Dashing Youth

A Friendship That Fought Against Fate

Baili Dongjun was the kind of person everyone admired—dasing, free-spirited, fearless, and full of life. He had talent, charm, and a heart big enough to carry the world. But what made him truly remarkable wasn’t just his skill with a sword or his unshakable confidence—it was his loyalty. And no one tested that loyalty more than Ye Dingzhi.

Ye Dingzhi was his best friend, his brother in everything but blood. But fate wasn’t kind to him. He was pushed down a path of no return, turned into something terrifying, something that cost countless lives. And yet, no matter how far Dingzhi fell, Baili Dongjun never stopped trying to save him. He fought the world, defied reason, and risked everything because he believed in his friend.

But belief alone can’t erase the weight of bloodshed. Dingzhi had killed too many, and someone had to answer for it. No matter how much Baili Dongjun tried, no matter how hard he fought, some things couldn’t be undone. That’s the cruel reality of life—you can love someone with all your heart, but you can’t always save them.

And none of this would have hit so hard if it weren’t for Neo Hou’s incredible performance as Baili Dongjun. He didn’t just act—he lived the role. His charm, his energy, and the raw emotion he brought to the screen made Baili Dongjun feel real. Every moment of pain, every spark of joy, every desperate attempt to save Ye Dingzhi felt genuine. It’s no exaggeration to say that Neo Hou was born for this role. He captured Baili Dongjun’s dashing heroism and heartbreaking struggles so perfectly that it’s impossible to imagine anyone else doing it better.

As a huge fan of Neo Hou, watching him bring Baili Dongjun to life was an unforgettable experience. His performance made the story hit even deeper, making every victory sweeter and every loss more painful. This wasn’t just another wuxia drama—it was a masterpiece, and Neo Hou was at the heart of it.

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Adventures. friendship, love, magic, betrayal, bad guys and swordplay , beautifully done.

I am rewatching Dashing Youth now. It is truly an adventure. Some of the scenes, like the liquor contest are outstanding and unforgettable. Hou Minghau is the perfect teenage brew master, sure of himself and well raised to be kind and loyal. He ventures out to be famous and discovers his multiple talents along the way. It is very inspiring and like real life in that aspect, because as we enter the adult world, our inner world expands greatly, exposing traits we never dreamed. Minghau's childhood friend's story is the lesson of obsessions which plague some of us throughout life, especially in romance, and lead to lifelong scarring. Thankfully, most survive wiser. Some don't.
In rewatching, I'm able to catch little things I missed the first time, and re-experience the adventures.

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We are all stories in the end...

Great series! Came late to the scene by a couple years and kind of annoyed with myself for waiting so long to watch this because of a couple negative reviews. Yea, there will always be something that annoys the hell out of you... looking at you, Wenjun!.. However, aside from wanting to knock some sense in a few and respect in others..(and stop a certain disgusting drugging). It was a great series. I can truly appreciate the intricate world created and the many tales woven to make the main story whole. You quickly have your favorites and your own personal hit-list and before you know it 40 episodes are done and you are sad to say farewell to the truly "good ones" but we are all stories in the end... So, make it a good one, yea?

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what a journey!!

The humour: it worked for me, it’s hard for me to pinpoint what makes the humour work for me and what not, but it just feels like the characters are having fun and not that the humour is written for the audience. It did fade a bit as the story got heavier, but it din’t disappear.

The cast density: soooo many characters, and I love most of them, they all matter! (Let’s also mention the amount of good looking characters). I loved the eight disciples, they have different principles, different temperaments, different ways of standing upright in the world. Master Li collected different people with conviction not power. But besides the eight disciples, there were still so many interesting characters, Dongjun’s family for one, so fun - and explains his interesting character.

Of course, baili Dong Jun - the emotional spine. The joy of watching him grow over more than a decade without rushing it. I usually dislike time jumps, they break the immersion for me, but it worked well in this story about youth.

The friendship triangle, I loved their loyalty without conditions. Neither of them abandoned their friends. There is this one line “he didn’t blame you. but I do” - I loved his honesty and the pain that this was. Ah honestly the friendships baili Dong Jun had and the things that happened made me cry quite a bit of times.

Now the romance: at first I was bothered by the lack of chemistry but I stopped caring. For me, this drama shows that love is just part of life, I didn’t need to see the chemistry of reasons why they fell in love, however saying that, love is not just a part of life, this show cleary shows also how love moves the world… there was this part where Yue Yao and Wen Jun where complementing each other on how beautiful they were and Ji ruofeng said “the kind that… brings disaster to the country”.

I loved this journey. I loved the failures. This story doesn’t always compensate you with a victory for the protagonist, but that was just a part of their youth and how they get shaped into their protagonist roles haha.

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A Friendship That Fought Against Fate/ A journey of Growing

Two people with same starting point and aspirations. In the avenue of rose, one walked the path adorned with petals and other walked the path of thorns.The hunger for power and throne of the adults changed the destinies of their innocence. Yet the childhood promise made back then held their strings of fate together. But what is predestined cannot be predicted. No one knows how circumstances can change the choices they promised on, to the choices they made.
Also, I enjoyed the master-disciple interactions. The dynamics were fun to watch !

Baili Dong Jun's character was well-written, a responsible spoiled brat with an unhealthy amount of love for liquor and a soft heart for the people he cares about. I particularly enjoyed his interactions with his father. His friendship with Ye Dhing Zhi and their story were the highlight of the drama for me.

Ye Dhing Zhi's character evoked mixed feelings, it made me both sad and mad. Sad because he didn't deserve such harshness, and frustrated and mad due to the choices he made that led him to his predicament. The journey from Ye Yun to Ye Dhing Zhi was tough!

The fight scenes were great and I did enjoy everyone's arch. I love that they all grew up to be mature martial artists.

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Underrated Drama

Story

It was awesome and smooth. I only skipped romantic parts about Wen Jun. Baili and his fam , Ye Ding Zhe , Master Li , Lei Mengsha and his laugh , Sikong Chenfeng and other martial artists were great to watch. I laughed , cried , got angry and felt proud while I was following their story.



Acting

They all were superb.

Music

I have already added to my fav list.

Rewatch Value

It was nice to catch Bali Dong Jun’s side and it was painful to watch all things Ye Ding Zhe had and him turning into an evil. For the friendship , family bond , the fighting with passion they have , it is definitely watchable.

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topped the list

I loved the drama! to be honest I liked it more than I liked blood of youth. this drama had a strikingly fine balance of everything and the fight scenes..the special effects..the colours.!!! also what an ensemble....the cast was great too! a good plot with entertaining characters. Despite knowing the bittersweet ending that awaited me , I blew through the 40 episodes. They indeed had a 'dashing youth' and as viewer you would wish same as their master for these disciples to lead carefree, happy lives in martial world. unfortunately, much like previous generation they too can't break away from clutches of noble cities and wicked royal family (roufeng is the exception and not the norm ). baili donjun was a great protagonist, and ye dingzi was a sweet soul who deserved better. two platonic soulmates.

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Better Than Expected.

Dashing Youth is a prequel of The Blood of Youth, which I personally became interested before. Some might say that it's better if you watch this first before TBOY, I agree, it's literally the start of everything. But also, I understand those whose glad that they watched TBOY first before this one, it's like a throwback in everything that happened in TBOY and an answer in why things that happened in TBOY, happened. But in my case, luckily, I haven't finished watching TBOY when I discovered Dashing Youth, because for me, it's better to start from where all things have happened.Sadly, I already knew that Ye Dingzhi died because it was already told in TBOY, that's entering this series was a bit of a road for me knowing that I will truly root for his character. 

With the casting being one of the most beautiful line of actors is a plus points for me. I love how the Eight Young Masters of Beili have their own distinct classifications and power that make them unique from each other. I love Xiao Ruofeng so much, his vibe at first was a bit off for me, but once this man smiled, I knew he is a good man, like what the people around him always tell him, he's too kind and nice. Neo Hou is very good at playing as Baili Dongjun, from the first time I watched him, he definitely improved in his acting. But I want to give my full applause to He Yu, he gave Ye Dingzhi justice. I root for his character, even though I question his decisions sometimes. I just hope that Xia Zhiguang's Sikong Changfeng was given more screen time, but overall, he's character was engaging and his chemistry with Baili Dongjun is amazing.  The overall set up of this serie are good, CGI is always on-point. But I kinda hate some aspects about the obvious green/blue screen. Like I know they can make it better when it comes to the editing. Also, its a bit disappointing because I feel like all the fight scenes of this show mostly relies on CGI, like we don't get to see more of the moves of our characters. But overall, it worked so good one on that part. 

But here's one thing that was a huge let down of this series; the love line, the romance. To be honest, I am really not a huge fan of romance inclined series, especially when it comes to hanfu/wuxia dramas like this that focuses on roaming around martial arts world. Some series made it work, like there is a hint of romance, yet it doesn't overpower the real purpose of the show. But this one is not the case. The romance made it all worst, especially in Ye Dingzhi's case. Come to think of it, you're one of the strongest the martial arts world can have, but your life will be a wasted because of a lady who doesn't even know how to fight for herself. Imagine, everything was because of you? It honestly pisses the hell out of me. I moved or skipped a lot of times because of how some ladies in this show doesn't make any sense, at all. Only Lei Mengsha's wife and Baili Dongjun's lover have, somehow, a purpose here as a lady of a man. The rest, just ruined it, for me. 

The ending. The ending is perfect for me, esp when you haven't watched TBOY, it's a good opening for everything. Some may say that it's an open ending but for me, it's perfect. Even though I am sad about Ye Dingzhi's death, his death represents a lot of aspects. 

Overall, this series is good. Not the best but definitely not the worst. Still lacks in a lot of aspects, and as someone who watched a lot of hanfu/wuxia drama, this is a mediocre one. A good watch, still.

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Beyond hope...

honestly in the beginning when i was around ep 20 i wanted to title my review are 'TALE OF FRIENDSHIP AND YOUTH' ...
then i wanted to change it to "A NARUTO TO EVERY HOPELESS AND LOST SASUKE" .. but in the end i chose the one i have written 👆☝️ .. why ? even though the hypocrisy shown in this story was ironically real but why they wasted viewers time with heavy moral poetic dialogue commentary ...
anyways lets dive deep into the whole thing:

things about the drama that were good :

1) Immensely talented cast : a long list of names and almost all good looking faces .. for a fact that they introduced on an average 3-4 new characters in every new episode made it difficult to keep a track of their names. but as far as the core cast is consider .. every actor is talented and good pick for their role, all of the delivered a REFINED performance.

2) breath taking VFX and cinematography : i was actually following this shows BTS on Hou MingHau's and other actors weibo account at the time of its shooting , there were videos of them performing action sequences using wires/ropes in front of the green screens .. now while watching the finished result .. i was shocked to see how realistic everything looked .. from dragon avatars to peach blossom petal dance ... everything was so clean and life like. funtastic editing .. camera placements and movements.

3) stunning outfits and impeccable styling : though the attire themed ancient but the detailing with embroidery and accessory gave them timeless look.

4) captivating background music : the OSt was the best .. there was a beautiful soft romantic song by Hou MH himself .overall the music of this drama was impressive.

5) friendship was the main theme while romance added depth to it.

6) chemistry between the leads was unique then the regular ones .. it wasnt passionate or born out of chaos , but peaceful and calmly understanding between the partners.

now lets talk about main character:

1) Baili dongjun: carefree (not careless) boy from family of duke/nobles wanted to become liquor expert (deity) but in his path of doing so he gets tangled in some affairs and end up becoming martial artist instead. this type of characters are liked by us all ... he is kind .. funny ..down to earth .. loyal friend .. loyal lover ... there for you whenever you need him kind of person. his character matures as the series flows to the climax he becomes more serious and responsible person keeping his principles,kindness and morals intact. Hou minghao did great justice to this role and why not ? his actually aura dissipates all these qualities.❤️❤️❤️❤️

2) yue yao: at first i found this character extremely boring but as she joins the academy entrance test she changes into a fun character ... and as her relationship with the ML depends we see her becoming more charming ..graceful .. and what can i say i slowly fall in love with her .. ~ in the last episode when she said she will support BDJ's decision of following yun Ye irrespective of the consequences ..oh my god !! chef's kiss .. thats how FL should be fearless and daring to take a stand with ML. the actress playing the role is cute .. her acting was also good❤️

3) Yun ye: the most unfortunate hero (another sasuke) .. THOUGH SASUKE NEVER GAVE TWO FUCKS ABOUT SAKURA ..but anyways ... this character teaches us the following lesson :
A) dont skip your exam for a woman specially when she is a prince's keep.
B) dont invite the prince consort inside your hut even if she comes to your door ..and definitely dont create babies with her.
C) dont start a war with the country when your own woman doesnt listen and leaves to her ex husband place behind your back.
D) definitely dont start a war for heartless woman who will go back to her another option after your death.

4) prince roufeng : this man was moving pile of horseshit ..viewers might have mixed opinion about this character but as for me i hated him to core ... there is this one thing to summarize " evil done for good cause is good ..but good done for evil cause is bigger EVIL" he was the main villain in my opinion cause he claimed to save the people's good while he cant even save a mere woman from his rapist brother ... the so called war that he thought he can ignore still fought a lot of blood was shed ..why because this human trash thought he is living buddha and whatever the hell he suggests is best for the humankind .. my ass .. the actor playing it did great job he delivered the hypocrisy realistically.

5) master li : all i feel for this character was 'respect' .. i actually thought i am one of his disciples❤️ ..both actor for the role were amazing

6) prince/king roujin : third class pathetic .. weak villain with cheap character ...and miraculously he was saved and the poor hero was killed ..

i dont like such third class stories which start like some Buddha manuscripts and end into somethings something more disgusting than a bangladeshi porn ... with all those musical poetic cringe worthy dialogue on righteousness and whatnot we get this crap- climax ... HUH! THANK YOU! NEXT ...

REWATCHING VALUE IS MINUS 10 (there were no star for that)

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It’s like a teen movie, just set in ancient costumes.

In this world, there are no sports or cheerleading teams; instead, martial arts sects serve as the sports teams, which is quite fun. There’s a sweet, youthful romance building in the background, and both the male and female leads are beautiful and lovely. It’s a bit of a shame that there are so many characters it gets a little dizzying. After looking into and trying all three series in the same universe, I found that Dashing Youth is the most enjoyable. The overall tone is bright, and the storytelling is well-paced.

Spoiler alert!
The storytelling isn't very concise. Given the 40-episode length, they could have covered much more content, especially since there are still many unresolved plotlines—such as the story of Baili Dongjun and Yue Yao, who ultimately didn't end up getting married. I guess they didn't know how to wrap everything up, so they just ended it like this for now.

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Act from your heart

I want to preface by saying that I came to this drama without any knowledge of the novels or the sequel, TBOY. This drama illustrates the main message of acting from/following your heart, and we see that through BLDJ's journey. Here is a summary of my thoughts.

The highlights:
- Amazing CGI effects (this must've been a high budget series), great aesthetics, and enough eye candies to keep you distracted
- The OSTs are probably one of my favourite things about this series, I've literally had them on repeat (nice to know that one was a solo track by Neo Hou and another by 5 of the main cast)
- The bromance and friendship between BLDJ and YDZ was just so touching and the anchor of the show. It was beautiful because their bond never faded even with time and distance. BLDJ was the one person who trusted and believed in YDZ until the very end (even when YDZ's love of his life, YWJ, didn't have enough faith in him and their relationship). It was tragic because you always think of what could've been if YDZ never lost his family and the two friends could grow up together
- The bromance between BLDJ and all of his seniors and SKCF was also great - their quirks and antics kept me going. I wish they fleshed out some of the characters more and their background story. I would totally enjoy side stories for each of them. I didn't have a hard time remembering all of them (there were SO many characters in this series) because they all had their own unique traits.
- I think everyone can agree that BLDJ's shifu NGCS is a fan favourite for a good reason - loved him. I can see the actor getting many love calls after this series
- The last 10 eps with the more engaging events of political strife and buildup

The lows
- As good as the CGI effects were, they were also overkill. Considering that this is supposed to be a wuxia series where the everyone is constantly emphasizing their passion for martial arts in almost every episode, the action scenes fell flat. There were barely any scenes with actual martial arts choreography. It was 95% talk and most scenes would end before they could even begin. The way they would name their moves was very cheesy at times.
- The timelines and convoluted series of events
- The romance. I didn't feel any sparks for the main couples - even between BLDJ and YY (who had more scenes together compared to YDZ and YWJ) felt lukewarm. They could've done without the romance or even glossed over it since there was a lack of foundation and proper development (especially between YDZ and YWJ).
- The female leads. I like YY's character and the actress conveyed her elegance very well, but I question the importance of her role. White YWJ was a plot device/catalyst of the main events, YY was diminished to just being BLDJ's companion for majority of the series

Overall, the drama would have done better if they had fleshed out some of the main characters, relationships and main events more. If you don't focus too much on the details, you can still enjoy the series.

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