Anarya

Hahaha exactly. He’s had to do micro expressions throughout. the untamed starts off really slow. It’ll start picking up around ep 11.

I’d say this is one of my favourite love stories ever. Of course if you want the leads to make googly eyes at each other and kiss every few seconds, this isn’t the right show. But if you like slow burn, deep love that is evident through friendship, trust and care, this is an absolutely beautiful love story. The leads are basically soulmates and love each other in very deep ways. The love story is there throughout, but it isn’t the core of the story.

Hehe he is and he’s very different in it. It’s a great show.

Glad you liked it. Please watch The Untamed next if you haven’t done so yet! 🤩

It’s just a tiny bit of romance (in the first season anyway).

I really liked episode 11 (I think that was the episode). It got to some kind of intensity that was interesting to watch. I think it’ll take several episodes to get to a point where there’s more warring and scheming. We’ll have to wait and see. I hope I’ll finish this show some day 🤣. It takes so long because it’s not a casual watch either- you have to really pay attention.

Watched this on iQIYI with the most horrible subs ever. I’m pretty sure this didn’t help how I feel about the show, although I found it very engaging and interesting. My one major problem was the sexual assault scene in ep 19. I’m not sure what the point of it was and it wouldn’t have changed the story in any way had it not been there. Other than that, pretty solid (please don’t watch it on iQIYI though)

I loved the first 20 episodes or so, but after that it was a huge letdown. I watched this ages ago and am still disappointed. It's mostly because a new character is introduced in ep 20 and the story seems to switch focus to her. The male lead becomes an afterthought. These parts were so disjointed that it felt like another writer wrote the first (almost half of the show) and another one wrote the rest. I really recommend the first 20 episodes, but that's my opinion. I feel like the editing and writing is all over the place, and sometimes it's just a lot of style over substance. Characters don't always make decisions that suit their characters. The drama on a whole also seems to have a problem with focusing on the stuff that's important to the story. I love the male lead but he has little importance during the latter half of the show.

You might like or dislike the rest of the show. Some people seem to love it anyway. It's not a bad show but I was highly disappointed at how great it started out and how badly it ended up dragging out.

Xiaoyu is actually an interesting character because he was raised by "evil" guys, so he's definitely not a polished male lead. Won't call him evil though. He does some questionable things because of how he's grown up, but his experiences in the show help develop his character and arc.
I would suggest you watch it. I loved many of scenes with Xiaoyu'er because he brings so much comedy to some of the situations.

I think this is an absolute gem. Very different genre from wuxia and xianxia of course. I'm yet to see a Xuanhuan drama as good as this one.

A love triangle starts but also ends pretty quickly, so it's not going to drag out and become a source of needless drama here. The male leads are by no means weak. One is already a very established martial arts practitioner and the other starts out weaker in martial arts but that changes eventually. The latter is also super smart.
My main issue was the gradually-becoming-weak-female-lead. Otherwise it's quite an enjoyable show

I would recommend it. If you like strong female leads and extremely sweet male leads, this is a great show. It was personally very satisfying for me to see a girl who improves in her martial arts to become a great hero, and she's greatly admired for that. The male lead is completely in awe of her for this and lets her be herself. I loved the main leads and their chemistry and I think they stand as equals.

It's very much set in the martial arts world and it doesn't really have court politics and stuff, so the focus is quite different from WRTW. More like a hero's journey I suppose.

There's a sense of "brotherhood" perhaps, but I wouldn't really call it a "bromance"

Would call it a frustrating ending rather than a sad one. The last episode is incredibly rushed and then just ends when you think there would be another episode after it

Legend of Fei, although I wouldn't call it "revenge". She is very cool though and kills the villains herself.
Young Blood has a cool female lead - but she isn't the main focus of the story.
I haven't seen The Long Ballad yet, but I guess the FL is supposed to be a very cool general who does that.
Who Rules the World - the female lead is super cool and stands on her own.

It's basically 85 percent political intrigue and 15 percent action. That doesn't mean the action is lacking in any way. It's just used judiciously and when there is action on screen, the stakes are really high and you'll be on the edge of your seat. The political stuff is exceptional. I don't think any other drama can fully match the intelligence of the political intrigue in this.

It is wuxia for sure even though most of the story is not set in Jianghu (or the martial arts world) but in the palace and the Empire.

I'd suggest watching NIF 2 as well. It's not like what one would deem a proper sequel to this, because it's a completely different story set 50 years after the events of the first NIF. Many of the characters we know from the NIF 1 are referenced. Some are much older and hence aren't the same actors. So just be prepared for those things.

Other than that, NIF 2 focuses more on a single family. So in that way, it is different. However, I still think NIF 2 is amazing in its own way. If NIF is a 10/10 show, then NIF 2 is a 9.8/10.

Just don't go in expecting another NIF. Watch it without any biases and you might really like it. It's still an extremely intelligent drama.

Thank you for your comment! I feel like he probably would have said it at some point, even if not when they meet right at the end of the last episode. Like you said, let’s just guess the L word will come someday. The last scene shows him taking a step towards accepting her support and love.