O Sangue da Juventude (2022)

Fan of wuxia genre? A must watch!

One of the best wuxia dramas in recent years. If you are a fan of wuxia, this is legit! It has many of the wuxia tropes; sects, court politics, secret arts, assassin's guide, youths who dream of justice and adventures, and especially; ranking and ranking of swords!! You can sing the national anthem of ‘Dugu Qiubai’ here lol. They certainly did not cheap out on the production nor the choreography, because it was just simply so beautiful. You can tell they spent ALOT of time on it. I saw the directors and checked some of their past works, now I understand why the choreography and sequences are so well filmed, I love some of their past works!

The sword names, fighting, and even the details for all of it…hollyyyy crappp, this is wuxia’s fan wetdream. I'm really glad I didn’t watch it when it first came out, because I woulda gone crazy waiting for it. But now, I can binge it. You have to trust me, if you really love wuxia and appreciate great fight choreography and sequences, this show is a must!

Also, Li Hong Yi should really try out for ventriloquist, because for the whole freaking drama the biggest I see his mouth move is to this extent *o* it is like he talks in all lower cases I swear. If you take a shot for any time you can see his set of upper teeth, you can only be drunk after rewatching the whole drama 3 times. Lmaoo

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An Exciting but Mysterious Drama

This Wuxia drama is one of the best I've seen in a while! Going into this show, I didn't have high expectations and only knew Li Hongyi (Xiao Se) and Ao Ruipeng (Lei Wujie). However, I am truly impressed by the production and acting of this drama. From an encounter with a young swordsman, who would've known that Xiao Se was going to end up where he did?

The story starts when Lei Wujie, a young swordsman from the Lei Clan with dreams of becoming a sword deity, ends up destroying a inn while helping the rich innkeeper, Xiao Se, get rid of a few bandits. After seeing his beloved inn being torn up, Xiao Se ends up traveling with Lei Wujie to XueYue City, where he will collect his compensation. On the journey, they meet Wu Xin, a highly skilled monk, and Tang Lian, Tang Clan and XueYue City's best disciple. The duo soon will meet many other talents including the mischievous Sikong Qianluo, the calculated Ye Ruoyi, the talented young divine healer Hua Jin, the young sword deity Wu Shuang, etc.

Overall, the story was very interesting, although it was quite confusing to understand at times. The special effects were very cool and creative, every character had their own touch and style of martial arts. We were able to see character development from each character throughout this drama. Personally, my favorite character was Xiao Se. A smart, mysterious young man who was always another step ahead of everyone else, Xiao Se kept many secrets about his true identity. It was clear that he cared a lot for his friends, even though he wouldn't show his affection physically.

The actors and actresses themselves portrayed their characters very well. The costumes and styling of this drama were spectacular, each outfit matched each character's aura and style. My only complaint is that the romantic aspects of this drama were lacking. Many of the characters did not have great chemistry, although it was clear that they were pretty close behind the camera. Despite this, there were a selected few relationships that were well depicted, one of them being Li Hanyi and Zhao Yuzhen's story.

Each character on the screen was there because they had a purpose. I do like how the production crew left out characters that were not necessary at the moment. However, there were characters that I would have liked to see more of, especially Wu Xin, who got a small amount of screen time for a main lead. After his return to TianWaiTian, he only appeared a couple of times again.

There is not much to say about the music in this drama. It is typical Wuxia music. The songs were good and enhanced some scenes.

Overall, it was a beautiful drama that portrayed the JiangHu well. Definitely would recommend it to others who want to watch a drama that includes a lot of brotherhood and teamwork.

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the bestest wuxia drama out there!

This one of my favourite and the most awed wuxia drama ever, I never could stick to a historical drama plot for longer but this drama... there wasn't a single episode that didn't make me clench my fists in anticipation of the next. Every single episode is packed with so much thrill, new plot twists and the acting, was just spectacular.
I love this story so much maybe cause the donghua was one of my favourite and I've also read the novel cause I couldn't wait anymore and wanted to know how the story progressed. and this live-action truly made the novel justice..I can't believe how truly amazing this series it, now I wish I could watch it all over again.

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Wuxia that borderlines on Xianxia; Superb!

I used to watch Wuxia movies before when I was young but as I grow old my orientation to details just can't get past the failures in the props or dragging story.

But was I surprised by this series! The costumes, make up, martial arts, and the use of CGI was almost perfect!

And the story connects from start to finnish. As well as the main drive of the main protagonist.

The political battle was also worth it.

And the ending, God, I love the ending! The wit is still there. It doesn't pretend that to be best or greatest you have to be the God of the Universe or something like that. It's about choice! That's why I love the main MC.

I don't know how much is the budget for this series but it was so well done.

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This is one of the best wuxia dramas I’ve watched.

I loved the plot ,storyline and how it started to make sense . I love how everyone grew physically ,emotionally and also in their abilities . I loved it when I saw some of the cast members from other dramas like word of honor etc. The romance didn’t dampen the story and every episode has something going on .
We are introduced to each character whenever they feature . There’s the friendship between the group of friends and that even gets stronger when they become guardians protecting Xiao Se(ie the 6th exiled prince). They were willing to die for him and he was also willing to die for them . At some point ,it gave me word of honor feelings and nirvana in fire feelings especially since Xiao Se lost his martial abilities ( if he used his inner or true qi,it will cost him his life) but he still takes the risk for his friends .

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Excellent Action Scenes complimented by creative use of CGI + Good Pacing

“The Blood of Youth” is an enjoyable watch for it. It has great elements of a Chinese historical drama - good bromance, excellent CGI to complement great fight scenes, an engaging plot with good pacing, and a palace politics plot that doesn’t bore me to death. It’s no wonder it receives such high praises and has a MDL rating of 8.8 at the moment.

Comedy - I was initially skeptical as I worried the comedy would not be to my liking. Fortunately, comedic moments were sprinkled throughout the drama and not over-the-top. Thanks to Lei Wu Jie’s innocent and carefree personality and Monk Wu Xin’s sarcasm and arrogance, they brought a lot of fun and lightheartedness to the drama. I actually miss Wu Xin in the second half of the drama when the drama switches to a more political plot. There isn’t enough Wu Xin in this drama!

Fight Scenes - Since this is not a high budget S+ production, this drama is using its money wisely. The best part about “The Blood of Youth” to me is the amazing fight scenes, complemented by some creative use of CGI and fireworks. This might not be a true wuxia drama like “Side Story of Fox Volant”, but I am impressed with the fast-moving sword fights. My pet peeve is slow-motion, twirling scenes, and luckily, we don’t have those in this drama. The wire work by all actors is pretty good, and there's a lot! Most of the action scenes are concentrated in the first half of the drama, and I have to say, I miss the action in the second half until we get to ep 38’s grand finale. However, the CGI for non-fight scenes are lacking. There are a few scenes that were so low quality that I wondered if I was watching the same drama.

Acting - Acting is decent. The veteran actors are great and the younger generation did an ok good job. I do think Li Hong Yi lacks charisma to be the lead. His spoken lines not matching the dubbing bugged the heck out of me for the longest time. It seems like he's mumbling all the time. His acting and line delivery got better in the later episodes but they did dampen my excitement in the first 5 episodes or so. It doesn’t help that for the most part, he was just standing there providing commentary and character background introductions in these early episodes. It also took me a few episodes to get used to Ao Rui Peng’s portrayal of the young and naive Lei Wu Jie. But then, his acting and character grew on me and I ended up liking him quite a bit. I bet Wu Xin is everyone’s favorite character and he’s mine as well. I can’t get enough of his sassiness, even though Liu Xue Yi definitely doesn’t look like a teenager.

Characters - This drama has a very huge cast. I actually think the drama introduced too many characters in the first couple episodes. It was hard to remember everyone’s names, titles, weapons and weapons names, and the different sects. Even though you will see the same 10 or so characters consistently, introducing so many in the beginning is confusing. It’s also nice to see some very strong female characters. It’s about time we see more strong ladies who are smart, brave and can fight. They might not play as big a role as their male counterparts, but at least they are not damsels in distress.

Bromance - The bromance in this drama is definitely a lot better than romance. It was fun when Xiao Se, Wu Xin, Lei Wu Jie and Tang Lian were all together. I love their interactions and bickering, and supporting each other in the first half of the drama. Unfortunately, scenes of them together dwindled in the second half. But then we see more of Xiao Se and his brother Prince Bai. I wish the drama had more scenes of them together and show us more of their frenemies brotherhood.

Romance - They are all underwhelming. There is no chemistry between Xiao Se and Sikong Qian Luo. I understand Xiao Se is more reserved and has bigger plans, but showing more hints of an attraction would be appreciated. Lei Wu Jie and Ye Ruo Yi’s romance is a little better and cuter, but not by much. I am most interested in finding out how Tan Lian and Fairy Lady Rui met and how they fall for each other, but their screen time is limited. The more developed romance might be the one between the two Sword Deities, Li Han Yi and Zhao Yu Zhen. If you are looking for romance in this drama, you will be very disappointed.


Other Random Observations:
1. I was VERY sad when a certain character/guardian died so soon. ?
2. OST is ok, nothing impressive.
3. I like the costumes and they don’t appear cheap. They just seem very thickly layered but it also appears to be quite cold.
4. The end of the villain seems a little anticlimactic.
5. I do not like the dubbing in this drama at all. I am disappointed that most of the actors are dubbed.

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Looking forward to season two

I'm two years late to this party and there are lots and lots of reviews here so my review will very probably get buried here. Nonetheless, I do want to write out my review even if very few people will read it. Here we go.

Overall, this drama is very enjoyable. Stupid dumb funny at times, with some really powerful moments, a pretty good storyline, extraordinarily handsome cast and incredible acting. I feel dumb for letting it simmer in my to watch playlist for so long, my online friend nudged me to watch it. Maybe it's because she presented this drama to me as "friends roaming the martial arts world with cool martial arts" that I expected something a little different. However, I still think the plot has quite some room for improvement.

I think the writers could've easily pushed this drama for even 60 episodes if they kept the spirit and flow. The storyline felt a little rushed, jumping forward three months here, one month there. I mean yes, we can't have a detailed report as a cut screen, but these fast forwards in the storyline line were put in quite often. Xiao Se, Lei Wujie and Wuxin promised each other to roam the martial arts world together and it lasted for like 5 minutes. I think this part definitely should've been longer. Wuxin and the white haired deity from Tianwantian should've appeared on Xiao Se's journey more often and overall could've had a separate story line which would occasionally intertwine with the main group. Wuxin gave Xiao Se and Lei Wujie two of his martial arts only for those two to use them minimally. Especially the Abysmal Eye should've and could've been used better. I loved the hell out of Mu Chunfeng, this part was really great. I think the storyline should've spent a longer time in the Lei Fortress. How dare they cast such a handsome actor for the new lord of the Lei Clan and give him such a short appearance. The audacity lol. The storyline of Lei Hong and Li Hanyi dissipated into thin air, especially since Zhao Yuzhen died. I think this love triangle was unnecessary. Fairy Luoxia and her disciple storyline felt a little pressured, we could've done without it (or made it longer with more episodes). I hated that we lost Tang Lian, Zhao Yuzhen's death was enough. I think that Tang Lian could've been made into the drugged puppet instead of Wuxin, although it was a very Wuxin thing to become a drugged puppet. But on the other hand, we wouldn't have had the grand scene of Lian's memorial, that scene was mind-blowing and breathtaking. The Tianqi city story and "fight" for the throne felt a little hassled. Twenty minutes ago, three friends wanted to have fun and now we're in an imperial fight, where did the time fly to? And this is why I think this drama would've benefited from more episodes. Just take it easier with the same flow, I'm sure the writers would've made it as incredible. I really loved the last two episodes, no tacky words, no forced happy end and marriage, just really ending on a good note and open for furthering the story. I just hope that if season two will be made into reality, that it will exceed this season. Or at least be equally enjoyable.

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Entertaining

I finally had a chance to watch this and was not disappointed. I liked the overarching storyline but admittedly had to rewind periodically to understand who some of the new characters and subplots inserted throughout the first half of the series were. But what kept me watching was the entertaining dynamics of the bond/friendship development and humorous interactions of the 3 main characters Xiao Se, Wu Xin, and Lei Wu Jie. I also enjoyed the fact that the female characters were also powerful fighters. Almost every episode was action filled. The love connection between Xiao Se and the female love interest wasn’t very strong. The music matched well with the scenes - there’s a a couple in particular that I really like. Perfect casting of the 3 main ML’s: Li Hong Yi’s calm, cool and elegant demeanor, Ao Rui Peng’s silly, naive, and high-energy, and Liu Xue Yi’s serious and domineering presence.

Overall - very entertaining and will be on my rewatch list.

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Wuxia series lovers will be spoiled with good martial arts scenes

At the beginning of the story, our eyes have been spoiled with scenes of martial arts with cool CGI effects, lots of kung fu fight scenes. The theme of the story is already visible, namely the Power Struggle to become Emperor but the characteristics of the wuxia series are also still highlighted. All Characters from the Kingdom are described as proficient in martial arts Kungfu, this was a combination of the royal world and the martial world, it's a shame between the middle and the end of the episode the martial arts scenes are reduced but the kung fu martial arts fight at the end of the story is quite epic. The series features more friendship than love relationships between the characters, If you are a lover of romantic historical stories, don't expect to see sweet romantic scenes between ML and FL. At first, I thought that there would be a lot of amazing strategic battle scenes, but until the end of the story, I saw that strategy battles were still not that exciting, little bit of plot twist. the acting of all the male actors is good but the acting of all the female actors is not good maybe because of the demands of the scenario. For fans of the Wuxia series, this is worth watching

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the Drama are so perfect

First of all… Im not a fan of wuxia drama.. I love.. the romantic comedy.. but since lots of the actor is so eye catching.. and of course li hong yi, ao rui peng and liu xue yi on it i try to give it a try.. episode 1 i still try to figure out their character..but the story made me want to watch next episode…
i watch it on Youku apps..
I Cry When tang lian Died…
I love it when Wuxin always showed up when xiao se and wu jie in trouble.. but yet My tears cannot be hold when tang lian died..
I hate Xiao Yu so much..
Since the genre is not about romance so the ❤️ between the actor and actress not the main purpose on this drama.. Im not that disapointed about that..
i love that each character given are so perfect..

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One of the best modern wuxia to come out in a long itme!

There is something weirdly addictive about The Blood Of Youth. I usually hate “video game” wuxia with the flying sparkling kung fu, but the characters are compelling. Doesn’t hurt that Li Hong Yi (Xiao Se) is so pretty ?

One thing I like about The Blood Of Youth is that no matter how powerful Xiao Se, Wuxin and Wujie are, they still behave like young men who are impetuous and yes, childish! This makes for really funny moments between the trio, especially between Xiao Se and Wujie.

While most CDramas lose my interest after the 20th episode, not this one! The Blood Of Youth was tightly plotted, the characters so interesting.

Although the “magic” martial arts took some getting used to, this was a classic Wuxia tale. So, you have the themes of brotherhood, loyalty, chivalry and honour that the genre is known for.

The storytellers were brilliant, ramping up suspense in seemingly innocuous events to great heights. For one, who knew a banquet can be such a suspenseful and tense affair? And when the curtains finally parted and the truth of the banquet is finally revealed, you feel a whoosh of emotion at what it signifies. Now, that’s a fine piece of storytelling there.

When the show ended, I had a hangover because it ended “too soon” and I didn’t think I could watch anything this good in a long while. ?

Fortunately, 2023 turned out to be a great year for wuxia dramas, with Mysterious Lotus Casebook, The Ingenious One and A Journey to Love following soon after. Now, with season 2 of Blood of Youth just announced, I hope to enjoy more of our gang in the future!

Note: This is a condensed review of my longer review on my blog: https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/the-blood-of-youth-review/

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