CKDramaddicts

Lol, I completely forgot about Gao Miaorong and Li Lin!

There are three side couples: the FL's BFF and a friend of the ML (soldier and related to the deceased Dowager Empress); the business woman and the ML's BFF (paired late and less prominant); and the ML's half sister and the second prince of the neighbouring country. I'm normally so-so/picky about side couples, but these were all great -- healthy, non-toxic relationships! I especially liked the sister and second prince.

It dragged for me a little too in the middle, but I thought the final third was good. Starting around 16 or 17. The episodes are pretty short and goes pretty fast once things pick up again.

I have to say I loved the bonus episode. From a story telling perspective, it came full circle in terms of bringing the landlady and her family back, along with the hilarity, tone, and mood of the first episode. I also interpreted it as a happy ending for both couples -- it's implied they will get their happy ending, despite the rocky introductions, and they offer enough hints and clues that the traces of the original prince and guard, or their spirits, are still present on a subconscious level.

I also loved Ouyang Wenshan's ridiculous reincarnation -- it was hilarious, fitting, and poetic even, that he would come back as the complete opposite of "cool" and stylish" -- almost like a test of Jiang Hui Zhen's love, since on the surface at least, those things are important to her. (It was nice to hear Wang Ruichang's real voice here, as I never got used to the dubbed voice.)

Finally, I liked that Duan Shui Liu and the Dragon Lady got a proper happy ending in their own lifetime (where they still remember and recognize each other), and not have to wait, since of all the couples, they perhaps exercised the most agency in determining and fighting for their own fate and love.

I had a lot of mixed feelings about the show, acting, and some of the characters especially from about episodes 5/6 to 16ish, but the final third made up for a lot of the flaws and brought the story to a bittersweet conclusion capped with an entertaining and satisfying epilogue.

That's fair and everyone is allowed to interpret the scene in their own way. But I wanted to point out that for many women who have been in a similar situation, especially with someone they know/love, "acting normal" and continuing friendly contact/a relationship is very common behaviour. However we interpret that scene in PS, I personally still think it is still an irresponsible portrayal of the situation, especially given the type of drama it is and arguably, the age of some of its viewers too.

Just watched that section and she never said she hated him. She just didn't like him romantically but considered them friends. But he kept crossing the line with his obsession: the first time, he threatened to make it impossible for the Fangs to continue living in the Captial and said he'd use his power to drive them out of the city (this was around ep 14); then when he announced that they were to be married without consulting her; he also kept calling her weak on a number of occasions, and she finaly had enough when he basically said she shouldn't cause trouble by trying to run a business since she's just a weak woman, and that it would be so much better to just marry him and be a good wife, etc.; then the final, final straw was when she found out the Su Family hired the assasin to kill her and Cheng Tian while enroute to Xizhou. She even defended him to others saying she did not believe he knew about it or was involved as she believed he was not a bad person, but she also knew they could no longer be friends.

I had issues from the moment he set it up so that they were "force" to share a room, and it only increased when he clearly did not respect the boundaries that she set up once they shared a room, even though he seemed to indicate he would. It doesn't need to be violent -- she was obviously pressured into a situation she was not ready for.

Thank you for writing this -- I'm so happy to see this issue being discussed! Your intro was very relatable -- I absolutely love C-dramas, but there are varying degrees of consent issues in a lot of them disguised as meet-cute scenarios and sweet moments.

Among the ones I've watched that I found especially problematic, I was really glad to see you call out Well-Intended Love and **especially** Professional Single. I had issues with a lot of the ML's behaviour, but that scene in PS completely ruined the entire drama for me (I am irked by its rating, lol.) Another one I wanted to call out as an example of a thoroughly toxic relationship is Sweet First Love.

I think problematic behaviour is getting called out a little more now (Jiang Jun was at least pissed and moved out when she found out Yuan Shuai owned the apartment, I guess?), but generally, it still feels like it is mostly called out if it's "obvious" or if the aggressor is some greasy business executive or slimy bar patron type -- as though it's better/okay when it's the ML. Also annoyingly, when a female character is subjected to behaviour that's clearly harassment or criminal, she gets over it by the next episode and it never comes up again. (Another issue that's part consent part physical aggression that I also find irritating in many instances is the excessive ponytail pulling , arm yanking, etc.)

Yes, it's all fiction and fantasy so some leeway is given, but many of the examples, especially the worse offenders, still send the wrong message about what's okay when someone pursues you and also when you are in a relationship. It's not necessarily about not showing these things, but how these situations get handled that's the problem. Given the way #MeToo cases have been dealt with in China over the last 2-3 years, there is still a lot of work to be done. It would be great to see C-dramas take a lead in setting a better example addressing the issue.

Anyway, thank you for bringing attention to the issue here!

I am loving this drama so far, especially the OTP, but I'm watching this with zero expectations the entire time, so perhaps that helps. It's by the same production team that did I Will Never Let You Go with many of the same supporting cast (this is a companion piece to that one but unrelated story and characters), so I am fully prepared for this drama to derail in one giant hot mess, sadly. I am still not over what they did to the ending of that one!

For anyone who understands Mandarin, I stumbled across this great live stream four of the cast members did together. They talked extensively about filming the drama, their first impressions of each other, WRC does a bit of rap, and the others sing snippets of songs from the drama, etc. It's a lot of fun, so hopefully it will get subbed and become accessible for other international fans of the drama. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB14lISeOEE&list=PLjPeV4q4ed5FKL7tcodACiQKkAD8oNw76&index=4&t=369s

Really enjoyed your thoughtful review. It echoed many of my own sentiments, especially that strong sense of nostalgia (it's set close to when I was in university and when I spent a year in China teaching at a university after graduating) and the bittersweetness of first loves and crushes. I loved the friendships, but also wished we could see the main OTP get together a little earlier and the last few episodes fleshed out more!

(Oh, that should be the sound of a ping pong ball bouncing away. :))

The drama is set in 2014, when the real South Korean army made international headlines several times. Even what happened in the bonus scene at the end of the entire drama was inspired by true events.

Based on the extra scene after the final credits, he didn't die...

Regarding the realism question, the show is based on real events in the South Korean Military that was widely covered in the news in 2014 (when this drama is set as well).

You can find it free on Viki and Youtube. The "NewTV Hit Drama" right above the cast & credit list links directly to the YouTube playlist.

I think this would be a great feature (but daunting, haha) to add to the MDL cast list! Baidu cast listings for dramas will includes the voice dubber's names, which you can figure out with the help of Google Translate and also Googling the dubber's name. I believe Xiao Zhan is another actor who started dubbing his own voice recently (Douluo Continent), though not for The Untamed.

Great article! And you highlighted the stand out examples I would've picked as well (Princess Weiyoung, The Untamed, Eternal Love/Three Miles)! :) I generally don't love dubbing, especially if I'm famiiar with the actor's real voice, but there are definitely a few voices (Bian Jiang, for example) that have helped make the character memorable.

It does feel like they are sloooooowly moving away from dubbing though -- don't get me wrong, I think it will be around for a long time stil -- but I've watched quite a few modern dramas over the past year that use live audio.

For those interested, there have been a couple of modern C-dramas recently about the voice dubbing industry: Poisoned Love and You are So Sweet.

Gaaaah. I suspected they were going to go this route with the ending and was ready to accept it, but I became so frustrated with QJN's character and the way she was pressuring him while he was still coming to terms with the shock of having a daughter whose life was in his hands. I thought it was spectacularly insensitive and kind of ruined the character a little for me. I know she has her principles, but come on! Trust the guy and let him deal with his trauma for two minutes! Meanwhile, he's begging her to stay and not abandon him like everyone else in his life.

And as much as I love a good "tortured hero/anti-hero" character, the pay-off is seeing them get a happy ending. In ZXS's case, he already made it clear he wanted to make the moral and right choice going forward, even if it meant being fatalistic about what that meant for his own life, so I was okay with that. But to throw in a surprise daughter, kill off Mo Li, after already seeing the woman he loves almost die TWICE --- **all in the span of a maybe two or three days** -- was really super-massive over kill and absolutely heartbreaking. If you're going to do all that to your ML, he should absolutely end up happily with both the FL and his daughter (even if he gets a bit of jail time), and the uncle killed off. And it was set up with that possibility - the police were there! He had all the evidence! The more I think about that final episode...

Somebody edit us all of the OTP's scenes into one long video, but change the ending where he survives the blast and they live happily ever after! *Heaves a big sigh*

Yes to everything you said (especially the cut scenes) and in your reply to yourself too, lol!

Gah, that was my guess based on a clip of the explosion I saw somewhere and the scene in the credits where ZSX is crying and holding Mo Li. Not the ending I would have wanted for the OTP (because the whole show is unrealistic anyway, may as well give it a fairy tale ending too, haha), but at the same time, I think this was the ending the drama was building up to throughout the back half. In that sense, it's perhaps a fitting one for the ML who had become fatalistic about his life.

YES! This is the first time I've ever commented on a show. I didn't have anyone to discuss it with, since my RL drama-watching friends were going to pass on this one after I warned them (despite enjoying it immensely myself, lol). It's been fun reading everyone's opinions and having a space to share my own! :)