Blue Canvas of Youthful Days

FEELS LIKE A HALF HEART WORK

This drama has a different approach of a story , it is not of those other BL drama out there with the same plot and almost same endings .. the story was deep and the emotions needed was there and could almost make me wanna love this drama but it feels like everything here is a halfheart work.
I liked how XIn Lu approached Qin Xiao at the first parts , I was so excited hows Lu gonna make Xiao's heart soft , it was good but when they became fond of each other I felt like something was not lacking , there was no much romance felt with them , they were just like a friends fond with each other.
I liked better the story of the second lead couple, their love has a more warmth, it was more than being fond of each other , I also liked the fact that creators here made a character who needs a hearing aid .. if was really something new ..
The acting was great but this drama lacks romance on the main lead . All in all it was a nice , warm drama even though I said it feels like just a half work.. that's just what my feelings was watching this, but I believe all the creators of this drama did their very best .

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Beautiful set up of the main leads story, but ending execution is disappointing.

Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75 (rounding up to show support)

Watching “Blue Canvas of Youthful Days” is to show my support for uncensored Chinese BL, even though I knew this drama is not perfect. Hopefully, the success of this show will encourage more uncensored Chinese BLs to be picked up by other countries to be distributed. Also, what a lovely drama title!

I agree with many reviews and comments that the first half of the drama is great. I enjoy the set up of how the leads met and their school interaction. Was it a little stalkerish on Qi Lu’s part to be clinging on to Qin Xiao? Probably. But I also applaud his courage to do so, knowing the consequence of when his father finds out what he’s up to. The growing friendship and affection between the two are developed nicely and convincingly. Xiao’s desire of having his own family is strong, but not enough to withstand his love for Qi Lu. However, we do have two young adults who are still quite innocent about first love. The ending would be different if they had talked to each other and figured things out together. But well, they were young.

I was not as invested in the secondary couple, possibly due to the age gap. Tan Yin just acts too young and naive compared to Liu Ming Yang’s maturity and as a teacher to our main leads. But I can see why Tan Yin would fall for Teacher Liu, and how Liu would eventually fall for Tan Yin. I just enjoy the dynamics between the main couple more. I also personally don’t like the blonde hair (LOL) and find Xiao Zi Zhou’s portrayal of Tan Yin to be the weakest of the cast (though not horrible).

Speaking of acting, I generally enjoy it. I was surprised to find out that this is everyone’s debut project. If that’s really the case, their acting is quite good. I especially enjoy Zhang Xuan Yu’s performance as Qin Xiao (I also find him to be the most attractive one 🙂). I also enjoy all the scenes related to art and the art school. We actually see students painting/drawing and not just pretending to be students.

Unfortunately, there are still quite a few things for me to pick on. The second half is definitely not as strong. Tan Yin’s hearing loss and the ease of him speaking fluently in just a few minutes is unrealistic. The last couple episodes are jam packed with different plotlines. Everything crashes down on our main leads in a matter of minutes. I was disappointed in the ending. The drama wasted a lot of time in showing Tan Yin and Liu Ming Yang’s happy moments, and failed to show the audience Qin Lu and Qin Xiao’s story. I want to know the ‘HOW’ and not just the ending result. Because of the somewhat blurry filter used in the last episode, I was wondering if that’s really the ending or was it one of those dream-like endings that happened in an alternate universe.

I did have a decent time watching “Blue Canvas of Youthful Days”, and especially in the earlier episodes of the main leads. Their story and acting are both good. If you have time to kill and want to support this drama, it’s worth checking it out. I watched the YouTube consolidated version and binged it all in 5.5 hours. The drama could have been better with editing and storytelling in the end, but that could have been a result of censorship.


Completed: 12/7/2024 - Review #525

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Second Couple

Whoever did the casting for this series and the Director deserves a large bonus. They did an amazing job. When tis series originally aired the Censors in Mainland China had it cancelled after only 4 of the 12 episodes aired. The streaming service GaGaOOLaLa pulled off a miracle and was allowed to buy the rights to broadcast all 12 episodes.
The 2nd couple of Tan Lin and Lau Lu are amazing. Tan Lin has a hearing problem and can not hear people speak. He communicates through sign language They met in a bar. Tan Lin was pouring drinks and lining up the empty bottles. Someone offered him a drink, but had emptied a bag of white powder into when he thought no one was watching. Lau Lu was sitting at a table drinking and saw it happening. He called to Tan Lin a few times, telling him not to drink it. When Tan Lin was getting ready to drink it Lau Lu rushed over and grabbed the drink. Lau Lu walked Lin home. So began their relationship.Lau Lu's kindness and gentleness with Tan Lin is what makes you fall in love with them.
The Main Couple are both studying art at the same school.

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Once more YouTube fishing brought me to another drama. This very interesting drama. Even though looked like a calm & easy drama, turn out hide so many dark inside.

Story about Qi Lu (QL) who raised under his father's strict artistic guidance, joins Liu Ming Yang (MY)'s studio during his senior year, where he meets Qin Xiao (QX), a talented painter who balancing family responsibilities & his dream.

Originally, QL wasn't supposed to joins MY studio, but upon discovering that QX as the online artist "Lan" (Blue) he admires, also studied at MY studio, he decided for the first time to rebel against his father arrangement & just joins MY studio. When QL's dad know, at first he angry, but turn out MY not a bad name in artistic world, so in the end QL's dad agreed to let QL studied there.

Being in the same class with QX, QL slowly but sure be friended QX. And after sometimes QL decided to confess his feeling for QX, but only facing rejection from QX. But that rejection not really a rejection, cause of course QX also feel something more for QL. And as their bond deepens, QX in the end also encourage QL to really break the strict yet abusive relationship with QL's dad. So, how in the end their relationship forward, will QL really successfully break his father cocoon...

That's pretty much the story without giving any spoilers. Now what I like & don't

What I like:
+ The chemistry of QL & QX and also MY & Tan Yin
+ The cute Tan Yin

What I don't like:
- The ambiguous ending

Overall this a good drama to watch.

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I have a bone to pick

This series defies everything one could expect from china, and so because of that I'm rating it pretty high, taking the music and visuals into consideration, as well as the chemistry between the actors. They managed to portray longing and love through their body language as well as with their gaze, and I hope to see them all again in other productions as well.
BUT! As a hearing-impaired watcher who has spent all her life in the deaf community, I do have a bone to pick with the writer of Tan Yin... the actors portrayal of a deaf/HOH character was good, but the script for Tan Yin is very much full of dreams and wishes. I was OVER THE MOON when I saw them speak sign, as it is a big part of my life, and I was happy that my community is being represented. But there are a few points where the script is wishful thinking, and honestly infuriating to some degree, as it totally disregards the challenges we face. Such as:
- Being able to understand spoken language IMMEDIATELY after getting a hearing-aid when in reality it takes months or even YEARS of practice to filter and comprehend all these new sounds
- Not using sign after being able to speak (my heart was crushed by this tbh. His first language, just tossed aside...)
- Being able to speak fluently so soon after receiving a hearing-aid
Besides this, the story was very well written, though I wish we could've gotten a more in-depth ending and a better explanation of how they managed to resolve all their previous issues now that they're back together again.
But, for a Chinese BL, they set the standard HIGH, and I can only assume that they were rushing to finish the show before they would be forced to stop production. So with that in mind, and considering the other parts of the series, this could've been the best of the best had they not been under so much pressure to finish.
But the actors did an amazing job, and I was especially fond of Qin Xiao, as the actor managed to portray emotions in such as way I haven't seen in a long time. The way his eyes look at Qi Lu with such love and care, as well as his body language when he cries. I can see a bright future in acting for him.
I hope more people begin to defy Chinese censorship and begin to produce more BLs of this caliber<3

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This entire series was exceptional! The main two actors as well as the secondary couple did a superb job. The story developed the importance of family, friendship, and caring.
A disturbing reoccurring theme is the parental violence that's viewed as acceptable in the Asian culture. I'm from the United States so the mindset is somewhat unusual for me. Several movies I've watched recently portrays physical abuse arrogantly perpetrated on victims that have no recourse. I favor corporal punishment but not abuse. If I could have reached into the TV and grabbed that abusive SOB of a father by the collar, I swear I would have hurt him bad! When his son handed his father the instrument to beat him at the end of the movie in order to create some sense of balance to protect the one he loved, I wanted to cry! I literally shouted "Don't do it!"
Both of the male leads at the end of the series were sacrificial toward their partner for the welfare of their partner's future. It reminded me of the short story by O'Henry "The Gift of the Magi". I'm so glad that years later they reunited.
The secondary couple were an added bonus. They did a terrific job!
The story was so well developed. It's frustrating that the constraints put on BL series by China causes such a lackluster physical display. Their closed mouth pecks on each other's lips we're disappointing. Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that they should swallow each other's tongues -just more realistically kiss each other. I will say though that they managed to portray their genuine caring for each other in physical ways that were affectionate and mildly senual but not necessarily sexual. This is an indication of the actors' skills.

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Thankfully Escaped The Ban

I’ve been yearning for a beautiful story like this one for quite some time. The chemistry between the characters is top tier and will go down as one of my favorite couples ever for their stunning performance. Their love story will have you captivated with your heart burning through every development. It was heartwarming to learn about the characters complex realistic struggles and how they lick each other’s wounds, caring for each other through thick and thin.

The ending made me happily tear up because I was so relieved we got a satisfying ending after all the hurdles in the characters ways. Don’t forget to watch past the outro of the last episode as there’s some text and extra scenes.

I haven’t felt this captived by a series since 2016’s Addicted. Don’t know how they managed to escaped the ban after a short hiatus but I’m so relieved they got every episode out and left my heart full and happy.

Definietly something I’ll rewatch in the future as this beautiful story is one that will stay with me!

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My review to this film

I have just finished this masterpiece and Oh, I'm so in love with it. It has been a long time since I've watched such a good movie, which is almost flawless from every aspect, the plot, the character, the story line, the actors and the acting too. It's all very good and well-developed, which makes me wonder why this masterpiece is not that widely regconized and popular, compared to other overrated BL series. The main the reason that I can probably think of is the strict censorship from Chinese film industry, which has hindered the widespreadness of this film. But this movie is totally underrated, and I would say I highly reccommend this series.

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