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A Thrilling Yet Unique Story: Always Follow Your Heart, No Regrets!
Twelve Letters will having you questioning whether it's worth watching this drama until the very end, and let me tell you - YES it is. It's literally only 12 episodes, quite short for a cdrama, but every thing is all worth. It is set in both 1991 and 2026 where both leads in respective timelines are corresponding with one another through a very magical mailbox along with a special cat.There is domestive violence involved as well as physical assault on underage children.
The drama follows two tragic senior high school students navigating through life without family and only have each other. We watch their love for one another grow from being just platonic, to being family, and then genuine romantic love. The thrill ride really had me on my seat because I was losing hope up until the final episode.
The acting was amazing! I think this is Zhou Yi Ran's best acting project to date, because there was one scene that stood out for me, yes he gets mad often but I could feel the desperation in his voice and expression! He wants to protect the one person he holds dear to his heart! The leads did not hit it off on the right foot, however, what surprised me is Tang Yi Xun (Zhou Yi Ran) is nothing as we initially thought he was. He's very empathetic, and protective towards Ye Hai Tang(Wang Yinglu, he understands how much she has suffered through hands of her horrendous father. Since that day forward, he swore that he will try his very best to protect his girl from hardship and give her the happiness she deserves. And he did not lie about that.
Ye Hai Tang's life is just tragic. Prepare your tissues because this girls deserves all the love in the world. Granted, there are times when I wish her teacher would put two and two together and see there is something wrong AT HOME. How does the teacher turn a blind eye when she sees Hai Tang outside of class - all happy especially with Yixun- but then with her father she goes BERSERK? The neighbors also turns a blind eye and knowing Chinese communities and their love for gossip, surely someone should've said something about the father going gambling and what not? What aboout the loan sharks that's always going to their house? It's just these situations that makes this drama a bit flawed in my opinion. Back to the acting, Wang Yinglu did a great in this role, I have seen the BTS on RedNote and she nearly injured herself badly just fighting with the dad. She put in a lot of effort into this role! Wang's portrayal of Haitang is very strong, and confrontation. However, she doesn't know her limits at all. She acts with her feelings a lot of the times, granted there are times when she doesn't. I honestly can't imagine her life without Yi Xun, because Yi Xun is usually there in the nick of time whenever she's in deep trouble with her father. I am just glad that she managed to live the life she wanted regardless of the ending.
The 2026 leads were a bit irritating to watch at times especially the future son, Shen Cheng (Ren You Lun). The way he kept talking to Yu Nian (Zheng He Hui Zi) was quite rude, and very entitled as if he's the smarter guy and he knows what's right and logical, etc. Bro couldn't let loose for one second and listen to the poor lady. And honestly, I feel like he wasn't even one of the 1991 leads' son because he might've been a step son. The final episode kind of confirmed my suspicions anyways.
Both timeline leads corresponded with one another, one needed answers to the puzzle of their missing parents while the other is just curous about the future. Without spoiling much, I would say this drama ended on a good note. I honestly wish there was more like an epilogue - well we got it, but I wanted more. LOL
Happy ending? Yes!
Would I recommend this drama?Definitely recommend if you enjoy watching thriller, suspense, and mysterious genres. There's romance but tthat is not the focus, it's just a very natural love story where the leads are always there for one another and protective of each other. But if you're looking for romance focused story, this is not for you.
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Aside from the visual candy. the overall storyline was interesting to watch. It typically focuses on a military training, patriotism, love triangles and friendship. Barely any typical romance or skinship. The cast did a wonderful job, they're all great actors.
However there were a few things that irked me.
Gu Yan Zheng played by Xu Kai. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to watch this drama because I finished The Legends where Xu Kai and Bai Lu were also main leads. I was also a fan of Xu Kai, however, I really dislike his character here. I've never disliked a main lead so much to the point I don't want him as lead. Why? His character's personality is very irritating, immature and annoying. He doesn't care much about the consequences of his actions at all. He's basically blinded by love. He also annoys the female lead like a 10 year boy crushing on a girl. Its ridiculous. Sure, they're cute but I rather have Xie Xiang with Jun Shan than Gu Yan Zheng. Aside from his irritable personality, I really love his hair styling here; even the clothes from this era looks marvelous on him! When Gu Yan Zheng is serious, he gets serious and is able to kill people with accuracy. His skills are top notch despite his laziness and goofiness. I admit sometimes I like his character when he's goofy but there were times when I really think he needs to stop. haha
As for Xie Xiang played by Bai Lu, her character was interesting. It was funny to watch her run back and forth as herself and as her "brother." I like that she somehow reminds me of Mulan, she may be weaker than the other military comrades, however she has the speed to knock you out! There was even a mission she managed to handle all on her own! BRAVE and STRONG woman! I like that she's able to fight back with men and not be your typical weak, timid, female lead.
She's not the only girl who showcased how strong she is. :)
The cinematography is beautiful. I don't usually like this era because of the war talk gets boring but I love the clothes, the old, rustic buildings, the cars and even the home decor! Although there were some scenes I notice were filmed with a green screen which was a bit disappointing. haha I guess its to be expected.
I recommend this drama if you like military hot guys, watch girls whoop ass, and love between friends.
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i'll just state why I really enjoyed it and how its different from other xianxia dramas.
First of all, I tried watching the anime version and never really got through the first few episodes. Not really an anime fan but after this drama I think I'll give it another go.
Back to the topic at hand, one of the reasons why I enjoyed this drama so much is that there's NO ROMANCE between male/female leads. The reason why I like that is cause I seen way too many cliche dramas of boyxgirl romance, PDA, etc. In a way, it can get really boring quick.
Therefore, The Untamed was a refreshing turn of events. No romance, but there's BROMANCE and even if there's no PDA involved. it's all in the emotions and the way the actors treat and look at one another.
Speaking of the actors, Wang Yi Bo and Xiao Zhan did a WONDERFUL job portraying their respective characters. This is one of the rare dramas where I enjoyed and loved all the actors/actresses because they played their part REALLY well. Even the actor who played Meng Yao, although he was irritating, I have to admit his acting was superb!
I love the that the drama display loyalty between the Weiying and Lan Zhan. Also include Wen ning and Jiang Yanli's love, dedication and loyalty for Weiying despite everyone else was against him. Despite whether or not he's wrong, they show us that you have to understand someone before you decide which side you want to be on.
Some of the sword choreography was lackluster, the editors focused too much how good it looks rather than letting us see more of the sword fights. Sometimes I was disappointed in that aspect, however I wouldn't dock points off of that.
The overall cinematography was wonderful as well as the scenery they filmed in were beautiful.
Definitely my no.1 pick for 2019. :)
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A Phenomenal Case By Case Historical Mystery Drama With Amazing Cast!
Coroner's Diary is the dark horse of 2025 Historical Mystery cdrama! But WARNING: It has GORE, LOT'S OF BLOOD, AND CORPSES. Don't watch it if you are squeamish.Honestly, it has everything you'd want in a historical drama, or at least for me. There was no dark holes in acting, the cases were very intriguing as the episodes went by. The story line and how it ties up at the end was quite satisfy and it really resonates with what the main leads believe in.
I have definitely seen both Ao Rui Peng and LI Land Di's dramas before. I must say Ao Rui Peng has been rising on my list of favorite "new" actors to look forward to.
Ao Rui Peng plays the Prince Rui aka Yan Chi. He is the young Marshal of the Shuoxi Army, and known to have one of the best martial arts in the army. Yan Chi is a protective, loyal, and extremely help green flag of a man. He cares about justice and the people around him! ARP gave the martial arts choreography immense justice, every move he made was extremely fun and satisfying to watch! His acting is also amazing! I loved his expression, the subtle and micro expressions - this is always a A+ actor in my book! Although in the beginning I feel like when looks at Li Landi aka Wan Er, he would give her like big puppy eyes look, but it also cause he has big round eyes. Eventually that would go away and I wasn't noticing it as much. lol Overall, his acting is great! I especially loved the part when he did the execution of a certain character, you could feel the anger emanating from him, the power when he swings his sword around. It was a chef's kiss moment!
Li Landi plays the female lead, Qin Wan/Shen Wan. She is a very intelligent, observant, caring, and compassionate female lead. Although she wanted to find justice forher father, she knew she had to rise up the ranks through skills alone. She is probably the female lead with the most job: detective, doctor, and coroner! With all these skills, she helped Yan Chi solve multiple cases, and she the vital character in solving the main case at the end of the drama. She does not let antagonists step on her, and will fight back if needed. However, she is quite forgiving, and seriously she should've thrown that one character for always being a b*tch. lol I've always been a fan of Li Landi, she is a very natural actress, so there's really nothing bad to say about it. I think I've seen many of her dramas that I cannot pinpoint which scene was very powerful in this drama as she's pretty embodies the power with her words alone.
Notoable mentions would be the Emperor played by Ren Zhong. I initially thought Ren Zhong was not a good actor because you can tell somethign was off about him the moment appeared. It felt like he was fake "acting" when it reality there is something much more sinister about his character. Eventually his true colors showed, and the plot twist of this drama surprised me. I don't think I ever heard of twin Emperors in any cdrama that I have watched and I have watched a TON. It makes the story quite unique aside from dissecting corpses.
Shen Yu Jie plays Princess Yongning - I was waiting for the moment when she betrays Wan Er but nope, she's a girls' girl, best friends for life! She always have Wan Er's back and will protect her to the best of her abilities, second to Yan Chi. I love her loyalty to Wan Er! Her acting was very natural as well! She's definitely one of my fav characters of the drama
The production team behind Coroner's Diary also need a round of applause because I was very surprised by the way they filmed and edit certain scenes. For example, the transition between three characters while a fourth character was being executed- It gave me GOOSE BUMPS! I just loved the way they edit that part. The point of views when it comes to certain scenes that need the power dynamic was very, very nice to watch as well. The corpse and organs looked quite realistic adding to the the goriness of this drama. It's definitely not for the faint of heart!
Would I recommend this drama? Definitely yes, if you can handle gore.
If you enjoy watching historical, mystery, intelligent characters, martial arts, closely knit circle of friends and family then this is definitely a drama for you!
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