Overhyped :(
I actually agree with the few reviews saying that this show was overhyped. I honestly didn't understand why everyone really really liked this series, but that's just my personal opinion. With the first episode, I was expecting it to be a really good series, however, I was disappointed after watching the entire thing.Story = I'd give a 5/10, I wouldn't say it's the worse because the development was there, and there was a good plot foundation, but it just didn't seem to resonate well with the viewer. I was kind of confused at some points, and the progression of romance was pretty fast. Some plot devices seemed unrealistic and unnecessary to me. There was something lacking in terms of emotions in the story? I can't really put my finger on it. Most of the plot tropes weren't really established well, and when they were presented, it felt a bit confusing and too fast.
Acting = the acting was alright, but sometimes the chemistry between the two leads was kind of off. I only really liked the CEO's acting hahaha
Cinematography/Production = was surprisingly good. The way it was shot made it seem like a mainstream kdrama. There were some weird issues with the audio though, and you can tell it was pretty low budget from the only few locations they shot in (its a web series so am not surprised), but I was actually impressed and is what made me add another point to my rating.
Overall, I wouldn't say it's good, nor is it THAT bad, but I personally still didn't enjoy it. There were some funny parts, and it was cute, but it wasn't enough to tug on to my heartstrings. But I'm still glad that more and more korean BLs are getting released. Do I recommend this? Not really, give it a try if you don't have anything to do, but don't expect too much.
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Disappointing
Honestly, it wasn’t that great—it was just… meh. It’s watchable, but I was expecting more.With only seven episodes instead of the ten from season one, everything felt super rushed and kind of dull. There were so many plot holes, and the conflicts didn’t feel fresh or exciting. Plus, there were a ton of backstories that really needed more attention. I mean, a hundred years is a long time! The events and relationships built up over that time just didn’t get the focus they deserved.
Yeah, the action scenes were cool, but it felt like they were trying to make up for the weak plot with all the action and CGI. Park Seo Joon and Han So Hee are great actors, so no complaints there. But the script was a bit too cheesy and pretentious for my taste. You could tell they were going for some deep philosophical stuff, but it didn’t really land.
Honestly, I think season one was way better. They should’ve built more on that story in the same era and maybe just made the present-day stuff an epilogue. I really wanted to like this season—I was pretty excited for it—but it was a letdown compared to how rich and creative season one was.
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I know it's a movie so they had to squish everything into an hour and 35 minutes, but the development of the relationship between the main characters was really fast-paced, and I didn't see the chemistry between the two even until the end. The ending especially was really rushed, and I thought it was weird.
But, I did like the dynamic of the friend group, and some parts were entertaining.
I'd suggest watching this if you have nothing to watch, to be honest.
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At first, I was skeptical, because I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch it for the BL aspect of it. But as I progressed through the whole drama, I learned that the untamed was so much more than that.
The story mostly revolved around so many more aspects like friendship, family, and betrayal and I found myself getting pulled into the story further and further. It focused more on the building of characters, how their past and the way they lived affected how they turn out to be. The characters all had different complexities and personalities that tied in very cleverly to the story. I also like how you can clearly see the development of characters, especially the main protagonist, Wei Wuxian by the end of the drama. The plot is also very creative, and it also (very tiny spoiler) had a few plot twists here and there, which in my opinion, were very interesting.
On the BL side of things, this drama has gone way beyond my expectations.
Being that this drama was censored (supposedly devoid of all things gay because of China's TV laws), it cleverly managed to BRING OUT the BL through subtle, but not so subtle, things in the drama! The chemistry between the two leads was crazy good, you could actually see their feelings through their eye contacts and expressions! Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo did such good jobs in capturing Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. As A BL fan, it was so fun to see and spot these small things that indicated the two leads' relationship, and I really admire the makers of this drama for capturing their relationship just enough to make it pass the censorship.
Although, the only thing that bothered me was the CGI. Ok honestly, the CGI was really bad hahaha, but really the story totally makes up for that! The production could have been way better.
The acting was also pretty good, (this drama has turned me into a Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan fangirl, but that really isn't something important), there were a few times where the acting was just off slightly.
The music definitely is one of the highlights of the drama, especially the song that plays whenever Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have a "moment". It really just hits you right.
Overall, I would DEFINITELY recommend this drama, even to a person who doesn't like BL. This drama has stuck to me, and has caused me to dive in deep and read the novel it was based on which is "The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation", and I highly recommend BL fans who watch this drama to read the novel because the novel is SPICY (winwink). Now I'm stuck in The Untamed fandom.
This drama truly is one of the best dramas I've watched so far. There are no sappy love triangles, no damsels in distress, and no usual tropes. It's simply, a good ass story.
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Although there are some light moments, Red Wine in the Dark Night is really a dark, erotic, and twisted movie about love and obsession. (In yaoi terms, one of those psychological mangas that you can't seem to stop reading aha!). There's just something so enticing about how twisted and f-ed up it is, as horrible as it sounds.
In my opinion, I believe that the goal of this movie was to portray the complexity of love, how it can be used for manipulation, how it can be taken for granted, and how it can lead to obsession or that "I would do anything (i mean literally anything) for you" trope. And this is quite clear in Wine (Fluke) and his relationships, most especially with Night (Fuhrer) the vampire he oh so loves.
The flow of the movie always manages to leave you thinking "What the hell am I watching?", not to mention how intense the kissing is in this movie during the more erotic scenes (The sex isn't necessarily explicit though).
However, I just felt like the story flow could have been better, I don't know, I just felt like some parts of it moved too quickly, or maybe it was the director's intention? Or am I just looking into this movie too much? (lol)
The acting was good, but Fluke (Wine) really stole the show as the main character. The other actors fell short at some moments, but their acting was pretty solid.
Overall, it's a good/okay movie if you like those "Deep" movies that gets you thinking a lot after it ends. A lot of people think this movie is weird, and yes it is, but it's weird on purpose and if you do watch this, you really gotta take note of all the details while watching it and piece it together yourself because you may just have a different interpretation of this movie! Because, I have my own theories of the story, but of course, I won't spoil it in this review hehe~
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Personally, I dislike love triangles because I always have the 'second lead syndrome", and sometimes I get more attached to the second lead rather than the main. But the way this drama managed to, in a way, make you ship the heroine with BOTH of the leads in the triangle, is very well written and structured. The whole story flows very well and you get pulled along with it.
I think the charm of this drama is really the story and character development. It really isn't your standard cliche romance because there are also themes about friendship, family, power, death, regret, and many more. It ties in happiness and tragedy together very well.
The cast is very star-studded, the acting is great, the music as well.
There were just some aspects of the drama that I found a bit unnecessary, as well as some parts of the story that should have been explained more.
Overall, I do recommend this drama, especially if you want a tearjerker because this made me cry a lot. (I think a lot of people have as well hahaha)
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