The success of the drama, whcih aired under rather unfortunate circumstances and couldn't promote properly at first (the cast didn't even know the drama had aired until it was already showing on TV), is largely due to the scripterwriter Wang Juan and the performances of the young cast.
Wang Juan, who is coming off of the huge success of Joy of Life, is quickly becoming one of the most recognizable names among Chinese drama scriptwriters. He has a very distinctive style, and is great at injecting sharp humor as well as unexpected surprises, with a lot of wit and intelligence, into his scripts. That's what grabbed me from the get go for Young Blood - despite the issues I had with the styling, it was clear from Episode 1 that where the drama would shine would be the writing.
It's not that this is necessarily an original story and plot, but it's written in a way where you're constantlying going, "What just happened?!". The characters are immensely interesting and the team that they form, the way the characters grow, and the relationships that form...it was all very well done.
Huge props to the relatively young cast, who all did a phenomenal job with their roles. The acting was solid across the whole group, and Zhang Xincheng and Zhou Yutong in particular really shined in their performances. However, the star of the show for me was Wang Kuan (played by Wang Youshuo), who is probably one of my favorite SMLs ever (if not my favorite). And his dynamic with Su Xiaotong's Jing Jing was just the cutest thing ever.
Super excited for a possible S2 (which we will hopefully get - Wang Juan and the cast have all openly said that they are onboard. However, with Wang Juan being in high demand now, we'll see where it goes). One of the best things when it comes to watching dramas is when you discover a hidden gem, and this is exactly what the show was.
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Adventurous, mysterious yet humourous with a bunch of hot blooded
Love the Male & female leads a lot, the drama is drawing right from the first episode, & the pace keeps up mostly. The male lead character that seems nothing but a villain alongside with his family background & upbringing that sky &earth difference,Well developed characters growth in the series of this bunch of youngsters that from very different upbringings & background, most important they were true to their heart , overcoming challenges & struggle in identity.
Good chemistry between the M& FL & also other characters , but i enjoy most is their friendships & growth, the side characters also got a good amount of time to shine & seen their characters .
Ohyea the male lead is smart ,cunning yet pleasantly likeable with mysterious feel that will draw u to keep watching as they go through various challenges, ending one of the big event i s not that realistic but overall acceptable
Think it deserves higher rating !
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This review may contain spoilers
6 Piece X-Men
Was watching SOTM and the actor (Wang You Shou) who played He Na grabbed my attention, and though I ended up dropping that show, this one with him was recommended to me and I decided to give it a go. I loved the 6 piece version of X-Men just without the fantastical elements. This drama didn't disappoint me at all.Pros: Loved the mystery and intrigue and how with the ML you never knew exactly what he was thinking and how many steps ahead he actually was. Also how even if he didn't have a plan, he could weasel himself or others out of nearly impossible situations under near death circumstances. There was a constant question of what was really going on but it never dragged until the end and nothing was what it seemed. My second favorite character was of course the reason I started watching or Wang Kuan played by WYS; man was like a walking Siri, encyclopedia Brittanica, and fortune teller wrapped up into one dude. He never told a lie, was loyal to a fault, and a wonderful friend and later on partner. Zhang Jian and Xue Ying were also great and I loved their strengths and weaknesses. Each character had flaws and that was very important.
I'd have to say my least favorite out of the 6 were Ya Nei because he was too flashy and though he did mature a bit as time went on, his arrogance just couldn't be tapered down. Also Ah Jing, she was the least qualified and though I felt that she did grow in strength as the series progressed, her outfits and the baby voice with which she talked made you constantly think you were leading a kid along on dangerous missions. It didn't make much sense. I wish they had evolved her more to fit a grown woman as the series continued. Even with WK by her side as protector and love interest, she still never came into her own. Hopefully that'll happen in part 2.
Other favorite characters from both the protagonists and antagonists side were Dean Lu, big bro of our Jack of all trades, old thief, instructor Liu, Old man minister of war, and even the creep Ding Er (I can't spell his other name). He really was the perfect antagonist and repulsively creepy at the same time. But it made him believable and therefore, he shall stay.
Loved the scenery, martial arts were awesome, OSTs, costumes, etc. just a nice round off of a lot of things.
Cons: With so much going on, many little variables were just left alone. Though the plot didn't drag until the end, it seemed many questions were left unanswered after each mission was completed. Like move on to the next one and the audience will forget. The last arc was an absolute mess. What was the point of any of it? To return Ding Er to annoy everyone and Dean Lu to have his final showdown, only to show YJX propose to ZJ and all be awesome and literally two scenes later in the same outfit and in the same location find out from the gang that the creep escaped from prison, kidnapped her, her father and sent a note to the team saying "he'll take good care of his wife and father" opening up the official season 2 approach. It was way too messy and could have been done way better.
All things considered a lot of the plots and subplots could have been executed tighter. That said, this is still pretty good for a lower budget 2019 drama.
Would I recommend it? If you like mystery, intrigue, light comedy, and great friendships, then yes I totally would. I'm very much looking forward to part 2 myself since they literally wrapped filming it a few days ago.
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Loved it so much
Young Blood was one of the black horse dramas back in 2019. There were certainly a few flaws but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the story and the joy it brought me.Things I loved about this drama :
- I think this is one of the few dramas that I genuinely loved every single character even smaller/less important ones. I found myself attached to characters like Tian Hu (the guard), Liu Sheng (the disciple of the 5th section) and Chen Gong (the weapons fella).
- I love the main group. All of them have flaws but you can clearly see the good in them. There was also character development happening which I really appreciated. Non of them were ignorant, stupid or self centred. Even characters I didn't like originally (Wei Ya Nei) I still grew an immense love to especially when he defended Xue Ying's parents and stabbed himself to retrieve the antidote for Zhao Jian. Even if Xiao Jing is a 傻白甜 character, she still isn't stupid. She is self aware and always tries to be as helpful as she can.
- The cp between Yuan Zhong Xin and Zhao Jian was sweet and heart-warming ☺️ They didn't just randomly fell in love which you gotta appreciate. They only started to realise the feeling they have for each other after getting along being friends and going on life threatening missions together. I liked how everyone in the group were making jokes about it and trying to get them together.
- The comedy was actually funny. The jokes that happen in this drama is genuinely so funny especially scenes with Yuan Zhong Xin ? Personally I don't find a lot of Chinese dramas funny, the only other drama that had me continuously laughing was Joy of Life.
- The distinctive costumes each character had is something I really appreciated. Even if you don't recognise any of their faces, you can simply tell who they are by looking at their outfits. They aren't the best looking but it is such a breath of fresh air from high budget drama that had character wearing similar costumes. Plus, it all matched their personalities.
On to the not so great things :
- Too many forced plot twist. There were a lot of "oh you thought this character was a bad guy?? No, he is actually a good guy" and vice versa. If there were only 1 or 2, it'd be fine but there was just too many in this drama.
- Some scenes that don't really make sense. There was this scene where the bad guys were chasing this dude and they're using crossbows to shoot at him. They surrounded him and he was forced to jump into a river. Because of this, they proceeded to shoot at the river but then it gets cut to the next scene with him laying next to the male and female lead behind a shop. Huhh?? The river was skinny okay and if this happened irl he would have 100% died. There was also no way that he got up from the river and no one saw him as there were like 20 bad guys.
- The ending was underwhelming and really confusing. I know it's suppose to leave space for a second season but it definitely could have been written better. Plus it's been 3 years, where's the 2nd season???
- The kiss scenes were awkward and cringe. ML and FL had 3 kisses in total, 2 of them were accident kisses which I absolutely hate. ? One in the carriage and one when the FL got scared and ran into the ML therefore kissing him, doesn't help when she slapped him afterwards.
Despite it's flaws, this is a genuinely enjoyable, funny, entertaining drama to watch. I highly recommend people to watch it especially if you like character development and friendship. I personally loved this drama so very much and am looking forward to the second. Please when is it gonna come??? ?
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Fun to watch
Despite the low quality production, this is really a nice drama and i still watch it up to this day-! I think ive already watched it 7 times-! Its about a group of young kids solving mystery cases, critical thinking and detailed work. This drama shows friendship, growth and amazing character development which i absolutely love, definitely recommend for young kids or teen.This drama isnt mainly based on romance, but more to amazing adventure with each and every character. However, i did almost drop it at first as it wasnt as entertaining as other historical cdrama ive watch. This drama is less tense compared to others. The drama made me think about daily life more, and trained me to be more detailed and careful while doing anything. In each situation, i would practice to be careful in all perspective to avoid being cheated or scammed.
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A fun, stylish drama with quirky, lovable characters!
I enjoyed this drama a lot more than I expected to. While I found the actual plotlines sloppily executed (more on that below), it had wonderful characters, great chemistry between the entire cast, well-choreographed fights, and cool art direction. It had an almost retro, anime-ish style in the costuming and action scenes, but it felt fresh and fun rather than silly and over the top.Story: It had me entertained the entire way through, though some arcs were better than others. My one beef is that it tried too hard to be smart for its own good. Plot twists, misdirection, and unreliable narrators can be great storytelling tools, but used too much, and you're going to stop feeling invested. This definitely happened to me here. It got to where any time something supposedly shocking happened, instead of feeling actual shock I was impatiently waiting for the 'gotcha' moment because I knew it was coming. I thought the last arc was the strongest, as it focused more on the characters we'd grown to know and love, and the plotting felt tighter. Until the actual ending. That cliffhanger just seemed really unnecessary and tacked on. Fortunately, as of me writing this, filming of the second season has begun.
Acting/Cast: Where this drama really shines is in the characters. They were fantastically written, the casting was perfect, I loved the visually distinct styling and costumes, and the acting was great. Even the side characters that came and went were enjoyable and I got attached to them. The character development and evolution of their relationships felt natural and satisfying. I especially adored our main couple. The male lead was a clever, mischievous trickster who could fight but preferred to use words and cunning to get out of (or into) trouble. The female lead was a badass - cool, confident, ambitious, principled, an awesome fighter - and best of all, she stayed strong up to the end. No sudden incompetency for the sake of making her the damsel in distress, which was really refreshing! As for the romance - their chemistry was good and I liked how it developed, but it did rely on too many clichés (which it sort of tried to subvert - I think? - but badly) and the kisses were pretty weak. Frankly, it felt a bit forced, which is unfortunate because I really did love the pairing a lot.
Music: Probably fine - I don't remember being annoyed by it?
This could've been a 10 out of 10 if the the writing was tighter, the editing less choppy, and the romance better executed. Still, it was a fun watch - visually pleasing and I got very attached to the lovely cast of offbeat characters. Very much looking forward to season 2!
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WAITING FOR YOUNG BLOOD 2........??
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Youth-like adventure drama without the usual tackiness in its genre
Well written drama. It may be a recycled story plot of youths going on mini adventures heading for the grand plot but, it is a well rounded drama production. Plot is set for pack full of events. Of the group, of course the stand out is the main character played by Zhang Xin Cheng. Naturally plays out his smart witted character Yuan Zhong Xin. Putting the unanimated Wang Kuan as his best mate plays well to highlight Zhong Xin’s endearing playfulness. Plenty of humour that'll interrupt what one would usually be anticipating a sad turn of events for most dramas of this genre. Particularly thought the instrumental music selection sets the right mood for the scenes. For this genre of youth-like adventure drama, its a pleasing quality drama in its category. Not an idol picked cast.Was this review helpful to you?
Amazing character, Amazing storyline, Amazing chemistry. Go watch it !!
This is probably one of the best shows I have seen . Yang zhong zhin is probably my favorite character ever. It was so refreshing to see someone like him , mischievous, intelligent and not always honest with a heart of gold be the MC . His growth throughout has been worth watching.ziao jian , no more dumb damsels, she is equal intelligent as her counterpart, doesn't ever lose herself and is one hell of a fighter. I loved their relationship and even if it was a slow burn I never got bored
As for the other characters there each had a journey of their own , and the whole group dynamic was wonderful to watch .
Can't recommend this show enough
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Some fun dialogues and boredom
I had heard a lot of good things about this drama, so I approached it expecting something cool. Unnecessarily. Production level - cheap webdrama. Plot level - cheap entertainment. The heroes are so typical and so exaggerated that it can't be more.However, I have to admit that a few of the dialogue and scenes were a whole lot of fun and that kept me on this drama until about the 30th episode. I couldn't watch the next episodes, overwhelmed by the idiotic plot and boredom. In general, I like light costumed comedies about young adventurers, but I don't like cliche after banality and smart heroes who know absolutely everything from their own premises. Even the enthusiasm of the young actors could not cover the hundreds of shortcomings in this production.
But the actress playing FL - beautiful and quite talented.
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This review may contain spoilers
Pretty sure that they're going to do a season two based on the ending and them not having 'the end' appear. But I'm sure that all us iqiyi users are wondering; Who the hell is the "hot-blooded man" Zhang Xincheng? (Basically the plot is about this guy with a brother accused of being a traitor to the Song country. The first couple episodes starts off with him tricking three different parties to save his brother and getting the most benefits but ends up being tricked. He's then forced to join an academy that teaches them how to be spies and agents. He makes a few friends and is then forced to go on missions. His first mission is at a prison camp where they were told to find a lost list and they meet a Xia person named "Ding Er"(brought back later with a much more complex name). Then they go on a whole bunch of other journeys and missions and he and Zhao Jian fall in love. Wang Kuan and Pei Jing also fall in love. Then a whole bunch of other crap happens. Then Ding Er gets brought back. They're trying to ruin everything. They solve the issue, etc. Then we learn that his brother was actually a traitor and then he isolates himself from all his friends. Finally, a whole bunch of people die, he and Zhao Jian kiss, he proposes, and then we end with the news that Zhao Jian and her dad have been kidnapped.) Was this review helpful to you?
