Blood River

Through the dark river into the light of the other shore

The show kicks off with stunning cinematography introducing the world and our main protagonist Su Muyu, the enigmatic assassin that turns out to be an introverted extroverted and whose brotherhood with his best friend the extroverted introvert Su Changhe is a driving heart of the story within the many relationships that Muyu forms. He's really the one makes friends with ease and even getting a girlfriend despite Changhe seeming the more outgoing one. Muyu is meticulous in negotiations, while Changhe is cunning in manipulation, Muyu is played wonderfully by Gong Jun with the expressive eye acting that he's known for, especially with the more understated character like Muyu compared to the more outspoken personality of all the other characters. Though Muyu has his girlfriend and Changhe has his blood younger brother, Muyu and Changhe definitely has the strongest bond in the entire series with the most moving decisions, their collective will shaking the martial arts world.

People are born or fall into a cycle of poverty and violence and it's immensely difficult to extract themselves from it. A otherwise normal person can be trapped into joining gangs because that is the only support system available to them. This is how a lot of the characters in this drama are. Many of them being orphans who had to join to survive or die. Muyu and Changhe were both orphans that share a similar background of their families and cities being annihilated and both have goals to change the circumstances of themselves and all their peers. To annihilate the gerontocracy of Blood River as a start and break all the chains that keep them as pawns for other's political struggles and bring Blood River into the light, to the Other Shore. Both are equally fierce and goes all out for their ideals and for each other. Since they children, Muyu would save Changhe, and Change would put himself in harms way for Muyu, Muyu would catch a sword with his bare hands for Changhe, and Changhe would plunge a dagger into himself so Muyu could be the lone survivor. Muyu tells him "Those who are strong, have the right to be naive/idealistic." They will find a third option together.

I really enjoy how the characters to the minor characters have personalities and lives that seem to go on off screen. It's something that James Gunn does well and it's always enjoyable to see in a drama. The costumes design is absolutely stunning from the different layers, fabrics, and designs of all the robes to the detailed hair pieces and make up as well. The martial arts battles is actually a feast for the ideas with creative visualizations, choreography, and stunt work that makes fight scenes that are usually a chore to watch in other shows very fun to watch. Muyu's humble umbrella sword alternatingly giving him a ghostly visage at times and an elegant ethereal spirit in others. Yumo's boyfriend's Phoenix that he promises to pick up her up with. Giant demons, swords, etc. The weather, plants, blood, anything that can be formed and manipulated with the will of the inner force. A force that can also form in otherwise inanimate objects like a sword. The music is also really good and some are even unconventional picks for dramas like this that add even more dynamic feeling to the fight scenes. There are still a lot of story that can be told for the main characters and the world that the story takes place in, I wonder if there will be a sequel, if so I hope it's made by the same team, starring the same actors.

Read More

ateeee

honestly, this drama had me hooked from the very first eps. it's kinda wild how good it is. like, the editing, the cgi, the whole visual atmosphere, everything just feels top tier. u can tell the production team really went all out cs the fights look smooth, the transitions slap, and the world building feels alive. n the storyline? bro, it flows so nicely most of the time that u barely realize u’ve been watching for hours. it's the kind of show that makes u say, “aight, one more eps" n then suddenly it’s 3 am n u’re still sitting there like a clown invested in fictional people. nut in the best way.

even with all that praise, though, there r still a few things that lowkey bugged me. not enough to ruin the drama, but enough to make me go, “Hah? Kok tiba-tiba gitu?” one of the biggest examples is mu ciling. if i remember correctly, he literally risked his life trying to hold off the enemies just so the others could get medical treatment. that moment felt like setup for something big like some payoff, a follow up arc, or at least a mention. but nah, bro just evaporated from the script. he disappeared like wifi signal during a rainstorm. no explanation, no closure, no flashback, nothing. u expect him to return later or at least get a proper send off, but the drama just moves on like he never existed. it's kinda insane bcs he wasn’t even a minor background character. he actually had relevance. so having his storyline cut off like that feels like a missing puzzle piece.

another thing that confused me is the whole situation with su changhe and su muyu’s teacher. like… why didn’t the teacher step in when things were getting real bad? it was literally life or death for the main characters, n u’d think someone with that level of skill and authority would at least try to help. but nope, we never get an explanation. not even a half baked reason like “oh, she was injured,” or “she had to protect something else,” or “she made a vow not to interfere.” nothin. the teacher just dips out of the narrative like a ghost. it makes the whole thing feel a bit unbalanced, because u keep wondering why she’s even introduced if she won’t play any meaningful role when the plot gets heavy. they could’ve easily added a line or a scene to justify his absence, but instead we’re left guessing like it’s some mystery we were supposed to solve on our own.

what annoys me is that the drama clearly has the potential to be airtight. the plot is already strong, the characters have depth, and the emotional beats hit hard. that’s why these missing details stick out so much. they don’t match the level of quality the show already has. the world of the drama feels detailed and well crafted, so when there are gaps like these, it feels like the writers either ran out of time or just forgot to clean up some storylines.

don’t get me wrong though. i still think the drama is fire. the vibe, the intensity, the character arcs, all of it is chef’s kiss. but i kinda wish they spent a little more time tying up the loose ends, especially for characters who actually mattered to the plot. if they had explained mu ciling disappearance and given us a proper reason why the teacher didn’t step in, the narrative would’ve felt way more complete.

in the end, it’s still one of those dramas u can binge like crazy because the highs are so damn good. The flaws don’t ruin it. they just make you wish the show had gone that one extra step to become truly perfect.

Read More

Blood River master piece drama on Wuxia genre

This drama really master piece on this year Wuxia genre. All actor and actress and the production crew is performed very good. Because their CGI is really best. Even is dark theme but the lighting control very well. Really can see the production effort on this drama.

Gong Jun crying scene on last episode is really is amazing and touching. When he know that his lover is died his tears on his eyes and crying so sadly, this made feel his expression is so real. When he kill the 1st prince really can feel his hate and revenge must do it, because he know when this choice is made this will made all his team effort become square. Blood river hard to get to off the shore but at least not pawn like previous.

Because this drama also made to pay express to watch all episode. I think is worth it. This drama really deserve more rating. Hope all the platform rating will up and up.

Read More

Welcome to Dark River's Gritty Universe

Truth to be told, I’m pretty lazy to create reviews nowadays as my schedule is super-duper tight, deadlines looming ahead, with my fragile health condition added to the chaos. However, since I love Dark River so much that I badly want to become its member, I’ve decided to take this job once again. I guess I’m going to ramble a lot, so please bear with me…

“Tales of Dark River” aka “Blood River” (暗河传) is a spinoff story of Zhou Munan’s much-loved wuxia universe including “The Blood of Youth” and “Dashing Youth”, two of which excel in their own way in terms of storytelling, acting, stellar CGI, and many more (despite some drawbacks in the latter). There had been numerous proposals of bringing “Tales of Dark River” into a live-action series, but it only got into the way last year, which excited the hell out of me. Previously, I did do some digging into the OG source and also watched its donghua (thank God they didn’t make much deviation from the original story or else, I’m going to be so disappointed).

So, what is Dark River? Basically, it’s a dark organization composed of elite assassins from the three families – Su, Xie, and Mu respectively. In “The Blood of Youth”, it is mentioned once that the Su excels in swordsmanship, the Mu in poison and mechanism alike, and the Xie in blade technique (we only see this part in this show, but not TBOY) and fistfights (perhaps). At the beginning of the first emperor’s reign, there was no Dark River at all. However, three of Dark River’s ancestors escaped from the Shadow Sect (which used to protect Tianqi City from the dangers lurking behind) and set up a new organization for themselves. Their surnames, of course, became the three main families. The three families are led by each family master, with a main leader on their top. On the other hand, there’s also Soul Reaper Hall above the main leader, who controls the whole organization from behind the curtain and receives assassination orders from all sorts of clients.

In the Dark River, there has never been a rebellious spirit and everyone is more of submissive blades rather than getting themselves killed, until it produces two hot-blooded souls, which is none other than Su Muyu and Su Changhe. Su Muyu, previously named Zhuo Yue’an (the young master of Swordless City), was abducted to Dark River after his hometown was massacred by the Dark River (out of 93 assassins dispatched, only 18 came back alive). In the Dark River, he had no one to rely on and had to learn killing arts as well as multiple skills to survive in this hellish underworld (well, you know how Dark River works). There, he met a fellow assassin-in-train, Su Changhe, who had always been in Dark River as far as he could remember. The two quickly formed a strong brotherhood and always protected each other’s back despite being threatened not to do so. Another fun fact that I want to tell you is their contrasting personality. Su Muyu is more of a cool-headed rationalist with a tinge of thrifty vibes and frequently concocts plans in their mission to bring Dark River out of the darkness within (despite so, he claims he needs to do it in order to keep Su Changhe in check) while Su Changhe is more silver-tongued, flamboyant, a bit of reckless, bloodthirsty, and exceptional in acting skills (shown in the latter part of the show). This unlikely pair turn out to be complimenting each other’s weakness and together, they can bring down an expert martial artist in just one fell swoop. Later, Su Changhe will become the main leader as Su Muyu declines that position and takes up Su family’s leader instead. As they lead the Dark River towards the light, they will face numerous challenges from the society and imperial courts alike as Dark River has been imprinted to the stereotype that all of its members are bloodthirsty killers even when they are not.

Joining their comrades are Bai Hehuai (Medicine King Valley’s physician and Su Muyu’s love interest), Su Zhe aka Uncle Zhe (Hehuai’s goofy father), Mu Yumo (Spider Woman of the Mu Family and Tang Lianyue’s love interest), Mu Qingyang (Master of the Mu Family and loves to pose as a fake diviner), Mu Xuewei (Poison Flower of the Mu Family), Tang Lianyue (Black Tortoise of Tianqi City and Tang Clan’s most treasured disciple), and many more.

So far, I’m invested in their acting skills and it’s no doubt that Gong Jun and Chang Huasen create the best bromance chemistry ever. This is one of Gong Jun’s breakout roles other than “Word of Honor” and he really nails the role of assassin pretty well as if he had embodied this character before (FYI, if you’re curious, you can also check out WHO where he plays an unhinged psycho-like lunatic – it’s also a great watch. Just feel kind of sorry for him when “The Legend of Anle” and “Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red-Moon Pact” flopped. He deserves better in the future). Meanwhile, Chang Huasen continues his streak in his male lead roles and I must say he’s such an eye-candy even with that dangerous smirk of his (I’m sorry that I can’t watch “Whisper of Fates” and “Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Sword and Beloved” in one go. If not, I could’ve met him three times lol). Peng Xiaoran surprisingly does well as the feisty Yumo and she has a considerable amount of chemistry with Zhang Shi’an, who plays Tang Lianyue. Meanwhile, Bai Hehuai is my least favorite character and I don’t really know how to explain it aloud (as usual, romance sucks in Zhou Munan’s universe, so don’t expect much of it). Special mention to Qiao Zhenyu, who portrays the humorous Uncle Zhe in a fun way and his dialect is pleasant to hear too. Another special mention is to Geng Le (who plays Mu Mingce, the former patriarch) and Li Daikun as Mu Ciling, the wacky expert in King Yan Palm.

OSTs, costumes, background, and CGI are well done and deserves a thumbs-up. Of all the places, I think I love Jiuxiao City the most, especially the intricate Spider Nest.

Overall, it’s a great watch and a 10/10 for me. I don’t how the rating can plunge down to 8.1, but do give a shot because it’s worth your time for all of the episodes. Also, I don’t expect you to give me like on my review anymore since it’s been very late given how long “Tales of Dark River” had ended. That’s all I’ve got to say. Good luck and happy watching!!!

P.S.
A quote by Su Changhe
“Who’s the real patriarch here? Me or him? Why does he always make the decisions the whole time?”
Me: Ending up in endless laughter

Read More

What happened to su muyu and su changhe

So i wached cdrama dashing youth then the donghua version of it then blood of youth donghua shao nian ge xing but i want to know what happened to su muyu because i completely don't understand even i watched all franchise like first dashing youth then young brew masters adventure then blood of youth donghua version great journey of teenagers but i don't know how su muyu got evil thrre and in the dark tales of blood river he's good i know that allot happened like lei mengsha died xiao rulofeng died xiao se is actually a royal in blood of youth and lei mengsha is lei wujie son but in the donghua it's longer because in great journey of teenagers is 4 season long but i need some help because i can't constantly watch it again to understand it better now I'm watching blood river i guess i watched it all together that is why I'm extremely confused but i have problems with remembering can someone explain what happened to su muyu and su changhe i know that in the end su changhe gets evil in the end but this feels different from them in blood of youth and great journey of teenagers but i didn't read the novel but only saw cdrama versions and donghua version

Read More

Time for a BoY rewatch me-thinks

A bit confused by the ending, but I'm trying to piece together what I can remember from the Blood of Youth. There's obviously a gap of time between the two, so maybe that's where the confusion lies lol, I imagine the books would shed some light on the loose ends. Still, this calls for a Blood of Youth rewatch and of course Dashing Youth is still on the docket.
Fight scenes -> epic🗡
Wardrobe->on point🔥
Scheming -> is there an uno reverse card here somewhere? XD🔄
ThE PoWer oF FRiEnDShiP 🥰😂👌, but like..for assassins.
It's like watching a live action anime(or whatever the Chinese version is called), but far more entertaining ;P
Side note: I was a bit skeptical about Gong Jun portraying my beloved Umbrella Ghost, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I genuinely enjoyed his performance! ^-^
Chang He-> Chang Huasen really embodies this character--would not be the same without him 😍😍😍👏👏👏😊😊😊 show stealer

Read More

So many shuai gessss

Finished this maybe ?last week and glad to say, series like this slowly reined me back towards cdramas from thai series and variety shows. Lol.

Gong jun as usual, served in his main role. I’ve always like his acting and charisma, and the loyal and to-the-point character of Su Muyu really suits him, down to the straight-faced humor he had. And to my surprise, i really like the character of Su Changhe, the actor made it lovable despite its ambiguous grey character. SCH’s loyalty to SMY, the bromance, the protectiveness, the power he wields, made the SCH character even more lovable to me. I enjoyed their bickering, so much so that I was praying so hard SCH did not betrayed SMY during the time he came out from his seclusion after regaining the 9th level Palm Hell.

The story is fine, it builds up from one problem and as they solved one, moving up to apparently another bigger mess lol. I love the fact that theres so much of whump scenes in this (yeah, thats me, a whump scene lover. Lol) The fighting choreo is superb, and the cgi is also nice enough not to appear clumsy and cheap. The characters being introduced are aplenty, as with the other two in the series, but i think it was more doable this time around (i had a headache trying to keep track of characters in DY and TBOY) The costumes were all awesome and I’m in love with all of them, especially Su Muyu’s and Su Chang He’s ones. BHH’s costumes were all flattering as well. I’ve just recently watched a short drama of the actor who played Xie Zaiye (Min Xing Han) and he was so pretty in that, but here, his hairdo made his appeal less and if I didnt watch Realm’s Night Rain Dreamlike, I’m sure I will not found him to be able to be that handsome and pretty based on his character in BR. This proves how the way the production clothed and giving suitable hairdo for a character played so much roles in making a character appealing to fans.

All in all, this is worth renewing my subscription of Youku vip pass. Hope to see more of Gong Jun and Chang Hua Sen in the future!

Read More

a disappointment

i would like to start this review by saying i love blood river. moreover the production quality, the CGI, setups and styling are all just beyond gorgeous. the aesthetics all line up and the cinematography and OSTs are immaculate. most of the characters, despite their flaws, are likeable more or less.

and the thematic quality of BR is just competent, clean and slices with such clarity that i would personally say that Blood River, thematically alone, can be ranked higher than even WoH or FoF. it has very striking metaphors and the questions it keeps asking, "How many people must die for us to the reach Others Shore?" "What does it take to step into the light?" "What do you become if you stop killing if you have only been ever a weapon?" are precise and resonating. You can immediately empathize with the characters on that.

also the acting is good. as some others noted, gong jun's performance seems off at times but imo it's pretty decent and the flaws are not very noticeable. the cast's acting is good. especially chang huasen's. he brings so much life into changhe's character.

but. the story stumbles and limps at times. we start immediately strong with the patriarch dying and many factions fighting for the sword, then SMY and SCH dismantling the forces behind Blood River and then the pacing pivots to domesticity that is a relief but feels very slow and out of place and then back to great epic fights and pacing in Wushuang City and drops to domesticity again and it's just. The pacing is a mess.

Moreover, I want to say that the found family of Blood River is told time and again that it's important to SMY and SCH but we don't feel any investment for that family, we don't even feel like they're family until episode 20 or so. Beyond Su Changhe, Su Muyu and Bai Hehuai, it's safe to say the remaining cast are cardboard cutouts. They exist thematically to represent the family, and they have their own arcs which makes them likeable — I love MXU and MQY — but not very developed. It's frustrating. Moreover a bunch of characters keep coming in to the point you can't even remember their names. Like in Wushuang City alone we met so many characters, expand too much on them and all of them disappear.

Now, let's talk about Su Muyu and Su Changhe. And a little about Bai Hehuai.

SMY: I don't dislike Su Muyu but at one point I really wished he'd just die — because despite the expectations that he's a misunderstood assassin, it felt like he was beloved by all and respected by all, universally attractive, everyone magnet-ed into following him to death. Every time he faces a death situation he comes unscathed, makes a new technique, or powers up unexpectedly. It's frustrating. Moreover, he doesn't exactly suffer from his choices, his actions doesn't have consequences, the consequences always land on other people related to him but never on himself. He was too centralized, too developed while other characters writing felt lacking. Additionally he's just a tiring MC to have. Even his flaws don't create friction; bad at cooking, doesn't save up money. Compare that to how Su Changhe is allowed to be wrong, to suffer from consequences, to make wrong decisions and feel the weight of them.

BHH: She's a decent character but at one point she was reduced to SMY's "waiting at home" figure and a symbol for SMY'S journey - his light, his home, his dream of ordinary life, rather than a person. And when they remember to give her autonomy and relevance to the plot, it's late and rushed. It's late and rushed when they introduce Night Crow and how this all is also BHH's responsibility. Moreover, her romance with SMY feels so OFF and stiff. Other than lack of chemistry, they lack friction. Their arcs never oppose, their ideologies never clash, there's no friction (not sexual, but moral, ideological, personal) between their characters.

SCH: my biggest problem. he's the best character and the highlight of BR and he's immediately more likeable than SMY or BHH. The fact he's so good is why it's disappointing when his arc is undercut. We get hooked into his character because he's ambitious, he wants something for himself, he wants change. He's not passive. He craves that sunlight. Everyone could rest, everyone could find peace within a normal life but SCH can't. Him being patriarch is not just a title, it's because he has the ambition that SMY lacks. Their different ideologies clash and create friction and chemistry that is interesting. Su Changhe is such a complex character. He holds resentment, indifference, recklessness, menace, loyalty, devotion, ambition, lethality. But then his character folds inward for the sake of Su Muyu. He defers and submits way too easily to whatever Su Muyu decides, he starts existing in scenes to do things by Su Muyu's will or for Su Muyu's convenience. His case is like fingers getting broken and reset into smaller shapes so they can hold one hand more proper; his existence in domestic and ordinary scenes feels restless, he tries to adapt to SMY's world but he's simply not fit for that normality. He gets reduced from a best friend, an equal, to a lackey. And when they remember too late to give him agency and autonomy by shoving that revenge arc and his faux "betrayal" in our face, it's too rushed. And even after that, he still is waiting to follow SMY's decisions. This really undermines his ambition and his role as the Patriarch. SMY is the one leading here. This takes Su Changhe's devotion for Su Muyu, a profound and complicated facet of him, and twists it into Su Changhe's self-erasure. I think the two of them had so much potential to be explored. Especially in terms of holding each other accountable. I'd loved a scene where SMY just crashes out because in the end it's Su Changhe's ambition and decisions that caused so much bloodshed and because the Other Shore they promised their family is just not what they promised. Or Su Changhe crashes out and accuses Su Muyu of leaving of being too ideological and saying Su Muyu is the only one who steps into the sunlight but Changhe himself gets left in the shadows alongside the rest of blood river. But it never comes. The narrative instead settles for convenient state of rest to not let their devotion coexist with their differences. Also Su Changhe low-key had an existential purposelessness going on: he doesn't know what he wants anymore, now that SMY stepped into the light, Su Changhe tries and fails because people will only ever think of him as the Undertaker, so Su Changhe gives up and instead goes back to saying "I'm vile I'm ambitious and greedy and violent" and "We're assassins, death is ro be expected" because he goes back to familiar patterns of the old blood river because he feels lost in the new one. It really is just like he said, if he left blood river he wouldn't know where to go, if he stopped killing, he wouldn't know who he is. Moreover he sort of emotionally withdraws from SMY the last few episodes not because their relationship matters any less but because Su Changhe does not fit nor is able to hold the side of SMY's world that has entered light, and he doesn't pretend to.

also the ending was frustrating as well. many bad people are not yet dead, more cliffhangers and a voiceover timeline skip narration. after getting invested for 38 episodes that what we get?

i thought Blood River would be a new favorite. It set up so much high expectations and only half delivered. They should've invested more effort in the writing and the script honestly.

Read More

Uneven Story. Great Visuals, but Heavy on CGI. Good Actors Underutilized, Except for Chang Huasen.

WATCH THIS IF:
--You enjoyed the donghua (anime) version of the same story called "Tale of Dark River". From what I hear, Blood River tracks pretty closely to what happens in the donghua, at least for the first maybe 10 episodes. BR also has a very anime look to it.
--You love CGI-dependent fight scenes. Many of the fights require CGI to make, for instance, building-height demons fight each other. Not my thing, but no judgment if you love this.
--You love dramas full of pretty people. This is a very pretty cast, the men and the women.
--You're an enormous Gong Jun fan who's happy just to see him onscreen doing anything. No shame in that!
--You're open to being wowed by Chuang Huasen in a "bad guy" role that I hope makes him a star. His is the most interesting, charismatic, emotionally complex performance in BR. I might've stopped watching without him.
--You're willing to suffer through several rough or "suboptimal" episodes early on to get to greener pastures in the middle and a bigger payoff at the end.

DO NOT WATCH THIS IF:
--You're hoping to see GJ in top acting form. WoH remains his best performance so far, by far.
--You're watching for Peng Xiaoran, who has very little screentime in an underwritten role (what a waste).
--You need a consistently strong story from beginning to end.
--You can't watch things that are very dark visually. This didn't bother me, and it does gets brighter about a third to half-way through, but some people have trouble seeing what's going on or enjoying such dark/dim visuals.
--You are a Blood of Youth purist who needs Blood River to line up 100% (I haven't seen BoY yet, but from what I hear, BoY and BR mostly line up, but some stuff in BR suggests things should have turned out differently in BoY).
--You want a strong ML/FL romance (zero chemistry, painful to watch).
--You're hoping for a strong BL romance. The two MLs have way more chemistry than the ML & FL, and this has BL overtones throughout, but I wouldn't call this a BL really.
--You'd be too  frustrated by having 100 characters you can't keep track of (it gets better maybe halfway).

MY REACTIONS:
I loved Gong Jun in Word of Honor and hoped in Blood River he'd prove that WoH wasn't a fluke. That didn't happen.

Instead, he plays everything with no emotion (except at the very, very end). As a viewer, I can't emotionally connect with and care about a character if they have no emotions. Bad choice for the star and main attraction.

The first third of the series (maybe 9-10 episodes) was too much of everything for me. Too big, too fast, too crowded, too explicit, too pretty. Fight scenes fly by. A million characters are introduced and almost as many forgotten. The CGI budget for the 1st few episodes seems larger than the GDP of some small nations. I like beautiful people, but it's odd to have an assassin organization where everyone looks scouted by a modeling agency.

What bothered me most though in the first third of BR was the weak writing. Cramming too much setup into too few episodes leaves no time for things to unfold naturally, and I hate it when characters explain things in forced ways just to get the info out. I almost abandoned BR then, but Su Changhe (played by Chang Huasen) had me hooked, so I kept going.

In the middle third, things slow to what I consider a normal pace. New characters slow to a relative trickle, so you're finally following along. Even before then, fight scenes rely less on CGI and display more of each characters' fighting skills, which I prefer. You also get more backstory so you understand things better.

Fast forward to the last few episodes. Surprisingly, I'd grown pretty attached to some of the main characters and even some minor ones I didn't notice or like early on. I even cried at one scene! Part of that was I'd invested so much time watching that I ended up invested in some of the characters too. But also, the struggle of these characters made more sense by the end.

Looking back, the premise of the series was a good one. I'm glad I didn't abandon BR, though I don't think I'd rewatch the whole series, just specific scenes I like. I do wish they'd put less time/money into visuals/special effects and more into the writing, pacing, and character development. Plus, they should've done a better job directing GJ!

By shifting their focus to storytelling essentials, this could have been a 9-star rating, especially with so much going for them with a solid cast, big budget, and the original novel author as the screenwriter.

Read More

You can forget the story and just enjoy the fighting scenes.

I must say that what makes me captivated and finished this drama was its fighting scenes. Every fighting scene was portrayed beautifully. Thumbs up for the fighting director! You can see the movement with rain, snow, and even falling leaves. Sumuyu with his umbrella was the definition of elegant in fighting scenes.

For the story, I can enjoy the story, but I am a little bit dissapointed with the romance. I know that this drama focuses more on fighting than romance, but still, you need more convincing romance, especially between Su Mu Yu and the doctor.

To be honest, I like it better than The Dashing Youth. But, it is still bellow The Blood of Youth.

Read More

Spilling Blood In Search for the Light

Blood River is an assassin organization that is reknowned throughout the realm and feared by many. Su Muyu, a quiet, reserved man under the codename Umbrella Ghost, is the head of guards of Blood River’s Patriarch and also one of most formidable assassins in Blood River. Even so, he is not your average violent assassin. He is compassionate and kind, never taking up missions against the innocent. Meanwhile, Su Changhe, with codename Undertaker, is known to be a violent, greedy and unhinged person, a total opposite of Su Muyu. These two polar opposite, however, made up an unseparable pair of brotherhood, comrade-in-arms, a relationship so strong that it is unrivalled by others, and their main goal was to lead the youngsters of Blood River towards the light, towards humanity, stripping away their identity as assassins. An opportunity emerges as the Partriach Mu Cingge was poisoned during his duel and a bloodbath of power struggle occured within Blood River’s 3 main families, Su, Mu and Xie, with each family head vying for the position of Partriach. Su Muyu, as the Partriach’s head bodyguard, found himself fighting against his own people, and his own brother Su Changhe, raising question of the viability of their dream to head into the light.

I am surprised to see Gong Jun’s excellent performance here as opposed to his bland acting in Legend of Anle. His second work ‘wow’ed me and changed my perspective completely. He was good as the aloof and quiet assassin, only speaking when necessary, but instead spoke with his eyes. Su Muyu is formidable and feared by all, but even so Blood River’s enemies are even fiercer. His fightings, although some he could not win, still made him look magnificient and mighty. I really love his formations and skills, they definitely towered above others despite him narrowly escaping. And when i said spilling blood, blood is definitely spilling though more from vomit than actual gory wounds. ML (and other fighters too) constantly gets poisoned and injured, vomitting large amount of blood at the end of almost every battle. They definitely used up quite a lot of red fluid in this one.

Chang Hua Sen’s Su Changhe is very likable despite being depicted as a grey character, someone who kills without batting an eye. His character however, is almost happy go lucky, the cheerful one between the duo. Boy, I thought i could not like the character as I truly hated Chang Hua Sen’s short fused role in A Journey to Love, but apparently he proved me otherwise. Su Changhe owed his life to Su Muyu in more than one occasion during their childhood in Blood River, hence the bond between them was as firm as a concrete, literally set in stone, way surpassing the famed bromance of The Untamed’s Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan. They trusted each other to the core, even when one had not disclosed their decisions (and actions for that matter) to the other. Basically the world could topple and tear apart one person and the other would always come through for the other with absolute trust. Definitely a rare kind of bromance.

The romance here is very mild, but because it did not go deep for one main couple but scatter around the numerous supporting couples, it felt kind of repetitive and boring (yea I sure thanked my ff button for its existence). And because there were more than 3 couple’s love story, it felt rather suffocating. Although they were mild romance with only one kissing scene of supporting couple, i honestly feel it was taking too much screentime. I would prefer they scrapped it altogether and focus entirely on the jianghu fights and court’s power struggle instead.

I really love the plot twists of strategies taken up by the duo in outsmarting their enemies while reigning in support for Blood River. Although longwinded and much of a hassle, they served their purpose and worked out towards its goal.

The show is fast paced except during romantic scenes. Man those really botched up the plot. Basically if youre not a romance fan, and more of an action lover, youre going to like this very much, the romance is still much less the those titles with ‘romance’ tag.

Read More

Amazing Fight scenes with a Long-Awaited Payoff

The fight scenes were a definite highlight, they were well-choreographed, intense, and consistently engaging. Action lovers will not be disappointed.
That said, I found Su MuYu too kind for his own good. Time and time again, he spared characters who went on to cause him even more trouble, and while this fits his moral code, it became frustrating to watch. His mercy often felt like a weakness rather than a strength.
Su Changhe, however, completely stole the show. The actor delivered an outstanding performance, chaotic, unhinged, and unpredictable, yet fiercely loyal as a friend. He brought so much energy and depth to every scene he was in.
Watching this right after Dashing Youth made the imperial family’s actions even more irritating, as it felt like they constantly escaped consequences. That’s why the ending especially what happened to the First Prince was incredibly satisfying. It finally felt like justice was served. Thanks Su MuYu!
Overall, this drama delivers strong action, memorable characters, and a rewarding conclusion that makes the journey worthwhile.

Read More