Sword Stained with Royal Blood/ 碧血劍

What a show! Sword Stained with Royal Blood is another adaptation of a Jin Yong martial arts novel. Having read the actual novel, I had very high expectations of this series going in, and, for the most part, these hopes were met.

Set at the end of the Ming dynasty, the whole of China is in conflict. Ming's top general, sent to guard the country's northern borders against Ching invaders, is wrongly accused of collaboration and killed by Ming's ruler. His son barely escapes the slaughter of the family. After a good number of years have passed, Yuan Chenzhi seeks to avenge his father's death. On his journey, he faces many challenges he must overcome before he can achieve his aim.

The story is very complex, with a large cast of interesting characters. Being a martial arts story, the drama rife with combat sequences. In fact, there is not a single episode where there is no fighting. Although lacking a suspenseful build-up, the many sequences are satisfying on the whole. There are many special effects, with wiring and explosions aplenty. The only complaint I have in this regard is the lack of specilization and explanation to the fights. There are very few signature moves special to each characters. Other than the different weapons used, each person fights more or less in the same way. I would have enjoyed a bigger focus, as that was a highlight from the novel. There are many scenes in the novel where Chengzhi points out the flaws in his opponents techniques that I sorely missed in this adaptation. Another gripe I have is the lack of character development in Chengzhi. Events around him shift and change, but it is not obvious how he has changed. Without the improvement in his martial arts that was specified in the novel, it is puzzling how he beats an opponent that he could not earlier in the story.

Yuan Chengzhi is played by Bobby Dou, who does a decent job throughout the series, although the range of emotions he conveyed varied little from one scene to the next. Eva Huang, who played the notorious girl from Kung Fu Hustle without a single line of dialogue, plays Qingqing, the main actress. At times, I do find her to be a very irritating character, indicating that she must be playing her character right. When Chengzhi and Qingqing stand together, they do look like a very good couple, which is the most important factor for this casting.

A large part of the novel is about understanding the Ming-to-Qing turnover from different perspectives, and this adaptation does a good job of conveying the various factors that led to this historic event in Chinese history. The weaving of history and martial arts storytelling makes this a story that deserves to be told.

Given the emotional attachment to the characters, Sword Stained with Royal Blood is a series that I recommend to anyone who would like an entertaining dive into Chinese history, an entertaining story with nicely choreographed fight scenes, or story about a boy who must juggle the heavy burden on him with his relationships. As for me, I enjoy all of those things.

Pros: Great source material, excellent visuals, satisfying
Cons: De-emphasis on martial arts, weak romantic overtones, sometimes weak acting
Conclusion: A must watch for any lover of martial arts!
Score: 4/5