The Untamed

The Untamed: Where the smallest details speak louder than words

The Gateway to a New World
As my first step into this genre, The Untamed proved that you don't need explicit scenes to tell a soul-stirring love story. Despite the censorship labeling it as "soul-mates" or "friendship," the depth of the bond between Wei Wuxian (WWX) and Lan Wangji (LWJ) is deeper than most romances. It’s a story about sacrifice, the gray areas of morality, and a loyalty that transcends death.
The Heart of the Yiling Patriarch
Wei Wuxian is a character that stays with you. He is the perfect example of the "smiling mask"—the one who laughs and makes everyone else happy while being the most broken inside. Despite the world turning its back on him, he remained kind.
The Trauma: His fear of dogs is a heartbreaking reminder of his childhood as a starving orphan, a small detail that makes his eventual power feel even more earned.
The Loyalty: The fact that Lan Wangji, who started as the cold, rule-following "Jade of Lan," was the only one to stand by him during his lowest moments is the ultimate redemption arc.
A Web of Complex Relationships
The strength of this drama lies in its supporting cast. No character is truly "one-dimensional":
The Trio: The bond between WWX, the "shouting but caring" Jiang Cheng, and their angelic sister Jiang Yanli provides the emotional high points of the series.
The "Villains": The Wen siblings (Wen Ning and Wen Qing) are standout characters—proof that there are good people even in "villainous" clans.
The Juniors: Seeing the new generation of kids from different clans being at ease around the "scary" Yiling Patriarch was so heartwarming; it showed that his soul was always pure.
The Hidden Villain & The Plot
I never expected the most "innocent" character to be the mastermind behind the curtains. The revenge plot was masterfully woven, proving that the most dangerous person is often the one no one suspects.
Symbolism & Sound
The production team used symbols like rabbits and the lotus pier to speak when the characters couldn't. And of course, the music is unforgettable. "Wuji" is more than just a song; it is the theme of their entire journey—a melody that brought them back to each other across lifetimes.
Final Verdict
The Untamed is a long journey (50 episodes!), but every second is worth it for the character growth. It teaches us that "right and wrong" aren't always black and white, and that having just one person believe in you is enough to change your world.

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--spoilers--

So this is going to be a different kind of review. I'm going to put down all my notes that I wrote around episode 18 at which point I was not into this show at all. It was driving me crazy, so I wrote a bunch of notes down about what I hated. Then I will tell you that I am now completely obsessed with this show and have made my way quickly through the anime and now onto the novel.

---- Written up to ep 18---

I picked this up mainly because it was on Netflix, and because all of the fabulous reviews. It is the first Chinese drama I have ever watched ,so I guess bare that in mind, as some of the critique of the show might just be common place among other dramas.

Things I liked:
- The hair
- The costumes (how they stayed immaculate while wading through mud, fighting monsters, swimming in dirty ponds I will never know)
- The music (I'm a sucker for a nice erhu and flute)
- Xiao Zhan's face

Things that were so so:
- The plot: the plot was alright, nothing too special. It was pretty generic fantasy power struggle type stuff. It did have a kind of flavour of the week vibe with different monsters, threats that popped up but that was subservient to the main plot. You also already knew the main "plot twist" that Wei Wu Xian would become evil from the very first scene. One thing that really annoyed me was that they really didn't flesh out the power system in the world. Who was better than who? Why were they better? Did they ever do any training? Could you use the magic always or did it take energy from you? Half the time they would just uselessly use their swords when they could have used any number of other better magics.
I was taken aback that the clans could be defeated by the Wen so easily. Like they are obviously EVIL why didn't they band together, or have a plan, or do anything before they were wiped out. They knew what the Wen were doing the whole time, yet they were so unprepared!!!
Also they really walked everywhere, aren't they rich? Where are their horses? I did see a donkey and one horse. Why do they no all have horses? And they never packed anything except snacks when they went on trips, yet they magically have changes of clothes.
- The pace: this is an interesting one, because while I think the pace of the overall show was fine, it was the pace of scenes that made it slow down. There were some senes with lingering shots that would go between different character reactions for ages even though it could have been done in a couple frames.
- The sets: Some of these were beautiful (lotus, and cloud) but others were not so great (Wen clan place)
- The acting: This was pretty good for the most part. I enjoyed Xiao Zhan's performance the most as it was the most dynamic. His character was also the most interesting by far. Wang Yi Bo was not that good. His face had one expression the majority of the show which was: "I am serious therefore I am going to look annoyed for the majority of the time and stare into the distance". The rest of the characters were pretty good though.

Things that were terrible:
- The sound mix/voice dub: This took the cake for me as thing that really took me out of emersion. I put this down to the fact I never watch Chinese dramas, and it is incredibly jarring to have a voice dub that is not the actor. To me, the voice is half of the acting! But I get it, it's cheaper and makes sense if everyone speaks different dialects. It just means that I can't enjoy Chinese dramas, and that's my burden to bare.
- The fight scenes: wow these were absolutely terrible. I am used to the defying gravity stuff in Chinese fight scenes but this was a whole other kettle of fish. There were scenes where characters were flailing vertically to the ground. THERE WAS SO MUCH USLESS SPINNING. The archery killed me, does not a single person on this production know how to draw back a bow?? Everything was also really slow and the timing was usually off in the choreography. When I watch a "historical drama" I really want my actions scenes to pay off, this did not.
- The FX makeup: I didn't realised we had forgotten how to mix fake blood. guess we will just pour a bunch of food colouring around. Also there was a hilarious part where Wei Wu Xian was burnt but instead of putting the FX makeup on his skin for the wound they put it on top of the clothes??? Most of the wounds/monster makeup was sub par. Contrasting to this, the regular makeup for the actors was quite good.
- The continuity: there was blood on his neck, now it has disappeared. Did he have a shower? Did he heal magically? His leg was broken, but he can walk fine the next day. How??
- the extras: So many times in this show stupid things that extras were doing, I should be rowing the boat but I am barely going to move my paddle. I'm a zombie so I better imitate a windmill with my arms.
- the villains: The motivation of the villains was so unclear. Very generic, we are evil for no specific reason, we want power, blah blah blah. 1 dimensional.
- The CGI: Mostly terrible, especially the monsters. Though I was a fan of the smoke effects and of course they nailed the hair CG (why you need to CGI the hair I don't know, but I appreciated)
- The war strategy: So, I know this was a BL novel so I guess it's not focused on war strategy. However, I think there could have been at least some incorporated into the show. The whole plot was one clan takes over another's territory and kills everyone then the other clans get annoyed and take back control of the territory and kills everyone. There are never any guards at the gate, they always seem to be taken unawares even thought they always should know they are in danger of being attacked, and they have no over all strategy except lets go from one to another territories and take them over. With so much of the show being about this I think it really could have been fleshed out, especially with the 50 ep run time.



----FINAL REVEIW-----

I have to take back most of what I wrote above because as the story started to take over in force, all my gripes disappeared and I was completely absorbed. It's not to say that the problems weren't still there, it was that they didn't matter because I NEEDED to find out what happened in this story. Wei Wu Xian is such a great character and I needed for him to be vindicated. Everything that confused and annoyed me about the plot in the beginning made sense and was tied back in nicely.

The end was a bit of a disappointment with the extreme amount of lead up, but even that couldn't ruin my rapture with this show.

This is a must watch for anyone who likes supernatural historical dramas. LOVED IT.

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Started good and some parts could be better

LIKE

Loved from the start all the way until Wu Xian became Wei Ying - after that just pretty annoying especially with the villian being exposed

Respect the loyal Wen Zhu Liu

Madam Yu when she punished Wen Chao's lover - though I didn't like Madam Yu but she was good

When everyone thought Jiang Cheng was ambitious, selfish and did not understand the motto of Yun Meng - but he was as good as Wu Xian

If Jiang Cheng did not make that decision that day, there would not be subsequent of Wu Xian mastering a new skill

DISLIKE

Where was the Bao Shan family/sect?? - I was looking forward to them

MUSIC - personal fav

Wu Ji 无羁 - 周笔畅 Zhou Bi Chang
意难平 Yi Nan Ping - 银临 Yin Lin
孤城 Gu Cheng - 孙伯纶 Chen Bo Lun (feat. 陈卓璇 Chen Zhuo Xuan)

REWATCH VALUE

Five for now

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Damn I rarely watch 50 eps kinda drama but this is def worth the watch, I haven’t read the novel nor watch the anime yet since it’s both ongoing, but reading threads and some spoilers, this drama is mostly similar to the novel n anime perhaps just some extra scenes, and I think they did a super good adaption of this whole series. Though the visual makeup eg the zombies and stuff and do better, but the characters acting are very good. The FEELS MAN. Even though it’s not Shounen Ai or Yao I but “bromance” you can feel the feels between the mc and ml and it’s perfect!!!

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First of all let's clapped for the live action~~
They can air this despite the tight new rules Chinese censorship....

Story:
You cant expect the same essence as the novel because not only they are gore but the homosexual content strictly banned. The epic battle that I wish to see between Nie MingJue vs Wen Ning they just pass it. Well they 80% follow the novel, in my opinion.

Acting:
For the first 10 episode they cant entice me, the main leads acting not consistent and the chemistry none but when it come to 11 until the end they build it up but somehow they still cant do a detail acting in some scenes. Luckily the teacher who play Jin Guanyao aka A-Yao portray him perfectly his mannerism, face details. He could bring almost all of us despise him and the actor who portray my baby Huaisang too. Good Job Guys

Music and Costume:
I love all the bgm and ost when I see the anime, flute music to summon dark energy still eerie. The ost sang by most of the main cast. The costume are okay it just what the H with the headband~~~

PS: I just realize the main bad guys in here Xue Yang and A-Yao so beautiful. Both have full eyebrows and long and pretty eyelashes plus their eyes too beautiful, damn~~ As a women I feel threaten teacher Zhu Zanjin and Wang Haoxuan beautiful face could ruin a kingdom, kkkkkk

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Everything about this has A Class Of It's Own!

the music the scenery the acting the cast..
Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo did a splendid job.. my goodness.. what a rollercoaster ride was this drama!
can't express my emotions.. perfect acting for the perfect characters.. I loved Wei Ying's laugh and lan Zhan's smile.. aaaaa~~~
this series should have been longer 😭😭😭 can't get enough of it!!
Wen Qing, Yanli both beautiful characters.. and so many different and complicated characters.. you wouldn't even know how to judge everyone for what they're doing because of how complex it is.. every character's story and choices are complex and it makes you seriously do some thinking..
but I wish Jiang Cheng had more expressing and explaining and umm how can I say it without spoiling... more from him during the last episodes. yeah.
Definitely in my Top three.
I have a feeling that imma rewatch it again and again for the rest of my life.. like The long ballad and The Immortal Samsara..

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On January 1st, 2018, I was diagnosed with chicken pox. So I fortunately enlongated my 3-day New Year holiday to a 3-week break. During that period, I read the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). I was touched and moved and obsessed. Tortured by the painful itchy pox, I was, however, comforted and calmed by the story of Wei Wuxian. In a word, I really loved this story. Though, I didn't actually got the core of WangXian at that time.
When I knew that it would be adapted into a TV drama at a time when rules banned homesexual scenes on screen (indeed there was an amazing show, Addicted Heroin, in 2016, which depicted the main characters as a couple. Since then the romantic love in BL novels has to be transformed into friendship to pass the unreasonable censorship), I was appointed. Besides, as many other fans of the novel, I was worried that maybe this would be another show that aimed to make money in this crazy IP trend in China's drama industry.
On June 27, I was trapped in military training and was not quite eager to watch the show. One of my friends did and teased about it. After finishing the semester around July 11, I started to watch the up-to-date episode about the destroy of Lian Hua Wu. I finshed watching the final episode of Chernobyl and finally got to watch The Untamed.
I think, this drama has done its best to portray love, WangXian. Many scenes, such as that trick in Cang Shu Ge and the conversation in Bai Feng Shan. My favourite one is that adventure where WWX and LWJ killed the giant evil turtle. How cute WWX appeared to invoke LWJ's congestion and the song of WangXian or the untamed whatever555 It truly brings the novel to life.
For a longt time I couldn't understand why WX is a heaven-made love! But this drama has enable me to do so!

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The thing about this drama is that it’s more than just a drama. Weiying is more than just a character. Because of Xiao Zhan's amazing acting skill, I feel like I’ve known weiying so well as if we’ve been friends for years. All the characters are well written. Every role in this drama was portrayed very well. Not even an episode is boring. Yibo portrayed Lan Zhan so well. The weird thing is, lanzhan and weiying didn't converse much but u can feel their strong bonds as if a thousand words were spoken. The trust and love lanzhan has for weiying is so beautiful and pure. Looking at their first encounter, who would have thought that they'll be this close.
The ost are amazing. They got me crying all the time. The lyrics are so touching.
I don't think I'll ever get over this drama. The best Chinese drama ever! Truly a masterpiece :’)

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This show is actually based off of a really great book. However they differ in one major way. The book has a lot of lewd scenes. Well watching this show although the two mains aren't in every scene you really get to know a lot about them. One is outgoing and playful but you quickly learn there is a lot more to him then that. He struggles a lot with his choices but always follows his heart. The other main is soft spoken and strict. Although he doesn't say a lot his face tells you all you really need to know. Now I bet your wondering how two opposite dynamics such as these can create such a wonderful show and the only way to explain is chemistry. The two leads has such a strong bond on screen that you really can't fake unless the actors can bond too. That's why its so great nothing seems forced you can feel their pain their smiles and their cries. With many shows its hard to connect with the main actors but in this show its not a problem in fact its hard to find another show like this. I highly recommend this series for two main reasons. One its very well written . When shows get turned into books a lot is normally left out but that isn't the case. This show wasn't rushed and sticks to the original origins. The producers and script writers take the time to really fit every important moment from the book into the show so all the pieces fit perfectly . The second reason is the fact that all the characters good or bad have their own reasons for doing what they are doing and they explain that too. I really really admire this beautiful piece of work.

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Best Chinese drama

Not a fan of long episodes but this drama made me stick to my screen. Main leads r fantastic. Story is very good. hesitated bcoz of bromance tag but it's not too much or too less, it's just PERFECT. Loved a drama after long time & willing to watch it again. All I have to say is don't hesitate by BL tag. It's close to original except SOME scenes. Music is too good. Acting is damn good. Every scene is connected & love btwn leads is.... No words. This will be my all time fav Chinese drama. I laughed, cried, got angry, felt butterflies... U have to watch it till the end. Don't leave in half just bcoz u r confused, it'll clear up at the end. I still listen to this music & even it's my alarm tone (wuji). That much I love this series.

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Please make season 2 and release it cause I want still to watch what will happen to them

Before I review the story please I beg to who the making the untamed drama please make another season or another project BL with the same actor of the untamed... please cause it's not enough to see in season 1 .... Please make season 2 I beg to you🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏




Story - For those who love the novel and dissapointed because there's no BL in this, DON'T WORRY!! The bromance is wonderful and will make you can't stop smiling. The story is rather faithful to the novel (not exactly the same tho).. they adapted many sweet scenes of LWJ and WWX.. (Trust me, they adapted almost everything except the confession scene and steamy scenes). For the additional plots, I don't have any problem with them.. it doesn't really change anything (maybe only more screentimes for minor characters like Wen Qing and Jiang Yanli).. And I think they add a new character, Xue Chonghai, to smooth the story.. It was a big question in the novel HOW DID WWX LEARN DEMON CULTIVATION? And the story about Xue Chonghai is to answer the question..

This drama really has exceed everyone's expectations.. like, at first, in China, many the original novel fans can't accept the show (because there's no BL or Xiao Zhan & Wang Yibo don't have WWX & LWJ's charm, etc) and so The Untamed only got a low rating (4.8 in douban) but it keeps on increasing after the show airing.. now it has reached 8.0!! I think it proves the beauty of this show..

Acting/Cast - Both Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo did a great job in this drama!! At first, I though Xiao Zhan wouldn't suit WWX since he doesn't look like someone who talks a lot.. but I WAS WRONG.. WWX IS MADE FOR XIAO ZHAN!! And for Wang Yibo.. there're not many expressions shown by Lan Wangji here.. but I think Wang Yibo did a great job showing a cool but caring Lan Wangji~ >< The other supporting actors are new but really did a great job.. especially Yu Bin who played our little angel, Wen Ning~ like when he was stabbed, I can feel his pain too ugh.. ToT

Music - This drama has a set of beautiful songs.. the ending song, Wu Ji, sung by Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo and Yi Nan Ping are my favs.. Yi Nan Ping is a theme song for A Xian, A Cheng, and A Li.. the lyrics is so heartwrenching (I almost cried when the song was played).. and there are character songs too.. like Bu Wang sung by Wang Yibo for Lan Wangji's character song, Qu Jin Chen Qing by Xiao Zhan for Wei Wuxian's, Chi Zi by Yu Bin for Wen Ning's, Bu You by Liu Haikuan for Lan Xichen's, etc.. all of them have beautiful lyrics that tell the story of each characters.. MY EARS ARE BLESSED!!

Rewatch Value - DEFINITELY!! I can rewatch this wonderful drama again and again..

Overall - A must watch drama!! There is a complete set of genre inside.. comedy, mystery, friendship, family, romance..

Please I will waiting until another season or another project BL with the same actor of the untamed

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