Currently Watching: Blood River (2025) 暗河传
Summary: Su Mu Yu (Ft Gong Jun) is the “Kui” for the Patriarch of Blood River, an elite assassin organization comprised of the Su, Mu and Xi families. However, when the Patriarch is poisoned, Su Mu Yu and his best friend Su Chang He ft Chang Hua Sen must decide where they stand on the future of Blood River.
Platform: Youku
Episodes: 38
Airing Date: October 20, 2025
Warnings – Intense but not too gruesome fight scenes
Initial Rating: 6.8/10 [16 episodes in]: This drama excels at portraying brotherhood and features standout performances from veteran actors, with impressive production value throughout. However, first few episodes are weighed down by too many characters and factions, the romance storyline is lacking and acting from key cast members could be improved.
Worth watching if you’re here for CGI martial arts action and male bonding rather than romance.
su mu yu 苏暮雨 gong jun 龚俊
Originally of the Zhuo family. Now a "Kui", one of the most powerful swordsmen in the realm
mu yu muo peng 慕雨墨 xiao ran 彭小苒
Member of the Mu family, skilled in using poison and insects
su zhe 苏喆 qiao zhen yu 乔振宇
Former "Kui", father to Bai He Huai
su chang he 苏昌河 chang hua sen 常华森
Elite assassin in the Su family. Childhood friends with Su Mu Yu
bai he huai 白鹤淮 yang yu tong 杨雨潼
Legendary doctor
Mu Xue Wei 慕雪薇 Kong Xue Er 孔雪儿
Member of the Mu family
Tang Lian Yue 唐怜月 Zhang Shi An 章时安
Member of the Tang family
Patriarch 大家长 Geng Yue 耿乐
All powerful Patriarch of Blood River
Plot Overview
The Patriarch of Blood River, an elite assassin organization that is formed by members of the Su, Xie and Mu families, is poisoned after a fight with a Tang family elder. Wary of the members of the 3 families who want him dead, he instructs Su Mu Yu ft Gong Jun, his “kui” or key protector and likely successor, to help him find aid from the legendary doctor, Bai He Huai.
The road for medical treatment is perilous as the members of the 3 families and several other sects join in the chase to ensure that the Patriarch dies and a ruthless struggle for power begins. Su Mu Yu is torn between his loyalty to the Patriarch and his familial bond with Su Chang He (ft Chang Hua Sen), with whom they fought together to survive in the deadly pipeline of Blood River members.
Initial Thoughts
Gong Jun leads this drama when he is currently enjoying a surge in popularity from his 2 most recent variety show appearances in Divas Hit the Road and Wow the World. Blood River started airing in October 20th and was soon followed by a number of other male idol led dramas but did benefit from first mover advantage. This drama saw a ton of marketing push from Gong Jun on various social media platforms which seems to have worked. Blood River has breached 10,000 on youku’s popularity index which meant that Gong Jun rewarded fans with a muscular shirtless pic on Weibo so if you want to see his 8 pack abs, it’s publicly available 🙂 But overall, I would say that this drama has done fine from a numbers perspective, but is not top tier. It’s not a blowout by any means even though it did breach 10,000.
On Douban, this drama has garnered 7.1/10 which is the highest of the bunch for all recently airing dramas. For me though, I WANT to like this drama more than I do. I like story which is more about creating a regime change and giving those born or forced to be killers the opportunity to reach the opposing bank to live in the light. It’s a refreshing change from the political dramas, family dramas and fantasy spirit vs demon fights we’ve seen. Additionally, there is no doubt that this is a big production film. The costumes are elaborate and intricate, the CGI fantastic, and the cast enormous. This is a huge world with new characters introduced at every turn.
But the execution for me is lacking. The drama throws you in to a massive and deep world but it takes several episodes to become engaged with the characters because there’s just so much going on. Some side plots/relationship storylines not wholly necessary but this is also driven by wooden acting from some of the actors/actresses.
Overall, I think this is a decent show with many things to like about it, but it is not as captivating a watch as I want it to be.
Note – this is set in the same universe and with the same director as The Song Of Youth
What I Like
Brotherly Bond
The best part of this drama, and in my view, the most undermarketed aspect, is the brotherly bond between Su Mu Yu and Su Chang He. The chemistry between these two men is far better than any other relationship in the show. They share a deep camaraderie and recognize that in the bloody, dark world they inhabit, where their only method of staying alive is killing, their family bond keeps them human. It’s deeply satisfying to watch them trust each other and have complete confidence in each other’s abilities. Whenever danger arises, one will say, “Don’t worry, he’s got it,” or when trouble strikes, one brother will show up to support the other. This family bond ultimately grounds their entire vision and goal of transforming An He, or “Blood River.”
Veteran Actors
The veteran actors truly shine, particularly Qiao Zhen Yu. As Su Zhe, Qiao Zhen Yu, who has been acting for over two decades and was one of the most striking leading men in Chinese entertainment during the 2000s, remains fantastic on screen even in his mid-40s. The character of Su Zhe certainly helps, as Su Zhe is more lighthearted and doesn’t take things too seriously. He is largely the comedic relief for this show all about killing. Qiao Zhen Yu also uses his hometown accent mixed with Mandarin at random moments, adding a fun twist to the character. But he is absolutely captivating and steals the spotlight from Gong Jun and Chang Hua Sen because he’s more emotive than the rest of the cast. I adore every scene he’s in.
The Patriarch (Da Jia Zhang) was also quite engaging in the first section of the drama, as the actor emanates power and authority. He projects a deadly aura that makes you believe he’s capable of running “Blood River” with an iron fist. Other senior members of the Su, Mu and Xie were portrayed by folks we’ve seen in other shows and they were a fun addition.
Chang Hua Sen’s Su Chang He
Of the pair of brothers, Chang Hua Sen’s portrayal of Su Chang He is more intriguing to watch. I can see that devilish glint in his eye whenever he’s on screen, and you can’t help but enjoy being along for the ride through whatever mischievous fight comes their way. Throughout the episodes, you can never tell if he is fully telling the truth or if he has some trick up his sleeve. You don’t have an absolute sense for what his allegiance is, well other than being a good friend to Su Mu Yu. That makes for a fun character to watch.
Production Value – $$$
There’s no doubt about it, money was spent on this production. The CGI effects are overall quite good and really elevate certain fight scenes. Even in episode 1 when in the initial fight scene between the 2 old men, it’s a beautiful tapestry that is painted for the fight. Later on, who wouldn’t want to see a massive Buddha, a million swords, or other demon characters suddenly materialize to aid in battle. These special effects help differentiate the fighting styles of various characters and give visual context for what a truly powerful martial artist should look like. Beyond the special effects, the costumes and hairstyles for both men and women are intricate, and the weapons are elaborately designed.
What I'm struggling With
Romance Storyline
The weakest part of this drama is definitely the romantic relationship (or not) for Su Mu Yu and Bai He Huai. The pair have virtually no chemistry, and I’m scratching my head as to why Su Mu Yu would even like her? After 16 episodes, I still don’t understand the romantic spark for why Su Mu Yu is supposed to find Bai He Huai romantically interesting at all. We see Bai He Huai’s father joking about whether she has a crush on Su Mu Yu for maybe his strong swords fighting abilities, his kindheartedness despite being a top killer, but the reverse? I don’t see where the catalyst is. That’s my problem with many of these dramas. In Fated Hearts, you could clearly see WHY the main leads fell in love with each other. Here, is he impressed with her medical abilities? Is she materially different from the other women he interacts with or has a close relationship with? Or is it just because she’s Su Zhe’s daughter? It doesn’t help that the actress playing Bai He Huai is quite wooden. She’s pretty, but most of her acting is carried by her voice dubbing. Maybe they’re not supposed to have a romantic relationship and I just read this all wrong. But right now, I’m definitely shipping Su Chang He and Su Mu Yu way harder than Su Mu Yu and Bai He Huai.
Gong Jun—Give Me More!
I’m obsessed with Gong Jun after watching him in Divas Hit the Road Season 7. He can cook, is responsible, kind-hearted, thoughtful, caring, a great organizer, and a leader. So many great qualities in a man! But in this drama, I need more from him. His character is more stoic and reserved than Su Chang He but he’s still a complicated character. Gong Jun doesn’t bring out enough of that nuance. He should be able to switch between lethal killer and soft-hearted brotherly man, but Gong Jun is missing that range. This is a shame because I see when he’s animated and a lot more nuance in Divas Hit the Road.
Emotional Engagement
The beginning of the drama struggled to engage me emotionally. From the outset, viewers are bombarded with numerous factions, characters, and martial arts powers, making it difficult to connect with the main characters and their motivations. While I generally enjoy expansive worlds and intricate lore, the script failed to integrate these elements alongside the emotional beats that would ground the story, at least from the get go.
The sheer volume of information made it hard to invest in anyone who was not already familiar with the universe that this drama is set in. One challenge was also to know whether or not I wanted to pay attention to a character or if this character will be killed off next moment (there were several instances of this). It took several episodes before I genuinely cared about Su Mu Yu, Su Chang He, and the Patriarch. While the pacing improved as the drama progressed, my initial engagement was far lower than I’d anticipated.
What’s the point of Peng Xiao Ran’s female lead role?
Peng Xiao Ran is billed as the main female lead for this drama, but her screen time is exceptionally limited. She has less screen time than Bai He Huai! Her on screen interactions with the main group, Su Mu Yu and Su Chang He, are minimal in the first 20 episodes as well. I don’t know if this is a new trend in male-dominated dramas, but I’m very confused as to why all these supposed female leads have almost no screen time. Her story line so far has largely revolved around a romance with Tang Lian Yue which I guess is…fine? But then why is she the main female lead?
Fun Observations
There are some funny “meta” jokes in the drama that got me chuckling. Su Mu Yu as a character is awful at cooking and also cannot eat spicy food. However, his actor, Gong Jun, is actually a fantastic cook as is evident in Divas Hit The Road and, being from SiChuan, he adores spicy food and will bring spicy seasoning with him while traveling. So for Su Mu Yu to NOT be able to cook or eat spicy? That was definitely purposeful by the screenwriters.
TBC – Karen