This Chen Kaige production more than lives up to its pedigree with a fresh and intriguing plot, unforgettable characters, eye popping visuals and costumes and movie quality production values overall. It is the rare Chinese drama that delivers a hefty and completely satisfying wow factor at the end that actually exceeds the exciting, high octane start. Unlike most Republican era dramas, this one is not at all just plain depressing and yuck.

On his way home, fresh graduate Hua Minchu (Oh Hao) finds himself entangled in the affairs of the Eight, a vast and powerful jianghu alliance representing eight professions or guilds (spies, sages, mechanics, deceivers, thieves, assassins, poisoners and entertainers). The Eight guild masters have been long awaiting the emergence of a new leader (their Holder) to help them "go legitimate" by disbanding and exiting the grey underworld economy to become upstanding and productive members of society. But this is easier said than done as different factions emerge and other forces plot to seize power and unlock the secrets of a fabled magnificent treasure.

This drama bursts with colorful and multi-faceted characters from the most banal to the most divine; the most loyal to the most diabolical; the most compassionate to the most deadly and the most transparent to the most deceptive. While Oh Hao's Hua Minchu is clearly the lead and very well acted, this drama is about teamwork and the entire idiosyncratic cast steals my heart. All of the guild masters are legends unto themselves; each bringing an unmatched skill to the table that complements the skills of the other masters. Both good and bad are so dynamic, bad ass and so utterly awe inspiring it is literally a gangster's paradise. I love that this drama is about a team that works together, loves together, rejoices together and mourns together - the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. It is big fun to watch such impeccably well acted character dramas like this that doesn't just focus on one lead character. That said, I must admit that Oh Hau/Hua Minchu is delicious! He is a man's man - tall, tan, charismatic and ruggedly handsome - unlike the super androgynous, pasty white faced effeminate male leads we see too much of. He is not the best fighter nor does he always make the best decisions but he is clever and dang - he is way too sexy for whatever outfit they pour him into! I watched this through what I (mistakenly) thought were gaping plot holes just to savor his effortless charm and masculinity.

The villains in this show are very good villains - just as deadly, well resourced, smart and cool . Among others, our heroes are pitted against main villain Fang Yuanji, a viciously brutal, steroid enhanced lean mean killing machine and a shadowy mastermind with an opaque agenda. I had my heart in my mouth every time the Eight engages in hand to hand combat with Fang Yuanji and all their encounters are shockingly consequential. I don't think I need to elaborate on the visual virtuosity of action scenes produced by Chen Kaige - and in truth I don't have the words to do them justice.

From the start, I saw this as a character drama and did not have high expectations in terms of plot so I was wowed when it actually delivered. The story is tightly written and the plot unfolds at an exciting pace with enough conspiracies, twists, angst, betrayals, manipulations and manifold adventures within the well constructed and engaging arcs. However, it is not that easy to develop believable romance threads within such an action packed and heavily character laden story. As such, the romance between Minchu and Xishui (Tan Songyun) was not convincingly developed and it was quite obvious that many of their scenes were cut. That said, they still had good chemistry and Tan Songyun is always adorable, she just seemed to have been dealt a bit of a raw deal on her scenes. I don't enjoy triangles generally but in this case, it is handled very well and turns out to be actually relevant to the plot. In the middle, plot holes emerged with key actors making uncharacteristic decisions that had me rolling my eyes. And then in the final two episodes, I realized I was fooled - everything makes sense and every major loose thread comes together in an EPIC showdown and an exhilarating finale that will leave you thrilled, agonized, shocked and completely and utterly pleased by the way the deceiver is deceived. This is the one drama I have seen this year with a truly strong finish and it is the way dramas should end - shortly after a thoroughly satisfying climatic peak.

Make this the next drama you start. You can thank me later. My 8.0/10 rating would be higher were it not for the cut episodes and the somewhat weaker romance arcs.