While Gusu is gorgeous and everyone there is gorgeous too (it's written in the novel somewhere), I don't think I could take the 3,500 domestic rules...I'd rather snack my way through Lotus Pier...
Does anyone get pissed when people criticise the untamed. Like there are flaws but insulting the cast members…
I thought Untamed was really good too. Some people will criticize someone's acting, but if it's that bad, I tend to criticize the people who enabled it - the people in charge of casting, the director in charge of directing, the screenwriting team and author in charge of creating that character (if the character is supposed to be that way), all the higher ups who had to approve the casting and make the financial/marketing decisions - if there is bad acting, it doesn't happen in a vacuum, so it's not fair to put all the blame on the actor/actress. All that aside, in almost every drama there is someone that is mildly annoying.
Just realized that Untamed is on Apple TV, Prime TV and Netflix. All this international exposure should increase the number of people watching chinese fantasy historical dramas -> more interest -> more money -> more budget -> more novels being filmed!
Random thoughts while rewatching Ep. 34: 1) During the quiet conversations, I'm really noticing that Lan Wangji's voice is very soft, like Crown Prince Ye Hua's (3L3W TMOPB), since it's the same voice actor. 2) Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are like a prince and a beggar. LWJ has big golden hair ornaments, wears luxurious spell-woven robes, carries an expensive sword and has a princely air, while WWX has a cloth in his hair, homespun clothes, and talks about being a starving, fearful, homeless child. Sigh. 3) It seems like in this world, there are no kings or nobles or nations - the clans/sects are the rulers in their territories, because humans are under constant attack by monsters/zombies/etc, so the talented cultivator clans/sects who can fight them off and protect the people are the ones who rule. 4) Jiang Cheng is such an angry, ferocious man (with his purple electric whip!), so I love that he has such obliviously, horribly, corny taste in naming his dogs. The actor who plays Jiang Cheng was only 21 at the time?!
Random thought while rewatching Ep. 33: Yay the flashbacks are done. 16 years later, Lan Wangji's new headpiece is so tall, it's almost the same height as his face. Guess it shows that he's older, more senior, compared to the new generation of youngsters running around.
Random thought while rewatching Ep. 10: The set for Lotus Pier is so beautiful. I like how the 5 major clans are easily distinguishable - Gusu Lan Clan is misty blue in the mountains, Yumeng Jiang Clan is gorgeous southern waters with languid idyllic scenery and light wood furnishings, Qinghe Nie Clan is barren grey dessert (Unclean Realm, indeed), Wen Clan is red and black in a volcanic area, and I guess later on we'll see the lofty Lanling Jin clan with their white peonies high on the mountain peak.
Random thought while rewatching: Jiang Cheng (the other guy from Jiang YuMeng clan) reminds me so much of Xue Meng (from Husky and the White Cat Shizen/Immortality) - straightforward, rash, honest, sons of the sect leader, who both later encounter tragedy and have to be bitter sect leaders.
Random thought while rewatching: Admiring the calming light blues and whites of the Gusu Lan clan sets. Really gives the impression of some otherworldly, up-in-the-clouds misty place where immortals dwell.
I'm only up to episode 24, but I'm really noticing how good the voice dubbing/acting is (like, the ML's voice is the same voice actor as Crown Prince Ye Hua from 3L3W). They all seem to have these quiet, gentle, well-educated noble-y type voices (aside from the Marquis from the Ou family, who has a deep, gravelly voice). With the soft voices, the natural sunny lighting, and the detailed luxurious sets, I feel like I'm visiting a slice-of-life romance novel, like To Be A Virtuous Wife. It's nice escapism on a bad day.
Random thought while rewatching Ep. 1: It's such a pleasure to see that young teenager, Lan Yuan (now that I know who he really is) and his history with WWX! Actually, the whole drama is easier to re-watch now that I know all the secret histories and plot twists, like who secretly arranged for WWX to be reborn in the first episode...
Just finished it, and now watching the extra 2 episodes "Mr. Queen: The Secret" on Viki (new scenes, little side stories, same cast and directing, about an hour of new material). I actually liked the ending of the main drama. MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS:
During the queen's pregnancy, she is so hormonal and emotional, it makes sense even the modern man inside is crying and moved by everything. During his time in the past, the modern man shares his military training (in the form of the manuals they make), his cooking skills (with Head Chef) and his modern knowledge (with the King later creating a constitutional monarchy).
The modern man returns to his own time and has his happy ending, after learning and maturing from his time in the past. (Remember, his happy ending is: 1) Returning to the future. 2) Returning to his body (which is still healthy after months in a coma). 3) Not having to give birth. 4) Not being charged/framed for the Blue House crime. 5) Knowing that the king and queen survived and the king become a great king and instituted the political reforms to prevent future corruption.)
AND, it turns out that all along, the queen's soul was still in her own body, aware of the modern man's presence, so she also learns, grows, and remembers everything that happens. So after the modern man leaves, the queen is still in love with the king, remembers everything, is more mature, kinder, more liberated, and continues her friendships. The queen's personality is more and more like the modern man's after their time together inside the queen's body. If the queen seems different, the king can chalk it up to her pregnancy/becoming a parent.
As I'm watching episode 2 of "Mr. Queen: The Secret" on Viki, the king is jealous and begging for attention from the queen, and it's hilarious because in the past (before the transmigration of the modern man), she loved the king so much and he didn't care for her - and now it's his turn to pine for her attention. There's another story in the episode where they talk about their wishes. The modern man wishes he can return to his healthy body, and that the king lives happily ever after like a prince in a fairy tale.
As to their romance - before, the king only knew that he was in love with the second female lead, and the queen was a cruel tyrant (the kind he hates) from a greedy cruel family. Once he realizes she's also a victim, a kind person, interesting and valiant, full of new ideas, and supportive of him, he eventually falls in love with her - especially once he realizes she was the one who saved him from the well as a child, not the mistaken second female lead. The modern man inside the queen slowly also likes the king because the queen's soul co-existing with him, and the queen's female body affects the modern man's actions (that's when there's the overwhelmed with passion scenes). As to the queen's soul, she was always in love with the king.
So the king gets his happy ending - he's in charge, his queen loves him, they're expecting a baby, he can pass the laws and protect the common people. The queen gets her happy ending - she's back in her body, she has friends and support, the king loves her back, and she's now more liberated and open-minded after her time co-existing with the modern man in her body. She updates the palace laws so that servant girls can be married off after age 18, and palace servants have to be older than 10.
I liked that the second female lead was redeemed and lived her own fulfilling life, and wasn't stuck in the the bitter-villainess-because-of-unrequited-love trope.
I fast forwarded the extra, slow villainous scenes, but this was the first historical k-drama I'd enjoyed in a long time. The FL's acting was great, especially when she turns back into herself at the end. The ML was good (I last saw him as the tragic second male lead in Crash Landing On You). When the supporting actors were screaming to destress in the forest, I thought the actors must have been having a blast doing that scene. I don't like long, serious, tragic dramas, so this was a light, quick, fun way to pass the pandemic, especially the two extra, sweet, 30-min episodes as "Mr Queen: The Secret" (it's total fan service!).
Very, very cute, especially episode 2 where the king is jealous of the queen's popularity... These are side stories to Mr. Queen, with the same cast, sets and music, but all new scenes! It's on Viki with eng subs as "Mr. Queen: The Secret". Totally worth watching, it's like 2 x 30 min of happily ever after epilogues (with the cousin alive). Not a rehash, not a summary, not behind the scenes, it's basically 2 new episodes.
Ok, I’ve binged enough to make a first comment. It’s the usual Chinese trope drama, nothing exceptional to…
I remember reading some article somewhere that for Chinese dramas, the financial model is that the more episodes there are, the more money the drama can make, so dramas ended up like 60+ episodes. Then the quality of dramas got so out of hand that the government stepped in and ordered dramas to be shorter, so now the number of episodes per drama seems to be down to around 40-45 episodes. Some other dramas got caught in the rule change, having to cut their dramas from 60 episodes down to like 45 episodes....
Kind of like when the top A stars commanded such high salaries (up to 80% of an entire production's investment, I read somewhere) that the entire drama production suffered (thinking of General and I), so the government stepped in and capped the salaries to better the quality of the productions.
It would be amazing if the c-dramas would be more like k-dramas in length, 16-20 episodes of well edited plot, especially the modern dramas, but the financial realities of how the dramas make money in each country differ, I guess.
In some dramas, the actors/actresses' skin look amazing because of what is obviously really good makeup. However, in episode 19 of this drama, I found myself admiring the lighting rather than the makeup - the lighting makes the women's skin glow beautifully and their skin looks really natural and soft.
I'm reading the novel now, but since the novel describes "mountains of corpses and oceans of blood", lots of gore,…
I'm around chapter 100, when they get the soul calling lanterns. With so many good novels becoming dramas, which can vary in quality from excellent (Untamed) to mediocre (so many...), and because I can't influence the production/release in China, I just try to enjoy what's made available.
1) During the quiet conversations, I'm really noticing that Lan Wangji's voice is very soft, like Crown Prince Ye Hua's (3L3W TMOPB), since it's the same voice actor.
2) Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are like a prince and a beggar. LWJ has big golden hair ornaments, wears luxurious spell-woven robes, carries an expensive sword and has a princely air, while WWX has a cloth in his hair, homespun clothes, and talks about being a starving, fearful, homeless child. Sigh.
3) It seems like in this world, there are no kings or nobles or nations - the clans/sects are the rulers in their territories, because humans are under constant attack by monsters/zombies/etc, so the talented cultivator clans/sects who can fight them off and protect the people are the ones who rule.
4) Jiang Cheng is such an angry, ferocious man (with his purple electric whip!), so I love that he has such obliviously, horribly, corny taste in naming his dogs. The actor who plays Jiang Cheng was only 21 at the time?!
During the queen's pregnancy, she is so hormonal and emotional, it makes sense even the modern man inside is crying and moved by everything. During his time in the past, the modern man shares his military training (in the form of the manuals they make), his cooking skills (with Head Chef) and his modern knowledge (with the King later creating a constitutional monarchy).
The modern man returns to his own time and has his happy ending, after learning and maturing from his time in the past. (Remember, his happy ending is: 1) Returning to the future. 2) Returning to his body (which is still healthy after months in a coma). 3) Not having to give birth. 4) Not being charged/framed for the Blue House crime. 5) Knowing that the king and queen survived and the king become a great king and instituted the political reforms to prevent future corruption.)
AND, it turns out that all along, the queen's soul was still in her own body, aware of the modern man's presence, so she also learns, grows, and remembers everything that happens. So after the modern man leaves, the queen is still in love with the king, remembers everything, is more mature, kinder, more liberated, and continues her friendships. The queen's personality is more and more like the modern man's after their time together inside the queen's body. If the queen seems different, the king can chalk it up to her pregnancy/becoming a parent.
As I'm watching episode 2 of "Mr. Queen: The Secret" on Viki, the king is jealous and begging for attention from the queen, and it's hilarious because in the past (before the transmigration of the modern man), she loved the king so much and he didn't care for her - and now it's his turn to pine for her attention. There's another story in the episode where they talk about their wishes. The modern man wishes he can return to his healthy body, and that the king lives happily ever after like a prince in a fairy tale.
As to their romance - before, the king only knew that he was in love with the second female lead, and the queen was a cruel tyrant (the kind he hates) from a greedy cruel family. Once he realizes she's also a victim, a kind person, interesting and valiant, full of new ideas, and supportive of him, he eventually falls in love with her - especially once he realizes she was the one who saved him from the well as a child, not the mistaken second female lead. The modern man inside the queen slowly also likes the king because the queen's soul co-existing with him, and the queen's female body affects the modern man's actions (that's when there's the overwhelmed with passion scenes). As to the queen's soul, she was always in love with the king.
So the king gets his happy ending - he's in charge, his queen loves him, they're expecting a baby, he can pass the laws and protect the common people. The queen gets her happy ending - she's back in her body, she has friends and support, the king loves her back, and she's now more liberated and open-minded after her time co-existing with the modern man in her body. She updates the palace laws so that servant girls can be married off after age 18, and palace servants have to be older than 10.
I liked that the second female lead was redeemed and lived her own fulfilling life, and wasn't stuck in the the bitter-villainess-because-of-unrequited-love trope.
I fast forwarded the extra, slow villainous scenes, but this was the first historical k-drama I'd enjoyed in a long time. The FL's acting was great, especially when she turns back into herself at the end. The ML was good (I last saw him as the tragic second male lead in Crash Landing On You). When the supporting actors were screaming to destress in the forest, I thought the actors must have been having a blast doing that scene. I don't like long, serious, tragic dramas, so this was a light, quick, fun way to pass the pandemic, especially the two extra, sweet, 30-min episodes as "Mr Queen: The Secret" (it's total fan service!).
Kind of like when the top A stars commanded such high salaries (up to 80% of an entire production's investment, I read somewhere) that the entire drama production suffered (thinking of General and I), so the government stepped in and capped the salaries to better the quality of the productions.
It would be amazing if the c-dramas would be more like k-dramas in length, 16-20 episodes of well edited plot, especially the modern dramas, but the financial realities of how the dramas make money in each country differ, I guess.
Ah, I'm so envious.