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 "slug": "agent-from-above",
 "title": "Agent from Above (乩身)",
 "updated": "2026-11-01",
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 "excerpt": "Agent from Above (乩身) is a 2026 Netflix Taiwanese fantasy folk-action series, adapted from Xing Zi's novel and comic, starring Ko Chen-tung as a spirit medium serving the Third Crown Prince; 8 episodes, NT$180 million budget, premiered April 2, 2026.",
 "snippet": "Agent from Above (乩身) is a 2026 Netflix Taiwanese fantasy folk-action series, adapted from Xing Zi's novel and comic, starring Ko Chen-tung as a spirit medium serving the Third Crown Prince; 8 episodes, NT$180 million budget, premiered April 2, 2026.",
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 "markdown": "# Agent from Above (乩身)\n\n**Agent from Above** (乩身) is a 2026 Taiwanese fantasy folk-action television series produced as a Netflix original, in which a young man bound by a pact with the deity Nezha, the Third Crown Prince, works as a spirit medium (jitong) in modern Taipei, exorcising ghosts and demons to atone for a childhood wrong. It premiered globally on Netflix on April 2, 2026, with all eight episodes released at once.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://konggokhk.com/agent_from_above_netflix/)</sup>  The series adapts the bestselling novel of the same name by Taiwanese author Xing Zi (星子) and its comic version, and it builds its world from Taiwanese temple culture, traditional folk religion, and modern fantasy storytelling, a combination Netflix marketed as an \"Eastern exorcist detective\" setting.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | 乩身 (English: Agent from Above); Japanese release title 乩身: 天界の使者<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.netflix.com/jp/title/81477955)</sup>  |\n| Premiere | April 2, 2026, globally on Netflix; 8 episodes released at once<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://konggokhk.com/agent_from_above_netflix/)</sup>  |\n| Source material | Novel by Xing Zi (13 volumes published) and a comic adaptation serialized from 2023 on the CCC platform<sup>[4](https://taicca.tw/latest_news/news/detail/173)</sup> |\n| Directors / producers | Kuan Wei-chieh and Lai Chun-yu (directors); Hung Wei-tsai and Chuang Chun-chun (executive producers)<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup> |\n| Main cast | Ko Chen-tung (Han Jie), Wang Po-chieh (Third Crown Prince), Hsueh Shih-ling, Chen Yan-fei, Yang Ming-wei, Chen Yi-wen, with Chao Cheng-ping, Kuo Tzu-chien, and Sonia Sui<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup> |\n| Budget | NT$180 million (1.8億), described in industry reporting as among the most expensive Taiwanese productions<sup>[2](https://konggokhk.com/agent_from_above_netflix/)</sup> |\n| Early performance | No. 1 on Netflix daily TV charts in Taiwan and Hong Kong within 48 hours; No. 6 on the global non-English TV chart for March 30 to April 5, with 1.4 million views and 8.1 million hours viewed<sup>[5](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-celebrates-divine-ascent-to-global-ranking)</sup> |\n| Rating | TV-MA, fantasy genre, original language Chinese<sup>[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/agent_from_above)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and characters\n\nThe story follows Han Jie (韓杰), played by Ko Chen-tung, who committed an irreparable wrong as a child and became the jitong, the earthly agent or spirit medium, of the Third Crown Prince (三太子, a form of the deity Nezha), played by Wang Po-chieh. Working off his debt to the god, he handles cases involving lingering ghosts and difficult supernatural incidents. During his work he meets [Ye Zi](https://www.edgepedia.org/ye-zi) (葉子), an optimistic university student played by Chen Yan-fei, and Chang Min (張泯), a police detective with the yin-yang eye that lets him see spirits, played by Yang Ming-wei; the three take on \"ghost jobs\" together.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup>\n\nBehind these cases stands a larger antagonist, the mysterious Liu Fan (六梵), who manipulates the cult leader Chen Chi-sha (陳七殺), played by Chen Yi-wen, and Wu Tian-ji (吳天機), played by Hsueh Shih-ling, to carry out a secret plan in the human world. The plot forces Han Jie to confront his fate and mission across atonement, faith, and his own choices.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup> Leon Dai (戴立忍) appears in the final battle, which Ko Chen-tung described as the climax of the series; Ko said the fight was performed against imagined visual effects that were added in post-production.<sup>[7](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202604080227.aspx)</sup>\n\nHan Jie's signature weapon is the wang-a-piao (尪仔標), a traditional Taiwanese paper card bearing the Third Crown Prince's image, which the key art used as its central image; in the series it is the medium through which Han Jie channels power and fights ghosts and demons.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup>\n\n## Temple culture and the jitong concept\n\nThe title refers to the jitong (乩身, also called jitong 乩童), a spirit medium in Taiwanese folk religion who serves as a bridge between a deity and worshippers, with duties such as spiritual protection and exorcism. The series gives this role a fantasy interpretation that differs from real ritual practice, while reporting on the production described its folk-religion fieldwork as relatively thorough.<sup>[8](https://news.tvbs.com.tw/entertainment/3173022?from=entertainment_extend)</sup>\n\nDirector Kuan Wei-chieh said the team conducted extensive field research, visiting numerous temples and speaking with spirit mediums to understand the practices behind the story. \"Agent from Above isn't a completely fictional fantasy,\" he explained. \"It's rooted in real Taoist beliefs and temple culture in Taiwan, which audiences here know intimately. Because of that, we couldn't simply replicate what already exists; we had to reinterpret and recreate it.\"<sup>[9](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/agent-from-above-unveils-main-trailer-key-art)</sup> His co-director Lai Chun-yu described the series' core question as atonement and choice: each episode reads as a case, but the underlying question is what price a person will pay to start over.<sup>[1](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)</sup>\n\nThe production also took care with the religious side of the casting. Wang Po-chieh, who plays the Third Crown Prince himself, brought the script to a temple dedicated to the deity in Xizhi to explain that the portrayal would depart from the deity's established image; he reported receiving a sacred divination-block result on the first throw, and also drew a favorable fortune stick for the crew.<sup>[10](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202211140219.aspx)</sup>\n\n## Production history\n\nThe project was announced in December 2019 with a first season planned at six episodes and a budget of NT$180 million, a rare cost level for Taiwanese television at the time.<sup>[11](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/201912100383.aspx)</sup> Work was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and filming officially began with an opening ceremony in November 2022 at Daiming Temple in Keelung, attended by the five lead actors and the directors.<sup>[10](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202211140219.aspx)</sup> The finished first season runs eight episodes.<sup>[2](https://konggokhk.com/agent_from_above_netflix/)</sup>\n\nThe scale of the visual work is substantial: the series contains more than 3,000 visual-effects shots, and the production company stated the goal of showing a different aesthetic for Taiwanese temples and building a Taiwanese exorcism property with international reach.<sup>[12](https://www2.businessweekly.com.tw/style/blog/3021064)</sup> Reporting around the release described the show as Netflix's largest investment to date in the Taiwanese fantasy genre.<sup>[2](https://konggokhk.com/agent_from_above_netflix/)</sup> Production was led by the Taiwanese company 1 Production (影一製作所), which lists the series among its 2026 titles.<sup>[13](https://www.1production.com.tw/)</sup>\n\nKo Chen-tung was injured during filming, receiving 30 stitches to a facial wound, according to behind-the-scenes reporting published around the premiere.<sup>[2](https://konggokhk.com/agent_from_above_netflix/)</sup>\n\n## The wider 乩身 franchise\n\nThe television series is one of several adaptations of Xing Zi's novel. The book had reached 13 published volumes, and the Taiwan Cultural Content Agency (TAICCA) supported a comic adaptation by artist Barz, published by Original Point (原動力文化), which was serialized on the CCC webtoon platform in 2023 with a print volume in November of that year. The novel's rights have also been licensed to the Ming Hwa Yuan opera troupe for a Taiwanese opera adaptation and to game development.<sup>[4](https://taicca.tw/latest_news/news/detail/173)</sup>\n\n## Reception\n\nWithin 48 hours of release the series reached No. 1 on Netflix's daily TV rankings in Taiwan and Hong Kong and placed [No. 6](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-6) on the global non-English TV chart for the week of March 30 to April 5, 2026, with 1.4 million views and 8.1 million hours viewed. It also entered the Top 10 in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the [Dominican Republic](https://www.edgepedia.org/dominican-republic).<sup>[5](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-celebrates-divine-ascent-to-global-ranking)</sup> Netflix's Chinese-language content director [Huang Yi](https://www.edgepedia.org/huang-yi)-mei credited the series as a milestone in combining local Taiwanese culture with world-class visual effects.<sup>[5](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-celebrates-divine-ascent-to-global-ranking)</sup> Viewer commentary highlighted the visual effects, with some viewers finishing all eight episodes on the release day.<sup>[5](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-celebrates-divine-ascent-to-global-ranking)</sup>\n\nThe series later received nine nominations at the 61st Golden Bell Awards, which commentary framed as a showcase of Taiwanese fantasy television production capability.<sup>[14](https://yololab.net/archives/agent-from-above-netflix-taiwan-series)</sup> As of mid-2026, Netflix had not announced a second season.<sup>[8](https://news.tvbs.com.tw/entertainment/3173022?from=entertainment_extend)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [人間與靈界的宿命之戰一觸即發！Netflix原創奇幻民俗動作影集《乩身》4月2日全球獨家登場, About Netflix (February 26, 2026)](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-premieres-april-2)\n2. [製作費台幣 1.8 億 Netflix 奇幻台劇《乩身》等了 5 年終上線, KONGGOK (April 2026)](https://konggokhk.com/agent_from_above_netflix/)\n3. [乩身: 天界の使者, Netflix Japan title page](https://www.netflix.com/jp/title/81477955)\n4. [從小說到漫畫、歌仔戲與影集 《乩身》座談會探討IP跨界魅力, TAICCA (March 2024)](https://taicca.tw/latest_news/news/detail/173)\n5. [Netflix《乩身》48小時空降台灣、香港排行榜冠軍 榮登全球非英語影集排行榜第6名, About Netflix (April 8, 2026)](https://about.netflix.com/zh_tw/news/agent-from-above-celebrates-divine-ascent-to-global-ranking)\n6. [Agent From Above, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/agent_from_above)\n7. [「乩身」上線衝排行榜第一 柯震東戰戴立忍引熱議, Central News Agency (April 8, 2026)](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202604080227.aspx)\n8. [《乩身》好看嗎？7大亮點衝上Netflix排行第一！劇情評價全解析, TVBS News](https://news.tvbs.com.tw/entertainment/3173022?from=entertainment_extend)\n9. [Fantasy Action Series 'Agent from Above' Puts Contemporary Spin on Temple Culture and Traditional Folklore in New Trailer, About Netflix (March 17, 2026)](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/agent-from-above-unveils-main-trailer-key-art)\n10. [王柏傑「乩身」化身三太子 指揮柯震東鬼差事, Central News Agency (November 14, 2022)](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/202211140219.aspx)\n11. [影集乩身斥資1.8億 柯震東演三太子代理人, Central News Agency (December 10, 2019)](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/amov/201912100383.aspx)\n12. [誰說宮廟很老土？Netflix奇幻台劇《乩身》，打造台灣本土驅魔IP, Business Weekly](https://www2.businessweekly.com.tw/style/blog/3021064)\n13. [影一製作所股份有限公司, official site](https://www.1production.com.tw/)\n14. [《乩身》金鐘61入圍9項：王柏傑三太子、柯震東與8集解析, YOLO LAB](https://yololab.net/archives/agent-from-above-netflix-taiwan-series)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Hong Kong and Taiwanese serial drama*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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