Contains less insects than you might expect!
No, really. This show doesn't actually involve many insects at all, considering that's the literal title and summary. So don't let that stop you from giving it a try.In this show, you will find very lovable characters that defy drama clichés. Sweet, developing relationships without a focus on romance. Teacher/student, Mentor/mentee, Siblings, Parent/child, you will find them all!
The cases are interesting but not as interesting as the drama wants you to believe. I enjoyed them and the twists did surprise me, but no, I did not need to watch the same flashback five times. Thankfully, they only started doing this in the second half of the drama.
The ending did actually manage to surprise me and I was satisfied with it! Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent watching these characters - Would recommend! (And the ending song is amazing, I'm absolutely in love with it.)
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Excellent in many ways, somewhat marred by a weak final episode
The Story: Interesting and Nicely Intertwined SubplotsThe mystery stories involving insects involve some interesting knowledge but I also wonder if they stretch the limits of plausibility. Sometimes I feel as though it is not likely that everything goes as planned by the killers, making their ingenious murder schemes turn out to be complicated schemes executed with tons of luck.
I like the use of flashbacks to tell the story in this series. The flashbacks can, unfortunately, be a little repetitive for some. However, they do reveal more with each repetition. I also like the rather daring move of having some extended flashbacks with very little dialogue because it shows the killers going about their plans alone. I suspect it won't be everyone's cup of tea though, and the series may be a tad too reliant on the same technique.
In the last episode, the use of flashbacks seems a little less skillful, giving the impression that it is to reveal things to the audience rather than to show the process in which the truth is unraveled. In fact, the characters do not even get to find out all the truth. It feels as if the series had suddenly been cut short by one or two episodes and there was a sudden need to wrap the story up quickly. When you see a sudden accident killing one of the criminals at large, you can easily feel the sense of hurry.
Characters: The Strength of the Series, with Some Quirks
The series features probably the most endearing detective figures I have ever seen. The main character, Tan Jingtian, is actually not a detective but an entomologist/postgrad student who happens to use his knowledge of insects (and other things) to help the police solve a few cases. An unassuming and affable character, he is really easy to love. Gala Zhang seems to have taken to the role very naturally.
Tan Jingtian is one of those people one would be glad to be friends with if he appears in real life. We can feel happy for him when he discovers that he has a half-brother and that his father is still alive, but we also cry for him when his brother and father die soon after.
Jingtian's relationship with Wen Bai is intriguing--he doesn't know that Wen Bai is his brother until towards the end of the series, and they are so close that even his girlfriend jokes about "matchmaking" them as brothers. There is no overt baiting of BL fans (since that the two characters are actually related by blood). Nevertheless, Jingtian and Wen Bai do often seem more like lovers /potential lovers than siblings whereas Jingtian and his girlfriend seem more like siblings than lovers.
Wen Bai, the second male lead, is the most complex and morally ambiguous character in the series, though it is believable that he is basically a good person who has committed some crimes, including murder. He recognizes Jingtian as his brother immediately upon knowing his name, but keeps the truth from him. We also see some obvious jealousy in see when the girl he likes becomes closer to Jingtian.
There are subtle changes to his character in the series. He is capable of harming others to protect his secret, but he is also increasingly touched by Jingtian's care for him and values their brotherly relationship. He's a bit of a tragic figure because he could really have been a truly good person had maybe one event in his life not taken place. He is responsible for causing the accident that causes the death of Jingtian's mother, and this is a secret he would literally kill to keep. The reason behind his obsession with keeping the secret is more complicated than it seems at first.
Some of the characters suggest that Wen Bai wants to keep the secret at all costs to protect Jingtian or his brotherly relationship with Jingtian. But he has been blackmailed for years before meeting Jingtian, so it's obvious that--at least initially--he wants to keep the secret for selfish reasons. (Then again, he was just a small kid when he was manipulated by someone into causing the accident. He is not legally or even morally culpable.) He clearly feels guilty about what he has done, and even breaks down before the tomb of Jingtian's mother.
What I like about this character is that the writer(s) could have taken the easy way out by making him one of the biggest villains of the show who is merely a hypocrite, cold-blooded enough to kill the girlfriend who has been blackmailing him. Yet, while he has killed someone to safeguard his secret, one can be convinced that he is not the one who has killed the girlfriend and that he loves his brother too much to be blackmailed into killing him even before the revelation of some truths in Episodes 22-23,
Ultimately, the exact motivations behind some of Wen Bai's actions are not fully revealed. This isn't necessarily a weakness though I think the characterization ultimately suffers from the rush in the final episode. Maybe he is more selfishly concerned about his reputation at some point, but also later becomes more concerned about not hurting Jingtian with the truth. Perhaps some groundwork is being laid for a sequel.
What is also commendable in the series is the attempt to depict a strong female character in Jin Ling, Jingtian's girlfriend and Wen Bai's initial love interest. At first a new forensic pathologist who faces discrimination against women, she overcomes the discrimination with her capability. Physically, she can easily overpower a guy like Jingtian. Her romance with Jingtian is nicely unconventional though perhaps their romance could have been better shown.
I guess the series suits those who are casually into the detective genre. If you are the type who tends to nitpick on the plausibility of and logic behind the events, it may not satisfy you. Nevertheless, there is enough of an interesting story about the characters even if you relegate the mystery cases to the background.
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An Underrated Gem
Personally, I decided to watch this because I'm a fan of Ma Ke or Kyle Ma from his Journey of Flower days. I personally think his character saved that show. But here I wanted to see him in something modern and more of a detective type series. All three of our leads did a fantastic job and the stooge detectives were funny and sincere in their practical adoption of ML. The ending was sad as our ML lost both his brother and father on the same day and just as he met/reconciled with them. I had expected it but the emotions were still very real. ML reminded me of the young version of Gil Grissom from the original CSI (for any Americans that may read this); first super awkward young scientist on bugs but gradually warms up to everyone and they all want to learn from him and protect him. Ma Ke plays SML with a dark secret that he keeps from his youth that he was basically used as a tool to kill someone when he was barely a small child. A lot of interesting twists and turns and feeling bad for SML because both brothers got the short end of the stick with all of the conspiracies swirling around them and people constantly wanting to harm them or blackmail them. This is a psychological show and a serious who-done-it. I really fell in love with all of the characters except that one woman doctor that did end up dying but I didn't feel sorry for her because she just stuck her nose into SML's business way too many times and it led to her undoing. Ultimately though, everyone behind all of the murders were either arrested or killed. I would highly recommend this because it just grabs you by the hooks and keeps you. Only real negative was the 5 versions of the same flashbacks. Very unnecessary. But do give it a go if you're into detective shows, with many winding parts, and secrets getting revealed.Was this review helpful to you?
Yeah even though the title state insect detective, this drama not all about insect, but yeah there will be insect in every case in this drama. Not every episode, just every case.
The plot from the first to the end all connected into one big secret. This drama all about: consequences for your action, secret will eat you out fast or later, karma will come now or later. Apart from that, this drama is also about friendship & family.
This is quite serious drama, so romance is not so much, but yeah they still give us some romance. This drama is for you who just bored with romance drama, but also looked for something not too heavy. Overall I quite enjoy this drama. Re-watch...? Nah... One time is enough
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Bromance here makes me scream UWU
first off, I was prejudiced because of the title. I thought this would be one of those cringey dramas where the story revolves around turning into insects or communicating with insects (the latter was true tho in a way). So i've put this one on my to watch list for some time. But when i started watching, it wasn't like what i thought. The story does revolve around male lead who is obsessed with insects, but the character and back story are deeper and more complicated than that.I really liked the actors here. They give a clear character and their acting are quite good. I especially liked tan jingtian. He turned out to be a really nice person considering his past. Plus, the detectives here are so funny.
The storyline is kinda predictable near the end. We all know there would be a twist between the two male leads, their father and the uncle who took care of jingtian. But i didn't expect wen bai to die like that. His death does affect on the secret behind jingtian's mom's death. No one will know how she really died, now that everyone who knew about it died. I wished wen bai and jingtian could spend more time together. I think they make the best brothers despite the secrets between them>.<
one more thing which made me agitated: why is jingtian so dumb here? When i thought he'd figure out something about wen bai, he actually had no clue. He trusted wen bai too blindly, if i must say. Luckily, wen bai didn't mean any harm towards him. jingtian is just too innocent for his own good.
Overall, I really liked this drama. And i'd really recommend this to anyone who likes mystery crime related drama. I might also rewatch this myself someday in the future.
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A different concept of investigation
This drama uniquely deals with insects as clues to find the original culprits of every crime.Tan Jingtian,played by Gala Zhang,is an student,who is determined to know the truth behind his mother's death.But he accidentally gets involved with investigative bureau and later on helps them to solve many cases in which there maybe no clues and also might meet a dead end.
He mainly uses his knowledge of the behaviours of insects to solve cases and catch the culprits in crimes in which the police could not find any breakthroughs.
The concept is relatively new and kind of unique,because solving a crime based on insects,their habits and behaviours was nice and manages to keep you hooked till the end.
Though the drama has the male lead trying to know the truth behind his parents death,I liked the concept of insects more.
Nevertheless,all the mysteries are solved in the last episode which I felt could be written better.
Though some flashbacks were repetitive sometimes,the pace of the story was good.The plot was designed with good number of twists and turns.
The cast were good in their acting.
A unique drama which will not disappoint you.A good watch!Will definitely watch the sequel too.
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Brotherhood drama with Horrible ending
It started really good and really clever with exciting way of solving casesthen it began a story of friendship .. really close friendship with shady past that connected the two male lead
it was exciting to know their relationship ... then it dragged in the middle with a lot of flashbacks and repeated scenes to clarify every case ,,,, also they stuffed unnecessary romance for the male leads ,, yet it wasn't a love triangle .. I don't know how
It seemed that the writer hated the doctor's character or may be all his characters ,, he made for them horrible past and didn't let them feel happy for long just one or two scenes
then he destroyed everything with horrible finale
I was so angry after I've finished it ,, if this is reality ,, I didn't want it
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its good
Its a really good how like what the other reviews are saying but some of the story line is just plain weird. Like how tf would someone climb up when they see something they're scared of right above their head. If something was scary above or in front of you the logical thing would be to duck down.The acting on the first episode was pretty cringe but definitely got better as the episodes went on.
If I could rate the production or the sound affects (whatever its called) of the show, it would be 3 stars out of 10. The sound of them walking is like nails on a chalkboard (not as bad, but still annoying), the sound affect of them walking(sometimes) is so loud, it would sometime be louder than the actors talking. Some of the voice over were so clearly edited in, and some of the characters' mouth wouldn't be in sync with the mouth. And the pitch of the ml changed over the show. It went from pretty deep to really deep and back to pretty deep.
Show overall good
Acting 9.5/10 the first episode was pretty bad, I would have stopped watching if I didn't read the reviews.
Story 7/10 pretty good, but some parts were badly written, like how the ml's mother died.
Rewatch Value 8/10 I rewatched some of the parts already, and pretty good because insect stuff.
Production 3/10 not that bad but the sound affects and the voiced over is so annoying that it would be all I could focus on for a while after.
Overall 7/10 It would have been better if not for the production because the acting was on point, besides the first episode, and really easy rewatch.
Didn't pay attention to the music but it didn't overpower the show
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- I liked that there were generous screentime for all characters, both main and support, giving more depth into their characters.
- I liked the acting and dialogues , especially the police team.
- I liked the greenish color theme.
- I really like Gala Zhang.
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Just watch it!
The cast... OMG. They managed the awkward, warm, narcissistic, dark, loving, violent and bizarre moments in this show so convincibgly that it took my breath away.Zhang Gala stole the show. His chatacter, Tan Jing Tian, seemed like a weird and socially awkward Sherlock, at first. But he was actually just weirdly noble, generous of spirit, selfless, brave, emotionally earnest and hungry for family. And traumatized as hell. And Zhang Gala gave it his all.
His counterpart in actor Ma Ke, was no less accomplished and the gradual moral unravelling of his dark but amazingly nuanced character, Wen Bai, was the foundation for the most tragic and beautiful moments of the series.
Seriously, people. Do not miss this. The bromance was fun. The suspense kept me on the edge of my seat. The "case fic" villain of the week platform turned out to be a larger puzzle that blew my mind. The acting was amazing. The ending was heartbreaking and the final plot twist ruined me.
Whatever you are watching right now, set it aside and binge this series. You'll thank me later.
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Meaningless ending, core problem problems that were solved in the stupidest way
The story detective is ok, Only for detective film lovers who don't see the details,,, timing of the drama irregulr ,44 minute, 49 minute 50 minuteInitially I thought it was good enough because the details were clear enough, all displayed
Such insignificant details are also displayed for example when Chef Li attacked the officers
but only until episode 7
after episode 7 everything happened suddenly and was unclear and there was no explanation, repeating the same flashback again and again but has no clear meaning, a waste of the scene,,, waste the scene and made me bored, I watched it with 2x speed
in the end the story ends with everyone dead? means that the main case is not solved, only the watcher knows, but Jingtian himself doesn't know that Wenbai made his mother die and was use by his uncle Xu ,, and xietieqi killer, the police know?
I don't think Wenbai should die, because he fell on top of the guy's body, so he should still be able to survive
Suddenly Wenbai know and said not to involve Jintian because he would also refuse because it was related to Jumpsuicide,,, Even if the death of Jingtian's mother is related to Wenbai, there is no reason she could say that at the beginning of the story
Ep wenbai said the problem he covered about footstep had spread, but it was not clear wenbai explained to jintian or not if it was ordered by xietieqi
about hejianshe, suddenly police tang, police li, and jingling knew about him, there was no scene if Jinngtian told them,,, because it is his personal right it should have nothing to do with them
Ep 17 Just now Jingtian visited his mother tomb and shuddenly to the scene of his father's accident place
The cases of ning xing er and ning fang er are confusing, so in the end the weak one is xing er or fang er?
Timing did not match when He Jian She met Wen Bai said the incident was 16 years ago, that was 3 years ago means last 19th, and when Jingtian said to his uncle Xu his papa was probably still alive ,, his father died 18 years ago and his mother Jingtian died 1999 which means in 2019 already past 20 years
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Drama mystérieux, intrigant, bien mené et bien joué
J'étais intriguée par le titre, mais finalement les insectes ne jouent pas un si grand rôle. Cependant, le héros est biologiste.Ils ne sont que le prétexte dans une série d'intrigue, curieux mix de "Cold case" et d"Esprits criminels".
Les acteurs sont excellents, la réalisation est menée avec intelligence. Les indices apparaissent au fil des épisodes et il est difficile de prévoir ce qui va se dérouler ensuite.
Les OST sont parfaitement adaptées à ce type de drama (suspense, mystère, thriller).
Ce n'est pas un drama feel-good ou distrayant. Certains passages peuvent même être dérangeants.
Néanmoins, comme cette série est vraiment bien faite, vous voudrez aller au bout de l'histoire quand vous l'aurez commencée (pour connaître les réponses à toutes les questions en suspens).
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