This is a long awaited drama. Many viewers have come to watch Xiao Zhan's other dramas after his phenomenal acting in The Untamed. The storyline for The Wolf is intriguing. Perhaps more so for the original story, but in the drama adaptation, the supernatural elements have almost disappeared; there are no "werewolf" nor "interspecies" as tagged. The "wolf" here is a real human raised by wolves, without any human's social skills but with some traits of a wolf and extraordinary capabilities,

This is an amazing story that should not be judged prematurely; viewers must be patient with the beginning CGI wolf scenes (they are not of their best but they don't really bother me), and also not be put off by what happens to the Ma family. Persisting in continuing viewing, you'd be rewarded as the drama gets better and amazing in later episodes. The story turns and twists with plots within plots.

The Story
This is the love story of a wolf boy and a daughter of a general. Their odyssey for finding each other and reuniting takes them through a lot of pains and sacrifices; their devotion for each other finally wins.

Langzai (wolf boy, played by Wang Dalu) and Xing'er (Ma Zhaixing, played by Li Qin) have grown up together, each day accompanying each other and playing in the wolves mountain (where the boy lives). They care and love each other deeply. She teaches him human skills and he teaches her about nature. Something happens and they are separated for years. Both grow up and the wolf boy is adopted by the Emperor and becomes a prince. They meet again and she is to become his consort. Due to some misunderstanding in the past when they were first separated, he has mixed feelings for her but falls back in love with her when he realizes his mistake, and for her, she still misses and loves her wolf boy. Unbeknownst to her, he is involved in the killing of her family. When she finds out his involvement, she is devastated. Despair and revenge overwhelm her. And for him, he is buried in remorse. They become enemies - one searches for revenge, the other searches for redemption. Their rift is irreconcilable and they part ways. When she eventually finds out that he has not directly killed her family and has been trying to make amends to redeem himself, she comes back to him, only to find him dying. She knows she cannot live without him. With uncompleted missions he needs to carry out before his death, she helps him and perishes. As with wolves that mate for life, he follows her in death soon after.

The Plot
A ruthless, suspicious, manipulative and power crazy Emperor creates a war machine from the Wolf Boy and makes him one of his sons to conquer lands around his kingdom. To bring peace to the world, Wolf Boy eventually restores his youngest and compassionate brother to the throne.

One amazing viewer pointed out that some of the characters did exist during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom periods. I was so shocked to learn that Bo Wang (Prince of Bo) was actually a real person, and how the events happen in the palace are actually based on some of the real historical events.

The Romance
Unmistakably, the romance is one of the best and the selling point of this drama. The heartaches, sacrifices, agonies, remorse, separations make this such an unforgettable watch. There are various reasons for Prince Bo (Wang Dalu aka Darren Wang) to sever ties with Ma Zhaixing (Li Qin) and push her as far away as possible despite how much he loves her. Firstly, he's involved in the killings of her family (though he hasn't given the order) and secondly, he is trying to protect her, because he knows she is his Achilles' heel and she would be hurt by others to hurt him. But on the other hand, he loves her so much that it's painful to hurt her in order to push her away, hence creating the push and pull romance that I love so much here; my heart hurts seeing his agony and her misery. Despite himself hurting her with his words, he would not permit anyone else doing it; the outcome of any disrespect towards his love is pretty serious, like losing all one's fortune or demoting from a city mayor to a standing city gate guard. He's remorseful for the killings of her family. To redeem, he helps her take her revenge on himself; he teaches her how to hit himself hardest and deadliest. However, he also knows for her to go against him, it means she's also going against the Emperor whom he is still loyal to. He needs to make her hate him so much that she's strong enough to stand up for herself and fight him. He figures, if she can fight him, that means she is strong enough and will not be hurt by the devious Emperor. He uses hurting words to make her hate him and motivate her to stand up to fend for herself. What he says (the nasty words) and how he acts (the seemingly despicable actions) are not how he feels inside. As much as I love Xiao Zhan, the chemistry between Li Qin and Wang Dalu is so incredible that Xiao Zhan stands no chance at all in overtaking it; Ma Zhaixing and Wolf Boy make a perfect pair with contrasting visuals and yet beautiful chemistry -- they are the Beauty and the Beast.

From Episode 38 onwards, I cry in almost every episode thereafter. Seeing how the characters suffer and continue to be devoted and determined really makes one tear up.

The Characters and The Acting
The acting by the whole cast is fabulous, in particular the main leads. They all have made the story come alive, some with inner animal traits, adding more intrigues into the story, mesmerizing the viewers.

- Wolf Boy (Prince Bo/Chu Youwen) and Wang Dalu
Wolf Boy (Wang Dalu aka Darren Wang) is an orphan raised by the wolves. He is kind and compassionate. Having grown up with the wolves, Wolf Boy has extra ordinary power – he's agile (he can survive jumping into the abyss), he has sensitive senses (he can see winds, hear the flapping wings of the butterflies, smell and see in the dark), and his powerful physical strength is unmatchable by any humans (he can single handedly kill two attacking tigers). It is this incredible ability that the Emperor takes him in and makes him a prince, only to use him as a killing weapon. Since then, he becomes heartless and cruel. He is sent out to fight all the wars; he is an unbeatable war machine. He rehumanizes when he meets up with Ma Zhaixing (Li Qin) again. She is given to him to be his future consort. Prince Bo does not have a beautiful face, but he has a beautiful heart. Despite being a wolf boy or a cold hearted war machine, he is always gentle and loving towards Ma Zhaixing. He loves his subordinates and his adoptive brothers, and always willing to die for them. He is loyal to the manipulative cruel Emperor because he wants to repay the kindness that his adoptive family has given him, in particular to the Emperor who has saved his life. Though he kills but he doesn't hurt innocents. When he refuses to kill for the Emperor, it becomes a predicament because to disobey means to be ungrateful to the one who has given him a second life, and to obey means he has to numb his own feelings. This predicament is central to his character development and the decisions he makes later. Despite losing his innocence as a wolf boy, I would have loved to see more scenes of Prince Bo retaining his prowess as a wolf, powerful and unbeatable; I wish he were as ferocious as he looks at the beginning.

Wang Dalu is the perfect actor for this character. With natural tan skin and a well built body, he really looks like a man who has lived in the wild and exposed to the elements. It is exactly this look that makes him a convincing ferocious wolf king. Carrying a sly hideous smile that tilts at the corner of his lips, Wang Dalu projects a fearsome and chilling image. As I get more familiar with the actor, oh boy, he grows on me. By the end of the drama, I find him so attractive, charismatic and irresistible. As I re-watched some of the episodes, I come to realize how difficult his role is. On one hand, he has to show he is a cold, war machine with no emotions, but on the other hand, he has to let the viewers see his agony, turmoil and most of all his love for the woman of his life. Despite some viewers criticize him for not emoting very well, I feel Wang Dalu has done exactly what he is supposed to do - his expressions should be subtle and cannot be easily understood by others. He has to hide his emotions, and with any feelings that he may show, it's always fleeting. I can definitely feel him when he is in turmoil and agonizing over his love and loyalty. Wang Dalu's acting is perfect!

- Ma Zhaixing and Li Qin
Ma Zhaixing (Li Qin) is the daughter of a general who controls the Armies of Ma. She is beautiful, kind, intelligent and delightful like a butterfly. She loves Wolf Boy whole heartedly and doesn’t care how he looks and what he is; she just loves him as he is and his kind heart. As the story unfolds, Ma Zhaixing’s experiences are painful and heart wrenching, hurting over and over again by the man she loves. She’s forced to become strong and take charge to avenge for those she’s lost.

Li Qin is beautiful and adorable as Ma Zhaixing as a young girl (about 10 years old, it's a long stretch but well... ) or later as an adult. She has that gentle and delightful demeanor, and has played her role so well and convincing, bringing out the pains and agonies Ma Zhaixing is going through and making the viewers empathize and sympathize with her.

- Ji Chong (Prince Chuan/Li Juyao) and Xiao Zhan
Ji Chong is a wandering prince disguised as a mercenary. He can communicate with the eagle and has excellent martial art skills. He falls in love with Ma Zhaixing who takes him as a good friend. Despite not reciprocating his love, he continues to help Ma Zhaixing getting through her most painful moments. Like an eagle roaming the sky, Ji Chong is free-spirited and resourceful, and a very well-loved character.

Xiao Zhan has an untamed aura that fits perfectly into the Ji Chong character here as a flamboyant and yet compassionate person. However, Xiao Zhan doesn't come on screen until Episode 11. Once on screen, his character is colorful and mesmerizing, and his performance is natural and believable. He compliments the character of Prince Bo who has a more serious and solid personality.

- Other Cast
Other cast members are equally impressive. As the Emperor of Yang, Chu Kui (Ding Yongdai) is ruthless, suspicious, manipulative and power crazy. Ding Yongdai’s acting is simply amazing, capturing all these elements of the character, making the viewers hate and yet fear him. All acting is just fabulous and immaculate.

The Official Sound Tracks (OSTs)
This drama produces some amazing OSTs. As a lover of classical music, I wasn't into the rapping parts in the song Who Am I initially. However, as the drama grows on me, the song sinks deep into me; I come to love it. Another song I love is the OST Heavenly Wolf Star. The instrumental Bo Wang's Heartache is another of my favorites. Each song digs deep into the listeners, helping the viewers feel the resignation and helplessness of the fate of our characters. The instrumental tunes are sad, mysterious and heart pounding, capturing everything in the story. Must listen!

My verdict
This drama has attracted a lot of attention because of Xiao Zhan after The Untamed. The Wolf was made before he became a superstar, therefore there is dissatisfaction with his fans for him playing a second male lead. Despite being a fan of Xiao Zhan myself, Wang Dalu has made a more convincing wolf king than Xiao Zhan would have; Wang Dalu has the look, physique and charisma for the role. The production team has made a perfect selection.

This is a rather heavy drama, with few dark jokes, such as the mantis analogy (the Khitan princess Bao Na [Guo Shuyao] depicts the relationship between Ma Zhaixing and Prince Bo as if they were the mantises, one eating the other after copulation, and Prince Bo rebuffs that it's the male mantis that gets eaten - I've laughed for days over this joke).

The storyline is intriguing and the characters are well developed and acted. There are no indications of any interspecies nor werewolf as suggested by the tags though there is supernatural power exhibited by The Wolf. The overall cinematography is fantastic despite some poor wolf CGIs in the beginning (actually they're not too bad), but others are pretty decent, especially the CGI tiger scenes (those are epic together with the acting of Wang Dalu). By looking at the cast that have not appeared and some disjointed editing, it is pretty obvious that some interesting scenes may have been cut abruptly to shorten the length of the drama (or due to censorship?). Whatever it is, this is still an amazing and enjoyable drama that depicts love and redemption, loyalty and betrayal, sincerity and deception, remission and revenge, humanity and atrocity, harmony and warfare, with amazing fighting scenes, and most of all, a beautiful love story of a beauty and a beast.

The ending may not be placatable for some viewers, but it is beautiful at the same time, regretful. For me, a good drama should not depend on whether it is a happy or sad ending; it is about the overall story and acting.

This drama is one of my all-time favorites and deserves a rare 10/10. Don't miss it!

TWO THUMBS UP!

Want more about the actual historical story? Read this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhu_Wen