First Episode Recap: The Mystic Nine

It might not be the best but The Mystic Nine 老九门 is still eons better than its predecessor The Lost Tomb, which was a sequel rather than a prequel.

The story focuses on the nine founding families of Old Nine Gates and their valiant heroism against the Japanese during the 1930s. If Indiana Jones were to get a wuxia makeover, then this action adventure certainly makes a likely candidate.

It is 1933 in Changsha and a train pulls up to a station in the dead of the night, scaring the daylights out of the guard when he sees corpses through the window. 

General Zhang Qi Shan (William Chan), Master of Old Nine Gates, and his men in uniform conduct an investigation and he sends for 8th Master (Ying Hao Ming), an expert in the occult.

First Impressions: If The Lost Tomb was about chasing traces of the past, then The Mystic Nine lives in the present, which makes the journey all the more relevant. 

However, tomb raiders and the like is not my cup of tea so in spite of its potential, the first episode felt unceremoniously boring especially since most of it was much ado about finding clues and answers.

Nonetheless, the characters are charismatic and William Chan is simply on fire, thankfully redeeming himself from the awkwardness that was Legend of Zu. 

One thing though is that as much as I like Lay Zhang Yixing as Er Yue Hong, I can’t get over how young he looks, which takes him out of character whenever he tries to act as teacher to Chen Pi who in reality is played by Hu Yunhao, an actor two years older.

I am on episode 8 and there are still a number of quirky personalities to meet and of course Zanilia Zhao Liying‘s introduction on episode 10. Given my soft spot for ensemble casts, I will definitely tune in till then.

Off topic but is anyone else noticing the ads because they’re hilarious, cleverly reinventing scenes from Mystic Nine to endorse all sorts of products, marketing genius!?

For more synopsis, cast and ratings, see 2016 c-dramas.