I have so many fond memories of watching this drama, mostly because my best friend loves it...a lot. She even wrote a fan fiction about it (actually it's a prequel to the series itself...it's pretty good; here's the link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6254488/1/Before-Shen-Yin-and-Pi-Li-MIT). But before I get too far ahead of myself in my blabbering, let's take a look at the cast.
- Yan Ya Lun as Zhan Shi De/007
- Gui Gui as Li Xiao Xing/Tian Mo Xing
- Huang Hong Shen as Huang Hui Hong/747
- Lu Ting Wei as Qian Fu Hao/187
- Christine Fan as Tao Mei Ren/Teacher Cherry
- Tian Li as Lu Ya Qi/Teacher Angel
- Zhang Shan Jie as Lu Ke Ying/Game King
There are a good number of people on the cast list this time (that's a good thing...I don't like making up stuff to fill the page). You may notice, however, that each character has a second name - a nickname - that they are known by in the show. From here on out, once I introduce a character, I will be referring to the characters by their nicknames. It's just easier that way. Firstly, we have Yan Ya Lun as Zhan Shi De or 007 (Ling Ling Chi is how they say it). Some of you may recognize him as Aaron Yan (or Arron, depending on who you ask) from the boy band Fahrenheit. 007 is a very interesting character. He's definitely a young Sherlock Holmes type figure, and I don't think I need to point out how well Aaron does that. Aaron is and has been good at moody or silent type characters for a long time. This one fits right into that category. Just one in a long line of performances I love from Aaron.
Next is someone I personally find kind of annoying (don't kill me for saying that...the only reason I don't particularly care for her is that she's really hyper and I'm just not that kind of person...though some people I know would beg to differ). Gui Gui is playing Li Xiao Xing or Tian Mo Xing (which means Lucifer, by the way...I think), the token female character around whom the love triangle will inevitably form. This girl really drives me up a wall (I'm referring to the character, not the person). Sure, she's cute, and Gui Gui is a good actress (for some things), but... I don't know. She just always kind of struck me as that one girl in school everybody knows, but nobody talks to. I'm not saying the performance wasn't good. Don't get me wrong on that. The moments in the latter half of the drama when Tian Mo Xing gets more serious and she becomes more of a fully developed character are played really well. And I suppose for something like this, that's all that really counts.
Next is a celebrity that I honestly wish I could meet. Huang Hong Shen, or Xiao Gui to anyone who watches Yu Le Bai Fen Bai (100% Entertainment), is playing Huang Hui Hong (man, that name is fun to say) or 747 (Chi Si Chi). This is one of my favorite characters in the entire drama. He's the courageous idiot type character who's always looking to be a hero, no matter what the circumstance. He's so funny and goofy, but when it comes down to the heart of the character (because, you know, idiots have feelings too) Xiao Gui is an amazingly good actor. He does a great job with the nuances (what few there are) to the character and he's good with making sure the character never gets boring...like he would anyways. Thumbs up for his performance.
Lu Ting Wei is up next, playing Qian Fu Hao or 187 (Yi Ba Chi). This is the ladies' man character. He always has a girlfriend of some sort throughout the show, and when he's between ladies, he's always smooth talking another girl into his grasp. I was kind of indifferent to this character because as far as crime drama shows go, I'm more interested in the actual crimes than the characters solving them. But as the series goes on he gets more interesting. His character becomes more fleshed out and developed, which obviously helps...a lot. The acting was closer to the average line than it could've been, but it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. He did a decent job and that's that.
Now we move to the more supporting characters. Christine Fan plays Teacher Cherry in the show. I don't remember much of this character, except that she's a great team leader and she has a bit of a sense of humor. She's also the one that comes up with the nicknames for all the characters (the ones involving numbers, that is). As far as acting ability, I'd say Christine is good, but not terribly wonderful. She does a good job with the whole cheery thing, as well as being a strong leader (which you don't see too many female strong leaders in...any type of media really). Her character development is also played well, which makes for a good all-around performance from her.
Teacher Angel is next, played by Tian Li. She's known as the teacher of death throughout the series for good reason. She always wears black, has long straight black hair (think the Munsters or Wednesday Morning), and she's freaking creepy! She's always sneaking around doing things (or just being creepy...who knows what she's doing). As far as the acting goes, oh man, she's good at being creepy. This character seriously gave me the shivers a couple of times in the series (okay, I may be exaggerating, but she is REALLY creepy!) I think this character is not nearly as scary as she could've been, but that fits the tone of the show just right. Good performance from her.
Last but definitely not least (that's kind of a spoiler and you don't know it yet!) is a character that just hangs out on the sidelines...or does he? You'll have to watch the show to find out. Zhang Shan Jie plays the character I speak of called Lu Ke Ying or the Game King (Quan Wang!). He is the son of Teacher Angel and he's also pretty creepy, though he's not nearly as bad as his mother. I won't say I think this guy was the best actor ever (in fact he's pretty average), but he gives a good performance in the last third of the drama (SPOILERS!). This is a character that definitely gets better with age, and I definitely say Shan Jie did a good job with that element of it.
So, onto the writing. This show is very episodic in nature. I mentioned before that 007 is like a young Sherlock Holmes, and that's exactly how this drama is written. Each episode has its own crime to be solved, and that crime is almost always solved before the end of the episode. But of course, with this style of writing comes a very many characters that are only around for one episode or so. There are some recurring characters, like the principal of the school, but these are few and far between.
I must say I did enjoy the way this drama was laid out though. The overarching plot is still very much present, even within the episodic nature of the individual crimes. Every crime is linked in some way to every other crime, and to me that is fascinating. The way this style of writing is used is also very good. The way the characters get developed through facets of every crime they solve is really interesting. Also, there are little goofy things thrown in there, like the episode when 187 loses his girlfriend and he threatens to eat himself into despair...it's a lot funnier than it sounds. Trust me.
As far as warnings go, this show is not really intended for young audiences. Yes, the scary stuff is not that scary and the suspense is minimal (sometimes), but I still think younger kids wouldn't like it so much - especially not the later episodes (oh, my gosh, the panda voice still creeps me out). Aside from that, don't watch this right before you go to bed. Seriously. Not because it's scary so much (other than what I just said...PANDA), but because you will want to watch the next episode...and the next episode...and the next episode...and before you know it...it's five in the morning and you have to be up in an hour (it's happened to me).
On the other hand, I don't know about an overarching message so much as each episode has its own independent theme and message to deliver. There is a focus on friendship throughout the drama, as the group comes closer together and they're forced to work with each other whether they want to or not. But besides that, it would take too long to explain every message the show talks about.
In closing, I just want to say you need to watch this drama. I don't care who you are, I don't care what your tastes are in media... You need to watch this drama. It's awesome. The cases are fascinating, the characters are goofy and deep at the same time, and the ending was so good I wanted to start all over as soon as I was done. One warning about the final couple of episodes though - you will never look at someone in a panda suit the same way again...creepy panda voice...creepy panda voice...AHHHHH! Sorry, I had a quick flashback there. Anyway, like I said, watch this drama. Just please don't watch it before you go to bed. You won't sleep until you're done. Trust me on that one.
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