best drama I’ve seen so far!!
This show is so fantastic!! from the acting to the score and also it has very beautiful sets!! I loved the two main characters Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian and because of them I watched the donghua ver. as well as read the comic and novel versions. the only (minor) set back for me is that the story is confusing at times and it was only after seeing the various other formats that I understood most of what was happening in the show. still it was amazing and it’s going to be hard for another drama to top this one <3333Was this review helpful to you?
The two leads are very talented actors and bring the character of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to life.The stoic demeanor of WYB and playful attitude of XZ gels up so well with the characters.
The story is complex and the direction has been top notch to edit the story in such a way that it follows the source material and yet bring in freshness.
The actor who played the main antagonist has also done a phenomenal job .I felt so appalled by his character and that's something.
The music is very soothing to ears and the lyrics are wonderful and suits very well with the mood of drama.
Overall a great watch.I am going to miss the characters so much.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE (MUST WATCH)
First, let me just say that you don't even need to read my review to know that you must watch The Untamed! Just trust me, watch three or four episodes and decide if you want to continue (I guarantee that you will). But if you're still unsure, then read my review (or others) and I will try my best to keep this spoiler free for you (: (there's like one paragraph with spoiler so just skip that)I wanna start my review by saying I'm very picky and critical when it comes to films or shows. I don't give out 10/10's easily. I don't even give out 9/10's easily so it's even harder to get a 10 from me. Only three BLs (yes I'm including this even though it's censored) have ever gotten a 10 from me. Which are: The Untamed, History3 Trapped, and I Told Sunset About You. I've watched all 50 episodes of The Untamed THREE TIMES through. That's how much I love it.
Story: AMAZING. I can only come up with maybe two faults in this entire show and that's 1, the wigs aren't the best but you learn to ignore that, and 2, the graphics/sfx isn't always the best (like that dog/wolf thing lol - if you know, you know). But honestly, those minor things never take away from the magic that is The Untamed. At least not for me, and that's why I didn't deduct from the grade because of these minor flaws. Because other than that, the show as a whole is perfect. The storyline has so much depth and complexity. You find yourself completely invested in the characters and what happens to them that you'll find yourself crying into your pillow multiple times. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Honestly, I went into The Untamed original just wanting to follow LWJ and WWX storyline since I knew it was based off BL source material. It took me a while to get around to watching it since I knew it would be censored and not outright obvious BL, but I eventually decided to just give it a go after hearing constantly how good it is. I'm glad I did because wow, the only way you'll be able to ignore the romance between WWX and LWJ is if you're not very observant to the subtleties.
[SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH and go to the next paragraph if you don't want to read SPOILERS] For example, the show is literally named after them because WU (from Wei Wuxian) JI (from Lan Wangji) roughly translates to The Untamed . Next is their song WUJI which Lan Zhan composed for Wei Ying and named it after their combined/ship name. Another example is them calling each other zhiji (which by the way, this scene replaced the scene in the original source material where they kiss) which has a lot of deep meaning to it. It would take ages for me to explain so I'll link this blog for you to read if you're really interested https://hunxi-guilai.tumblr.com/post/612161034673946624/all-right-guys-lets-have-a-conversation-about but basically, it's kind of like soulmates. To call someone your zhiji is to say they know you in a way no one does (not even yourself) and the meaning of 'knowing' here is apparently a big deal. Like, back in that time, it was better and more meaningful than to simply love someone because 'love' back then wasn't what it means today. A zhiji type relationship is one worth dying for. It can be platonic or romantic, but if you pair it up with all the other 'subtle' things in the series then it's obviously romantic. And WWX even says that it's more than enough to have one zhiji in his lifetime. Don't even get me started on how the only person Lan Zhan lets touch his sacred headband is Wei Ying when only his "spouse, parents, or children" are allowed to touch it. Or him basically proposing using two healthy chickens when he's drunk. Or how the morning after getting drunk, he was scared he may have let it slip that he LIKED him. Or Lan Zhan getting jealous over Wei Ying saving Mian Mian. Or the gay porn book Wei Ying pranked him with. Or all the freaking bunny references (the rabbit God in China is the God of homosexuality) like when there's a shot of two bunnies 'kissing'. Or after Wei Ying's resurrection, how Lan Zhan literally breaks all of his clan rules for him out of fear of not making the most of their time together - or that he was still wearing mourning robes after 16 years lol or that he brought up Ah Yuan for him when Wei Ying was like a father figure to him before ugh we love a happy family. OH and Xiao Zhan (Wei Ying) was calling Lan Zhan a "trash bf" for not standing by him etc, and the directors and cast talked about their love and yeah. ANYWAY.
Acting/Cast: PERFECT. Seriously. All the acting was great, by the physical actors and the voice actors. You could barely tell it was dubbed which *claps* well done to the voice actors, really. All the actors really fit their roles well and executed them perfectly. Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan will forever have my heart.
Music: BEAUTIFUL. I could write so much about the music in this series, and how freaking well they use it to impact the scenes significantly and beautifully, but I don't want to write an entire novel in this review. However, I have all the songs on my playlist, I love them that much. Especially WUJI. It can make me cry just listening to it, no kidding. Plus, every time you hear it in a scene (and the different versions), you instantly know it's a LWJ & WWX scene.
Rewatch Value: INCREDIBLE. I could rewatch this for the rest of my life and I'm not really someone who rewatches shows or movies unless it's been ages. But I love this so much that I could never get sick of it.
Overall: PHENOMENAL. All I have left to say is that you should give it a go because I highly recommend you do!
Was this review helpful to you?
Beyond its aesthetic appeal, 'The Untamed' delves deep into themes of friendship, loyalty, and the complexities of human nature. It's a story that resonates on a profound level, leaving a lasting impact long after the final credits roll.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
One of the most recommended cdrama
You know what, This drama is one of the most recommended cdrama for a new cdrama lovers. Honestly, I reject it at first (please don't be mad >_<). But not until I tried to force watch it for the first 3 episodes, I am completely IN LOVE! Yes, so true deeply and madly in love. hahahahahahaXiao Zhan? Wang Yi Bo? Giving me a new meaning of cdrama, as I watched it in my early passion for cdrama, they are amazing here, the chemistry is undeniably clicking (and ofc they are handsome as HELL. hahahahaha)
The story is not the typical xianxia or wuxia cdrama, with a lilttle bit touch of darkness is so irresistible. A dark heroic role will fluster your heart as soon as you watch the connection between the two MLs. As you read the description in MDL, you'll know that The Untamed based the story from the novel, but you'll probably want to know also that they make the anime version as good as this cdrama (well, better if I may say so).
If what you look for in a cdrama is an adventure, a good team-work, a sweet love gestures without even disgusted by BL, a dark fantasy wuxia, you're on the right track here. Skip this drama if you don't like a BL theme tho, although there are no provocative scenes show them but we all know there are "something" between them (in the story I mean, don't be so dirty to assume things outside the drama). The Untamed is not a new cdrama, so I'll tell you about the situation at that time. There were almost no interesting cdrama with this kind of theme (you know what I mean, right?), soooo when the cdrama came out, It was a HUGE hit almost instantly. Who can resist two handsome faces actors with so much chemistry between them playing a dark-theme magic cdrama with good story line sparkle with (considered) good CGI, right? At last, they made something aside from "dragon-sabre" or "journey from to west" theme cdrama. hahahahaha. I have been waiting for so looooooooonnnnnnnngggggggggg. So after a decade of monotonous theme in cdrama world, the Untamed became a tornado that will spin and wreck your heart to fall in love (again) in the Chinese historical drama.
As far as I know guys, rating in MDL don't lie. Although, love and hate are basically subjective, but trust me when I say, these ratings and reviews are not non-sense and people are really smart to deduct a good-production high-valued interesting-plot dramas. You may once or twice disagree with them, but as a MDL loyal follower, I can say this "read reviews, considered the rating before you watch cdramas might not disappoint you!"
Hav fun watching!!!
Was this review helpful to you?
Love the leads!
I can see why the main characters Sean Xiao and Wang Yi Bo became super famous after this drama. At first watch, I stopped watching it. It was months later I returned and not let the CGI bothered me that I enjoyed the story unfold itself. I am happy with the drama and make sure to check on the new dramas by the two new actors. The lead characters' chemistry really didn't flourish until after 10ish episodes but once the spark flew I was invested in their well beings and allowed their actings to take me to the world they created.The drama is worth the time on the story between the leads.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Loyalty and Love
10/10Seems my intuition was right and this was one i had to see. When i ended it i felt empty something that always happens to me with my favorites. What a fantastic ride. 50 episodes past by and i didn't even notice it.
In my short time watching dramas (1 year,i'm pretty much a newbie) i don't think i saw better matched pairing than Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan.
Wei Wuxian, the complete hero, always selfless, always fighting for the ones who can't. His cheeky and seemly unpreocuped demeanor hook you from the start. He really is the perfect scapegoat because his good heart make him naive in a way.
Lan Zhan, stoic, silent and loyal. So loyal. When someone is that silence they notice things others don't. He never was fooled, he knew for the start something wasn't right. Also powerful to the max specially when it comes to protecting Wei Wuxian.
They really are an unbeatable combo. You could give me 50 more episodes with them and i absolutely watch it tbh. I love them and i'm going to miss them sooo much.
Even when halfway to the story i knew who the real villain was (I think is was pretty obvious) that doesn't take anything for it being super engaging. You just need to see how justice is served, finally.
The funny moments were just too funny (Specially mention to drunk Lan Zhan giving fat chickens to Wei Wuxian) and the tragic ones were too tragic (The sister dying, since i didn't expected it). It all balance soo well, nothing seems unnecesary in the story telling.
The support character where great too, i saw myself screaming to my tv everytime Guang Yao appeared being all nice lol. Also kudos to the actor, Zhu Zan Jin, because the last four episodes were a master in acting from his part.
Jiang Cheng ughh this guy. It got so much on my nerves too. Of course for different reasons than Guang Yao but still. He was just jelaous of the clearly superiority in everything of Wei Wuxian and, instead of trusting and supporting his brother, he decided to joing the mob and kill him. He is a little pathetic tbh.
Wen Ning or ghost general poor baby. really. I mean i enjoyed how loyal and strong he was but he really got the worst luck in all the drama. It was great when he told Jiang Cheng everything about the golden core "You really think you could beat him any other way?" YOU TELL HIM BB!!!
Lan Xi Chen, well. I mean, i feel he did his best, you could notice he was really always on Lan Zhan's side but he still was too lukewarm. Probably what make him fall for Guang Yao's lies. It was heartbreaking watching him the last episodes, he really was betrayed the most.
I will stop here because i could talk forever about this one (Shoutout to my girl @marina who is the one that had to endure my rants).
I will recommend it? No ????. Jokes asides, yes. If you had any doubt of what to watch and never saw this one, go running to it please is super worth it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
as near to perfect as makes no difference
There's no point pretending this is an absolutely perfect series, because there's no such thing, but this comes so bloody close that it might as well be.I originally wasn't going to write a review for this, as much as I loved it, because there's 41 pages of reviews on this site for this series and the majority of them are positive - does it really need one more?
Well, I've decided that yes, it does.
As I stated above, no series is perfect and this one is no exception, but the only thing to really complain about are the sometimes rather bad special effects. The giant turtle and the giant wolf spring to mind, plus the non-appearance of a lot of the creatures the cultivators are supposed to hunt thanks to China's daft censorship laws.
Speaking of which, I'm going to get this complaint out of the way early. I was disappointed that a BL novel was adapted in to a censored series, but only in the sense that there were no kissing scenes. I'm a romantic sap and that's all I would have liked to have seen. I'm sure other people wouldn't have minded the, ahem, other stuff, but I would have been happy with some kissing.
HOWEVER this series is a romance in everything but name. It's very much a gay romance in the style of Hollywood during the Hays Code. Everything is implied and hinted at, sometimes very blatantly (the two main leads consider each other soulmates, ffs), so unless you're completely oblivious, you can see the two main leads are in love.
It doesn't stop there, however, as there are implications of romance between two of the other characters who aren't a couple in the book. If you watch it with a shipper's eye, it's very clear. This review is tagged for spoilers, but I don't really want to spoil things outright, so i leave anyone reading this to see for themselves.
On to more positive things.
The casting for this entire series is perfect. I don't think there's a miscast part in the entire line-up, and this has a *lot* of characters, so it would have been an easy thing to do. Xiao Zhan as Wei Wuxian and Wang Yibo as Lan Wangji was a casting masterstroke. They embody their characters so well I 'm certain no other actors would have worked. Xiao Zhan, in particular, is a fine actor.
The chemistry between the two leads is palpably there, which makes getting absorbed into their story so much easier.
The storyline itself can be a bit confusing, as we start out in the present time for the first two episode, and then a 31 episode flashback tells the backstory. i would recommend reading the Wikipedia article on The Untamed if you find yourself confused when you start watching. It helped me a lot. Especially understanding things like courtesy names and other concepts that someone who doesn't have an Asian heritage may not get.
I know some people may balk at the fact that this series is 50 episodes, but they are only around 42 minutes or so and they go by very quickly when you're engrossed in the story. There is also a shortened 'special edition' of the series on YouTube consisting of only 20 episode if that makes things easier.
One of the best things about this series, aside from the brilliant casting and all the lovely scenery (Lotus Pier is gorgeous and I want to live there) is the music. There is, of course, the main theme named 'Wangxian' in the series by Lan Wangji, but officially 'WuJi' on the soundtrack by the composer. There is a duet version by Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, plus the version that they each sing individually.
'Utter Innocence', Wen Ning's character song sung by actor Yu Bin, is lovely, and Xue Yang's character song 'No One Knows' sung by Charlie Zhou is the complete antithesis in tone and melody to his actual character. Also, and I know this is an overused cliche, but Charlie Zhou has the voice of angel. It's unbelievable.
The soundtrack is on iTunes if you, like me, decided you had to have the entire thing on your iPod. It's also on Spotify.
This series is Chinese, and the version I watched has been subtitled. I don't know if it's available dubbed, because I don't watch dubbed media (that's a personal preference, not a slight on anyone who needs or prefers dubbed media). It's available with English subtitles on Netflix and Rakuten Viki. I'm fairly confident other subtitles and dubbing are also available, but you would have to look at your Netflix and Viki settings, respectively.
So, to sum up, this series is impeccably cast, incredibly acted, features stunning scenery and gorgeous costumes, has an engaging and interesting storyline, a memorable soundtrack and I love it so much.
I hope you do too.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
