Excelled because of WY AND XZ
I’ve been wanting to watch this drama for the longest time, but I was honestly scared to start because of the hype. The hype around The Untamed is absolutely insane, so I really wanted to understand what everyone was talking about. After finally watching it… I have very mixed feelings. It is an incredible drama and I genuinely enjoyed it, but I also had a lot of problems with it.Let me start with the main issue for me: the production. I’m watching it eight years after it aired, and you can definitely feel that. The cinematography and the overall production quality felt outdated to me, and at times it even looked a bit lazy. If I had watched it back in 2019, maybe I would’ve felt differently, but watching it now in 2025, I constantly felt like the production kept pulling me out of the story.
The fighting scenes weren’t great — you could see the choreography too clearly. And the zombies… I could not take them seriously. The makeup was just not it, and it made it so hard for me to feel anything during those scenes.
Costumes, though, were really nice. Especially WWX — everything about his look was perfect: hair, styling, overall vibe. As for Lan Zhan, Wang Yibo already has a long face and the forehead ornament just made it look even longer. It wasn’t my favorite look on him, but he still served, so I let it slide.
I also think the hype worked against me. It was overwhelming. I feel like a huge part of why people are obsessed with this show comes from those who already read the novel and were attached to the characters long before watching the drama. Because I didn’t read the novel, it took me a long time to get attached. I don’t think I truly “got” the hype until I was more than 20 episodes in — which is a long time to wait.
Another personal thing: I’m not the biggest fan of purely platonic relationships — they don’t usually work for me — even though the chemistry was definitely there. So that was a small minus for me too.
As for acting, some performances weren’t strong. Mainly the villains. A lot of the actors were new, and you could feel it. I don’t hate any of them, but some scenes just didn’t land. Also, none of the villains were surprising or satisfying. I kept waiting for a shocking reveal after hearing everyone talk about it… but only the final reveal did anything for me, and even that was mild.
People always say The Untamed is easy to follow. For me, it was not. It’s full of characters, timelines, narrations, flashbacks — it took effort to stay on track. But surprisingly, the 50-episode length felt perfect. It didn’t feel too long for what it wanted to do.
The story itself is actually very good. The execution is where it struggled a bit.
Once the male leads “clicked,” I really enjoyed every moment between them, whether you see it as bromance or BL or just deep bond — it worked. The brotherhood themes were beautiful, and a lot of the relationships in the show were genuinely touching. The music was also amazing.
And I completely understand why people rewatch it. The first time is confusing because of the plot, but on rewatches you focus more on the emotions and the characters.
Do I think it’s worth watching? Yes.
Do I think it’s overhyped? Not necessarily — I think it was perfectly hyped for 2019. Watching it now in 2025, the excitement isn’t the same, but I can still see why it was a cultural moment.
What I wish (even though it’s impossible because of the drama behind the show) is a newer version — remade with today’s budget, effects, and production quality. The story deserves it, and the leads would shine even more in a better visual environment.
Despite everything, I did enjoy it. It was entertaining, fun, emotional in many moments, and definitely something I’m glad I watched.
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This review may contain spoilers
I’ve seen a lot of wuxia and almost xianxia movies and drama in cdrama world but this one doesn’t contain so much of cringey scenes, not at all, however as a bl fan I can say that’s really appropriate for the scenes and the story since they only took those I can say worthy to be adapted live. Without those explicit romance I still cannot say that they wasn’t not love between the characters because the actors did pretty well in conveying their message with chemistry. I could say that the Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan, just by watching this, do have feelings for one another. If I haven’t read the novel nor watch the animated version, I’d still say the same. Most bl genre shows explicit romance so most bl fans would expect the same but not me, I really praise the writer and the rest behind the scenes who made this live action drama possible, they made it wonderfully and casted perfectly even without proper works prior to this—I’m talking about the supporting roles, particularly Jiang Cheng and Wen Ning’s actors! They totally amazed me. As for the music, it is amazing. It expresses the emotion that they cannot convey directly through conversation so those songs not only brought life but also story behind the character and their actions. Was this review helpful to you?
A MASTERPIECE THAT EVERY ASIAN DRAMA FAN MUST WATCH!
I have watched countless dramas from different genres and from different countries, and I can confidently say that I have never watched a drama as amazing as this. It has been months since I finished the drama and this has become my favorite drama of ALL-TIME. Most people would first doubt if they should watch this because during the production process of this drama, the general public had mixed reviews. Regardless, once the drama came out, the show was well-received despite having no veteran actors join the cast.The plotline was slightly confusing at first, especially to those who have not read the novel or manhua, or watched the donghua, but please do not let this discourage you and give this drama a chance. It gets so much better as the episodes progress, especially on the episodes around 20-35. It has a complicated and unique storyline that will make you never forget about this drama.
The acting exceeded my expectations. I never really had high expectations as the actors were mostly new, but they truly outdid themselves. Not only did the 2 main leads have such amazing chemistry, despite removing the BL element to pass China's censorship, but the supporting actors were just as good. I personally loved Wen Ning's character, Paul Yu really did an amazing job of portraying the character.
The OST was really well done and I love how the actors had a song dedicated to each of their characters. The duet of Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan for the theme song is just pure perfection. I also love how they used a lot of traditional instruments for the OSTs.
I salute the production crew behind this drama for outdoing themselves and creating a masterpiece despite the struggles they had to face during production from investors pulling out and receiving hate from anti-BL people and MDZS readers. I also salute Wang Yibo for keeping a professional mindset and still pushed to play the role of LWJ despite several fans leaving him after hearing that he playing the main role in a BL novel adaptation, I can't imagine anyone else playing the role of LWJ and doing an amazing job as he did. Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo truly deserve the awards and new fans that they gained from this drama.
I sacrificed sleep because I was so into this drama. This drama made me feel all kinds of emotions that no other drama has ever put me through. After finishing the entire drama, I couldn't watch any new dramas for a month and spent all my time watching the special edition of this drama, the live concerts, fan-made videos, interviews, behind-the-scenes, and read the manhua version. I just couldn't let go of all the characters of the drama because I grew so attached to them.
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The Untamed is a masterpiece, the storyline, the acting, the music, the costumes are also really good. However, the CGI, the camera angles, the set, the editing is not so much of a masterpiece. From the very first episode, you can see that the nevernight set looks really cheap. And during the Sunshot campaign when Wen Ruohan uses the Yin Iron to control some cultivators, the costumes look quite unpleasing to the eye. I have no idea if this drama is a low-budget drama or not btw. And also if you watched the donghua, the scene where Wei Ying comes back as a demonic cultivator was so epic. The scene in the drama was um not so epic. The 30+ episode flashback was also kinda unnecessary. I kinda wished they would've shown Wei Ying's past the way they did it in the donghua.
The acting is really good. I mean like RLY GOOD. Wyb manages to portray Lan Zhan so perfectly. In practically every shot, you can see his character's emotion just by looking into his eyes. Xz's portrayal of Wei Ying was omg so good. Especially after Wei Ying switched to demonic cultivation. You could see the drastic change in his personality. Also, I have no idea why but how on earth is Xz so capable of portraying Wei Ying's pain?!
Overall, I recommend this drama BUT only after u watched the donghua.
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Initially confusing but later on too good!
I don't know how people who have been watching Chinese historical dramas feel about this, but as my first Chinese drama, I enjoyed this a lot! Even now after watching so many other historicals, untamed has a special place in my heart. Even rewatched it many times. I watched this before reading the novel btw. and the novel is even more better. I think the cast for Wei wuxian is very well done. Became a wangxian lover for life. Go for it if u love a playful MC who turns dark. Are the supposedly bad people really bad?Was this review helpful to you?
The untamed is a story with charms.
I just finished watching the untamed. Really a nice drama. I have no words to tell. Really soothing and mesmerizing music it has.🎶 🎶🎶 The acting is superb.The plot line is well knitted with a lot of curiosity.The wardrobe and the make up is amazing. The cinematography of the series is excellent with the using of maximum technology nowadays. This is A masterpiece really !! ❤️❤️❤️ Actually I am not in to chinese dramas. But after watching this I really understand why people luv and go crazy after watching this.It is said that this drama was adopted from a chinese novel about #BL #bromance and the director has removed the BL content from the drama as China bans LGBTQ content from television and films. Anyway this is really nice than watching Boy -girl drama.😌However this is really really fascinating drama with charms!!! I was recommended to watch this by one of my friends and I am motivated to watch this drama by reading reviews in the MDL Thank you all for who let me know that such a nice drama is existing !!! !❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I recommend this for all who love wuxia with fantasy and mystery !!!#TheUntamed #WeiWuxian #lanxhan #wuxia #historical #fantasy #romance #brotherhood #friendship #mistery
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Let me just say, if you have read the book before this series came out, you will be at least a little disappointed. Why? Because it will never be how you pictured every character and scene within your own mind. Which is why I do not watch movies or series adapted from a novel I have already read.
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But Yah remember to grab your Tissue, you will be crying like a baby.
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After I finished this, i read MDZS as i rewatched this show and then began the anime and soon i find myself 7 months later, rewatching episodes over and over again
You will not be disappointed!!
I cant stress enough how much this show is amazing and how perfect the chosen actors and actresses fit each character smoothly. Sometimes i wonder "couls it have been better?"
But then i come up with the thought that, "No. It cannot have gotten any more better than this." It is now my top #1 favorite drama.
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MASTERPIECE
soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo goooooooooooooooooood i love the bromance worth it i love the drama i am rewatching it for the 15 time overall i have to say I LOVEEEEEEE ITTTTTTTTTT I SOOO DO RECOMEND IT ONE OF MY FIRST AND BEST DRAMA I CAN'T EVEN FIND A NICE DRAMA AFTER THIS ONCE AGAIN IIIIIIIIIIIIIII LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ITTTTTTTTTT IT IS A MASTERPIECE I AM IN LOVE WITH THE LEADS THEY ARE SOOOOOOOOOOO HANDSOME AND CUTE THE BROMANCE IS EVERYTHING INN THIS DRAMA IT IS IN MY NO 1 LIST SORRY FOR THE OVER REVIEW I JUST CAN'T HELP IT THISS DRAMA IS SO GOOD AND THE ACTING IS JUST SOOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL PLEAASE DOOOOOOOOOOO WATCH IT SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DRAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWas this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I really really enjoy watching series and movies but there is always this prejudice about the East Asian dramas. I came across the series after I read the novel (which I loved sooo much) in which is based. And it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. It was an amazing experience and I will explain why.STORY
I have read the book so I knew the basic story. But it made no deference nor I was bored. It doesn't matter if you know the story or not because the writers and the director made it a whole new experience. These series explore themes like what is wrong and right, if everything is what it seems etc. No one is black nor white, good nor evil but everyone has both sides like in real life. I really loved the explanation of the story when everything was reveled but they didn't show well the main villains reasons. As for the bl theme, I think because China's restrictions they couldn't show it but it wasn't needed something big. There plenty of really nice scences with looks and dialogue that shows the deep relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.
ACTING/CAST
Let's be honest. I cannot imagine anyone better than Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan for the main roles. I think they are almost perfect. Great chemistry, great acting, you feel like they are the characters. I never heard or watched them before, but after the untamed I loved both of them. As for the second roles, almost everyone was really good. Maybe Jiang Cheng's actor and Jiang Yanli's actress sometimes made it a bit awkward (for the second I think it was more the character than the actress' skills.)
MUSIC/SCENERY/SPECIAL EFFECTS
But what I really loved in these series is the music, the scenery and the costumes. They are the real value of the drama. Every scene, every palace, every room it was perfect to the last detail (I loved especially Lotus Pier). The costumes has the difference in details for every sect and character. OK maybe the special effects wasn't really good, but for this needs a lot of time and effort for so many episodes. And of course, the music. I was amazed when I discovered that all the songs with lyrics was sang by the cast. I had wuji on repeat for days.
OVERALL VALUE
These series made me appreciate series with a lot of episodes. I didn't skip even 1 second, not even the titles. I fell in love with this universe and story all over again and became one of my favorite series of all time. If you like Asian historical things and fantasy is the perfect series for you. But I highly recommend them to everyone.
(English is not my first language so I am sorry for any mistakes)
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