I FINALLY UNDERSTAND THE HYPE
If you're considering watching this at all, DO IT!As someone that had never watched a Chinese drama before, I had no idea what to expect when starting The Untamed. I have had it recommended to me countless times but always put it off because of the length of the series. Finally, I figured I should go ahead and give it a shot - and I immediately fell in love with it. This is one of the best series I have EVER seen, and I don't say that lightly.
There's no way I could ever give a proper summary of this show without spoiling some major plot points, but this story explores the world of cultivators, where warring clans bring about questions of honor, loyalty, and trust. Wei Wuxian is our main character and is wonderful to follow not because he is without faults, but because he has many. Throughout the (admittedly, messy) timeline of this show, the viewer watches Wei Wuxian face hardships that make him question time and time again if he is doing the right thing. After you watch him promise to "live with no regrets", you see it constantly become more difficult for him to do so.
There is nothing better than a show that properly delivers a complicated protagonist that makes the viewer question if they agree with their actions. This is done exceptionally well in this show. Additionally, I found that the political issues between clans were very interesting and engaging, bringing up complex topics where you can see both sides. This adds to the complexity of Wuxian's character extremely well. Wuxian is constantly battling between maintaining order by doing what everyone wants him to, and diverging from the status quo to do what he thinks should be done - and this gets him in a lot of trouble. Plus, the relationship between Wuxian and Lan Zhan is just wonderful; I know a lot of people weren't happy that this isn't explicitly queer, but believe me, it may as well be. I was worried that because this is a much longer show than I'm used to that it would get boring and repetitive, but it never did. Each story arc connected to the next perfectly, and continued to build until the very last episode. The only issue I could see people having with this one is the time jumps, which as long as you're paying attention, I don't think are too bad. Same with the names of the characters, as many of them have multiple names. As long as you can get through that, this show is absolutely wonderful. It's beautifully emotional, visually engaging, and will have you staying up late to watch another episode. Deserves no less than a 10/10.
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it's phenomenal ?
a perfect screenplay, a perfect cast and brilliant music and the cute silly bts moments...once you watch it, there's no going back. you are forever a part of this world called The Untamed. life is never the same. Both Wang YiBo as HanGuang Jun and Xiao Zhan as The YiLing LaoTzu have done a brilliant job, and so has Wang Zhuo Cheng, Xue Yang and everyone else. and the OST is so good!!! I have the entire OST on my most played list. no matter what, once you watch this, you will keep coming back for it.
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My House Didn’t Burn Down
Started watching this when I was evacuated for a wildfire threatening my home and it was so epic I almost forgot about my house potentially burning down while watching it in a borderline deranged state at three in the morning. Preferred rewatching it without the 500+ AQI and hell-colored skies though.10/10, The Untamed invented love.
Would recommend watching when fleeing a wildfire!
I wish there was a prop rating because holy shit I would dock it a point for the dog puppet that shows up, I felt like I suddenly was watching Wei Wuxian doing community theatre when it was on screen.
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This drama was a masterpiece. They didin't stray too much from the novel whitch I like, and most importantly they made it as close to a BL as possible in my opinion. It just didn't feel like a bromance whitch I adore...every time Lan Zhan looked at Wei Ying you could feel the love he has for him and whenever something bad happened to WY you were right there beside LZ feeling everything he feels. This is the first time in a long while that I could feel so much emotion from a character. So i think it suffces to say that the acting was superb. All the actors did such an amazing job, especially the two leads. The music was fenomenal, not one bad song. I really reccomend this drama to everyone, you just can't not like it.
P.S. For the ones who want WY and LZ being all lovey dovey you should read the novel, it's completed and the extra chapers are basically WY and LZ in the honeymoon phase.
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What a shame
As someone who read the novel back when it started, I honestly don't understand why so many people like this adaptation.I've more or less only zapped through the last 20 or so episodes, I simply couldn't stand it anymore.
Even looking at it from a pure watcher's point of view, it is a pretty bad series.
1. It's horribly cheap.
Be it the costumes, wigs, props, or CGI, I've seen web mini-series from unknown studios with a higher value, even projects from students tend to be of a higher quality.
Every high jump is basically in slow-motion, accompanied by wind sounds while their robes and hair are more or less still, fights are the same but with added wooshing and awkward choreography that looks like children imitating the martial arts movie they just watched.
2. Bad acting.
Most of the actors wobble between passable and downright horrendous, exaggerated facial expressions, no emotions convoyed via eyes, they pretty much look like what they are – actors instead of the characters they should be.
3. Characterisation is way off.
I'm genuinely sad that the adaptation was made in China, the novel has some of the most interesting characters I've come across but thanks to censorship laws, they turned all of them into uninspired stereotypes.
The bad acting does the rest, at some points it reminded me of the hilariously bad Kung-Fu movies from the 60s and 70s, with their caricature characterisation that makes you wonder if everyone is somewhat mentally handicapped.
4. No balance, no nuances.
The bad guys are overpowered beyond what's believable, and they are evil for evilness sake, just like the good guys can do no wrong and are good from the bottom of their heart.
It's a favourite trope in China, winning against the ultimate evil, far more powerful than everyone else, but the good guys still manage to defeat it after many hardships, doesn't matter if it's reasonable or not.
5. Filler.
So many unnecessary filler. “The Untamed Special Edition” already proved that 30 whole episodes could have been cut out without any losses – and it shows.
I've seen both variants, the special edition at least held my interest somewhat while the series was so boring that I played games while watching some of it, otherwise I would have fallen asleep.
They failed to adequately show high-tension moments, partially because of the low-quality props, partially because of bad direction and acting, I laughed several times due to how silly it looked but not even once have I felt on edge.
All of this is from a viewer's perspective, if I factor in the source material, I would have to give it negative points.
It's an insult to call this “adaptation” when nothing from the novel was preserved, be it the story or characterisation, if you give them different names and show it to me I would have never believed that it's supposed to be MDZS.
At least for me, it's one of the least enjoyable series I watched in my 30 years of consuming Asian movies/series, and as an “adaptation”, it makes me feel sorry for Mo Xiang Tong Xiu - she deserved much better.
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This is one of the best dramas I have watched in a while, not in while but it's definitely going in my top3. I actually waited till it finished airing cause I like binge watching more than waiting every week, which is a torture
Firstly, I wasn't into it in the first two episodes, but the cast got my attention specially xiao zhan.
Then the moment I reached episode 6-7, something changed and I found myself totally and completely into it. I finished the drama in three and half days. Watching 12-14 episodes everyday.
The story only keeps getting better and better, there's no filler episodes or drag at any point, it's not slow paced or fast paced.
Secondly, I love the underlying theme... That was constant throughout the whole series. The conflict between moralities, individual and societal, the conflict between conscience.. Individual and collective. How the crowd follows whoever is the leader without having to form their own mind and opinion, and whoever contradicts is termed evil , the selfishness of the so called leaders, looking for a scapegoat to blame. Even though this is fiction, this theme very much applies to the present world.
Thirdly, the characters there's no absolute black and white. I love how they portrait the grey characters.
And my favourite is obviously wei wu xian, who I can't stop thinking about ever since I started watching this.
Fourthly, loved the acting. My only problem, that too just a little, was the person taking the role of wen qing. I haven't read the novel so I don't know how she is supposed to be. But there were times I couldn't feel what she's trying to convey.
Other than that, the acting were pretty fantastic. Xiao zhan and Wang yi bo were so so good. The chemistry between the cast was also really good.
The soundtracks are pretty amazing too.
As for rewatch value, I'm gonna go back and watch it again. And I think that's the only way I can somehow get over it
Overall, amazing drama. I feel so satisfied watching it. I laughed, I cried. I had an emotional roller-coaster ride. There wasn't a moment that I wanted to skip. Applause to the writer and actors.
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THIS IS A MUST WATCH
This drama is really addicting and it makes you wondering what is going to happen next.I can't say much of the story line because of spoilers.
I love how everything is timed perfectly with each scene. Even though I'm not finished I can say this with 100% certainty that I will be able to re-watch this series in the future ♡
The music was played at the right time, and always fit into the mood each time. *.*
And i cant get my eyes from Lan zhao & wei yi ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
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This drama exceeds (almost) all my expectations. Of course, it's not without faults, but they are very trivial compared to all the good things this drama has to offer.
Story-wise, I have heard a lot of people say the beginning was very confusing. Honestly, I had this feeling when I first watched the anime and read the novel, too. It probably sounded weird, but I think this story was supposed to feel a little bit disorienting in the beginning. If you're hesitating because of this, don't worry; everyone I knows eventually understands and gets immersed into the plot by around ep 4. And if you re-watch it, you will notice more and more hidden clues from the beginning, in the little dialogues, settings, and so on. So, I would say the re-watch value for this is above the chart. If you have read the novel, you may be alarmed by the difference in the plot, but I assure you that every change is well thought-out for this adaptation. I can feel the production team's effort to stay true to the original work, and I really appreciate that.
Acting-wise, there are some actors whom I feel exaggerate too much with their acting, e.g. Jiang Cheng, Xue Yang, and Jin Guangyao. They make the scenes feel a bit comical. But this story is set in a fantasy world and there are exaggerated - but very pretty - CGI everywhere anyway. So, I wasn't as disturbed as I expected to be.
The main couple did a SUPERB job. Xiao Zhan is perfect as Wei Wuxian. He portrays the character's growth while keeping the core personality of Wei Wuxian very well. I can sympathize with this version of Wei Wuxian more than I did while reading the novel or watching the anime. Wang Yibo is also perfect as Lan Wangji, which is amazing, because this is one of my favorite fictional character of all time, and I once thought no human could portray him well enough. I was so glad to be proven wrong. In Lan Wangji's quietness, Wang Yibo's gaze speaks multitude. Also, he executes all action scenes very beautifully; It's very satisfying to watch.
Finally, the music in this drama is AMAZING. Music plays an important part in this story, as musical instruments are weapons in this fantasy world. The sound of traditional Chinese instruments is powerful here and suits the story, perfectly. The main theme of the story, Wu Ji, sung by the two main actors, is used repetitively, as it should be because its melody is very beautiful. And I love all character songs, too. Believe me, you will have many new great music to add to your playlist after watching this.
In short, just go and watch this drama; find out for yourself that 50 episodes is not nearly enough for this masterpiece.
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Story - This story mainly focuses on Wei Wu Xian's journey with Lan Zhan as they undergo hardships and tribulations. Story started off slow with flashbacks as it showed the background story with Wei Wu Xian and Lan Zhan as the leads 16 years ago. Character development was great with smooth transitions in between the scenes. I love the relationship between WWX and LZ in this drama as it was not entirely romance but showed hints of romance between them. Side stories were also great given the limited screentime they had. *Show could have started off better as the first 5-6 episodes were pretty boring and unattractive (Started off with a 4.8 douban rating to a 7.6 rating) Very impressive for a Chinese Drama as most Chinese Dramas don't make it past 7.
Acting/Cast - Most people were skeptical about the cast chosen at first as they thought Xiao Zhan and Yi Bo would not fit the "WWX" and "LZ" roles and hence did not keep their hopes up for this drama. But, after watching the drama, you can see they were really tailor-made for this drama. Xiao Zhan fitted the often mischievous WWX while Yi Bo perfectly portrayed LZ - He was a man of silence but his eyes did the talking.. His eyes were glowing and had a million emotions in there. The other supporting actors were relatively new but did a super good job in supporting the 2 main casts. However, there should be more screen-time for some of the support actors as they played a big role in the novel/anime - For example, Wen Ning.
Music - The OSTs were brilliant, they were on another level.. especially the ones that come up whenever there is a cute scene between WWX and LZ. The OSTs were also made specifically for the show and scenes as the lyrics were completely related to the show - Whenever WWX misses his Senior Sister, the lotus pier and A xian music will be there to make the scene feel nostalgic. Also, the flute and LZ's Guqin OSTs were good too.
Rewatch Value - "Is this drama worth a re-watch?" Yes, I will definitely rewatch the drama from a certain point as the 16 years flashback ends at Ep 33 and I would rewatch the epic moments and probably give the first 6 episodes a miss.
Overall - My favourite C drama (Xianxia) so far followed by Eternal Love - Lived up to it's novel popularity. Never once I would watch a full BL drama but this really blew my mind. Wouldn't mind spending money on it's merch as this drama is truly a masterclass.
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Powerful story and characters, Beautiful visuals and music
I have to admit I kept my expectations low for this drama despite its high rating here because, 1. The leads are idol actors, and 2. I'm not really a fan of xianxia dramas. But this blew me out of the water. The story was really intricate and the characters are well-written.Story:
What I liked the most about the story is, obviously, the evolution of Wei Wu Xian's life from being known as a carefree genius, to a black magic craftsman, to a hated person, to a "idgaf does it matter after all" mature character as he took in what he learned in the world.
I also liked that aside from the main story, there are multiple side-stories where the other cast become more than just side-characters. These are the side-stories I like the most:
1. Coffin Town arc (Xue Yang / Xiao Xing Chen / Song Lan / Jing)
2. Wen Qing and Wen Ning
3. Jin Guang Yao's whole storyline starting from the little subtle scenes at the Lan Clan lecture
4. Lan Si Zhui
Characters
I think this is the strongest part of this drama. The characters unleashed the full potential of the story. What I appreciated the most about the characters is, as what Lan Xi Chen said, everyone shouldn't be categorized as simply "black or white", "good or bad"; what matters is the intentions of their actions.
Of course there are evil characters here but we were also shown why they ended up that way, e.g. Xue Yang and someone from the Chang Clan who cut his finger simply because the poor boy was hungry, Jin Guang Yao who had been verbally, physically, and mentally abused because of the circumstances around his birth where he had technically no control over, Wen Qing who seemed evil at first but only cares for her brother more than anything in the world, etc.
Wei Wu Xian's character is undoubtedly my favorite. His maturity improved in what I think are three phases:
1. Jiang Clan's playful young master where he has all the leisure in the world to pursue his moral principles
2. Yiling Patriarch where he had to turn back from everything, including his family and friends, because he wants to stand up for what he think is right + Him holding on to black magic despite everyone's criticism because it is the only thing he can do now
3. Post-reincarnation. You can really see here how he is no longer the young man who plays around and near the end, he even takes on an indifferent viewpoint towards the hate around him because it doesn't matter for him now as long as his conscience is in the right place and he has someone who believes in him.
Lan Wang Ji's development is worth its own show as well. First when he started to support Wei Wu Xian, he still managed to stay within the rules and stay respected by the clans despite his association to "evil". Then post-reincarnation, he just throws everything away to pursue what he thinks is right. Granted I wanted to see more of him without Wei Wu Xian, but his character was a great complement and support that the hero needs.
Acting/Cast
I only know Xiao Zhan from Oh My Emperor where he was swoonworthy but pretty stoic, and Wang Yi Bo as a K-Pop group member so I have pretty low expectations for their acting. But WOW I was proven wrong. Xiao Zhan embodied Wei Wu Xian well. Characters like Wei Wu Xian are so easy to mess up if the actor is bad, because he can simply be acted out as a good guy who can do no wrong. But Xiao Zhan's Wei Wu Xian is so complex and human and we can really see the different facets of his character, both the good and bad. Wang Yi Bo also did wonders to Lan Wang Ji because of his microexpressions. Not on the same level as Xiao Zhan, but really impressive for an idol actor. The other actors are also amazing, my other favorites would be Wen Ning and Jiang Cheng.
Over-all it was a really great experience and I really enjoyed their world.
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You’ve probably read a review beginning like this a 100 times before. And still I have to say it: I have never taken the time to review a single drama, because I’m lazy like that. But I think it’s time to do it for this masterpiece! And sorry for the length, I got carried away.Yes, I have read the novel and yes, I surely do not like adaptations, as they never seem to be able to capture the essence of the canon story. So my hopes were low. If you add up the fact that this is a BL story and it had to be censored, to be able to see the light of the day in China, you would probably be less inclined to watch it. But, hear me out, this drama is worth every of the 2250 minutes of your life! They have captured the overall “look” and feel of the canon story in such a stunning way, that even if they would have discarded the canon story completely, this would have ended being a beautiful drama anyways.
Acting:
Starting from the cast, each one of them was beautiful and fit the characters they played. Most of the cast was young and yet they truly did a great job. I will be honest with you, most of Asian dramas don’t do it for me in the department of acting, as they tend to over-act, but this one was actually really good even for my picky nature. They clearly took the time to understand each character deeply and to portray them in such an accurate manner, that I didn’t know was possible. In certain aspects they even added depth to some characters that we haven’t experienced in the novel, which was heartwarming (such as Wen Qing, Jiang Yanli, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian for example). Even the synchronization didn’t take away any quality, in fact it might have even given the whole drama more sense of uniformity. Oh, and they kept so many of the original dialogs and monologs, that I actually had the novel open to compare all the time!
Set, music etc.:
The landscapes, sets, lighting, compositions, costumes, makeup, sound and choreography were all so gorgeous and well thought through, that those alone are reasons the watch it. Whoever was responsible for the camera work I love you! The way they visualized the mystical aspects of the story were entertaining and appealing (I loved the black fog and the sound that the Stygian Tiger Seal made). The martial art styles fit each character well and yet appeared as though celestial beings were dancing (I’m looking at you Xiao Xingchen and Lan Wangji). And don’t let me start talking about the music. The music will haunt you in your dreams, especially Wuji (you will know what I mean when you see the ending).
Story – incl. comparison to canon:
Lets talk about the story. The novel on its own created such an amazing new fictional world with various types of characters, that it would have been difficult to create a bad adaptation, the film makers would have had to be very lazy to ruin this. So, no surprise here, that they managed to show this divine world and vibrant interactions between colorful characters. Still, I know many do not achieve this and therefore I really want to say thank you to everyone involved who made it possible.
Besides censoring the BL part, they have managed to keep almost every single other aspect of the story. Sometimes they went into such detail, that they caught me off guard and I only managed to close my mouth after several minutes. One could see and feel the love, friendship, family, hardship, envy, revenge, madness, intrigue, strength, political issues, betrayal, hurt, rage, stupidity… And in all honesty it was made in such a way, that even if you want our main heroes to fall in love, you can even see this part in the story. It is up to you, how you interpret their interactions. I know sometimes it sounds like a cheap excuse to says such things, but really it did not feel cheap here at all!
Of course there were other changes to the story (compared to other adaptations very few in my opinion), which were very understandable in fact. Listen, not everything written and seen in our imagination does work well in a live action. It can look weird or unnecessary prolong a story and bore the viewers. So, for example, the fact that they have not chased corpse body parts, but followed a sword spirit had little to no negative effect on the story really. Changing the last fight, actually made it more enjoyable, as the novel repeated some parts too often and was kind of dragging. Changing the temporal sequences was indeed necessary to keep new viewer interested and avoid confusion. Also adding some scenes that were not in the novel, only gave more depth to some characters and made everything more understandable and heart wrenching in the end. And last but not least, yes they cut the steamy parts, but hey we got the chickens! (Yeah my priorities are sometimes weird like that.)
Conclusion:
Looking from a general viewers perspective this was an amazing and entertaining drama.
Looking from a canon fan viewers perspective this was the best adaptation we could have hoped for (within the boundaries there are due to censorship and filmmaking abilities).
Rewatch Value:
I’m gonna start it today, so a big YES!
BTW if you watch the drama with subs, then you should definitely watch the ending on Tencent, as in the WeTV app they have changed a tiny aspect, which can make less of an impact on you (in my opinion).
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Back when I heard the were gonna turn Mo Dao Zu Shi into a drama, I was so worried about the inevitable influence the chinese censure would have on the story. Now, almost a year later and 50 episodes held close to my heart, I just feel so grateful to the entire crew for what they managed to do despite the hardship and obstacles they had to get around.
The cast was amazing, perfect from tip to bottom, the acting so intense I found mysef crying almost as much as I did for the novel. The are differences, yes, of course there are, but I valued each of them so much -both for what they took away from the story and make it gain. What scared me the most ended up being one of the many strength point this adaptation has, because we need to remember than MDZS is not just a BL, not just romance -it's a story where war, friendship, family, hatred, love, forgiveness and betrayal have all an incredibly important role, intertwining with each other in such a powerful way that it's hard not to weep in longing at the end of the voyage.
I feel lucky to be part of this fandom, even more to have watched this drama and come across so many talents -which I'll make sure to follow closely! I enjoyed it so much! So the only thing I can say is, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
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