lovelyaiko

I had zero expectations and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the series. Victoria and Chen Xing Yu had great chemistry and looked stunning together on screen. There were great heartwarming moments and I couldn’t help but get emotional because I empathized with Lin Xi’s mother and her struggle with her father.

Is my comment being misinterpreted here? I understand tone cannot always be mutually intelligible between strangers on the internet. I very vaguely mentioned above that I’m not in a great mental condition. If any of you have or know someone with Bipolar/ADHD you may be familiar with overstimulation and functional freeze which makes it difficult to concentrate and perform basic tasks.

If my comment appears condescending/negative, it’s not. I was trying to be vague enough that people with similar conditions could probably relate to. It feels taxing when I simply want to participate in sharing my personal view, but in constant fear of offending the masses which normally results in moral smearing. So if anyone else has this struggle trying to watch this series, I am at least one person that understands wanting so badly to like something, but having a pre-disposition can make that immensely difficult. I hope for the day that dignity is a right, even to a stranger with a difference in opinion.

My formula of watching series with MDL ratings 8.7 and above hardly fails, but I've watched four episodes so far and haven't come across the moment that captivates me and motivates me to continue watching the series.

Perhaps it's the pace and my current mental state is not keeping up.I'm holding out hope for another episode or two. If it still doesn't pick up for me, then I'll take a break and come back to it when I'm in better condition. So many of you love it and I want to as well!

All else aside, I think the cast is visually balanced and the OST is really beautiful.

If we look at the result of "Go Ahead" & "Meet Yourself" I think it would be well worth the wait 😭

There was so much beauty and depth to this series. If you're after fanciful relationships and caught up in your own small view of the world, you'll entirely miss the messages throughout. This series evokes empathy, introspect, and shows just how resilient humans can be. We are not what happened to us and mistakes we make along the way don't define us so long as we keep advocating for ourselves and making the best out of life.

Favorite quotes:
"As long as your moments of joy outweigh your moments of sorrow, that means you led a great life." - EP 31.

"Love is being devoted to love. Loving out of obsession only leads you to a dead end." - EP 36.

I JUST finished watching the series so this comment was more of a stream of consciousness and perhaps subject to change as I continue to reflect on it.

I was so excited over Yang Zi and Li Xian, that I didn't notice Wei Zhe Ming until today! Triple excited now.

Is there any other OST that hurts the way this one does? Its been five years and it still tears me apart. I had never been so engrossed by a series before Ashes of Love. I had just started my C-series journey and this was my third, but first costume drama.

I could not peel my eyes away and stayed up so late because the pace, story and scenery was so unique and beautiful to me. Every actor/character has touched me in some way whilst watching the series, but I have a particularly soft spot forJin Mi/Yang Zi.

Jin Mi went from being a naive and carefree grape spirit to a woman matured and tormented by love. If the Yun Elixir didn't exist, would disaster have been avoided? Maybe, but seeing her story unfold was the beauty and sorrow of it all.

I was emotional throughout the series, but one of the most heart wrenching parts for me was the the first wedding. I could not believe I was crying to the point I felt inconsolable. Yang Zi put on such a convincing performance. I watched the BTS for this particular scene and it hurt just as much.

I tried watching more costume drama after this series and only one other (so far) has measured up to the level of excitement and emotion I felt for Ashes of Love.

Anyways, I've yammered on long enough. To sum it all up, I just love this series and it will always have a special place in my heart.

Thank you for letting me know! It’s definitely the dose of happiness I needed after a long week. 🥹💛

My rule of thumb when seeking a drama is 1) Never watch the trailer or read the reviews/comments beforehand and 2) If a series ranks 8.6+ on MDL there is a good chance it is worth watching.

(Though, there is a series rated a 9, which shocks me because the story is so subpar, yet it has a cult following.. anyways I digress)

The writing of, "Story of Kunning Palace" is far from subpar. I admit there were a few parts of the script that did not feel fully fleshed out, but I still gave it a rather high rating because I was audibly and physically reacting during each episode. Proving my 8.6+ formula hardly does me wrong.

I want to give a big round of applause to Elisa Ye for her performance as Xue Shu. My goodness, I absolutely hated her character towards the end. Also to Tang Meng Jia. I thought I could only see her as an antagonist after LLTG, but she was just so precious as You Fang Yin. Bravo to both of them!

I only ever watched Bai Lu and Zhang Ling He in variety shows so I am really happy that this was my introduction to their talents as actors. I can't wait until I dive into their more of their work!

This was more so a stream of consciousness comment rather than a review. lol

I just realized I missed addressing the fact that men do the same thing. It’s purely personal desires/fantasies they’re obsessed with. For some reason some homophobic people (& I fully count those who are only partially *ahem* PREJUDICED *ahem* “supportive”) think that anyone LGBTQIA+ wants them. It’s so narcissistic. *edited bc in the heat of the moment I forgot some words lol*

That’s so disheartening to hear. I’m sorry you have to go through that. Harsh to say, but good riddance. They don’t deserve to be a part of your life with that kind of mindset.

PREACH. Apart from fetishizing gay men, I feel like it is to some extent that these female fans are channeling their jealousy by being overly engrossed with male actors being in M/M relationships because the thought of them being in M/F relationships makes them disgustingly envious.

I stopped mid-season hoping to come back and binge it, but here I am feeling reluctant to do so. The main attraction for me was our leading actors in this drama, however, I think another user summed it up in a way I resonate with, "...felt like a chore to watch." It was really cute at first, but at some point the plot was really losing me. I could forgive a couple of nonsensical points in a story, but once they start adding up, my interest dwindles.

Nothing takes me out of a drama more quickly than a poor portrayal of a profession. No, I'm not expecting a drama to be a peer reviewed depiction of business management, art, sport or healthcare, but please, make it make sense.

Maybe needless to say, it was the psychological aspect that began to drive me away. I do see that this drama is a toe in the water in mental health awareness, but I think it lacks sound knowledge in portraying/treating mental health issues. Thus, made it harder for me (personally) to relate/sympathize with the characters. Hopefully after resetting myself, maybe the second half of this drama will rekindle the fondness I had for it in the first few episodes.

First and foremost, I thank you for taking time out of your day to to scrutinize my personal feelings of The Untamed. I admire your passion and sense of responsibility to protect the reverence of this drama and it’s cast, albeit it felt like I was being silenced at first, but I’ll try not to pass judgment because I don’t know you personally and how your tone was intended towards me.

After taking time myself to read your response, my only regret is that I took the words of others who commented the the adaptation may have been altered. So I rescind the comment I made regarding that. In hindsight, I see that my opinion can be interpreted that I don’t recommend anyone give this a chance, but that is not my intention and I hope others can decide for themselves whether they pursue this or not.

As for providing you examples, I unfortunately have none to share because I did not have that long lasting impression so many others had. Regardless if I did, I don’t think I could provide a response that is satisfactory to you or that of others who love The Untamed.

But if I may, I hope my own feelings aren’t invalidated just because I’m not a part of the majority. I would still like to stand by my comments regarding how I personally felt about this The Untamed.

I understand that this is a highly revered drama, I would never try to deny that. I’m just a part of the minority that unfortunately was unable to have strong feelings towards this drama.

Hopefully when I have time to read the novel, it will jog my memory of the drama and I’ll feel differently.

For now, I can only apologize that I don’t have the same feelings or perception of The Untamed as so many fans do.

My best wishes to all.

I would dare to call this a gateway into Chinese dramas. I think I watched it for the first time in 2019 on Netflix, and I kid you not, I have watched it 20 more times since. It is such a feel good drama surrounding college life.

This was really hard to watch to be quite frank. I tried to love it, I really did, but the drama felt PAINFULLY underdeveloped and acting left much to be desired. I suspect this may be partially due to the fact the original story had to be altered. Though I didn't enjoy the drama itself, I am willing to read the original work and hopefully it can change my view of the live action story. At the very least, this made me curious of Xiao Zhan & Wang Yibo and have come to love their other works.