Blood River

What was this?

As big fan of Gong Jun, after watching him in "Word of Honor" & "Legend of Anle" I was expecting same quality of story and acting here. Unfortunately he was acting dead, blank face delivery as if he was bored by this drama as well. To be honest I can't blame him because he was not the only one. The way pacing and the scenes are cut and fused together doesn't make much sense, everything looks random and overexaggerated . What usually happens is that two ppl jump into each other , chat a little bit then start fighting and one of the eventually flees . I forced myself for the first 10 episodes but I don't get how p[pl can watch this.

Read More

Intriguing Storyline, Great Fight Scenes

Usually C-Dramas especially with wuxia and even xianxia dramas the fight scenes are so cringey to me and almost hard to watch. However, the fight scenes in this drama is very executed--great CGI and exciting to watch! Very good fight scenes, I'm impressed.

To premise I did not watch Dashing Youth nor did I watch The Blood of Youth, so I watched Blood River without any prior knowledge of this worlds/past characters. I came for my favorite Peng Xiao Ran and ended up staying for the storyline. Seriously, if you are looking for a storyline that's not draggy but is actually interested and will keep your interest the whole way this is the one. I will admit it is a little bit confusing when they reference other characters from DY but it did not negatively impact the storyline and I feel it is still understandable even if you haven't watched the other two dramas.

The romance is there although more subtle so keep that in mind as you're watching this drama. The focus is more on the bromance and the actually story so less of a focus on romance. With that being said the romance scenes are sweet and enough to satiate a romance lover. I knew this ahead of time before watching so I wasn't disappointed at all with the romance levels. I actually felt like it was nice that the romance wasn't too overly done. The story line felt more serious and I really enjoyed watching the companionship between the Blood River members--love them all so much! Their characters really grow on you.

I will say the ONLY disappointment I have with this drama was I was expecting my girl Peng Xiao Ran to be FL (the whole reason I started watching this drama). She didn't have as much screentime as I would've liked and I wish we could've watched more of her relationship with Tang Lian Yue (Zhang Shi An). Still worth a watch in my opinion!

Great drama, great script, great character development, and great ending! High potential for rewatch as well. ❤️

Read More

Su Chang He saves this drama

Compared with light-hearted The Blood of Youth, I prefer this one. The start of the drama is quite engaging. The intricacy of the scheming is so exiting and make me stay with the drama without fast-forwarding.

Let us start with the story. The highlight of this drama should be Su Mu Yu and Su Chang He relationship. Built upon life and death experiences, their relationship transcend ordinary brotherhood or even romance. We can see that from their tacit trust and understanding. In the beginning, even when they seem to be against each other, it is more like sibling childish quarrel than true fight. The first 10 episodes has laid this foundation. But, in the middle, it seems the story is infiltrated with unneeded and unwanted romance.

I understand that with current Chinese law, BL is strictly prohibited. And any drama showing good relationship between two male characters will be scrutinized. So the addition of romance between Su Mu Yu and Bai He Huai is understandable. But, in this premise, it is felt so forced and jarring. They meet, being together for a moment while Bai He Huai curing the patriach, then the next time we know they spend time so long time in Nan'an together. In the name of Su Mu Yu healing his injury. What the hell. Dark River just experienced upheaval, the previous patriarch and family head were all dead. Su Chang He just rose to the throne. He, as Su family head, actually lazed around in some other city, enjoying romance. It is as if Su Mu Yu still hell bent want to leave Dark River. What a half-baked resolution!

Until the end of the drama, excluding a little bit flash back here and there depicting romance of side characters, the part I hate the most is Su Mu Yu and Bai He Huai romance. Su Mu Yu does not act like family head at all. I see him as part time worker of Dark River. He does his mission and after that come back to his wife in Nan'an. We never see him step inside Dark River headquarter anymore.

The ending is good, even though I rather it is Su Chang He that lay finishing blow to Zhuo Qing. But, the 12 years separation between Su Mu Yu and Bai He Huai is so unneeded. I also don't think their relationship is that strong to withstand 12 years. I think what Bai He Huai likes is Zhuo Yue An, not the true Su Mu Yu.

Now, about the acting. Gong Jun, .... sigh. His acting is quite weak in this drama. Some emotion is on point, but some of them, I wish him to show more. Also, he fails to truly build Su Mu Yu character. Until the end, I cannot really grasp who is Su Mu Yu. He cannot show that Su Mu Yu has special relationship with Su Chang He. The conversation was there, but lack certain emotion the seal the deal. The romance with Bai He Huai lacks passion. And the tension between two identity (Su Mu Yu and Zhuo Yue An) is so poorly delivered.

Now, Chang Hua Sen. He is the very reason why I still give 4 stars for acting and still give this drama overall 5 stars despite my critic toward the story. I know this actor from Moonlight Mystique. His acting was quite good there. But here, I am in awe. His Su Chang He is captivating. From naive boy in the flash back until he become the patriarch, you can see the development of his mindset. His disdain for this world, his special care toward Su Mu Yu, his scheming and his hidden pain, you can see it all.

Overall, this is a good wuxia drama. I recommend it. The production, music, and fight choreography are very good. The fight choreography is especially a good change, if you compared it with TBOY abysmal choreography.

Read More

MALE LEAD cant act. He has blank face , Smile and Scrip reading mode

I am fan of Blood of Youth drama. It was one of greatest drama ever. That said dashing youth disappointed me. I thought from Poster blood river will be as good as blood of youth. But this drama has bad Male Lead. Male lead need a charisma. They are gravity needed for drama to be success. Male lead is unfit for this drama. He has three acting mode. Blank face , Smile , Script reading. He never believe in his own words.

Its like we have robot.

What about others. Others are ok. Drama is average because when male lead cant act every one start to script read like its a job and get paid.

Fight scenes in blood of youth brought me goose bumps. It gets me excited

Here lets move on on to next scene. You cant invest on any character.

Is it bad drama ? Not really but its not clicking.

Read More

I really need to start reading the summary before jumping into a series. All I saw was Simon Gong in a historical drama and immediately said, “Yes!” It took me a while to get through the first 10 episodes—not because it was boring, but because there were so many details and new characters introduced that I struggled to keep up. I eventually went back to read the summary, and sure enough, it’s classic wuxia. It actually reminded me a bit of the darker tone in Bloody Romance, with its lethal elegance, shadowy atmosphere, and constant threat of assassination.

Instead of making this my priority watch, I found myself putting it on in between other shows while deciding what to watch next—and because of that, I kept losing track of the story. Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in, because I usually enjoy wuxia, especially when it centers around a loyal group of friends fighting for a common cause. At one point I considered dropping it, but with so many other dramas on my list, I didn’t want to put this one on hold and risk forgetting about it completely.
One thing I genuinely appreciate, though, is the visual style. Since the story involves assassins, the overall tone is quite dark, and the bold color palette really stands out. I really love the animation and CGI!!!

This review will be ongoing, since I’m not prioritizing this series and won’t be finishing it as quickly as the other dramas I’m currently watching.

Currently scoring at 7/10 for it beautiful color, a good plot and solid cast.

Read More

A little disappointed in ML’s acting.

Story is still good as rumors.
(I’ve watched it all. Here’s my edited review.)
Directing and CGI is good.
But for CGI, Dashing Youth is better in my pov.
Edited : Because in some episodes CGI is amazing but in some, CGI feels cheap.
The main point is Gong Jun’s acting. Even tho I highly anticipated for this drama because of him, his acting is off. Even cameo actor in DY could be seen as SMY but I can’t see him as Su Mu Yu. I’m his fan but I have to accept that. I hope his acting will get better in later episodes. Edited : I still couldn’t see him as SMY except in fight scenes. He is cool in action scenes. And I found out why I can’t see him as SMY till the final ep is because his way of speech is too stiff in my pov. Gong Jun can act as cold guy but not quiet guy. SMY isn’t cold. He is quiet and gentle that he was mistaken as a scholar at first sight not as a killer according to novel. Gong Jun can’t completely catch the essence of quiet gentlemanly manner in my pov. But overall, he can get a pass as he is so cool in fight scenes.
Second ML Chang Hua Sen is awesome. His acting is really good that he overshadow Gong Jun, the ML. Edited : He is so amazing! He can act! Really his aura is overwhelm 1st ML that I wish that he is 1st ML in some scenes. I’ve become his fan. It’s a pity that we can’t see his fight scenes much. His action scenes are too few.
Still it’s enjoyable to watch so far as so many action/fight scenes since the beginning of the story. I hope it will get better. Edited : It became better!
Even tho it’s still 5 eps, if you are a fan of fight scenes, watch it.
I’ll edit this later when the drama is finished.
Edited : Watch it if you love action scenes. But don’t expect any romances as it mainly focus on bromance and romance is just a little sprinkle.

Read More

So, so boring

This is the most boring drama I've ever seen. I actually love Gong Jun and have been waiting for this to come out, but he's so wooden. The story is slow moving, boring as hell and introduces just a ridiculous amount of characters in a row like we're supposed to care about all of them. And sorry but Gong Jun was not good in this drama, at least in the first few episodes. He's wooden as hell, his expression never changes. It's probably not his fault because he was given basically nothing to work with. A very straight laced character. If you like Gong Jun just go back and watch Word of Honour again.
I was watching together with a friend and we just dropped it after 4 episodes, it was too excruciating listening to such long conversations about information we already know.

Read More