This review may contain spoilers
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
“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
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