The Chang'an Youth (2020)

The Chang'an Crate

A Chinese update of Sungkyungkwan Scandal (2010) with a dose of Hwarang (2016), how good is that. Not to mention a flower boy cast and the star from Novoland Castle in The Sky 2.

As soon as I followed the story I discovered my comparison was just a first impression. The Chang'an Youth is stuffed with different story arcs. The heroine is Shen Yiyi ( Wang Yu Wen ) an ordinary girl who gets 'adopted' in her youth by a sweet rich girl. She's treated like family. Unfortunately this rich girl dies, just before her marriage, leaving a mystery behind about her pedigree and heritage. To do some research Shen Yiyi agrees to substitute for her friend in marriage and travels to the girl's intended, Tang Jiu Hua (Xie Bin Bin) in Chang'An. She travels in disguise of a gentleman. On the road she meets Yang Zi'an (Caesar Wu), the son of a magistrate carrying out orders from the King. She also meets the sweet second prince Li Xinyuan (Qi Peixin), and stark swordsman Dugu Muxue (Liu Yichang). This Chang'an Youth Gang is full of personal secrets, but eventually they end up as friends at the local academy. Apart from their exciting school life they learn to work and trust each other, meanwhile facing a mysterious case and corrupt officials.

Acting/Cast

Wang Yu Wen is a good choice for the role as crossdressed Yiyi, she combines a lean, boyish body with strong facial features. She also has great chemistry with Xie Bin Bin, her supposed fiancé Tang Tang. Xie Bin Bin is known for totally different characters, but he's so funny here, I suspect he enjoyed this role himself.
Such a pity Xie Bin Bin isn't the romantic interest, that honor goes to Caesar Wu. Agreed, that guy is Flower Boy- In -The-Flesh, but he's more the kind of flower that's already been pressed between the pages of a book. Doesn't fade, doesn't wrinkle, doesn't impress.
Another failure is the miscast of poor Liu Yichang. He convinces as the good-hearted rascal Zhao Cuo in I've Fallen For You (2020), but he can't hold a candle to Korean actor Yoo Ah In, who played the silent swordsman to a T in Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Put together with robot-like Qi Peixin they didn't float my boat. I also missed the necessary humor, the student twins excluded.

Rewatch Value

What can I say? It started out so well, but I lost interest midway the series. My guess is the writers put too much story lines together making a mess of the plot. This proofs that just combining elements that are based on audience statistics doesn't work. Really, Less is More. If only this could be a love story between totally different characters, or the coming of age story of an ambitious scholar girl in a world dominated by males, but this... ain't it. I won't rewatch this again.

Overall

Tastes differ however. So, if you like your sandwich filled to the brim with every possible ingredient, this is for you. The Chang'an Youth is a crate full of tags, just pick the things you like, and forget the rest.

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This is it! A drama filled with love, detective story and wuxia. This drama seemed to be a Sungkyunkwan Scandal vibes ,yet it has its own flavor for the audience not to stop watching it. The male lead Zian (Ceasar Wu) was truly a versatile actor here. I really loved his acting of being cold, just and lovable lad especially when he was jealous. Also, the female lead here was very good in portraying her role.
The kissing scene here is almost perfect( hahaha just my point of view at least no cut...sss?✌?).
I loved their costumes even the music itself. Moreover, I loved all the casts from Dugu, to the prince, and more.
I don't want season 2 of this drama because this drama has already given its perfect ending.
I'll give 10/10 for the director and to all the crew.
And for you all( future viewers) please do spare some time in watching this drama. I really can guarantee you all that this drama is worth watching for.???
Jiayou!

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OMG. I loved it!!!!

I am going to be honest. When I saw the "7.9" in the rating I hesitated, maybe it would be a waste of my time. The only reason why I gave it a try was because Caesar Wu. OMG, he is so hot in the historical dramas, so could NOT miss one of them. Well, let me say that I LOVED THE SHOW. It was a plaesant surprise for me and I am going to tell you why.
1. The characters were so loveable
I fell in love with all of them. NO annoying characters, no USELESS characters, and that's a thing I am really gratetfull. Every character had a purpose and was essential for the story.
2. The TEAM
I love all the dramas that have a TEAM. You know what I mean, that group of boys and girls that meet by accident and then, as we go further in the drama, they build THE team of best friend that all of us wish to have. I mean, I really want to hang out with these 4 handsome boys and that sttunign girl.
3. The romance
Okay, Okay. I'm going to be really honest. YES, in this drama we have 3 adorable couples, BUT the romance is NOT the main topic here. "The Chang'an youth" focus more on friendship, family and dreams. In the 24 episodes that we have they gave us little interactions between our couples, BUT the few we got were enough, we got really adorable, cute and beautiful scenes.
4. The quality
When I was searching for reviews about this drama they said that it was a low budget one, and maybe it is NOT one with the best satages or stunning clothes, but I don't think it is a valid reason to skip this drama. I always judge the budget based on the CGI, but this drama doesn't have it so, if this is a low budget drama, they handle it very well. The clothes, the stages, the hairstyles and all those things were fine for me.
My veredict:
You can NOT skip "The chang'an youth" it's a really good drama, we have really deep thougths, the friendship between our protagonist IS GOLD, and it's totally worth it. Also, it's really short, it only have 24 episodes so it doesn't get boring and tedious.

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I don't really like writing too long of a review so this is my overall opinion of this spectacular drama! Acting was great and i really loved the facial expressions ! The storyline was beautiful and the drama had some comedy and funny moments for you to get a good laugh. I really love this storyline, it fits my taste for dramas! Its a very youthful drama with unforgettable moments. I highly recommend this drama and i hope you all give it a go ! The drama is almost exactly as described. Im still sad that crown prince was the only single one haha, and yes, its a happy ending !

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I would recommend this drama for some light-hearted entertainment and a good laugh, especially in a pandemic lock down with nothing much to do. Good looking lead actors and actresses are eye candy for the viewers. When the drama ended, I was quite light-hearted and happy. And so, I rated this drama well.

Story is interesting although unrealistic. But for a romance comedy, story line could be given some liberty. Nevertheless, I am going to point these out.

What idiot would insist on his fiancee disguising as a guy and joining him in an academy for men only , especially when it might be a capital sentence for deceit to the emperor. The writer should think of a better reason she ended up in the academy.

Also, is communication a problem in the Chinese culture? ZiAn did not talk to his father about his suspicion but instead took the drastic action of exposing a crime openly in court. Han did not talk to DieYi about 'his' ancestry and chose to instigate the Crown Prince to stage a revolt - even if he succeed, how was he going to snatch the throne for the rightful heir when the military and tribes were supporting the Crown Prince? All these did not seem to be properly thought out.

While each Chinese drama has its own unique story line, women disguising as men are quite cliche. And when you do need an actress to act as a man, you need to get someone with a bit more masculine features. Men have more angular facial feature and more coarse complexion. Women tend to have softer features and fuller on the cheeks. All the students and lecturers must be blind not to tell that 'he' was a girl. Insofar, all the actresses I had seen made to play a man did not look like a man. You need an actress who has more angular facial features and tall, and yet look very good as a woman - someone like Angelina Jolie perhaps for her angular features.

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overall i feel like this drama was a pretty okay watch. at the beginning it pulls u in but the ending was honestly kinda rushed. acting by the actors rlly surprised me as they actually did very well, ceaser wu's acting was a bit stiff tho. although i first thought this drama was gonna be romance based as there r basically 3 couples, i didn't feel like it was focused on that but instead friendship between the 5 characters which i rlly enjoyed. music was alright but didn't rlly shock me or anything. anyways it's a p good watch if u want sth lightweight + a good laugh.

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This was a really enjoyable drama. Its the ancient day f4 , lol but instead its 5 in a group.

The female leads disguised herself as a boy to try to find the true identity of the her best friend.

She is smart, witty and cute, she is good at cooking. The story mainly revolves around the school and overcoming obstacles, challenges and solving crimes with her 4 male friends. The male lead is depicted a cold, strict. The female lead gives him the name stinky tofu lol. The five stooges include female lead ( who disguises as a male), the male lead, a 2nd prince, one who is good at martial arts , and one who was suppose to be the female lead fiancee

I liked how the side character got plot development too. Each of them finds their love :) as for the minus .5 is that they never really solved why she was in the school in the first place. It was kind of looked over and only mentioned in the last two episodes. The female lead dead friend's identity honestly wasnt even important anymore....

But overall it was enjoyable because there were sweet scenes of love and friendship.

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I always write long reviews but for this one it will be very short.
I Lliked evrything in this drama. I laughed, cried, smiled and reflected a lot on life. Thougg it's historical it is ONE that u will
FOREVER REMEMBER
Some say it's short and slow, i say is short and worth it. My review bard can say all that needs to be said. That will be all. I urge u to give this a try. I hope for a season 2,(it was THAT great).
Good job to the cast, director and producers, this drama really left a mark on me. A visible and great mark.

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A cute college drama

I believe it's important to avoid jumping to conclusions.. It's easy to watch a few college dramas and make assumptions, but that doesn't make them accurate. Let's strive to be more discerning and informed before drawing comparisons and forming opinions. If the dramas have a similar storyline or the story from the same book/author, that's one thing, but if they are completely dissimilar in terms of plot and cast, then it's misleading for people to base their reviews on such comparisons.

With that being said, I loved this drama. Initially, I had my doubts about the female lead's appearance, but as the show progressed, I found myself growing fond of her cross-genre character.

The five main actors in the drama were fantastic. However, I did find one of them quite confusing at first. He seemed like a bodyguard in disguise, but then it hit me – the so-called "bad boy" with a golden heart.

The drama had its fair share of cliches, such as the villains, the mean twins, the jealous brother, and the naive young girl falling for the girl disguised as a boy. And let's not forget the female killer spy prostitute and the boy falling for the boy who is a girl. Despite all of this, I found the drama to be highly entertaining.

One thing that did bother me was the use of sound effects, such as crickets to indicate night-time and crows to amplify awkward moments. It all seemed a bit childish to me, but I understand that this drama is aimed at Asian teenagers, and cultural differences may play a role in this.

Adding eyeshadow on the disguised man by the makeup artist was a poor choice that did not add any value. It only served as a distraction and made the entire look unconvincing. Such unwise decisions need to be avoided and not encouraged.

Let's take a moment to recognize the tireless efforts of crickets, who are often called upon to provide background noise during night scenes or to enhance the mood of an awkward scene. It's easy to forget the burden they carry as they jump from one task to another. Let's show some empathy for these little creatures. Let us extend a special word of encouragement to our feathered friends as well, the ducks, crows, and birdies. May they find the strength and resilience to thrive in their drama script environment. :D

While the credibility of the show may be debated, I found it to be quite entertaining. Despite a few inconsistencies in episodes 16 and 17 (War), I was able to overlook them as my expectations were not very high when I started watching.

Overall, I found the pace of the drama to be quick enough to keep me interested. Normally, I tend to lose interest around mid-season, but this drama was cute enough to keep me hooked. There were also a few funny moments which added to my enjoyment.

In conclusion, I would say that this is a good drama, despite its flaws.

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Great conflict resolution

Honestly, I don't like drama with prolonged conflicts that sometime makes me bored.
But, this drama was filled with a quick and epic conflict resolution. Also decorated with pretty good comedy elements and the solidarity of this 5 Shangyi students makes this drama is very worth to be watch
Story : This drama doesn't present a difficult and prolonged conflict. The storyline is presented smoothly and well to bring us through the story from episode to episode. I have never been bored with their storyline since the first episode
Acting : Although I do not know most from the actors in this drama. But they act very well and satisfying
Music : The music aren't bad and might be liked by others. But for me 8,0 is good enough for the soundtrack.
Rewatch value : I think it's still good to be watched again for 2-3 times.

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The 5 Skillful Elites of Shanyi Academy + Please! BEAR for the first 4 overly clichėd episodes!

Something I badly wanna mention is that... this drama will forever be remembered for its crappy and overly clichėd first 4 episodes.

I've never suffered or endured this much ever before, specially during the introduction of any drama. The amount of unbearable and non-sensical scenes I tolerared to finish this is too much to even be transcribe into words. All I can say is that I've experienced great anxiety those moments, to the point where a deep hallow space is already building up in my stomach and the urge to give up this show was immeasurable. Thank god! I'm tremendously patient!

Looking back now, I somewhat feel like this drama's overall theme and genre reminds me of stories back in early 2000s. Those extremely flawed, cringey and corny shows I used to watch with no problem back then is exactly identical to this one right here. The only difference is that I'm watching it in this era where I'm already a graduate of such clichėd stuff. Maybe if I watch it back when I was a teenager I would've enjoyed it without any complains.

I can go on and on with how frustrating this story is. However, I also wanna mention my opinion on other aspects of this show, so allow me to do so.

Plot & Twists - I don't wanna rant more but I just can't let it go. Up till now I'm still baffled on how they go beyond logic and common sense in delivering the sequences of this drama. It felt stupid that most of the 'obvious' hints can't be understood by the leads and It always takes time before they can realize such points even when it was being shove right infront of their faces already... Like WTH? During those times, I just had to remind myself that I'm watching a purely comical idol drama and it will be a tough challenge to bear and knock some sense into because it was created to be like that— all fun and laughter.

Fighting scenes - Most of Dugu Muxue and Ning Xiang's sword plays were good but aside from that the rest are eiher mediocre or straight up bad. The 'war scene' was actually good with them showing their areas of expertise, the only problem is how absurd their training was. Successfully dodging a great number of spears being thrown at them really put me off. Seriously? are you kidding with me?

5 Main leads - I've had the most issue with the Female Lead. Shen Yiyi/Diyie's character made me throw up for being the most cringey of them all. Her intended weaknesses and flaws always gets into my nerves and her over exaggerated reactions made her acting even more disguting for me. The rest are either good or decent... I also just wanna mention how they tend to make the most significant scenes awkward. Those 'pre-occupied' and 'I'm-deadass-seriously-thinking' moments were so embarassing, I'm getting the second hand feels of it. Dugu Muxue did it excellently though.

Story - 7.5, Although this dramas has an enormous unbearable and shameless moments, I still wanna say that the main plot was delivered considerably good. It was just they throw a bunch of random 'it-doesn't-make-sense' scenes that made this drama ridiculous for me.

Acting/Cast - 8.0, Got no problem with the cast. But their fair share of cringey acting just never fails to stick out like a sore thumb. The way they fail misserably when it comes to the most significant scenes— be it romantic, dramatic and even the fun and light hearted ones, oh god. They never missed any opportunity to look uncomfortable does resulting to mediocre-cringey acting. Special mention Wang Yuwen's acting that makes the situation more awkward.

Music - 10, Unexpectedly, I got so hook with the BGMs of this drama. It just give you that 'vibe' to enjoy and be motivated to go on with life. + It added excitement and vitality to the show.

Rewatch Value - 5.0, This is the lowest I can go for this drama. It has some decent moments that anyone may wanna watch again for fun but there's simply no significant scenes that can make me watch it over again. Just, No!

Overall - 7.5, Everything considered, I'd say this drama's bearable specially Ep.5 beyond. It may differ from people's taste and liking but a piece of advice to those who are after some 'serious' and 'sensical' dramas, you guys shouldn't even try watching it or else you might drop it. I was even surprise that majority of its reviews on MDL were 8-9 or perfect 10. Like, how did y'all? seriously?

IF you find my review helpful please let me know

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If you are looking for a lighthearted drama with some fairly good action, youthful school antics, quite funny comedic moments, great camaraderie among the five friends, and a cute romance, you might enjoy this drama. It is basically an uptake of the Korean period drama Sungkyungkwan Scandal (2010), that, although not of the same production quality, it is entertaining. The drama has a quintet of students that find themselves in the same elite academy Shangyi Guan, become friends, and get involved in solving crimes and political upheavals among the palace. The cast did a good job even if it was not the best of their acting. The drama is nice and enjoyable.

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