Reunion: The Sound of the Providence

Wu Xie (Zhu Yi Long), Pang Zi (Chen Ming Hao) and Zhang Qiling (Huang Jun Jie) have hung up their hats to end a ten-year promise. After trading their adventures for a normal life, a text from Wu Sansheng drives them to embark on a mysterious journey for the sake of family and friendship.

Source: Mydramalist

I have a friend… When he’s there, everything seems possible.

Reunion: The Sound of the Providence

Alright, I’ll be honest. I started this one for Zhu Yi Long, and I’m glad I did. Reunion: The Sound of the Providence, or The Lost Tomb Reboot, is a fun and engaging show, one which manages to keep being interesting even when it drags.

Gif by @Ohsehuns

A Fascinating Universe

I’m a newcomer to the universe of The Lost Tomb series. Going in, I had no idea what to expect, although twitter had given me some expectations regarding zombie-like creatures. (For those of you who hate zombies like me, rest assured that they’re only remotely similar, so you should be fine.) But I knew nothing regarding the rules of the universe that the Iron Triangle evolve in.

Which might be why this entire setting ended up being so fascinating to me. There are so many characters whose background and abilities I don’t know, which only made me want to explore more. Even better, since I don’t know the rules, then I can’t tell what’s possible or impossible, which opens a whole realm of possibilities to me.

As a result, this was a very fun experience, because there were just so many things that could happen, so many secrets to find out and mysteries to unveil.

Zhu Yi Long and His “Bromances”

As previously mentioned, I started this show because of Zhu Yi Long, whose performance in Guardian will forever be with me. In Reunion: The Sound of the Providence, the man shows that he has both talent and skill: his character is completely different from Shen Wei, and his facial microexpressions are the best. I especially loved that petty smirk of his, and his minute disbelieving ticks.

Another thing that roped me into trying the show was Wu Xie’s “bromance” with Huang Jun Jie’s character, Zhang Qiling. As opposed to his role in the light-hearted romcom Dr. Cutie, Huang Jun Jie delivers a stellar performance as a quiet, deadly black-clad one-man army… One who starts making eyes at Wu Xie about…oh, 30 seconds into their first scene together.

Gif by @Ohsehuns

An Engaging Concept

I’m not a fan of either Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider, so the tomb-raiding act really isn’t my cup of tea. But the plot really managed to keep me interested, except early in the second part of the show, where it got a bit slow. Now that I’m done with it, however, I think it was because we were transitioning to a completely different setting with a lot of new rules to it, so it was excusable.

Plus, I held on without much difficulty, and things started picking up again quickly after that. While I missed Zhang Qiling and certainly didn’t care about Wang Pang Zi’s forced romance with a stupid woman, I loved watching Wu Xie unleash the full extent of his smarts and pettiness. I just grinned from ear to ear as he had them all running around like headless chickens, seriously, it was glorious.

Whump Galore

Last, but not least, I’m a terrible person, and I love to see my characters suffer. Consequently, Reunion: The Sound of the Providence was perfect for me: there’s just… so much Wu Xie whump.

All in All…

Although it was a bit hard to follow what was going on sometimes, I believe most of that was due to the heavy censorship the show had to undergo. From what I understand, it was pretty much butchered in places, which is such a pity. Still, it was a very enjoyable experience. The CGI was excellent, the acting was good, and the background music was so beautiful (they better make a CD, or I’m rioting!).

I can’t wait for season 2. From what I understand, it shouldn’t be too long (fingers crossed!).


Title: Reunion: The Sound of the Providence / The Lost Tomb Reboot

Country: China

Starring:  Zhu Yi Long, Huang Jun Jie, Chen Ming Hao

Aired: 07/15/2020 au 08/13/2020

Number of episodes: 32

Genres: Adventure, Mystery, Suspense

My Grade: ★★★★☆

Where to Watch: IQIYI

5 Comments

  1. Hi, there. Thanks for the review. I am new to this entire universe of C-dramas , and your reviews are of great help. Well I just started when the pandemic closed the University down and I had nothing to do. After, starting off with the Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, the Untamed, Nirvana in Fire, Guardian, I started the lost tomb series because I couldn’t get enough of Shen Wei also known as Zhu Yi Long (he will forever be Shen Wei to me :p).
    And what a journey it has been. I started watching Lost Tomb 1 first because I wanted some reference before watching the Sound of Providence.
    I was not very fond of it but it grew on me and come on how can anyone not fall for Xiao Ge (Zhang Qiling).
    And the cliffhanger at the end of season 1 compelled me to watch Season 2 with an entire new cast and zero continuity from the first season but after a few episodes it kind of started making sense (?).
    For reference, there is this fic/article on Archives of our Own (AO3) called – The long-ass Daomu-biji/ the grave robbers chronicles timeline by margrave where she basically summarizes the entire series. I would have gone mad with the suspense without it.
    P.S-(spoiler) After the guy who played Xiao Ge in season 1, I took a lot of time to accept season 2 Xiao Ge but episodes 33 to 36 were heart renching and for some reason I can’t accept anyone else as Xiao Ge now T__T.
    I mean I am watching the Sound of Providence and after 5 episodes, no doubt the guy who plays Xiao Ge is very cool and handsome but I do not know if it’s my imagination but this guy has this everpresent smirk on his face. Or maybe I am just hung over the guys who played the characters last.
    You see where the problem is, you get used to the characters, like then even and the next season comes with an entire new cast and you end up missing the previous ones.

    P.S- I do not have a Twitter account, but the first thing I do when I wake up is check for your tweets, (I have it bookmarked).

    P.S.S- I have read each and every one of your reviews, you are so very articulate with your words, I am kind of jealous. :p

    P.S.S – Is there really going to be a Sound of Providence season 2, I didn’t see anything in my drama list.

    • Hello !

      Wow, your comment literally made my day, thank you so, so much! I’m really glad you like my blog, and the endless nonsense that is my twitter account :D.

      First of all, you have some excellent taste in CDramas! All of those you mentioned are sooo good (I haven’t seen Sleuth of Ming Dynasty, though)! It took me ages to get over Nirvana in Fire.

      I’m very happy I started the Lost Tomb series with this one, to be honest, because the first season would probably have turned me off the entire franchise. Instead, I started out with this great one, and then moved on to The Lost Tomb, which gave me a good laugh.

      I only just started season 2 and Xiao Ge hasn’t appeared as himself yet, so I can’t judge the actor just yet. I really, really look forward to it, though! The first episode was vastly better than anything season 1 made and actually got me hooked. (Although as you mentioned, the continuity has me going like ??? I’m so confused lmao) As for Huang Jun Jie, I confess I don’t see the smirk. I think he’s a good fit for the role, though, he manages Xiao Ge’s micro-expressions and smitten gaze pretty well.

      I agree with you sooo much on how could anyone not fall for Xiao Ge! The dude came on screen, and within 3 seconds I was in love and shipping him with Wu Xie… Woops.

      As to your question about season 2: yes, there is one. Basically, the show was supposed to be 72 episodes (reduced to 66 because of censorship), and they decided to air them as two separate seasons. I’m not sure why, but I don’t mind too much. 32 episodes times 2 are much more approachable than 66 in one go. The air date hasn’t been confirmed yet, but both Zhu Yi Long and Huang Jun Jie have hinted at September, probably right after the last episodes are unlocked for non-VIP users.

      Anyway, thank you for coming and for your comment! I really appreciate it <3

  2. holaa ahh me gustaría saber cual es la relación de la historia de esta serie the lost tomb reboot con las temporadas de the lost tomb
    por qué tiene los mismos personajes pero no entiendo su relación
    ( ahora mismo estoy viendo la segunda temporada de the lost tomb)

  3. hello ahh I would like to know what is the relationship of the history of this series the lost tomb reboot with the seasons of the lost tomb
    because does it have the same characters but I don’t understand their relationship
    (right now I’m watching the second season of the lost tomb)

    • Hi! Basically, if you want to watch things in chronological order, you’d have to go like this:

      0.5. [Prequel] The Mystic Nine
      1. The Lost Tomb
      2. The Lost Tomb 2 – Explore with the Note
      2.5. The Lost Tomb 2 Part 2 (hasn’t aired yet)
      3. The Lost Tomb 3 – Ultimate Note (currently airing)
      [Spinoff] Tomb of the Sea
      4. The Lost Tomb Reboot

      The Mystic Nine is a prequel that takes place 50 years before the main series and which is referred to often enough, but it won’t affect your comprehension if you don’t watch it.

      The Lost Tomb 2 has a second part in production, which takes place before Ultimate Note (currently airing).

      Tomb of the Sea is a spinoff which takes place 8 years after the events of Ultimate Note. Only Wu Xie’s a main character there, although Pang Zi makes an appearance, and Xiao Ge is in a lot of flashbacks (from what I understand, I haven’t finished it yet).

      The Lost Tomb Reboot takes place 2 years after Tomb of the Sea, and features the same characters (Wu Xie, Xiao Ge and Pang Zi).

      I’m actually working on a guide to the series to help newcomers understand the universe better, so stay tuned for that, but I hope this helps in the meantime!

      Cheers!

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