Akage Girl
Northern New England
I am not sure where to begin. To start, if you like fantasy, love, loyalty, family dynamics, action, suspense, adventure, mythology, megalomaniacs, or psychopath’s, you should watch The Untamed. If you slow paced action, simplistic story lines, or two-dimensional characters, you might want to look elsewhere. The Untamed is a complicated action packed romp of Wuxia that will leave you in tears and begging for more.
STORY: This show is about Wei Wuxian, an orphan who grows up in the Yunmeng Jian Sec as a brother with the sect leader’s children. This is based off of the book Mo Dao Zu Shi and due to censors, some parts of the book are not included but there is no mistaking, the main relationship in the show is between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, the second son in the Gusu Lan sect. What plays out on the screen is so incredibly beautiful and poignant, it is breathtaking. The two spend their time fighting for justice and truth and a clear conscience. The genius of the show is the very first episode starts in the middle of the story of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. When you meet Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Jiang Cheng in the very first scene, it becomes a tantalizing bait to ensure the unsuspecting audience just keeps on watching.
CHARACTERS:
Wei Wuxian is played by Sean Xiao just masterfully. He is just the right amount of playful, intense, loving, and flirty; a perfect foil to Wang Yibo’s version of Lan Wangji. These two just have chemistry in spades and it is probably the most entertaining couple I’ve had the pleasure of watching in a long time. But it doesn’t stop there. I read an article recently that said that Lan Wangji was a bit wooden, but I disagree. He had to be the polar opposite of Wei Wuxan and Wang Yibo did an INCREDIBLE job pulling off such an interesting character. He spoke so much with his eyes, that he must have practiced for weeks to get them just right.
The characters grow exponentially with Wei Wuxian’s two siblings, the loving Yanli (Lulu Xuan) and the combative but family-oriented Jiang Cheng (Marius Wang). There are the Wen siblings of Qing and Ning (Zoey Meng and Paul Yu) and several other family groups of various dysfunctional dynamics. Add a few psychopath bad guys, some weird monsters, a token female or two, and you’ve got yourself a cast that delivers large amounts of fun and excitement for 50 jam packed episodes.
I held off watching this show for almost a year (I prefer binge watching to waiting for things to come out). I’m also not a big fan of playing a favorite, but there is a reason why this was one of the most popular c-dramas in 2019. Truth be told, the only reason I’m not giving it a 10 is because of the lack of well-developed female characters. Outside of that flaw, this show is 100% perfection from the vicious sword fighting to the bunny metaphor (you’ll love it……I promise).
MUSIC:
Within one week of starting this show, I downloaded all of Lin Hai’s soundtrack for The Untamed and the duet sung between Xean Xiao and Wang Yibo. I have not been moved by a soundtrack so much since my last John Williams download. Certainly, this is one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard for any drama. If you like good music, you can always watch the show just for all the awesome flute and zither pieces (and every time you hear the songs, they remind you of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji…..sigh).
RE-WATCH VALUE:
As I write this, I’m on the 3rd time through watching. I’m still addicted. Hopefully, there is a cure and I can move on to finish Eternal Love of Dream soon or anything else for that matter. So re-watch at your own discretion and if you are addicted like me…..well, you can’t say that I didn’t warn you.
OVERALL:
The Untamed is just perfect. Its more than a love story, more than adventure, and more than I can describe in just one review (so I’ll write an article or two later on). I tried to avoid spoilers in this review but if any of you are hesitating the only thing off putting in the show might be the violence (it gets a little bloody in spots and I have to admit there was a few things I didn’t think I’d see on TV like cutting off of tongues and branding). If you have some time and tissues (I cried), then snuggle up and watch The Untamed.
STORY: This show is about Wei Wuxian, an orphan who grows up in the Yunmeng Jian Sec as a brother with the sect leader’s children. This is based off of the book Mo Dao Zu Shi and due to censors, some parts of the book are not included but there is no mistaking, the main relationship in the show is between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, the second son in the Gusu Lan sect. What plays out on the screen is so incredibly beautiful and poignant, it is breathtaking. The two spend their time fighting for justice and truth and a clear conscience. The genius of the show is the very first episode starts in the middle of the story of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. When you meet Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Jiang Cheng in the very first scene, it becomes a tantalizing bait to ensure the unsuspecting audience just keeps on watching.
CHARACTERS:
Wei Wuxian is played by Sean Xiao just masterfully. He is just the right amount of playful, intense, loving, and flirty; a perfect foil to Wang Yibo’s version of Lan Wangji. These two just have chemistry in spades and it is probably the most entertaining couple I’ve had the pleasure of watching in a long time. But it doesn’t stop there. I read an article recently that said that Lan Wangji was a bit wooden, but I disagree. He had to be the polar opposite of Wei Wuxan and Wang Yibo did an INCREDIBLE job pulling off such an interesting character. He spoke so much with his eyes, that he must have practiced for weeks to get them just right.
The characters grow exponentially with Wei Wuxian’s two siblings, the loving Yanli (Lulu Xuan) and the combative but family-oriented Jiang Cheng (Marius Wang). There are the Wen siblings of Qing and Ning (Zoey Meng and Paul Yu) and several other family groups of various dysfunctional dynamics. Add a few psychopath bad guys, some weird monsters, a token female or two, and you’ve got yourself a cast that delivers large amounts of fun and excitement for 50 jam packed episodes.
I held off watching this show for almost a year (I prefer binge watching to waiting for things to come out). I’m also not a big fan of playing a favorite, but there is a reason why this was one of the most popular c-dramas in 2019. Truth be told, the only reason I’m not giving it a 10 is because of the lack of well-developed female characters. Outside of that flaw, this show is 100% perfection from the vicious sword fighting to the bunny metaphor (you’ll love it……I promise).
MUSIC:
Within one week of starting this show, I downloaded all of Lin Hai’s soundtrack for The Untamed and the duet sung between Xean Xiao and Wang Yibo. I have not been moved by a soundtrack so much since my last John Williams download. Certainly, this is one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard for any drama. If you like good music, you can always watch the show just for all the awesome flute and zither pieces (and every time you hear the songs, they remind you of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji…..sigh).
RE-WATCH VALUE:
As I write this, I’m on the 3rd time through watching. I’m still addicted. Hopefully, there is a cure and I can move on to finish Eternal Love of Dream soon or anything else for that matter. So re-watch at your own discretion and if you are addicted like me…..well, you can’t say that I didn’t warn you.
OVERALL:
The Untamed is just perfect. Its more than a love story, more than adventure, and more than I can describe in just one review (so I’ll write an article or two later on). I tried to avoid spoilers in this review but if any of you are hesitating the only thing off putting in the show might be the violence (it gets a little bloody in spots and I have to admit there was a few things I didn’t think I’d see on TV like cutting off of tongues and branding). If you have some time and tissues (I cried), then snuggle up and watch The Untamed.
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