White Cat Legend (2024)

If you like shounen manga like Naruto and jujutsu kaisen you’ll like this show

The drama is really good but I think it’s really good at what it set out to do. I don’t think it’s a traditional Chinese drama in a way. At least for me from the start it felt like I was watching a live action of a shounen manga/anime. From episode 1 the way the setting was established and characters were introduced it had a anime/manga quality about it. So from the get go I had to re-adjust my watching standards and enjoy it the way it was intended . I’m not watching a drama but a live action shounen anime like Naruto. It kinda brings be back to when I was a kid and I enjoyed the shounen genre of anime. I liked it and enjoyed it a lot. I think the music really matches the drama. Loved the opening and the ending. I played the ending song on repeat when I get out of work. It’s fun and it really brings me back to when I was a kid when I had a lot energy and childlike optimism (esp towards friendship). It’s definitely really good but for those who didn’t grew up watching anime they might have a hard time accepting this type of genre. It might seem like there’s a lot of instances of childishness, stupidity, goofiness and it’s not for them. I think people should give it a try. I really liked the gang Chen shi, wang qi, and alibaba. lol 😂 I laughed so hard when alibaba said his name was alibaba. I wasn’t expecting it at all. For those who reads reviews before they watch they’re going to miss out on that part of the comedy. I enjoyed it a lot and I hope others do too. It’s my first time watching ding yuxi. From the moment I laid eyes on his expressive big eyes I feel like he’s a different league of actors. He’s got a lot of potential. I can tell from the way he portrays his characters he’s a serious actor and he loves acting. There’s something really contagious about his performance. Sometimes I think he might be a little exaggerated but most times his expressions are so good and on point. I used to see him as a neo hou-look-a-like. I knew about him because he acted with a lot of other rising stars who I watched before, but I never watched anything that has him in it. So I used to see him as another idol actor, but no I was so wrong he’s got a lot of potential. Performance is embedded in this guys dna. He’s going to be really good when he finally gets a role that establishes him as real actor. For me, he’s like zhang ruo yun, who loves acting/performance and it’s embedded in these type of people’s dna. They type of people who has a lot of raw talent in acting. He should get better roles that hones this guys performance like serious dramas and not idol dramas. I never get bored watching his performance. He’s so interesting to watch. He doesn’t use bland, common, and predictable expressions. He has his own acting style if that makes sense.

Read More

Bery good story and cast

I will be completely honest when I say I dropped this drama mid-episode 2 because of the really cheesy childish antics. But something told me to return to it and listening to my instincts and asking some people who kept watching, I did just that. And I'm very glad I did because this is one of those very few cdramas that actually got better with each episode especially after 5 or 6. So I'm very glad I trusted my instincts to finish watching. It was friendships formed through intertwined meow-stries. See what I did there? ;)

Pros: At first it seemed each of the cases were separate but as you continued to watch, you understood they were all connected to the original case and story from three years back and LB losing his father to some unknown organization of mask wearing assassins and being turned into a cat. The story revolves around him and his group of subordinates (SB, WQ, CB, and Alibaba) in the CJR with an extra kid (CS) who becomes LB's little brother of sorts plus QQZ who used to be LB's childhood best friend but due to a misunderstanding those 3 years ago that is only really resolved in the second to last episode they appear on opposite sides. In reality QQZ infiltrated the organization that's trying to gain immortality through murder and to overthrow the Empress. Favorite character is hard because the main gang is great plus QQZ who I wish appeared in more episodes so they could have properly fleshed out his and LB's friendship. CS knew of LB being a cat first (not counting QQZ of course though he didn't know or ask for that to be done) and it didn't bother him and then towards the end when the others found out about it, they still stood by him calling him a "Cat Hero", which was so awesome.

The old fart society, though they were the main villains, you also had YZH who though started out just as helpless as anyone was fed to some demon cat but got the upper hand and became a demon cat himself, morphed into a sociopathic loony that killed people, turned LB into a cat, caused the domino effect that got LB's father murdered, and ultimately killed QQZ just for a stupid game in his own mind. Same went for CS's brother CJ aka Black Rakhasa who was the actual murderer of LB's father as he was hired by the old fart society because though he cared for his brother, after being bullied in Shendu, instead of helping others, he chose to be a predator. LZS got karma not once but twice; got killed once, brought back by the old fart society, used until he no longer was needed and killed by them for his blood. Whoopsie; now thats seriously cold karma.

This show had many layers that you had to peel back like an onion to understand. People did come back to life but none were immortal save for YZH and LB; though LB gave the only antidote to YZH as a deal for his testimony at the old fart society's trial which was before his own. QQZ wanted the antidote for LB and he essentially died for it. I did tear up because the way LB keened over QQZ as they finally made amends officially--though LB had long suspected that QQZ didn't really turn bad--just before he passed was only seen when he lost his father. When finding out just how much evidence QQZ had found out on his own even before LB's father was killed and his father knew QQZ had successfully infiltrated but didn't tell LB. Maybe if he did, then their misunderstanding wouldn't have happened upon his murder; LB was very smart even back then and he would have left him alone.

But in the end it was CS who saved LB and the gang; the kid that started out illiterate and very naive, brought the city folk together to save his best friends through the haunting final words of the now gone QQZ copied hundreds of times and distributed to the people of the city.

Wow, I feel like I've fallen back into the story. Let's move on. The costumes (save maybe the Walmart wigs and beards of the foreigners from Alibaba's country), OSTs, scenery, fight scenes were really great, plus appropriate comedy was all very nice and fit everything.

Read More

CatMan and the Power of Friendship

First things, first.
That CGI cat head, and paws, were ridiculous LOL White haired wigs can be tricky in these sorts of shows but I thought the ML looked really good in his. He has striking enough facial features to carry it well. I wish they had gone with that and some sort of Buffy style vampire prosthetic make up or something because, I was not a fan of the computer cat face LOL Heck, they gave the other guy fanged teeth. That ML actor, with the white wig, teeth and some face make up know how, and he would have looked gorgeous and I wouldn't have had to burst out laughing at the reveal each time LOL
They gave that beautiful face that flowing white hair because of 'shock' and then took it away from me. How dare they. How did he get his natural hair back even though his cat hair is style white? damn them. He should have at least kept the white hair.

Now that I've said that, this is an enjoyable series. Ridiculous and childish but fun. I feel like that may have been the point though. (E.g ML's slow-mo run away from his feelings) There was a lot of slap stick style humour. It was like a live action cartoon. Most of the comedy was very over acted and silly. People falling on floors. One of the character has a bad luck cloud, the overly dramatic one etc etc

The mysteries were good, I thought. I couldn't work them out. There were a few times were information was withheld or the ML just seemed to know randomly, but not too much. And most impressively, I couldn't work out the antagonist's motives either. I honestly couldn't figure him out and that doesn't happen often so touche. I was expecting the Empress to be involved considering her condition but she's never touched on. Also, our main female character is taken out of the plot for her safety and we don't see her again, not even at the end was a little disappointing.
I would also have liked to have heard of more of the lore that is the basis for the plot. How did our Cat God end up in the stone coffin? How long has he been there? I would have liked to have seen more of his story.

I had a hard time keeping up with names in this show. It was a show with so many characters as per usual with c-dramas but we mostly see the main group, which is fine. But when someone's name is constantly brought up and I've only seen their face a few times, it can make following the plot a little hard because I don't know who's being talked about lol

The whole plot is the standard, sieving through the powerful figure heads all the way to the top, but around that, there is a sweet and fluffy theme of friendship and the strengths of those bonds. Nothing too deep. Just simple honest communication with the people you care about.

Music and sets weren't bad but nothing too dramatic. We do spend a lot of time in the same places. I enjoyed the little dramatic singing snippets in the background of fight scenes.

Overall, I did enjoy this show for what it was. I laughed, I felt pity, I was intrigued and it had a sweet and fluffy ending to conclude. I didnt feel anything too deep or sad about this one. The 'big' death, and a second death, I had been expecting from about a third of the way into the series and the rest were the usual collateral damage.
My standard ratings are usually a 7 or an 8, I did have fun watching this but I'm not sure if I'd watch it again. There's a lot of cheese but I'm not sure if that was part of the humour or if it was just set up that way to keep things light hearted. And then there was the cat head, which I have mentioned. I think if I were to rewatch, it would be to just simply have something light hearted in the background.

Read More

A Good Casual Watch

After several starts and drops of various historical dramas, this one was finally able to keep my attention long enough to become invested. The first couple of episodes may be slightly off-putting but it does evolve well and the layer of corniness is part of its charm.

Positives:
- There's a good blend of serious moments and light-heartedness/comedy.
- Most of the actors did a good job with their roles.
- The mystery aspect was decent as well as the action scenes but nothing to write home about.
- Almost no romance.
- A good series if you need a break from heavy politics and melodrama.

Negatives:
- The biggest negative for me was the ML (Ding Yu Xi). His acting became increasingly not believable and he only seemed to utilize 3-4 different facial expressions throughout the series. Unfortunate because this really brought the series down a few notches. (And this is already overlooking the extreme corniness to his cat-human form).
- The story takes a somewhat convoluted turn somewhere in the middle, and the flow became messier. It's as if they spend the first half working on the build-up and then just decided to throw everything that was necessary for the plot all in at once, just to be able to complete it.
- While I may able to overlook things like poor villagers suddenly being able to build a hot air balloon in almost no time at all, it was difficult to overlook the reactions to character deaths. There is almost a zero grieving period or any needed emphasis on the deaths of even relevant support characters. Providing flashbacks that doesn't trigger any emotes doesn't cut it, and the almost instantaneous leap to laughing and having a good time shortly thereafter was just not okay.

However, it is a good series that one doesn't need to take seriously and is good for a casual watch. Despite some significant negatives, it still did provide some actual laugh out loud moments.

Read More

An attempt to break free from cliches.

The show starts off with a very cheerful soundtrack and then introduces us to our clumsy, silly and naive mc, Chen Shi. We are then introduced to the other members of the Court of Judicial Review, who each have their own quirks that distinguish them from each other. The ending brings in the main protagonist, Li Bing who has a secret- he can transform into a cat.
The plot starts off strong, with interesting cases and each character was equally important in solving them. But, the plot is also what let down the entire drama.
Firstly, lets discuss the pros-
The cast- Couldn't have asked for a better cast. They were all so good! Great chemistry and expressions. I was surprised to learn that Chen Shi's actor is actually rather young. The level of maturity in his style is rare in actor of this age group. Yi Zhi Hua's actor also managed to bring out the perverse insanity of his role.
Then we have Ding Yuxi. I have heard that there are often animal imitation classes in acting schools. I think we know who was top of the class when the subject was cats. I am convinced that he is a cat in a human's body. His acting is filled with details, even in scenes that don't explicitly show his feline nature, he still adds those quirks that remind you he is actually a cat.

The OST- Most of the tracks are refreshing and filled with energy. I have no complaints with the soundtrack.

The characters- I have already talked about the characters, but I'll praise them as many times is required. The characters were well modelled, each had their own story and characteristics unique to them. The only thing is, Qiu Qingzhi's character didn't have enough screen time. The writers attempted to make him a very complex character and even succeeded to some extent. But, we didn't get to see much of his sides before the last few episodes. Any time before that was utterly confusing and I get that it was for the big reveal later on. So, I guess this counts as an open door.

The anecdotes in credits of the last episode were hilarious. I have rewatched them twice already.

Now, the only con here was the Plot- While the cases were interesting and so was the idea of someone intentionally leading them, the plot stopped functioning properly in the last quarter. Negative characters kept popping up like they were the final villain and then died and then suddenly revived only to be killed again. Like what was going on??? It felt like the writers couldn't decide who should be the main villain. While everything made sense in the last two episodes, it was simply too late. It could not compensate for the confusion created by the previous episodes. Especially when it brought back more confusion itself in the form of Lai Zhongshu.
Lai Zhongshu was an extremely annoying character, not because he was a negative one, but because I didn't see the point in killing him so soon after he transitioned into a potential villain from just a side character and then reviving him when the dust finally settled on his corpse.
The Yong An Pavilion was the final boss, of whom we were given a glimpse of in the first half and then poof! They disappeared for god knows how many episodes. Then the Empress, she was said to be involved with the Pavilion as inferred from what an elder said to QQZ when he asked to become a part of the Pavilion. She was also said to be suffering from an illness which made her look younger as grew older. This was also never addressed properly. She was a major plot hole.
Another plot hole was the lack of boundaries that distinguished the duties of the Court of Judicial Review, Jinwu guards and the Ministry of Justice. The three fought for every second case.

The cases were although, all tied together to the underlying case of Yi Zhi Hua. But, the screenplay simply lacked coherence.

The first half built high expectations. The third quarter struggled to maintain them and the last completely failed. It could have been one of the best shows this year, but it just lacked some sense of direction in the overall and especially in the last few episodes. A good show, but it just failed to hit the mark.

Read More

Purr-fect Detective Uncovers Pawsome Plots

I have been a fan of Ding Yu Xi for a while now and was excited to see him in another cat based role. However, I would have to say I probably will not be rewatching this series as a whole. Personally I don't think there was nearly enough fight / action scenes in this series when you compare it to the how intense some of these cases were. If there was more action other than chasing the criminal down or running away from other authorities, I definitely think I would've been more intrigued.

In saying that I really love series where the main character is either extremely smart or strong, both of this can define Li Bing. The cases that they solve are interesting and I do say that I am glad that he was an extremely smart character from the start and didn't just receive this blessing once he transformed into his cat like state.

The overall story was good with a lot of information being fed to us throughout the series. Nearly all the cases and investigations lead to the final plot and offered support to the main characters development and story conclusion. We also got information and back stories of all the main members, which allowed us to understand the overall side characters better.

** Characters **

I believe the actors in this series were great, but the poor character planning and development sort of let me down. Let me explain:

My biggest let down for this series was Vice Minister Shingguan (Think that was her name ;) ). I would've loved to see her become a stronger and more reliable character in the end of the series.

I also found that the side detectives were definitely the comedic relief for the first 3/4 of the series with their roles only becoming more interesting and useful in the last 6 - 7 episodes. I found some of these side characters to be annoying at the start due to the lack of progress they were making as detectives.

The main roles of Li Bing and Qing Qui were definitely the highlight of the series (as intended) which their roles being clear from the start. Maybe a little too clear if you ask me. If you pay close enough attention for the first 4 episodes, you can essentially identify the overall plot of the whole series.

** The Transformation **

Originally I was thinking that the series would use a common trope of adding a tail and ears to the person to signify that they were a cat demon. So needless to say when I saw a full blown cat head and paws on top of Li Bings body, I can't really say that I was a fan. I find these sorts of Anthropomorphic transformations to be difficult to watch and often find them cringey.

On the opposite side, the slight transformations of the eyes and cat like characteristics when in human form was definitely a fun and interesting side of the story that offered some uniquely fun comedic relief to the story.


Overall I believe this to be a decent watch. As I said, I probably wouldn't be rewatching due to the Anthropomorphic transformation and side characters. But would still recommend anyone to watch this as a side series / filler series.

Read More

Fantastic friendship!!

I liked this drama particularly for its focus on friendship.Court of judicial review and it's six detectives and the bond between them is the main highlight of this drama.
I liked how Chen shi,Wang Qi,Alibaba,Cui Bei and Sun Bao always stood in support for Li Bing even in his weakest and hardest times.
Also,I liked how each of the six members had an incident which was related to the main plot.
Each and every one of them had their own story.In particular,i liked the total episode of Cui Bei.
The plot was intriguing and though was confusing at some times,but still had a good ,warm ending.
All the cast were excellent in their acting.
Overall,it's a worth watching drama, especially for its friendship theme.
Go for it👍

Read More

Except for the superb fighting scenes, the rest were a boring dupe of a crime investigative genre

It will always be a challenge for any writer and director in the production of the same genre to be favored by the eyes of the onscreen viewers. Very few succeeded in crossing the comparison and they truly are gifted in their crafts.

Forgive me for saying this because this drama was a failure of those efforts. Among the elements I appreciated the less are the following:
1. The crime cases and the investigation process were predictable. It was not doing the effect of cracking my impression.
2. The funny scenes were not funny at all. Something was off with the timing and dialogue.
3. The characterization of the six main members of the Judicial Review Office was jeopardized by the poor story execution. It was a total waste for such a unique balanced composition of roles.

And so there, boredom strikes me here and dropped it all the way. Didn't bother myself anymore finding out the mystery of Li Bing's character turning into a white cat.

Read More

True menhua feel

Superb. What makes it different to other mystery dramas is the way the characters retain the comic book qualities in their acting, lending the series slightly goofy and a very uplifting vibe. It is so refreshing!! The fight scenes are pretty good and aplenty :) Loved Ding Yu Xi having fun with his cat impressions, nailed it - retained the kitty vibe instead of being too fearsome like a tiger or a lion. His friends and foes also got their characters spot on, the only one I feel a bit unsure of is Ren Min - her delivery was a bit flat, trying to come across as strict and uncompromising but with a good heart…. Alas the role didn’t work for her in this series. It is funny to see how many people got confused by this series, so used to standard wuxia / xianxia scripts, totally forgetting that this is manhua and unlike the usual series, it actually sticks to the comic book feel of things. Bravo 👏

Read More

A story about true brotherhood, friendship and justice

How can you not like a plot like that? I'm even overwhelmed by how much I liked it. I couldn't stop watching.It touched my heart.

The story is so mysterious, funny and exciting.

6 totally different man with different abilities find a way to work together and try to solve the ongoing events. Working out theories while investigating lots of murder cases, is what makes the story so exciting.You find yourself in the middle of all of it, theorizing, planing and trying to solve the cases.
Antagonists happen to come along the way a lot. The one lasting antagonist seems to be General Qiu Qing Zhi, who once was best friends with Li Bing. You ask yourself what events must have happened that a childhood friendship like Li Bings and Qiu Qing Zhis didn't last.
Lots of things that happened in the past of those 7 man find their way up to the current time. After exposing many things, you can see a red thread winding through the cases, each charactare exposing more of their past.

The whole series was so exciting though it started a little bit slow. The music is very good, the actors are really great.

I absolutely recommend this show, I never skipped a scene.
Absolutely worthy watching it!

Read More