Nirvana in Fire (2015)

I really enjoyed watching this series, which I think is much better than Princess Agents. Chinese miniseries are usually slow, but when I was watching this, 40 minutes for every episode went fast.

The original title was Lang-ya List. In the story, Lang-ya Hall in Lang-ya Mountain rated many things. The Crown Prince and Prince Yu from Liang were fighting for the throne and they both were trying to invite the number 1 master in the Lang-ya List, Mei Chang-su. Mei Chang-su was the leader of the Jiangzhou Alliance. It was said that whoever got the divine talent (=Mei Chang-su) would get the world.

Mei Chang-su, using the name Su Zhe as an alias, came to the capital and seemed to be on Prince Yu's side; but he was actually helping Prince Jing. As The Crown Prince and Prince Yu were gradually losing their power and influence, Prince Jing arose in favour. It was then revealed that Mei Chang-su's real name was Lin Shu, and he was the childhood friend of Prince Jing and he came to the capital to prove his family innocence. The Lin family was branded as traitors 12 years ago because the recent Emperor's suspicion.

Every character in this series is good. First time I saw the lead character, he was not interesting at all: thin, pale, ... he was sick, by the way. But the plots and story were indeed very good. I like the battle of wits between Su Zhe and his enemies. Each had to guess what the opponent would do so one could prepare the counter attack. I read critics that the protagonist in this series was too capable, but I like it this way, because I didn't get distressed watching it.

Although Mei Chang-su was ill at the time and could not perform martial arts, we would see why he was ranked #1 on the Lang-ya List.

What had happened to Lin Shu was tragic. 12 years ago he was a handsome, brave, and proud young marshal. In the last fierce battle in Meiling, he was one of the few who could survive the sea of fire and the field of frost snow. His injuries had been so grave that to be cured, he needed to undergo painful operations (something like changing skins and removing bones). When he returned to the capital later, even Prince Jing, his bosom friend, didn't recognize him because the drastic change in his appearance. Also, in the wuxia books it's said that martial arts adepts who have lost their skills are the same as dead.

All That is Bitter is Sweet (2014)

This series was not perfect, but it was nice to watch. Before this, I had just finished Princess Agents - which had been said to be very famous. Princess Agents was beautiful to look at, and I must say that Li Gengxin who played one of the lead characters was very handsome, yet for me Princess Agents was not as warm as this little series from Hong Kong.

Sheung Chun Tong was the biggest apothecary in Foshan, Guangdong. It belonged to To family. The only daughter of the To family, To Ka-kei, was about to marry the deputy mayor, Chong Kei-cho. This deputy mayor was also the eldest son of the mayor. Three days before the wedding, Chong Kei-cho fell ill. It was not grave, but it would take days to recover. The owner of Sheung Chun Tong, To Sum, created a new pill for Chong Kei-cho so that they needed not to cancel the wedding day. However, the pill was poisonous and Chong Kei-cho died. The mayor was so angry so he sent To Sum to jail and closed Sheung Chun Tong. To Ka-kei tried to find proofs why the pill was poisonous so she could get her father out of jail and reopen Sheng Chun Tong.

This series was very promising, until I realized To Sum's step-brother, To Yung, was so greedy and stupid that he wrecked everything. He even sold To Sum's concubine in order to pay for his gambling debt. The antagonist, Police Captain Ngai Chun, was so evil that we didn't feel sympathy for him at all. I think it was never good if characters in a series were too good, too evil, and too greedy. And it would be nice if  Natalie Tong didn't wear such ugly bangs.

Natalie Tong and her bangs. I hoped she wore different hairstyle.

I didn't believe in Chinese medicine, but it was nice to watch how the Chinese traditional doctors treated patients in this series. The size of their pills were big, they had to be munched, or crushed with a spoon then mixed with hot water and served in a bowl. There was also acupuncture. I think whoever found this technique was a genius.

In the story, Sheung Chun Tong had been closed and sealed by the authority. The herbs inside should have been burned. However, To Ka-kei smuggled the herbs out so she could examined them to find which herb caused the pill to be poisonous. When she finally found which herb it was, she told the deputy mayor. But how it was possible? Did she explain to the deputy mayor that she had smuggled the herbs out?

Also, to track down the poisonous herb, To Ka-kei, accompanied by her friend Ting Yat-yuen, went to Yunnan to do the detective work. I also found this too much. I think they should leave the work to the authority. But hey, this was a TV series, where things being exaggerated here and there.