This review may contain spoilers
The Best Adapatation in the TBOY Series
So amazing!!!! The peak level of friendly platonic bromance! And the constant subversion of expectations when your main characters are all bad guys just trying to be good.
THE CHARACTERS
Su Chang He (Chuang Hua Sen's character and SML) was PERFECCCCTTTTT!!! I know everyone is agreeing that he is the standout character/actor in this show. So complicated, but ultimately motivated by such intrinsic goodness and loyalty. So willing to lay down all power, control, prestige, for his friends. Gains everyone's following and the highest leadership title so early on, and yet forever acts subservient to others. A real humble king-like character: super OP, but always taking the humblest position.
Gong Jun's character really grew on me as well! It was nice that he was not always a goody two shoes, took justice into his own hands, trusted and understood SCH so unconditionally, and only really got murderous when it was to avenge SCH.
THE FLAWS
The worst 2 parts were 1) the romance, and 2) the unrealistic way that so many people lived for the sake of loving the "art of the sword", and treated every conflict like there were no real issues of life and death or strife in the world. Like when the city is under attack and the OP guys are somewhere playing chess and just commenting on how power is changing hands right now somewhere nearby (like why don't you do something about it and lend a hand???). People have important missions and they are willing to abandon them mid-mission just to fight a "worthy opponent" (unprovoked, not their enemy, just happens to be present). And if they get defeated, they just brush it off and fly away like it was not important to begin with. Most fights have no meaning, most people live so frivolously that you wonder how their society is functioning, because who is actually earning money, doing agriculture, running the city, building infrastructure, etc?
And the romance was just such an obnoxious deterrent from the ICONIC bromances going on, every last one. The only saving grace for this is that **spoiler** none of the CPs worked out in the end ;)
BETTER THAN TBOY
But this is so much better than the other stories in this world - The Blood Of Youth and Dashing Youth - b/c there was actually some MEANING to most of the battles. The Blood River folks had a purpose for their fights and power struggles. They never just fought to test out their skills (even though some non-Blood River people did), but they were fighting to the death to gain the title of the Patriarch, and then to free themselves from their patrons, and then to gain allies to help them re-write their name in society. Always a tangible goal, and always a fight that if it was not won and both sides made it out alive and unscathed, they could not allow the other to continue. Not like TBOY where **spoiler** they had so many fights in the first 10 episodes over the guy in the coffin, and then ultimately he just walked out on his own and kept going in the direction that everyone was trying to take him to (which was the SAME direction btw, I don't even know why they had to fight in the first place).
And also, the friendships here were so real, deep, and full of history, unlike the TBOY friendships that were formed on the fly in real-time and resulted in loyalty and proclamations of brotherhood that seemed to come out of nowhere and be rooted in knowing nothing about each other, very unrealistic.
All in all, so many positives that it cancels out all of the negatives and warrants a near perfect score.
THE CHARACTERS
Su Chang He (Chuang Hua Sen's character and SML) was PERFECCCCTTTTT!!! I know everyone is agreeing that he is the standout character/actor in this show. So complicated, but ultimately motivated by such intrinsic goodness and loyalty. So willing to lay down all power, control, prestige, for his friends. Gains everyone's following and the highest leadership title so early on, and yet forever acts subservient to others. A real humble king-like character: super OP, but always taking the humblest position.
Gong Jun's character really grew on me as well! It was nice that he was not always a goody two shoes, took justice into his own hands, trusted and understood SCH so unconditionally, and only really got murderous when it was to avenge SCH.
THE FLAWS
The worst 2 parts were 1) the romance, and 2) the unrealistic way that so many people lived for the sake of loving the "art of the sword", and treated every conflict like there were no real issues of life and death or strife in the world. Like when the city is under attack and the OP guys are somewhere playing chess and just commenting on how power is changing hands right now somewhere nearby (like why don't you do something about it and lend a hand???). People have important missions and they are willing to abandon them mid-mission just to fight a "worthy opponent" (unprovoked, not their enemy, just happens to be present). And if they get defeated, they just brush it off and fly away like it was not important to begin with. Most fights have no meaning, most people live so frivolously that you wonder how their society is functioning, because who is actually earning money, doing agriculture, running the city, building infrastructure, etc?
And the romance was just such an obnoxious deterrent from the ICONIC bromances going on, every last one. The only saving grace for this is that **spoiler** none of the CPs worked out in the end ;)
BETTER THAN TBOY
But this is so much better than the other stories in this world - The Blood Of Youth and Dashing Youth - b/c there was actually some MEANING to most of the battles. The Blood River folks had a purpose for their fights and power struggles. They never just fought to test out their skills (even though some non-Blood River people did), but they were fighting to the death to gain the title of the Patriarch, and then to free themselves from their patrons, and then to gain allies to help them re-write their name in society. Always a tangible goal, and always a fight that if it was not won and both sides made it out alive and unscathed, they could not allow the other to continue. Not like TBOY where **spoiler** they had so many fights in the first 10 episodes over the guy in the coffin, and then ultimately he just walked out on his own and kept going in the direction that everyone was trying to take him to (which was the SAME direction btw, I don't even know why they had to fight in the first place).
And also, the friendships here were so real, deep, and full of history, unlike the TBOY friendships that were formed on the fly in real-time and resulted in loyalty and proclamations of brotherhood that seemed to come out of nowhere and be rooted in knowing nothing about each other, very unrealistic.
All in all, so many positives that it cancels out all of the negatives and warrants a near perfect score.
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