The Blood of Youth

This is the best Wuxia and best drama series ever! What an exciting, thrilling, passionate, fantastic, and gorgeous love letter to youth, and Wuxia! The plot is wildly fascinating and intriguing, the characters and each of their storylines are super rich and deeply emotional, the Chinese costumes are superbly stunning and exquisite, and the special effects/cgi scenes are amazingly magnificent and dazzling! If you like Chinese historical dramas, Wuxia, Xianxia, Xuanhuan, or fantasy, you will LOVE this drama! Not to mention all of the actors and actresses are delightfully BEAUTIFUL. There are only 40 episodes, but wish there were 10,000,000!

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.

OK, I'll say this once and for all before I even proceed with this review: THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST WUXIA DRAMAS EVER MADE! In fact, I would argue it's in the top three.

Now, it's time to talk about the stunning cast and costumes. First, I must be the millionth person to say that Li Hongyi is a triple threat: brilliant actor, strong with combat choreography, and prime eye candy. But let's not discount the fact that the ENTIRE main cast are exceptionally strong actors. Ao Rui Peng, Liu Xue Yi, and Li Xin Ze made my day whenever they were on screen, as did He Zhong Hua as the Xueyue Spear Deity and Dong Li Wu You as the Wushuang City Lord.

In fact, Wu Shuang became one of the more interesting side characters for me simply based on his hubris and tenacity, especially after taking the city lord position by force (threatening the council with violence). Seeing him slowly master the Wushuang Sword Box and run around getting into fights just to increase his strength-an attribute very similar to Lei Wu Jie's fiery, pure spirit-I was genuinely curious about where his story would lead. I would definitely be interested in watching a side arc showing his character development.

Back to the cast: it is rare to see so many strong actors together in one series. Even the supporting cast was top tier. From Du Jun Ze as the Jade Deity to Cao Yu Chen as the Tao Sword Deity of Mount Wangcheng, I was more and more delighted with the introduction of each and every character in the show. And let's not forget Deng Kai as Prince Chi. Not only did he do a wonderful job portraying this role, but I daresay he rivaled many of the main cast costume-wise and was strikingly handsome too (despite his character being the most ungrateful, petty, vindictive, and scheming person on the planet).

Regarding Li Hongyi as the ML: I love how Xiao Se/Xiao Chu He was both the star and the underdog in this series, having to work his way back to his optimal form. Despite his weakened state, his attitude was enough to make it clear that he isn't just anybody. I found it refreshing to see him slowly warm up to Lei Wu Jie, and I could tell that he saw his former self in Lei Wu Jie-a time when he was full of vigor and still unscathed by the disappointments and tragedies of the world. I loved their interaction, and it was a joy to watch the main cast grow together to form real bonds that transcend even life and death.

Now let's talk about the jaw-dropping combat choreography, the intricate naming system for the swords, and stunning CGI imagery. I'll sum these up with one word: SUBLIME!

This show allows the viewer to witness and savor the power structure established by the old leaders while cheering on the limitless potential of the upcoming youth of the martial arts world. The plot is solid and the ending gives us closure. After watching it for the second time, I still can't express enough how much I enjoyed this series.

If I could give it 20 stars, I would. Highly recommended!

I easily get bored while watching a show, especially one as long as this. But this show is amazing. Never a dull moment, and there are so many plot twists that you can't guess the direction of the show. The fight scenes are so awesome. I've watched a lot of shows like these but this has some of the best scenes ever. I haven't finished the show but so far, this is one of the best shows, if not the best show in this genre, I have ever watched. It has a perfect balance of plot and fight scenes. That way you won't get bored over the story line.

Please watch and enjoy. Don't miss out on such a great film.

It's poorly written Chinese version of Avatar show. It started really good and watched first 7 episodes at once but It quickly turned from action to love story and became very boring. Acting was also not good only the fire power kid had some expressions on his face. Rest of the cast felt like reading dialogues and forgot to act. Story is just all over the place. I have not read the book but the show is definitely not good. I really don't understand the need to making every Chinese show romantic even though it doesn't add any value to it and make show boring and slow. To sum it up I couldn't watch it post 11th episode and had to drop it because I was too bored.