A few days ago, I was binge watching “Autumn Cicada”, an espionage drama starring Allen Ren as one of the main characters. It’s 1941 in Japanese occupied Hong Kong and Allen Ren is Major Ye Chong who works for the Japanese ostensibly. He is actually working undercover for the Communists. The Japanese are on an all out offensive against the Communists who seem to be everywhere from tailor shops to pharmacies.
Another lead character is Chi Cheng, a very rich and connected entrepreneur. He is also working for the Communists but on the surface, he co-operates with the Japanese. The costumes are beautiful especially for one of the female leads, Jin Xiang who is often seen in capes and qipaos. Ye Chong has to put on a stoic and inscrutable face as he pretends to work for Japanese interests. Neither Ye Chong or Chi Cheng have discovered (as at episode 18) that they are working for the same side.
The chief villain is Major Miyamoto who is forever suspicious and wary of Ye Chong. He is always trying to prove that Ye Chong is not entirely on the Japanese side. Miyamoto’s objective is to weed out all the Communists in Hong Kong and extract information from them with extreme forms of torture.
So far it is very good but there’s one part which has confused me. Perhaps it will become more clear as we get deeper into the story. I like the authenticity of the drama as quite a bit of Japanese is spoken. I believe there are 49 episodes and I am not even half-way through as I have to wait for episodes to be subbed.
