Chloe Kaydee
New Zealand
This review may contain spoilers
A BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE (MUST WATCH)
First, let me just say that you don't even need to read my review to know that you must watch The Untamed! Just trust me, watch three or four episodes and decide if you want to continue (I guarantee that you will). But if you're still unsure, then read my review (or others) and I will try my best to keep this spoiler free for you (: (there's like one paragraph with spoiler so just skip that)
I wanna start my review by saying I'm very picky and critical when it comes to films or shows. I don't give out 10/10's easily. I don't even give out 9/10's easily so it's even harder to get a 10 from me. Only three BLs (yes I'm including this even though it's censored) have ever gotten a 10 from me. Which are: The Untamed, History3 Trapped, and I Told Sunset About You. I've watched all 50 episodes of The Untamed THREE TIMES through. That's how much I love it.
Story: AMAZING. I can only come up with maybe two faults in this entire show and that's 1, the wigs aren't the best but you learn to ignore that, and 2, the graphics/sfx isn't always the best (like that dog/wolf thing lol - if you know, you know). But honestly, those minor things never take away from the magic that is The Untamed. At least not for me, and that's why I didn't deduct from the grade because of these minor flaws. Because other than that, the show as a whole is perfect. The storyline has so much depth and complexity. You find yourself completely invested in the characters and what happens to them that you'll find yourself crying into your pillow multiple times. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Honestly, I went into The Untamed original just wanting to follow LWJ and WWX storyline since I knew it was based off BL source material. It took me a while to get around to watching it since I knew it would be censored and not outright obvious BL, but I eventually decided to just give it a go after hearing constantly how good it is. I'm glad I did because wow, the only way you'll be able to ignore the romance between WWX and LWJ is if you're not very observant to the subtleties.
[SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH and go to the next paragraph if you don't want to read SPOILERS] For example, the show is literally named after them because WU (from Wei Wuxian) JI (from Lan Wangji) roughly translates to The Untamed . Next is their song WUJI which Lan Zhan composed for Wei Ying and named it after their combined/ship name. Another example is them calling each other zhiji (which by the way, this scene replaced the scene in the original source material where they kiss) which has a lot of deep meaning to it. It would take ages for me to explain so I'll link this blog for you to read if you're really interested https://hunxi-guilai.tumblr.com/post/612161034673946624/all-right-guys-lets-have-a-conversation-about but basically, it's kind of like soulmates. To call someone your zhiji is to say they know you in a way no one does (not even yourself) and the meaning of 'knowing' here is apparently a big deal. Like, back in that time, it was better and more meaningful than to simply love someone because 'love' back then wasn't what it means today. A zhiji type relationship is one worth dying for. It can be platonic or romantic, but if you pair it up with all the other 'subtle' things in the series then it's obviously romantic. And WWX even says that it's more than enough to have one zhiji in his lifetime. Don't even get me started on how the only person Lan Zhan lets touch his sacred headband is Wei Ying when only his "spouse, parents, or children" are allowed to touch it. Or him basically proposing using two healthy chickens when he's drunk. Or how the morning after getting drunk, he was scared he may have let it slip that he LIKED him. Or Lan Zhan getting jealous over Wei Ying saving Mian Mian. Or the gay porn book Wei Ying pranked him with. Or all the freaking bunny references (the rabbit God in China is the God of homosexuality) like when there's a shot of two bunnies 'kissing'. Or after Wei Ying's resurrection, how Lan Zhan literally breaks all of his clan rules for him out of fear of not making the most of their time together - or that he was still wearing mourning robes after 16 years lol or that he brought up Ah Yuan for him when Wei Ying was like a father figure to him before ugh we love a happy family. OH and Xiao Zhan (Wei Ying) was calling Lan Zhan a "trash bf" for not standing by him etc, and the directors and cast talked about their love and yeah. ANYWAY.
Acting/Cast: PERFECT. Seriously. All the acting was great, by the physical actors and the voice actors. You could barely tell it was dubbed which *claps* well done to the voice actors, really. All the actors really fit their roles well and executed them perfectly. Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan will forever have my heart.
Music: BEAUTIFUL. I could write so much about the music in this series, and how freaking well they use it to impact the scenes significantly and beautifully, but I don't want to write an entire novel in this review. However, I have all the songs on my playlist, I love them that much. Especially WUJI. It can make me cry just listening to it, no kidding. Plus, every time you hear it in a scene (and the different versions), you instantly know it's a LWJ & WWX scene.
Rewatch Value: INCREDIBLE. I could rewatch this for the rest of my life and I'm not really someone who rewatches shows or movies unless it's been ages. But I love this so much that I could never get sick of it.
Overall: PHENOMENAL. All I have left to say is that you should give it a go because I highly recommend you do!
I wanna start my review by saying I'm very picky and critical when it comes to films or shows. I don't give out 10/10's easily. I don't even give out 9/10's easily so it's even harder to get a 10 from me. Only three BLs (yes I'm including this even though it's censored) have ever gotten a 10 from me. Which are: The Untamed, History3 Trapped, and I Told Sunset About You. I've watched all 50 episodes of The Untamed THREE TIMES through. That's how much I love it.
Story: AMAZING. I can only come up with maybe two faults in this entire show and that's 1, the wigs aren't the best but you learn to ignore that, and 2, the graphics/sfx isn't always the best (like that dog/wolf thing lol - if you know, you know). But honestly, those minor things never take away from the magic that is The Untamed. At least not for me, and that's why I didn't deduct from the grade because of these minor flaws. Because other than that, the show as a whole is perfect. The storyline has so much depth and complexity. You find yourself completely invested in the characters and what happens to them that you'll find yourself crying into your pillow multiple times. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Honestly, I went into The Untamed original just wanting to follow LWJ and WWX storyline since I knew it was based off BL source material. It took me a while to get around to watching it since I knew it would be censored and not outright obvious BL, but I eventually decided to just give it a go after hearing constantly how good it is. I'm glad I did because wow, the only way you'll be able to ignore the romance between WWX and LWJ is if you're not very observant to the subtleties.
[SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH and go to the next paragraph if you don't want to read SPOILERS] For example, the show is literally named after them because WU (from Wei Wuxian) JI (from Lan Wangji) roughly translates to The Untamed . Next is their song WUJI which Lan Zhan composed for Wei Ying and named it after their combined/ship name. Another example is them calling each other zhiji (which by the way, this scene replaced the scene in the original source material where they kiss) which has a lot of deep meaning to it. It would take ages for me to explain so I'll link this blog for you to read if you're really interested https://hunxi-guilai.tumblr.com/post/612161034673946624/all-right-guys-lets-have-a-conversation-about but basically, it's kind of like soulmates. To call someone your zhiji is to say they know you in a way no one does (not even yourself) and the meaning of 'knowing' here is apparently a big deal. Like, back in that time, it was better and more meaningful than to simply love someone because 'love' back then wasn't what it means today. A zhiji type relationship is one worth dying for. It can be platonic or romantic, but if you pair it up with all the other 'subtle' things in the series then it's obviously romantic. And WWX even says that it's more than enough to have one zhiji in his lifetime. Don't even get me started on how the only person Lan Zhan lets touch his sacred headband is Wei Ying when only his "spouse, parents, or children" are allowed to touch it. Or him basically proposing using two healthy chickens when he's drunk. Or how the morning after getting drunk, he was scared he may have let it slip that he LIKED him. Or Lan Zhan getting jealous over Wei Ying saving Mian Mian. Or the gay porn book Wei Ying pranked him with. Or all the freaking bunny references (the rabbit God in China is the God of homosexuality) like when there's a shot of two bunnies 'kissing'. Or after Wei Ying's resurrection, how Lan Zhan literally breaks all of his clan rules for him out of fear of not making the most of their time together - or that he was still wearing mourning robes after 16 years lol or that he brought up Ah Yuan for him when Wei Ying was like a father figure to him before ugh we love a happy family. OH and Xiao Zhan (Wei Ying) was calling Lan Zhan a "trash bf" for not standing by him etc, and the directors and cast talked about their love and yeah. ANYWAY.
Acting/Cast: PERFECT. Seriously. All the acting was great, by the physical actors and the voice actors. You could barely tell it was dubbed which *claps* well done to the voice actors, really. All the actors really fit their roles well and executed them perfectly. Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan will forever have my heart.
Music: BEAUTIFUL. I could write so much about the music in this series, and how freaking well they use it to impact the scenes significantly and beautifully, but I don't want to write an entire novel in this review. However, I have all the songs on my playlist, I love them that much. Especially WUJI. It can make me cry just listening to it, no kidding. Plus, every time you hear it in a scene (and the different versions), you instantly know it's a LWJ & WWX scene.
Rewatch Value: INCREDIBLE. I could rewatch this for the rest of my life and I'm not really someone who rewatches shows or movies unless it's been ages. But I love this so much that I could never get sick of it.
Overall: PHENOMENAL. All I have left to say is that you should give it a go because I highly recommend you do!
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