Dashing Youth

The story starts strong with a classic underdog narrative where the main character works hard to rise in a highly competitive environment, which keeps things exciting in the beginning. Dashing Youth incorporates a nice balance between humor and serious moments. However, as with many historical dramas, there are moments when the plot can feel a bit slow or repetitive, especially when the conflict revolves around political or family-related issues. For some viewers, these sections might be a bit too predictable, especially if they are familiar with the genre.

The chemistry between the leads is another highlight, with their relationship slowly developing into a romantic subplot. The female lead’s character is intelligent, confident, and a good foil to the male lead’s more naive but determined nature. Their dynamic evolves from a competitive relationship into mutual respect, which is satisfying for viewers looking for a bit of growth before romance.

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Loved It, Outstanding Visual Effects & Martial Arts

A Martial Arts story with a little bit of politics in it. It has a nice balance of both martial arts & politics. The fighting scenes were so impressive. The only drama which fighting scenes I love is "My Journey to You" after that, this dramas fighting scenes I love. It has martial arts with VFX. And VFX is top-notch.

If anyone want to watch Dashing Youth & The Blood of Youth both. I suggest to watch Dashing Youth first. Because in The Blood of Youth you'll get to know the story of Dashing Youth so it's better to watch this one first.

Baili Dong Jun is a lazy spoiled brat but has a goal to become a Liquor Deity. He is extra ordinarily talented & powerful. Sometimes he is a fool sometime he is the most mature person. He is righteousness. Love Hou Ming Hao acting.

Li Chang Sheng & Nangong Chun Shui characters a lot. Both the actors, Zhang Chen Xiao & Qiu Xin Zhi played the roles so marvelously. They portrayed the same character with the same personality but give their own touch to it. I was shocked to hear Li Chang Sheng's story. I'm sad that he won't be in the sequel.

Loved the opening sword technique of Gu Jian Men.

The 1st ep impressed me so much that my expectations for the rest of the episodes became high, especially the fight between Su Mu Yu & Gu Jian Men.

Lei Meng Sha is a chatterbox. Always saying something nonsense. And his laugh is also peculiar. But I like his character.

I was excited to know what would happen or what Baili Dong Jun & Sikong Chang Feng plan to do at Gu Jian Men's wedding.

Laughed how Lei Meng Sha reacted when he got to know Baili Dong Jun real identity.

Wen Hu Jiu asked Sikong Chang Feng why he wasn't unconscious, yet? His reply, almost there & fainting instantly, was hilarious.

Wen Hu Jiu keeps poisonous snakes as his pets in his pocket & his way of saving Sikong Chang Feng is funny & unique as well.

Love Baili Dong Jun & his father bickering.

Laughed how Baili Dong Jun's grandfather gave the same treatment to his son that his son gave to his grandson tied him up.

Laughed when Lei Meng Sha wanted to cheer, but nor Baili Dong Jun or Xiao Ruo Feng do it.

It would’ve been great if they'd shown Baili Dong Jun's journey of unlocking his internal strength.

Love Lei Meng Sha & Xiao Ruo Feng friendship the way Xiao Ruo Feng talks with Lei Meng Sha with sarcasm. Also love Mo Xiao Hei & Liu Yue bickering.

5 disciples had no idea about the huge fight between Li Chang Sheng & Yu Sheng Demon because they were too drunk. Poor them, they miss a legendary fight.

Poor Lei Meng Sha is so dead by Li Xin Yue for coming to a brothel the beating he got for visiting the place, slap print in his face. The spanking he got from her & his daughter walked away from there as it's a daily routine to see this.

Shocking how Yue Yao found just by smelling that Baili Dong Jun went to a brothel.

Loved by the style, Li Chang Sheng left the Imperial Mansion. Are they idiots? They call him a legendary martial artist but still try to kill him.

Laughed at the scene were Luo Sheng calling Li Chang Sheng as a playboy & Nangong Chun Shui as his son.

Laughed how Wen Hu Jiu ran like a bullet train to go outside.

Baili Dong Jun & Yue Yao expressions whenever Li Chang Sheng starts to praise him.

Baili Dong Jun's mother beating her father just like Li Xin Yue beats Lei Meng Sha.

Ye Ding Zhi & Wu Chan's relationship is so cute the way he says Ye Ge is so cute.

When will in C-Dramas they'll stop using bright lights in kissing scenes?

At first, Ye Ding Zhi had a goal to prove his family's innocence, but everything went out of the way when he met Yi Wen Jun. I mean he can pursue love with his goal remaining intact. But he forgot all of it for a girl & became obsessive about her. There were many ways to prove his family's innocence, but he didn't do it. It's true he can never be with Yi Wen Jun, even after proving his family's innocence.

I think what would I have done if I were in Yi Wen Jun's place? Being caged in a loveless marriage, in a political marriage. I would've tried to break up that marriage, but can we win against the imperial family? No, we won't. But I would never have left my child for some man, even if I'm in a loveless marriage, because for me my child comes first before love. Her selfishness cost Ye Ding Zhi's life. Just like Baili Dong Jun said, if she hadn't left in the first place, nothing would've happened.

It's a friendship & brotherhood centric story. But the scene time between Baili Dong Jun & Ye Ding Zhi was not that much for me to convince that Baili Dong Jun could go to any let for his childhood friend Ye Ding Zhi. I get it that they can't be together because of Ye Ding Zhi's identity, but it would've been good if they shared screen time in the 1st 20 episodes. The same goes for Baili Dong Jun & Sikong Chang Feng's friendship. They're always saying hi & goodbye now or then. For this reason, I gave a 9 rating.

Also I love the OST.

Now I'll watch The blood of youth. Can't wait to watch Baili Dong Jun & Sikong Chang Feng rest of the journey.

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Dashing Youth - Lost Me Halfway Through

I started watching Dashing Youth mainly because of the two male leads, and even while rewatching, my feelings haven’t really changed. I tend to skip scenes in C-dramas and come back to them later when I have nothing else to watch, which is why I ended up watching this one again. One thing that really bothered me is the unnecessary romance. I don’t mind romance when it’s done well, but in this drama, even though it’s little to none, it still feels annoying because it’s handled so subtly that it ends up dragging down the story instead of adding to it. Ye Dingzhi’s character especially went downhill for me once he started prioritizing his childhood friend. There’s a lot to say about the other characters too. The drama started off really strong, but as I kept watching, it just got even worse. What irritated me the most was the timing, Baili Dongjun finding out about Ye Dingzhi at the same time Ye Dingzhi was dealing with his childhood friend, absoluetly annoying. At first, I feel like it was interesting, but then the romance started to take over, and that’s when I got annoyed. I knew what I was getting into though, but I was really hoping to see more of my fav trio, Baili Dongjun, Sikong Changfeng, and Ye Dingzhi.

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for my self

finished it in August 2024, and made a review now april 2025, honestly the vibe of this drama is similar with Jinyong wuxia's work, has ties to other dramas and each character has its own spin off, so in this drama the details shown for other characters are very less, honestly it's not bad, just for the main characters in this drama look very rushed for the ending, for example Sikong Changfeng,

they bring up too many problems of the support characters, so they have to share more small details to explain them, even though their characters in a wuxia drama like this could have their own spinoffs

so that the details story about the main characters are divided

this is the first version I watched, and I'm grateful I didn't watch blood "the of youth" first, no matter what, it still has similarities with Jinyong's work in the story, and its amazing because I like all the supporting and characters they choose and their acting is very cool, EXPECT Yiwenjun, her character is very annoying and disgusting, her acting is also very disgusting compared to weak, her vibe more like the villain character that usually likes men who like other women, even though in this drama her character is a good person ,

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THE lesson i learn from Yun Ding zhi story

This is the six time I'm watching this series i always end crying in the last episode like 39 & 40 , one thing I can say about this series is that grief isn't good, because it can lead to pain and regret 😞
Yun Ding zhi was just a kind and a simple good man who let his guard down just because of his childhoods fantasy got over him but for sure best friend said something i blame you, because if she didn't live, Yun be alive and second that Prince that something that's not your by force.' let just say things I understand from this series just simple, don't let your guard down for anybody and power is important too because if Yun father was alive all this things will not happen, and also have a support friend too just like don

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.

Hou Ming Hao did a great job in this series as well, so it’s hard to feel disappointed. 😊

There’s just something about Chinese historical dramas that always draws me in. And the fact that it leans into bromance is definitely an extra plus for me.

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Not as good as I hoped

I couldn't wait to watch this show after the wonderful The Blood of Youth. Unfortunately, Dashing Youth didn't meet my expectations. It was okay but not as good as I hoped.

Cons. Quite poor acting and not actually interesting characters. Baili Dong Jun is really boring and pathetic, especially in the last episodes. But if in TBOY, Lei Wu Jie was mocked at for being pathetic, Baili Dong Jun was taken seriously like it's a normal thing to speak by slogans. Yue Yao, who was quite bright and bold at the beginning, became shout down and quiet like a ghost closer to the end and totally lost on Baili Dong Jun's background. I wish I could empathize Ye Ding Zhi and Yi Wen Jun more but I couldn't.

Pros. This was a great idea to invite the actors from TBOY to act in Dashing Youth. It was amazing to see Bai Shu Yu, Fan Jin Wei, Yan Jie, and Li Hong Yi appearing there. I love the main theme of Ye Ding Zhi and Yi Wen Jun, their soundtrack is very beautiful. Some guest roles were much more likable and intriguing like Sheng Mo [Demon] and Jun Yu [Ji Xia academy’s first disciple]. Each Sheng Mo's appearing was enchanting, and I wish he played more significant role in the show. I also liked some other supporting characters like Xie Xuan, Su Mu Yu, and Li Chang Sheng.

I hope that The Tales of Dark River will not disappoint.

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Great story, but riding on Blood of Youth's tailwind

Watching this after BoY gives it an interesting perspective as we know what these characters will turn out to be like in the future. But I feel that this series is relying too much on this fact to make the story interesting.

To start off, the plot is your generic wuxia with great friendships, amazing fight scenes, romance of course (though I feel they went too far with this). The plot was really slow to begin with and felt like there was not really a main storyline, this would especially be the case if one has not already watched BoY. I felt that I was only interested in continuing watching Dashing Youth because of my knowledge from BoY, and I was intrigued to find out what led them to become as their future selves. If not for BoY, this would have been a generic wuxia series, albeit with many many dashing youths.

For bromance lovers, this is a must-watch. I must say, I did not feel a lot of genuine tension between any of the couples, and yes, this includes Ye DingZhi and WenJun. The tension and relationship between YDZ and BLDJ, on the other hand, is top-notch, as are BLDJ and SKCF. It feels to me like all the men in this series are good at two things only - 1. fighting, 2. love at first sight. And I must say, they really do fall head over heels purely with one glance, with YDZ as an exception of course. YDZ and WJ's romance might be the most authentic, but then again I do not love this couple since I am quite annoyed at WenJun and her indecisiveness and lack of ability to think things through most of the time.

Now let's talk about some characters - the 8 young masters from the Academy are all unique and quirky characters, which makes sense with it basically being a criteria to be accepted as a disciple by Li ChangFeng. LCF himself probably is my favourite character from the series, he's snarky and funny, yet damn powerful and intervenes at the perfect times. We never did find out how he was doing, but assuming that he has rid himself of his immortality, he would probably be growing old with his lover at one of the corners of the world. BLDJ, ML himself, in my opinion, is morally perfect. He is able to see between the black and white sides, and has the ability and courage to forge his own path. He is an admirable character, which makes this series even more exciting to watch. I also enjoyed watching Prince LangYa himself in action - there have often been mentions of his valour and bravery in BoY, so it was intriguing to finally get to see how he earned his admiration and title.

Things I was looking forward to but didn't quite meet my expectations - there still seems to be some gaps between the plots of DY and BoY which has remained unsolved. I have also put this in the discussion as a topic, but how exactly did YueYao and Lei MengSha die? How did BLDJ end up as he was in BoY, an irresponsible drunkard who wishes constantly to forget his past? Honestly, of the 3 city lords, only SiKong ChangFang is actually doing the work, poor guy

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Handsome actors and lots of special effects

The recruiter for this drama certainly had excellent taste for handsome actors. I counted at least 10. And there were plenty of special effects. Whenever the fighting got heated, some fantasy cartoon like characters would be featured to represent the type of inner strength of the martial artists.

The story featured three male leads each with their own romance story. Baili DongJun was the young heir and grandson of Marquis ZhenXi. He led a sheltered luxurious life. His ambition was to become a wine deity, well-known for the wine he brewed. Only when he was selected by Prince Xiao RuoFeng to become a student of the prestigious JiXia Academy headed by Li Chang Sheng, the top martial artist of the world, that he started on a different journey.

Ye Yun, on the other hand had an unfortunate life. He was a close childhood friend of DongJun. His family was executed by the emperor, on some untrue allegation of treason. He escaped and went on to become a highly skilled martial artist. Unfortunately for him, his life took several negative turns. The Beique targeted him as a candidate to acquire their martial art which required a special disposition that he possessed. They needed him to wake up their king who had been deep in a meditation since they lost their kingdom to Beili. For this, they lay several traps for him as he was unwilling to help the enemy.

Sikong Changfeng was a friend that DongJun made while the latter was trying to carve out a name for himself as a wine deity. Before this, he was a vagabond who had self-trained in martial arts and had no memory of his life before he turned fifteen. For him, his path to success was a lot smoother than Ye Yun as he caught the eye of Nangong ChunShui, the reincarnate of Li and became his disciple.

In this drama, you see the contrast in the lives of DongJun and YeYun. Both were disposed with special abilities. For DongJun, his life seemed to be a bed of roses. He rose from adversities to become stronger and seemed to meet the right people to help him. The love of his life turned out to be a beautiful Beique princess who had given up reviving her kingdom as she did not want another round of war and believed it was a futile attempt.

As for Ye Yun, in spite of his capabilities, his life was ruined first by a selfish and suspicious emperor and then by the cunning Beique Chancellor. There had been several times, when his life could have turned for the better but circumstances turned it into a nightmare. The love of his life was his childhood sweetheart and fiancee who was still in love with him through the years he went missing, presumably dead. She was a great beauty but was quite ignorant and somewhat stupid, and was easily deceived by the Beique and became a pawn to their plots.

Being a bit philosophical here: in life, some people are just so blessed that they rose from one challenge to another, gaining grounds each time. While others having worked hard through their lives but were set back with each turn.

Somehow, Chinese drama always have emperors less than qualified for their job morally. In this drama, it was no different. The emperor allowed Ye Yun's family to be executed, even though he knew General Ye was innocent - a complete asshole in my view. Somehow the best heir, in both capabilities and moral disposition, he chose turned down the throne in favour of a rapist - I was rather disappointed in this.

Neo Hou (MingHao) had this boyish look about him that made him very suited to the playful and mischievous DongJun in his teens. It would be interesting to see whether he could graduate into more mature roles when he grew older.

The cartoon-like special effects however, made the drama looked a bit kiddy, a little out of line with the serious nature of this drama.

However, on the whole, this is an interesting drama worth watching.

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