The Untamed (2019)

Going into this as someone who has finished reading the novel and finished watching the first season of the anime adaptation, I was very nervous for the live-action adaptation. I wanted the drama to stay true to the novel (as much as it could with the threat of governmental censoring) as well as showcasing something fresh and unique to this adaption.

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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First off, this drama is a masterpiece. Adapted from the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi AKA Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, this drama is identical to it's novel and anime adaptation except for a few romance and steamy scenes due to China's tight censorship problem.

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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That's write, I'm so grateful I barely have the words left to explain why.

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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OUTSTANDING IN EVERY CATEGORY!!

Back in 2020, I watched The Untamed for the first time, it was great and interesting as a fan of both leads. But I missed a lot of the storyline because of the length ( I fast-forwarded it ). After some months, I kept seeing about the edits, plot-twists, and major spoilers, I was surprised, How did I miss those important facts?? I re-watched the drama for a few times and tried to understand that it was a MASTERPIECE. Not just a popular bromance drama but much more than that, the reality behind the fake masks of people, sibling bonds, friendships, brotherhood, and the judgemental society.

This was the first ever drama I rewatched, and it was absolutely worth it. The connections between plot to plot, the excitement of the thrilling journey, and the innocent-looking but actually the villains with the deepest secrets and darkest part. The acting was excellent, the storyline was impressive and the OSTs are masterpieces by themselves. And of course, I did enjoy the bromance between leads, and the portrayal of their tragic story was impressive.

Overall this drama is one of the very rare dramas without any cringe moments, useless characters or nonsense plot twist. Everything was perfectly amazing and will be in my heart forever :D

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True Masterpiece u can't get enough of

The untamed is a story which has captivated my heart. It points out that the line between good and evil is very thin. That is one's own conscience. Wei wuxian and Lan Zhan both saw the noble clans murdering innocents during the day and claiming righteousness at night. This led to the rigid, restrained Lan Zhan question his judgements and so called righteousness...."Are there rules set for all the things in the world? If so how to judge right or wrong?" In order to stand by Wei wuxian who had adhered to the evil practices to protect the innocent, lan wanji didn't even flinch once and gave up his reputation as a noble cultivator. Wei wuxian had once said " Who cares about the crowded broad Avenue? I will stick to my single log bridge till dark". Indeed Lan wanji stood by him till the very end. Most important aspect of the untamed is the story and the acting. The story involving xiao xincheng and xue yang was also heart breaking. It's been a while since I've watched something like this. I have watched it 10 times already still can't get enough of it. Because every time u watch u get the subtle details that makes up the heart of the untamed. I love it ❤️

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Chiński Władca Pierścieni

Majstersztyk. Pierwsze trzy odcinki raczej nie pociągają w odbiorze, ale potem trudno się oderwać. Do ostatniego odcinka film zaskakuje fabularnie. Cudowna kreacja postaci i wątków. Uniwersalne wartości humanistyczne. Egzystencjalny i wyważony w emocjach, logiczny. Gra aktorska na wysokim poziomie. Dbałość o detale. Trudny do klasyfikacji gatunkowej (co uważam za plus): przygodowy, fantasy, detektywistyczny, obyczajowy z elementami horroru, psychologiczny, z wątkiem romantycznym w tle. Tworzy niezwykłe uniwersum. Szczególnie postać głównego bohatera zbudowana przepięknie, pozostali jednak nie nikną w cieniu, są wyraziści, kradną serca widzów. Z chińskich produkcji po 2017, które obejrzałam, najlepszy, moim zdaniem (osoby z branży).

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I literally procrastinated this drama for a year then finally prepared my mind and gathered my courage to watch this drama as I had already watch a lot of spoilers and (I really can't see 站 哥哥 in pain ) Knowing that he is going to suffer a lot I had already prepared myself for the worst ending but at the end of the day the ending was better than I thought though I didn't find some answers to my questions (doubts) I guess I'll understand it if I re-watch the drama again. Overall even if it had no proper romance the story line and plot were so good that I didn't fell the absence of it and the way they flirt always bring a smile to my face. Hope to see the same cast together again soon.

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As close as one can get from a novel adaptation.

Preamble:
The best thing to come out of this series is the soundtrack, 意难平, 恨别 and I absolutely adore Bibi Zhou's version of 无羁 which makes me wonder why the demonic flute in the entire series sounded so terrible. Could they have not made a little more effort with that?

Review:
I have to admit, from the novel to the anime, manhua and TV series, the best would obviously have to be the book (even so, I only gave that a 4/5), the worst being the anime. The anime was lacking in emotions, some characters in the anime are completely unlikable, i.e.: Jiang Cheng. In the novel itself, Jiang Cheng was not irritating, he was always envious and had an inferiority complex, but he remained loyal and loved his siblings. He only turned on Wei Ying after the loss of his sister. The TV series makes up for this somewhat because Marius Wang is pleasant to look at, and he does not come across as too much of a prick (not to mention, I love his song). On the flipside, Wang Yibo comes across as too much of a one-dimensional type of actor. It would be nicer to see instances of a glimpse of a smile or something (like in the book), whereas, all we see is a semi-constipated face. He gets credit for one tiny smile towards the very end of the series. Meng Ziyi also plays a larger role in the TV series than Wen Qing actually does in the book. This is good for several reasons, there's too much cock and balls in this series, and I am so extremely glad they picked a decent looking female for the role, I would not have survived 50 hours of visual torture.

Now to delve into this series, on the surface, the acting quality, music and even the cast is rather strong. I have some issues with it but I would still advise people to watch it because it is easy to overlook some of the minor flaws. The reason for the high score is not because they were all exceptionally talented actors, it is because I saw a marked improvement for quite a few of the actors if we compared the beginning and end of the series. That's some unprecedented progress.

One of the main issues I have with this show is the portrayal of Wei Ying as being somewhat of a 'saint' or hero. This is the total opposite of the book (the real reason this was a standout xianxia book!), whereby the characters were less 'black and white'. Wei Ying was never framed by anyone, there are no true villains in the book, they were all unfortunate circumstances and bad timing. To clarify, Wei Ying did kill Jin ZiXuan out of anger and he did lose control. He also lost control at the end whereby he dies from the backlash when he destroyed half of the amulet (not due to Jiang Cheng). It is rather accurate to say that Wei Ying suffers from a hero complex (as pointed out by Jiang Cheng) and delusions of grandeur, believing wholeheartedly that he was capable of controlling demonic powers when no one in the past has ever succeeded, ultimately succumbing to it. To make it worse, seeing as Wei Ying did give up his golden core, he had a reason to use demonic cultivation. Au contraire, later when he took over Mo Xuanyu's body, despite the lack of cultivation, he could have practised, cultivated and used his sword. Instead, he chose to continue using other means which shows his lack of remorse and greed for power. What was the real reason as to why he kept the amulet, was it really for protection or for power? What about his refusal to hand it over to other people as well? Perhaps if he did not want to hand it over to Jin sect, it was understandable, but why not to Lan sect and then request for their protection? He could have handed it over to Lan Zhan since he considered him his 'partner'.

Again, this entire theme of moral ambiguity is a bit off in the TV series. Meng Yao is portrayed as more villainous in the TV series. In the book though, he is just ambitious and opportunistic. Although in the TV series, the general audience feels sorry for Xue Yang and Meng Yao, they still come across as villains. One could argue that although Xue Yang took an unorthodox approach for his revenge, he is no different than all the big sects who wanted to exterminate the Wen clan. He is also not wrong, no matter how many lives he kills, it is not the same as his finger because the finger belongs to him. If we extend this to more than a finger, such as a family member, then, the same could be said that no matter how many Wen clan members are killed, it will never return the Jiang sect's family members, so there was no real need to rid Wen Qing's branch. However, Xue Yang is portrayed as evil while the other sect leaders are saints.

Finally, although they did not blatantly kiss or anything, the protagonists had more chemistry in this show than most straight couples. As a result, this is one of the better Chinese TV series I have watched in the past year.

Conclusion:
Great series to watch with some acceptable flaws. Lovely soundtrack. Definitely worth watching if you liked the book, it is way better than the anime (to be fair I am not a fan of anime, I was dragged into it). Nevertheless, there are a lot of details missing which may be confusing for those who have not read the book/manhua. I would recommend reading the book first (in Chinese) before watching, you'll have a greater understanding and appreciation for the storyline.

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A masterpiece

I have watched the anime 'Mo Dao Zu Shi' and the novel 'The cultivation of demonic arts' The untamed was based on. I am so in love with the cast, the plot and the emotions. I've rewatched The untamed twice and even though I knew what was coming in later on episodes it still broke my heart seeing Wei Wuxian fall apart, though me rewatching it was definitely worth the watch as I understood it more than I did when I first watched it.

The acting is really good. The actors did well with their roles and really put in more effort to make the characters emotions hit the viewers. Xiao Zhan did amazingly well with making Wei Wuxian's emotions show. I loved every bit of it. Wang Yibo also did amazingly well especially since Lan Zhan doesn't show his emotions that well, he did a great job with showing them.

Overall I just love it and how they made it.

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