A 2023 Taiwanese drama about a young man whose talent at calligraphy is mysteriously tied in with supernatural beings, and the friends he makes along the way.

You can watch the trailer here.

Country: Taiwan 
Local Title: 不良執念清除師
Year Released: 2023
Number of Episodes: 12
Genre: Modern supernatural mystery

Main Actors:
Tseng Jing Hua as Pu Yi Yong
Vivian Sung as Chen Chu Ying
Peng Cian You as Cao Guang Yan
Cheryl Yang as Ye Bao Sheng

Pre-Recap Thoughts:

This show is a departure from the others I’ve recapped so far, which have all featured pretty strong romance.

Our story here revolves around a young man with mysterious ties to supernatural beings. As he tries to understand these interlopers in his life and what they want from him, he works with the young man he ‘bullied’ in high school and an ambitious cop working less glamorous jobs. Together, the three of them investigate some dark and interesting mysteries. 

It’s a toss-up for me as to whether I love the paranormal world or the characters more, so I’ll start with the latter. Some very sad, horrible stuff happens in this show but despite that, our main characters are silly and ridiculous. Not only do their petty (yeah, I said it) attitudes keep the show from getting too dark, but it also feels human. Whether something very horrible or very funny happens, they keep being their dumb selves. Strange as it sounds, there’s an admirable resilience to that.

The paranormal beings and the world they inhabit are fascinating and ephemeral. No one ever truly knows or explains what’s happening but our leads learn from experience and make their own connections. This makes it confusing at times, but also makes it a fascinating and deep world to explore. The visuals for the creatures and the magic happening around them are inventive and interesting, like art on the screen.

The show is also just very rich in details. I know I missed a bunch my first time through. I’m looking forward to recapping so I can discover what flashed by the first time.

Recaps and Thoughts:

Final Thoughts

Watching this show all the way through only made me appreciate it even more. I’m also 100% certain that there are nuances and details that I still missed, some because I don’t know Mandarin or Taiwanese culture.

As I mentioned in my pre-recap thoughts above, the characters can be pretty dumb sometimes. What I didn’t talk about was how deep and well-acted they were.

Our lead, Yi Yong, is a blanked-stared delinquent who isn’t always the brightest. He’s also deeply sensitive with a strong sense of right and wrong. Our cop, Chu Ying, is similarly dumb and could stand to have a better sense of right and wrong, but she’s determined and scrappy. Our Medical Student, Guang Yan, is the smartest of the bunch, but he’s also got his blind spots.

Seeing them grow and learn together is a big part of the pleasure of the show.

And while the show does have many tragic stories, they never feel as though they only exist to manipulate the audience into being sad. Each story has a deeper meaning to offer in exchange for the sadness. I wouldn’t recommend this if you need fluff, but if you want to feel as though there’s something more to the hardships in life, this show has it.

It also has a lot of great comedy.