Heroic Years (2021)

Gu Yiye is the best thing about this drama

This drama has a relatively interesting beginning than the ending and the initial development of the characters from naive new recruits to war veterans is also good, especially in Gu Yiye.

Coming to the story, the pace was slow and steady for the first 20 eps and can be said better than the rushed later eps. The freshness and curiosity of youth and then the heavy emotions after losing their loved ones are well handled in the first half. It could've been better if they'd not cut too many scenes in later eps because the story seems to be very irregular and fast paced after that.

It is not a regular military drama since it shows beyond the monotonous war politics.
However actual military life is far from this drama. And there are some unrealistic moments such as new recruits shouting at their superiors and still not thrown out of the amry. Another spooky thing is the subtle favouritism of Division Commander and other officers towards GL. There are many instances when his stay in army depends on their mercy and guess what - he gets it everytime, one time even if costs them the better one!!! Why? Because GYY is smarter and richer and he can live a better life even without army, but GL has no one so he should stay?. Like hell, this was one of crappiest reasons ever to choose a soldier. Although GL's selflessness and bravery is touching, his dependence on luck and superhuman strength seem to annoy us. Also he is the only character that doesn't age- he looks the same even after 20 years!

Aside from those flaws, there are many good scenes including the emotional outbursts of GYY and GL at war and the hilly love triangle. The tragic sub plots can leave an impression. Xiao Zhan and Zhong Chuxi did great jobs as GYY and JNZ. Huang Jingyu was good too but his character is not much different from his previous roles.

Overall it's worth watching one time to have a change of genre or if you are fan of any of the actors.

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Very messy story skipped 80% of most military scenes and romance is horrible

If it wasn't for Xiao Zhan I wouldn't even bother to watch this drama at all
it was a very boring ,, draggy ,,messy and intolerable at times
I skipped most of the drama because it was meaningless or over the top patriotism crap not natural not smooth
they punch you with patriotism speeches most of the time ,, the military aspect of it was horrible
the second male lead should have been the first and the romantic story between the triangle of love was very bad executed and bad all together
I couldn't like the female lead one bit ,, she was annoying most of the time and even her story with the main lead seemed forced to the end
The whole drama was really big failure in my opinion ,,it wasn't enjoyable watch in any way ,, it was disappointing and frustrating to watch
You have to skip a lot and won't be satisfied
I won't recommend it to anyone

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An enjoyable drama with some room for improvement

For anyone who is unsure about watching a military drama, Ace Troops has comedy, romance and thriller elements which makes it easier to settle into the military setting and story. Don't be afraid to give this a try!

--- What I Liked ---
I enjoyed that this was a more casual approach to a military drama that focuses on the people in the military - their struggles and motivations along with showing military tactics and battles. I think it's very easy for both casual viewers and those who enjoy military dramas to watch this.

The Brief Look into China's History
It gives a glimpse into China's military at that time as they try to develop and adjust to the changes happening within and abroad. It shows the motivation to become stronger to avoid the tragedies that happened in their past as they were invaded by others. It shows how events like the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia was something that united people and strengthened their resolve to become stronger to defend themselves. Not only does the military face opposition from abroad but also within as the general Chinese public has forgotten the war time and show some disdain for the PLA.
SPOILER: One of my favorite scenes is at the cinema where Gu Yiye angrily defends his fallen comrade to civilians who don't realize that the target of their attack died to ensure their ability to sit and watch a movie in peace.

The Acting
The acting is solid and everyone does their best to portray their characters' lives over a span of 40 years. The standout here is Xiao Zhan as Gu Yiye. I'm a fan of Xiao Zhan but this makes me a tougher audience for him because I give more scrutiny to the actors I watch often. I've seen all his roles and I'm familiar with all his characters. Would I see Tang San or Wei Wuxian or Ji Chong in a military uniform? It turns out that none of those gentlemen showed up in Ace Troops. Only Gu Yiye appears. Xiao Zhan's portrayal of Gu Yiye is very different from his other characters and becomes another memorable role that people can identify as his. Gu Yiye begins as a bright-eyed recruit and grows into a hardened senior official with the same determined look in his eyes. You can feel and see the weight of each loss, each obstacle, each inevitability he encounters reflected on his face and in his posture. It's odd to say but I felt like I became a fan of Xiao Zhan all over again. After watching Ace Troops, if I didn't already know who he was and hadn't seen all his works, I would have immediately gone to see what other projects he has been in.

The Music
The opening and ending songs are great. The opening song is sung by Johnny Huang (Gao Liang) and Elaine Zhong (Jiang Nan Zheng) while the ending is sung by Xiao Zhan and Tan Weiwei.

--- What I Didn't Like ---
An important thing to know is that there was originally supposed to be about 48 episodes but it was edited down to 40 episodes so it's hard to keep the original vision of the story intact after all the cuts. The most noticeable problem with the cuts is that characters will be fine in one scene then appear with an injury in the next scene with no explanation about how they were injured. This happens about 2-3 times with Gu Yiye. It was really confusing for me but I guess the editors were hoping we wouldn't notice?

The Writing
I think the writing tries to do too much and ends up making the story disjointed. This never really feels like one show but several different shows combined into one. This could be blamed in part on the footage that was cut but I doubt that it's the main reason. For the first half of the drama it feels like Gao Liang is stuck in a romantic comedy while others are in a military buddy comedy. That romantic comedy finally takes a back seat in the second half as the story becomes more serious and introduces a thriller with the introduction of a brief terrorist plot that quickly dies out only to be hurriedly brought back at the end.

Another problem with the writing is the tendency to tell rather than show. Gao Liang and other characters always say that Gu Yiye is arrogant but as a viewer I didn't see any arrogance from GYY so it's hard for me to understand anyone saying he is arrogant and using that to justify not liking him. We're also told that GL and GYY are best friends but I never felt that they were because we get so many scenes of GL trying to compete with GYY and making fun of him. Many military commanders talk about GL being a born soldier but much of the drama shows the commanders being upset with him because he's undisciplined. So it's hard to understand why they have such a high opinion of someone who seems to cause trouble for them regularly. I felt like the writing tries to steer the audience to feel sympathy for GL by telling us he's invaluable but not showing us why he's invaluable.

The Character Development
This goes back to the poor writing but I think it deserves its own section. The three main leads don't have much character development.

Gao Liang gets almost no development which is surprising since he gets the most inner monologues which reveal his motivations and thoughts as things happen around him. I think he also gets the most detailed background story to make him a sympathetic character. He starts off as undisciplined, impulsive and very competitive with Gu Yiye. None of this really changes later on. Rather than learning and changing after getting in trouble for his actions, the people around him are the ones who change and become more forgiving of him and accepting of his methods.
SPOILER: In the last drill against GYY someone points out that GL is supposed to be defending the island but he doesn't know how to change his strategy so he is only attacking. I think that can be related to how his character doesn't develop and just stubbornly continues as he has been since the first episode. His large personality basically overwhelms those around him where he talks his way out of situations and ends up convincing others to see things his way. It's most obvious when superiors support GL's way of doing things even when contrary to military protocol. Rather than developing GL's character, the writers opt to make everyone around him change to bolster his character.

Jiang Nan Zheng gets slightly more development than GL but unfortunately they undo all of it at the end to render her as a typical lovesick character. There's a lot of potential in her character since she's clearly intelligent and motivated with an interesting family situation. Her family situation never gets the attention it deserves and the writers decide that her character can be undone by love and the fear of being single.

As for Gu Yiye, I think his character never quite gets the attention and development that he deserves but it also feels like his development is the most satisfying. We see a progression where he begins as an idealistic recruit with dreams about how to improve the military but then he has to make life changing decisions due to circumstances beyond his control. That recruit who goes into the military full of confidence gets his confidence shaken by the impact of battle, deaths, PTSD and the corruption within the military.

--- Conclusion ---
Would I re-watch this? Absolutely. Despite the problems with writing and editing, this is still an enjoyable drama. There's always room for improvement for any drama. When re-watching I can let go of the issues I mentioned and focus on the things I enjoyed - like Xiao Zhan's acting, the theme of solidarity shown by the Live and Die Together team, the bonds created through shared suffering and hope for a better future. The supporting cast is enjoyable to watch as well and there are many emotional scenes that show the sacrifice that those in the military and their loved ones make. It's a good effort from the entire cast and crew.

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im the strongest soldier in ace troops

BONUS: 10/10 stars if you watch Gu Yiye cut. UHM this one was tough. I rarely do reviews but this is one honest review you need to read! I'll begin by saying I'm the strongest soldier because I have made it through 3/4 of the show and I SHALL, for the love of XiaoZhan, finish the entire drama. Overall, there are many plot holes and bad character design. The most well written character has to be Gu Yiye (acted by Xiao Zhan). Trust me, I'm in no way biased (okay maybe just a little? at least I'm honest). I would say the overall acting is decent (also can I just say Zhong ChuXi is SO PRETTY). Xiao Zhan was exceptional in being able to deliver the multiple and complex layers of Gu Yiye. The decisions he makes such as marrying Axiu, is convincing through his acting and portrayal of Yiye as an extremely level headed, intelligent and responsible character. We see Gu Yiye growing from his -- having to put away his personal feelings and shoulder a real responsibility. (Of course, we definitely have to consider the historical context and era in which the drama happens that values practicality even in love and romance, so I would say I am borderline convinced with this part of the plot).
We also see Xiao Zhan being able to portray the passage of time, you can tell Gu Yiye has aged and matured, which does not happen/ is not obvious at all in the portrayal of most/all of the other characters. This is unrealistic but then Xiao Zhan shines through in his ability to understand this aspect of the drama and of his character.
Now let's talk about plot holes. I'm not convinced as to why Axiu decides to love Yiye. I get the idea, them being able to share that grieve for her ex husband Zhang Fei and she needed someone to rely on, but I do not find this part of the drama convincing. Its more of platonic reliance... to me.
We also see soldiers eventually marrying, but it was almost like them reciprocating for someone who has feelings for them as they give up/ reconcile with the fact that someone they actually like, likes someone else. You could argue it is realistic, given that love, AT THAT TIME, was more of having someone to rely on than actual modern day romance. Like the concept of arranged marriage, having companionship to pass time. Also, I am not a big fan of Jiang NanZheng eventually getting together with GaoLiang, it feels like they become another one of those couples I mentioned above. The most convincing way to put it is that JNZ eventually accept GL's love because 日久深情 (development of feelings because so much time passed/spent together) but I will still not be convinced. Or you could say it conveys the powerlessness of women at that time? Eventually choosing people who love them rather than who they love.??
AND its lowkey ridiculous how JNZ's dad is so convinced they will be happy together :""). Also long before this, the part on JNZ finding out the commander is her dad was kind of anti climatic, is it just me, is it not weird to suddenly accept a stranger as a dad? as for the actual parts on war, I didn't watch that closely so can't comment on that. 3 stars for each lead actor and effort. would not rewatch it, it is quite painful for me.
BUT I WOULD SAY MY FAV PLOT WAS THAT WAR WHEN ZHANG FEI DIED. I felt like it really portrayed the atrocities of war -- mental, physical and emotional trauma it brings and it CHANGES people. I think that part was the most compelling, ngl i teared up.
anyways plz don't attack me. if you enjoyed the drama, good for you! thank you for reading if you have read so far! have a good day.

TLDR:
1. Lackluster, illogical, unconvincing plot.
2. Poor character development overall.
3. No strong focused message in the drama.

Edit: special shoutout to ep 32 it was pretty good.
UPDATE: ep39 has been the WORST so far

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Absolutely wonderful

Just finished watching it. Absolutely wonderful drama that was. The acting the emotions oh god everything was portrayed so beautifully. Kind of makes me want to go out and do something with my life instead of sitting in my home watching dramas haha.
China's most handsome man xiao zhan and China's husband johnny huang both did a great job❤
my first ever chinese drama was johnny's so i am very emotionally attached to him, i loved him here. And do i HAVE to say sth for bunnyxiaozhan's talent for acting? He always gave me chills my goodness that man takes my breath away everytime with his realistic acting and those facial expressions. He's a method actor which is just cherry on top. Both their characters were fantastic. Overall a very intense ride that was ngl.

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Characters seem out of place

Agree with some of the comments made earlier.
While I enjoyed the OST and the production aspects, I did find some characters kinda "out if place" especially in the military concept.
Example the character of Gao Liang. His constant criticism and annoying nags thrown on Gu YiYe is not becoming of a soldier that should hv basic common respect for fellow comrade. Did the scriptwriter consider this fact? Furthermore, his insubordination and criticism about another fellow comrade to an outsider(to Ah Xiu), should have seen him expelled from the army but not in this show.

2ndly noticed that those in higher positions do not get warning letters or expelled or removed from making decisions. Instead, they just get transferred to other divisions still holding decision making roles and continue to make mistakes. Weird right?

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Xiao zhan

most of the watchers of this drama, I too watched this solely because of Xiao Zhan. The drama was quite good but, it left me a little disappointed. I expected a drama to which I could atleast give a 8.5 rating, which I could not because of its many flaws.

This drama is based on the story of young heroes of army, who strived hard to become the legendary Ace Troops. It tells us about their lives and dreams and how they made it through all the dark situations, which forced them to make difficult choices regarding their life and career. This drama revolves around Gao Liang, Gu YiYe and Jiang NanZheng. They came from different backgrounds and have different personalities. Although, Gao Liang and Gu YiYe were rivals in both career and love, they were great friends and cherished eachother.

The character development in this drama was an aspect that I liked. With their passing time in the army, all the characters learned new meanings and aspects of life, which became turning points in their lives. Gu YiYe's character arc was the best out of the three. As the story went on, he transformed from an proud, arrogant, know-it-all soldier to an ideal person, without altering his original traits.

The pace of this drama was really draggy. I had to fast forward many times. But, the ending was really heart warming. The romance plot in this was just meh, excepet for YiYe and A'Xiu's part. They were a perfect match. Although, YiYe married A'Xiu out of responsibility, it then turned out to be true love. I really liked it when A'Xiu told that she would rather squeeze in the small house that let YiYe take off his uniform. She had someting that noone else could give him. Another thing that I loved in this drama was the portrayal of the bond between the soldiers. They know how to care for others as well as fight

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Surprisingly enjoyable, not the regular military drama!

I will update this review as we get more episodes out and I have more to say on specific aspects, and as of currently writing, we have seen 14 episodes, so my opinion might change before the end.

To start, I’ll say that I normally don’t enjoy much military movies and dramas, even if I have been in the Navy for a few years myself. But ever since I discovered Wei Wuxian played by Xiao Zhan in 2020, I’ve been curious to follow his career, and I decided to give it a try. And surprisingly, I have discovered that there is actually way more than the military aspect to this drama, and I have come to enjoy it way more than I expected.

I’m not very technical when watching a drama, so I won’t talk about the production point of view, for me it’s good enough to feel quite realistic and believe the story, and that’s all what I ask for!

So, what will you find if you try it? A bit of background history about the modernization of China that would lead to what it is now, but really not that much, just so we can understand better the characters’ journey over the course of 40 years. Quite some training, with parts that are efficient and others that… justify the need for modernization! Lol Yet it doesn’t take that much space, as the main focus seems way more on the interaction, the relationships between comrades and also with their officers. Some of them that take controversial stances and thus will help the main characters to grow in a realistic way, with enough humor and emotions that it is definitely not drab! Of course, as it’s a Chinese drama, don’t expect much gore, even when firepower is used, most injuries are either superficial or shown only after being taken care of! And of course, some romance, which seems properly set for the time and place, though it’s far from the main focus. So far, the family relationships, either parents-children or siblings, also seem important, though not all fully developed yet.

Ok, about the characters. The main hero, the one that seems to me to have the longest way to go to grow, is this Gao Liang, a goofy orphan that join the military to emulate or maybe pay homage to his fallen gege, his older brother. He will meet right from the start the one that seem at 1st his antagonist but will soon rather become the protagonist, even though he’s nearly the opposite in everything, the nerds Gu YiYe that sees through his pranks and doesn’t buy them! Unfortunately, both will fall in love with the same girl, Jiang NanZheng, nearly at 1st sight. She also becomes a main protagonist, both very determined to improve themselves and set the example for Gao Liang, one through love (or at least infatuation), the other through competition and friendship.

I find Liang quite annoying in a way, often lacking seriousness, precisely as his character should be, as I expect he’ll eventually outgrow that goofiness to become the one he needs to be to improve the over all army as the synopsis tells us he will! Johnny Huang’s acting seems pretty solid to me, he’s very believable in that annoying superficial prankster, yet he’s already started to show deeper layers that should develop into something interesting.

When we 1st meet Yiye, I was also annoyed by the trope of the “know-it-all” that always does exactly what he should, strive to improve himself but is seen as arrogant by others even when he’s not. He reminded me a lot of the Hermione (Harry Potter’s reference for those who wouldn’t have read/seen it) of the beginning, before the boys make her more likable! And that is what annoys me no end, that a nerds must be either socially inapt or arrogant, no in between. But then, I guess that I shouldn’t ask for too much subtleties in a military drama! And then… my feelings were subverted as there is also so much more to not only the character himself, but the role he’s hinted at. Let’s see where it goes! As for Xiao Zhan portrayal, well, I think it’s the character, out of all his roles, that is the most similar to his own personality, smart, charismatic, determined and hardworking, so it feels perfectly natural, and that is impressive in itself since it is often easier to “play” a different character than one’s own, which is very revealing! And in the latest episode so far, the 14th, he’s displayed an impressive range of emotions, barely without any word spoken, so I’m very pleased by his performance, and really looking forward to where he’ll bring that character!

As for NanZheng, she is also very determined to become the best, impersonating what she believes to be the model female soldier while willing to break rules when she thinks it is not too risky (though she sets her own standard to what is risky or not!). She becomes infatuated with Yiye from the 1st sight too, but they’re both conscious that it is not well regarded by their superior, so they try to hide it as much as possible, and keep it mostly in writing. I really enjoy her complicated family story, and Elaine Zhong displays well her conflicting feelings.

They are supported by a bunch of older actors that mostly do a good job either helping or hindering them, sometimes with lots of humor, other times very emotionally. I especially appreciate Li YouBin in the role of the Division Commander Zheng Yuan, he’s awesome in the gruffy yet caring and wise officer.

So, as far as it goes for now, I give this drama, to my utter surprise, somewhere between 9 and 10! Let’s see if it stays that way till the end!

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Overall, worth your time

To whoever dicided to watch Ace troops, u have made a ryt decision.....I just completed all the 40 episodes and wanted to share my point of view

As a militry based story this series has done its work perfectly....the stry slowed down a bit in the epi 20 to 25 but it got to the point after......

Let me tell u, though Gao Liang is the 1st lead of the story, Gu Yiye was the hero......he had a gradual charactor development along the stry where Guo Liang's charactor went downhill in the aspect of his love life....

Xiao Zhan has done his part perfectly as Gu Yiyi....anyone can connect to him very easily....Every time Gu Yiyi met hardship, I could feel the pain, and thats how much Zhan Ge has done justice to his role.

Inorder to make Gou Liang the 1st lead, the stry writter struggled a lot....and still Gu Yiyi took the spotlight......at some places of the stry, I even felt why the hell would you let down Gu Yiyi just to show Guo Liang as the hero.

And finally, I am glad that Xiao Zhan chose Gu Yiyi and not Guo Liang. Even not the 1st lead, the charactor stood as a star

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3D, realistic but at the same time heartwarming drama about Army. A pleasant surprise.

Watching the 1st 5 eps of Ace Troops, I fast forward or skipped a lot. I couldn't really grasp what the drama was trying to do, the background military details or scenes with Seniors etc didn't intrigue me, I was there for the coming of age story of the kids which I thought was the strong point of the show. The shenanigans they got into were realistic, relatable and I loved how it gave a mundane, "Even the soldiers are humans, not killing machines" approach to the show.
Also while I'm not Chinese I think I can safely say the drama doesn't have in-your-face patriotism or propaganda (which seems to be something that puts out lot of viewers unfamiliar with/dislike patriotic themes) , only a reasonable amount that you'd expect to come with any military drama (expecting a military drama to have zero patriotism is pointless).
Anyway that was about the good things I had to say about Ace Troops, and I stuck through mostly for Xiao Zhan or so I thought. And I'm glad I did.
Because I started seeing more and more positive things about it. It started with noticing how "non-glamourous" XZ was here. Usually he stands out with his looks, but here, he's just another normal soldier. A fairly good looking one but that's about it. The drama's goal wasn't to promote or hide under a single character or actor, but to create a collective story where every single person equally contributes.

By extension, the entire drama was grounded and humble, and never glorified military and instead discussed it from multiple viewpoints. It was so nice and such an unexpected, refreshing surprise, I started caring more. I stopped skipping scenes and started paying complete attention.
Absolutely none of the characters were perfect. They had lots of flaws. But this wasn't due to lazy writing or because the scriptwriter thought it was right for the characters to behave in ways they did, because each time a character did or had a questionable opinion/attitude/action, there was always, always another character to counter and question what they were doing. Therefore these flaws were intentionally done, do emphasis how human the characters were and how everyone makes terrible decisions in life.
It made them feel like people you encounter in day to day in real life. I always love myself a non-judgemental, empathetic and nuanced storytelling like this.
Never did I imagine I'd binge a hard-core 40 ep military drama in less than a week, and thoroughly enjoy it. It made me root hard for almost all the characters and made me cry multiple times.

Also I think I have never ever been this impressed with a Cdrama production before. I know I know, there have been lots more big dramas with obvious "big production values" right? So what caught me by surprise here?
I was already impressed from since the initial episodes with how they had full on regiments of extras- all trained and disciplined etc which must be like 100x difficult than handling regular extras for a drama.
And now I see the war scenes and explosions and floods..... like omg???
Did they get footage from real army or did they really recreate all these.... anyway I'm mindblown.

I've been complaining for a while about how C Cinema etc productions from about 20 yrs ago were not afraid to be full on grimy, gritty but rarely we see such content anymore, everyone too focused on glorified, rose-tinted approaches.
And then Ace Troops happened and took it up like 5 notches.

I'm left wondering about how the hell was this drama made? How did they plan it even, to look so believable and real? How much was the budget? How much time did it take?

In conclusion, I'm glad to see the drama took its job seriously. It's glamorizes very little and keeps things realistic at the same time making it a show about people behind the guns which makes it so watchable despite what it looks like on paper, even for people who thought they wouldn't like a show of this theme (like me).
I think it's very important for a country with military history and so much war and pain to depict it in dynamic ways like this (not overtly rose-tinted, not overtly patriotic/propagandaic) so viewers could learn about the sacrifices that were made so they could enjoy peace.
Ace Troops isn't a perfect show, it does have issues here and there (I had quite a bit of issues with last few eps) and I'm sure it also has inaccuracies on military plotlines too which are not visible to a common viewer like me, but I think I can safely say this is comparatively a really well made military drama.

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