Blood River

Intriguing Storyline, Great Fight Scenes

Usually C-Dramas especially with wuxia and even xianxia dramas the fight scenes are so cringey to me and almost hard to watch. However, the fight scenes in this drama is very executed--great CGI and exciting to watch! Very good fight scenes, I'm impressed.

To premise I did not watch Dashing Youth nor did I watch The Blood of Youth, so I watched Blood River without any prior knowledge of this worlds/past characters. I came for my favorite Peng Xiao Ran and ended up staying for the storyline. Seriously, if you are looking for a storyline that's not draggy but is actually interested and will keep your interest the whole way this is the one. I will admit it is a little bit confusing when they reference other characters from DY but it did not negatively impact the storyline and I feel it is still understandable even if you haven't watched the other two dramas.

The romance is there although more subtle so keep that in mind as you're watching this drama. The focus is more on the bromance and the actually story so less of a focus on romance. With that being said the romance scenes are sweet and enough to satiate a romance lover. I knew this ahead of time before watching so I wasn't disappointed at all with the romance levels. I actually felt like it was nice that the romance wasn't too overly done. The story line felt more serious and I really enjoyed watching the companionship between the Blood River members--love them all so much! Their characters really grow on you.

I will say the ONLY disappointment I have with this drama was I was expecting my girl Peng Xiao Ran to be FL (the whole reason I started watching this drama). She didn't have as much screentime as I would've liked and I wish we could've watched more of her relationship with Tang Lian Yue (Zhang Shi An). Still worth a watch in my opinion!

Great drama, great script, great character development, and great ending! High potential for rewatch as well. ❤️

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The Best Adapatation in the TBOY Series

So amazing!!!! The peak level of friendly platonic bromance! And the constant subversion of expectations when your main characters are all bad guys just trying to be good.

THE CHARACTERS
Su Chang He (Chuang Hua Sen's character and SML) was PERFECCCCTTTTT!!! I know everyone is agreeing that he is the standout character/actor in this show. So complicated, but ultimately motivated by such intrinsic goodness and loyalty. So willing to lay down all power, control, prestige, for his friends. Gains everyone's following and the highest leadership title so early on, and yet forever acts subservient to others. A real humble king-like character: super OP, but always taking the humblest position.
Gong Jun's character really grew on me as well! It was nice that he was not always a goody two shoes, took justice into his own hands, trusted and understood SCH so unconditionally, and only really got murderous when it was to avenge SCH.

THE FLAWS
The worst 2 parts were 1) the romance, and 2) the unrealistic way that so many people lived for the sake of loving the "art of the sword", and treated every conflict like there were no real issues of life and death or strife in the world. Like when the city is under attack and the OP guys are somewhere playing chess and just commenting on how power is changing hands right now somewhere nearby (like why don't you do something about it and lend a hand???). People have important missions and they are willing to abandon them mid-mission just to fight a "worthy opponent" (unprovoked, not their enemy, just happens to be present). And if they get defeated, they just brush it off and fly away like it was not important to begin with. Most fights have no meaning, most people live so frivolously that you wonder how their society is functioning, because who is actually earning money, doing agriculture, running the city, building infrastructure, etc?
And the romance was just such an obnoxious deterrent from the ICONIC bromances going on, every last one. The only saving grace for this is that **spoiler** none of the CPs worked out in the end ;)

BETTER THAN TBOY
But this is so much better than the other stories in this world - The Blood Of Youth and Dashing Youth - b/c there was actually some MEANING to most of the battles. The Blood River folks had a purpose for their fights and power struggles. They never just fought to test out their skills (even though some non-Blood River people did), but they were fighting to the death to gain the title of the Patriarch, and then to free themselves from their patrons, and then to gain allies to help them re-write their name in society. Always a tangible goal, and always a fight that if it was not won and both sides made it out alive and unscathed, they could not allow the other to continue. Not like TBOY where **spoiler** they had so many fights in the first 10 episodes over the guy in the coffin, and then ultimately he just walked out on his own and kept going in the direction that everyone was trying to take him to (which was the SAME direction btw, I don't even know why they had to fight in the first place).
And also, the friendships here were so real, deep, and full of history, unlike the TBOY friendships that were formed on the fly in real-time and resulted in loyalty and proclamations of brotherhood that seemed to come out of nowhere and be rooted in knowing nothing about each other, very unrealistic.

All in all, so many positives that it cancels out all of the negatives and warrants a near perfect score.

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Uneven Story. Great Visuals, but Heavy on CGI. Good Actors Underutilized, Except for Chang Huasen.

WATCH THIS IF:
--You enjoyed the donghua (anime) version of the same story called "Tale of Dark River". From what I hear, Blood River tracks pretty closely to what happens in the donghua, at least for the first maybe 10 episodes. BR also has a very anime look to it.
--You love CGI-dependent fight scenes. Many of the fights require CGI to make, for instance, building-height demons fight each other. Not my thing, but no judgment if you love this.
--You love dramas full of pretty people. This is a very pretty cast, the men and the women.
--You're an enormous Gong Jun fan who's happy just to see him onscreen doing anything. No shame in that!
--You're open to being wowed by Chuang Huasen in a "bad guy" role that I hope makes him a star. His is the most interesting, charismatic, emotionally complex performance in BR. I might've stopped watching without him.
--You're willing to suffer through several rough or "suboptimal" episodes early on to get to greener pastures in the middle and a bigger payoff at the end.

DO NOT WATCH THIS IF:
--You're hoping to see GJ in top acting form. WoH remains his best performance so far, by far.
--You're watching for Peng Xiaoran, who has very little screentime in an underwritten role (what a waste).
--You need a consistently strong story from beginning to end.
--You can't watch things that are very dark visually. This didn't bother me, and it does gets brighter about a third to half-way through, but some people have trouble seeing what's going on or enjoying such dark/dim visuals.
--You are a Blood of Youth purist who needs Blood River to line up 100% (I haven't seen BoY yet, but from what I hear, BoY and BR mostly line up, but some stuff in BR suggests things should have turned out differently in BoY).
--You want a strong ML/FL romance (zero chemistry, painful to watch).
--You're hoping for a strong BL romance. The two MLs have way more chemistry than the ML & FL, and this has BL overtones throughout, but I wouldn't call this a BL really.
--You'd be too  frustrated by having 100 characters you can't keep track of (it gets better maybe halfway).

MY REACTIONS:
I loved Gong Jun in Word of Honor and hoped in Blood River he'd prove that WoH wasn't a fluke. That didn't happen.

Instead, he plays everything with no emotion (except at the very, very end). As a viewer, I can't emotionally connect with and care about a character if they have no emotions. Bad choice for the star and main attraction.

The first third of the series (maybe 9-10 episodes) was too much of everything for me. Too big, too fast, too crowded, too explicit, too pretty. Fight scenes fly by. A million characters are introduced and almost as many forgotten. The CGI budget for the 1st few episodes seems larger than the GDP of some small nations. I like beautiful people, but it's odd to have an assassin organization where everyone looks scouted by a modeling agency.

What bothered me most though in the first third of BR was the weak writing. Cramming too much setup into too few episodes leaves no time for things to unfold naturally, and I hate it when characters explain things in forced ways just to get the info out. I almost abandoned BR then, but Su Changhe (played by Chang Huasen) had me hooked, so I kept going.

In the middle third, things slow to what I consider a normal pace. New characters slow to a relative trickle, so you're finally following along. Even before then, fight scenes rely less on CGI and display more of each characters' fighting skills, which I prefer. You also get more backstory so you understand things better.

Fast forward to the last few episodes. Surprisingly, I'd grown pretty attached to some of the main characters and even some minor ones I didn't notice or like early on. I even cried at one scene! Part of that was I'd invested so much time watching that I ended up invested in some of the characters too. But also, the struggle of these characters made more sense by the end.

Looking back, the premise of the series was a good one. I'm glad I didn't abandon BR, though I don't think I'd rewatch the whole series, just specific scenes I like. I do wish they'd put less time/money into visuals/special effects and more into the writing, pacing, and character development. Plus, they should've done a better job directing GJ!

By shifting their focus to storytelling essentials, this could have been a 9-star rating, especially with so much going for them with a solid cast, big budget, and the original novel author as the screenwriter.

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A refreshing take on the wuxia genre

Blood River does a fantastic job blending elements from both traditional and new wuxia genres to deliver its story. One of the most interesting thing about Blood River is that its protagonist is an assassin, which may not seem that unusual given that we've now seen many movies told from the perspective of the villain. But in the wuxia genre, having an antihero protagonist is almost unheard of.

Still, this is very much an wuxia story at its heart. With all the traditional core wuxia elements of freedom and justice. Gong Jun does a splendid job as Su Muyu, taking us on his journey of growth.

Blood River is sleek, fast-paced, with very impressive fighting scenes and special effects, and an extremely addictive story line. A must-watch for all wuxia lovers.

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There is a solid story here.

This will be long!! This is a scatterbrained attempt at a review but I really wanted to write one so here we are.

When it first aired, there seemed to be an influx of negative comments highlighting how bad many things were. But I’d decided to watch it over a year ago when I heard that there would be a show in an assassin organization so I stopped checking comments and decided to watch for myself and that is the best decision I think anyone can make with a show they really want to watch.

I watched BR almost like a brand new drama with no expectations because I remember almost nothing from TBOY though I've watched it. Infact, I honestly don’t even remember SCH and SMY from TBOY. Until I checked and saw them on a clip on youtube, I honestly had no idea who they were or what they did there.

What I really loved was the story...
I like that we get right into it from the beginning. The Patriarch is hurt and the patriarchy is seemingly up for grabs within an assassin organization made up of three families with very little trust between them and a thirst for power. Its a rush to heal him or kill him and it looks like a free for all but there's a schemer with a whole other plan controlling some aspects of the plot. That's the kind of power play stuff I like and SCH did well with it.
I was never confused with the numerous characters at the beginning as they were color coded by family and there is no need to remember a large cast within the first three episodes, there was always going to be a weeding and cool down process with a story like that so I just tried to know what family each person was from and that was enough before everything settled.
I like SMY and SCH's introduction, you immediately understand that they are on opposing sides but they are also dear to each other.
I liked how every arc was an organic offshoot of the last one. No new arch felt misplaced like"where did this come from and why". I perfectly understood why each arc had to happen and also the hardships that were part of their goal.
I really liked when BHH asked SMY when they would get to the other shore, it felt like she was asking for us the viewers because I'd also wondered when they would reach the other shore and what it would even mean to do so. But show made sure that we were clear on what reaching the other shore actually meant, it wasn't just a new place physically but a new way of living for every member.
This brings me to the end, I really like that it wasn't a perfect end yet it wasn't a failure by any means. What they were seeking might take a generation to achieve but that doesn't mean they should stop and we can see that they were clearly willing to bet their lives on it and would not stop even with the disappointments they faced.

What I liked
- SCH, He was maybe the first character that really piqued the curiosity from the time he showed up. I liked his first interaction with SMY. The way his voice said ‘only you think anhe is your home’ stood out to me for the delivery and also because it immediately showed how their different mindsets at that point. Plus the voice acting as well as the physical acting was so lovely. And I liked that his character was smart, strong and wary.
His character was one I always loved to see on my screen and he gave off that -teetering on the edge- vibe sometimes. Plus some of his outfits were my favorite especially the one in ep 10, that red and black was delicious and his eyes always looked birdlike to me.
- The brotherhood between SMY and SCH. It really was one of the draws of this show and I think it was well done. It really conveyed the feeling of “I-trust-you-even-when-I-don’t-know-what-you’re-doing-but-I'll-still-trust-you-because-I-KNOW-you.”
It was so well done that you begin to understand that they know each other on a whole other level and respect and love each other regardless. I like that SMY knows how ambitious, greedy, conniving and cunning SCH can be and still chooses to protect him and even help temper him. And I like that SCH knows how honorable, righteous and rigid SMY can be but still chooses to be close to him, infact doesn't see any other options than being so.
We are so clear on their relationship that we have an idea of what one would say or think towards the others action even when it’s not shown and that’s really the best type of friendship. It didn’t give shippy vibes but one of genuine respect and loyalty to each other.
- BHH, so I already said I didn’t really like TBOY and one aspect of that was the cute-voiced female who I just never grew to like. I was afraid that BHH would be like that but I can reasonably say thatI don't think this drama would be the same without her. Romance or not, she’s not just a pining damsel in distress and she was competent and independent enough for me to respect her. Plus I liked her teasing vibe with SCH.
- The plot and writing was really good. The story of a power tussle within an assassin organization is already an interesting premise and I think they do a good job of conveying it from the first episode with the betrayals, plans and schemes. I loved all the scheming at the beginning and could have watched it for another 10episodes. I was initially afraid that it wouldn’t be as interesting when the first arc was done but it was shockingly still good. I found the bumps they hit realistic and they way they moved to the next arcs felt organic and the ending made sense to me.

What I didn’t like
- I sadly never really liked the ML. I read from comments that he was actually conveying the character accurately based on the source material but I found him quite stiff, and sometimes he just looked almost uncomfortable or something. I didn’t hate him, infact I grew to accept him but never really liked the way the actor played him.
- The last 5 episodes were a bit draggy and ultimately made me lower my scores.
- MYM and TLY were two I could have completely done without. I didn’t enjoy their story at all or the way it was acted by both and ended up fast forwarding their scenes a lot.
- I wish the zodiacs were used better and actually powerful or something.
- My worst con are the action scenes. This is not a new complaint for me but the action scenes can be so confusing to watch. So much twirling, tumbling and posing all over the place with a nice helping of not-great cgi. I really hope they improve this aspect of their magical shows.

The music didn't stand out to me so I guess that is both good and not good as it means it wasn't annoying but it wasn't great or memorable either.

Random thoughts
- My only ship in this show was the Li Hanyi and the Scholarly Sword deity (forgot his name, sorry), I thought the vibe of headstrong fussy strong girl was well tempered by the calm, mature, coolheaded, equally strong nerd who wouldn’t and couldn’t be cowed by her as well as match her in power levels. I’d watch that drama.
- Maybe I should peek back into TBOY as I’m truly curious as to what would cause the divide that will bring about that tragic ending for SMY and SCH.
- Mu Ciling was a great standout and I wish to see more of that actor. That character could have been very cringy and animesque but instead he was interesting and I found myself enjoying the way He spoke and his quirks.
All 3 corrupt Tang Clan heads had some my favorite outfits, and the ones I’d wear if I could, looked so comfy atimes.
- Where are all the MOTHERS?! So many dead mothers!!
- I said Tajaja so many times while watching this show : )

Have a nice day!

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I really need to start reading the summary before jumping into a series. All I saw was Simon Gong in a historical drama and immediately said, “Yes!” It took me a while to get through the first 10 episodes—not because it was boring, but because there were so many details and new characters introduced that I struggled to keep up. I eventually went back to read the summary, and sure enough, it’s classic wuxia. It actually reminded me a bit of the darker tone in Bloody Romance, with its lethal elegance, shadowy atmosphere, and constant threat of assassination.

Instead of making this my priority watch, I found myself putting it on in between other shows while deciding what to watch next—and because of that, I kept losing track of the story. Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in, because I usually enjoy wuxia, especially when it centers around a loyal group of friends fighting for a common cause. At one point I considered dropping it, but with so many other dramas on my list, I didn’t want to put this one on hold and risk forgetting about it completely.
One thing I genuinely appreciate, though, is the visual style. Since the story involves assassins, the overall tone is quite dark, and the bold color palette really stands out. I really love the animation and CGI!!!

This review will be ongoing, since I’m not prioritizing this series and won’t be finishing it as quickly as the other dramas I’m currently watching.

Currently scoring at 7/10 for it beautiful color, a good plot and solid cast.

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