The Untamed (2019)

Amazing

It has been awhile since I last watched anything in the Xianxia genre (I was crazy about it back in my teenage years), but I decided to watch The Untamed during the lockdown in early 2020 (I'm in the process of moving my reviews to MDL). Though I wasn’t familiar with the original material, I quickly looked it up because to be honest, I got confused and overwhelmed by so many things going on and so many characters appearing all at once in the first couple of episodes. Once I got that sorted and we got into the long flashback, I was basically hooked on the series before I even got into episode 5. The Untamed is complicated, massive, hilarious, as well as sweet and tear jerking at times, not to mention I’m so in love with their costumes, swords, sets, the beautiful scenery, and the music.

I also have massive appreciation for this series for the clever way they adapted to stay true to the original materials, while still adhering to the strict Chinese censorship regulations.

I love this drama, however, there are some really glaring issues that stood out for me, some of them are pretty much what happens in c-dramas in general though, such as the audio, I understand that c-dramas are dubbed, but I do find it bothersome when a big scene sounds "empty", things like footsteps don't match (they have the same sound for footsteps on concrete and footsteps on wooden floor for example), etc. Slow mo shots are also jaggy, which indicates that they didn't shoot it on a higher frame rate and just slow it down in post. Then there is the jumping the 180 line back and forth, which is very jarring and doesn't make a lot of sense. The other thing that I didn't quite like also was the treatment of the female characters, I get that it's what happened in the novel, but still, most of the female characters were killed off. In saying that, this is one of the best historical c-dramas I've watched in a long time, so I'm still quite happy for having watched it.

This series definitely re-ignited my love for the Xianxia genre. If you’re looking for intense dramas, complex storylines, beautiful costumes, and strong bonds, I’d definitely recommend this series. Also, aside from the original novel, there is also the manhua, donghua (the artwork for this is insane!!), audio drama, the 20 episode special edition, as well as 2 spin off movies to date (I love them too btw).

I know a lot of people have re-watched this so many times, but I'm really not someone who like to re-watch stuff, I couldn't even finish watching the special edition, because it was basically re-watching the drama to me.

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Technically not a BL, but still romantic

The Untamed is a compelling story about clan rivalry and intrigue, friendships and maybe a little bit more than friendships.

Lanzhan and Wuxian have a wonderful chemistry in the show. The Untamed is not a BL because of censorship laws in China. However, there are plenty of scenes that hint at a romantic relationship between the two so I’ve compiled a list of all the times where I thought there was something more here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/01/21/all-the-romantic-scenes-in-the-untamed-although-its-technically-not-a-bl/

What I like most about The Untamed is that it delves into the psyche of key characters and devotes great attention to their background stories. Especially the villains, who were very well-constructed. The audience not only connects with these characters, but is able to relate to their pain, regardless of the evil they have done.

In fact, Untamed makes the point that there are no truly evil people in this universe. Just people who have made poor choices because they thought these choices would make them happier people, only for it to result in their eventual ruin.

Read my full review here (mild spoilers): https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/01/21/the-untamed-2019/

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One milion stars for this drama !

I wish I could place this drama in the first place in all the existing charts. I wish Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo could win all the awards, marry each other and live happily ever after :). I am kidding now, but I'm also serious... I just love this drama and the cast. I am so in love that I can't get over it. I am watching and rewatching the drama and WangXian moments, on every media channel on the earth. I made a Weibo account for them, a WeTV subscription and I am think I am also learning chinese :). This drama is a masterpiece, a truly work of art, there was no even a second of boredom and I was hooked from the beginning till the end. The chemistry between the leads was so special, like a burning flame! I love them, Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo were just perfects in their roles, perfects togheter, too perfects for this world ... In the end, the best words for me: "I'm sorry. Thank you." #theuntamed forever

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A Slightly Flawed Must-Watch

I will say, The Untamed is an extremely beautiful and well-written series. I am not normally the type to watch long series, but this series has a deep plot and characterisation that keeps you entertained and curious throughout the episodes. That, I will give them.
Most, if not all, characters are memorable and they all have their own beginnings and endings throughout the series. The background and costume design is absolutely stunning, and you can see how much time and work went into creating this series. Some complain about the CGI used, but I have personally seen far worse.
My only gripe with this series are various plot points + cultural aspects of the series that I personally disagree with. These may be minor to most, but I still feel the need to mention them, as they brought down the score for me.

First, the censorship of several queer relationships which were present in the source material.
Second, almost all major female characters die. These include: Wen Qing, Jiang Yanli, Yu Ziyuan, Qin Su, and Ah Qing. On top of that, aren't Wen Qing and Jiang Yanli cultivators? We only get to see Wen Qing do something badass, while Jiang Yanli dies in the most "women in refrigerators" way possible.
Third, and I admit I'm being petty here, but the Yi City Arc felt somewhat out of place. By this point, we know Xue Yang, but have most likely already forgotten who Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan are. Their story felt weirdly rushed ad slightly unsatisfying by the end.
Fourth, also petty, Meng Yao is absolutely demonised for killing his father. It is absolutely horrible how he orchestrated the murders of so many people, but the series seems to put most of the weight on the patricide. Personally, I feel that Meng Yao was completely justified in murdering his father.

I felt that I needed to provide reasons as to why my score was lower than perfect. This series is really good, and definitely worth watching, but has some minor flaws I felt dragged my score down.

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The Untamed é um lar.

Lar é onde ou quando ou com quem a gente se sente confortável e até minhas lágrimas me deixam confortável com esse bl. Quando eu li MDZS, tive medo de que o live action não fosse me agradar, já tinha um conhecimento dos atores e ganhei um apego tremendo ao Xiao Zhan e ao Marius (Jiang Cheng) durante as gravações. Posso dizer que amo TUDO em The Untamed. é aconchegante de assistir, apesar dos pesares. Sem dúvidas meu personagem favorito é o Jiang Cheng e eu o defendo com unhas e dentes, poderia passar uma tarde aqui falando sobre como ele não é um vilão, ele é um jovem que perdeu tudo de uma vez aos 17 anos e de repente se viu sozinho, reerguendo um dos maiores clãs da história e tendo que lutar contra outros cultivadores que queriam roubar o seu clã acreditando que ele não era capaz, de repente ele se vê como um adulto 13/16 anos depois, com tudo voltando, mas ainda assim com uma mesma essência. Minha maior lástima é lembrar que em qualquer versão desta história, minha amada YanLi é morta e isso me dói ao ponto de me deixar doente. Meus irmãos Jiang, Ying, Cheng e YanLi, meus alicerces. Eu assistiria TU pelo resto da minha vida tranquila, sabendo que desde o seu lançamento em 2019, eu assisto pelo menos 3 ou 4 vezes ao ano esta série magnífica e nunca me canso. Não só assisto como faço meus colegas conhecerem a história também.

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THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL STORY

I love this drama so much..I had never watvhed a cdrama before this but wow..its so amazing. theyre relationship is just so genuine and natural. the music is SO HELLA GOOD. ah i just love it. Ive seen some people complain about the fact that even though its a BL story theres no actuall like romance or even a hug, but i think that actually adds to the amazing thing with this drama, it manages to show their feelings for one another and all the love through everything else and that gives it a whole other feeling than just oh theyblove eachother, now kissss XD Amazing drama 10/10 will absolutely watch again

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Even though some of the storyline deviated from the novel, it is still one of the well done novel adapted drama that I've ever watched. The story is as strong as in the novel, even the changed plot is still in accordance with the context of the original. The acting is not perfect but it still carried out the characters as I imagined them when I read the novel. The actors and actresses are a blessing and the voice actors are simply magnificent. The music, oh the music. It's like, even if all of my expectations failed I'd probably watched this for the music alone (and the actors. Xiao Zhan's visual as Wei Wuxian is captivating) . Overall, this drama is a must watch whether you are a novel fan or not. and don't worry about the bl part if you're not really into it. They're removing that aspect of the novel in the drama. The novel fans also don't need to be discouraged either, it's still thoroughly enjoyable because the actors of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's chemistry is top notch. Their bond is still palpable and obvious without being too intrusive. Their non romance relationship in the drama is sweeter actually as I am not really a fan of the sex scenes in the novel. Their relationship intended for the drama flows more smoothly with the changed plot. It's really sweet and nice. Must watch.

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Will i think i started my review when we tv app accidentally passed on my wall. I never have interest on downloading apps but app apps catches my attention so i tried downloading it. When i open it,of couse i saw picture of different drama series and but what really interest me was the picture of this two cute people of the drama series The Untamed. Since i love fantasy movie or drama series so it was my top priority to watch.. at first it doesnt interest me but as i go on watching i felt im hooked to it and love it and gives me reason to watched it again and again and again.. sooo many times..Why i love this drama series its because of the story of each cast.. actually all the cast are all good. In short the story of The Untamed changes my life perspective. Specially to the mean lead cast Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan. .. This drama series inspires me so much.. Hope there is still part 2 on this. Happy anniversary the Untamed. And i would to extend my congratulations to all the people behind the success of this drama from the crew to the directors and to the cast.. you all guys deserve a big big applouse..

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I have a very low attention span. Here are my thoughts.

The issue with me and dramas is that I usually lose interest after a few episodes. When I heard of The Untamed, I was hesitant. I heard it was based on a really good BL novel (though the BL elements are only hinted for the sake of censorship in the drama), and I was interested, but the hesitance was still there because it was 50 EPISODES LONG. But I gave it a try. A few episodes in, I was waiting for the slope: the moment I'd put it on hold or drop it because of my low attention span. Ten episodes in, it never came.

The story is what made me stay. It's such a refreshing take on historical drama. The plot is unlike anything I've read/watched/heard of before. It gets a bit rocky because of a flashback portion that takes up majority of the episodes, but even so, I was hooked. Episode after episode, I watched, eager to learn more. The characters were complex, interesting, and entertaining. The bond between Wuxian and Wangji was amazing. I cared for a lot of them, I cried for a lot of them, I screamed at some of them, I felt my blood boil at some of them. That's when you know it's good. Some dramas nowadays, you could care less about some characters. But this drama gave its characters so much depth that I really ended up caring for everyone, even some of the "villains".

The acting is superb. Everyone delivered some amazing performances. I have not, admittedly, read the novel/read the comic/watched the anime, but I have a strong feeling that the main cast is simply perfect. They really did their roles well. The music was good. Although not too noticeable in some parts, when it comes to the front, it definitely does it job well. The production value is high: the costumes are amazing, the stunts are very well done (though the flying does make me laugh sometimes), and some CGI moments were a hit or miss, but they mostly hit the right or decent spot. I wouldn't put the rewatch value as too high. You do get attached to the characters with the length of the story, but I don't think I'll be rewatching. There's so much detail that I don't think I would need to revisit this any time soon.

Overall, an amazing drama. This experience has even pushed me to go ahead and read the novel! For those hesitating, give it 5 or 6 episodes. Try it out. It's good :)

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At the beggining I must say two things:
The first thing is this: I apologize for my bad English, I’m not a national speaker.
The second thing: I really didn’t expect The Untamed will be so amazing. I entered to the story line with zero expectations and I left the story with tears on my cheeks and absolutely amazed.

The story line takes place in the historical China, and to make things worse, there is a pinch of fantasy. And this is true you must get used to on fantasy in this kind of Asian drama. But if you do it, you will love it. I swear. This historical drama is different from the other dramas, it isn’t klasical story line from kingdom, where main topics are fights for throne and unwanted marriages, The Untamed describes place which is more harsh. That’s why this is more interesting. Combination with fantasy is even better! (Yah, I love it.)

Characters and perfomances of actors are the most important point in this drama. This will enthuse you. Especially Xiao Zhan and Wang Yi Bo. I really admire them, they acted in wonderful way, and what is really surprising, is fact both are from Asian music groups. Yi Bo is a member of UNIQ, this isn’t so much surprising, many members are popular because of their acting. For Xiao Zhan, I didn‘t know his group X NINE and also I didn’t know him.

I don't understand this fact, they both are from groups and they both are singers and they both… act so well. Historical dramas are one of the hardest for acting, mainly because of expressions and evolutions of characters. But still their amazing acting was really unexpected. It was perfect and… really wonderful. I bow. And I know I will bow for long time because this is phenomenal.

Also I have a note for LGBT relationship between them which is so gentle and nice. In my opinion their relationship isn’t the main point of this drama, but it is really great and it is so magical bonus for full story line.

The main part of their relationship is primarily strong friendship with each other (which is perfect), there is only a little bit of romance (which looks beautiful and this is the thing I really love). But still I am surprised Asian companies allowed them to acting something in this genre, it’s not habit. That’s a reason why this is a fresh change for drama world. Asian dramas don’t often focuse on LGBT relationships (yeah, exceptions exist and I know many of them, I know, but it isn’t so popular... but this is only my humble opinion). I’m really glad for that they weren't afraid to add LGBT relationship (okay, clearly – they weren’t afraid made a live action for Mo Dao Zu Shi novel). They added it to this drama and it was really fresh and normal. This nonchalance is one of my reasons why I am so happy for this serial. Relationships and orientations are all normal, different sexual orientations aren’t something weird. It’s perfect, thank you for that.

How I said before, this part of drama was so cool. It was subtle, gentle, not exaggerated. That’s why I don’t want to watch anime adaptation. But I want to read a novel because I want to know the first story. What should I say more? It is perfection to watching their friendship with a pinch of romance.

When I will not count Lan Zhan and Wei, I must admit I really admire two another characters.
The first of them is Wen Ning, wonderful character, who maybe I will admire for a long time. The second character is Sizhui, he is so much nice.

But back to Wei and Lan Zhan again. In my opinion, Wei is a great person who manages to sacrifice himself for everyone in every situation. And his character which fights with evil... yah, that is very, very good. I love these types of characters in books or dramas. Lan Zhan is similar to Wei, he has so many life principles in his head. They both of them have experienced a lot and it’s wonderful watching it.

Every moment of this drama is amazing, there isn’t anything what was bad or awful. I really recommend it, maybe I discovered my new nostalgic thing in my life. I have same opinion like my opinion on Yona of the Dawn, so it… really will be my favorite thing.

Camera work is also absolutely great, good job!

Only thing I can say is this: This drama have a so long past story line. And although it’s really good for depicting characters and their past, I wanted to get back to present because I really wanted to know what will happen. But that’s everything. The past was really nice, but also too long. However, it can be forgiven.

The actors are great, really great, their characters in real life are so amazing and I admire them a lot. I have a depression because of this. Thank you so much for this drama!

"I’m not afraid of death. I just don’t want to die." – Wei

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I've regretted snobbing this drama for so long.

TO THE PERSON WHO IS WONDERING WHETHER THEY SHOULD WATCH THIS, PLEASE DO!

It was such a shame. I've been seeing this drama before it was launched and I didn't even sneak peeked into it. For a year? Why? Because yes, I love Wang Yibo as an idol, but I have a prejudice into idol-actors. Also, I'm not so much into BL even though I have long been a cdrama fan, and even a long-time cnovel reader.

But damn, it feels so good to be proven wrong. First, the story was so damn good. The adventure is what really made this stand. The plot is truly complex that it will really run through your head like they are real people. The BL elements felt like so embedded in the story that you crave for more. It's not just an embellishment, and not even an issue. That actually, I've fallen into this hellhole of BL romance now. Truly, took me to a whole new world.

First, let's talk about Xiao Zhan. I've watched OME and I know he's brilliant, but I didn't became so obsessed to his character until he became Wei Wuxian. It felt like I actually feel the feeling of a producers after seeing XZ and realizing, damn boy this is the WWX we've been looking for. He is so amazing that it saddened me to know the controversies (that he has no fault of) after this. But I completely understand the fame. Because in this drama, you will fall for WWX first before falling deeper for LWJ.

Wang Yibo. Oh my god. All his microexpressions are on point. That even though he just moves maybe 10% of his facial muscles, you can actually feel his love. His concern. His passion. He really exudes the Lan Wangji vibe.

What's amazing in this drama is the rewatchability. Because of the intricate plot, it will be a different experience in every rewatch. You will focus on the levels of truth and the witholding of facts. The story is so great that spoilers didn't matter. It was about understanding why there are levels of truth in this story.

Every plant was paid off in a completely right pace. And you're just actually waiting for them to know and understand everything.

Soundtrack. Wuji has devastated me viscerally. Everytime I hear about it, I just want to cry.

Now, I'm so sorry for being late. CQL has celebrated its 1st anniversary just as I've concluded watching it, and I really regret not knowing CQL earlier. But I'm glad that now I finally watched this.

And upon seeing the earlier reviews, I know it will take a long time for me to get over this. God knows I don't want to get over this.

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