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I just went back to TBOY to watch some of Xiao Se epic moments and.... and nothing, I just love this drama, fullstop.
And I must admit the worldbuilding also helps a lot, everyone is so "rich" in terms of back stories, origins, dynamics, motivation... can't wait for S2. <3

If you're looking for "the same universe", a mini drama is out now (just released ep10 of 24) but as of now it's not really on par, quality wise, with TBOY, DY and BR....
There are also the donghua for all these series, if you like animation too!

For similar vibes and topics but different "world setting", I would recommend:
-- Fangs of Fortune (brotherhood, friendship, action, intrigues... and amazing aesthetics)
-- Mysterious Lotus Casebook (great hero living in disguise, brotherhood, investigation)
-- Guardians of the Dafeng (way more ML centric but great action, fun and worldbuilding)
-- Sword Snow Stride (haven't finished watching yet but great and addictive story!)

Yes exactly, TBOY ended with them leaving for their adventures so we can assume they're still "out there wandering" when this spinoff takes place.

Thanks! <3

Thanks! "the elusive prince" in the literal sense that he cannot be found?

This means Xiao Se is still out there travelling the world with his brother in arms while this spinoff takes place (in fact in later episodes they nominate directly Xiao Se and somewhere along the way they say that they're looking both for the sword AND for the prince)

As of now (ep10) this spinoff ain't the best but ain't the worst either - it seems set about 15 years after Xiao Se/ChuHe used the TianZhen sword (in the epic ep39 of TBOY original series)... the main problem is that some context or introduction is missing so it kinda feels empty, and also the actual storytelling is not the best, some event sequences just don't make sense.

The main leads in this are ok (but I've seen way better in other recent minidramas) and honestly when I heard the main theme I had a huge surge of nostalgia I was so hyped...! But given the screentime it's hard to empathize with them, and you just can't avoid comparing things and characters... anyway, in whatever series, the Lei clan guys are always the ones making things hectic! XD

I'll watch till the end because I really miss this universe, but I can't wait to see Li Hong Yi back again. <3

I abandoned "The Untamed" for that reason, actually: the lenght scared me (I'm mostly used to Japanese and Thai dramas, so 50 episodes it's something HUGE for me XD) and I could never pass the first 5/6 episodes although I tried in different times of my life (that whole "horror flying arm" thing in the first episodes is quite cringe tbh XD).

But yeah, then I managed to overcome that and I found out most of these series are addictive as hell! XD
I'm watching "The Spirealm" rn btw, that was unfortunately another series I postponed for ages given the "78" episode... ^^'

Blood River is a nice drama, among the trilogy probably the one I liked less in terms of being engaging (and because the female leads are pretty meh), BUT the bromance is strong in that one! XD
And also is set before Blood of Youth, so might be a good start. :)

I jump in just to say: I totally understand both the "very long" and "they're all connected" part of your fear... it was the same for me at first, and one of the reasons why I postponed watching some titles that once finished became among my fav series ever.

BUT when it comes to "The Blood of Youth" (the 2022 one, not this minidrama one) I can say that you don't really feel it's 40 episodes long: I bingewatched it in a couple of days because it was so addicting, enthralling and well acted that I couldn't stop - there was not a single boring second in the whole show.

And obviously, you don't need to watch all the parts of the series if you don't feel like, they are stand-alone although some characters appear in all of the series.
(TBOY for me is by far the best among the three, although as a BL/bromance fan the dynamics in Blood River were also pretty satisfying XD)

From time to time I just come here to scroll through the comments, I'm always so happy to see people watching and being in love with this series.
And whenever I have bad moments in life, just watching fanvids with WKX and ZZS makes my days brighter, they are still one of my favourite ever couples in stories. <3

I agree! I watched a lot of tv shows in which GJ was a guest and he was so childlike and cute and without filters (in a positive way, like if he was always surprised at life)... he still is, but it really feels like he's grown up so much.

This was an unexpected surprise! I didn't watch it when it first aired because the sinopsys and even the title perse didn't really spark my interest.... but I was on a 8hr night train trip yesterday and I thought I'd give it a go and I'm happy I did!

Although pretty short, it was very well acted: the two main leads really did their best and their chemistry was always on point both in fights and in emotional moments.

I'm a huge Word Of Honor fan so I couldn't restrain myself from saying "this scene is that scene" and "this moment is that moment" comparing the two dramas - it honestly almost felt like the story and mainly the characters were openly inspired by WKX and ZZS. BUT still, it was very well done: the action scenes are nice, the costumes aren't flashy but they are believable, the music is a nice addition AND the bromance is wonderfully executed.

Sidenote, I would have liked to actually hear the flute sound instead of the sountrack playing on it, and I didn't like how the female characters were either victims or saints or villains... very bidimensional. But again, they did the best they could with the time they had.

If you like bromance, suffering and good-looking leads, this is a nice watch!

WoH is probably one of the dramas I loved the most in 20+ years of watching asian series, it holds a special place in my heart BUT I agree with what you said - both Zhang Zhe Han and Gong Jun acted wonderfully but WKX was definitely an amazing character and he was basically 60% of the whole richness of the entire drama, while ZZS was given less space and depth and that was a pity because he deserved more depth and focus too.

This was quite a surprise, the actors did a very good job and, although the plot was very eventful, they managed to make it rich enough as not leave holes or questions. Given the ending I suppose they were hoping for a S2, fingers crossed!

And the emotional moment with Untamed OST was the greatest surprise ever!

On a sidenote, I always admire the costume/wig aspect of chinese productions: even the small and low budget ones have better costumes than some major western series!

---> IF YOU WANT TO WATCH
it's on youtube but the hardsubs are terrible, so go watch Mudan's playlist with her subs which are perfect <3
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHsigBYE1TcOw8U5C3y7VwrnexRQnSuQp

Thank you! I must have missed that, probably was half asleep! TT

Depends - the cinematography is great and BillyBabe are amazing, BUT the story is the slowest thing on earth. If you only watch for them, maybe just find a FMV with their shots together XD

I thought the same thing and honestly it was very irritating (and completely ooc for Kaew), I mean if I were Ruedee I would reincarnate only to find Kaew again and tell him: "what kind of best buddy are you, not looking for me and believing the first bullsh!t you're told about me?"

Ok, first thing first, I'll be honest: I managed to keep watching only because of Heng and his Saen, who was my favorite character - I might be biased obviously because that was one of the main reasons why I put this drama in my watchlist to begin with (the other two being: BillyBabe, and the historical setting).

BillyBabe are great actors, but even their great visuals, and chemistry, and performance couldn't put enough energy and fuel to this story. Mind me, the story perse was very interesting BUT it was so chaotic in terms of narrative and time jumps (graphically the time jumps were very well made, but most of the time they were useless and often they were repeating the same scenes more than once). I usually LOVE slow dramas, but this wasn't slow... it was stuck. It was interminable, really. Most scenes were aesthethically very pleasing (lights, colors, costumes...), just like watching a painting, and I really liked that: it was basically like watching a painted novel, and slowly turning page after page... but in the end, it just didn't click for me.

Pity, because I can see all the effort everyone put into this work.

Sidenote: I kinda didn't get RuedeeSinSaen dynamics. At the beginning I thought Sin was probably Ruedee and Saen's son born while he was still alive and grown up during the years, while obviously Saen's spirit couldn't age nor reincarnate because he was stuck with Khun Yai in the white house... but then we see that he never actually had a wife and he followed Khun Yai when he died, so...? When was Sin born? And was that really Ruedee? That was one very fast way to gloss over the disappearance of one of the main characters...

Oh well, anyway: I'm actually happy that Billy&Babe tried this kind of project too, I really hope they can try and take on different styles of series so we can appreciate their acting and partnership again and again!

Ep12 was the first one that kinda irritated me, because EVERYTHING in the action/police part made no sense - from Singha jumping and running after getting his leg perforated, to Darin going alone to the bathroom, to King waiting for the wrongest moment to try and use his watch "findme"... and so on, so on.

BUT

the confession part was so cute! <3
Pavel is just so mesmerizing!

AOUBOOM! I totally forgot about them here, but it was such a pleasent surprise!

Positive note, although the "investigation" part is less "investigational" episode after episode, the overall series mood is getting better and better! I love JoongDunk dynamics, sarawat Kamin showing concern for Jade was shown in a pretty natural and smooth way (and the final goal of letting us see Joong's abs was very much appreciated) and so is their growing interest for each other. I'm also positive about the lenght: if they play it well, 10 eps is just about right for this story, so let's hope they keep it moving so we don't rush things all in the last ep!

I totally agree! I'm Italian, and it kinda felt like when I see some kind of mafia boss characters hilariously speaking some totally wrong italian saying things no italian would ever really say or do. XD

I loved how episode 8 was putting everyone naked in front of their inner selves, expecially Koh and Jira - also the fact that basically everything happened in the former clothing factory of Koh's family to me almost felt like an "undressing" moment, using dress-metaphores and smoothly "peeling" Koh and Jira's inner emotional layers just like you put yourself bare in front of persons you care for.

OffGun have such a beautiful "mature" dynamic, you can really see the years of working together and their mutual understanding.
On the other hand, Dew through the years has proven that he has chemistry with each and every actor he acts with - this man can make me believe he's in love with a woodlog, it's incredible.

I also loved the kiss under the rain, although it felt a bit "cold" (also in terms of color-coding)... but don't mind me on this, I think no kiss scene will ever beat the one from Not Me ep8 ending... that will forever and ever be my all time favourite kiss scene in a thai drama. <3