grace
This review may contain spoilers
"the feeling of walking a single plank bridge until dark is truly not so bad"
Where do I even begin with this amazing piece of entertainment? Never have I have felt so much for fiction characters in my life and trust me when I say I have loved a lot of 2D people.First, I will start with the cons. The only reason I did not rate it a 10 is because of some of the acting and technical choices the editors made. The acting in this I would say is 90% good. However, the first few episodes were pretty rocky. I felt like a lot was exaggerated, but I do have to say the actors definitely grew into their roles. Secondly, the coloration of the drama is quite weird in the beginning and made people look washed out and grey. I'm not 100% sure if it was the filter they use or if that was the makeup department's fault.
The most gripping part of this entire world is the story and how the characters grow throughout the story. One of the main themes of the novel was the question: what defines good and evil? Throughout the show, you can see that the directors and scriptwriters were very aware of this. The entire story of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji was crafted around this. Lan Wangji's character shift is the very essence of this theme. The author definitely wanted people to know that morality cannot be defined as just good and evil and the judgment of one's character should not solely be based on hearsay and rumors.
Wei Wuxian (WWX) is a complicated character and one that I love deeply. The only way to describe him is just a beacon of light that shines infinitely despite everything life has thrown his way. He has such a strong personality and he is defined by living by his principles until the day he dies, regardless if others criticize and demonize him. He goes beyond for the people he loves and fights for justice blindly. No amount of the words that I say will do justice to how great of a person he is. That being said, a perfect character is nothing without his flaws and boy, does he have a lot. He can be arrogant, too outspoken, and a bit of a show off. I also will admit that he did cause a lot of death because of his journey to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, but what's a good character if they can't grow from their mistakes? For this role, there was truly no one that could do him justice like Xiao Zhan did. Hell, he wrote an essay talking about why he loved Wei Wuxian and how he resonated with his characters. The smile and the aura Xiao Zhan has in the entire drama is so WWX-like, but most importantly, he expresses the pain that WWX goes through and tries to suppress so well. You feel for him deeper and you fall for the character harder. He basically bought the character to life is what I'm trying to say.
I absolutely adore Lan Wangji (LWJ) and I also connected with his character a lot. On the surface, he looks like a cold person who has no care in the world for things that do not concern him, however, as the show progresses, you see how he is valiant and has the same moral compass that WWX has. What is so great about LWJ is that despite his cold exterior, beneath is someone who loves deeply, passionately and emotionally. Ever since he was a child, he was taught thousands of rules of how to act and one of them was to never show excess emotions. For a person that feels so much, that must have killed him on the inside. He is also a man of few words, but it's his actions and loyalty that define his character. After WWX goes down the demonic path, he spent so many months trying to coax away. Not out of punishment, but out of care. He was aware that demonic cultivation always lead to painful ends and he was right which ultimately led to 16 years of yearning and regret. Again, casting killed it with Wang Yibo. I remember an interview with the director who said she originally passed on Yibo twice before meeting him in person. She said that as soon as she saw him, she knew there was no one better for the role and I could not agree more. Yibo's aura really matched LWJ despite him being a bit different. Because LWJ has so few words, the acting was all in the face and eyes and Yibo did it wonderfully. You can see the change in LWJ between the span of 16 years and that's all on how Yibo portrayed him.
You can't talk about The Untamed and MDZS without talking about Wangxian (LWJ + WWX). Even though the couple was heavily censored by China, you can still feel the love and gratitude both feel for each other. It is a beautiful story where both will eventually find their way to each other again. LWJ is one of the only people in WWX's life that has trusted him and stayed by his side throughout everything, through when people loved him and when people feared him. WWX also brought light into LWJ's dim world by showing him that life was meant to be lived with a smile no matter how dark it can be. They deserve each other truly, especially WWX because LWJ is his happy ending. He has gone through so much for his family, for people that were discriminated against for something they couldn’t control, for justice all while being a teenager. He deserves to live for himself for once and for all. Despite having lost so much, at least LWJ will always be by his side. The show said it best: having that one person that trusts you wholeheartedly is enough to live.
I have a lot more to say about all the characters (especially about Jiang Cheng), but it's too much to write. Please watch this drama and read the novel because it is truly amazing and provides a lot of life lessons on morality and judgment. Plus, I am sure you will fall in love with both the characters and the story. I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from WWX himself. "Let the self judge the right and the wrongs, let others decide to praise or to blame and let the losses and gains remain uncommented on."
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Ji Changwook really sold me. There were three different sides to his characters and sold me on every single side of them: the cool and collected nature of Healer, the nervousness and silly side of Bongsoo, and a mixture of both in Junghoo. Because of how well his performance, it made every reveal hit ten times harder. Park Minyoung also really shined in this performance. Yeongshin has definitely made it in my top three favorite female leads because she's so unapologetically herself. She cares for the people around her and even though she is naive at times, she holds her ground.
This was truly the first drama that I cared about almost every single character not just the mains. The storyline and conflict were enough to fill the drama with suspense right until the very end. Truly, such a great drama and I recommend every go watch.
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Speaking of the story, I really love the concept. Anything that has to do with a revolution or an overthrow of an oppressive system excites me. I do think it is very well done. There is a build-up to every significant event and each character's motivations and choices are deliberate and truthful. I loved that every character stayed in character or when there was development, the writer took the time to flesh out for the most part. In my opinion, the most lackluster part of the entire drama is the romance between the main leads. Maybe it was because I didn't love Eugene's character or maybe I didn't like the actor, but it just didn't click or made me feel for them.
Aside from Eugene, I truly believe that the characters make this show. Because the writer does such an amazing job at character development, I fell in love with every character despite the flaws that they have. The characters were so complex, especially Kudo Hina and Gu Dongmae. However, my favorite character is perhaps the simplest of them all, Kim Huiseong. His character started off as the arrogant, cowardly rich boy hiding behind his family, but as the show progresses, you see him grow to have such a kind and pure heart. He went from hiding behind his family to baring the sins his ancestry committed and taking the blame as well as atoning for both his and his relative's mistakes. There's also so much more to his character. I feel like that shows how much the writer does with everyone. None of the characters that matter are ignored.
The things I don't like about this show and why I didn't rate it higher are pretty small, but to me, they really make or break a drama. For example, the music they used at certain scenes felt off. I feel like since this was on Netflix, the soundtrack had more English lyrics that just felt off in moments where there was so much Korean pride in the drama. Even in the Korean tracks, none of the songs stood out to me except for maybe the Suhyun song. They were nowhere near as memorable as Goblin or Descendants of the Sun. I also felt that the acting by the Americans and specifically Minister Hiyashi were stiff majority of the time. There were a lot of crucial moments that were suppose to make the audience feel something and in my opinion, it fell short because of the over the top line delivery. The actor who played Kyle Moore was the best actor out of all the Koreans but even his line delivery felt forced. Minister Hiyashi and other Japanese actors such as the bald soldier felt less like a person and more like a cartoon. The Japanese were treated like 2D character but those two were the worst.
Mr. Sunshine could have been a near-perfect drama but the very things that make a Kdrama memorable weren't executed as well.
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The fangirling in this drama honestly confuses me. They set up a storyline with a saesang that not only stalks the idol but also pits fans against the girl the idol is supposedly dating. There's no consequence that she faces for doing that. I just hated how they handled it. Saesangs are a real problem that idols have to deal with and what they do is actually messed up and illegal.
Although there were many things that I hated, there were also a couple of things that I thought were very different which was refreshing. I think the lead's relationship was very healthy. They both communicated their feelings to one another and that's something we don't see often. (However, their relationship seemed way too perfect to be real so it didn't feel human.) I also really liked Seon Joo's monologue about her husband. How he shielded himself behind their status and their circumstance. I felt some real emotions there and that was honestly my favorite part of the drama (aside from that ep 10 kiss.)
I'm kinda glad I dropped it because from what I read, the last few episodes probably would have driven me insane.
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