The Blood of Youth review

Welcome to a world where people can cast magic from their hands and cause lightning to fall from the sky at their enemies. The Blood of Youth is a fantasy-ish wuxia genre where men and women can attain superhuman powers through cultivation.

I was initially reluctant to watch it because it reminded me more of a video game than a wuxia. I was only coaxed into watching it after several reviewers raved about how good it was. So, I decided to give it a try. I told myself to try just one or two episodes. If I dislike it, I’ll drop it.

Well, I ended up binging through it because I just could not stop watching. It ended up being one of my favourite dramas of 2023.

It was based on a novel (Song of Adolescence) and later a donghua, Great Journey of Teenagers. For more info on the story, visit https://shaoniangx.wixsite.com.

The Story

When Wu Jie damages his inn, Xiao Se demands payment. But Wu Jie can only take him along for an uncertain adventure to get said money.

The duo meets several heroes on their adventure, heroes of great renown, some with shady motives, some with hearts of gold.

They end up having to deal with a conspiracy around a battle for the throne over a decade ago. Can their brotherhood survive?

Characters

Our young heroes are:

• Lei Wu Jie, an eager but not-too-bright disciple of the Lei Clan
• Xiao Se, a mysterious innkeeper (yeah, right)
• Wuxin, a monk with bounty on his head
• Tang Lian, a senior member of the Tang sect
• Sikong Qian Luo – daughter of the spear deity of Xueyue city, Sikong Changfeng
• Ye Ruo Yi – daughter of the legendary General Ye Xiao Ying

What I like about the show

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.

I thought this image below illustrates their dynamics perfectly 🤣

One thing the show made me realise was how much I missed classic Wuxia dramas. So many Chinese Dramas these days revolve around romance, especially xian xia dramas like Love Between Fairy and Devil.

I miss heroic, adventuring around the jiang hu stories. There are precious few of them these days. So much so that after I finished watching the Show I was bereft, because I thought the next wuxia would be a long time coming. (I was wrong, because soon after that I watched The Mysterious Lotus Casebook. 2023 turned out to be a good year for wuxia dramas as several wuxia dramas aired: A Journey to Love and The Ingenious One among them.)

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. 😭 (But then I found Mysterious Lotus Casebook and all is well.)

What I didn’t like

The fighting scenes are the typical “finger fu” so en vogue with xianxia dramas. A little twirl of the hand, some sparkly bits whirl about and then a character will exclaim the name of said move and remark how amazing it is.

I know this is extremely typical for this genre, but it gets my goat each time it happens and takes me out of the moment!

But other than that, I have very little to complain about the drama.

Thoughts about the ending

Click HERE to read spoilers about the ending

The ending is one of the most satisfying of the genre. Our friends are together, happy, adventuring and people got the ends they deserved. Though I felt the villain got an easy out!

A word about Tang Lian, our 大师兄 (spoilers)

Of all the characters in the drama, I must say that Tang Lian, or 大师兄 (da shisiong) to our band of young men and women, is my absolute favourite. (Well, besides Wuxin, that snarky little zen devil.)

Honourable to a fault, upright and gentlemanly, he is the men’s guiding light and the perrfect role model for the young men. One quality I loved was how he stands by his principles doggedly rather than be part of the herd or the sect. He’s not one to be pressured into breaking his values for the approval of powerful people.

Tang Lian’s best and bravest moment in the show.

Click HERE to reveal spoilers about Tang Lian

The best scene with Tang Lian is that pivotal scene with the assassins at the roadside stall. Like the rest of the gang, he was there to “clear the path” for Xiao Se to reach the capital safely. He had to face dozens of assassins alone, and watching him fight all of them until none was left standing was awe-inspiring.

When he died due to “exhaustion”, I was upset, and so was Xiao Se, Wu Jie and Qian Luo. I really enjoyed that really long planning that went into that banquet that was supposed to “usher in” Xiao Se’s return to court, but was instead turned into a memorial for Tang Lian.

I was one of the folks who didn’t realise that a special was released to show that Tang Lian survived. It took me a year to finally find that special clip: Spoilery! But this clip will bring a smile to your face

I really dislike retcons in general, but I missed 大师兄 so much that I didn’t care. Apparently, from what I read online was that it took him a while to recover, but I don’t quite get why his sect covered up his survival and faked his death. If you know let me know in the comments below.

The only frustrating thing I have about Tang Lian is his slow response to his love interest (I think her name is Lady Rui) who obviously wants to bed him, but he’s just too honourable and proper to give in. Let’s just hope he finally lets loose and show Lady Rui how much he loves her.

Anyway, with news of season 2, I’m really looking forward to one day seeing everyone again. And pray that season 2 will be just as good or even better than season 1.

Rating: 9