From a sceptic to a believer
For months I hesitated watching this series for mainly two reasons :1) 50 episode count
2) BL storyline
I’m happy to report that both my concerns were unfounded. The episodes count is high but they are only 40 minutes long and once you start watching you’ll binge through the rest. As for the BL storyline it’s there only if you look extremely close. The show portrays them as two individuals with a deep bond - more like soulmates than lovers.
In the end it took me all of 5 mins of watching Wei Wuxian and his antics to fall hopelessly in love with this masterpiece.
A helpful tip: The show begins at a pivotal moment and keeps moving back and forth in time which is a little confusing. I would suggest you start watching from the beginning of the flash back in the last few minutes of ep 2 until it ends in ep 33. Then go watch ep 1-2 and finally the rest from ep 33 onwards.
The story: The story was engaging throughout, presenting a broad range of characters, each with a proper back story. Having read the novel simultaneously, I was amazed how faithful the show is to its source material, down to the actual dialogues even. Aside from some changes, here and there, it truly felt like the novel had come to life. I also appreciate how every story had a conclusion, there were no loose ends.
Acting: Everyone did a good job but I must mention that Xiao Zhan really blew me away. I did not know of him or Wang Yibo being idols so I am very much unbiased in my opinion. WWX is such a layered character who is fun, lovable, mischievous and yet sometimes dark. Xiao Zhan brings so much depth to the role. I can’t imagine anyone else playing the part. Wang Yibo also did a good job given the limited scope in his role. WangJi is such a stoic character, I enjoyed how he brought some warmth into the role with his micro expressions.
Music: The music was pleasant and suited the scenes well. WangXian, sung by the leads is very soothing to hear. I enjoyed the OST a lot.
Rewatch value: I probably will watch this show again. But first I need to watch all of the other adaptations. Be prepared to go through serious withdrawals once you complete the drama.
To sum it up, this show exceeded my expectations and truly deserves all glowing reviews. I am so glad I decided to watch it. I don’t give high ratings often but this show truly deserves a 10/10.
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This review may contain spoilers
what a masterpiece!
it has been a year since the release of this chinese drama and i kept being hesitant to watch it until now just because i am a bit picky when something is so hyped up, i tend to get disappointed as soon as it’s too hyped. but well, i decided to give it a try and, oh boy, can’t believe i nearly missed on this amazing work of art.this is my first wuxia ever, usually i never give historical genre a try since i always get bored of them so my expectations for this one were low on the first place due to my annoying ass. after finishing it, i’m so happy this was my first one and, shockingly enough, i know for a fact that this has become my favourite chinese drama of all time.
not gonna lie, i struggled at the beginning since i wasn’t used to wuxias and the visual effects are a bit deceiving /what’s with them spilling blood from everywhere???/ but don’t get deceived by these small things, the story and journey is just brilliant.
first of all, the characters are amazingly portrayed by the actors. i could feel their emotions just by looking a them. at first i was very confused by the huge amount of new characters popping in and out like there was no tomorrow but once i got used to it, i truly enjoyed everyone! no secondary story from the characters felt unnecessary, i enjoyed every bit of it. lwj and wwx will always have a place in my heart from now on, the development of their relationship is so beautifully done, i couldn’t care less about the china censorship, you can still sense how deeply they loved each other, thank you yibo and xiao zhan for portraying their characters so well!
the main antagonists were a pleasure to see, their background and entire stories, chef’s kiss! i adored the episodes with xue yang & xiao xingchen, i felt the pain like it was mine. also, i really like characters like jiang chen, tormented kids that become insecure due to continuously comparing themselves with others instead of seeing their true value, letting jealousy and resentment lead their actions... such a draco malfoy kind of character! *sorry for my hp reference lol*.
then the story, wow... i literally am left speechless after finishing it! it’s one of the few dramas i haven’t skipped a single bit of it. it was consistent and entertaining throughout the entire series, i might even read the novel at this point since i loved the story so much. special mention to the last ten episodes, every second of it was worth rewatching it, they were a true gem!
the ost; brilliant, painfully beautiful, dazed by it. i could have the entire ost including all the instrumentals on a loop for an eternity and i would be happy for the rest of my life c: at first i skipped the intro all the time but after some episodes i couldn’t resist it and had to watch the entire intro because the song just gave me the feels.
overall, i highly suggest to give this a try no matter what your taste is, it’s a gem and deserves all the hype it got back then (and still has). i’m probably gonna keep rewatching my favourite scenes while i’m sipping on my tea, tearing up because of their perfection.
anyway, the untamed... i tried to give you up because of the hype but you won.
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This review may contain spoilers
the gold standard
I doubt there's anything I can say in a review that hasn't already been said but I'm a yapper and I want to leave reviews for everything I watch, so...There's a reason why this show is the entry point to CDramas for a lot of us. Engaging mystery, fascinating lore, fun and fluctuating character dynamics, beautiful romance (even if it had to be made a bit more subtle due to censorship), fantastic soundtrack, gorgeous costumes and visuals, brilliant acting... I could go on. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are indeed iconic and are the definition of soulmates - they'll break your heart so many times in the flashback portion and make you ecstatic beyond belief in the present day. I loved that the show had the guts to discuss darker themes such as genocide and really makes you sit with the horrors that humans are capable of and, through Wuxian, we see people brave enough to stand up against such atrocities regardless of what the personal cost is to do the right thing. I also love media that discusses grief and trauma, and these themes are baked into the DNA of the show. It's just very poignant and touching and honestly relevant to real life and I love the story so much.
Incapable of giving this a full 10/10 bc the misogyny was crazy and we need to talk about it.
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This review may contain spoilers
i’m usually not a huge fan of xianxia/wuxia dramas mostly because i find that most plots are quite similar and extremely repetitive. however the untamed had an extremely well thought out storyline. i was recommended by a friend to watch this around the time it finished broadcasting. i watched the first episode but stopped after that because the corpses and monsters freaked me out a bit and i’m not a fan of scary stuff. i picked it back up a few months later after finding out it was based on a BL novel because i’m a sucker for that. story:
the plot of this drama was really well written and almost everything had a deeper meaning behind the name. i could connect to almost every character which made the story even more sad. although some stuff didn’t really make sense in the beginning, it all strung together perfectly in the end. every characters struggles were so touching and at times frustrating that it made me want to throw something at the tv. iusually don’t cry because of shows or movies but the untamed had me balling at 3am because of the pure devastation of the story. the drama is pretty faithful to the book (recommend reading that before watching, it helps you understand some things a lot better) with only few small changes here and there the most drastic obviously being wwx and lwj’s relationship.
acting/cast:
10/10 because the cast was absolutely amazing. the actors portrayed their characters perfectly and had really good chemistry, especially between xiao zhan and wang yibo. they just connected with the characters so well, enough said.
music:
i haven’t listened to the whole soundtrack yet but the songs i’ve heard are seriously so good. the lyrics are written to reflect the characters thoughts, feelings, and struggles that might not have shown that much in the drama. every time i hear wwx and jyl’s themes i want to cry because it’s just so damn sad.
rewatch value:
definitely going to. actually planning to rewatch this summer after i finish the anime.
overall the untamed was just so good. it exceeded so many of my expectations and also raised so many of my expectations for cdramas. i still haven’t gotten over the mark it left on me and it’s been freaking months.
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Not Explicit BL but still heavy romantic!!
Disclaimer: I only watch the live action and don't read the other versions of this series so I don't know the plot at all when watching it.I love how neat the storyline considering the massive censorship. The romance scene will need a lot of your attention and analysis (I may had not notice it if I don't read about the scene explanation lmao). It is not cringe and the love story is very pretty. What I love the most is there are A LOT of sad scenes, AND the protagonist is not always right. The story comes from all roles, so it widen our perspective of the story. I think this series contains a lot of moral value so your time to watch 50 episodes will not go to waste.
The BGM is pretty, it matches with most of the scenes. The act by the actors and actress is A++++ and it is worth rewatching!! (I have rewatched it around 7 times lmao).
What I don't really like is: sometimes the BGM will sound ok but the actors voice's is very difficult to hear even though I set high volume on my device. When I get it higher, the actor's voice will sound ok but the BGM will be too loud. I think their volume is just not balance (I think all c-dramas have this issue too).
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But, OMG when I started to watch the 1 episode I just fell in love with the storyline and the characters. (I just couldn't stop watching it and finished this drama in 1 week?).
I just love the characters they are awesome.
My fav. is wei wuxian. He cares about the people around him and protects them but at the same time he is playfull but serious. (just the right type of character i love).
Generally all the characters are really well played and the music and the overall story is just perfectly made.
I am kind of sad that it had ended ? (it was just so good).
Now i am beginning to read the novel and watch the other spin off episodes and the anime. (like i said i fell in love with it)
I really recommend this drama.?? You really can feel the emotions of the characters and their stories. (It's like you yourself were a part of it)
I am sure that anyone who would watch the drama will fall in love with it.
!Just give it a try ? It won't disappoint you!!!
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Perfection
It’s been 6 months and I cannot move on from The Untamed, Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo portrayed WWX and LWJ in a way that is so captivating I literally don’t know how to put it into words. I started this drama not knowing it was BL but from the very first episodes I could feel a very special connection between the two ML’s and had to google if they had some kind of special relationship. I put this off for sooooo long and I hate myself for not listening to all the reviews and suggestions.The OST is amazing, almost all the cast members have songs and the lyrics a reflection of that character. Wuji and both ML’s songs have lyrics that make me tear up when I read them. And English translations do not do it justice, I’m so inspired to learn Chinese so that I can fully understand the true meaning of these songs and the drama.
Anyway, it’s definitely a must watch but be careful, you won’t want to leave the house or sleep until you finish the entire series.
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The story is catching - the fact that we can see why things happened is eye-opening. I love that you can grasp the main thought of this drama as if it was an object flying around (that not everything that seems bad is actually bad, people should look for justice and uphold rightousness).
I loved this drama from the beginning to the end. Many dramas take their time and the story feels long because nothing much is happening. But in this drama there is no such problem (at least not for me). The story moves adequately, there are not hundreds of side stories that you wish you could skip etc.
Last thing - acting. Most of the actors that play this drama are amazing. Everybody praises YiBo, since he is able to portrait the love even though he never mentions it. He is probably the first actor that I saw, who could only by his looks and face expressions express what his character feels. I watched his facial expressions even if he was in the background and he never left his character.
So if this drama is always popping out when you are looking for some new drama, do not worry. Give it one episode and see yourself, whether you will like it or not. I tried and I do not regret it.
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Mamma mia, I liked Untamed. It's been ages since I have been so happy, sad, frustrated, joyed and had butterflies all at the same time. I feel like I have found a new happy place to be in for some time. All us Wangxiao shippers love the boys to bits and this is something that unites us all.
I want to thank whoever decided to adapt this novel into a series. I also want to thank all the fans for hyping the series up and bringing it to my notice. If this series hadn't existed, I wouldn't have found my happy place and this gem. I probably sound like a deluded fangirl but this pair made me go crazy. Now, onto the review:
STORY:
It's a wonderful story. Has its ups and downs and highs and lows. Sometimes it ripped my heart out, sometimes it made me laugh and other times made me want to throw a shoe at the screen. I disagree with whoever that says it is flawless. It's flawed but has perfect moments and Wangxiao made it perfect. I wished Wu Xian wasn't a frigging damn, selfless twit all the time. The writer really loved making him suffer and making sure his life was hell. He was always the most pitiful character which was also annoying at times.
THE SHIP/BROMANCE:
I noticed it at around ep 2/3 when Lan Zhan recognizes Wu Xian -that STARE. Their plot started off light, I started developing interest and then it disappeared for a while. When it came back, I realized it was why I was in all along. Seriously all the best moments are there after ep 33. <3 Heck, it's so epic that even the Chinese censorship can't contain its awesomeness. The boys are delightful to LOOK at, act well and had amazing chemistry together. I have never seen a better-looking pair, regardless of gender in any drama. What I also loved was the relationship between the characters was pure and it was about the connection they had. The best part of it all was how it was all regardless of the gender. It was something two human beings shared- you may call it love, friendship or brotherhood.
WHAT SUCKED:
1) Making Wu Xian into a pitiful character who always has to be the one giving and having stones thrown at him in return, being kicked, humiliated and trashed
2) Killing off so many characters - all the good ones that mattered in Wu Xian's life ; it was TOO much
3) The sufferings laid on Wen Ning - WHYYYYYYYYYYY????????
4) The censorship where things were obvious anyway
5) The idiotic sleazy bad guys
6) Jiang Cheng's stupidity was unforgivable and he was never worth Wu Xian's sacrifices
WHAT WORKED:
1) Lan Zhan x Wu Xian
2) Awesome stares from Lan Zhan
3) The good looks of the boys
4) Some kind of justice being served
5) Sparing Wen Ning - seriously this drama would have been rated lower by me if he also didn't survive
6) I loved Wen Qing - such a good, interesting character!
MUSIC:
It's interesting. Apparently the Chinese also praised it for the use of traditional instruments
REWATCH VALUE:
Heck yes, a 100%
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Furthermore, just began reading the novel and yes it is a little bit different compared to the book. However, i think changes made does not take it away from the story rather enchance it and push characters to work extra hard to actually portay some scenes in subtle way yet it brings more feelings to it. Enjoyed it every bit from laught to cry.
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This drama really made me cry and smile and just get mad at certain things
It was truly a rollercoaster of emotions
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