The Untamed (2019)

not for me

I knew this is not for me the moment i saw men flying on their swords, or spewing fire through the fingertips, and stone statues angrily walking around... I think you gotta be a certain age to fully enjoy this fantasy world - wuxia i think they call it.
These being said, i totally understand the hype around this drama: its strongest point is undoubtedly the acting. All actors/ actresses are young and handsome, the plot is there, some inspirational moments happen too...
The special effects are top notch! In fact, the entire production is fantabulous!
Still, my fav dramas have to lie to me more convincingly.

Lire davantage

It's totally a worth watching drama????
The story is engaging and you keep wanting to know what's next. It had so many beautiful messages. All the actors are really good, and portray the characters perfectly.
what to say about the leads, their chemistry was so beautiful, best bromance ever.???? The actors had killed it with their performances ????????
It was the most cherished bonding I have ever watched???? The way their friendship gradually developed from being just 2 opposite poles to relying on each other, taking care of each other, protecting each other, even giving up their reputation & ready to cut ties with the entire world just to stay by each others' side took my heart away ????
Thank you team Chén Qíng Lìng for choosing such a beautiful story and also depicting it so mesmerizingly. Thanks to all crew members whom were behind the scenes, u guys worked really hard to get us such a delightful series .
I have already watched it many times and still like to rewatch it ????
Highly Recommend ????
Love From India

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Yin and Yang

Where there is light, there is dark. Good and evil. Yin and Yang.

This series is really good, though like every other series or movie... definitely not comparable to the books. Took me some time to start this series because I felt that 50 episodes was abit too long.

All the characters did a wonderful job breathing life into this series. The 2 male leads do make an adorable couple together, a real yin and yang. It was really great to see the little parts of intimacy between the 2. They were definitely well casted. If I were to give an absolute wild guess..... Xiao Zhan (Wei Wu Xian) would most likely be the softer side (or one can say the "female side") while Wang YiBo (Lan Zhan) would be the dominant one. =) Even for the evil character, Meng Yao / Jin Guangyao, was casted beautifully. That guy played his role of a double faced evil man awesomely that until now I so hate seeing his twisted smile. If you actually watch carefully, there are more than just the 2 male leads as pairs. The most tragic pair was - in my opinion - Xiao XingChen and Song Lan. But I really love watching all the pairs there is.

The music paired for this entire series is remarkable, beautiful and sad. Depending on the song and the time, it matches so beautifully.

I would recommend watching this, preferably before you read the books. Unless you want to subconsciously end up comparing both the book and the series.

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Life Time Attachment

The Untamed My addiction

I hadn't entered into BL world at that time when it released. I watched it in Corona time. Always I analyze before watching anything. I have read about that ban incident due to fanfiction war. That's why I was hesitating if I should watch this as Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan has stopped interacting . I know I can't control myself from shipping CP couple if I become attached.

But Youtube shorts were appealing me all the time. I couldn't stop myself but binge watched the whole series. 50 episode was not a big deal for me. In case of Untamed, I found myself wanting to watch more episodes. I was crying countless times while watching this series. After that, I have rewatched it several times. The emotion I felt while watching this can't be expressed in words. I became obsessed with YiZhan chemistry. It was really hard to make me understood that we won't see any interaction of YiZhan.
It would be injustice if I hadn't mentioned The OST of this series. Till now, I am constantly listening. Only listening to YiZhan's cover, their single songs of this series, I can feel a pain in deep inside of heart.

Currently rewatching. Couldn't control myself from sharing my feelings....

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--spoilers--

So this is going to be a different kind of review. I'm going to put down all my notes that I wrote around episode 18 at which point I was not into this show at all. It was driving me crazy, so I wrote a bunch of notes down about what I hated. Then I will tell you that I am now completely obsessed with this show and have made my way quickly through the anime and now onto the novel.

---- Written up to ep 18---

I picked this up mainly because it was on Netflix, and because all of the fabulous reviews. It is the first Chinese drama I have ever watched ,so I guess bare that in mind, as some of the critique of the show might just be common place among other dramas.

Things I liked:
- The hair
- The costumes (how they stayed immaculate while wading through mud, fighting monsters, swimming in dirty ponds I will never know)
- The music (I'm a sucker for a nice erhu and flute)
- Xiao Zhan's face

Things that were so so:
- The plot: the plot was alright, nothing too special. It was pretty generic fantasy power struggle type stuff. It did have a kind of flavour of the week vibe with different monsters, threats that popped up but that was subservient to the main plot. You also already knew the main "plot twist" that Wei Wu Xian would become evil from the very first scene. One thing that really annoyed me was that they really didn't flesh out the power system in the world. Who was better than who? Why were they better? Did they ever do any training? Could you use the magic always or did it take energy from you? Half the time they would just uselessly use their swords when they could have used any number of other better magics.
I was taken aback that the clans could be defeated by the Wen so easily. Like they are obviously EVIL why didn't they band together, or have a plan, or do anything before they were wiped out. They knew what the Wen were doing the whole time, yet they were so unprepared!!!
Also they really walked everywhere, aren't they rich? Where are their horses? I did see a donkey and one horse. Why do they no all have horses? And they never packed anything except snacks when they went on trips, yet they magically have changes of clothes.
- The pace: this is an interesting one, because while I think the pace of the overall show was fine, it was the pace of scenes that made it slow down. There were some senes with lingering shots that would go between different character reactions for ages even though it could have been done in a couple frames.
- The sets: Some of these were beautiful (lotus, and cloud) but others were not so great (Wen clan place)
- The acting: This was pretty good for the most part. I enjoyed Xiao Zhan's performance the most as it was the most dynamic. His character was also the most interesting by far. Wang Yi Bo was not that good. His face had one expression the majority of the show which was: "I am serious therefore I am going to look annoyed for the majority of the time and stare into the distance". The rest of the characters were pretty good though.

Things that were terrible:
- The sound mix/voice dub: This took the cake for me as thing that really took me out of emersion. I put this down to the fact I never watch Chinese dramas, and it is incredibly jarring to have a voice dub that is not the actor. To me, the voice is half of the acting! But I get it, it's cheaper and makes sense if everyone speaks different dialects. It just means that I can't enjoy Chinese dramas, and that's my burden to bare.
- The fight scenes: wow these were absolutely terrible. I am used to the defying gravity stuff in Chinese fight scenes but this was a whole other kettle of fish. There were scenes where characters were flailing vertically to the ground. THERE WAS SO MUCH USLESS SPINNING. The archery killed me, does not a single person on this production know how to draw back a bow?? Everything was also really slow and the timing was usually off in the choreography. When I watch a "historical drama" I really want my actions scenes to pay off, this did not.
- The FX makeup: I didn't realised we had forgotten how to mix fake blood. guess we will just pour a bunch of food colouring around. Also there was a hilarious part where Wei Wu Xian was burnt but instead of putting the FX makeup on his skin for the wound they put it on top of the clothes??? Most of the wounds/monster makeup was sub par. Contrasting to this, the regular makeup for the actors was quite good.
- The continuity: there was blood on his neck, now it has disappeared. Did he have a shower? Did he heal magically? His leg was broken, but he can walk fine the next day. How??
- the extras: So many times in this show stupid things that extras were doing, I should be rowing the boat but I am barely going to move my paddle. I'm a zombie so I better imitate a windmill with my arms.
- the villains: The motivation of the villains was so unclear. Very generic, we are evil for no specific reason, we want power, blah blah blah. 1 dimensional.
- The CGI: Mostly terrible, especially the monsters. Though I was a fan of the smoke effects and of course they nailed the hair CG (why you need to CGI the hair I don't know, but I appreciated)
- The war strategy: So, I know this was a BL novel so I guess it's not focused on war strategy. However, I think there could have been at least some incorporated into the show. The whole plot was one clan takes over another's territory and kills everyone then the other clans get annoyed and take back control of the territory and kills everyone. There are never any guards at the gate, they always seem to be taken unawares even thought they always should know they are in danger of being attacked, and they have no over all strategy except lets go from one to another territories and take them over. With so much of the show being about this I think it really could have been fleshed out, especially with the 50 ep run time.



----FINAL REVEIW-----

I have to take back most of what I wrote above because as the story started to take over in force, all my gripes disappeared and I was completely absorbed. It's not to say that the problems weren't still there, it was that they didn't matter because I NEEDED to find out what happened in this story. Wei Wu Xian is such a great character and I needed for him to be vindicated. Everything that confused and annoyed me about the plot in the beginning made sense and was tied back in nicely.

The end was a bit of a disappointment with the extreme amount of lead up, but even that couldn't ruin my rapture with this show.

This is a must watch for anyone who likes supernatural historical dramas. LOVED IT.

Lire davantage

Here for a rewatch...

I finally rewatched this masterpiece again, and let me tell you, it holds up! Even knowing the story, it's still super engaging.

This time around, I picked up on even more of the unspoken feelings between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. Seriously, their stares are just really next-level. Plus, all the little clues about what's coming make the sad parts hit even harder.

But this isn't just all about romance though. The world-building in this drama is just really well-done. The whole magic system, the backstabbing politics, and the cool creatures – it's all fantastic. This rewatch made me appreciate the other characters more too, like Jiang Cheng's inner turmoil and Lan Xichen's unwavering support.

The music is still incredible, perfectly setting the mood for every scene (especially Wuji 😭). And the visuals? Stunning! The landscapes are breathtaking, the fight choreography is awesome (especially Wei Wuxian's slow-motion entrances!), and the costumes are on point.

Okay, maybe there are a few parts that drag a bit, and the special effects aren't always top-notch. But those are minor details. The Untamed is a drama that stays with you long after you finish. It's about love, loss, defying expectations, and the strength of friendship. Basically, if you're looking for a great show to revisit, The Untamed is a solid choice. Just have some tissues handy – you might just cry again (like me!).

Lire davantage

Damn I rarely watch 50 eps kinda drama but this is def worth the watch, I haven’t read the novel nor watch the anime yet since it’s both ongoing, but reading threads and some spoilers, this drama is mostly similar to the novel n anime perhaps just some extra scenes, and I think they did a super good adaption of this whole series. Though the visual makeup eg the zombies and stuff and do better, but the characters acting are very good. The FEELS MAN. Even though it’s not Shounen Ai or Yao I but “bromance” you can feel the feels between the mc and ml and it’s perfect!!!

Lire davantage

First of all let's clapped for the live action~~
They can air this despite the tight new rules Chinese censorship....

Story:
You cant expect the same essence as the novel because not only they are gore but the homosexual content strictly banned. The epic battle that I wish to see between Nie MingJue vs Wen Ning they just pass it. Well they 80% follow the novel, in my opinion.

Acting:
For the first 10 episode they cant entice me, the main leads acting not consistent and the chemistry none but when it come to 11 until the end they build it up but somehow they still cant do a detail acting in some scenes. Luckily the teacher who play Jin Guanyao aka A-Yao portray him perfectly his mannerism, face details. He could bring almost all of us despise him and the actor who portray my baby Huaisang too. Good Job Guys

Music and Costume:
I love all the bgm and ost when I see the anime, flute music to summon dark energy still eerie. The ost sang by most of the main cast. The costume are okay it just what the H with the headband~~~

PS: I just realize the main bad guys in here Xue Yang and A-Yao so beautiful. Both have full eyebrows and long and pretty eyelashes plus their eyes too beautiful, damn~~ As a women I feel threaten teacher Zhu Zanjin and Wang Haoxuan beautiful face could ruin a kingdom, kkkkkk

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I love it, the whole planet loved it, the universe love it.

I can’t think of the last time I saw a C-drama with such a strong story. Like yes, characters, OST and vfx can be found everywhere, but story? That is very hard to find. I promise you I was never bored once, though I skipped most parts with Jiang Cheng (I could not handle that egoistic mess, my PTSD was triggered, spare me some slack).
To all watching this is not a bromance, this is a censored BL. And guess what even though this has a infuriating open ending, and nothing more than a few hints of romance, the leads have more chemistry in one glance than many dramas in whole episode. And just so I can add Lan Zhan is so cute. Like such a kind an innocent soul. The time he gave Wei Ying chickens or the time he gave him the lotus seeds, I had to stop and go outside because I had a cuteness overload.

Definitely gonna read the novel. Definitely gonna watch the special. And you should too. No regrets!

Lire davantage

Non esiste drama più bello!

Qua lo dico e non lo nego, mai visto niente di più bello, emozionante e potente. È la storia più meravigliosa che io abbia mai visto, mi ha fatto piangere come una fontana. È stato anche alla bravura e la capacitá di Xiao Zhan è Wang Yibo che me ne sono innamorata, hanno dato vita a due personaggi meravigliosi. Sono arrivata al 50esimo episodio pensando “non può finire questa storia, ho bisogno di altri episodi”. Per quanto mi riguarda migliore storia d’amore di tutti i drama mai visti, il cast eccezionale, la colonna sonora è uno spettacolo come anche tutte le canzoni che circolando questo drama. Lo consiglio a tutti!!

Lire davantage

This story was really epic ....

I got to know about this story when i was searching for some good BL in Chinese so it was suggested on top of the list with highest rating so i got a little curious as to what is in this series for it to get the highest rating... From there on i was hooked....like really hooked usually when i feel that the plot is going a bit too slow or it's getting boring i skip through some parts but when i started watching the untamed i couldn't bring myself to skip a single part of it...it was as if i was enchanted by the story also by the beautiful characters that had so efficiently played their respective roles... I was really memorized... The series went from showing how Wei Ying got his soul back after 16 years... The story went on and showed how Wei Wuxian was misunderstood by everyone during the fight at Nevernight... How lan zhan had broken rules for Wei Wuxian, how he trusted him when everyone was standing againg Wei Wuxian... Lan Zhan was the only one who Wei Wuxian trusted the most, they both went through so much together... The most adorable part was how Lan zhan has to to put up with Wei Wuxian who would always follow him, while Lan zhan was known for his calm and charming personality, Wei Wuxian was totally opposite of him, he was playful and known for breaking rules through the way both developed an unbreakable bond... Also Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yan Li's relationship with Wei Wuxian was so beautifully displayed even though they weren't related by blood they were close to eachother. Also Lan zhan raised Si Zhui and made him an excellent cultivator... The most important scene and one of my most favourite story is between Wen Ning, how their relationship developed from Wei Wuxian saving Wen Ning and how Wen Ning dedicated his everything to Wei Wuxian... Their friendship was pure... Ever emotions was felt throughout the series....

I really would suggest you all to watch it... it's really mind-blowing...

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