Skibbies

lol. Launch day/last tues it released with 1 non-vip ep & 3 vip ep. wed got regular 2 ep update. Original schedule was 4 ep per week. There was a miscommunication between the youtube team or something, so youtube got 7&8 early. Due to drama hitting off pretty well + other big production drama competition, they decide to add one more day to airing schedule (Mon) and dump one additional episode. So that's why on Mon you get 7~11, the next two days will just be 2 ep per day.

I believe the main cast dubbed themselves, the director (?) specifically requested it. ZRY & SY definitely dubbed themselves, I remember someone posted a list and they were on there.

ahhh no. It was 2 ep each tues & weds, vip just got an extra two episode the first day it started airing, so we had 6 episodes to start with, originally this week we'd get 7&8 and 9&10.

It's great that XZ fans are looking forward to the drama, but this drama have always been anticipated due to its high profile author (top ten male protag web novel author + two other novel of his have been adapted in drama/donghua), as well as subject matter (political intrigue have decent market) AND it has pretty good cast and scriptwriter. I know people that's watching it for Chen Dao Ming (the emperor).

It hasn't been shot (I'm not sure the script has been complete yet....), but the rumour is the main cast signed for all three seasons. Hope they start filming soon, Ever Night filmed for second season while first season was airing (and its s2 filming was delayed too)

It's pretty fun drama and I really like the way the story is set up. I haven't rated it yet and was looking forward to the drama due to political intrigue + good scriptwriter (which is ultra rare) + good cast. XZ hasn't appeared yet and will be a minor role, I sure hope people aren't rating it based on him.

This is lot lighthearted than I expected for an epic story focused on (probably) political intrigue. So I was pleasantly surprised, it's much easier to get into as a consequence. I'm enjoying a lot of the jokes (the name gags, dream of red chamber) and the relationship protag is forming with everyone so far. The redubbed lines are unfortunately pretty noticeable due to different audio quality but other than that, it's fine. For a somewhat comparable drama, check out Young Blood that aired earlier this year, as they share the same scriptwriter, I think the tone is partially due to scriptwriter, (the gags are all Mao Ni though, lol)

I like XZ too and yes he helped the drama trend a bit. However, you severely underestimate the author (Mao Ni) and how anticipated the drama was before Untamed.

? no, it was always going to be pretty long. the novel is same length as Ever Night's (same author, different production team), almost 4mil characters. Ever Night planned for three seasons, it make sense this planned for three seasons too.

transmigration/time travel trope. It's clearer once you watch more since he has very modern ideals and knowledge. I think the way they got around it is really clever, especially since clashing of modern values vs fedual (?) values is central theme of the story.

omg i thought i replied rip. I actually like this drama's scheming more than NiF's, since the opponents are also very smart, and things tend to go wrong for protagonists more than you expect. The emperor in this is probably one of my favourite.

THAT said, this drama click with far less people compared with NiF, so don't worry if it doesn't work for you. You could also technically skip to just Ni Ni's scenes, I liked her character a lot even if the writing is comparatively lackluster when it involves her, which is a shame.

I'm a binge kind of person too haha. I've gotten so annoyed with certain US shows that should have ended 5 seasons ago but didn't, or it had foreshadowed big plot but was promptly cancelled. Season wouldn't have worked for this drama, since I think it just wouldn't get seasons renewed, and scheduling conflict would be a big issue.

oh yeah entirely understandable, especially since political scheming can get pretty serious or just tiring. While I actually really like romance, I find cdramas scriptwriters not very good at them half the time, or they overuse certain tropes that really annoy me, so I actually super appreciated when romance are a side thing since if they aren't great, it's ok to ignore them. I know I'm in the minority though.
Oh yeah the episode count is a lot, I used to think 40 ep are forever, now I'm happy to see them. If it helps, the first arc is about 15 ep? There's been discussion that it might work better if cdramaland could support seasons, since the mini arcs can be split like that.

<3 I'm glad that I encouraged someone to watch this, since it's definitely flawed and quite a hard sell.

The romance is what I call central to otp's characterisation and why a lot of people like it for, but it is not the focus. The focus is on political scheming, sort of like Nirvana in Fire if you've seen that. It's also fairly different in terms of portraying romance, there's not much outward affection, there's no proper kiss! I did like what little there was though, and the chemistry was off the chart for me.

You can stop at around ep 45 for happy ending, but the next arc features most fluff AND also suffered the most cut, which is a shame. Personally I liked the drama up till about 55 due to the cast' excellent performance but that leaves you with a sad ending too. The writing itself is still mostly okay after that until 64 where it completely collapse on itself. The novel have a happy ending after a similar ending like the drama if that helps, although the characterisations and dynamic are very different.

I love the drama so so much, from the cast to the production team to general themes, but oof the writing and pacing. Oh yeah, the pacing is also fairly slow, so it might take a while to get into so uhhh yeah. Ni ni did an excellent job here and I really liked her character. There's also not that much romance tbh.

there's more, the drama only covers challenge's league, they end up in official pro league so there's lots more. I recommend starting from the beginning too, and skip things you find too technical.

The novel is pretty different, especially later on, since several supporting characters' personality and story was changed. The novel is also much more gaming focus, and can get fairly technical. The drama doesn't cover a lot of events and pro league section is completely unadapted, so I think it's worth a read, the novel is very very long though.

They built a lot of the sets (Jin Ling's for example is very noticeable), most of the indoor scenes would have been sets. I think they filmed the outdoor scenes (the waterfalls for example) in Guizhou province, I'm not sure about the exact place though.

Naive happy go lucky hardworking girl who struggles to make it in a big city, not super interesting but probably bit more likeable than the other two you've seen but could still be annoying (I liked her in AoL but not in GGS). The series is pretty interesting since it's rare to find cdramas focused on women, I have minor issues with it but it's overall pretty unique drama.

It's a popularity award and she had 4 hit dramas in the last 3 years (Ode to Joy and its sequel+two you mentioned) soooo yeah.

@mizuharaaya: her equivalent role (same production company, better director) would be 2014 Battle of Changsha's, it's just older, before her big break and more serious/depressing since it's set in war times.

go in with low expectation and keep in mind that it's very different from the novel and you should be golden. The first third is reasonably close to the novel, then it turns pretty different. I think the drama managed to keep the core spirit pretty well and manage to be engaging and fun while friendly to non-gamers and newcomers, which is honestly pretty difficult for such a long novel with high barrier of entry.