The Lotus Casebook (2023)

When beautiful story meets beautiful acting to solve mysterious cases

I had been waiting for Mysterious Lotus Casebook for a while because of Cheng Yi as I knew from his previous projects that he always delivers with his acting ─ ‍and I wasn't disappointed. Furthermore, not only him but also whole cast, especially main leads Zeng Shunxi and Xiao Shunyao really did awesome job with their characters and I believe their actings were one of the most powerful elements of this drama. We see an eventful journey and clear character developments ─ ‍not only in lines but also in simple gestures [their eyes, the way they walk and carry themselves, the way they fight.]

The story is really intriguing and keeps getting better and better with each episode. The balance is perfectly done, there are points in certain cases that seem obvious but even then, they give such twists that leave you impressed. Each of those cases also reflects powerful messages, for example, the Girls' Residence/ Mansion ep and final eps' messages about life and humans. The process to solve those cases were well-written as well.

I also love how clear some characters' personalities were and didn't need to change. Righteousness of Li Lianhua/ Li Xiangyi, loyalty of Fang Duobing, stubbornness of Di Feisheng. ─ Also, ‍Li Lianhua's lies were quite creative, sometimes made us laugh and sometimes hurt us bad with all the pain he hid behind.

Character relationships are really charming as well. Absolutely love trio's friendship and how we saw their friendship development. Their trust to each other didn't need to be loud ─ ‍everyone already knows no one trust them like they trust each other. Honorable mention to Li Lianhua and Fox Spirit, their interactions were adorable [ and their farewell was emotional. ]

The sword fights were so elegant and natural, one of the best I have watched in dramas. It was clear that the cast worked so hard to film those scenes.

OST is beautiful too, lyrics complete storyline perfectly! I especially loved instrumental OSTs, really memorable.

Overall, I really liked the drama and definitely recommend it to others!

their story edit : https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4790583323263488
link to edits: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI-LyvxxdMxBAlh5wL0WiS5e-5Ci1kUY_

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Wuxia Series Meets Detective Conan with 3 man team!!!!

What an amazing series so far, omg from ep 1 to now every episode is as suspenseful and well detailed I cannot believe this gem actually was made. FOR me it’s the series of 2023 so far. There is no other like this in its genre (Subjective). I’m praying for a happy satisfying ending

Story: beginning starts with confusion / plainness however soon evolves into a mystery between 2 main leads followed later by a third side male which we all thought was the main villain, however is he…….each ep has hidden clues that tie into the overall story later on…….just deadset amazing

Acting: 2 MLs omg all had many series underneath their belt however their acting, chemistry and overall demeanour is just amazing. It’s like the ancient pair of Holmes and Watson but in an olden Chinese era. Just fun to watch!!!! Side character of each story arc is amazingly done too. This series has many characters all play their parts well.

Music: ending song is better than opening however personally I don’t watch a series based on music but the overall music that matches the scenes are done well.

Rewatch Value: 10/10 for sure, I’ve watched eps at least 2-3 times just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. It’s superbly done

Overall: only weakness this series is only 1 ep to 2 eps release at one time which makes it a lot harder to keep up or making you wanting to watch more in one go. For me this series is best so far in 2023 in its genre if not overall series. Hope anyone that gives this series a go enjoys this as much as I do.

Enjoy all, cheers ^_^

Shing

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Epic

Amazing storyline and best in class acting from the leads and supporting cast. Cheng Yi’s acting has always been a different league , and he never fails with his micro expressions and emotional portrayals. What amazes me is his graceful swordplay which is entirely new to me. kudos to such great acting that brings out LLH and LXY quite distinctively.
First time watching Joseph Zheng, and he’s a talent to look out for. Memorable portrayal from him, as well as actor playing DFS.
A character that was not mentioned much , JLQ. I thought Rain’s portrayal of the lunatic saintess was so spot on and deserves praises of its own.

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Worth watching

I admit that I have not made it to the end of many historical or Wuxia dramas in the past year. Dragging, poor story or editing, mediocre acting, people not being able to fix the same problem after trying the same thing over and over. But this one was engaging, fun, exciting, mysterious, and the actors were a blast to watch interact. The cases were intriguing. The family case and the town case were really well done. I want to live in a lotus tower house. It did not drag. It did not frustrate. The sets were very well done. I thought only the violence of the saintress, towards the end, was overdone. The whole drama was like pulling on that one thread to find nothing is sewn together by the same threads you thought. I loved it.

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Exceeds Expectations

I wish I could just say, that's it - that's what I feel about the whole drama and end my review like this, but it wouldn't do much to explain just in what way the drama exceeded my expectations. So, I'll just write a brief and simple summary of what I like so much about this drama.

Cheng Yi is flawless as the legendary swordmaster Li Xiang Yi, hailed as a prodigy who achieved greatness at the age of 15 and went on to become the sect leader of the Sigu Sect at the age of 20. The drama began with the fateful battle involving him with Di Fei Sheng, sect leader of the Jin Yuan Alliance, on the East Sea, which brought upon ruin and great devastation upon the two martial masters. Ten years later, the story unravelled to reveal sect conspiracies, broken romances, the true reason for Li Xiang Yi's defeat, hidden secrets behind the Imperial Crown, and of course - the strength of loyalty and the meaning of brotherhood.
And thus we follow Li Xiang Yi (now known as Li Lian Hua) with his travelling abode, known as the the Lian Hua Lou, or Lotus Tower (which reminds me of Howl's Moving Castle), through the journey of discovery.

The journey had been a riveting watch, and I haven't enjoyed myself this much and definitely haven't sped through the episodes this quickly ever since Nirvana in Fire - and I have watched many, many, period dramas. There had been many that I hadn't bothered to review or add to my watch list and score. That was how bored I was. Nevertheless, there are some similarities between Li Xiang Yi and Lin Shu - both were hailed as prodigies, and both were afflicted with the "greatest" poison known in their universe, and both possessed a sharp and analytical mind with a dash of wit. But the similarities end there. While Nirvana in Fire was centered on the theme of revenge of which facts were already known to the main character, The Mysterious Lotus Casebook is, on the other hand, by itself an investigative series that seeks to uncover truths completely unknown to the main character himself. It is a touching tale of seeking forgiveness, redemption, and acceptance.

Both Xiao Shun Yao and Zeng Shun Xi (Joseph Zeng) gave stellar performances in their respective roles as Di Fei Sheng and Fang Duo Bing. Di Fei Sheng, the original antagonist presented to us in the beginning, was not who he seemed to be. I also find the need to lavish prasies on Wang He Run (Rain Wang) as the delightful villainess Jiao Li Qiao, who was marvellously convincing in her delivery as the scorned woman with an obsessive, psychotic streak. I definitely would love to see her in other roles in future.

I did cry when Li Xiang Yi's past love story was narrated. He is a wonderful actor - his tears were really convincing! Oh, my heart. His expressions broke me apart. Sadly, the character of Qiao Wan Mian lacks depth and thus there isn't much to say, as the importance of her role is minimal.

This has been a lovely watch, and I honestly wouldn't mind watching it again.

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Its Perfectly syncornized

"I am lucky to have you as my disciple"
The story shows us how a person experienced everything from being the best to living with the simplest thing to again getting bounded with his past...
This was a perfect combination of everything...mystery, showed various shades of human nature, friendship, bickering, solving cases, a pinch of romance, and many heartbreaks...
The acting was great...even fox spirit( LLH's dog). I could feel the emotions of LLH/LXY every time he was angry, he cried, laughed...CY can express through his eyes...I liked every character...none of them were out of place...Many people complained about QWM but I think she was good, both the acting and the character...
Emotions were attached to even the objects...and it's the first Chinese drama with a case-solving duo, little or no romance that I have watched till the end and waited for the next episode...
The character development was good too...FDB's change from a young man who gets fooled easily by LLH's words to a reasonable man was great to watch...DFS's change and his character were a good contrast with LLH and FDB.
Each of the cases had their own colours and own speciality and I liked how the story build up step by step...
The ending was hurtful but good...though it didn't flutter me because I had predicted it seeing LLH's self-love and the fact that CY is playing the character...
Overall I will come to watch it again after some years when I will need a good bromance.

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Cheng Yi ❤️

I am happy with the drama. including the ending. All actors did a great Job. I loved seeing the team solving mysterious cases and how they really cared about each other. Great background music. I loved seeing character development of FDB, in the end he really deserved to call LXY his shifu ❤️ LXY really had a good brother in FDB, he was lucky to has such a disciple. I am glad at the end he passed down his skills to him and everything. I feel sad for FDB because his best friend left. But I am also understanding with the ending. This is good story. don't miss out 😊😊 Especially if you are a cheng yi fan ❤️❤️ you know he doesn't dissapoint.

congratulations to the production team for bringing a novel to life. greatly narrated. Chinese drama never dissapoint me.

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Cdrama goes Agatha Christie.

I just finished it and loved it so much.

A young detective, whose aim in life is to be admitted to a legislative court meets a strange quack doctor, who is said to be able to bring the dead back to life.

Through much bickering and bromance both guys get to solve some mysterious crime cases.

Things vanishing, people dying. The cases give off clear Agatha Christie vibes, the lady of crime of English detective novels.
Whenever the spectator thinks: "OH, I got who did it and how they did." the plot uncovers yet another layer underneath and yet another.
The crimes being connected.
And it all gets us to the martial world where some ten years ago the young sect leader of Sigu sect came to be poisoned treacherously and die in a battle.
We discover, that there is an evil scheming mastermind behind all that, who is planing to take over the entire world and transform people into obedient puppets.
It's a fascinating story woven by mystery, eeriness, poison, murder, crime, treason- counter balanced by bromance, trust, loyality and faithfulness. And the ironclad will to do right by the world.
And it is all connected to that mysterious seemingly weak quack, his young detective friend and a former rival for the first place in the martial world.
To his strange wooden Lotus Tower coach, which pulled by four horses moves from crime scene to crime scene.
And to Fox Spirit, his faithful cute doggie.
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Did I love it? ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Yes I did.
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Do I recommend it?
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Absolutely!!! Do watch it by all means!
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Does it have rewatch potential?
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Absolutely. Kisskh.co has hall all english subbed 40 episodes out.

Plus one extra scene giving us a resolution.

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A Hero's fall and rise; A Thrilling ride : Twists and Turns Abound

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The Plot:
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The setting is in Martial Arts World...

Ten years ago.. Li Xiang Yi, the top martial artist or prodigy of Martial Arts World, who founded Sigu Sect at a very young age... suddenly disappeared without a trace after the battle in East Sea, along with his arch rival and enemy Di Fei Sheng, the leader of Jinyuan Alliance... Everyone believed that they both died in the battle....but fate is a really unpredictable thing...

Ten years later.. Li Xiang Yi reappeared but with a changed identity as "Li Lian Hua", a countryside doctor, who accidentally became famous for being "A Miraculous Doctor" who was able to bring dead to life, but actually a quack who treats patients with his cunningness and mediocre medical skills... He was living in a mobile house called "Lotus Tower" for 10 years...but didn't want to have any more connection with the martial arts world and leading a very simple life, so always kept a low profile and was roaming around in search of his senior brother's dead body...

Lian Hua came across Fang Duo Bing, a young lad, who claims to be "Li Xiang Yi's only disciple".. although even Xiang Yi himself didn't know when he had taken a disciple in...haha! Duo Bing wanted to be a hero and was suspicious of Lian Hua's identity as a doctor, so he wanted to find out the truth to publicly expose Lian Hua as a quack...

Like Xiang Yi, ten years later, Di Fei Sheng also re-emerged and unlike Xiang Yi's comrades, he was the only one who recognized Li Lian Hua as Li Xiang Yi at first glance when they met again...To be clear, both of them recognized each other in their first meeting after a decade of that deadly battle...

After a series of incidents, the trio developed a great bond and joined hands to solve some mysterious cases to uphold justice, and to ultimately find out the ones who actually betrayed Li Xiang Yi and Di Fei Sheng ten years ago, bringing them to the brink of death...

The story has successfully kept me captivated with its series of mysteries and the revelation of Li Lian Hua's true identity...

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Introduction to Main Characters:
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Li Xiang Yi/ Li Lian Hua (Cheng Yi): Li Xiang Yi, a prodigy in Martial arts World, an upright and arrogant young man, with a sharp tongue and strategic mind, who plans a step ahead of his enemies and always kept high profile... He wanted to be a hero and didn't care much about the feelings and opinions of the ones who cared for him.. It's not that, he doesn't care about them at all, but the thing is, his ambition was his priority...

Li Lian Hua, a lonely and sickly doctor, keeps a low profile, cunning but kind, and detached from the worldly desires. He was poisoned with a deadly poison which has no cure and extremely painful death is the ultimate end, so Lian Hua just wanted to be carefree for his remaining life and die a silent death... Lian Hua is a type of person, who can lie without blinking while looking straight into your eyes, he never felt remorse for his lies, to be honest...

After experiencing death once, Xiang Yi acknowledged his own flaws and Li Xiang Yi transformed into Li Lian Hua, who is a liar but mature person, had guilts from past and later on developed a personality of letting go and forgiveness, and be content... He no longer cares about his glory and ambition, just a peaceful life...
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Fang Duo Bing (Zeng Shun Xi): The young master of a prestigious family, who aspired to become a hero in Martial Arts World to uphold justice. Very kind, warm-hearted, courageous and emotional but a naive young man, skilled in martial arts... He can be said shadow of Xiang Yi when it comes to his ambition... Regards Xiang Yi as his master and idol, and claims to be his disciple... After going through many incidents and experiencing enough, he matured gradually...
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Di Fei Sheng (Xiao Shun Yao): Another prodigy of Martial Arts World, and the only person who is worthy to be rival of Xiang Yi... He founded Jinyuan Alliance on his own... Has cold and aloof personality, and a aura of darkness. A straight-minded but cleaver person aspired to stand on top by defeating Xiang Yi, fair and square in competition... The experience of his childhood can not be considered as great which led to his ambition but he is not a type of person who believes in stabbing in back to get his way...

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Acting:
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Actually, the cast is not new to me.. I have seen their few works before but have not followed them... I saw Cheng Yi in L&R, but that drama was just not my cup of tea, Zeng Shun Xi in MJTY, where he was in guest role, Xiao Shun Yao and Chen Du Ling in TTEOTM...
Here, I am impressed with the acting of main leads and other actors were also good. While watching the drama, I wanted to stand up and applaud in honor of their fantastic acting abilities... Cheng Yi successfully made me his fan from now on... He portrayed Xiang Yi and Lian Hua beautifully with his tremendous acting... And portrayal by Zeng Shun Xi and Xiao Shun Yao is also worth appreciating...

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My Verdict:
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The story is quite impressive and engaging...The main theme of "The art of letting go and be content with what you have" left an impression on my heart... The mysterious cases and their link to the main conspiracy.. the enmity and friendship.. the conspiracies and regrets.. the guilt and wait.. the hilarity and sadness.. the hidden pain behind the beautiful smile.. the love and obsession.. and the ultimate goal of their lives... all are so well depicted...

But I don't have a little bit of sympathy for the main antagonists. To be honest, in halfway, I already guessed the main antagonist, perhaps I have watched so many dramas so it was pretty obvious to me...the so-called most noble and good person on the surface will turn out to be the biggest villain in the end... It's actually a very common troup... The fighting scenes are also fantastically done...

Honestly, I strongly believe, Sigu Sect can do without someone, but not without Xiang Yi... Though he did some mistakes but once he died the sect fell apart instantly... They are all so stupid, just call themselves righteous and smart detectives but never took a convincing decision to prove their intelligence... They re-established the sect but it has already lost its core ideology long ago and the remaining is just a bunch of so-called nobles who don't know where to step in and where to take backseat, also what to believe and what not...

For me, the best part of the drama is when Lian Hua, Duo Bing and Fei Sheng worked together to solve cases... The trio has one of best chemistry, I have seen so far... The way, Lian Hua and Fei Sheng kept Duo Bing in dark for so long was made me feel pity for him everytime...but their bickerings made me laugh like a fool..hahaha! Their friendship developed gradually and slowly but strongly... It took time to resolve the misunderstandings between them because as I mentioned above Lian Hua is a damn liar but considering his health condition, I can't get myself to blame him even a bit... He learned to forgive everyone but not to himself... This kinda heartbreaking everytime I see him suffering from agony of the poison... also, the guilt he had for 10 years, that brought him to brink of death and was majorly responsible for his grief and sufferings, was not entirely his fault...

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OSTs and Costumes:
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OSTs are good...

Costumes are so well done for all the characters... From Xiang Yi's beautiful and impressive red robe which has a aura of power and ambition of a young man to Lian Hua's plain and decent robes depicting his calmness and maturity are done so nicely..

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Ending and Recommendation:
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Regarding ending, I have mixed feelings about it... Is it the open ending or a sad one??? The drama left the audience to conclude the ending for themselves. It would be great if there is a second season for this...
So would I recommend it? Surely yes! There is actually no reason for me to not recommending it.... If you are missing this then you are missing a masterpiece...

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Friendship and Forgiveness

Personal Review:
(english isn't my first language, please pardon my grammar)

start watching – 28/07/2023
finished – 10/08/2023 [2:40am]
watched on – iQiyi VIP [fast track: ep.35-40& extra 1-7]

Cheng Yi – Li Xiangyi a.k.a Li Lianhua

I have been his fan since the first episode of this cdrama that I watched him.

this is the greatest drama #1 on iQiyi, that I watched this year. in one drama, you'll be served with a gentleman, a dorky and a villain. the three of them have a great chemistry. they are also good looking. personally, I feel disheartened by Li Xiangyi a.k.a Li Lianhua's ending, his ending is "BE" indeed. yeah, sometimes life is supposed to be "BE" indeed. At least, Li Lianhua ends the things Li Xiangyi couldn't able to end. he corrected many things and forgive everyone that has repented. when he forgive, he realised that he found peace. in his view, his life is beautiful since the last ten years, he finally found the peace and freedom as Li Lianhua. he makes new two friends; first it was his disciple, second it was his rival. So, his path is indeed rough but the end is, it was beautifully written.

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Highly Recommend for Costume Series

The story revolves around a top martial arts man (Li Lixian) who started his clan with the help of his older brother who he has been since he was little begging onnthe street. They were adopted bybtheir master and his wife and both were taught martial arts. The youngest consistently triumphs and win over the older brother. The younger is arrogant and self assured but always thought the love of his brother wasnt affected by his excellence over everything.
Another sect leader who was focused on being the best (Dei Fang), genuinely fixated on beating Li Lixian on an fair ground.
Betrayal caused the two sect to collide with Li Lixian ending up with 10% of his power. He changed hisnlife drastically after surviving the sects great turmoil but dedicated to find his senior brothers dead body even thou he has limited time to live.
He formed a frienship with the young Duo Bang and found out he is his seniors son.
The relationship between the two is comical and heartwarming at the same time. It is a birderline bromance that is endearing.
I love that this series isnt fixated on romance. If you are a Wuxia Romance lover, this isnt for you. The romance of the male lead was glossed over and didnt pan out to anything but it was beautifully done. I truly love it.
It is infuriating that iQIYI has the last 5 episodes as paid viewing even for iQIYI paid membership. However, with so many hooked on this after starting to watch it, there is a huge chance a lot of viewers paid the extra fee to watch the last 5 episodes.
The ending is a bit vague for me which is probanly thebonly disappointment for this drama. It may be alright for such an ending if there will be another season for it. I heard that the novel has a better ending than the series but I havent read the novel to be certain.
The wardrobe was magnificent and in qeue with each scenes.
The characters all have their own interesting story td. Some may even be considered as a branch off for this drama.
The martial arts choreography is on point and elegant. I wish there was more but as I see it, it was well balanced.
Lotus tower is SICK! I wish they ventured to shoot more scenes in different part of the tower.
There are couple of minor characters that were not addressed so viewers are left wondering as to what happened.
I am very happy with this series. I get tired of so much romantic period dramas back to back that this is a refreshing break. It is highly recommend for anyone looking for a smooth, intriguing, interesting, Wuxia series versatility. The actors portrayed eachbkf their characters so well. My most favorite is the Mom and Aunt. I hope the Aunt gets with the handsome untied hair martial arts guy (sorry forgot the name).
Please try this series if you are into costume and period series.

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