I was first introduced to Mo dao Zu Shi through the anime, which is what lead me to watch The Untamed (and also read the original novel).
Having seen the story retold in three different mediums (all of which were enjoyable), I can say to anyone who has either read the novel and/or watched the anime and whom is considering this series, that I believe you will be able to enjoy the TV series just as much.
The acting from the leads and supporting cast was well done. Wang Yibo particularly did a wonderful job in his portrayal of Lan Wangji which is quite a difficult character to recreate. Xiao Zhan also did an amazing job with Wei Wuxian, in both depicting the happy and tragic aspects of his story.
Furthermore, considering the ban China has against homosexual relationships shown onscreen, I highly commend the writers/directors and actors for being able to bring across the depth of love that Lan Zhan and Wei Ying have even with the restrictions placed upon them.
The music was also incredible.
Personally what I loved the most about The Untamed is the depth of character, the thought provoking and morally challenging dynamic it has, as well as the depiction of relationships between lovers, family and friends.

As for any critiques, the CGI while not the worst I have ever come across is not the most realistic of portrayals at times (although that could just be because I am not so familiar with the genres style of depiction in Chinese filmography).
Furthermore, while I had already known of the time skips which occur in the story, I have read on several occasions that for watchers who have only seen The Untamed, that the time skip which occurs in the show was not clear enough and some viewers were left confused.

Regardless, I loved The Untamed and have personally watched the series three times already. I can definitely see myself re-watching the series again some time in the future.

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A Wholesome Drama I Often Rewatch

There are many things I absolutely love about this drama.
The first would be the mature relationship between the Xiao Nai and Bei Wei Wei. It is a relationship filled with trust, communication and just pure adoration for one another, which is a combo I feel is often lacking in many dramas. Furthermore, it felt real and natural, which just made it more effective and enjoyable overall.

The second thing I absolutely love about this drama is the friendships. Literally all the friendships depicted with the main cast is really wholesome. It is supportive, fun, lighthearted and just a depiction of genuine friends.

The third thing I love about this drama is the way it depicts emotions such as sadness, pain and anger. There was a really natural and realistic depiction of it throughout the drama in various contexts (at least within the main cast). Considering many drama have this tendency to make such scenes over dramatic or lacking a realistic feel, I really appreciated it.

The final point, which has less to do with what was in the drama, than what was not in it. There was no over jealous reactions from the main leads, no parents who didn't agree with the couple being together or were constantly intervening, no suspected cheating drama, no "breakup and makeup" between the couple. These are some things that gets on my nerves fairly quickly when watching dramas, and it is something you find a lot in Chinese romance dramas.
Which is one of the reasons why I love this drama and keep coming back to it time and time again. Its such qualities which make it unique.

Now I have seen some poor reviews (someone else has given this a three out of ten), so I don't know if this is something everyone will love. But personally it was exactly what I needed from a romance drama.

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Overall, I really enjoyed this drama and have watched it several times. It had a good combination of romance and friendship, and was also good at depicting realistic (or at least more realistic than your typical drama) struggles in achieving one's dreams.

The acting for me was pretty good, there were some moments where it was a little "drama-like" but for the most part it was very believable and enjoyable.

The chemistry between the leads was great and had me rooting for them all the way through. It was very satisfying when they got together and there were several episodes (the final ten) where you got to see them as a couple (which is good as a lot of dramas end when they get together and don't show you much afterwards).
I really liked the development between the two leads (although I must admit there was a bit of a jump - although not too bad - during the transition between conflict and the start of their friendship), particularly how they became friends before they became lovers. The story allowed them to get to know one another and see/help each other during some struggles before they officially became a couple.

*SPOILERS AHEAD* - skip to the end of review if you don't want to read

In terms of criticisms, some people have said that the first couples of episodes are a bit slow/boring - which I can understand, however, I would suggest to keeping watching past those episodes as it does get better as it goes.

Personally I was annoyed by the ex-girlfriend story-line. They used it multiples times during the second half of the drama and I honestly found it irritating. The first time was fine, but afterwards it was just annoying. In this case it was an ex-girlfriend who couldn't accept that the main lead had moved on and it was just too much and repetitive.

Something I didn't like was that in this drama there were only two kisses between the leads and both occurred in one episode (ep 26 or 27). There were several occasions where they could've added another and it would have been very natural and cute, but unfortunately that did not happen (not even in the last episode). This might not bother you, but it did bother me a little.

Another things was that the two leads had some conflicts in the final few episodes and then in the last episode they made up in the final ten minutes and all was well. It was a little sudden and the conflict was rather frustrating (refer back to ex-girlfriend comment) - particularly since their relationship was being developed really well in the last ten episodes.

*SPOILERS FINISHED*

Overall I really enjoyed it. While it had some flaws, I thought that this drama was one of the better dramas I have seen. It was refreshing and more realistic than most and the chemistry between the two leads were really good.
I love to come back to it and should you choose to watch it, I'd hope you can like it too.

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Dragged out and Frustrating

To start, I haven't finished this drama and I'm still contemplating if I will watch the remaining episodes.
I have a somewhat love/hate feeling towards this drama.

The good points about this drama so far mainly consists of the chemistry between the leads and the level-headed, mature nature of the female lead - a quality that I feel you don't often find in Chinese dramas (particularly since they seem to favour the cute, simple-minded damsels).

For the most part those two qualities appear to be the only strengths I've particularly recognised. The female leads best friend, is a head-strong, no-bullshit character, and she is a pretty good friend. However, she is a terrible girlfriend, her perspective on love is very negative and is fraught with insecurity. The way she treats her love interest is not good at all, and is quite frankly immature and often toxic.

The mothers in the drama, of both the female lead and her best friend, seem to only serve the purpose of shoving marriage down their throats. It is literally the only thing they talk about.

The storyline is very drawn out, with no clear plot set out (in terms of beginning, middle and end) - it is literally problem after problem, drama after drama. In some cases this could work, if done well. However, I feel like in this drama it feels like the story is dragging out. This is obviously due to the writing (and some people may not agree which is perfectly fine), which fails to connect the story and build on it in a meaningful way. By this I mean that it often feels like the the problems thrown into the story are just there to create drama more than anything else, you feel like they can cut out several story arcs and still achieve a meaningful drama.

Again, I have a love/hate feeling towards this drama. There are several characters I am more than happy to skip (such as the best friend and her boyfriend, or the mothers), but I also want to see what happens to the main leads as they do have good chemistry and it would be nice to see them together. Overall, I feel like this is the kiind of drama you watch once and then go on to YouTube to rewatch cute scenes between the main couple and nothing more. This really isn't the best written drama I have ever watched and it goes on for so long that it feels hard to finish let alone rewatch. Honestly, 45 episodes is way too long. They could have done better perhaps if they shortened the drama, pehaps then it wouldn't feel so stretched out.

While this is my perspective, I also know that there are many reviews which highly praise this drama. At the same time I also know that there are many people who share my opinion, and perhaps even have a more negative opinion on this drama.

All I can suggest is that you look at multiple reviews and decide for yourself if it is worth it.
To summarise: the chemistry is good, mothers talk inccestanly about marriage, best friend is a sucky girlfriend, drama tends to feel like it drags

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