'King's Agent' and 'Ghost Palace Riddle' Dethroned! New Netflix Taiwan Series Tops Charts, Viewers Call It 'Terrible' After Watching | Streaming Link Included

Netflix Taiwan's original series 'Cong Ming Zhen' premiered on July 28, 2026, quickly rising to the top of Netflix Taiwan's daily Top 10 programs, ranking above works such as 'King's Agent: Return to Form', 'Romance That Sends Chills', and 'Ghost Palace Riddle'. With Junji Ito's first-ever endorsement and creative supervision of a Chinese-language live-action original series, along with a cast featuring Gigi Leung and Chen Yafei, the show had already accumulated significant attention before launch.

However, chart popularity did not directly translate into consistent praise. Viewer opinions vary widely—some decided to abandon the series after watching only the first or second episode, while others felt that although the pacing was slow, the work still possessed a unique eerie atmosphere and social commentary. As a result, 'Cong Ming Zhen' has become a clearly polarizing piece.

What is the plot of the Netflix Taiwan series 'Cong Ming Zhen'? A single mother and daughter move into a small town where the education system hides terrifying secrets.

The story follows an overbearing single mother who moves with her daughter—recently failed university entrance exams—into Chongming Town, hoping she can enroll in a local cram school famed for its high admission rates and regain a chance at entering a prestigious university. After settling in, the mother and daughter discover that students and parents in the town exhibit an almost pathological obsession with grades, and bizarre incidents begin occurring within the school grounds.

The series uses the 'Blood Jade Fruit' from 'Blood Jade Tree' as a narrative thread, weaving in classic Junji Ito elements such as Fujiko, Daiichi, the Slug Girl, Human Balloons, and the Beautiful Boy at the Crossroads into one cohesive world. What initially appears to be a simple academic town gradually transforms into a closed space that consumes children's lives under the names of grades, futures, and parental expectations.

The real reviews for 'Cong Ming Zhen' are out! Negative discussions mainly focus on pacing, with the ten-episode format criticized for being overly stretched.

The most frequently discussed issue among viewers is the excessively slow narrative pace. The early episodes spend extensive time establishing campus life, mother-daughter conflicts, and character relationships, while the central storyline involving the Blood Jade Tree's secret fails to unfold promptly, resulting in low information density per episode.

Some viewers described the series as 'five episodes of content stretched into ten,' while others believed that too many flashbacks, voiceovers, and repetitive visuals failed to enhance suspense and instead made the story feel dragged out.

As the plot progresses into the second half, character behaviors and world-building decisions face increasing scrutiny. For example, it remains unclear how exactly the Blood Jade Fruit helps students achieve good grades, why student deaths do not attract outside attention, and what tangible benefits the school and mayor gain from maintaining this system—all points left inadequately explained in the series.

Additionally, some characters introduced over multiple episodes suddenly disappear, and the identity and purpose of the mysterious black-clad boy remain unexplained. The final episode resolves the main conflict abruptly through a fire, while the mother-daughter relationship hastily reconciles during a crisis moment, leading some viewers to feel the ending 'lacked that final breath.' It feels like a setup for a second season, yet the current season’s story seems incomplete.

Netflix Taiwan series 'Cong Ming Zhen' premiered on July 28, 2026, reaching No.1 on Netflix Taiwan’s daily Top 10 programs. (Image: Screenshot from Netflix)

'Clever Town' brings together classic characters, but is criticized as a Junji Ito 'crossover brawl'

The adaptation approach is another point of controversy. Some original fans argue that although characters like Fujiko, Daiichi, the Slug Girl, and Human Balloons appear sequentially, most have limited relevance to the main plot—some even exist solely as hallucinations induced by consuming the Blood Jade Fruit—and could be removed without significantly affecting the story.

One netizen described this arrangement as 'feeling like a Nintendo crossover battle—full of homages but lacking substance,' suggesting these classic elements were forcibly inserted into one work purely for promotional effect. In particular, changes such as Fujiko becoming anxious about exam scores or Daiichi becoming a cram school student diverge greatly from their original personalities, making comic fans feel disconnected.

Further, some manga enthusiasts pointed out that what makes Junji Ito’s works so unsettling is the sudden emergence of a small, inexplicable anomaly within an otherwise normal world, which then spreads uncontrollably. In contrast, 'Cong Ming Zhen' places all characters into an obviously abnormal town from the outset. When students, parents, teachers, and townspeople all behave strangely, the contrast between normalcy and distortion is weakened.

'Clever Town' receives mixed reviews! While some criticize it for losing the original essence, others praise its bold integration attempt.

Not all viewers reject this recombination approach. Some positive reviews argue that instead of directly adapting individual manga chapters, 'Cong Ming Zhen’s' decision to connect different characters via the Blood Jade Tree represents an ambitious localization effort. Some called it 'the closest to the original among Junji Ito’s live-action adaptations,' while others appreciated the surprisingly coherent integration of numerous comic elements.

The series’ setting and atmosphere also received partial acclaim. One viewer noted that Taiwanese horror films carry a 'damp, cold' East Asian texture, observing that Chongming Town’s thick fog, aging school buildings, and enclosed streets effectively create a visual atmosphere similar to Japanese ghost tales. The first episode’s incorporation of Junji Ito’s room imagery into an academic nightmare was seen by some as a clever design choice.

'Clever Town' shows promise in theme and mood, but ultimately feels like 'brilliant lines without a brilliant whole.'

In summary, 'Cong Ming Zhen’s most distinctive feature lies in transplanting Junji Ito’s grotesque universe into Taiwan’s campus environment and East Asian academic competition. Its critique of meritocracy, parental control, and social class resonates with some viewers, and the damp, gloomy ambiance of the Taiwanese town leaves a vivid impression.

Yet, negative opinions suggest the series’ ambition hasn’t fully matured into a cohesive story. Imbalanced pacing, weak connections between classic characters and the main plot, shallow character motivations, and a rushed finale make what could have been a powerful concept feel fragmented. In short, while 'Cong Ming Zhen' contains many interesting ideas, they fail to coalesce into a sufficiently complete horror series.

Watch Netflix Taiwan series 'Cong Ming Zhen': https://www.netflix.com/tw/title/82698956

(Note: This article compiles public discussions from various social media platforms as of July 31, summarizing viewer opinions on the series’ pacing, character adaptations, and thematic implications. Related views represent only some audience perspectives.)