Xue Yu Xin follows a Japanese boy named Megumi Sunahara who travels to northeastern China during the Imperial Japanese Army’s occupation. Caught up in the conflict, Megumi soon discovers that Japan has lost the war, and the Imperial Japanese Army retreats, leaving behind many Japanese occupants. Given the opportunity to fight for what he believes is right, Megumi adopts the alias Zhang Rongqing and enlists in the People’s Liberation Army to fight against injustice. How does Megumi, now Zhang, fare? Story & Character: 7/10 The story is a docudrama-style retelling of a real-life account during World War II and the Korean War. Each episode covers different segmentsof Zhang’s life in a condensed form full of adventure and conflict. While it covers life events in detail, it lacks depth and clarity, likely due to the extensive time scale the series spans. Nonetheless, it offers a satisfying story with a bittersweet ending, making it well worth watching for its captivating narrative alone.

Character development primarily focuses on Zhang Rongqing, with many surrounding characters, except for his family members, having little significance to the plot. The characters with good and bad intentions impact his development significantly, making his growth with each encounter refreshing.

Art & Sound: 7/10 & 6/10
The art and animation in this series are consistently high quality, with noticeably better CGI than other modern series. However, the consistency varies, with some scenes displaying disproportionate character faces and choppy whole-body movements.

The sound design is unremarkable but effective. I enjoyed the mix of Japanese and Chinese voice acting, which was professional in both languages. The series uses fewer thematic soundtracks and sound effects than other action historical dramas, which is expected given its retelling style.

Overall & Enjoyment: 6/10
Xue Yu Xin was an interesting watch. It was less emotional than some historical dramas but had authenticity and meaningful development. The character personas were as expected, and the events didn't feel bland. However, it would have been better to see more in-depth coverage of specific events, such as Zhang’s recon missions or training, to enhance character development beyond just a single character.