Da Li Si Rizhi

This is probably one of the most underrated shows out there, and its a shame that few are watching it.

First the story starts with a man called Chen who has just arrived at LuoYang the ancient Capital of the Tang Dynasty, and ends up getting a job at the LiShi (Affairs Bureau) and his first task is to man the prison cells, this is where we meet a number of the key characters, like Ali baba one of the few Foreigners who managed to obtain a Tang Official position, and Adminisitrator Li who is for so unknown reason a Man cat.

The Show covers the ... day to day running of the Li Shi Office, and the culture of the Tang Dynasty in the later years under the rule of China's first Empress. This is also the period that had a large influence on Japanese Culture and religious developments.

Its a mix of slice of life, detective, mystery, comedy, action and history.

The art is what stands out the most as Chen's character can only be described as simple, however the design for each character is unique and all standout in their own way. The movements are well choreographed and at most time smooth. (Especially the final episode my god that fight is next level.) There are also the small details like the mouth movements are more precise than your day to day anime, no flapping mouths but with the mouths shaping the sounds the actor is making.

The sound, my god the Opening and ending are both really good, both the opening song and animation. The ending song is also great, and the ending animation showcases the work and art process for the animation.

The characters all had their own quirks making them all unique, But the ones that stood out obviously was Li. However each character has their moment to shine.

The show sometimes plays off like a detective story, which makes senses considering that is what the Affairs Bureau handles. Which gives it added flavour.

I enjoyed this alot more than I thought I would. Would definitely recommend. The voice acting is top notch, and its the attention to details. Like despite the use of CGI to make some crowds larger, they added 2D animation to meld them together.

A highly under-appreciated show. Maybe because it's in Chinese? I'll never know, but do stay with me and try to give it a shot.

Plop, plop, plop... water droplets echoed through a dark basement hall with chain laden wooden bars across each side. The scene carries us the sounds and smells of rust, dust, must. Empty cells with spooky roars coming only from the last cubicle scares away our last patrol on duty. There's no one left to guard this monster. Is it a prisoner? a caged lion? some type of demon? It's actually a cat. Well not really. It's a human-cat, or is it a ... cat-human.

Story/Character
We'll need to add bit of setting to this story. We're actually at a period of the Tang Dynasty right after the Li clan rebellion was eliminated, leading to mass execution and imprisonment. Chen Shi, our friendly country bumpkin protagonist, decides to move to the capital in search for his long-lost brother. But he's stupid, poor, and in desperate need of a job. Without knowing much he ends up working on guard for our human-cat. With certain power shifts happening in the Tang empire, this cat-human who is also a part of the Li family becomes officially pardoned and no longer needs to be imprisoned. He becomes tasked to work as the senior official head of the Dali Court (a government bureau similar to the Supreme Court). Chen Shi who was able to persist as the prison guard to our cute cat humanoid is suddenly promoted as secretary to the senior official. This mysterious and comedic story then follows Chen Shi, Li Bing (the cat-human's name) and a few other members as they work in the Dali Court to solve crime cases and deal with the political struggles within the Tang dynasty. As the story progresses we get glimpses into our characters' backgrounds, slowly revealing fragments of how this human-cat came to be and who Chen Shi's brother really is.

Art
The art of the series is well drawn. There is an explicit character design choice where our simple-minded characters have beady-eyes reminiscent of Kirby, and the more intellectual characters have actual eyes. Don't ask me, I have no idea why this choice was made. More than the style of art (which is largely subjective), the attention to where simplicity and detail are used should be applauded. There are fluid and high production quality animations that continue throughout the series and a grand finale fight scene that is most pleasing to the eye.

Enjoyment
The comedy, characters, and mystery are what kept this show going for me. Characters were very likable, funny, and interesting. There are a lot of questions left unanswered from this season, so supposedly there is a continuation.

Overall
"A diamond in the rough." There are quite a few bits that need polishing, but for me it was at least a great experience 9/10

A hilarious 12 episode jorney thru the Tang dynasty
The comedy of this donghua is so simple yet so effective, there wasn't one episode where i didn't find myself in fits of laughter... probably wasn't that wise of me to binge this at 3 in the morning

Though there is an underlying plot which connects the whole series, it feels very episodic, with each episode telling it's own little story of ancient chinese slice of life with a pinch of insanity

Every time things start to feel too serious and brooding you get thrown right back into hysteria at the most unexpected times
But most of all, even with ... it's light and comedic tone it still manages to pull at your heartstrings

The post-credit scenes illustrating little snippets of Tang dynasty culture are a very nice touch