Young Blood (2019)

The 'A' Team | Mission Impossible Theme

When I first read the title, I thought it was some youthful drama full of modern vibes and silliness, so I didn't give it much attention. How wrong I was! Normally, it takes me 1 or 2 episodes to get acquainted with a drama and the actors. But with this drama, my attention is immediately captured.

I love the acting of all the characters - each has his/her own flaws, and greatness. They also have their own stories and aspirations. How they come together to work as a team eventually to beat the evil doers and to bring good to the country is something that is inspirational and heart-warming. The actors are good and play their roles convincingly.

This drama is out of my expectation! It is serious, and yet humorous with great taste. There are some lighthearted moments, but they are not from the story itself; rather, they are from the playfulness of the main male character, Yuan Zhongxin, and the dumbness of Wei Ya Nei.

The story starts with a lot of twists and turns evolving around Yuan Zhongxin; it becomes difficult to discern his orientation and loyalty initially. And that's exactly the reason that captures my interest. He is my most loved character - honorable, upstanding, wily, street smart, intelligent, and mischievous. He stands behind his friends and family fully, and one can be assured that with him, things will be taken care of. I also love the character Wei Ya Nei played by Bruce He. He is spoiled, dumb and silly, and yet he is honorable and funny. Bruce He is so convincing that I begin to love him. My other favorite character would be Zhao Jian who is a badass girl, beautiful, smart, decisive and skillful in fighting. She is a natural leader that makes me feel good watching this drama. The other characters are equally lovable and impressive. Together, they make the 'A' team, fighting and solving espionage cases.

The story is fast paced. Viewers can brace for something to happen in every scene. Sometimes, it's hard to discern what is true or false, what is black or white, what is right or wrong. Every time when something seems to be bad, becomes good, and vice versa. There are twists and turns till the end of the story.

The fighting scenes are wonderful with beautiful choreography; the young actors are convincing and good looking; the setting of Northern Song is authentic and believable; the politics, espionage and scheming are cliff hangers and page turners.

This is a really good drama. It is highly recommended.

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This is a historical espionage story full of twists, filled with adorable characters, main or supporting or even antagonists, has fair share of comedy, lots of adventure, friendship and just enough romance to die for, and so much heart that I want to recommend it to everyone.

Our main character Yuan Zhong Xin is a playful cunning street savvy guy, who tends to scheme and compete against Zhao Jian, a proud independent smart girl. They are the kickass otp I've been waiting for, it's so much fun to see two people on the same level, whether against each other or working together. Wang Kuan is also pretty intelligent, but tends to be rather straightlaced. Xiao Jing is a cute innocent girl who's generally the peacemaker, Xue Ying is the simple minded brawns, and Ya Nei is the one with connections. The former three are all smart in slightly different way and devise plans, while the latter three all have their shining moment, and generally follow the plan.

The group go from a ragtag team to slowly getting to know each other, go through life and death and betrayal, to a highly effective team that's always there for each other. It's an incredibly emotionally satisfying journey to watch them grow, the camaraderie is awesome, you can ship any characters you want, since most have some fantastic moments. The supporting characters and antagonists are all very memorable with their share of humanising moments, no matter their allegiance or goals. The antagonists are often temporary due to all the twists, and they tend to be pretty smart, which is refreshing. The familial relationship is incredibly touching as well, like Yuan Zhong Xin's relationship with his brother, Zhao Jian's awesome dad, Lu Guan Nian's mentoring.

The plot is very unpredictable, and this is an original script! Which is so rare in this day of (web) novel adaptations, especially for a historical, and one that's so heavily reliant on a good script. I do think the last two arcs aren't as well done, second last arc have some draggy bits, and the twists could feel little forced at times, while the last arc felt a bit rushed towards the end (There's 5 scriptwriter for the series). That doesn't change that there were a lot of choice dialogues, some awesome ones that still applies today, like Zhao Jian's rather feminist values, or Wang Kuan talking about soft power. It also doesn't lessen the heart of these kids that wants to give their all to protect people they love, and the country they vow to protect.

The filter was a little off-putting at first, since I associated with low budget not very good webdramas, this drama is certainly low budget, but the story and acting was on point! It actually quite fit the bright, idealistic, adventure atmosphere of the drama once you get used to it The costumes aren't necessarily historically accurate, but that's okay, it's an idealistic drama about young people in Song, and they all fit their respective characters, which I liked. The music is pretty decent, the fight scenes is sometimes okay, sometimes really lackluster, but it does add in some unintentional comedy.

If you want a fun adventure drama with a lot of heart, please give this drama a try!

P.S. The original creator wrote an epilogue on weibo after lots of messages were sent his way when the drama finished. This drama actually only cover half of the story (he wrote like rough outline of the story, not a script), but the latter half could be hard to write and get pass NRTA due to what it covers (more politics involving Xia). He's in the middle of adapting a well known wuxia novel, and still have two more project, as well as probably Joy of Life s2 now that s1 seems to be doing pretty well. Anyways, I'll spoiler the gist of the short epilogue in the comments for those that finished the drama and need it.

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