This is officially my weekend crack. I loved the first eps, the 3rd just cemented it into place.
I hope it stays this strong up to the end.
I've seen Jo Byung Kyu before, in He Is Psychometric and Arthdal Chronicles, and he impressed but was playing support roles. This one fits him great. The rest of the main cast is awesome too. I want to give them all a hug. And I love the ending song in ep 3, I have to see who's singing it.
Keeping fingers crossed this turns out to be one of the best dramas of the end of the year.
I can't take Yao Ji seriously. She looks like Johnny Depp playing Tonto in that movie, with the strange crow on his head.
Now given this drama lost basically all supernatural elements, was she supposed to be some kind of bird shifter? The emperor was keeping her in a bird cage too. Bludgeon me over the head with it, why not...
I am not happy with the editing in these past two eps, it's all over the place. I can SEE where there were supposed to be more scenes, and the flow is hampered. Damned censorship...
I was kind of expecting an exchange of Rang for Yeon, but earlier - I thought they were gonna have Rang swallow the scale and end up at the bottom of the river forever. But nope.
The last 4-to-6 episodes were pretty uneven. The first half of the drama was much better, but the end run was pretty lame. Rang and the bunch did some damage control, but in the end there was way too much syrupy romance, failed action and uninspiring villain and too stretched out ending. The music was pretty good - and does anyone else have this impression that the BGM playing when they were "reminiscing" over Rang sounded VERY much like one of the main themes of the Gumiho from Gu Family Book? (Root of Evil, mostly the piano version. I love that soundtrack and I still listen to it from time to time. Am I imagining the similarities?...
Faves: Rang, Yu Ri, LDW acting as his fox persona.
Dislikes: the FL's complete mess of an ending plot, the cheesy love story, the totally predictable HEA. (Don't get me wrong, I love a HEA, but they should have worked harder to earn it, IMHO.)
I was thinking that this might push me toward watching Goblin after all, but not yet.
And a final comment - so after all, he IS still a gumiho. Or does the umbrella bestow powers onto him? If he's still a gumiho, then everything he told Ji Ah is basically a lie... Oh well. It was a cool scene to end the drama with, even though it makes no sense, lol.
I had fun watching this, but I won't say it was the best I've ever watched. A shorter, better-paced story might have been more fun :)
Happy Ever After?... Basically all the good guys win, all the bad guys are dead or gone, the foxes are all okay, the romance moves on, Rang gets to be a cool (and living) fox daddy, LOL. That would be my version of HEA for this show.
If the bio on your profile is correct, then you're 14. This is not a drama you should be watching (there's a warning…
I seriously don't see how letting you know there's a 15+ warning on this show (and for good reasons, trust me***) means I'm telling you what to watch or not. I have absolutely no influence on what you choose to follow or not. Don't get so affronted over nothing.
You also don't HAVE to agree with anyone on basically any topic, ever. If I - and other people - find this drama to be good, that's just our opinions, based on our taste and/or life experience. I was trying to tell you that this one will or will not be up to your taste, so it's not a big deal if it turns out NOT to be.
That goes both ways though - you're entitled to your opinion, based on what you like and dislike, and other people are also entitled to their own opinions, based on THEIR likes and dislikes. Please don't take it personally and have a nice day!
*** Gruesome details: this drama includes dead people resurrected in order to fight the living, mutilation, zombie-like characters, suicide trigger warnings, torture (both physical and psychological), incest. It's not up to horror movie levels, but it's not a walk in the park either. That's why there's an age warning. If those things are okay with you, then it's all cool. If not, the producers and the reviewers tried their best to warn you.
If the bio on your profile is correct, then you're 14. This is not a drama you should be watching (there's a warning system on the top left side of the page, where the airing details are posted - for this is drama it's: Content Rating: 15+ - Teens 15 or older.) Please heed that warning.
Not trying to gatekeep or anything, but seriously, there are some gruesome details (even if really watered down from the novel) that are probably age innapropriate (even for teens who like horror stories and whatnot).
Other than that, there are some innuendos and deeper meanings to parts of the story that are also probably better fit for an older audience (that doesn't mean the people who like TU are old foggies either.) For each story there's a right time to watch it, and also a bad one. People who appreciated this drama could relate something in their lives to what's going on, and therefore liked it. Others, obviously, didn't.
What I'm trying to say is simply - this might just not be up to your current (or even future) taste. The rating on MDL (or elsewhere) is based on more than one person's taste, thus the high rating.
I wanted to much to wait for more subs but I couldn't, anymore.
So... was that the most hilarious archery bout or what? I had so much fun with it. That poor booth merchant, lol. It reminded me of MDZSQ's LZ's Birthday episode - with the announcer yelling - Childe Lan hit the tar.... Errr. Childe Wei hit the... Errr.... Childe L....Chil... They all hit the targets! :DDDD
(ep. 9 of MDZS Q, if it doesn't load properly. Thank me later LOL)
BUT. The COOLEST thing so far in the whole series is that moment on the bridge - no music at all, the wind swirling around, and Bo Wang catching the perfume satchet. Loved that, not gonna lie. I think I'll rewatch that scene a few times.
Also, that poor First Prince - he was expedited in one episode only, lol. At times, the cuts are so obvious *sigh*
Love all your descriptions, in particular point #3. Contrary to you, I love that neckless Bo Wang look because…
I didn't consider the Beauty and the Beast angle, hmm, there might be something there (that wasn't there before :D)
So it's aesthetics and tastes after all... but I still love Ji Chong's outfits and so far none of Bo Wang's. I'm still of two minds of what to think (and do) of/with their costume designer.
STILL. I guess we can all agree that Bao Na's over-the-top jewelry is top class, almost on the same level with Tae Al Ha's jewelry in Arthdal Chronicles. (I still got my heart set on that body-chain of TAH's that looked so awesomely pagan. Sadly, I don't have her figure, and it would cost a lot of money anyway, if it were made from gold. Or so I tell myself on lonely nights when the cravings hit lol).
I like those bracelets-with-chains-and-rings Bao Na was wearing when playing at coming to be Bo Wang's bride. They looked somewhat Indian but more complex. Very cute. Those, I could probably afford. I guess. I hope...
To your 4th point - I do agree. The love portion makes no sense to me. I could say they had a great friendship…
I think there's a backstory with those villagers - there were women and kids only, no men that I could see. Maybe he did something that makes him feel guilty and that caused all the men to disappear, so he's trying to atone for it. I love that he's not one-dimensionally gorgeous-for-the-sake-of-it but will probably have a good storyline. I'd be disappointed with just a teensy bit of plot to follow him around. Xiao Zhan deserves more than that.
Though by now, after ep 15, it's clear money is NOT everything to him (as if we couldn't have guessed - I mean, he's the SML, he can't be amoral. Right?)
Which reminds me - so Xing'er might have a crush on Bo Wang because he reminds her of Lang Zhai (for which she has unexplained feelings for, maybe it was an teen hormone crisis or something), but after what he does to her, it's still HER apologizing?! Still HER trying to appease him?!
If electronics prices hadn't exploded this autumn, I would've thrown my laptop as far as I could have. GAH! Good thing there's Ji Chong to patch SOME things up. Still I'm pretty disappointed on Xing'er. I thought she had more backbone than that.
Bo Wang's outfits were so bad. They did Darren so dirty in this show.
I mean, right?? It's so bad. Everybody else has a neckline, so it's not that they didn't know how to do it. But IMHO they tried making him even bulkier, and gave those coats raised or stuffed shoulder pieces, and that made him into Hulk.
If it's true that there was a werewolf storyline that got censored out, maybe that would have made sense. But if we're stuck with humans-only, it doesn't look good at all on him.
Dammit, his three underlings look better than him. *quits in rage*
You do know Zhan is 6ft tall? Asian folks per capita usually aren't. Yibo is 5"11.5 and that head piece made him…
I knew he's 1.83m tall, lol, it's in his wiki bio. I just didn't realize the rest of the TU cast is in a close-enough range. I mean, Marius Wang/Jiang Cheng never seemed to be very much shorter. ((Google tells me he's 1.83m too, lol. It figures. ))
I even knew about the tall hair-piece for LZ so that he seemed a bit taller, and it's obvious Wang Yibo is a little shorter than Xiao Zhan.
But none of the others seemed to be MUCH shorter - not Lan Xichen, not Xue Yang, maybe Nie Huaisang and Meng Yao, but it never seemed to matter lol. Even Xuan Lu (YangLi) didn't seem that much shorter next to him, though obviously she was not in the same range.
In The Wolf, I keep getting spooked by the difference - Ji Chong next to Bo Wang looks down on him, lol, next to Xing'er, looks down on her, next to Second Prince - looks down on him, too. I just love the height difference.
And by now I've seen him next to Bao Na, she looks like a kid playing with her dad, lol.
Must be the costumes, lol.
Edit: re: Shangri-La. So that's where they filmed those scenes. I followed some details on how it was filmed, but I have no reference to where that is, exactly. It looked like alpine scenery, no wonder it's so awesome.
I get altitude headaches, ouch. So no travel plans for me right now, after all... But does it look amazing... I am torn.
By episode 14, these are a few things that should be mentioned:
1. Xiao Zhan is freaking tall. I thought (from spoiling myself to the last few eps) that it was mostly a difference in height between him and the actress playing Bao Na, but he's taller than Wang Dalu, lol. And Li Qin. And basically everybody else in the main cast that I compared him to.
Which begs the question - how tall were the main cast of The Untamed, if he didn't stand out so much, there? Did they pick them by height, lol?
Not that I'm complaining, mind. And if we're there, I have to say I really, really NOTICED those long legs. I've only seen him before in robes, when he's playing in period dramas, and never noticed those legs. He looks awesome, like a long. tall, cool drink of water. I want more.
2. The actress playing Bao Na (Guo Shu Yao) is great at being a brat. That said, she looks really adult, despite the pint size. If you watched those eps, you know what I mean. In comparison, Li Qin seems rather unendowed, lol. I get confused - she looks like a child and then you see the curves and it's kind of strange. I hope she's supposed to be grown adult and only playing at being childish because everybody doted on her. Otherwise, her being a well-developed for her age girl-child would not play well, at least for me. ((Quick add, OMG she's 30 now. I mean. I'm looking in the mirror and I am dispirited. right now.))
3. Whoever made their garderobes should be taken out and shot for what he did to Wang Dalu, then brought back to life and given an award for what he did for Xiao Zhan. Bo Wang looks like he doesn't have a neck, dammit, and all his muscle pack is lost on me because he looks stuffed in his costumes all the time. On the other hand, did I mention those long legs on XZ? Yup. That kind of outfit, I approve.
4. Why the heck does Xing'er love Lang Zhai for, anyway? They supposedly were kids together, but - unless it ended up cut in editing - their relationship was pretty uneven. He was basically a stray kid raised in the wilderness, barely talking, and she was always a noble, meant-for-better-things, princess. They never had a future together. Watching her pine after Lang Zhai years after he supposedly died makes no sense.
Also, I actually LOL-ed when Xing'er and Ji Chong discussed things by the side of that gorgeous mountain lake. She was practically sparkling when talking to him. Poor Bo Wang! :D
5. Which reminds me: those backgrounds... OMG those backgrounds. I want to move there, wherever they filmed (that mountainside in ep 11-12). That lake. Those clouds. That greenery. Tell me the place and I'll look for a ticket there right NOW.
Beautiful cinematography (more so when in nature, but the in-house decors aren't bad either, I suppose. )
6. And finally, I love, love, LOVE, that Head-Eunuch (played by Ma Jie). He is always spot-on, light-voiced, prim and proper. I just love his un-important scenes. I hope he makes it to the end of the series.
As for the rest of it - well, the episodes seem short, which is a good sign. Now, if the translations would be as fast as I can watch them, I'd be in 7th heaven. But I am grateful they're as fast as they are now. Good job, translator teams!
I am not that invested in the main romance, so that's sad, but then it bodes well for the ending. (Because whoever I want to see living, lives, and whoever I don't really get that invested in... well, I don't really-really mind.)
Episode 11. And then it all gets waaaay better, lol.
Yup, while Lang Zhai / Bo Wang gets to be the all broody and self-sacrificing idiot, Ji Chong gets to be the plotty, drop-dead-gorgeous, devil-may-care rogue that we'll all be rooting for.
I guess it's fate *throws up hands in defeat*. We'll have to play along with it :D
In this week's episodes: a Gollum meets Smeagol moment, people walking on toward obvious danger while other people fall down left and right (the "Supernatural" Death entrance look-alike was cool the first time it happened, not so cool any more...), lots of INSANE, and I do mean, obviously insane, PPL, repetitions of undying love, finding-parents-isn't-so-important-anymore etc etc.
I still love the foxes (inclining toward liking Lee Rang a bit more than anyone else, by now, TBH), but I wish they either had more material to make up a good story or had the courage to make a shorter series.
Also, I kind of have this inkling that Rang will take Yeon's place and swallow the dragon's scale for him. And I do NOT want that to happen.
3 
I hope it stays this strong up to the end.
I've seen Jo Byung Kyu before, in He Is Psychometric and Arthdal Chronicles, and he impressed but was playing support roles. This one fits him great. The rest of the main cast is awesome too. I want to give them all a hug. And I love the ending song in ep 3, I have to see who's singing it.
Keeping fingers crossed this turns out to be one of the best dramas of the end of the year.
Also, the only one I recognized was Titanic (I guess that was put in for hopeless people like me LOL).
Now given this drama lost basically all supernatural elements, was she supposed to be some kind of bird shifter? The emperor was keeping her in a bird cage too. Bludgeon me over the head with it, why not...
I am not happy with the editing in these past two eps, it's all over the place. I can SEE where there were supposed to be more scenes, and the flow is hampered. Damned censorship...
The last 4-to-6 episodes were pretty uneven. The first half of the drama was much better, but the end run was pretty lame. Rang and the bunch did some damage control, but in the end there was way too much syrupy romance, failed action and uninspiring villain and too stretched out ending. The music was pretty good - and does anyone else have this impression that the BGM playing when they were "reminiscing" over Rang sounded VERY much like one of the main themes of the Gumiho from Gu Family Book? (Root of Evil, mostly the piano version. I love that soundtrack and I still listen to it from time to time. Am I imagining the similarities?...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atQx2ghiaTg )
Faves: Rang, Yu Ri, LDW acting as his fox persona.
Dislikes: the FL's complete mess of an ending plot, the cheesy love story, the totally predictable HEA. (Don't get me wrong, I love a HEA, but they should have worked harder to earn it, IMHO.)
I was thinking that this might push me toward watching Goblin after all, but not yet.
And a final comment - so after all, he IS still a gumiho. Or does the umbrella bestow powers onto him? If he's still a gumiho, then everything he told Ji Ah is basically a lie... Oh well. It was a cool scene to end the drama with, even though it makes no sense, lol.
I had fun watching this, but I won't say it was the best I've ever watched. A shorter, better-paced story might have been more fun :)
You also don't HAVE to agree with anyone on basically any topic, ever. If I - and other people - find this drama to be good, that's just our opinions, based on our taste and/or life experience. I was trying to tell you that this one will or will not be up to your taste, so it's not a big deal if it turns out NOT to be.
That goes both ways though - you're entitled to your opinion, based on what you like and dislike, and other people are also entitled to their own opinions, based on THEIR likes and dislikes. Please don't take it personally and have a nice day!
*** Gruesome details: this drama includes dead people resurrected in order to fight the living, mutilation, zombie-like characters, suicide trigger warnings, torture (both physical and psychological), incest. It's not up to horror movie levels, but it's not a walk in the park either. That's why there's an age warning. If those things are okay with you, then it's all cool. If not, the producers and the reviewers tried their best to warn you.
I have a feeling this will get a HEA after all, so I'm not too concerned. As long as Rang is okay by the end of it all.
Not trying to gatekeep or anything, but seriously, there are some gruesome details (even if really watered down from the novel) that are probably age innapropriate (even for teens who like horror stories and whatnot).
Other than that, there are some innuendos and deeper meanings to parts of the story that are also probably better fit for an older audience (that doesn't mean the people who like TU are old foggies either.) For each story there's a right time to watch it, and also a bad one. People who appreciated this drama could relate something in their lives to what's going on, and therefore liked it. Others, obviously, didn't.
What I'm trying to say is simply - this might just not be up to your current (or even future) taste. The rating on MDL (or elsewhere) is based on more than one person's taste, thus the high rating.
So... was that the most hilarious archery bout or what? I had so much fun with it. That poor booth merchant, lol. It reminded me of MDZSQ's LZ's Birthday episode - with the announcer yelling - Childe Lan hit the tar.... Errr. Childe Wei hit the... Errr.... Childe L....Chil... They all hit the targets! :DDDD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZQRsVMiwPE&list=PLYxy_x8s3W4N3XfJxK9jJE3-zD5PdyFyN&index=14
(ep. 9 of MDZS Q, if it doesn't load properly. Thank me later LOL)
BUT. The COOLEST thing so far in the whole series is that moment on the bridge - no music at all, the wind swirling around, and Bo Wang catching the perfume satchet. Loved that, not gonna lie. I think I'll rewatch that scene a few times.
Also, that poor First Prince - he was expedited in one episode only, lol. At times, the cuts are so obvious *sigh*
So it's aesthetics and tastes after all... but I still love Ji Chong's outfits and so far none of Bo Wang's. I'm still of two minds of what to think (and do) of/with their costume designer.
STILL. I guess we can all agree that Bao Na's over-the-top jewelry is top class, almost on the same level with Tae Al Ha's jewelry in Arthdal Chronicles. (I still got my heart set on that body-chain of TAH's that looked so awesomely pagan. Sadly, I don't have her figure, and it would cost a lot of money anyway, if it were made from gold. Or so I tell myself on lonely nights when the cravings hit lol).
I like those bracelets-with-chains-and-rings Bao Na was wearing when playing at coming to be Bo Wang's bride. They looked somewhat Indian but more complex. Very cute. Those, I could probably afford. I guess. I hope...
Though by now, after ep 15, it's clear money is NOT everything to him (as if we couldn't have guessed - I mean, he's the SML, he can't be amoral. Right?)
Which reminds me - so Xing'er might have a crush on Bo Wang because he reminds her of Lang Zhai (for which she has unexplained feelings for, maybe it was an teen hormone crisis or something), but after what he does to her, it's still HER apologizing?! Still HER trying to appease him?!
If electronics prices hadn't exploded this autumn, I would've thrown my laptop as far as I could have. GAH! Good thing there's Ji Chong to patch SOME things up. Still I'm pretty disappointed on Xing'er. I thought she had more backbone than that.
If it's true that there was a werewolf storyline that got censored out, maybe that would have made sense. But if we're stuck with humans-only, it doesn't look good at all on him.
Dammit, his three underlings look better than him. *quits in rage*
I even knew about the tall hair-piece for LZ so that he seemed a bit taller, and it's obvious Wang Yibo is a little shorter than Xiao Zhan.
But none of the others seemed to be MUCH shorter - not Lan Xichen, not Xue Yang, maybe Nie Huaisang and Meng Yao, but it never seemed to matter lol. Even Xuan Lu (YangLi) didn't seem that much shorter next to him, though obviously she was not in the same range.
In The Wolf, I keep getting spooked by the difference - Ji Chong next to Bo Wang looks down on him, lol, next to Xing'er, looks down on her, next to Second Prince - looks down on him, too. I just love the height difference.
And by now I've seen him next to Bao Na, she looks like a kid playing with her dad, lol.
Must be the costumes, lol.
Edit: re: Shangri-La. So that's where they filmed those scenes. I followed some details on how it was filmed, but I have no reference to where that is, exactly. It looked like alpine scenery, no wonder it's so awesome.
I get altitude headaches, ouch. So no travel plans for me right now, after all... But does it look amazing... I am torn.
1. Xiao Zhan is freaking tall. I thought (from spoiling myself to the last few eps) that it was mostly a difference in height between him and the actress playing Bao Na, but he's taller than Wang Dalu, lol. And Li Qin. And basically everybody else in the main cast that I compared him to.
Which begs the question - how tall were the main cast of The Untamed, if he didn't stand out so much, there? Did they pick them by height, lol?
Not that I'm complaining, mind. And if we're there, I have to say I really, really NOTICED those long legs. I've only seen him before in robes, when he's playing in period dramas, and never noticed those legs. He looks awesome, like a long. tall, cool drink of water. I want more.
2. The actress playing Bao Na (Guo Shu Yao) is great at being a brat. That said, she looks really adult, despite the pint size. If you watched those eps, you know what I mean. In comparison, Li Qin seems rather unendowed, lol. I get confused - she looks like a child and then you see the curves and it's kind of strange. I hope she's supposed to be grown adult and only playing at being childish because everybody doted on her. Otherwise, her being a well-developed for her age girl-child would not play well, at least for me. ((Quick add, OMG she's 30 now. I mean. I'm looking in the mirror and I am dispirited. right now.))
3. Whoever made their garderobes should be taken out and shot for what he did to Wang Dalu, then brought back to life and given an award for what he did for Xiao Zhan. Bo Wang looks like he doesn't have a neck, dammit, and all his muscle pack is lost on me because he looks stuffed in his costumes all the time. On the other hand, did I mention those long legs on XZ? Yup. That kind of outfit, I approve.
4. Why the heck does Xing'er love Lang Zhai for, anyway? They supposedly were kids together, but - unless it ended up cut in editing - their relationship was pretty uneven. He was basically a stray kid raised in the wilderness, barely talking, and she was always a noble, meant-for-better-things, princess. They never had a future together. Watching her pine after Lang Zhai years after he supposedly died makes no sense.
Also, I actually LOL-ed when Xing'er and Ji Chong discussed things by the side of that gorgeous mountain lake. She was practically sparkling when talking to him. Poor Bo Wang! :D
5. Which reminds me: those backgrounds... OMG those backgrounds. I want to move there, wherever they filmed (that mountainside in ep 11-12). That lake. Those clouds. That greenery. Tell me the place and I'll look for a ticket there right NOW.
Beautiful cinematography (more so when in nature, but the in-house decors aren't bad either, I suppose. )
6. And finally, I love, love, LOVE, that Head-Eunuch (played by Ma Jie). He is always spot-on, light-voiced, prim and proper. I just love his un-important scenes. I hope he makes it to the end of the series.
As for the rest of it - well, the episodes seem short, which is a good sign. Now, if the translations would be as fast as I can watch them, I'd be in 7th heaven. But I am grateful they're as fast as they are now. Good job, translator teams!
I am not that invested in the main romance, so that's sad, but then it bodes well for the ending. (Because whoever I want to see living, lives, and whoever I don't really get that invested in... well, I don't really-really mind.)
I guess it's fate *throws up hands in defeat*. We'll have to play along with it :D
I still love the foxes (inclining toward liking Lee Rang a bit more than anyone else, by now, TBH), but I wish they either had more material to make up a good story or had the courage to make a shorter series.
Also, I kind of have this inkling that Rang will take Yeon's place and swallow the dragon's scale for him. And I do NOT want that to happen.