《大理寺少卿游》 White Cat Legend – Interesting costume mystery drama

《大理寺少卿游》 “White Cat Legend” is a live-action adaptation of the free manhua (漫画 – “Chinese comic”) 《大理寺日志》 “The Journal of the Imperial Court of Judicial Review”.

The fantasy and mystery elements were what caught my attention with this drama. I have only read a few chapters of the manhua, so I won’t be able to compare it to the original material.

Having finished this show, I am now very interested in the manhua. As it is free to read in Chinese on Bilibili, it’s very likely I’ll read it sometime in the future.

Synopsis

Li Bing returns to the capital city and is appointed by the Empress as the Assistant Minister at the Imperial Court of Judicial Review.

Under the leadership of mysterious Li Bing, the Imperial Court of Judicial Review members Chen Shi, Wang Qi, Ali Baba, Cui Bei and Sun Bao work together to unravel the layers of mystery surrounding the divine capital.

Trailer

The Watching Experience

《大理寺少卿游》 “White Cat Legend” is set in a fabricated historical-like world that resembles the Tang dynasty. The dynasty or world it resembles does not matter as the plot focuses on murder mysteries rather than politics and the intricacies of their world.

Two major characters don’t speak standard Mandarin. One speaks in a dialect, and the other speaks with a foreigner’s accent. It is challenging to understand them, and I often had to refer to the Chinese subtitles.

I watched the version on iQiyi and found the audio a little awkward in the first few episodes. Sometimes, the audio would stop for a few seconds, or the voices would sound a little robotic. It was jarring during these awkward audio moments; fortunately, I didn’t notice this in the later episode, so the experience was much better.

The beginning is a little slow and takes several episodes before the main characters and the other investigators become a team and start working together. Once they started to bond and trust each other, it was a real pleasure to watch their interactions. They have great dynamics.

In my opinion, the individual mysteries were a little lacklustre. However, I found the overarching mystery and plot to be very intriguing and unique. The plot and the characters kept me watching all the way to the end.

《大理寺少卿游》 “White Cat Legend” is a lighthearted comedy mystery drama and you can be relieved to know that nothing bad happens to any of the main characters.

Surprisingly, the ending was good, and it was not what I had expected. The ending suited the lighthearted feel of the drama. Overall, the vibe of the show was consistent.

Difficult for a Chinese Learner

The dialogues generally have a light historical flare; however, understanding the two characters who don’t speak with a standard Mandarin accent will be a huge challenge.

Due to these two characters, this is not the best show for inexperienced learners to use as listening practice material. These prominent characters appear in almost every scene.

Learners with experience in lighthearted historical drama and high-level listening skills would have no problem watching this with only Chinese subtitles.

Final thoughts

《大理寺少卿游》 “White Cat Legend” is a decent straightforward and lighthearted mystery drama with a bit of fantasy elements. I would recommend this if you are looking for just that.

Don’t expect amazing crimes, lots of clever moments or cinematic scenes. If you want to watch a simple show, this is for you!

I wasn’t amazed by this show, but I enjoyed it and had a great time watching it.