The Mystic Nine (2016)

I wanted to watch this bc the cast sounded absolutely amazing and I really like the tomb raiders and this is meant to be the prequel. However the plot was just so boring to me,, watching every episode was such a waste of time to me. I'm very devoted to my dramas so I was so devastated when I dropped this. A lot of my friends said this was good and being an exo-l I wanted to watch it for yixing but I felt like 16 episodes through the plot didn't really go anywhere?? To the point where I felt like even if after 16 episode and the plot went somewhere I still wouldn't be able to keep watching bc I already wasted so much energy watching the first 16.

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I love this drama, at least for about 15 episodes. I think at the beginning, the mystery in the train really excited me. It kept me watching and then you got the tomb. It was so exciting. However, as the series gets away from the tomb and more characters appear, it got really boring for me. This series should not have been 48 episodes. Way too long. I fast forwarded about 25 episodes.

I’m not going to lie, The only reason why I watched on was to see William Chan take off his shirt LOL. I also watched because Hanson and Zhang were so cute together in all their scenes together. William, Hanson, and Zhang kept me skipping through this series. Three cute guys and bromance, just give that to me and I’ll forward through all 48 episodes.

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This is a good adventure drama. The story is well supported by the mystery and search for a mythical treasure that leads the characters through underground tombs and other mysterious places throughout the drama. There are various antagonists that create havoc and bring about good action scenes, although their acting skills, for the most part, are not the best with the exception of Wang Chuang as Lu Jianxun who is Zhang Qishan's military opponent. Although there is romance within this adventure saga, the romantic scenes are not memorable, but there’s great playful chemistry between the leading couple, Zhang Qishan (William Chan) and Yin Xinyue (Zhao Liying), and their very few romantic moments were nicely done. The disappointing issue of this drama is the open-ended finale, which could’ve indicated a second season, but obviously after almost three years past its release, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. Overall, this is a good and entertaining action/adventure drama. Enjoy it!

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Definitely watch it before starting "Tomb of the Sea"

In the beginning the story felt like it was dragging a lot, enough that I had to put the drama "on hold" for about a month because I couldn't bear watching it anymore. Different from what I expected, the middle part of the drama was very interesting and not dragging at all, at least not from my perspective - thank goodness, theren is tomb raiding in some way, I doubted that for quite some time - and it only slowed down again in the end, which was very confusing for me. I think it was a good idea to end the drama with some glimpses of the future. However, in my opinion, it was poorly executed. The last episode basically consisted out of flashbacks from throughout the drama, you might enjoy that if you tend to watch things over a long period of time and don't binge-watch like I do, some parts were not-really-flashbacks and then, all of a sudden, we were in the middle of the war with no clue what actually happened in between. And, I hope this is not too spoilerish, Huo Sanniang is a badass warrior, which makes me wonder why there are so few strong female characters throughout the whole series when they can be as good as any men. I mean, I get it in this particular adaptations since the story takes place in the early or mid 20th century (honestly, no clue when exactly) but in the later ones it's just baffling how few there are. Yes, sorry, I'm digressing from the topic. Other than that, I basically skipped all of the scenes with Hendry Cox because his voice and way of speaking Chinese sounded absolutely awful to me (a non-Chinese speaker), resulting in me skipping most of the "bad people"'s scenes. Some characters have way too much screen time and there definitely are too many flashbacks. However, overall it's quite a decent drama.

I don't think that I will watch this show again. I think it's very important to watch it once because otherwise there are going to be a lot of things in the other adaptations that you simply will not understand because the background knowledge will be missing, but I think if you watched it once and occasionally search online if you don't understand something you wil be fine watching the rest of the adaptations. However, If you want to watch it again, do it. I don't think it would be wasted time as I personally often find things that I didn't see or realize when watching for the first time and I think it's possible to enjoy when rewatching.

I'm sorry if this review is confusing, I wrote it at 2am while nursing a headache because of the weather :) Probably will edit it later but for now, that's how it stays.

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Pretty much the entire cast is made up of hot men (Lay, Ming En) but WIlliam Chan is HOT on another level XD lol seriously just watching him walk about in those outfits is enough to get your money and time's worth. But the thing about Chan is he's a great actor too so whether he's giving those stoic cdrama male lead vibes or doing action, or being hurt and tortured, he does it so well! This whole series is the main reason I have a viki plus subscription lol so like I said, you'll get what you paid for. Butttt I am going to say this one went a little not-so-great toward ep 22 after the big plot twist involving Lay's character. Basically when they go to the mines a second time not only was the direction and camera work lacking but so was the story but then it got interesting again but a few of the direction issues remained but I still didn't feel like dropping it.

And the action not going to lie is just really strange lol and over the top but I didn't mind because that's pretty much what this franchise is but imo this one and the movie with luhan are both too ott where the rest of the series are not so much. So, not my first favorite, but entertaining and as always the spectacular bromances will win you over. I really loved how Ming En's character was loyal to a fault to William Chan it was so beautiful to watch! But also the way Lay gets involved and the way Chan's character goes to dangerous lengths to save his wife. And okay you watch this series for the bromance I know but damned if I didn't shed tears for Lay and his wife because she was just the most beautiful person and their relationship was epic.

But tbh while I didn't hate Chan's love interest I wasn't exactly shipping them either lol not sure why. Maybe because my otp was Chan and Ming En or at least Chan and Lay XD and she kept getting in the way lol okay I will stop now lol

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