This was made in Korea, not China, and at the time it was made, there had already been a number of feature films…
Well, your silly, little fangirl opinion is also garbage, and far stinkier than mine.
"The show's romance was very realistic to its intended era." The only romance in "The Untamed" exist in your imagination, fueled by your pathetic willingness to interpret raised eyebrows and longing glances as indicative of a relationship the Chinese cannot and do not, portray in their programming. Are you saying ancient, gay love affairs were conducted as in TU, without verbal or physical expressions of affection?
Why anyone who cares about gay people would watch such twisted, censored, shame-filled representations of LGBTQ, emotional, romantic relationships, is beyond me. We do a lot more than stare at each other endlessly, while occasionally falling into a "sort-of" embrace, what I call a "slip-catch-fall," also typical of Thai BLs. We don't fly around in the air in silk dresses, saving each other from evil swordsmen either. Or did you not know that?
Marvelous, quiet, calm, and deeply moving. The only thing more beautiful than the ambiance of this film is the acting and chemistry of the two leads. Both are sensational in their roles, but it's Taniguchi Masashi as Togawa who impresses me most.
This was my third watch, and every time it gets better. There aren't many movies, of any budget level, I'd say that about.
Damn, I was rooting for SJS's character all the way. SJS has evolved into an extremely effective and charismatic actor. I totally believed every version of the MC as he revealed them to us, from goodhearted, slow-witted victim to brilliant survivor.
I enjoyed it a great deal. What about it did you find hard to believe? How were the last 30 minutes repetitive?
I don't have your faith that some asshole psychopath with the power to do what was done here, wouldn't do exactly that just because he can, or maybe was a little bored that night, who knows? These boys were just toys to him. On another night, perhaps he wouldn't have taken it this far. I find it totally believable that on this night, he did.
However, as you point out, it's not necessary to feel as I do to acknowledge this as a really good film, especially with Kai Ko in his freshman effort from the director's chair.
Most powerful political/revolution/dictatorship/military film I have ever seen. I just finished watching and am too overwhelmed to write much coherently, but this is an absolute 10/10 across the board in every way, shape, and form.
As an American, I am distressed at my complete ignorance of what the military dictatorship in Korea was in 1987, and how it went about maintaining its grasp on power, no doubt with the tacit approval of the U.S. It humbles me once again, as do all stories like this, to behold the courage displayed by so many in the face of such brutality.
My heart breaks for all those, like the two murdered young men at the heart of this story, who lost their lives so young because they could not stand by and watch silently, without action.
Horrible story, stunningly told. Bravo to all involved.
About halfway through I was thinking I'd be giving this a high score. But then the relationship felt more and more, entirely about sex and nothing else. Seriously, do they know each other at all from time spent together when not shagging? Barely at all. This isn't passionate "love," it's sexual addiction and compulsion.
Also, I felt she knew exactly what she was up to from the very beginning. I didn't buy her "only for one night" schtick for a minute. Please.
The contrived ending, with its absurd metaphor, was the final nail that took this from a 9/10 to maybe a 7/10 max.
I'm impressed with the film's frank approach to depicting sex, but toward the end, watching them have sex was getting...old. Just as these two characters, should they try to stick together, gradually will tire of f**king all the time, and then it'll be "ok...what do we do now?"
I like that the ML didn't spend six months in the gym before this was filmed, to get shredded for all the nude scenes.
It's interesting how they had a thing for natural disasters. Fuji-san, having conversations abt life nd hw they…
To me, the natural disaster metaphor was contrived and even stupid. Such events cannot be predicted down to the day like that. Plus, there would be lots of earthquakes and other signs of what was coming. Evacuations would have begun weeks, not minutes, before such a thing was expected. Stupid.
last scene he saw the angel, it is shown in the extra clip given by official through qr that the angel was sitting…
"Extra clips" don't exist, as far as I'm concerned. If you want something to be a part of the story you're telling, you should include it with the rest of your story, don't you think? Plus, why would the angel be sitting in the van if he had already flown off to Heaven from the beach? Lame.
I was kidding about the van rolling...any direction.
"existential meditation?" "Art-house feel?" Seriously?What art houses do you frequent?
No, it's none of those things. It's gay-bait cheese, a censored bromance, that in the end, could have come out of China. But somehow this got made in Japan.
Did you write this for some course on how to use lots of flowery words, and yet say nothing?
This show does almost none of what you seem to be saying it does. You are projecting what you want to see, not what's on the screen.
BTW, you called it a "JBL" in your OP, which means it did NOT "go beyond simple categorizations" for you either. On the other hand, it wasn't a BL at all. It was gay-bait cheese. I wonder why Uesugi Shuhei let himself get involved in this.
As the "middle-school" actor looks at least 17, this did not translate well at all. A 30 y-o cannot have a 17…
To me, it's a China-style, cock-tease, gay-bait bromance with plenty of winks and nods but no payoff. Come on, the dialogue between the leads in the last two episodes left only "I love you, and not in a platonic sense" out. 30 year old moons and sobs after angel leaves, and keeps a feather in his necklace, but it's totally not gay.
So I guess when Koki turned and looked at us at the end, it was because he forgot to put his van in park and it rolled over him, which then leads to the final scene?
Total cop-out. Are we sure this wasn't written and produced in China? I ask because the GAY was certainly banned from the screenplay of this series.
On the other hand, we knew from the start how this would end. I just thought it would be a BL before it got there. Which it's not. I made the mistake of assuming a show starring an actor as talented and established as Uesugi Shuhei, would have the balls to go heavy and deep with the gay. NOT.
There were a good number of heartwarming scenes and a few laughs, but due to the cop-out ending, Koki being older than his mom, and the lame way the angel's wings disappeared when he put on a hoodie, 7/10 is as high as I go with this one.
K-Drama 
2 
1 
"The show's romance was very realistic to its intended era." The only romance in "The Untamed" exist in your imagination, fueled by your pathetic willingness to interpret raised eyebrows and longing glances as indicative of a relationship the Chinese cannot and do not, portray in their programming. Are you saying ancient, gay love affairs were conducted as in TU, without verbal or physical expressions of affection?
Why anyone who cares about gay people would watch such twisted, censored, shame-filled representations of LGBTQ, emotional, romantic relationships, is beyond me. We do a lot more than stare at each other endlessly, while occasionally falling into a "sort-of" embrace, what I call a "slip-catch-fall," also typical of Thai BLs. We don't fly around in the air in silk dresses, saving each other from evil swordsmen either. Or did you not know that?
Taniguchi Masashi as Togawa who impresses me most.
This was my third watch, and every time it gets better. There aren't many movies, of any budget level, I'd say that about.
9/10
Excellent, slow-burn thriller.
9/10
However, as you point out, it's not necessary to feel as I do to acknowledge this as a really good film, especially with Kai Ko in his freshman effort from the director's chair.
Most powerful political/revolution/dictatorship/military film I have ever seen. I just finished watching and am too overwhelmed to write much coherently, but this is an absolute 10/10 across the board in every way, shape, and form.
As an American, I am distressed at my complete ignorance of what the military dictatorship in Korea was in 1987, and how it went about maintaining its grasp on power, no doubt with the tacit approval of the U.S. It humbles me once again, as do all stories like this, to behold the courage displayed by so many in the face of such brutality.
My heart breaks for all those, like the two murdered young men at the heart of this story, who lost their lives so young because they could not stand by and watch silently, without action.
Horrible story, stunningly told. Bravo to all involved.
10/10
Also, I felt she knew exactly what she was up to from the very beginning. I didn't buy her "only for one night" schtick for a minute. Please.
The contrived ending, with its absurd metaphor, was the final nail that took this from a 9/10 to maybe a 7/10 max.
I'm impressed with the film's frank approach to depicting sex, but toward the end, watching them have sex was getting...old. Just as these two characters, should they try to stick together, gradually will tire of f**king all the time, and then it'll be "ok...what do we do now?"
I like that the ML didn't spend six months in the gym before this was filmed, to get shredded for all the nude scenes.
Worth a watch cause it's unique, but yeah...7/10.
I was kidding about the van rolling...any direction.
A twisted, high school graduation noir.
Highly recommended.
9/10
This show does almost none of what you seem to be saying it does. You are projecting what you want to see, not what's on the screen.
BTW, you called it a "JBL" in your OP, which means it did NOT "go beyond simple categorizations" for you either. On the other hand, it wasn't a BL at all. It was gay-bait cheese. I wonder why Uesugi Shuhei let himself get involved in this.
What art houses do you frequent?
Total cop-out. Are we sure this wasn't written and produced in China? I ask because the GAY was certainly banned from the screenplay of this series.
On the other hand, we knew from the start how this would end. I just thought it would be a BL before it got there. Which it's not. I made the mistake of assuming a show starring an actor as talented and established as Uesugi Shuhei, would have the balls to go heavy and deep with the gay.
NOT.
There were a good number of heartwarming scenes and a few laughs, but due to the cop-out ending, Koki being older than his mom, and the lame way the angel's wings disappeared when he put on a hoodie, 7/10 is as high as I go with this one.