The Blood of Youth (2022)

One of the best modern wuxia to come out in a long itme!

There is something weirdly addictive about The Blood Of Youth. I usually hate “video game” wuxia with the flying sparkling kung fu, but the characters are compelling. Doesn’t hurt that Li Hong Yi (Xiao Se) is so pretty 🤭

One thing I like about The Blood Of Youth is that no matter how powerful Xiao Se, Wuxin and Wujie are, they still behave like young men who are impetuous and yes, childish! This makes for really funny moments between the trio, especially between Xiao Se and Wujie.

While most CDramas lose my interest after the 20th episode, not this one! The Blood Of Youth was tightly plotted, the characters so interesting.

Although the “magic” martial arts took some getting used to, this was a classic Wuxia tale. So, you have the themes of brotherhood, loyalty, chivalry and honour that the genre is known for.

The storytellers were brilliant, ramping up suspense in seemingly innocuous events to great heights. For one, who knew a banquet can be such a suspenseful and tense affair? And when the curtains finally parted and the truth of the banquet is finally revealed, you feel a whoosh of emotion at what it signifies. Now, that’s a fine piece of storytelling there.

When the show ended, I had a hangover because it ended “too soon” and I didn’t think I could watch anything this good in a long while. 😭

Fortunately, 2023 turned out to be a great year for wuxia dramas, with Mysterious Lotus Casebook, The Ingenious One and A Journey to Love following soon after. Now, with season 2 of Blood of Youth just announced, I hope to enjoy more of our gang in the future!

Note: This is a condensed review of my longer review on my blog: https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/the-blood-of-youth-review/

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Too many unnecessary characters

The story and the acting is good but the introduction of the crazy numbers of random characters and sects are all thrown in at once. The crazy numbers of characters then lead to lots of fighting scene. These fighting scene were actually very good if taken individually but often thrown together without any good reasons. The plot is good but there really is just far too many random introduction of characters even 8n the last few episodes for absolutely no good reasons other than to show some fighting scenes which again is random with zero reasons. The few couple that developed were all juvenile in their style of "chasing"totally one sided with zero friendship or chemistry

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More hype than watch value

Blood of Youth offers to the viewers, can't blame the high rating of 9.7 stars when many have watched less than episodes and given 10 stars. I'm reviewing this drama after completing watching the 40 episodes. Here's my rating and thoughts:

Plot: 9/10 🌟 Apparently this drama has it's twists and turns and keeps driving the viewer to watch till the end. Things rounded off well, viewers can see the ML is a stubborn man who makes his own decisions and it's this ending which makes them to crave more.

Characters: 6/10 🌟 This rating is for the ML, Xiao Se. I liked that he was this confident man who strategically worked towards his goals. What I didn't like was that in the martial arts world, the ML barely fought, even when he was treated of his injury, he continued to feebly (not my but Lei's words) wrap his hands in his long sleeves and never practiced. Of course I rolled my eyes when a shaft user, all of a sudden wants to own the tianzhan sword.
Other MLs did justice to their roles, Wuxin and Lei kept me going.
I can't say anything about the FL when she's basically treated as a side character in the whole drama.

Comedy: 9/10 🌟 Yes this drama will make you laugh, especially Wuxin and General when he first meets his future son in law, Lei.

Romance: 0/10 🌟 seriously if the director and scriptwriter chose to focus more on the fight scenes, then romance shouldn't have been added at all, however, couples were formed with zero thought to romance. First of all, Xiao Se's pairing with Quinlou wasn't great, zero on-screen chemistry, no moments between the leads happened.

Screen effects/fight scenes: 10/10 🌟 Amazing CGI during fight scenes is the best of this drama. Hats off 👏

Background music: 5/10 🌟 Introductory music gave an okay feel but throughout the drama it lacked the goosebumps moments music when a great action happened.

So overall it's a good drama worth watching.

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Adventure with Xiao Se

Martial arts team drama is not my usual genre, but the group members were not students at the academy, learning as they go... except for Motor Mouth Lei Wei Ji. Many times he would not shut up, but he did have exceptional sword skills, and he was loyal to his companions. He and the annoying eunuch Jinyan were the only actors who showed their acting range, and deserve the award for OTP acting. They were wired every day on set. There are many good looking actors in the cast, btw.

The final stretch was non-stop action and intrigue. Xiao Se Chu He is the first C=drama prince to walk away from the throne. He passed it to older brother Bai Chong (#2 prince). They were technically, the last two princes standing.

Bad Prince Yu Chi took the easy way out, and stabbed himself in the heart. I never felt sorry for him. He was wound too tight. 🤯🤯🤯 He was a quirky looking actor, who might be handsome in real life. He reminded me of Oh Ji Oh and Villain Prince in Scarlet Heart Ryeo.

Yu and Wuxin's birth mother had three men in love with her in the past...I guess. I am not sure if Emperor was in love with her, and sired Yu Chi, just to fill the lineage chart. The last man, #1 Handsome Swordman, took Consort Xuan away from Tianqi City at the end. 

Rating 8

0.5 deduction for the extraneous use of BGM overlaying dialog. I depend on subtitles, but I like to hear the actors talking their native language. Someone, send a petition to the production companies... Stop the loud BGM and loud singing!

0.5 deduction for choppy scene splicing by the film editor. Conversations were disjointed when the character in the alternate scene completed the sentence from the previous scene.

1.0 deduction of putting Wuxin and Tang Lian on the shelf most of the drama. They were the two most enigmatic and skilled characters, and the actors were handsome, too.

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Another poor ending to the show which could have been the best of 2023

Though I liked the non stop action in most part of the tv show, I find the ending absolutely disappointing.
Heroes action in terms of not letting go the villain for the war crimes is applaudable.
However, he decides to give up the throne? Because he is lazy or finds it boring?
Unacceptable as this will lead to poor ruling and the suffering of people. Though Chong is shown to be a nice man, it was the same of the father who decided to u-turn and kill his brother who should have been the king. it’s not like the father king was perfect…he married chu’s mother against her wishes though his crime is conveniently forgotten by everyone. Why did langya his brother conveniently remained silent against the brother king and let him rule till his death when he should be the king.
This can happen again. To avoid this, the hero should have accepted the throne and rule which could have helped people …putting an inefficient ruler is a bigger sin than anything….so the hero failed in my eyes and hence a rating of 7 instead of 9.5 or 10… this is where I think Sword snow stride is a better tv show of 2022/2023

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Fairly goodl

The drama started out rather intriguing and very engaging, the build of the story was very impressive, truly in the Wuxia style (even though I think there were just too many XianXia elements). The storyline though predictable ( kind of imbued with lots and similar characters of Nirvana in Fire) but is quite entertaining. I love the friendship and camaraderie of the youths formed along the way (I assumed they were in their teens and some of them are just way too old to play the teen roles, which I am prepared to overlook as I am so used to already in C Drama and K Drama) The build-up of the characters too were great, and it went on smoothly until some 32 episodes later I realised none of the youth characters has achieved any greatness, and that is more than three-quarters of the way through.. but soon after the story just plateaued and it just went flat right to the end! So much potential for a fantastic and great drama ended with a bunch of rather unremarkable youth who only managed to stay alive because some of the villains woke up from a trance and saved the day.. and Guess what? Like Who Rules The World, again, they gave up their non-achievement and their sworn duty and travel the Jiangsu... So Love Like The Galaxy is still the Best Wuxia drama in recent years, (post Nirvana In Fire) .. Autumn Ballade, Dream of Splendour, Who Rules The World and now The Blood of Youth are the promising Dramas with some of the worst ending in recent years.

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笑点泪点燃点都有，一部优秀的剧，就是天启部分的谋略太弱智了。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。。

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Top tier wuxia drama

Just finish the drama

You have to watch each episode the story is about old generation story and grudges. Old generation really love to fight each other and stay on top somehow they forgot the old value of friendship and the reason why they want to be top tier in the martial worlds. The younger generation is more value the friendship they had they will fight but not at the point to kill their martial members. The younger generation story implicated by the old generation greed to become top tier on the martial world. but the plot really dont ever skip one episode or not you will not understand the story

There are to many martial member and clan until i forgot which clan this person on and it will get confused along the story.

Act i dont like tang lian need to die, at the beginning of the story he the one that strongest among all of them and the way he die really bring injustice. I really dont lei kid character he still clueless until the story end and the show only portray he the strongest among of all of them but he can be defeated only two major power which i confused who the main leas of the show

The main lead we will not how he gain he power back along the show he only powerful only 2-3 episode back and the rest of the episode only show the powerful is the Lei kid which i say i confuse who the main lead of the show.

Actually there are many loophole on this drama. They portray wuxin as the strongest among of them but he had only dew scena on this drama

I reallly like the martial scene all the techniques and all the sword techniques that has been shown on this drama its really satisfying but the downside why all the character dye their hair red which is so weird because the drama revolve in old time.

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I had to do a double-take when I watched the first few episodes. I thought it was Cheng Yi playing Xiao Se until I realized it wasn’t. (I don’t check the actor list before watching a drama). Anyway, though Cheng Yi remains a favorite, Li Hong Yi deserves praise for his portrayal for the cheeky and cunning Xiao Se, who is as removed from the Marial Arts world he used to dominate, as he is much embroiled with it because of his real identity.

Also, upping up their games are Liu Xue Yi as Wu Xin and Li Xin Ze as Tang Lian. I’ve seen both of them mostly in support roles, and I finally got to see them shining in their major roles. Not to be outdone, Ao Rui Peng easily portrays the happy-go-lucky Wu Jie, whose naivete is endearing. As for the two other female characters, unfortunately, I find them a little lacklustre. I do not know if it’s intentional or not, but these female characters seemed weaker than their male counterparts, and I am unsure if it’s due to the acting or the writing. Since Ruo Yi had a backstory of being a sickly child, it’s understandable that her martial arts prowess wasn’t as advanced as the others. But for a supposedly skilled fighter such as Si Kong Qian Luo, I am not sure why production forced a love line on her with Xiao Se, when there’s none to be found. They look more like a pair of siblings than a romantic couple. I don’t understand why production forced a love line on Si Kong Qian Luo and Xiao Se when there is no chemistry between them. Removing it would not impact the plot.

The rest of the characters were multi-dimensional and well-portrayed. There’s an abundance of personalities to keep the side-quests intriguing. The main plot itself is rich and intricate, without being too convoluted. I enjoyed the backstories, especially those of the martial art masters and immortal deities who predated the younger generation.

Speaking of the young ones, I admire the camaraderie among the group, especially the unusual bond between Xiao Se and Wu Xin. They are total opposites of each other, in terms of personality, upbringing and identity, and yet they are very in tune with each other’s thoughts and motivation. They may disagree sometimes, but they have the utmost respect for each other. Also along their journey, the team built a bond of trust where they can rely on each other to do their own parts. And it is their journey that I found entertaining, and it’s all kudos to the scriptwriters and the production crew. Also to be commended are the expertly choreographed fights, the carefully-thought-out strategies, the intricate costumes made by the production company.

Overall, this is such a great watch, even if they didn’t incorporate romantic elements. It was so hard for me to even decide where to put this in my top 20 list as China has been producing a lot of amazing Wuxia/Xanxia in the last five years but this one is certainly in my top 5 Historical Chinese dramas (as of this writing).

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wuxin is so fine

i started watching this on a saturday and finished it just now. it only took me 3/4 days because i was literally binging. i found out about this drama from a tiktok. the comments section said that this drama reminded them of the untamed and word of honor. now those two dramas are definitely in my top5 of all time. both of those are based of a danmei novel and turned into a bromance drama due to censorship. since i saw that the blood of youth reminded them of those two, i thought it was also a bromance - so i proceeded to watch it. at first, i thought leiwujie and xiaose would be the "couple" then wuxin came and i thought him and xiaose would be the "couple." (i know wuxin is a monk idk why i thought that) later on, leiwujie started liking the general's daughter (i forget names easly). tanglian and wujie also started shipping xiaose with sikong girl. thats when i realized it wasnt a bromance drama. honestly i felt kinda disappointed and betrayed. i usually dont watch shows with straight romance but i was too invested in the story to stop watching. the storyline didnt disappoint. most of the acting is done well, some of the scenes/acting were a bit... childish/cringe. I also expected more scenes of wuxin since he's one of the main characters.. after he left for i forgot where, his scenes were so short and sometimes he wouldnt appear for a whole episode or two. since hes my favorite character, that kinda threw me off. towards ep 25-30, i thought wuxin would get a lot more scenes when he comes back.. but i was wrong. because of that, i took off 1.5 stars on my rewatch rating. it still deserves to be watched, but i personally wouldnt rewatch it. if there were more scenes of wuxin, the rewatch value would def be higher. the special effects were good.. there are definitely better though. overall a decent drama.

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Per chi piace l'avventura, questo drama è spettacolare!

Guardando questo drama, la prima cosa che viene da dire è "Marvel spostati"! Mai visti tanti poteri eccezionali come in questo drama! Una storia di spada e di misticismo, di fratellanza e valori morali. C'è il cattivo di turno, è ovvio, ci sono i traditori, senza i quali il drama non sarebbe cosi coinvolgente.
Un cast molto numeroso, locations molto belle, costumi pazzeschi, cosi come il trucco e le ambientazioni.
Gli attori sono stati tutti all'altezza, ognuno ha molto ben caratterizzato il proprio personaggio, dall'enigmatico e ombroso oltre che astutissimo ed intelligente protagonista, il Sesto Principe, al coraggioso e leale Lei Wu Jie, un ragazzo dotato di grande volontà e moltissima simpatia, al filosofico e potente monaco Wu Xin, il quale evidenzia la contraddizione fra l'essere un monaco ma stare a capo di una setta demoniaca.
Per fortuna non ci sono le solite storie d'amore che mettono i bastoni fra le ruote, anche se le accoppiate ci sono, e quella fra Xiao Se, il Sesto Principe e Sikong Qian Luo non è assolutamente convincente. C'è ammirazione da parte di lei, simpatia da parte di lui, tutto lì, insomma di amore qui non se ne vede neanche l'ombra, ma meglio cosi, avrebbe potuto essere di intralcio ad una storia cosi articolata.
MI è piaciuto molto l'Imperatore, eccellente l'attore che lo ha impersonato. Nell'ultima puntata prima di morire, è cosi spontaneo, cosi calato nella parte, che commuove.
Il finale è stato molto soddisfacente, non ha lasciato cose a metà.
Sarebbe stato bello vedere di più Wu Xin, il quale inizialmente, pensavo fosse lui il protagonista.
Non mi sono piaciute le musiche, con voci stridenti e fastidiose.
Un drama che lascia con il sorriso sulle labbra e fa star bene, 40 puntate che sono volate.
Un grandissimo grazie al team di traduttori italiano!

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