Tong Zhi Zhe

I have got my mind wrapped around writing a review about this Chinese obscurity ever since I've watched it a week ago, since this ONA has been enrolled into the database under some rather misleading tags, probably that's not just my opinion.

*Some spoilers ahead in case that anyone cares*

Freshly finished, yet not much of it remained in my memory, even the remnants feel like a fever dream; perhaps because my brain refused to acknowledge the fact that I would watch 100 full minutes of a show that starts out with a panty stealing assailant that smears ladies' ... window with ketchup , all of this attempting to be a horror setting. It would be indeed sort of unsettling if your favorite pair of undies would go missing and your window would be tainted by tomato sauce, but worry not! We have the competent Zhang Dabao on duty, as the synopsis proudly informs us, he is the protagonist and he can solve any job whether or not he has any qualifications, he's the 'Jack of All Trades ' and that makes him more cut out for catching the assailant than an entrie police district. So this mockery of a plot doesn't end here, we need 3 episodes for such a delicate case to be solved. Have I mentioned that the assailant is protecting his identity by wearing his victims pantsu? Nothing really surprising at this point, I know. The very competent Zhang Dabao decides to guard the victim lady's apartment from the outside, but he's knocked out within the first 5 minutes or so and the girl is kidnapped and this is supposed to be a cliffhanger. The panty maniac, in case you haven't figured out until now isn't a gentleman at all and drags the poor girl into the freaking sewer as if the situation wasn't stinky enough. The almighty Zhang Dabao locates the assailant just in time, before he gets to drill the girl, drill like.. for real with the sharp rotating tool, no innuendo intended. The assailant is arrested by the police finally and then we get to know his pathetic reason for assaulting women, ready to hear it ?
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He was being bullied for wearing his mom's freaking bra in adolescence.


I think this pretty much sums up the quality in terms of story and characters, getting to the other sections.
The animation is pretty standard for Chinese productions, nothing really stands out, it fulfills its role into portraying what's happening good enough, this kind of production doesn't deserve outstanding graphics anyways, it would be frustrating if it would manage to obtain a budget to make for great visuals. It gets a 7/10 in this department.
Sound wise I cannot pronounce myself too concretely since I am not in the posture to judge Chinese voice acting, not accustomed to it, as for the soundtracks and themes, they were suitable, but nothing particularly memorable that I would find myself returning to. 6/10

In conclusion, you can watch this whether out of sheer curiousity or on a masochistic whim or can stay the hell away from it because you got nothing truly good to lose.
My verdict overall would be 4.5/10 cause it was laughable at times and got me mildly intrigued in what's going to happen next, at the very ending it was given a hint for a season 2, but I doubt it will be produced given the weak reception it has got.

It rocks as a Detective/crime anime and even exciting like a thriller. The main character Zhang Dabao, for once with a common Chinese last name Zhang, and last name not Ye LOL which seems to be really common in Chinese anime (looking at both Quanzhis). He follows cases as a detective, but is not a real detective, just a teen in every other regard. He is so cool, and really funny. Nice guy and also really observant, he gets shy, gets sad, gets serious, That just makes him a good main character for this type of setting, very relatable and as from perspective, it is ... more interesting for it being a teen going rogue into a lot of dangerous situations.

The crime is really great horror, assault, and intense. There is no episodic cases, rather the cases become part of a long crime story. Everything that happens goes towards the course of the story. This is what makes it so compelling and impacting as a detective anime. You find a real detective story you can be attracted to. ALL REALISTIC SITUATIONS TOO. It's with this, there are development in the love relationship between Zhang and Tang (the first girl in the case Zhang helped), among the crimes, it tells a really interesting romance story too. And also those that want to seek revenge on Zhang and his partner for what they solved.

I've seen quite a few Chinese anime and this is by far one of the best ones. I must say it's pretty underrated. I haven't read the manhua so i dunno if there's any adaptation issues. Oh, and it's definitely not a horror anime because it wasn't in the least bit scary. I'd say more of Action, Adventure, Mystery, Comedy.

I recommend this anime to mystery lovers, and I don't mean Conan lovers xD this is a subtle mystery. It's a really short anime which you can finish in an hour and half, with all the episodes even on YouTube.

Story (8/10)
There are 10 episodes which ... cover 3 "cases", so as to say. The main character is a self proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades but he's mainly a teen detective working with the police. He has this weird idk-how-to-explain ability that triggers unrealistic detective skills that put Sherlock's intuition to shame. There's adultery and gang business involved all around so it gets a bit unreal and badly paced at times. The tragedy grated throughout cases makes every episode better than you'd expect; you won't see some things coming. This needs a season 2, because episode 10 started a new case and many strings are left untied.

Art (5/10)
Nothing striking, very generic, typical Chinese animation and character design. Background art feels dull and lazy at times. So don't hope for anything spectacular. The MC wears a Captain America shirt that's TOTALLY not noticeable :P

Music (4/10)
Can't really say much because Chinese music isn't really to my liking. The BGM during episodes is either non-existent or mediocre. Voice acting is average as well. Sometimes everything seems forced and lifeless but other times things get energetic.

Character (7/10)
Every character seems bland at first but as you go more into the series, with all their backstories and interactions, you may find yourself ignoring the trivial character aspects, and looking at it as a whole, no character is thaaaat bad. But there could've been a little more work on this. My favourite characters are the main character and his best friend; the rest of them are average and bland, I couldn't get to like any of them. I didn't like a single villain in the entire series; they all were heavily flawed in so many ways.

Enjoyment (9/10)
I lowered my standards when I saw it because I usually tend to dislike Chinese anime. Of course I saw it muted because I simply can't stand the language (I'm sowwie xD). This one surprisingly piqued my interest. Each episode's last minute gives a sense of suspense so there's your driving factor. There's even a good amount of comedy to balance out the tragedy, all interspersed here and there. While the whole series was riddled with plotholes and flaws, his anime was different from all the other Chinese anime to ever come out. I've seen quite a few but nothing as underrated and worthwhile as this one.

Overall (7.5/10)
It's definitely not one to take the cake or win anyone's favourites but it's worth a quick watch. I can't wait for season 2!