Before this TV series came out, I already saw it and even after it came out, I didn't think to watch it because I thought the poster was a bit dull and simple. (I always judge the poster before watching a movie and then I decide whether to watch it or not based on the poster it has.) And I also thought that the story is too simple. To be honest, I have already passed. Then I saw in a post on Facebook that this TV series became popular in China and got a lot of positive ratings and the rating of over 7 on Douban (IMDb of China). So, I decided to take a look. And I'm glad that I watched.
This TV series is superb, you know. This was the first time I saw Li Hongyi. I have never seen any of his films before and even I didn't know who he is until I saw this one. But while I was watching this and after, I became his fan. He's a new actor but he could do amazing job and performed the exactly how Xiao Se character is. His acting skill is great. And also the other actors are.
One of the facts that made this TV series great is the casting. Almost all of actors (except for one) are perfectly fit in their characters. They could perform their characters very well. It's like they were born to play their characters they were acting. Because of this, it became great.
Another fact I like to mention is the usage of doubles and stunts in movies. In some Chinese TV series, I have seen very clearly that they have used doubles and stunts. Of course every movie that has action scenes, they always use doubles and stunts. But you need to do it not to be seen as doubles and stunts were doing those actions. It should be seen like the actual actors are doing those scenes. This is the art of using doubles and stunts. If this seems too obvious, then I feel like the whole thing is destroyed. I have already seen those kinds of TV series where doubles and stunts are doing actions very clearly. But in this TV series, it's not obvious. I almost thought that the actual actors were doing those actions. This is one of the facts that I like this one a lot.
About the story, yes, the story is simple. It's about fighting to get that god-damned throne which some of us have seen a lot in Chinese TV series. I also have seen a lot of those stories. Enough to feel bored. But this one is quite different. A simple story, but it didn't make me bored. The director somehow managed to make it not to seem bored. There are some funny scenes but it didn't destroy the whole thing. In fact, those scenes made the audience relaxed during this kind of difficult time. This is another reason why this TV series is great.
Here comes the special effects. Most of the special effects used in Chinese TV series somehow had flaws. Some were not smooth. Some made us think this was made later in editing stage. But special effects used in this TV series seemed to be real. I almost thought that this has happened in real life, not in the movie. I must admit that China's CG skill has improved a lot. I hope they could continue like this in the future.
Soundtracks and original scores are one of the things that made a movie great or completely destroyed. The original scores used in this TV series are also great too. And also soundtracks. A lot of soundtracks are used from animation's. But this is also good. The songs are perfectly fit in the scenes they were put in. And also those songs are very good to listen. I love them very much.
The only thing I don't like is the fact that this TV series has only 40 episodes. Forty episodes is kind of short. I want it to have 50 episodes because after I watched it, I felt like it's too early that it's finished. I wanted to watch more because of the fact that I became Li Hongyi's fan and also the fact that it is very good to watch.
If I have to recommend a friend what to watch, I would highly recommend this TV series because of it's high quality that made a movie great. 10/10. Well done, Shao Nian Ge Xing (aka The Blood of Youth) team.
