Great plot and pacing
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| Chu Chu, the genius coroner |
Thumbs up from me for a great plot and near perfect pacing. For a spoiler free synopsis, see mine 👉
here.
The set up is interesting, with the heroine, Chu Chu (played by Su Xiao Tong) as an aspiring young coroner headed to the big smoke of Chang'an to make her mark on the world. She quickly meets the hero, Prince Xiao Jin Yu (played by Wang Zi Qi).
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| Xaio Jin Yu and Chu Chu |
Xiao Jin Yu (which in Chinese is phonetically similar to "small goldfish") is a brilliant investigator and head of the criminal investigative bureau三法司, and unlike many of his time, he is unafraid to respect talent where he finds it, even if the rest of the world has not yet caught up.
He hires Chu Chu as his coroner, after she mistakes him for the 'corpse' that should be in the coroner's exam and correctly deduces the reason for the bruising on his head. He's also intrigued by her connection to a man she refers to as the jade-faced-judge and a rock that she carries linking her to someone in his past...
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| Jing Yi and Leng Yue |
Alongside Chu Chu, Xiao Jin Yu's investigative team also includes the hilarious Jing Yi (his best friend and highly intelligent martial artist) and the beautiful Leng Yue (another childhood friend who is an intelligent, badass female warrior with ties to all things jianghu).
Together, this Dream Team (along with occasional assistance from Xiao Jin Yu's hilariously overprotective big brother Xiao Jin Li) investigate case after case, all of which provide clues and links to an 18 year old cold case involving Xiao Jin Yu's father, the Prince Consort. All this is wrapped up in a present conspiracy, reaching to the highest levels, with the potential to overthrow the kingdom. There's plot twists aplenty and each and every case ties up in an intelligent way that adds to a coherent whole. Heady stuff!
Loveable leads
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| Simulation of the crime, which just happens to be sweet💓 |
Chu Chu and Xiao Jin Yu are wonderful leads and although The Imperial Coroner is not romance-centric, there's enough to be very sweet.
Our crime investigating CP is delightful. Chu Chu is no ordinary girl, and she is a formidably talented coroner who uses unconventional methods, such as scene reenactments and steamed buns to hasten bruising. At the same time, she is also a wide eyed innocent (her rather hilarious experiments at beautifying herself with makeup has Xiao Jin Yu asking if she is experimenting with burial cosmetics😆) and unconventional (her handkerchiefs are embroidered with a bone, the fifth left rib bone to be precise, that being the one closest to the heart and her favourite). Understandably, Chu Chu wants a time when her profession is no longer looked down on by the world as an unclean job, and where coroners are respected for their skill.
In
Xiao Jin Yu, Chu Chu finds a boss who respects her for her undoubted talents and is not at all prejudiced. It's not hard to see why she falls for him. Our little goldfish is a really endearing hero - one who handcrafts a forensics kit for Chu Chu by hand to replace the one she lost and who sees her as an equal and treats her with gentle sincerity.
Xiao Jin Yu is also endearing because despite his genius level intelligence, he is not the typical macho invincible hero - he is physically weak, suffers from claustrophobia and the occasional fainting spell (which hilariously results in his overprotective older brother princess carrying him in one memorable scene 😆).
He is also extremely clueless in matters of the heart. The only time Xiao Jin Yu is stupid is when he is trying to woo Chu Chu, for example, when he blurts out a proposal out of the blue in episode 23 or when he tries conventional wooing methods (as advised by Jing Yi) and ends up giving Chu Chu wildflowers that are commonly feed to pigs - he only realises his mistake later and cringes because he told Chu Chu the flowers reminded him of her, and finally gets why she promptly through them in the trash🐷😂.
But these two are just perfect together - partners in crime solving and partners for life.
The power of teamwork (and not insulting the audience's intelligence)
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| Dream Team - #squad goals |
The Imperial Coroner also works because it gives us a Dream Team of young investigators - each with their own particular set of skills, all of whom are highly intelligent in their different ways, and who, together, make a complete whole.
I appreciate that none of the characters are dumbed down to artificially enhance the main leads, as well as the close bond the Dream Team shared.
I've already commented on how much I love the plot and pacing, but suffice it to say that The Imperial Coroner is outstanding because it does not insult the intelligence of its audience. All the clues make sense and the cases are not just a lame excuse for romance. In particular, the answer to the 18 year old cold case involved a number of extremely clever clues left behind by an absolute master, whose end game leads to a perfectly preserved corpse that will nonetheless "live" to tell its story. Absolutely brilliant!
As to the final stretch, I think that it was a questionable choice to reveal to the audience who the main villain is at episode 14, because thereafter, the tension lies in whether the Dream Team can discover his true identity before it is too late. The villain also makes a number of rookie missteps near the end in trying to fake his death - nothing that genius coroner Chu Chu would have been unable to decipher. This means that the final victory of the good guys is all but assured and thus lacks the dramatic flair of an unexpected showdown. But overall, a great ending and a great drama!
🐼: I loved The Imperial Coroner. It is a fantastic gem of a detective drama and is a very engaging watch. Easily the best in this genre that I've come across for quite a while. I highly recommend this one!
ps) Be aware that they recently released an 8 minute extra episode for fans which has our Dream Team solving a case with a bit of a romantic twist - it's worth looking out for 😍
