Autumn Cicada (2020)

Spy candy

Let me cut to the chase - Autumn Cicada is a complete train wreck. But aspiring screenwriters should be inspired by this - if this script managed to be produced with a cast of decent actors and even aired, there is hope for anything!

I watched this because I like spy thrillers and it is set in my city, Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. Ren Jialun as the male lead Ye Chong is admittedly an added bonus. It does start with a bang as Ye Chong, a major in the Japanese military is almost exposed as a Chinese spy code-name Autumn Cicada the day he is posted to Hong Kong. I suspended disbelief at the wildly improbable backstory as to how a Chinese patriot managed to advance to the highest ranks of the Japanese military but as the plot unfolds I quickly realize that that is on a relative basis, not that ridiculous. Isolated and cut off from all known contacts, he gropes around trying to figure out who is friend and foe and who betrayed his codename. We see him pondering a lot with suspenseful music in the background- every grumpy angle of Ren Jialun's thinking face is vigorously and closely explored so if you are a fan, this is spy candy galore!

Evidently the original female lead dropped out due to a convenient pregnancy that saved her from playing He Ying (Li Man), the most useless character in the show. This boring whiny wallflower was so incompetent she couldn't even successfully get herself killed. Her greatest accomplishment is saving one person at the cost of eleven others. I told myself that if this inept and reckless character survives, it would qualify the drama for a fantasy tag. Needless to say there is zero chemistry between her and Ren Jialun. The drama's only saving grace is the sparkling chemistry between Liu Huan's Chi Cheng and his infuriating and flamboyant wife Jin Xiang (He Dujuan). I really love this couple, they are the only reason I continued to watch the show. Indeed Liu Huan stole the show - his ability to convey crippling fear of discovery behind a facade of a suave businessman sharply contrasted with Ren Jialun's (too) cool as a cucumber Ye Chong. As much as I like him, this is not one of Ren Jialun's better works.

The main antagonist in this show Miyamoto, Ye Chong's arch enemy, is the smartest and only quasi intelligent character in the show. He figured out right away that Ye Chong is Autumn Cicada and was also onto Chi Cheng and the other spies very early in the game but everyone else was too dumb to believe hm. And yeah, even though this should have been obvious to both of them, our two heroes spend most of the drama circling each other warily but the lightbulb just doesn't go on. I was really unimpressed and frustrated with their spycraft and general lack of common sense and intuition. And despite the repeated attempted brainwashing from the suspenseful background music, there is nothing thrilling or suspenseful about watching such bungling spies. Even the ending was predictible and not remotely moving. If anyone is concerned that this may be a propaganda drama, don't be. It is actually a scathing almost insulting depiction of the Chinese spies during this period.

I actually suspect this must be a spoof. It is such a bad drama it is actually quite funny. And yes, there are many, many good looking eye candy actors in this show in dashing costumes. This is one that can be played in the background on mute during those interminable conference calls we endure while working from home.

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Autumn Cicada is the most promising espionage drama of 2020. The casts of this drama were all considered as vetirans in the field of acting.
The Male Lead-Ren Jialun(Allen Ren) as Ye Chong was totally my idol here. He can truly drive you crazy making you crave for more of his acting skills.
I've been following his works and I must say that this drama entitled Autumn Cicada truly made me go crazy hahaha. I loved the way Ye Chong solve all the problems for his beloved comrades.
Also, this drama made me cry and gave me a series of ghostbumps.
My rating for this drama is 10/10 because it captured my interest from the very start. The thrill started from Ye Chong being adopted by a Japanese and turned out to be the most wanted spy. Also Miyamoto, the Japanese military officer who made my blood boil.
The cinematography is the best. Furthermore, the ending matters the most. It made my heart ached. Kudos to Ye Chong, you are the hero of your beloved country. May you and Heying's love be granted in the next life .
Please watch it.?

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This drama is underrated on MyDramaList. It is very well produced and exciting, and holds you in suspense as 3 parties battle each other. And for the female viewers, 4 handsome lead actors - Liu Xue Yi, Allen Ren, Liu Huan, Li Ting Zhe - are added attractions. The actresses are very pretty too.

I usually do not like dramas set in the second world war and republic period. I dropped Winter Begonia and The Disguiser but I completed this. This should give you an idea of how much it had held my attention. I was debating giving it an 8.5 or a 9, and finally decided on a 9 mainly for the strong male cast.

However, there are history inaccuracies - the CCP is over glorified, of course. Viewers from HongKong and Taiwan are likely to rate this drama poorly for this reason.

For long dramas, you could get a bit impatient as the drama drags on, unless the story is very well developed. During the 30+ episodes, I did get a little impatient for the story to change course. The story became dull as Ye Chong and Miyamoto continued to try to outwit each other. But the story picked up momentum again as it reached the 40+ episodes.

The female characters were not well developed. Their contribution to the story was quite limited as well - remove them, the story would not be much affected. They appeared to be flower vases for the male actors to dance around. The female lead character was dull and somewhat dumb. The second female lead was impetuous, rowdy and flamboyant.

The location setting has spoiled the market for this drama - Hongkong, Taiwan are not likely to broadcast this. Similarly many other Asian countries would not. They could have used some fictitious country names.

If you are not disturbed by the historical inaccuracies and not anti-CCP, this drama is worth watching. However, do note that 2 of the lead actors would die - dropping just a bit of a spoiler. If you are depressive, you may not want to watch this.

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Great drama, would advice to watch

I really loved the drama. The era, the cast I have no complaints at all. The story could maybe have been better tho. But it didn't matter to me because of the characters and the immersion I were in when I watched.

I'm not an expert at all, but I feel like the 2 bad reviews currently on this website are done by people who watched to criticize and not for having a good time.

The characters and the story are the way they are and not the way each viewer would like them to be! As if it were possible to adapt to everyone's taste xD. Learn to enjoy it or don't watch it... But it did hurt me to see such bad reviews on such an enjoyable drama.

Much love to anyone who read this 💞

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I agreed with Spy Candy. Female lead He Ying was supposedly a strong n supportive activist but she was portrayed as weak n troublesome who often brings worries to male lead Ye Chong. She was most frustrating to watch. This part of the drama actually weighs it down but overall, drama has the suspense n depth of spy espionage plot. Allen Ren JaiLun is excellent in lead n the supporting cast is strong. Like Chi Cheng played by Li Huan, baddie Major Miyamoto, etc.. Even Junko played by Joyce Jian is refreshing to watch. Overall drama is well executed. Cant wait for final episode.

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I got through this mostly because of Ren Jialun's gorgeously handsome face

Seriously? This had potential but it did not deliver. I got through this mostly because of Ren Jialun's gorgeously handsome face. Buckle up, cuz I have a lot to say. FYI I'm basically focusing on the two main leads, the review would be too long otherwise.

Let's be honest, based on how long it took for this drama to finally air, you can guess its got train wreck energy. They filmed this in 2017, but couldn't release it because of censorship stuff until 2020. It was also originally filmed for 80 FREAKIN EPISODES. That's a lot for a C-drama! Then it got cut down to the 49 episodes of just meh.

CASTING
Ren Jialun (Ye Chong): He's a good actor, so I really don't have any criticisms. Just wish they didn't dub him. I think his voice would've been fine for his character. On the other hand, I've heard that people say his voice sounds like he can't catch his breath.

Li Man (He Ying): I didn't realize this until later but she was in freaking Curse of the Golden Flower. Based on this drama you would've never guessed she would've ever been in a Zhang Yimou film. As in her acting really isn't good here because of how the character is written. I can't say it's necessarily a casting problem, more so an issue with the scriptwriters and director.

CHARACTER PORTRAYLS
Ren Jialun (Ye Chong): His character was actually quite sweet. He's stiff at times, but that comes with the job of being a Communist spy in the Japanese Army during the occupation. He's also just genuinely unhappy and the only thing that seems to bring some light into his life is He Ying. I think when it comes to He Ying he def shows a lot of emotion behind the facade. Him bringing flowers home to her but saying he saw them and thought they were pretty, but not specifically saying they were for her...but we all know. Him comforting her when she's upset and putting his hand on hers, etc. If you're looking for much more cutesy stuff, besides the end scene ish, what I just described basically sums it up. Sorry, folks.

Li Man (Hey Ying): What on earth? Her character was really dumb and childish. In one scene the Japanese are trying to set her up and get her to reveal that her and Ye Chong are Communists. She immediately takes the bait and spills the beans. Like how dumb are you? You don't just tell people you don't know that you're playing for the other team.

PLOT
Why was He Ying's character even in this? She wasn't really in that many scenes for being described as the female lead. Before watching, I thought she was actually going to be some type of spy or something, not some dumb girl just trying to act the part. Also, when they cut a lot of episodes they cut out the scenes that really solidified He Ying and Ye Chong's feelings for each other. The hug when they basically see each other for the last time is all in their heads. Cutting those scenes (you can find them on YouTube) absolutely deprived the audience of the feeling of warmth from seeing the characters' behave in ways that say, "I love you" when it probably won't be said aloud. I think that was quite cruel for the director to do and a poor choice in terms of the plot. On the other hand, when have Chinese directors really ever cared for the audiences' feelings?

Also, Ye Chong and his brother's backgrounds weren't believable at all. But their dynamic is cute. I actually skipped to the end around episode 48 or something because I found out Ye Chong died on the way to the place he's always wanted to go (Yang 'An) to meet the love of his life (He Ying). It took me quite a bit to eventually go back and watch the parts that I missed. I feel Ye Chong's death was kind of dumb, it was heroic because he saved a lot of people and sacrificed himself, but seriously they should've just given us the happy ending for putting us through it all. Like, you deprive us of the solidification of their feelings for each other and then make Ye Chong die when he's so close to potentially being happy...it was too much and hurt the plot. A good tragedy will give the audience something to really hold onto and then rip it away with a valid reason for why the characters can't be together. But the drama is a train wreck because there wasn't even much of a love story. In Ye Chong's last words to He Ying he doesn't even say his feelings for her, he's basically like, "yeah, you'll be fine without me." So the audience mourns what your plot lacks not the "love story" you gave us.

With these Republican Era spy war dramas, it's safe to assume that the main couple will not end up together for various reasons due to the National Allegory. This is basically where war and the current political situations really consume the characters' lives and love is just a side effect. Often you'll have a character devote their life to this heroic thing, but the National Allegory says, "it's okay because even though they've given their life, things will be better for future generations!"

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Identity game, how to win when you don’t know who’s playing on your team

After having watched so many Xian xia dramas I needed to watch something completely different something that would get me really thrilled just like when I watched « The disguiser ».
« Autumn Cicada » became the drama I obviously needed to watch, mainly because of the actors.
From the very first episode, you know exactly what you’re going to get : spy games, bloodshed and heroism. « I wow to strive all my life for Communism. The Party interest prevails anything else. I will never yield, never become a treator » these are the words of Shanghai communist underground’s leader before shooting himself in the head on December 1941.
Autumn Cicada, undercower Japanese Major Ye Chong, has just arrived in Hong Kong while the Chinese communist underground in Hong Kong has to be reorganized. Japanese forces are blowing up the Communist Party ; activists are left with no leader. Who to contact in Hong Kong for Autumn Cicada to accomplish the mission he was supposed to be given? The « who is who game » starts and will really end on last episode !
At times when watching the drama, you may think that from both sides (Japanese intelligence officers and communist underground people) there is a lack of keen intelligence, so that actions tend to drag. Still, you really want to know who between Major Ye Chong and Major Miyamoto will have the last word…. These two characters keep us in suspense, the actors are so talented that it’s hard to take sides for either. Maybe that’s the reason why you keep watching the series ! Of course you can’t side with the Japanese but you can understand and support Miyamoto from a human and psychological point of view. After all, he only fulfills the tasks entrusted to him.
In this series, too much space is given to telegraph messages that one has to decipher or locate, espionage revolves a lot around that. The action and development of the story prevail over the relationships between the characters. This does not allow a good understanding of feelings between them or their psychology. Some characters are simple stereotypes or have no realistic basis. Take the example of Ye Chong’s brother : ask him anything, he can help. Yet he is not a magician nor a God! Ye Chong would have been helpless without him yet we know very little about him and his status, he is just another Ye Chong not knowing how to get in touch with Shanghai Communists underground . Anyhow the drama ends up stating : « This series is to commemorate every hero who fought in the war of anti-Facism. » That’s what we got ! Who cares about the script flaws ?
I like spy and republic era dramas especially when the action takes place in Shanghai, so right now I am thinking about watching « Sparrow » (a 2016 drama) I planed to watch long time ago...). Let’s go !

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I honestly don't know where to start lol bc this was a drama with a lot of side stories and characters. I think I'm gonna start with why I watched this drama: Allen Ren lol. I finished Under The Power and I was excited for another Allen drama as I am a big fan. Since we're talking about the actors/actresses, I'll start with the acting.

Acting: Although I liked Allen in this drama, I think Chi Cheng (2nd ML), Miyamoto, and YC's brother stole the show for me. Liu Huan (LH) portrayed CC so well and I really enjoyed all of his microexpressions from being worried to being scared to being semi-happy. I was always really scared for him getting caught rather than YC. Miyamoto MA GAWD, although he played the evil character and was a bitch sometimes, I never really hated him lol. His portrayal was on point and I genuinely liked seeing him on screen. His anger and rage and annoyance was spot on and he's so smart too eversince the first episode but noone believed him or was too scared to believe him. YC's brother is on a whole another level lol. I like his comedic scenes but I also love his character in general. I felt like for character wise, he does so much more than YC lol like YC barely did anything himself, he only thought of the plans. As for Li Man (FL), I actually like Li Man, I think she's very capable of an actress, but this script did her dirty. This script made her useless and annoying for the most part of the drama. Her character had so much potential like imagine if YC didn't keep her and she joined forces with CC or imagine if YC and his brother trained her to be a communist and have her charcter changed from being wimpy to strong lol. Like YC depended so much on his brother for executing his plans, why coudln't the FL also be apart of the plan and stop being timid you feels. I digress. CC and 2nd FL was cute lol but their romance dragged esp, when CC kept rejecting her. She's not the type to take his rejection like she's a strong person so the plot should've made her become a communist and help CC as well. XF and XP were okay, their acting was good but not memorable to me. Other than that, the supporting character, esp Miyamoto's right hand man was awesome.

Plot: I said it once and I'll say it again, CC and YC should've known eachother's communist status on their trip to Vietnam or when HK was caught, there was no reason to drag it out to ep 47. Anyone with common sense would suspect YC and CC like they were in on every communist plan?!?!?!? Anyways, this made the plot less enjoyable bc they could've done so much more than going back and fourth on their missions. It made me not want to watch anymore bc like you want to know when they know but when the plot keeps dragging it, the suspense and thrill just dies down rather than increase. HK shouldn't have died and YC should've saved him in my opinion that would've made the plot so much more thrilling than him dying but still YC didn't get much info from him. YC's dad should've appeared earlier on lol bc Sato didn't seem much like a threat throughout the entire drama. The ending was anticlimatic to say the least lol, I expected CC to get YC out of prison or smth of that nature but he didn't. I also expected more from FL like to get smarter and help rather than going away. I think this drama coudl've done without romance or at least YC didn't need a romance bc it didn't add to the story. CC and 2nd FL was cute tho and added to the story so I don't mind.

Cinematography: I don't mind the editing and the cut scenes but whenever there was romance involved, the cut from romance to serious scenes were weird lol like they be trying the most to tell us that ML and FL are in love. I enjoy how they decided to execute spy message scenes like the subtle camera shot of the message and I really like how they introduce the characters whenever there was a new character with their codename and pause for a second. The colors were nice as well and I enjoyed the torture scenes as it looked very real lol.

Overall: I think this drama for the first half was pretty good but then it dragged towards the end and the ending was a bit anticlimatic. I think the acting and interactions between the characters really made this drama. Although I came for Allen, I have to say that this was not his best or one of his best works as his character made him stiff and he didn't really do much other than plan schemes with a serious facial expression. His "romance" scenes weren't great other but I digress. I would say LH (CC) and LTZ (Miyamoto) surpassed Allen's acting in this series and really made the plot all the more interesting. I also like Sato lol. The females in this drama were all okay but there was no one that made a "WOW" impression on me. Overall, I enjoyed this drama for the most part and I do recommend it but I wouldn't be upset if someone decided to drop this drama lol.

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Point of No Return

Autumn Cicada is beyond a disaster and beyond redemption.

The story seemed to have been thrown together without any thought process and no coherency throughout the story. Even the sections cut out of the series would not have helped. The story is poorly, no, horribly written with so many loose ends, undeveloped characters, unnecessary characters, too many voice overs, and an incredibly horrific ending. The direction was also bad.

It is such a shame because the series have a good cast, most of whom I have seen before. The eye candies did not help with this show. It was such a struggle to get through and many times I almost dropped it, but why should the cast suffer for poor writing.

The voice over was too much. I wanted to see Ye Chong's reactions, not hear about them. I wanted him to make the glass kisses the floor in a crashing manner. I wanted to see his frustrations instead of hearing about it.

I wanted to see the secret agent in Ye Chong not to just be reminded that he was a secret agent.

Li Man who plays He Ying, who is a college student, who is a revolutionist. He Ying, you just wanna knock her out of the frame, she is so annoying and useless. There was no need for her character, absolute waste. The love story that they tried to portray between her and Ye Chong, a Major in the Japanese Army, who is really a Chinese Secret Agent, Code Name Autumn Cicada, played by Ren Jialun. His character is semi-smart. Because, who rescues a person that just tried to kill them and then take that person to his house without to result of the reason he provided. That angle was to dragged out and useless in the show, just pointless. And to top it off He Ying and Ye Chong had absolutely no chemistry at all, at all!

He Ying had more chemistry with Lin Xiao Zhuang, Ye Chong's adopted Brother, played by Liu Xue Yi. He Ying just needed not to be in the series, no growth in her character at all.

Ye Chong and Zhuang were adopted by Japanese General Kiyoizumi , who he has a daughter of his own Junko. It is not shown how Kiyoizumi comes to adopt Zhuang. The dynamics between Ye Chong's mother and Kiyoizumi is left totally ambiguous although it seemed like they had a close relationship. And she asks Kiyoizumi to take care of Ye Chong. It also seems like Kiyoizumi killed Ye Chong's mother and then again it looks like she gets shot in a struggle for the gun, yet another ambiguous scenario. The voice over constantly states that Ye Chong was mistreated by Kiyoizumi, but it was never really shown. Junko in the meantime falls in love with Ye Chong, thinking he is her personal position.

Ye Chong and Zhuang bromance was nice and quite refreshing and I AM HAPPY THAT ZHUANG DID NOT TURN AGAINST Ye Chong.

Ye Chong is not truly shown as a secret agent, he shown more of someone trying to outwit Miyamoto's goal to prove that Ye Chong is a communist. Miyamoto is a Japanese Major. His character way OTT.

Liu Huan, who plays Chi Cheng, a prominent business man and a integrate part of the communist party is more

Chi Cheng seems to be more the agent and Ye Chong. Planning movements, sending intelligence to the Party and moving people of the party around defying the Japanese is a much better way than Ye Chong. His chemistry with his lady love, the feisty no nonsense, Jin Xiang played by He Du Juan is amazing. The rock together.

However, one of the most agonizing things about this series is the transparent misses between Ye Chong and Chi Cheng recognizing that Ye Chong is Autumn Cicada and Ye Chong recognizing that Chi Cheng is a communist. It is so awful. They do not find out about each other's true identity until the end of the series.

It was also disappointing that it was never shown, who the traitor was that released the information the Autumn Cicada was going to Hong Kong. And it was not show how Kiyoizumi ended up with Santalum's code book, which only him and Ye Chong knew about. It was also not revealed how Kiyoizumi came to know all the secret information about Ye Chong and Santalum.

Also, Junko's character was not needed and she is as crazy as her father to want to release poisonous gas. What kind of a legacy is that!

The ending of this series was beyond disappointing.

I have seen most of the actors and actress in that are in this show, in other shows and they can act. This series just does not do justice to them.

I rate the actors and actress based on their acting skills, not on this series because they should not be punished for bad writing and direction.

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This is my first time writing a review on a Chinese show. After watch many of Ren Jialun's shows I am a huge fan! This is the 2nd best spy drama show next to Hu Ge's "The Disguiser" that came out at 2015. This show grubbed my attention within the first few minutes. I have watch 6 episode in and I can't wait to watch rest of them. Story- I'm a super avid fun of spy dramas but some usually have sad or tragic endings but I think this one will end very well.

Ren Jialun is truly a great actor and will go very far!

This show is packed with great supporting actors. Super awesome story lines and action packed.

This is a show to follow and to own on DVD!

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I wanted to love it. I did not.

I saved this one to watch for so long, because I adore Ren Jialun and because the lighting and costumes looked so lush. Much was expected.I lasted about 5 episodes until I realized I neither believed nor cared about the story. The portrayal of the Japanese officers wasn’t working for me, they seemed v casual. The total random convenience of how much RJL carried on with his spy business and convincing his senior officer he was completely normal for having a girl who tried to shoot him staying with him and that the other Japanese intelligence officer was the crazy one … I could not buy it. Also this guy supposedly went to school with Hirohito and so now everything he does is cool? How does any of that make sense? Why would the emperor be at school with a rando?What did work, though, was that everyone looked FINE in their outfits. The military getups and the 1940s hair were giving what they needed to give. I was feeling the wartime love.

I was not feeling the cohesive plot, however.

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