Lynn

Uhm... Hate to be the one who breaks this to you, but the author is female. Lol.

Lol. If you are asking me, I do not believe there is true morality or right/wrong. They are always circumstantial. However, this is a xianxia novel/show, by the moral standards of the wuxia/xianxia world, demonic cultivation is evil; it does not matter what the reason behind it is. However, it is the line between good/evil that is often what authors/storytellers use to sell to the general audience. Generally speaking, viewers like seeing the underdog/the victim breaking all barriers and making it to the top. It makes the story more compelling and it makes them human. Think outside of this show, superheroes such as Superman or Batman. All of them are accompanied by some tragic backstory.

The question with regards to morality is what is being valued. If we strictly adhered to the standards of wuxia/xianxia and throw in the fact that it is Chinese, then, just by causing the death of his adopted family, he would be considered unfilial. In the Chinese culture (no longer true *cough*, you should see some kids nowadays), you should put family before all else. It is supposed to be the root of all good virtue (hence, Mulan). We also have a Chinese idiom, "the more you help, the more trouble you cause", which is supposed to mean do not help unless you are actually helping (said every woman ever to her boyfriend, this is from my experience). Even if the intentions are good, the outcome is what matters. That's why Asians do not lie to their children by saying something like, "It's the thought that counts" (just joking, not really).

It is precisely the lack of right and wrong which is why I found this specific novel to stand out amongst most of the novels of the same genre. To reiterate, I found the novel/story interesting because instead of portraying good versus evil, the characters are all human. (and I mean all characters not just Wei Ying). Although there are moments whereby Wei Ying was selfless and kind, there were also countless moments whereby he was selfish and arrogant. There is a fine line between ambition and greed, it is impossible to tell one from the other. I am not Wei Ying, I cannot tell you either, however, since he is human, based on the actions and repercussions elicited from what was done, there are probably elements of all that in there.

Oh another classic example, the white snake/madame white/white maiden is a good 'demon' who is extremely selfless and kind. She did accidentally cause the death of her husband though (kind of stupid, he dies from shock), but she revives him with the Pill of Immortality. Does that count as good or evil? If she did not scare him, he would not die, she would not have the opportunity or need to save him. Chain reaction much?

Wei Ying couldn't change the past (Jiang sect massacre), but during the course of the entire story, he could have changed himself and learn from his mistakes, maybe to meddle less (he never learnt anyway, learning is clearly not his forte) which wouldn't have caused so much pain for everyone. Choosing a path that he knew would hurt people who cared about him, that is still selfish. Choosing to hurt (whether directly or indirectly) those would gave him the most in life, that is ungrateful and unfilial. No one is perfect, there is no real right or wrong, it just is.

I'm a fan of classics, I do not like what they are doing with the original stories. Apart from that, I'm also Chinese and I have a strong appreciation for what a lot of these folklore entails. Some of them are not merely stories, they are attached to traditions or celebrations. Would rather see a brand new take or version with the same characters than making edits on the original storyline.

Edit: Xiao Long Nu simply means Little Dragon Maiden (Woman), although the name is identical to XLN from Jin Yong's novel, I do not particularly mind. I had a lot of other issues with this show that did not permit me to even get that far, so it was hardly a concern.

I am not a fan per se so I cannot share the same sentiments. I am merely commenting from a literary perspective. Also, I believe people are innately selfish, it's just Biology.

I agree he had a good reason to keep the powers up until the death. However, after the resurrection, one could argue a truly righteous person would rather wield a sword. It is the whole idea that he took the shortcut even at his (and other people's) expense. This idea of having more for less is in itself a form of greed (or Chinese, LOL, depends on how you want to look at it). The lack of remorse is also true whereby he feels guilty for losing control and killing people, but not sorry enough to quit. I would equate this to an addiction. For example, sometimes you want to stop doing drugs, but the high is worth more than feeding your child. The story is written from the standpoint of the character, therefore all moral judgments will be biased.

If you are a fan of original legends (original books and the stories from your grandparents), I would skip watching TV series, especially the new ones because they are too painful to watch. There is an animated version by Coco Cartoons and it is so much better than all of the live action versions. I am waiting for the Legend of Deification that's going to be released this year (delayed due to Covid-19).

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ne_Zha_(2019_film)

Lol. I was already extremely generous with the score. If it was solely rated based on acting skills (without considering them having a more 'idol' status, I would have given them closer to 7/10). Truth be told, unlike most of the people here, I do not think this is a masterpiece or a 'must' watch. For instance, 'The Wizard of Oz' or 'Casablanca' are masterpieces, 'The Untamed' is a good show. I think they did great as a team (for the most part), but there were definitely moments that could be drastically improved. Even though Wang Yibo fitted this role, he actually did not do much 'acting', the role was practically made for him. His usual persona carries an air of arrogance with an idgaf-kind-of-resting-bitch-face (it's not bad, it just is). Just saying if they wanted to test true acting skills, Xiao Zhan would have played Lan Zhan and Wang Yibo would have played Wei Ying. :)

The first few episodes were alright, but from around episode 5 onward, it gets progressively worse. My boyfriend wanted to watch it so we stayed on (his over-optimism will never be forgiven). He was certain it would get better because it was rated quite highly by everyone else here, we waited, we hoped, and as agnostic as we were, we prayed to the TV Gods that it would improve (not the Gods from this series, they are completely useless and you'd know if you watched it). By episode 20 I was ready to throw in the towel, but my boyfriend insisted we were too invested to give up on it. From then on, I played games on Steam and only semi-watched it. Even then, this has got to be one of the worst series ever. I concluded the people who rated it 7/10 and above were all drunk, insane or they have got to be exceptionally boring people in real life to accept this kind of acting. 1/10 was generous, wish I could give it 0/10. Who is going to return the 60 hours of my life (or even 20 hours)? It was such a bad series that when it ended, my boyfriend and I tried to justify wasting our time by brainstorming 100 ways in which this series could have easily been improved if they had done this or that. You know that it is bad when you can find a million plot holes and ways to patch it up.