The Best Wuxia Drama of 2022
For me personally i really like this drama because i watched i think 2 episodes of the great journey of young teenager (the donghua version of Blood of Youth) i hope i got the name of the donghua version of this drama correct but anyways back to what i was trying to say is that this drama is too perfect its too perfect so if you're someone here scrolling through reviews with doubts on whether to watch the show or not... watch the show you will not be disappointed ..One thing that stands out the most that people talk about is the production and story lineof the drama but for me its the cast . The cast has played their role so well that after finishing an episode you're tempted to watch the next episode it's crazy.
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Wuxia As It Should Be
The Blood of Youth is what live action anime/manga adaptations should be. Sure, it has its flaws and I have some gripes here and there, but it is still one of the best fantasy series I've seen, full stop. The story revolves around a young disgraced prince who was exiled and had lost his martial arts abilities, and his pursuit of the truth and justice. Along the way, he meets like-minded people and together they become celebrated heroes as they uncover a sinister plot that could very well destroy their world. It might seem tropey and simplistic enough but the political machinations and chess-like games the characters play are reminiscent of dramas like Shogun and even Game of Thrones, making it far more complicated than you think it actually is. The fantasy elements in this drama are what really drew me in from the get-go. The setting, the martial prowess of the characters, their magical weapons, and powerful inner forces reminded me so much of anime series like Gensomaden Saiyuki, Bleach, and even Fushigi Yugi. The swords that have consciousness of their own, especially, made me think of the zanpakutou of the shinigami in Bleach. In fact, one particular sword technique looked very much like Byakuya's Senbonzakura to me. If you're an anime fan like me, you would definitely appreciate this aspect of the drama.I'm glad that the Chinese have at least given me a truly enjoyable series akin to the shonen anime I so love watching. As I've said, it is not a perfect series objectively speaking. The length of this drama is one of its strengths but also its main weakness. Because it spans 40 episodes, the writers had enough time to build this rich pugilistic world of warriors with incredible powers, and flesh out its multi-layered characters. But it's also because of its length that the narrative seems to have lost its way somewhere in the middle with story arcs becoming convoluted and the previous buildup being ruined, resulting in some pivotal events feeling unearned. Some of the characters are forgotten and some are pushed into the limelight for no logical reason, while some supposedly important characters are introduced only halfway through the series with minimal to zero character development, making them a lot less significant and endearing. And then there's the underdeveloped romance. But as far as the writing is concerned, those are my only real complaints. The rest I can forgive.
One of the highlights of this series is the stunning aesthetics and cinematography. I immediately fell in love with the design of Snowfall Villa, Xiao Se's inn in the middle of a snowy countryside. The cinematography has a surreal and fairy tale-esque look to it that I can't help but want to live in that world. The visual effects could've used a little more polishing but they are more than sufficient for a drama series of this scale. I was actually surprised they were able to make it look that good! The costumes are a tad bit too colorful for my taste at times but I suppose the style suits the world of bold and adventurous youths. The fight choreography is superb! It's not as poetically beautiful as the one in Word of Honor or stylistically cool as Mysterious Lotus Casebook's, but they did remarkably well with the action scenes in this drama. Kudos to the actors who worked their butt off to make the scenes believable and aesthetically pleasing. The music is one of the best parts of this drama. The song Wind by Yu Zhao Yuan is quite possibly the best theme I've heard in a C-drama. But I'm probably biased because it's a pop rock track, which is relatively uncommon in C-dramas and more my cup of tea.
The characters, for the most part, are so well-written that at some point, you start to think of them as your friends and you become attached to them, growing fearful that some of them may not come out of their battles unscathed. That's how endearing they become as the series progresses. But I do have some beefs here and there, and it mostly concerns one female character that I wished wasn't part of this story at all. Ji Xie is a far more interesting character and yet she barely gets any screen time let alone character development. What a waste! I also wished they didn't do some of the characters dirty. Tang Lian and Wuxin are my favorites apart from Lei Wujie so to have them sidelined was gravely disappointing. There's a season 2 so perhaps these characters will get their due respect.
Overall, this is one very well made drama that deserves praise and certainly could use a sequel or sequels in the near future. It is based on a series of novels so they do have a wealth of material to work with. A season 2 is already being planned and it has a prequel series featuring the older generation of heroes like Baili Dong Jun.
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What's not to like?
I really enjoyed this excellent production -yes, some of the other reviewers had some valid criticisms but these had little impact on the overall quality. Excellent cast, fascinating journey in first half, admittedly a little more repetitive in second half, but refreshingly free of std palace harem machinations, focusing more on the dynamics between the friends, and different people in the martial arts world. Strong plot mystery which holds its suspense till the end - not who's the baddy?, but what choices will ML make?Well-designed sets & costuming, also Good script (at least in English subs that I rely on). Only niggle is Wuxin receding too much in background towards the end. Maybe another season with him as main protagonist?
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A Freaking Amazing C-Drama
I thought The Blood Of Youth drama was freaking amazing. It was such a remarkable drama. Everything from the plot, score(music), costumes, crisp production quality, and special effects was fantastic. The storyline was intriguing. The costumes were unique, polished, and refined. The special effects were pretty breathtaking.The acting performances were above and beyond. The acting performances blew me away. The actors acting was so compelling and enthralling. The main protagonists were amiable even though they were pretty arrogant at times. Out of all the main protagonists, Xiao Se is my favorite. He was a complex character but also charming and personable.
I don't have any complaints about the drama. As I previously said, the drama was freaking amazing. Every episode hooked me like a fish if you know what I mean. And this is all I have to say about the drama.
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Fan of wuxia genre? A must watch!
One of the best wuxia dramas in recent years. If you are a fan of wuxia, this is legit! It has many of the wuxia tropes; sects, court politics, secret arts, assassin's guide, youths who dream of justice and adventures, and especially; ranking and ranking of swords!! You can sing the national anthem of ‘Dugu Qiubai’ here lol. They certainly did not cheap out on the production nor the choreography, because it was just simply so beautiful. You can tell they spent ALOT of time on it. I saw the directors and checked some of their past works, now I understand why the choreography and sequences are so well filmed, I love some of their past works!The sword names, fighting, and even the details for all of it…hollyyyy crappp, this is wuxia’s fan wetdream. I'm really glad I didn’t watch it when it first came out, because I woulda gone crazy waiting for it. But now, I can binge it. You have to trust me, if you really love wuxia and appreciate great fight choreography and sequences, this show is a must!
Also, Li Hong Yi should really try out for ventriloquist, because for the whole freaking drama the biggest I see his mouth move is to this extent *o* it is like he talks in all lower cases I swear. If you take a shot for any time you can see his set of upper teeth, you can only be drunk after rewatching the whole drama 3 times. Lmaoo
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This review may contain spoilers
An Exciting but Mysterious Drama
This Wuxia drama is one of the best I've seen in a while! Going into this show, I didn't have high expectations and only knew Li Hongyi (Xiao Se) and Ao Ruipeng (Lei Wujie). However, I am truly impressed by the production and acting of this drama. From an encounter with a young swordsman, who would've known that Xiao Se was going to end up where he did?The story starts when Lei Wujie, a young swordsman from the Lei Clan with dreams of becoming a sword deity, ends up destroying a inn while helping the rich innkeeper, Xiao Se, get rid of a few bandits. After seeing his beloved inn being torn up, Xiao Se ends up traveling with Lei Wujie to XueYue City, where he will collect his compensation. On the journey, they meet Wu Xin, a highly skilled monk, and Tang Lian, Tang Clan and XueYue City's best disciple. The duo soon will meet many other talents including the mischievous Sikong Qianluo, the calculated Ye Ruoyi, the talented young divine healer Hua Jin, the young sword deity Wu Shuang, etc.
Overall, the story was very interesting, although it was quite confusing to understand at times. The special effects were very cool and creative, every character had their own touch and style of martial arts. We were able to see character development from each character throughout this drama. Personally, my favorite character was Xiao Se. A smart, mysterious young man who was always another step ahead of everyone else, Xiao Se kept many secrets about his true identity. It was clear that he cared a lot for his friends, even though he wouldn't show his affection physically.
The actors and actresses themselves portrayed their characters very well. The costumes and styling of this drama were spectacular, each outfit matched each character's aura and style. My only complaint is that the romantic aspects of this drama were lacking. Many of the characters did not have great chemistry, although it was clear that they were pretty close behind the camera. Despite this, there were a selected few relationships that were well depicted, one of them being Li Hanyi and Zhao Yuzhen's story.
Each character on the screen was there because they had a purpose. I do like how the production crew left out characters that were not necessary at the moment. However, there were characters that I would have liked to see more of, especially Wu Xin, who got a small amount of screen time for a main lead. After his return to TianWaiTian, he only appeared a couple of times again.
There is not much to say about the music in this drama. It is typical Wuxia music. The songs were good and enhanced some scenes.
Overall, it was a beautiful drama that portrayed the JiangHu well. Definitely would recommend it to others who want to watch a drama that includes a lot of brotherhood and teamwork.
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the bestest wuxia drama out there!
This one of my favourite and the most awed wuxia drama ever, I never could stick to a historical drama plot for longer but this drama... there wasn't a single episode that didn't make me clench my fists in anticipation of the next. Every single episode is packed with so much thrill, new plot twists and the acting, was just spectacular.I love this story so much maybe cause the donghua was one of my favourite and I've also read the novel cause I couldn't wait anymore and wanted to know how the story progressed. and this live-action truly made the novel justice..I can't believe how truly amazing this series it, now I wish I could watch it all over again.
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Wuxia that borderlines on Xianxia; Superb!
I used to watch Wuxia movies before when I was young but as I grow old my orientation to details just can't get past the failures in the props or dragging story.But was I surprised by this series! The costumes, make up, martial arts, and the use of CGI was almost perfect!
And the story connects from start to finnish. As well as the main drive of the main protagonist.
The political battle was also worth it.
And the ending, God, I love the ending! The wit is still there. It doesn't pretend that to be best or greatest you have to be the God of the Universe or something like that. It's about choice! That's why I love the main MC.
I don't know how much is the budget for this series but it was so well done.
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This is one of the best wuxia dramas I’ve watched.
I loved the plot ,storyline and how it started to make sense . I love how everyone grew physically ,emotionally and also in their abilities . I loved it when I saw some of the cast members from other dramas like word of honor etc. The romance didn’t dampen the story and every episode has something going on .We are introduced to each character whenever they feature . There’s the friendship between the group of friends and that even gets stronger when they become guardians protecting Xiao Se(ie the 6th exiled prince). They were willing to die for him and he was also willing to die for them . At some point ,it gave me word of honor feelings and nirvana in fire feelings especially since Xiao Se lost his martial abilities ( if he used his inner or true qi,it will cost him his life) but he still takes the risk for his friends .
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Excellent Action Scenes complimented by creative use of CGI + Good Pacing
“The Blood of Youth” is an enjoyable watch for it. It has great elements of a Chinese historical drama - good bromance, excellent CGI to complement great fight scenes, an engaging plot with good pacing, and a palace politics plot that doesn’t bore me to death. It’s no wonder it receives such high praises and has a MDL rating of 8.8 at the moment.Comedy - I was initially skeptical as I worried the comedy would not be to my liking. Fortunately, comedic moments were sprinkled throughout the drama and not over-the-top. Thanks to Lei Wu Jie’s innocent and carefree personality and Monk Wu Xin’s sarcasm and arrogance, they brought a lot of fun and lightheartedness to the drama. I actually miss Wu Xin in the second half of the drama when the drama switches to a more political plot. There isn’t enough Wu Xin in this drama!
Fight Scenes - Since this is not a high budget S+ production, this drama is using its money wisely. The best part about “The Blood of Youth” to me is the amazing fight scenes, complemented by some creative use of CGI and fireworks. This might not be a true wuxia drama like “Side Story of Fox Volant”, but I am impressed with the fast-moving sword fights. My pet peeve is slow-motion, twirling scenes, and luckily, we don’t have those in this drama. The wire work by all actors is pretty good, and there's a lot! Most of the action scenes are concentrated in the first half of the drama, and I have to say, I miss the action in the second half until we get to ep 38’s grand finale. However, the CGI for non-fight scenes are lacking. There are a few scenes that were so low quality that I wondered if I was watching the same drama.
Acting - Acting is decent. The veteran actors are great and the younger generation did an ok good job. I do think Li Hong Yi lacks charisma to be the lead. His spoken lines not matching the dubbing bugged the heck out of me for the longest time. It seems like he's mumbling all the time. His acting and line delivery got better in the later episodes but they did dampen my excitement in the first 5 episodes or so. It doesn’t help that for the most part, he was just standing there providing commentary and character background introductions in these early episodes. It also took me a few episodes to get used to Ao Rui Peng’s portrayal of the young and naive Lei Wu Jie. But then, his acting and character grew on me and I ended up liking him quite a bit. I bet Wu Xin is everyone’s favorite character and he’s mine as well. I can’t get enough of his sassiness, even though Liu Xue Yi definitely doesn’t look like a teenager.
Characters - This drama has a very huge cast. I actually think the drama introduced too many characters in the first couple episodes. It was hard to remember everyone’s names, titles, weapons and weapons names, and the different sects. Even though you will see the same 10 or so characters consistently, introducing so many in the beginning is confusing. It’s also nice to see some very strong female characters. It’s about time we see more strong ladies who are smart, brave and can fight. They might not play as big a role as their male counterparts, but at least they are not damsels in distress.
Bromance - The bromance in this drama is definitely a lot better than romance. It was fun when Xiao Se, Wu Xin, Lei Wu Jie and Tang Lian were all together. I love their interactions and bickering, and supporting each other in the first half of the drama. Unfortunately, scenes of them together dwindled in the second half. But then we see more of Xiao Se and his brother Prince Bai. I wish the drama had more scenes of them together and show us more of their frenemies brotherhood.
Romance - They are all underwhelming. There is no chemistry between Xiao Se and Sikong Qian Luo. I understand Xiao Se is more reserved and has bigger plans, but showing more hints of an attraction would be appreciated. Lei Wu Jie and Ye Ruo Yi’s romance is a little better and cuter, but not by much. I am most interested in finding out how Tan Lian and Fairy Lady Rui met and how they fall for each other, but their screen time is limited. The more developed romance might be the one between the two Sword Deities, Li Han Yi and Zhao Yu Zhen. If you are looking for romance in this drama, you will be very disappointed.
Other Random Observations:
1. I was VERY sad when a certain character/guardian died so soon. 🙁
2. OST is ok, nothing impressive.
3. I like the costumes and they don’t appear cheap. They just seem very thickly layered but it also appears to be quite cold.
4. The end of the villain seems a little anticlimactic.
5. I do not like the dubbing in this drama at all. I am disappointed that most of the actors are dubbed.
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A wonderful surprise
Incredibly consistent and engaging. It is a webnovel adaptation so it has a Donghua like vibe to it mostly due to it putting a lot of emphasis on the well choreographed action. If you like shounen anime then this will be a perfect fit for you. It's almost perfect… I can't really think of anything that could make it better than it already is.Warning! There are only really dashes of romance. It mostly focuses on action and politics…. So if you're looking for a romance heavy story then this might not be for you.
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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 chemistryWas this review helpful to you?
