2 words for this drama," DIS-CURSS-TING SHIYYYT" ~ in Lee Min ho accent (TLOTB)
honestly in the beginning when i was around ep 20 i wanted to title my review are 'TALE OF FRIENDSHIP AND YOUTH' ...then i wanted to change it to "A NARUTO TO EVERY HOPELESS AND LOST SASUKE" .. but in the end i chose the one i have written ?☝️ .. why ? cause i was beyond myself with rage after completing this drama. i mean even though the hypocrisy shown in this story was ironically real but why they wasted viewers time with heavy moral poetic dialogue commentary ...
anyways lets dive deep into the whole thing:
things about the drama that were good :
1) Immensely talented cast : say there were a lot of handsome faces and the cast of this show is huge .. for a fact that they introduced on an average 3-4 new characters in every new episode made it difficult for the viewers to keep a track of their names. but as far as the core cast is consider .. every actor is talented and good pick for their role, all of the delivered a REFINED performance.
2) breath taking VFX and cinematography : i was actually following this shows BTS on Hou MingHau's and other actors weibo account at the time of its shooting , there were videos of them performing action sequences using wires/ropes in front of the green screens .. now while watching the finished result .. i was shocked to see how realistic everything looked .. from dragon avatars to peach blossom petal dance ... everything was so clean and life like. funtastic editing .. camera placements and movements.
3) stunning outfits and impeccable styling : though the attire themed ancient but the detailing with embroidery and accessory gave them timeless look.
4) captivating background music : the OSt was the best .. there was a beautiful soft romantic song by Hou MH himself .overall the music of this drama was impressive.
5) friendship was the main theme while romance added depth to it.
6) chemistry between the leads was unique then the regular ones .. it wasnt passionate or born out of chaos , but peaceful and calmly understanding between the partners.
now lets talk about main character:
1) Baili dongjun: carefree (not careless) boy from family of duke/nobles wanted to become liquor expert (deity) but in his path of doing so he gets tangled in some affairs and end up becoming martial artist instead. this type of characters are liked by us all ... he is kind .. funny ..down to earth .. loyal friend .. loyal lover ... there for you whenever you need him kind of person. his character matures as the series flows to the climax he becomes more serious and responsible person keeping his principles,kindness and morals intact. Hou minghao did great justice to this role and why not ? his actually aura dissipates all these qualities.❤️❤️❤️❤️
2) yue yao: at first i found this character extremely boring but as she joins the academy entrance test she changes into a fun character ... and as her relationship with the ML depends we see her becoming more charming ..graceful .. and what can i say i slowly fall in love with her .. ~ in the last episode when she said she will support BDJ's decision of following yun Ye irrespective of the consequences ..oh my god !! chef's kiss .. thats how FL should be fearless and daring to take a stand with ML. the actress playing the role is cute .. her acting was also good❤️
3) Yun ye: the most unfortunate hero (another sasuke) .. THOUGH SASUKE NEVER GAVE TWO FUCKS ABOUT SAKURA ..but anyways ... this character teaches us the following lesson :
A) dont skip your exam for a woman specially when she is a prince's keep.
B) dont invite the prince consort inside your hut even if she comes to your door ..and definitely dont create babies with her.
C) dont start a war with the country when your own woman doesnt listen and leaves to her ex husband place behind your back.
D) definitely dont start a war for heartless woman who will go back to her another option after your death.
4) prince roufeng : this man was moving pile of horseshit ..viewers might have mixed opinion about this character but as for me i hated him to core ... there is this one thing to summarize " evil done for good cause is good ..but good done for evil cause is bigger EVIL" he was the main villain in my opinion cause he claimed to save the people's good while he cant even save a mere woman from his rapist brother ... the so called war that he thought he can ignore still fought a lot of blood was shed ..why because this human trash thought he is living buddha and whatever the hell he suggests is best for the humankind .. my ass .. the actor playing it did great job he delivered the hypocrisy realistically.
5) master li : all i feel for this character was 'respect' .. i actually thought i am one of his disciples❤️ ..both actor for the role were amazing
6) prince/king roujin : third class pathetic .. weak villain with cheap character ...and miraculously he was saved and the poor hero was killed ..
i dont like such third class stories which start like some Buddha manuscripts and end into somethings something more disgusting than a bangladeshi porn ... with all those musical poetic cringe worthy dialogue on righteousness and whatnot we get this crap- climax ... HUH! THANK YOU! NEXT ...
REWATCHING VALUE IS MINUS 10 (there were no star for that)
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Overall pretty good show. Had good enjoyable experience . I would definitely recommend watching this
I would say after watching the entire show that this drama really made sense to me.Every character had their own story and struggle and instead of clear demonstrating them black or white (pure good or pure evil) this really showed them Grey
Good had their share of bad and bad had their share of good qualities which was the key point I personally really enjoyed.
No one was solely"Hero" or "Villian" every one was "Character"
Long story short ?
I really enjoyed the show it was fun watching it.
I would definitely recommend
U SHOULD DEFINITELY WATCH THIS.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
CGI e figurinos são encantadores. O elenco é um deleite para os olhos e as atuações são boas.O roteiro foi um pouco arrastado, em algumas partes, desinteressante. O personagem Ye Yun tem a história mais comovente. Baili Dong Jun é o retrato de quem segue o coração. O príncipe Lang Ya é um personagem que decepciona muito, pois parecia ter senso de justiça e sabedoria, mas ao entregar o trono ao irmão perdeu a chance de reparar os muitos erros cometidos pelo pai (para quem assistiu TBOY, sabe o tamanho da imbecilidade que foi esse fato). A personagem Yi Wen Jun é aquela personagem em que nada se aproveita, pensou em tirar sua vida para não casar com o príncipe, mas acabou aceitando o casamento. Não queria o filho do príncipe, mas deixou a criança nascer. Não hesitou em abandonar o marido e o filho para viver ao lado do homem que amava, mas, também, não hesitou em abandonar o filho que teve com seu amado e deixar uma mísera carta para Ye Yun. Concordo com a fala de Baili Dong Jun: "O irmão Yun não lhe culpa, mas eu sim."
As cenas de ação são boas, mas muitas cenas que seriam interessantes, ficaram somente em nas legendas e nos desenhos. A própria formação dos quatro guardiões, foi apenas citada.
A trilha sonora é agradável.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Act from your heart
I want to preface by saying that I came to this drama without any knowledge of the novels or the sequel, TBOY. This drama illustrates the main message of acting from/following your heart, and we see that through BLDJ's journey. Here is a summary of my thoughts.The highlights:
- Amazing CGI effects (this must've been a high budget series), great aesthetics, and enough eye candies to keep you distracted
- The OSTs are probably one of my favourite things about this series, I've literally had them on repeat (nice to know that one was a solo track by Neo Hou and another by 5 of the main cast)
- The bromance and friendship between BLDJ and YDZ was just so touching and the anchor of the show. It was beautiful because their bond never faded even with time and distance. BLDJ was the one person who trusted and believed in YDZ until the very end (even when YDZ's love of his life, YWJ, didn't have enough faith in him and their relationship). It was tragic because you always think of what could've been if YDZ never lost his family and the two friends could grow up together
- The bromance between BLDJ and all of his seniors and SKCF was also great - their quirks and antics kept me going. I wish they fleshed out some of the characters more and their background story. I would totally enjoy side stories for each of them. I didn't have a hard time remembering all of them (there were SO many characters in this series) because they all had their own unique traits.
- I think everyone can agree that BLDJ's shifu NGCS is a fan favourite for a good reason - loved him. I can see the actor getting many love calls after this series
- The last 10 eps with the more engaging events of political strife and buildup
The lows
- As good as the CGI effects were, they were also overkill. Considering that this is supposed to be a wuxia series where the everyone is constantly emphasizing their passion for martial arts in almost every episode, the action scenes fell flat. There were barely any scenes with actual martial arts choreography. It was 95% talk and most scenes would end before they could even begin. The way they would name their moves was very cheesy at times.
- The timelines and convoluted series of events
- The romance. I didn't feel any sparks for the main couples - even between BLDJ and YY (who had more scenes together compared to YDZ and YWJ) felt lukewarm. They could've done without the romance or even glossed over it since there was a lack of foundation and proper development (especially between YDZ and YWJ).
- The female leads. I like YY's character and the actress conveyed her elegance very well, but I question the importance of her role. White YWJ was a plot device/catalyst of the main events, YY was diminished to just being BLDJ's companion for majority of the series
Overall, the drama would have done better if they had fleshed out some of the main characters, relationships and main events more. If you don't focus too much on the details, you can still enjoy the series.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Loved It, Outstanding Visual Effects & Martial Arts
A Martial Arts story with a little bit of politics in it. It has a nice balance of both martial arts & politics. The fighting scenes were so impressive. The only drama which fighting scenes I love is "My Journey to You" after that, this dramas fighting scenes I love. It has martial arts with VFX. And VFX is top-notch.If anyone want to watch Dashing Youth & The Blood of Youth both. I suggest to watch Dashing Youth first. Because in The Blood of Youth you'll get to know the story of Dashing Youth so it's better to watch this one first.
Baili Dong Jun is a lazy spoiled brat but has a goal to become a Liquor Deity. He is extra ordinarily talented & powerful. Sometimes he is a fool sometime he is the most mature person. He is righteousness. Love Hou Ming Hao acting.
Li Chang Sheng & Nangong Chun Shui characters a lot. Both the actors, Zhang Chen Xiao & Qiu Xin Zhi played the roles so marvelously. They portrayed the same character with the same personality but give their own touch to it. I was shocked to hear Li Chang Sheng's story. I'm sad that he won't be in the sequel.
Loved the opening sword technique of Gu Jian Men.
The 1st ep impressed me so much that my expectations for the rest of the episodes became high, especially the fight between Su Mu Yu & Gu Jian Men.
Lei Meng Sha is a chatterbox. Always saying something nonsense. And his laugh is also peculiar. But I like his character.
I was excited to know what would happen or what Baili Dong Jun & Sikong Chang Feng plan to do at Gu Jian Men's wedding.
Laughed how Lei Meng Sha reacted when he got to know Baili Dong Jun real identity.
Wen Hu Jiu asked Sikong Chang Feng why he wasn't unconscious, yet? His reply, almost there & fainting instantly, was hilarious.
Wen Hu Jiu keeps poisonous snakes as his pets in his pocket & his way of saving Sikong Chang Feng is funny & unique as well.
Love Baili Dong Jun & his father bickering.
Laughed how Baili Dong Jun's grandfather gave the same treatment to his son that his son gave to his grandson tied him up.
Laughed when Lei Meng Sha wanted to cheer, but nor Baili Dong Jun or Xiao Ruo Feng do it.
It would’ve been great if they'd shown Baili Dong Jun's journey of unlocking his internal strength.
Love Lei Meng Sha & Xiao Ruo Feng friendship the way Xiao Ruo Feng talks with Lei Meng Sha with sarcasm. Also love Mo Xiao Hei & Liu Yue bickering.
5 disciples had no idea about the huge fight between Li Chang Sheng & Yu Sheng Demon because they were too drunk. Poor them, they miss a legendary fight.
Poor Lei Meng Sha is so dead by Li Xin Yue for coming to a brothel the beating he got for visiting the place, slap print in his face. The spanking he got from her & his daughter walked away from there as it's a daily routine to see this.
Shocking how Yue Yao found just by smelling that Baili Dong Jun went to a brothel.
Loved by the style, Li Chang Sheng left the Imperial Mansion. Are they idiots? They call him a legendary martial artist but still try to kill him.
Laughed at the scene were Luo Sheng calling Li Chang Sheng as a playboy & Nangong Chun Shui as his son.
Laughed how Wen Hu Jiu ran like a bullet train to go outside.
Baili Dong Jun & Yue Yao expressions whenever Li Chang Sheng starts to praise him.
Baili Dong Jun's mother beating her father just like Li Xin Yue beats Lei Meng Sha.
Ye Ding Zhi & Wu Chan's relationship is so cute the way he says Ye Ge is so cute.
When will in C-Dramas they'll stop using bright lights in kissing scenes?
At first, Ye Ding Zhi had a goal to prove his family's innocence, but everything went out of the way when he met Yi Wen Jun. I mean he can pursue love with his goal remaining intact. But he forgot all of it for a girl & became obsessive about her. There were many ways to prove his family's innocence, but he didn't do it. It's true he can never be with Yi Wen Jun, even after proving his family's innocence.
I think what would I have done if I were in Yi Wen Jun's place? Being caged in a loveless marriage, in a political marriage. I would've tried to break up that marriage, but can we win against the imperial family? No, we won't. But I would never have left my child for some man, even if I'm in a loveless marriage, because for me my child comes first before love. Her selfishness cost Ye Ding Zhi's life. Just like Baili Dong Jun said, if she hadn't left in the first place, nothing would've happened.
It's a friendship & brotherhood centric story. But the scene time between Baili Dong Jun & Ye Ding Zhi was not that much for me to convince that Baili Dong Jun could go to any let for his childhood friend Ye Ding Zhi. I get it that they can't be together because of Ye Ding Zhi's identity, but it would've been good if they shared screen time in the 1st 20 episodes. The same goes for Baili Dong Jun & Sikong Chang Feng's friendship. They're always saying hi & goodbye now or then. For this reason, I gave a 9 rating.
Also I love the OST.
Now I'll watch The blood of youth. Can't wait to watch Baili Dong Jun & Sikong Chang Feng rest of the journey.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
visually very interesting
the story is quite interesting, and casting are good, but I don't understand... this should be the prequel to Blood of Youth. In blood of youth they say Wang Ren Sun [Demon sect] was the best friend of Ye Dingzhi, but then he killed him. Why? If you see Dashing Youth you can clearly see that his best friend was Baili Dongjun, and he didn't kill Ye Dingzhi. So who is Wang Ren Sun? Can anyone help me clarify this matter? Which part has Wang Ren Sun here in Dashing Youth?Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Not as good as I hoped
I couldn't wait to watch this show after the wonderful The Blood of Youth. Unfortunately, Dashing Youth didn't meet my expectations. It was okay but not as good as I hoped.Cons. Quite poor acting and not actually interesting characters. Baili Dong Jun is really boring and pathetic, especially in the last episodes. But if in TBOY, Lei Wu Jie was mocked at for being pathetic, Baili Dong Jun was taken seriously like it's a normal thing to speak by slogans. Yue Yao, who was quite bright and bold at the beginning, became shout down and quiet like a ghost closer to the end and totally lost on Baili Dong Jun's background. I wish I could empathize Ye Ding Zhi and Yi Wen Jun more but I couldn't.
Pros. This was a great idea to invite the actors from TBOY to act in Dashing Youth. It was amazing to see Bai Shu Yu, Fan Jin Wei, Yan Jie, and Li Hong Yi appearing there. I love the main theme of Ye Ding Zhi and Yi Wen Jun, their soundtrack is very beautiful. Some guest roles were much more likable and intriguing like Sheng Mo [Demon] and Jun Yu [Ji Xia academy’s first disciple]. Each Sheng Mo's appearing was enchanting, and I wish he played more significant role in the show. I also liked some other supporting characters like Xie Xuan, Su Mu Yu, and Li Chang Sheng.
I hope that The Tales of Dark River will not disappoint.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Handsome actors and lots of special effects
The recruiter for this drama certainly had excellent taste for handsome actors. I counted at least 10. And there were plenty of special effects. Whenever the fighting got heated, some fantasy cartoon like characters would be featured to represent the type of inner strength of the martial artists.The story featured three male leads each with their own romance story. Baili DongJun was the young heir and grandson of Marquis ZhenXi. He led a sheltered luxurious life. His ambition was to become a wine deity, well-known for the wine he brewed. Only when he was selected by Prince Xiao RuoFeng to become a student of the prestigious JiXia Academy headed by Li Chang Sheng, the top martial artist of the world, that he started on a different journey.
Ye Yun, on the other hand had an unfortunate life. He was a close childhood friend of DongJun. His family was executed by the emperor, on some untrue allegation of treason. He escaped and went on to become a highly skilled martial artist. Unfortunately for him, his life took several negative turns. The Beique targeted him as a candidate to acquire their martial art which required a special disposition that he possessed. They needed him to wake up their king who had been deep in a meditation since they lost their kingdom to Beili. For this, they lay several traps for him as he was unwilling to help the enemy.
Sikong Changfeng was a friend that DongJun made while the latter was trying to carve out a name for himself as a wine deity. Before this, he was a vagabond who had self-trained in martial arts and had no memory of his life before he turned fifteen. For him, his path to success was a lot smoother than Ye Yun as he caught the eye of Nangong ChunShui, the reincarnate of Li and became his disciple.
In this drama, you see the contrast in the lives of DongJun and YeYun. Both were disposed with special abilities. For DongJun, his life seemed to be a bed of roses. He rose from adversities to become stronger and seemed to meet the right people to help him. The love of his life turned out to be a beautiful Beique princess who had given up reviving her kingdom as she did not want another round of war and believed it was a futile attempt.
As for Ye Yun, in spite of his capabilities, his life was ruined first by a selfish and suspicious emperor and then by the cunning Beique Chancellor. There had been several times, when his life could have turned for the better but circumstances turned it into a nightmare. The love of his life was his childhood sweetheart and fiancee who was still in love with him through the years he went missing, presumably dead. She was a great beauty but was quite ignorant and somewhat stupid, and was easily deceived by the Beique and became a pawn to their plots.
Being a bit philosophical here: in life, some people are just so blessed that they rose from one challenge to another, gaining grounds each time. While others having worked hard through their lives but were set back with each turn.
Somehow, Chinese drama always have emperors less than qualified for their job morally. In this drama, it was no different. The emperor allowed Ye Yun's family to be executed, even though he knew General Ye was innocent - a complete asshole in my view. Somehow the best heir, in both capabilities and moral disposition, he chose turned down the throne in favour of a rapist - I was rather disappointed in this.
Neo Hou (MingHao) had this boyish look about him that made him very suited to the playful and mischievous DongJun in his teens. It would be interesting to see whether he could graduate into more mature roles when he grew older.
The cartoon-like special effects however, made the drama looked a bit kiddy, a little out of line with the serious nature of this drama.
However, on the whole, this is an interesting drama worth watching.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
An Epic Story
When The Blood of Youth ended, and Dashing Youth was announced, the hype surrounding it was really stellar. We were promised adventure, a lot of fight scenes, and more importantly the answer to the question we all had while watching Blood of Youth, "How did we get there? Why did Xiao Ruofeng die, What happened that made Baili Dongjun agree for his best friends son to be taken hostage?"And lo, and behold, the drama has not disappointed us. The cinematography, the cgi, the costumes, the dialog, is up to perfection. I love how it's not too heavy and how paced it is. It's an incredibly well made show.
As fans, we can only hope that" Tales of Dark River" will be just as good.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
One of the best modern Martial Arts series of all time!
Must see for anyone who grew up watching and loving Martial Arts series as a kid, and enjoy it well into adulthood.Its a great balance of dialogue, costume, canon, with amazing visual fx, and sound.
Each Character developed in this series is distinct, which if you watch alot of wuxia etc, sometimes differentiation is challenging.
The series is based on alot of canon (characters, dynastical references, forms of martial arts) , and i feel it pays homage and also adds to the richness to it. Its not a simply a retelling. I feel its been a really well crafted modernisation.
Highly recommend watching it. Its on par with Game of Thrones level production value, with good story telling.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
