Reviews

No cutie acts and the pace is smooth!

I am currently watching this drama after watching Lost You Forever Season 1.

The story is about a concubine's daughter, Mu Zhuohua, who is determined to take the imperial exam to earn a career as a female official in order to be independent of men. She escapes from her engagement to a local official because she refuses to be a concubine.

MZH arrives in the capital and becomes a physician to ageing prostitutes who are refused treatment by physicians due to their profession.

She encounters Lord Ding or Liu Yan, the brother of the current Emperor, who is trying to find the culprit behind the ambush which killed 35,000 elite troops. He is also the Chief Examiner who persuaded the emperor to reopen the imperial exam to allow females to take part in the court matters.

Both ML and FL are good because in the past, I have always dropped their dramas. This time, I am shouting for more episodes after completing one. Factors such as good chemistry between the two leads, no cutie acts, good plots and good direction/ production make this drama entertaining.

Age gap between the characters is evident but that's the best part of the drama. The ML kind of acknowledges that the FL is cunning and playful so he lets her 'fool' him around while keeping her in check.

Watch it.

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My shalala is back = Not addicted just in love

I didn’t even think I needed this until I watched the first few episodes.
I was ignoring many famous BL series because I didn’t want to get addicted again. But our OGs were pulling me in so hard that I couldn’t ignore them. I knew that if I started this series, I’d end up rewatching Addicted Heroin for the nth time—and still, I couldn’t ignore how much I missed them. So yes, I went back… again.

Coming to the series… how was it?
For me, it felt like coming back home. I was giggling, kicking the air, and pausing a hundred times just to process certain scenes—not in a bad way, but in a very spicy way.
I don’t know how new BL watchers will feel about it, but for me, I’ve waited 10 years because this is a continuation of Addicted Heroin (side couples story). Literally, 10 years. So even if they’re just sitting together, I still get butterflies.

Their acting is so good, and honestly, our leads have become insanely hot and sexy. Just watching them on screen feels refreshing for the eyes.
I also loved the topic they touched on—false accusations and fake allegations against actors regarding relationships and cheating. It felt very real. We judge so many actors just because they’re famous, forgetting that they’re humans first.

The music is calm and soothing, and there’s one Korean OST that I absolutely loved—it just flows straight into your heart.

There were a few instances where I felt some miscommunication between the writer and the editor. At times, I also felt that Chinese humor is hard to translate accurately into English, so as viewers we end up feeling a bit confused—like, what exactly is happening here?
Disclaimer: my high rating is purely based on my long-awaited love for lead actors. So don’t judge me even if I rate this a 10 after saying all this.

And please, don’t let me meet that idiot director—how dare he do such things to our pookie?!

Now… the romance.
Oh. My. God. Who is even saying they don’t have chemistry?! That finger-in-the-mouth scene… AAAAAHHHHHH.
Just go watch it, idiots. No need to waste time reading my review. Like me, I’m sure you’ll end up watching it in one go.

-Ahhhh the ending.. How can you rush it like that. Give justice to my pookies!!!!!

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Chosen Family (need a season 2)

Overall: "Our efforts were not wasted, right?" "Yes, it was worth it". The writing in this series is impeccable. Themes and characters I thought were random were later seamlessly integrated. Shifts between comedy and seriousness were impeccably executed. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/82153387

Content Warnings: slap, internal and external homophobia, sexism discussed

What I Liked
- addressed marriage equality in a realistic way
- that I didn't know what the next episode will have in store
- discussion of sexism (one of the few romance series I have seen that passed the Bechdel test multiple times)
- how characters had their quirks, but still feel like people I could meet in the real world
- intentional characters, they might have seemed insignificant, but they came back later
- no cartoonish antagonists
- avoided evil ex cliche

Room For Improvement
- I couldn't really sympathize with the mom
- at times the pacing was a bit slow for me

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I actually have tumblr to thank for my discovery of this movie. Before I watched it, I read many reviews and many say that Erika (Lillico) lacks depth of character and are critical of her performance. I however, really loved Erika's acting and I think her portrayal seems so genuine and real that I found no difficulty sympathizing with the character Lillico. Apart from Erika, I was really impressed with the whole cast and I might add that I was especially happy that Go Ayano was in this film. ><

The movie also deals with fame and power and looks at the influences of drugs, sex and cosmetic procedures. The themes this movie deals with are highly controversial and I believe that is why many people don't enjoy this film. Before I get too far into the review, it is really important to note that there are a significant amount of sex scenes in this movie. Seriously do not watch it if you are not mature enough to appreciate their importance to the plot development.

The music is such a great indicator in Helter Skelter. If something bad is going to happen, you can tell by the music. There is only one piece of music I thought was inappropriately placed but I won't mention anything as it will spoil the movie.

I've watched it twice so far and the only reason it hasn't been more is because I have other commitments. I can honestly not fault any aspect of this movie. Maybe you might have a different opinion to me but you'll never know if you don't give it a chance.

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It's never good when I start talking back to the TV.

People have written long, well-informed reviews expressing their love for this series. Other than the fact that the male lead tends have five expressions that he runs through given whatever scene he's in, I was in total agreement with the other reviewers. Part One of this series makes for riveting viewing; cast, story, and visuals, from writing to execution, the first instalment of LLG is hands-down wonderful. Please don't throw things at me for what I'm going to say next. Part Two of Love Like the Galaxy really disappointed me. I kept muttering, what has happened here? Did they run out of time or money? Did they change writers? Did production or the director side suddenly flex their muscles? Granted, LLG contains a big, complicated consipiracy story and maybe they didn't have enough time to properly unravel all the plot twists within the time constraints.

But seriously, those story edits were too roughly done. I was pulled hard out of the narrative midway through Part Two. At the beginning of that particular episode there was a time skip that felt like someone read the script, shook their head, and slashed through pages and pages of the story, while muttering, "they won't even notice this if we flash ahead and get one of the characters to spew a ton-load of exposition. " Well, I noticed. I flipped twice between the end of the prior episode, and the beginning of the time-skip episode to make sure I hadn't inadvertently missed an entire episode. What should have been a defining moment for an important character--a place where that character would have stepped up for their family, throwing on the hero-challenge-cape to reveal the truth--was flattened into a short paragraph of wtf exposition, given by a character who'd suddenly been rendered from fiery to helpless. There were a lot of those type of viewing moments in the episodes that followed. What made those jarring time skips really frustrating for me was the screen time given to things that didn't drive the plot, or develop the characters. How long does it take someone to die?

Watching the second half of LLG was a frustrating experience for me, probably because my expectations were set so high by the prior instalment. If it had just been plain bad, I could have moved on, but there were definitely episodes in Part Two which were heart-rending and well-nuanced which kept me hooked and hopeful that the end of the series was going to be as amazing as the beginning. Here's the thing: those wonderful scenes felt like they were written by the same pen that created the first instalment. Just perfect writing, illuminated by amazing acting, and gifted directing. But those jewel-like moments were overwhelmed by scene after scene penned by the B-team. For me, there was just a lot of bad writing, and bad directing choices in LLG2 which thoroughly flattened the excellence of a story that I had such high expectations for. So, for what its worth, that's my opinion. Okay, I'm going to leave now, before everyone starts throwing things at me.

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Too much too soon

This drama started out so promising. The ML dramatically entered the scene and acting amazing well in the role of the anti-hero. And then suddenly, he turned into a lover boy who follows the FL around and begs her to marry him.

This just doesn't make sense.

I am waiting for more episodes to see if there is anything else to look forward to.

Acting from both ML & FL: very good, especially ML in the beginning.

Saw up to 24 today. And it's unbelievable! The young princess even fell in love with the older king! And the General fell in love with the older Prince just because he built a temple for her???? They kill off the main villain of the story: the older prince. And we still have 10 more episodes to go. WTH? At least it's consistent with the way this drama has been going: abrupt changes in personality/kungfu skills/etc ...

Anything goes .... I wouldn't be surprise if the writers make arbitrary decisions to turn this wild ride into a tragedy at the end.
I will finish it because there isn't anything else to watch until November 1.

I am going to have to go with my low rating because the plot is just sooooooo fake and cringy sometimes. It doesn't make sense either. Why change the ending of the book?

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KISS Me or KILL Me

Since the pilot trailer was released I thought finally GMMTV is gonna do something different, mature and something really dark. So my expectations were really different from what they served. I do have to agree with the fact it wasn't nothing like what I had expected but it was good in their usual way.

First of all I have talk about the Director Jojo, whose idea's are different from the usual GMMTV directors. This guy likes to take risks, try to show something different. His overall works are good but his ending for the show's are kinda questionable because it will divide the audience in two parts. But yeah, I do wanna appreciate his works, they are enjoyable in their own way.


The Heart Killers is a enjoyable drama. Yes, it has many plot holes. A lot of the things doesn't make sense. There wasn't enough seriousness in the characters of Hitmen. It has many flaws but I liked the drama overall. It had comedy, emotions and love. Somehow the audience will be able to connect with the characters. And I guess that what mattered to me the most. It wasn't a entire stupid story afterall. It was kind of a drama you watch for once and you feel good. No, it wasn't a masterpiece neither a trash but a feel good drama with comforting character's. Well that's what I feel.


First and Khaotung both are great actors, they did an amazing job. But Joong and Dunk stole everyone's heart especially MINE. I have to confess this, I know Joong and Dunk since 2022 through their first drama Star and Sky: Star in my Mind. But I never liked them because of their acting. I was never interested in them either. Before watching this drama I had no expectations from them. I thought they are gonna do their usual thing. But they proved me wrong, they literally made me their fan. They just killed it. Their acting has improved a lot, yes they still need to do better. Like we can't compare their acting skills with FirstKhao yet or anytime soon but they were better this time. I was waiting every week just to see them and only them. They stole the show, so hat's off to JoongDunk aka FadelStyle.


There might be many reasons not to watch this drama but I'm gonna give only one reason to watch it. You guys have to watch it for Style and his crop tops!

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Hei-Bai Feng Xi, a match made in heaven!

Who Rules The World (WRTW) is a Wuxia drama with all those things a Wuxia should have. This drama follows Hei Feng Xi and Bai Feng Xi, two great martial artists who travel the world and ultimately join forces with those who wish to conquer the world in order to make it a better place.

Who Rules The World is based on Qing Ling Yue's (倾泠月) novel of the same name, "Qie Shi Tian Xia" ((=且试天下). In 2007, this was one of the best-selling novels. This play contains numerous aspects, all of which are in such perfect proportion that none bear upon another, and none feels extraneous.

As I  have said, this drama revolves around the Hei-Bai Feng Xi pair.  Hei is the Chinese word for black, whereas Bai is the Chinese word for white. They may be identified by the colour of their clothes, which match their names.

Hei Feng Xi is the Foundain Abode's Head and one of the Four Gentries. Bai Feng Xi is a Tianshuang sect heroine who is characterized in the drama as "as beautiful as she is lethal." Both are unrivaled in skill and beauty. Bai Feng Xi is unrestrained and carefree, whereas Hei Feng Xi is exquisite and indifferent. Even though everyone believes they are rivals for greatness, they are actually quite good friends, and wherever Bai Feng Xi is, Hei Feng Xi will be there too. Although, they are described as opposite attracts, they feel quite similar, like inseperable sides of a single coin.

However, in reality, both Hei Feng Xi and Bai Feng Xi are the prince and princess of Yongzhou and Qingzhou, Feng Lanxi and Feng Xiyun, respectively. While Bai Feng Xi's family is aware of her dual identities, Hei Feng Xi had to feign illness and learn martial arts in secret. Bai Feng Xi studied martial arts because she was uninterested in politics and desired to live a carefree life. Feng Lanxi, initially, began practising martial arts to protect himself, but his goal evolved from saving the people to eventually ruling the world.

Feng Qiwu is the Chief of the Feng family and one of Yongzhou's Ministers. She assists Lanxi in managing his two identities and concealing the truth from Lanxi's father, the Lord of Yongzhou. She had a crush on Lanxi initially, but it faded as she realised Lanxi's love for Fengxi.

Huang Chao is Jizhou's heir. He is also a member of the Four Gentries. He is almost usually accompanied by Yu Wuyuan, the Finest of the Four Gentries. He also intends to rule the globe with the assistance of Yu Wuyuan.


Things I enjoyed:


I absolutely like how Hei Feng Xi and Bai Feng Xi are created equal and how they keep that throughout the show. It was believable and impressive. Also, many amazing elements in this drama left me speechless, such as the meanings of the characters' names. Lanxi, for example, literally means "breath of orchid." This is significant since the orchids in this state flowered around the time Lanxi was born. He even made Bai Fengxi an orchid garden. The novel's author, who was sadly not there for the drama's screenplay, deserves all credit for this.

Yang Yang and Zhao Lusi were excellent choices for the roles! They nailed it with their acting abilities and did not disappoint me in the least. This drama provided them with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate their versatility in portraying a wide variety of emotions, which they did admirably. Despite her background in rom-coms, Lusi was able to play the serious side of her role and successfully drew the audience to herself. Yang Yang in a historical drama was something I was hoping to witness. He was excellent at portraying both the elegant Hei Feng Xi and the mysterious Feng Lan Xi. One of his strongest strengths is his ability to blend emotions of his character and make them memorable.

Many recognisable faces appear in the supporting cast, including Xuan Lu, Leon Lai, and Lui Rui Lin. If you've seen at least one of their dramas, you'll know that they're the best supporting actors a Wuxia drama can offer!

To be honest, the characters of Yang Yang and Lusi appeared to me to be brother and sister at first. At one point, I even shipped Bai Fengxi with Qiwu, who had such a deep relationship with each other that he seemed to be a third wheel in a scene with them and Lanxi! But I was confident that these two outstanding actors could sort out their connection over time, and I was not wrong. Their chemistry is one of the greatest I've witnessed in C-drama land to date.

Of course, I enjoyed the romance here as well. This was one of the sweetest and most endearing love stories I've ever seen. I like how they are portrayed as partners rather than lovers, with whom you can talk about everything. I like how they support one another throughout the show. Of course, the relationship was typical, but there were no unneeded misunderstandings, immature outbursts, or jealousy. Their love was shown without altering their genuine personalities, which is exactly as it should be!

I was also pleased to see the FL and SFL form a friendship rather than a love rivalry. I'm relieved that they didn't add a love triangle. That may have taken the pleasure out of the presentation by emphasising the romantic aspect and making the proportion of the elements in this imbalanced. The cinematography and choreography were both fantastic. This show features some impressive battle sequences that will leave you awestruck. Despite being jerky at the beginning, the CGI and editing were mostly good.


Things I didn't quite like or enjoy:


I was a little bewildered at the start because I hadn't read the novel and didn't know about the Empryean Token or the six states of Dadong. They should have been explained briefly in the first episode. For me, the last 2-3 episodes felt hurried, and the fight with the main antagonist seemed to be cut short. Some sections in between the drama felt disjointed, making it difficult to follow the main arc.

The revelation scene that Bai Feng Xi was the Feng Xiyun princess was a letdown because it didn't produce the expected effects and explotions. Even Lanxi didn't appear startled! Although the main villain was decently portrayed, there should have been more time for him to develop so that we, the viewers, could better comprehend him.

That's all.

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IHYV is such a well-rounded drama, there’s so much I would love to point into that I can’t think of something to concentrate for a catchy intro, lol. Anyway, as a drama of the hour, I don’t think anyone isn’t at least curious enough; it has high ratings, very popular throughout its run, with an interesting fantasy/law/rom-com premise and what else? It has very good responses from its viewers.

It is definitely well-deserved in my opinion.Therefore, my review is not for the purpose of persuasion, but I would like to discuss, why I LOVE this drama.

Story: First of all, I love that the general premise of the story was the perspective of a public defender and not the elite prosecution side. Many may not want the court proceedings but it has a lot of heart that I felt it’s not the cases the writer wants us to understand, but something beyond it and she wants is to understand the other side of the coin, “the voice” not only victim but the accused. It felt more humane, conscientious and will make one think the other side of a person. What something viewed as a good thing cannot be necessarily feel the right thing. I gave the story a 10 not because it’s a perfect story, it has some issues on legal aspects, however, it does a brilliant way of grasping and playing my emotions on different levels while maintaining an excellent pace that every minute counts as every character’s story unfolds. For a while I saw myself giggling, then a moment after, I’m holding my breath because of the suspense and before I knew it, I found that I cried before the credits roll. I love how the writer made little things significant and how will it matter as the story progresses. I think the fantasy element of the drama was interesting enough, but what I love most here was the message the writer would like to deliver – the spirit of forgiveness as an attribute of the strong people, and revenge will only make one weak and pitiful. She delivered it well, it made me felt good, best, sad, and worst of the characters.

Taking side on the characters, again, the writer did a great job of putting not only the leads but almost everyone of equal importance that make the story more engaging and for the viewers to love most of them. I love all the characters here perhaps the right word was I became attached to them., even the villain, I feel bad for him in the end. Majority of the characters are flawed- which is realistic, the good thing is, they eventually develop and grow as mature person that made the story even better.

For the romance, woooahhh.. Let’s all squeal for I’m sold for the noona-dongsaeng pairing the moment I had seen the first episode. I don’t have any indifference on age-gap because the leads carried on their acting well, chemistry was very evident, it’s very easy to root for them as a couple. The ending, – one of the best out there.

Acting/Cast: Lee Bo Young was excellent, Lee Jong Suk too and Yoon Sang Hyun of course, this drama made me a fan of them. The couple looked so great and comfortable with each other on screen. As I said, I love all of the characters, not only they are written well, they are convincing too, how I wish every side characters I will see the next drama after this will be the as adorable as them. Oh well.

Music: Echo by Every Sing Day was very fitting on the ending credits, it’s may favorite soundtrack as well as Why Did You Just Came Now by Jung Yup. When it’s time for suspense there’s a good instrumental played that can increase the tension of the scene.

Rewatch Value: I rarely rewatch and the more that it a suspense-drama, the more I like it, everything was fresh and clear in my memory so far, therefore, not likely soon.

Overall: I loved this drama, it has a compelling story with an unusual fantasy element, great characters, excellent acting, will grip your heart like no other, has very good ending and most of all, it delivered an inspiring message for its viewers.

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Why they're atypical

I love how the drama shows us the good, its bad, how the good becomes bad and how the bad can be turned back into good.
It poses and answers a poignant question- shd we follow our dreams or make our dreams a reality? There doesn't seem to be much difference between the two but the drama highlights that barely visible difference and gives us a convincing solution to it.
Entire credit goes to the team of the writer-director duo for spinning an exciting and exhilarating tale around a simple, wafer-thin concept. Any mistakes in handling- screenplay or narration- could have turned this into a weak, melodramatic bowl of cold, soggy noodles.
I love how everyone has more to offer than they seem to be giving. Through its multi-layered characters, well thought out script and gripping narration, the atypical family keeps the audience guessing and hooked without ever going down the lanes of melodrama or thriller. Powerpacked performances by the cast, especially Park So Yi as the wonderful Bok I Na, elevate the story to another level completely. They've totally owned their characters and immersed themselves in the drama.
Despite dealing with several modern themes like Bulimia, Insomnia, Addiction or Depression, and despite the shadow of Parasite looming over some portions of the narrative and the taking, the atypical family appears light hearted and soothing. This is thankfully a drama that focuses on healthy ways of getting healthy right from the beginning. Although, those maybe the issues being shown on the surface, there is also a bigger question being addressed- what do human beings strive for? What is their ultimate need?
The drama subtly provides the answer to it as a running underlying theme in all the episodes and through intelligently worded dialogues wherever necessary.
It's a beautiful interpretation of life that translates just as beautifully to the screen.
Find your interpretation. Find your dreams. Find your happiness.

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Beautiful visuals with garbage storyline

GJM is great at making every shot look pretty, but when it comes to writing a script and creating well-thought-out characters, he has absolutely zero talent.

Let's start with Zhu Yan / Zhao Yanzhou - the character is either bipolar, or a hypocrite of the highest order. He blames Li Lun (his alleged friend of 30,000 years) for killing humans while he himself has absolutely no problem exploding a man's heart just to prove a point. He puts humans on a pedestal while he doesn't care about demons at all. He is lying, manipulative, gaslighting coward with a sense of grandeur. He lives through a traumatic experience, but instead of being proactive and making up for his mistakes, he chooses to spend 8 years wallowing in his own trauma and then turns his victimhood into a weapon and an excuse for every single bad action taken afterwards. In fact, he is so passive that if not for Li Lun's scheming, he would never have gotten a chance to atone for any of what he did. He is positioned as the hero of the story, almost a messiah, but in reality he is a pathetic coward who wants to be suicided by another hero's hands and does nothing to pay for his mistakes.
(Sidenote - Neo did a great job with the garbage script he was given, and judging by interviews, he had a much better grasp at what ZYZ should really be than the director ever did).

Wen Xiao - the first episode she's in portrays her as a quirky, charming, smart and brave, but starting with episode 2 she makes a 180 turn and becomes weak, useless, and turns into a damsel in perpetual distress, there only for the sake of others saving her. Which is such as SHAME, because her character had so much potential!!

Zhuo Yichen- perhaps, the most well-written and flashed out character in the whole story. The only one whose actions more or less make sense. Saving grace of the whole show. The only complaint I have is how fast he forgave ZYZ for what he did.

Li Lun - I can't even call him a villain, to be honest. The whole premise rests on him killing some humans in a situation where, truthfully, going berserk is totally justified. He gets chastised, mortally wounded by ZYZ, betrayed by him again, and abandoned. Then, the said friend spends most of the show antagonizing him and theatrically offering his new human friends more compassion than Li Lun has ever received from him. It gets so bad in the end that another character dies because of ZYZ's cowardice and inability to make amends. The whole story arch would've made more sense if Li Lun killed ZYZ's friend, but he did not, so ZYZ's antagonizing him comes off as ZYZ's own attempt at portraying himself as a hero at Li Lun's expense, which in turn cancels out any of his attempts at atoning for his sins. What's worse, in the end ZYZ again does NOTHING to make amends, and it is ZYC who gets through to Li Lun and stops his spiraling out.
Side note- Li Lun is the driving force behind the whole show. If he weren't scheming and planning his "revenge", the main lead would have nothing to do, which to me is another huge problem with the script.

What pissed me off the most- the sheer amount of unnecessary queerbaiting. GJM spent so much time putting queerbaiting and innuendos in the show while forgetting to actually write a decent script; it's unforgivable.
The "romance" between ZYZ and WX is not fleshed out; more time is spent on trying to hammer down the idea of ZYZ and ZYC being "soulmates".

Another pet peeve of mine is the amount of crying. I'm sorry, but if you have one or more characters shedding tears every episode, it completely negates the impact.

I need to commend the cast for doing a marvelous job with the trashy script they were given. Brilliant performances and commendable attempt at making the story palatable. I wish they had more input in the show, perhaps the storyline could've been salvaged.

Soundtrack is also very well done, beautiful songs by beautiful singers.

The visual line of the show is gorgeous, but too many plot holes and awful characterisation that don't make sense overshadow it.

P.S. There is no happy ending like others have claimed on this website- in the extra episode, there is a teaser that maybe... but in reality, it has been stated before in the show that in a situation like that, a demon cannot come back to life. The screenplay also says he does not. To be honest, the whole exposition of the last 2-3 episodes (including an extra one) seems to serve only one purpose- pain and suffering fetish, most of which is completely unnecessary.

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Favourite of 2024!

The Judge From Hell not only lived up to my expectations but clearly surpassed it. I absolutely loved Park ShinHye as Kang Bitna. Even when they show her personality transformation, it is actually believable. Contrast that to the human Kang Bitna who died in episode 1 and how differently she was portrayed. You can see a real difference between the two personalities. That was just one of the beauties of this show.

The other aspect I loved is the punishments dealt by Bitna. The concept was simple yet ingenious. The CGI are beautiful. And if you love strong female characters as much as I do, you will especially love this one. It would have been so easy to mess this up because of some of the twists in the series and especially with the ending. But the series maintained it's strength and doubled down on it's portrayal of Kang Bitna as the judge from hell. Strength doesn't always have to mean physical. It can also come from within and that's what we get in those moments.

Han DaOn was also a nice character. A bit too nice and emotional to be a cop yet you want to root for him even when he is opposed to Bitna. He certainly doesn't take the attention away from her. Bitna is the shining star and the show never loses its focus! Credit to the writers and directors on that.

There are quite a few secondary characters that are enjoyable and the true villain was not easy to guess as there were many inaccurate theories by fans. That also made it more enjoyable guessing what the true nature of people was.

The only other supernatural justice plot I can think of is the Thai drama Girl From Nowhere which is more gruesome and serious. In contrast, The Judge From Hell keeps a balance between the seriousness of the cases and the punishments being entertaining due to the way they are recreated. Besides that TJFH has lighter moments and comedy that makes it a fun watch versus GFN is heavy. I loved both shows and there are aspects that are comparable so I would definitely recommend both.

The OST Boomerang, Crossroad and Gehenna are worth listening to.

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Spoiler free review!

I was really excited for this drama, I waited so long for this to air and I wasn't expecting anything amazing but I was hoping It would have been at least decent but what did we get? well.. uh.. this

characters:
Eh, main characters were pretty basic. Eun Sang was extremely boring to watch I'm pretty sure she is number 1 on my most boring characters list but just wow such a boring character, basically no personality at all whatsoever so I was really annoyed when watching her.. supporting characters were actually a lot better than the main characters I began to only watch this for the supporting characters because they had a lot more personality and were actually interesting to watch! So if you're expecting really well developed main characters then don't bother, BUT I did really like watching Kim Tans mom Eun Sangs mom, they were hilarious.

story:
It was decent I guess nothing amazing It' basically rich guy poor girl with a lot of drama I can't really say anything more because It would be a spoiler


overall:
I was really disappointed in this I would not rewatch or recommend this to anyone looking for something interesting to watch It's basically boys over flowers 2.. expect boys over flowers was actually better and I didn't really like that much at all! the main characters were really badly developed and It was just basically a cliche show with really cliche main characters .. But amazing eye candy and nice filming locations I'm pretty sure this had a high budget.


notes:
This is my personal opinion on the show
this is my first review so It's not great
My English is really bad please mind that

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An epic, over-hyped as bl and undermined as an idol drama

It is hard to describe and review The Untamed.
- It is adapted from a danmei novel (mdzs), but it is not a bl drama per se.
- Its cast consists new young actors mostly in their 20s then, with no veteran actors, but it is not an idol drama.
- It is produced as a web series with a limited budget and web viewers in mind, but its popularity is at an unprecedented scale.
- It received rave critical reviews domestically and globally for its strong plot, well-developed characters, incorporation of Chinese cultural elements, but antis continue to bash the drama.
- Some people simply shun or dismiss this drama as only a bl idol drama with young candy eyed idol cast that simply can’t act.
- Some diehard novel fans find this drama a lousy adaptation because of the toned down bl and gore.

* Transcendence of danmei novel into a critical production *
While this drama is adapted from a danmei novel, the two male leads are portrayed as soulmates in the drama, and the "soul" of this drama is not on their relationship (more on the “soul” later). That said, the chemistry between the two male leads is top notch - strong brotherhood, with some queer subtle for the experienced bl enthusiasts. The toned down bl and gore is not just because of censorship but the difficulty of portraying some of those gore details in live action, compared to in the novel or anime. I would add that the censorship transcends the danmei novel into a critical production, that brought more people especially international viewers to read the novel and the writer’s other novels.

* Big story on ugliness of society *
Beyond the candy bl-idol outer layer, at its core (“soul”), this drama depicts the ugliness of society, the struggles to uphold justice and the growing up journey of the key characters. It delivers powerful messages and quotable lines on society norms, the oppression one faced in going against society, how people often surface judge, how hypocritical nobles manipulate society norms for selfish power hungry causes, good vs evil, weak vs strong.

* Well developed multi-dimensional characters *
As a drama with ensemble cast, The Untamed has many characters, each with his own distinct complex traits, story and purpose. While the evil deeds they did are unpardonable, the key antagonists didn’t do evil for evil sake. The mistreatments they experienced as kids shaped their values and they did show their compassionate sides to those who respect and care for them. While there is no female lead, there are two endearing female characters: the best martial sister (shijie) who may appear gentle, but can really go all out and fight back to protect her brother, and the no-nonsense, courageous and righteous Wen Qing who unconditionally care for her brother and help others within her means.

* Passionate, determined, youthful cast with empathy portrayal *
The actors were selected based on their fit for the characters and their performance did not disappoint. This bunch of passionate, determined youths put in their hearts and souls to bring to life the many iconic and complex characters and their heartbreaking stories. Unconstrained by professional technical acting methods which they lacked, and under the guidance of the directors, their empathy portrayals allow the viewers to resonate with their characters. Remember the Empathy technique used by Wei Ying to experience A-Qing’s and Nie Mingjue’s past encounters? The cast’s empathy portrayal of such complex multi-dimensional characters make this drama and its characters both iconic and endearing‬, so much so that there are still many memes on the characters circulating in social media.

* Music and Chinese cultural elements *
In this drama, music is not mere bgm. Besides intrinsic depiction of each character via the character songs (pay attention to the lyrics), music is also a powerful tool that can both kill (Chord Assassination) and heal (Song of Clarity, Unrestrained), and introduces Chinese musical instruments - guqin (7-stringed zither) and flute. Just recently, in Jan 2022, "Moscow Metro News” published an article about how The Untamed promotes Chinese "guqin" culture in Moscow. Besides music, there are also tons of Chinese cultural elements infused in the drama, from the invitation cards, maple, lotus, cranes to the Tiger Seal, masks etc.

* Other aesthetics *
The CGI is bad, but the actual location filming such as at the Cloud Recesses and Yunmeng Lake and the elaborate 3000+ custom-made costumes and accessories make up for those awful CGI.

* Rewarding rewatch(es) *
There are a lot of details in each scene, including background objects such as the maple tree, crane, moon etc, that convey deeper hidden messages and backstories of the plot and characters. See spoilers in comments. Each rewatch not only re-rips one apart but also rewards with new understanding of the details that went into the production.

* Overall verdict *
In short, there’s so much depth at its core, beneath its pleasing aesthetics (casts, costumes, sets, OSTs). Censorship transcends the mdzs novel into a critical drama on Chinese culture, martial arts, sorcery, mystery, adventure, clan rivalry, power manipulations, society norms, kinships, friendships, good vs evil, weak vs strong, music that heals and kills, laughters, tears, angsts. Thanks to censorship, the re-focus on the multi-dimensional characters, empathy portrayal, strong plot, quotable lines, music and Chinese cultural elements make The Untamed an epic drama, in a class of its own‬.

Put aside preconceptions of bl, novel adaptations, young inexperienced idol actors, and watch this sincere, compelling production with an open heart and mind, and be awesomely charmed by an epic masterpiece that unfolds, and that creeps and stays in your heart for a long time to come.

“At best, you’re the untamed hero; at worst, you offend people wherever you go.”
- by the novel MDZS writer

P/S: This is a drama that touched me immensely, and the only drama to-date i rated a perfect 10, as it got me so invested, surfing for analysis videos/articles related to the drama, noting down the quotable lines and set me thinking a lot.

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