O Engenhoso (2023)

Liar's Poker.

The Ingenious One is part of the new wuxia genre where the main protagonist is an anti-hero by classic wuxia standards. He is so highly evolved that intelligence and cunning rather than superior martial arts is his defining characteristic. Thus the ingenious Yun Xiang is aloof and cynical, he can run but he can't fight, he is righteous in an ends justify the means sense and his main tactical advantage is his big brain. This drama unfolds like a three-dimensional chess game, which can be very interesting or very boring depending on your attention to detail and interest in complex plots. Even though Yun Xiang can't fight, he is surrounded by characters who can so there are well choreographed action scenes to look forward to.

After his village was massacred, Yun Xiang was raised as the sole disciple of the master of the mysterious Yuntai sect. The cerebral and commercial Yuntai and their rival the lethal and rebellious Lingyuan are successors of the legendary Qian sect. At Yuntai, Yun Xiang immerses in qiān shù 千术 or the secret Qian art of scheming and deception. They are sophisticated grifters with a controversial reputation that pay lip service to Taoist principles. One of their core principles is detachment as everyone is a pawn. Attachments and emotions make you vulnerable. This is Yun Xiang's lonely world view as he makes his way down the mountain 15 years later as a brilliant practitioner of qiān shù 千术. Time and all that brain washing did not erase his thirst for vengeance. Against his master's instructions, he makes a beeline for Nandu to uncover the truth behind his village's massacre. Along the way, he is besotted by the formidable and mysterious Shu Yanan. Sparks fly and their objectives appear aligned so they both let their guard down enough to form a wary alliance.

In Nandu, Yun Xiang's first order of business is to finance his mission. This focus on the practical money aspects of everything from running a sect to building influence is fresh and interesting. To achieve his goals, Yun Xiang plays monopoly using qiān shù 千术 or deception to control a bank, a port, a casino and a silk business. As it turns out, this brilliant protege of Yuntai is just a talented con man, a grifter. He boldly plays liar's poker with higher stakes at each turn with the power brokers of Nandu. Everyone is a pawn until they are not and he starts to break Yuntai's core principle of not letting emotions be it love or friendship mess up the con. The drama could have better highlighted how his hidden opponent was plying the same schemes against him. With narrow margins against a hidden foe, does Yun Xiang's growing affection for his pawns become his Archilles heel?

A recurring criticisms of this drama is that Yun Xiang is not that ingenious. The narrative fails to emphasize how under resourced and outnumbered Yun Xiang is. When he shows up in Nandu, he has no allies, no money and only cold clues as to what happened 15 years ago. So it's not fair to expect him to be three steps ahead when he can barely tell friend from foe. We are told he is a complex and morally ambiguous revenge driven character but his backstory is so cursorily shown that he seems like a blank person with no family or friends or history. This impression is amplified when his revenge gets sidelined as he stumbles upon the greater conspiracy and that plot-line takes over the rest of the drama. Similarly Shu Yanan's history is murky until late in the game and her relationship with Wen Cong is never explained. Thus her decisions and priorities are difficult to understand and seem at times inconsistent. Their romance developed too quickly and hiccups at a point the plot should have been building momentum towards a climax rather than digressing into romantic angst. Even though Chen Xiao and Mao Xiaotong did their best, their character designs and relationship evolution did not give them that much to work with.

In sharp contrast, the supporting roles are better written and steal the show. The priorities and drivers of Jin Biao, Mo Bufan, Kang Qiao, the Su family and Liu Gongquan are understandable and empathetic. I was too invested in their well-being and happiness to enjoy the irony of Yun Xiang's role reversal into a puddle of a tropey female lead whose whose life's mission gets hijacked by love. The standout entertaining roles areJin Biao the assassin with a heart of gold and Mo Bufan the money loving banker lured by greed and whipped by fear. Liu Gongquan's entrance also lifts the plot at a point it was sagging. I enjoyed Wang Zirui's chemistry with Chen Xiao better than that of Mao Xiaotong's, which seemed forced. While the role is well acted, Kou Yunjie is the biggest moron in the entire drama. His actions make no sense other than to facilitate plot movements. Only lazy writers take short cuts in plot design by dumbing down characters. The so-called brilliant mastermind and his main dogsbody win more as a result of a huge information and resource advantage rather than exceptional tactics. Their motives for engaging in such a vast and long-dated conspiracy with dire consequences for failure are not compelling. Petty antagonists like Tang Xiao are more believable with their penny-ante tricks and more basic instincts.

The plot picks up into a predictable but overall satisfactory ending after the final conspiracy and mastermind is unveiled. The main antagonist is designed to not show themself or their plans too early. This comes at the cost of making their motive unconvincing and is pointless as their identity quickly becomes obvious anyway. While based on true historical events, the plot design is often used and does not stand out in any unique way. After years of scheming, the mastermind's grand plan is full of holes and overly dependent on single sources of supplies and too few and too unreliable sources of manpower. This kind of shoddy plan would have failed on its own without much help from anyone! But I was too busy enjoying the confiscation of irreplaceable family jewels, a nice end surprise twist and watching villains face gruesome consequences. The message that detachment is a flawed Yuntai mantra; that emotional attachments can swing the odds both negatively and positively is lost in the finale. I enjoyed this drama but recognise there are many holes and unanswered questions, the pacing is not exciting enough and the momentum build disrupted by unnecessary romantic angst. It is a story that had a lot of potential and a wonderful cast but did not come together in the best way. Thus it would not be fair of me to rate this more than an 8.0/10:0 as one of those far from perfect but still highly enjoyable dramas.

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INGENIOUS PEOPLE

There wasn't only one ingenious person in this drama. Yun Xiang was the master of brilliant strategist, manipulator, thinker, a charmer, negotiator, but most all he's a loyal friend. It's all started when he came down from mountain, finishing 15 years of study and cultivation to seek justice of the dead his family and fellow 300 people of Luo village where he came from. Yuntai Sect is the organization that produce smart people around in many different aspect. A long the way Yun Xiang met friends, foes, love, understanding, trouble, challenges and happiness.

Yun Xiang & Shu Yu Nan
Yu Xiang was brilliant with strategic while Shu Yu Nan was an incredible with martial art. They both love each other, Yun Xiao broke his sect's rule by loving her. They learn to trust and depend to each other because Yun Xiang wasn't entirely open with this strategy or manipulation to Yu Nan, while she's totally in his side she felt that she's being used by him as piece of chess. Around ep 22 the trust was broken, relationship strained, heart distanced, YuNan switched side and betrayed their love. Broken heart lasted for 10 episodes full of drinking, crying and daze...thinking hard for next step forward for both. Will they back together? We'll see that on last episode...

Mo Bu Fan/Kang Qiao (Guanghui Bank, Yuntai Sect)
They both have great relationship between father and adopted son (uncle/nephew). One of the smart Yuntai student in finance and banking. He monopolize economy in town, very money oriented - everything is for profit, cutting throat to his customers, sharp tongue to Yun Xiang, lovable in concern to his nephew. He went bankruptcy for mishandling trust of an old friend, business, reputation, and money was gone. BuFan was so heartbroken when Kang Qiao died, lost in disappointment of his sect and angry to his master. So sad, he didn't see way out - he'd rather died than go on living.

Su Ming Yu/Ke Meng Lan
While Su GongZe was a young handsome heir of rich merchant, he inspired to be a wanderer in martial world, forced to learn business from his sister and family, got PTSD after the terror of killing. In love with the manager of entertainment gambling house Ke Meng Lan. Although she's great with business and very loving, her character was a boring one, killing atmosphere to few notch down. The love affair was smooth one after MingYu's sister approved with their relationship although Meng Lan didn't come from respectable background.

Jin Biao
He called himself '10 Gold Tael' hitman for hire. Very rough looking, brash attitude, soft heart and kind. He liked Meng Lan's personal maid Tian Hu and became the patron of orphanage. He struck friendship with Yun Xiang for money at first but genuinely devoted to him after they've been through together. Ep 32 he went coma of poison.

Many critical characters came and went as new episode brought in new development with new characters, Mo BuFan should go as 2nd ML as he has important role and most of the crisis focusing on his money/bank and the way he handled things. Every character related to him....he's a pretty good actor with much charms and difficulties in such role. All this, at the end is about rebellion to overthrow the throne initiated by Prince Fu (Yun Xiang's master). As a master of Yuntai where Yun Xiang came from, they met face to face, at the end he came up with the ingenious idea to avoid revolt and personal grudges.

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青出于蓝 (Qīngchūyúlán) – Gaming The Teacher

I have mixed feelings about this drama. I enjoy the scheming parts, where everything is “shi, ye bu shi”(是,也不是), a phrase constantly used by the ingenious one. Anything can be true or not true, leaving an ambiguous connotation where the line is not clear cut. However, at times, I find his schemes not so brilliant but rather frustrating as they defy logic. I also find the romance taking up too much screen time, rushing the unfolding of the supposedly epic events that led up to the finale; many of those scenes are just by-passing in conversations.

For me, The Ingenious One is probably more appropriately called the King of Deception. Unlike the Mei Changsu character in “Nirvana in Fire” who is genuinely the ingenious one, Yun Xiang (Chen Xiao) schemes and deceives with no bottom line; he is more like an antagonist. Like Mei Changsu, Yun Xiang cannot fight but is brilliant in escaping, which is really funny to watch especially when he manages to run away from those great martial arts antagonists, causing them to scratch their heads. Both (Yun Xiang and Mei Changsu) have talented martial art friends/followers to hang around and protect them.

Similar sequence structure as most wuxia stories, Yun Xiang leaves his mountain where he has lived for 15 years and learned his craft, and then goes for a mission set down by his master. He takes the opportunity for an adventure in search of the ones responsible for the massacre of his entire village. He meets interesting people and makes friends that could be trusted and help him in his plots. He even falls quickly in love with a girl who is a brilliant martial art fighter but with a background he cannot find. While his newfound friends treat him sincerely, he uses them to achieve his own goals, usually causing huge damages to his friends only to be mitigated later through the completion of his schemes. He is the one who digs the hole, leads the plot and fills the hole later. He can stoop as low as he needs to achieve his goals.

The whole cast is well selected. Every character is being performed optimally and convincingly. Chen Xiao’s performance is great but he looks tired, and at times, his expressions confuse me. This is probably due to the Yun Xiang character being a complex one who is ambiguous, as he says, “shi, ye bu shi” (yes, or no).

Many viewers criticize Mao Xiaotong (plays Shu Yanan) mainly on how her face looks, puffy, bread face etc, which I feel totally irrelevant. She exudes a sharp charisma with good acting, and her chemistry with Chen Xiao appropriate. As a talented martial art fighter, she is believable with beautiful fight choreography, and her emotional turmoil shows clearly on her body language when she finds herself falling for a man she can’t love.

The other side characters and side couples are lovely. I regret the deaths of a couple of my favorite characters and wish they have not been written off just like that as their deaths are unnecessary. I have also enjoyed the official soundtracks. The ballads are melodious and memorable.

My Verdict

I love the subtle color palette of the drama with toned down garments and accessories. Though started as a wuxia in Jianghu story, it eventually leads to palace politics and power struggle. From the beginning until towards the end when such politics become apparent, viewers are only shown Yun Xiang’s mysterious master as an invisible character which is almost like that of the Wizard of Oz. The prolonged lovelorn suffered by Yun Xiang is rather boring because romance should not have been the focus in the first place. I also find the missed opportunity in the development of a potentially great character, Qian Rong (Huang Haibing), the housekeeper of the Su Family. The second half of the drama is less compelling and lacks luster compared to the first half as the logic becomes uncalled for. Imagine the mastermind spends 30 years scheming and controlling two powerful century-old organizations, 15 years cultivating his best disciple, only to have all these crumble within the last 30 minutes of the story. I am speechless. And by the way, where is the antagonist Nan Gong Fang (Ran Xu)?

Nonetheless, a rather fun watch for wuxia lovers! Recommended!

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Excellent acting from Chen Xiao and Rachel Momo

I find this series worth watching as the actors are excellent at playing their roles. Especially Rachel Momo.

The story is about revenge that is pursued by Yun Xiang (Chen Xiao) from the Yun Tai Sect. He falls in love with Shu Ya Nan (Rachel Momo) who is actually the eldest daughter of the rival Ling Yuan Sect.

During this journey, Yun Xiang encounters numerous characters and forms friendship.

The story may be pretty standard for this kind of drama genre but the acting from the actors is brilliant, I find, especially, while I am watching the Till The End of the Moon. Two series are different in genre but when it comes to the actors, The Ingenious One stands out.

The progress of the story is steady but can be frustrating for those who are impatient. I don't mind it myself as I watch the series after work for relaxation.

Overall, the editing has been good so far. However, I find the drama lacks of investment so the cast is rather small and that's why the number of episodes is small. That is my disappointment as it has potentials to be the best drama in 2023.

Watch it.

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Out Scheme the Schemers

Though I don't play chess, this series was essentially exactly that as the moves were strategized in people's heads and then we as the audience saw the results including flashbacks of how we got somewhere. In general I picked this up as I've seen and liked how Chen Xiao had previously done as well as some other actors. It was really a battle of the schemers in a wuxia-like environment.

Pros: I personally like anything wuxia related so the fight scenes though there weren't a lot of them because that wasn't the premise of the series, were very well executed. From YX, our ML to every other "good" character, what I really enjoyed was that they were all morally gray. None of them were these goodie two shoes protagonists we see frequently on the screen. Each and everyone had secrets, lies, flaws, past experiences that shaped them into who they were and nothing was ever black and white. I'm also glad that the romance portion was profoundly tapered and didn't steal time from the main plots. Was YX really the ingenious one? That's hard to say, he certainly out-witted everyone in the end but he wasn't without flaws or mistakes he made which he did own up to. Originally everyone was a pawn to him, but gradually many became friends and even sworn brothers. He planned his revenge for 15 years but even then, there were many factors he couldn't count on like falling for SYN and even though she was the opposing sect's eldest child, they both broke many of their respective sects rules by having faith in each other and that ended up actually being their benefit in the end. Plus having and trusting friends as mentioned above.

Really liked the characters of SMY, KML, JB, LGC, MBF, and KQ even though we lost the latter two and that was just very sad. Another positive that just about every character stayed for as long as they needed to and then either bailed out or was killed off. Favorite antagonists both survived; one was half evil and half just grey and I feel like he should have returned to round out team good grey in the end. His leaving just seemed kind of odd and like it wasn't properly finished or balanced. NGF was the vicious, best evil schemer half to YX but he should have been offed properly not just had SYN cut off the family jewels (not that I didn't enjoy that very much), but I felt he was just given more of an opportunity to grow his evil, vicious side, with the pirates.

Costumes, scenery, and OSTs were great and on point. All quite appropriate and placed well.

Cons: Here I find that the plot strayed a bit and then took off like a galloping pony towards the end. Plot holes included who the real SYN was and where she was and why did KLY take that name? And the entire mystery surrounding WC; that was just left by the side of the road somewhere. The entire premise of this was for YX to find out who the mastermind and executioners were of his village but by the time that happened, it was kind of just put by the way side as other conspiracies took over. Again, he let NGF live! Though Prince Fu was the mastermind and died a totally copout death by suicide in flames; NGF did most of it, yet sans his meat and two veg he was allowed to live with pirates and grow strong again. A decision YX made! Made no sense to me. Most of this series was about revenge but when it was right in front of him, for a different purpose, he let it go. He was now no longer scheming but would live a peaceful life with his lady love and sworn brothers. That part I was fine with, but the rest was a bit of a let down. Most likely had a lot to do with that race to the finish line where the script took a hit.

The whole revelation of Prince Fu being the mysterious Master of the Yuntai sect was beyond lackluster because everyone knew it by the time it happened. They kept dragging it on for too long and others were ruled out and there was no one else left. SYN's bro was the stupidest, greediest, power hungry moron that killed his own mother and was ready to help NGF to rape his sister, should have been just discarded immediately. The only positive here was the actor that played him did so very convincingly. But glad SYN took him down finally.

Would I recommend it? I would; other when YX forgetting his scheming ways in the last 8 episodes but coming back strong along with everyone who mattered in the last two, the pros outweighed the cons. This is a good, engaging, and entertaining drama to watch.

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Yun Xiang

I had high hopes for a thrilling and shocking conclusion to the drama that would leave me breathless and trembling. What made me crave that? Perhaps because I was anticipating a spectacular ending from the build ups. The drama had been full of suspense, intrigue and romance, and I wanted to see how it would all wrap up. But I have to concede, it was not a bad show overall. It had some good moments and twists that surprised me and kept me hooked. It also had some stunning costumes and scenery that portrayed the ambiance of the ancient times. The costumes weren't that colorful and elaborate, but the scenery was majestic and realistic. I felt like I was transported to another era. Yun Xiang was the most fascinating character of all. He demonstrated that he was more intelligent than anyone else in this world, even his master and NGF. He always had a strategy and a contingency plan for every situation. He never abandoned his goals, even when they seemed unattainable or perilous. He was merciless, crafty and charismatic. He made me curious about what he would do next, how he would outwit his enemies and allies, and what his ultimate motive was. He was the driving force of the drama, and I couldn't take my eyes off him.

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The Ingenious One Or more like the Ingenious Group

Overall this is a good Wu Xia with fantastic fight scenes that were choreograph. You actually see the realism of kungfu fighting and martial arts performed here by various cast.
Acting:
You have a group of seasonal actors acting as protagonists and antagonists, so no complaint. Everyone is spot on with their performances. The ML is Chen Xiao, initially portrayed himself as helpless and not much of kungfu skills but all brain and stratgegy. Then Rachel Momo is the FL, first time I am seeing her as a martial artist and I am impressed by her skills. Her emotions were also spot on in every scene. The supporting casts were all great in their characters and believable in their role. For villains, I especially like Qi Tian Feng and Tang Xiao. For supporting leads, I like Liu Gong Chan, Su Huai Rou, Mo Bu Fan and Jin Biao. The villains and SL are grey in their character but yet so like-able.
Story/Plot:
A revenge plot complicated by its back story of rebellion movement plotted by Prince Fu and conflicts between two sect., YunTai and LingYuan. The ML’s Luo family was massacre and he was rescued and kept at YunTai and was selected to learn strategies. As he has great potential, he became the close and direct disciple under YunTai Master. YunTai has years of conflict with another sect which is LingYuan where our FL, Shu YaNan is from, because of their differences in value. The ML and FL crossed paths for their own agenda but fell in love. Initially it felt like a Romeo and Juliet storyline. FL has very good Kungfu skills and uses poison well, she is also smart and trusted ML despite knowing his hidden agenda. ML became a love brain for a while. Actually at some point, I felt their love is a little draggy and unnecessary but I guessed the story is trying to show that love change a person (ML). I am not fully invested in their love story or even any side plot love line, it just feels redundant.
ML was initially all scheming, heartless and detached to others, as that is his way of YunTai and he was single-pointedly focused on uncovering his family’s massacres mystery and revenge. Along the journey, he learnt to care, value relationships and trust others and made quite a lot of good friends who also trusted him wholeheartedly and help him drives his ultimate plan.
Hence I wouldn’t say ML is the ingenious one, instead it’s a group of them.
The plot has good tension and suspense that keeps the audience interested, although the ending plot was predictable and not hard to guess. It’s still interesting to see how things unfold and come together.
There is a happy ending and nice closure but I won’t re-watch as once you know the ending, really no point to re-watch.
If you want to scrutinize, there were also a lot of loopholes and untied loose ends, but i can’t expect much with all the C-entertainment restrictions. So I am satisfied and happy that it at least gave us a complete story with good closure.

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I am unsure with this

Drama had started with a good note .In 2nd and 3rd reason I came to know the theme of the drama that first male lead was searching a person who massacre 316 village people and his family was among them . So this is vengeance based drama. Then female lead join him she had motto ,the reason she joined him . Then slowly slowly some characters joined them who were the medium to reach his enemy and these characters were also had there stories . They also need him . I thought that this drama could over in 30 episodes . They stretched the story too much . Above all , the leads' love story remain incomplete.
Drama was good but some episodes were little complicated .Might the reason was the language that it was hard to recall Chinese name . So whenever in the story any person name was mentioned I got confused to whom they were talking about. This was the reason why some parts of the drama were not clear to me .
That's why I am not sure do I like the drama ? Should I recommend it ..

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Don't let the title fool you ;)

"The Ingenious One" is a story centered around YunXiang, an orphaned child from Luo Village that was brutally massacred, resulting in the loss of his parents, family members, and friends whom he held dear. Seeking revenge against the person or people responsible, YunXiang embarks on a journey. Along the way, he is adopted by a skilled wuxia master named Mr. Wen Mo, who teaches him ten fast move skills to defend himself against adversaries.

During his quest, YunXiang encounters Yanan, a disguised wuxia master belonging to the Lingyuan sect. They join forces and set off on a shared adventure. As they spend more time together, feelings of love begin to blossom between them. However, a complicated twist unfolds when it is revealed that Yanan is a member of the Lingyuan sect, which is a rival to YunXiang's Yuntai sect. Their love story mirrors the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet.

Throughout their journey, they encounter various amusing and remarkable characters, including Mr. Jingbao, a skilled swordsman, Kanxiao, and Mo Bu Feng.

As YunXiang delves deeper into the history of his village, he unravels the truth behind the massacre and ultimately exacts his revenge by eliminating the prince responsible for the tragedy.

With their mission accomplished, YunXiang and Yanan restore peace to the world, and the story concludes with their happily ever after.

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Wuxia drama with some romance, it's very balanced drama

I am baiased to Chen Xiao, so no matter what, I will give perfect 10. However, there were few moments I couldn't understand the story due to missing pieces. It could be due to ENG is my second language that caused the misunderstanding, so I just deducted 0.5 point from 10.

If you like little laughter, romance, marshal arts fighting scenes and plots, this is a perfect one. Not too romance, not too wuxia, not too much fighting scenes and you will also cry few times. And all of the actors and actresses are very experienced seasonal performers, so very steady acting. OTS is also sung by Liu Yuning, as usual, wonderful singing by him.

I just wish this drama was like 50 eps to expand more for the final plots to go into detail. Anyway, this is one of my favorite costume drama of 2023 ! I recommend to watch it.

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MIND GAMES, IT'S ABOUT BEING INGENIOUS.

It's about revenge,sects,and commence. So expect betrayals,self interest and manipulation.

The first thing I'll say about this one is that, it's quite entertaining,even though it's quite predictable.

Secondly, even though there are betrayals and a whole lot,i like the fact that the leads stay together till the end.

Thirdly,Well, the whole drama is about the MIND,is about who the smarter one is,is about who wins in the end. if you're looking for manipulating dramas,then this one is for you.

Finally,the romance is nicely done,i like the fact that everyone got to be paired with someone at least, even our little maid haha.?♥️

I don't have much to say though,but all that matter is that at least they managed to give us a happy ending.

What I don't actually like is how Nangong fan is still alive,and how they end prince Fu's,i never thought he'll summit quickly. well he was connered,so it's probably acceptable. overall it's 8.5 for me.

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A solid wuxia

The drama is well made from start to finish. The plot is decent, realistic and very tight (no plot holes). The actors have good visuals and play well. The music is good.
The ML is somewhat of a coward in all matters of physical altercations. His playground is the mental battles, planning and strategy.
If everything is good, why didn't I rate it 10 ?
Everything is good, but not exceptional -> so 8,5
P.S. : If you like a fast pace and hate to sit down to look at the scenery, this drama is not for you. The story takes its time (but without lagging in my opinion) and you should savour it like fine old wine.

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