Kotori
Singapore
This review may contain spoilers
Do not look further: if you are still wondering which drama to watch. This is the one.
Story/plot: ★★★★★
I just love the story. I have been always a fan of BL but I do have not seen any proper adaption into a drama.
This is the first one and it has settled a bar for any great BL drama (or should I say bromance) to come. I really hope more great BL novels and mangas get this kind of level of adaptions so these masterpieces can be seen by more. That being said, this piece is certainly not a pure bromance drama but the description of the two life stories of Wei Wu Xian (WWX), his struggles in life and battle against the general crowd by sticking to his believes and values. Throughout the journey WWX experiences extreme sorrow and challenges that helped him to grow. I am absolutely fascinated by the character development WWX is going through in the drama. It made me reading the original novel and listening to the audio drama which made me fall in love with the original story Mo Dao Zhu Shi. And I am just grateful that the adaption stuck mostly to the source materials, one of the main reasons why the drama is so well done.
The reason why I did not give a 10 is because of some plot holes the drama was not able to adapt too well from the novel: e.g. the whole pre-story around collecting the Ying metal pieces is just super confusing and not necessary; why would the sword soul of Nie Ming Jue be caught in the left arms of people? Also the end scene; while indeed it is very beautiful it totally speaks against the character of Lan Wang Ji (LWJ). This scene is inserted to create the reunite scenes which I feel was a bit artificial. One adaption I also really did not like was that the both Jin Zi Xuan’s death and Bu Ye Tian’s death were blamed to Jin Guan Yao and which again looked artificial to me. The best in Mao Dao Zhu Shi’s WWX is that he is human. He was blinded by revenge and was controlled by the dark spirit of Ying Huo Fu. That partially to his downfall and death, out of which he learned after his “rebirth”. But by then introducing these plot changes it showed an inconsistent picture, that at the end it was not WWX’s fault but he is just perfect?
Though the drama has created some of the most favorite scenes in the drama such as the goodbye scene in the rain, the snow scene in Yun Sheng Bu Chi Chu or the reveal scenes to Jiang Cheng in Yun Meng.
Acting: ★★★★☆
If I just judge the drama just based on the two lead characters Xiao Zhan and Wang Yi Bo I would give it a 10 (even a 100 if there is). Xiao Zhan has done an amazing job portraying WWX as if he jumped out of the book. I have since then been in love with Xiao Zhan. His smile is just magic and makes you smile too.
Also, Wang Yi Bo has done a terrific job by portraying LWJ though the emotions he is allowed to show are limited he is still able to reveal his feeling through small facial movements, gestures, and vocal changes. Something that the book does not really describe as it is purely written form the angle of WWX. Both actors are fairly young and have no proper acting schooling. Despite playing lead roles in very harsh conditions, this is excellent performance and surprising to many. And besides, they are both damned good looking... just perfect for a BL adaption!
However, the reason why I deducted the two points is because of the supporting characters. While some of them performed great (e.g. Zhu Zan Jin playing Jin Guang Yao, Paul Yu playing Wen Ning and oh I just love the amazing job of Zhang Jing Tong playing San Niang Zi, mother of Jiang Cheng) other actors and actresses are rather only ok. One can see that their actions are still at an early stage and many need more training. A big pity I find was the triangle side story of Xiao Xing Cheng, Song Lan, and Xuan Yang. It is one of the best well-written side stories of all time. The complex deep feeling hidden inside the characters did not come out well from the acting.
Music: ★★★★★
The drama has one of my favorite OSTs. I have been listening to the songs (both instrumental and the character songs) over and over. And the combination of Chinese flute and Gu Zheng is just really beautiful and perfect enforcement to highlight the drama’s high and low moments.
Camera work & post-production: ★★★☆☆
This is, unfortunately, the only part that needs quite a bit of improvement. While I agree that some scenes are beautifully shot (e.g. those I mentioned above) and most fighting scenes are quite nicely performed, many key scenes are quite disappointing:
The fight at Bu Ye Tian is just full of chaos - one cannot see who is who and not even the faces of the lead characters.
The evil spirits and zombies are just a laugh... one could have made those a bit more real (they could have referred to Korean dramas such as Hotel del Luna or Master Sun to learn how to make those real but not turn into horror movie characters.) In the end, we want to display demonic cultivation and living death and not a Halloween party. So what’s up with these grey smokes? And the mop in the water?
Throughout the whole drama, the lighting is often dull and grayish, making the characters look a bit sick.
And the worst part is the CG. They were just in some areas a bit too cheap and badly done.
I understood that the drama really did not have much of budget - so these areas must have been where they saved money. But I cannot stop thinking how much better this drama would have become if some more work is out on the camera and post-production.
Summary: ★★★★★
Despite some shortcomings, all in all, I can only recommend anyone, whether new or veteran into dramas, BL or non-BL fans to watch this. It is indeed the best drama of 2019. It is the first drama I have completely rewatched, after the audio drama and the novel (and I have watched many dramas!). I believe also you will fall into the magic of Untamed/Mo Dao Zhu Shi as much as I do.
I just love the story. I have been always a fan of BL but I do have not seen any proper adaption into a drama.
This is the first one and it has settled a bar for any great BL drama (or should I say bromance) to come. I really hope more great BL novels and mangas get this kind of level of adaptions so these masterpieces can be seen by more. That being said, this piece is certainly not a pure bromance drama but the description of the two life stories of Wei Wu Xian (WWX), his struggles in life and battle against the general crowd by sticking to his believes and values. Throughout the journey WWX experiences extreme sorrow and challenges that helped him to grow. I am absolutely fascinated by the character development WWX is going through in the drama. It made me reading the original novel and listening to the audio drama which made me fall in love with the original story Mo Dao Zhu Shi. And I am just grateful that the adaption stuck mostly to the source materials, one of the main reasons why the drama is so well done.
The reason why I did not give a 10 is because of some plot holes the drama was not able to adapt too well from the novel: e.g. the whole pre-story around collecting the Ying metal pieces is just super confusing and not necessary; why would the sword soul of Nie Ming Jue be caught in the left arms of people? Also the end scene; while indeed it is very beautiful it totally speaks against the character of Lan Wang Ji (LWJ). This scene is inserted to create the reunite scenes which I feel was a bit artificial. One adaption I also really did not like was that the both Jin Zi Xuan’s death and Bu Ye Tian’s death were blamed to Jin Guan Yao and which again looked artificial to me. The best in Mao Dao Zhu Shi’s WWX is that he is human. He was blinded by revenge and was controlled by the dark spirit of Ying Huo Fu. That partially to his downfall and death, out of which he learned after his “rebirth”. But by then introducing these plot changes it showed an inconsistent picture, that at the end it was not WWX’s fault but he is just perfect?
Though the drama has created some of the most favorite scenes in the drama such as the goodbye scene in the rain, the snow scene in Yun Sheng Bu Chi Chu or the reveal scenes to Jiang Cheng in Yun Meng.
Acting: ★★★★☆
If I just judge the drama just based on the two lead characters Xiao Zhan and Wang Yi Bo I would give it a 10 (even a 100 if there is). Xiao Zhan has done an amazing job portraying WWX as if he jumped out of the book. I have since then been in love with Xiao Zhan. His smile is just magic and makes you smile too.
Also, Wang Yi Bo has done a terrific job by portraying LWJ though the emotions he is allowed to show are limited he is still able to reveal his feeling through small facial movements, gestures, and vocal changes. Something that the book does not really describe as it is purely written form the angle of WWX. Both actors are fairly young and have no proper acting schooling. Despite playing lead roles in very harsh conditions, this is excellent performance and surprising to many. And besides, they are both damned good looking... just perfect for a BL adaption!
However, the reason why I deducted the two points is because of the supporting characters. While some of them performed great (e.g. Zhu Zan Jin playing Jin Guang Yao, Paul Yu playing Wen Ning and oh I just love the amazing job of Zhang Jing Tong playing San Niang Zi, mother of Jiang Cheng) other actors and actresses are rather only ok. One can see that their actions are still at an early stage and many need more training. A big pity I find was the triangle side story of Xiao Xing Cheng, Song Lan, and Xuan Yang. It is one of the best well-written side stories of all time. The complex deep feeling hidden inside the characters did not come out well from the acting.
Music: ★★★★★
The drama has one of my favorite OSTs. I have been listening to the songs (both instrumental and the character songs) over and over. And the combination of Chinese flute and Gu Zheng is just really beautiful and perfect enforcement to highlight the drama’s high and low moments.
Camera work & post-production: ★★★☆☆
This is, unfortunately, the only part that needs quite a bit of improvement. While I agree that some scenes are beautifully shot (e.g. those I mentioned above) and most fighting scenes are quite nicely performed, many key scenes are quite disappointing:
The fight at Bu Ye Tian is just full of chaos - one cannot see who is who and not even the faces of the lead characters.
The evil spirits and zombies are just a laugh... one could have made those a bit more real (they could have referred to Korean dramas such as Hotel del Luna or Master Sun to learn how to make those real but not turn into horror movie characters.) In the end, we want to display demonic cultivation and living death and not a Halloween party. So what’s up with these grey smokes? And the mop in the water?
Throughout the whole drama, the lighting is often dull and grayish, making the characters look a bit sick.
And the worst part is the CG. They were just in some areas a bit too cheap and badly done.
I understood that the drama really did not have much of budget - so these areas must have been where they saved money. But I cannot stop thinking how much better this drama would have become if some more work is out on the camera and post-production.
Summary: ★★★★★
Despite some shortcomings, all in all, I can only recommend anyone, whether new or veteran into dramas, BL or non-BL fans to watch this. It is indeed the best drama of 2019. It is the first drama I have completely rewatched, after the audio drama and the novel (and I have watched many dramas!). I believe also you will fall into the magic of Untamed/Mo Dao Zhu Shi as much as I do.
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