once you figure that out, watching the show is only half as fun. Mei Changsu is pretty much written as an undefeatable.schemer and god-level prepared planner, to the point that half of his plans just work out despite relying on sheer luck or coincidence. One example: he buys a tract of land he knows was used to hide the dead bodies of murdered people on and then has another person accidentally stumble right on the scene of the crime - and by "accidental" I mean "fall into a hole in the ground by just wandering off." Another example: when one of his allies loses an important opportunity to do good to one of his rivals, Mei Changsu's people just happened to find a important piece of evidence about that rival taking bribes, which he can use to make that rival give up the opportunity again.
The sheer amount of situations in which Mei Changsu - apparently having read the script of the series - was perfectly prepared for someone's actions or has a deus-ex-machina solution to a problem arising is approaching cringe level in "Nirvana in Fire", and although the story remains interesting until the very end, for me, that took away a lot of the fun watching it. It's still a good show, mind you, just one where I would wish the storytelling to rely less on such weak plot devices.
The plot is tightly knit, with interesting characters at every twist and turn, multi-dimensional to the point where even the most wicked of villains have a humanity to them that's hard to find in media. Some of the antagonists are really difficult to hate, and you even find yourself rooting that some of their plots against the hero of the story might work out.
Alas: they never do, and once you figure that out, watching the show is only half as fun. Mei Changsu is pretty much written as an undefeatable.schemer and god-level prepared planner, to the point that half of his plans just work out despite relying on sheer luck or coincidence. One example: he buys a tract of land he knows was used to hide the dead bodies of murdered people on and then has another person accidentally stumble right on the scene of the crime - and by "accidental" I mean "fall into a hole in the ground by just wandering off." Another example: when one of his allies loses an important opportunity to do good to one of his rivals, Mei Changsu's people just happened to find a important piece of evidence about that rival taking bribes, which he can use to make that rival give up the opportunity again.
The sheer amount of situations in which Mei Changsu - apparently having read the script of the series - was perfectly prepared for someone's actions or has a deus-ex-machina solution to a problem arising is approaching cringe level in "Nirvana in Fire", and although the story remains interesting until the very end, for me, that took away a lot of the fun watching it. It's still a good show, mind you, just one where I would wish the storytelling to rely less on such weak plot devices.
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