Impression of Youth (2025)

The Ten Commandments of TBL

These are the commandments that have been handed down to us by the gods of Taiwanese BLs. They shall be the commandments by which any present and all future TBLs may be judged.

1. Thou shalt violate an apparent taboo. So it is that a stepbrother may lie in the Biblical sense with another stepbrother, or a stepfather with a stepson, or a teacher with a student. But a real taboo, thou shalt violate not. For it is a sin. Our purpose here is titillation, not transgression.

2. Thou shalt not utter the word ‘gay’. For it is a sin. Thou mayst love another man, but if anyone shall ask of thee if thou dost, thou mayst answer, “I like not men, I like only you.”

3. Thou shalt always include more than one same-sex couple. For it is the law. The number assigned to thee is two. One is too little, for it adheres too close to the earthly realm; three too much, for it adheres too close to the realm of Thai BL.

4. Employ thou a verily bright colour saturation in thy film, to mask the limitations of thy capital and thy cinematographer.

5. Apply thou, always, a verily thick, sweet, intrusive, and insistent music over thy graven images, to mask the limitations of thy talent and thy words. Drown out all the tender and vital moments of thy show with melodies made by AutoTune Pro, and lyrics conjured by Google Translate.

6. Remember thou that there exist only three acceptable settings for a TBL: a school, a university, and a criminal enterprise (the Lord doth favour the mafia). For these do encompass all of life. Thou mayst aim for complexity by leavening one of the first two settings with the third. Leviticus doth indeed condemn leavening, but it is not prohibited by the gods of BL.

7. Thou shalt have no balance. Remember thou that men must fall over and into each other at every step, puddle, path, street, game, instrument, opportunity, or obstacle in existence. This, and this alone, shall be the occasion for their first kiss. The said kiss may be accidental, forced, or incite a wide-eyed surprise. But a loving nor sensual kiss it may not be.

8. Thou shalt depict at least one instance of fornication in thy tale. Or two, if thou hast taken care enough to inscribe a story for the second(ary) couple. But the act shall not unfold until the penultimate chapter. Thou shalt tease thy viewers for ten long hours, and grant them gratification for ten short seconds, which to most shall be proof positive that Moses was heterosexual. Thou mayst inflict additional torture upon thy viewers by interrupting the said gratification with deafening music and wanton cuts.

9. Thou shalt choose from the following any number of ornaments to embellish thy tale: gentle wiping of the lips (for there is a general want of raiment in our kingdom), gentle forehead kiss, gentle lock-of-hair restoration, gentle somnolent confession, a gentle fever, a gentle towel bath for said fever, a gentle pour-over coffee, a gentle post-modern coffee-shop to house that coffee, and forget not thou, a not-so-gentle last-minute conflict, a forced separation, or a wandering to parts abroad wherein shall cease all modern communication. If imagination thou lackst, thou mayst construct a story from these elements alone.

10. Thou shalt by no means indicate homophobia in thy tale, unless it furthereth thy plot and our cynical purpose. Friends and family shall be universally supportive, unless it force a separation between thy characters. (Parents and spouses shall be left otherwise dead, be it from accident or ailment, to anoint the show with cheap sentiment.) Remember thou, always, that this is a world of pandering fantasy, not reality.

Biblical Proportions:
Commandments Broken: 8 (partly).
Commandments Obeyed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (again and again and again), 9, 10.

Observations:
Well, this one is for the books. Every TBL commandment was kept to the letter, except, in small part, for the 8th, and that too only because the love scene between the teacher and student came so early. But then, that scene was so badly done that I wonder if the commandment was broken after all.
There is no writing in this show to speak of, no script, no real story-telling, no serious attempt at characterisation. Nothing. Just the loose outlines of an imaginary BL... The experience of watching this show is something akin to ordering a small package on Amazon. You order a simple toothbrush, and are shocked to find, the next day, a huge cardboard box sitting at your door step, only to realise that, when you open it, there are 7 smaller boxes inside, each stuffed with shredded paper and bubblewrap. By the time you get to the final box, you forget what you ordered, what has arrived, and what you were looking for. You just know there is a huge mess to clean up, and that a lot of trees have given up their lives for it.
The men are beautiful, two of them quite sexy, and for that reason, I gave 'casting' a 5. If any of the actors start *acting*, someone please let me know. I'll be sleeping in the back.
There will be, I imagine, a lot of hand-wringing and pearl-clutching about the teacher-student relationship. But, as the first commandment states, this is just an apparent taboo. No trust has been broken, no consent violated. The age gap is dimunitive, the "teaching" is more like tutoring (lasting a mere few weeks), and both men are above the age of consent. There are no interesting or troubling power dynamics at play here. Nothing to be outraged about. It's just dull.
Finally, for fucks' sake, just say it. It's not the fucking plague. And we are not in Florida.. So say it. Yu Xing is gay. Come, say it with me: "gay". See? The world didn't fall apart.

Verdict:
This is a dreadful show. It might even be one of the worst BLs to come out of Taiwan. Avoid it. Avoid it like radioactive waste.

Reader's Digest:
DO SAY: Blessed Art Thou, O Lord
DON'T SAY: That Don't Impress Me Much

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left no lasting positive impression (watch suggestions)

Overall: I enjoyed the country/beach setting, but the bratty ML and cliched plot points were annoying. 9 episodes about 24 minutes each. Aired on Viki https://www.viki.com/tv/40928c-impression-of-youth ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/impression-of-youth-episode-1-rfcqsvgnbk?lang=en_us ; and Apple TV+ https://tv.apple.com/show/impression-of-youth/umc.cmc.3q2hki0rbshbgwxs4s4rnnivz

Content Warnings: past death, grief, high school/substitute teacher (not portrayed as creating a power imbalance but this dynamic inherently has one), non con kiss

Watch Suggestions (I don't have the energy to back thru the first few episodes, here are suggestions starting at ep 6 to focus on sweet/steamy parts)
- episode 6 start at 20 min
- episode 7 watch beginning to 4:40, 11:20-11:45, 15:10-17:30, 21:20-end
- episode 8 stop at 11:50
- episode 9 watch 23:20-end

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise
- sibling relationship/suppportive, the older brother gave good advice in ep 9
- shirtless construction work
- countryside/beach setting
- intimacy, not afraid to shower together

Room For Improvement
- the pacing with the main relationship development went way too fast, it felt jarring
- too many flashbacks of recent events/repeated flashbacks/of a character who died
- used his friend like that to confirm his feelings
- normally a 4-5 year age gap (the teacher was graduating university so ~22, in episode 8 they confirmed the age of the high schooler so he was 18 when the series started) wouldn't bother me, but the high school student acted so young (pouty, moping, bratty, refused to communicate, even his brother said he was throwing a tantrum) and the fact that they made the older guy his teacher (even though it was a short substitute position, he was still his teacher) made me not invested in their relationship
- too much screentime taken up in flashback with his female friend in episode 7
- the 2 year time jump in the final episode, but at least it wasn't longer
- the ending with the main couple felt anticlimactic/incomplete

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Cliché after cliché and vastly lack of chemistry...

While we expect shows from Taiwan to be quite nice, this one disappoints. The story is full of clichés, nothing new is told, the lack of chemistry between the couples makes this unbelievable af.

Even when the story tried to eat from the forbidden fruit, it did not make this show in the least interesting. Mostly it was boring and without any charme or emotions. Even the cinematography was not artsy and of course nobody showers with wearing underwar :) When actors are new, maybe Taiwan should also use the practice of an extensive workshop.

The only good things I have to say about this show: A nice title theme and we were spared over-acting comedy and childishness. Overall it was really forgettable. It's not the worst show from Taiwan but the 2nd worst. Better skip it and do something useful with your time.

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A cute cast and engaging story, sure to make you smile..:)

This is an 'easy on the mind and easy on the eyes'- show.....a cute cast, easy but engaging story, and reasonably okay acting...makes for a very pleasing and satisfying watch...ok, NGL, I watched it mostly for the cast...:P

BL-needle score: 8.5 - Very high BL-ness

Final year Art graduate student Yu Xing, is forced by his mentor to go look for inspiration away from the city and on his recommendation, ends up getting a temporary art teacher job for a month in a rural hamlet by the sea, where he is supposed to find his inspiration....he meets Xu Lu Hui there, a smiling-all-the-time high schooler, who aspires to pursue painting, and is also his student at the school...Lu Hui is the younger brother of Xu Lu Xi who runs a homestay where Yu Xing will stay for his time at the hamlet...The story then follows the cute entanglements of Lu Hui with Yu Xing, and that of Lu Xi with a new ( and hot) neighbour Bingchen, who has come back to the hamlet to open a cafe in the memory of his wife who passed away due to terminal illness.

As with most Taiwanese BLs, the cast is so damn easy on the eyes...particularly the Lu brothers...I so want to go spend a few days at their homestay... .though my initial score was lower, I raised it to to 7.5, for the wholesome cuteness ..and then, also for Lu Xi (Will Wen) :D

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May I Spoke Something?

Now, who and who’s youth were these people trying to imitate, cuz it sure as hell ain’t mine. Nothing vex me pass the title. Impression of Youth. Who’s youth? I feel like I aged just watching this drama. Between that annoying grown arse student who acted like he's 5½ , the boring love interest who's whole thing was drawing and having a cat, the horny homestay owner and the widower who thinks his dead wife brought the horny homestay owner to him so he could be happy, I feel like I’ve lost 4 hours of my life. Drama, you own me 4 hours, cough it up.

At the end of the drama, we are made aware the whole point was for them to capture their youth on their canvas, anything that left an impression on them. The problem is, this drama was so dull that I didn't connect with anything at all, and none of it left an impression. I had no emotional investment in this drama whatsoever. I didn’t buy/connect with the love/chemistry between the two leads. And it was like I blinked and they were smashing, sure I fell asleep a lot of times and had to rewatch at 2x to get through it, but still that felt fast, or was it long? Literally, during their love scene with all that sweating, I legit went, ‘are y'all done yet?’ Even that supposed spicy scene bored me.

Listen, I tried but I couldn’t find the charm of this drama. Sure they did some things some youths do in their youth, beach, arts, whining, finding love, but the whole thing was so bland and the only impression it managed to leave on me was that I’ve wasted some of my youth watching it. And no, it’s not that the drama is bad, it just that it's so… so… utterly boring.

Normally most of the Taiwanese dramas I've watched be cooking, and this one had a plot. But, it was dull, had nothing unique about it, and left me feeling disappointed. I rarely drop shows, so I stuck with this although it was going nowhere, but it took an insane amount of willpower to do so. I don’t know if there was lack of chemistry or connection between the cast, but it felt like they were going through the motion on the screen, the same way I was going through it behind it, watching and wondering when it was gonna end.

The Main Leads:
Boring, just boring. That student is whiny as hell, a grown child who overreacts to everything and acts like he's 5. And that love interest, literally the only thing interesting about him is that he owns a cat. Honestly, the only episode in this drama I felt was good and didn’t almost put me to sleep was that one episode where the main leads were not together cuz one left town. Oh and that scene when that whiny child kissed his friend to confirm his feelings. Other than that, bland.

And that child spent the finale throwing a tantrum because his boyfriend wanted to pursue his dreams, then they'd like for me to believe that, the couple of weeks they spent together was so strong that dude gave up his dream to stay with that whiny child. Yes, we all make stupid decisions in our youth, but really? Meh. And then they showed the whiny child has grown and he out there acting like the impression of his youth that he'd captured in his paintings were everything. Dude, you were whiny and annoying, why didn't you capture that?

No really, the two leads are so forgettable they could have been replaced by a houseplant and it wouldn’t have made a darn difference to me. Sure, sure, they needed to be in the drama, but did they really? The drama could have been about the widower and the brother and it would have been okay. Probably even less boring.

The Second Leads:
Already from the start we saw the brother was tasty for that man opening the cafe, and the getting them together should have been super fun, but it was so-so. By the time the husband was going ‘oh my dead wife might have brought this horny guy to me’ I’ve lost interest in them. And it’s not because their plot was bad, it’s just everything surrounding it was not motivating me to care one bit.

The Plot:
This had a plot, but I don't know how they could have make it more interesting then what they already gave us. Could a different cast had perhaps brought more charm to the roles? Was it the direction or the pace? I don't know, but everything about it was not keeping my interesting. Story wise, there was an artist, something about watermelons or another, someone’s wife died, and the second leads had ice cream and fell in love or something. Oh and there was a girl who didn’t get the guy, obviously, and there was a lot of sweating while having sex. And there was… you know what, never mind, it doesn’t make any difference. Forget about it. Oh, everyone had their happy endings in the end, so there's that.

Anyway. Meh. This needed charm and it had none. Give it a chance if you have nothing better to do. As for me, I'll probably never return to it again. It left no impression on me whatsoever.

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Two couples. Two different journeys of love, self-discovery, and the pursuit of passion.

At first glance, Impression of Youth seems like a familiar story—an aspiring artist struggling with a creative block is sent to a quiet town, where new experiences and unexpected connections reshape his perspective. But as the drama unfolds, it proves to be much more than a simple romance. It’s a thoughtful exploration of personal growth, love’s transformative power, and the ways we find inspiration in the people who enter our lives.

Yu Xing (Muji Hsu), a graduate student grappling with artistic stagnation, arrives in a rural town as a substitute teacher. There, he meets Xu Lu Hui (Andrew Chien), a high schooler whose passion for painting burns bright despite his limited resources. What begins as an unlikely connection slowly becomes something more, as both navigate emotions they’ve never experienced before. Beyond their growing relationship, Yu Xing’s journey is also about rediscovering his own voice as an artist, learning to observe and feel in ways that shape both his work and his heart.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2025/03/19/impression-of-youth-series-review-ep-3-to-9/

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GOOD FOR A BING

Well I'm not really a fan of the teacherXstudent troupe, but I decided to give it a try because:
1. the teacher ml wasn't actually a teacher ml more like a suspended uni student trying to make up for graduation by teaching. NOTE: So for those of you who don't like the teacherXstudent troup and are planning on skipping because of that, no worries it isn't that strong you won't find it weird. But for those of you planning to watch FOR the age gap......*tsk* *tsk* you'll be dissapointed.....cause I mean unless it's a double digit age gap it's not that uncommon now a days.
2. It was short and can be binged in the matter of a couple of hours
3. Not too much of an emotional roller-coaster doesn't do too much drama
Well I did find the Highschooler ml a little childish and disoriented towards his goal, but ig it's fine....
In short the series wasn't a MASTERPIECE but was a fairly ok-ish enough watch.
Character development may not be THAT significant for tother but it is there atleat for Bingchen.

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A Phenomenal Journey of Self-Discovery

This story has a feel about it that screams that the people involved were simply meant to be. But apparently, I did not see the same story that others saw. There are some rather harsh reviews of this series that frankly I simply do not understand – at all. Overall, this is a brilliant and beautiful story about 4 young men who find themselves interconnected at just the right time. Each traversed a journey of self-discovery that is succinctly told and brilliantly acted. Sure, it could have used more episodes to flesh out and enhance its characters more, but overall, this saga had a clear beginning, an understanding middle, and a rather satisfying ending. Plus, I liked it – a lot! Overall, I think this is a very impactful and powerful BL that has been sliced up into mini-moral pieces based upon a lack of understanding life. If you have lived as long as I have, sometimes you can step back from the noise and righteous indignation and see it from its full perspective. Not everything or everyone is perfect. But this BL frankly turned out right. Don't listen to the naysayers. This is a good series! You can read my full review of this great series at BLBliss.com.

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Eh

The positives: 1. Andrew Chien's acting, 2. the beautiful scenery 3. acceptance? 4. How easy it was to skip over the second couple. I didn't have to even try.
Negatives: 1. hello? The student-teacher relationship that was completely unaddressed. I mean, at least mention passingly the moral and legal issues. I can only say that Xu Luhui was probably of age because there were some scenes where he was drinking, but still! The brother was like, Go for it! This seems to be a thing for Taiwanese BL that I really don't need. I guess if we're going to create a fantasy world where everyone is gay and happy and homophobia doesn't exist, then we can have a world... ok, never mind. Still not ok. There were some things they could have waited for until he wasn't literally his teacher anymore. I mean, it was only a month.
2. out-of-place, graphic sex scenes. I know this is the MO for a lot of BL, but please don't rely on this now to sell BL. Please give me a good storyline and acting first.
3. Episodes 6-8 were completely unnecessary (honestly, I pretty much didn't watch them.) If you're going to get your main couple together barely more than halfway through, please think about how you're going to keep your audience engaged. Or don't get them together so early - in all the senses of the word. You could have used those three episodes to let the main couple simmer while responsibly waiting for the ONE MONTH where they were teacher and student to be over. And maybe let the high schooler graduate. Just maybe.

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Disappointed

The show started out already boring. It picked up a little as the story progressed, so I continued. However, story got nowhere.
The actors can't act. Muji Hsu (the guy that played the art teacher) his acting hasn't improved. I watched him in the bl series, "Because of You." He is still the same. Emotionless, stiffed. His character is boring, shows no excitement. The art student his character is so childish to me. Maybe that's because his character is supposed to only still be a high school student? But still, imature.
They have no chemistry at all. Zero!
Their storyline was boring!
The art teacher showed no interest in the mc(art student) but suddenly just accepted the mc's confession.
Their was no relationship build up between them. During the confession and they kissed, as a viewer, I didn't feel any special feelings for them.
The second couple had a better chemistry, but still very lacking too.

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