FULL NAME – THE UNTAMED
YEAR OF RELEASE – 2019
COUNTRY – CHINA
GENRE – FANTASY, TRAGEDY, ADVENTURE, MARTIAL ARTS, SUPERNATURAL
Disclaimer – The article written as review here , might contain some spoilers. If you wish to watch this drama or are watching it right now please be aware of the spoilers.
PLOT SUMMARY –
The Untamed is a Chinese drama adapted from a BL novel “Mao Dao Zu Shi” or Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. This is originally a BL but the live adaptation has altered the story and built it around the brotherhood between the two main characters Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. The struggles of Wei Wuxian’s life is the main driving factor of the story with many other sub plots.
FIRST IMPRESSION –
The first scene unfolds with events leading to Wei Wuxian’s death giving the viewers a very strong hook and building an urge to continue watching the story. That first scene leaves a storm of questions in the viewer’s mind like, why Wei Wuxian tries to commit suicide? , Why Lan Wangji is so desperate to save him even with a bleeding arm? What did Wie Wuxian do that turned his own brother against him? All these build a strong curiosity in the eyes of the viewers which makes them keep hooked till the end of the drama.
A tragic story revolving around betrayal, misunderstanding, and brotherhood which expresses the two main characters’ major struggles. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji grow from a simple innocent life to what they end up becoming. The incidents and tragedies they face throughout their journey paint a very distinctive picture of their personality transformations.
CHARACTERS –
The story revolves around two characters Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian is a mischievous character who likes to live life on his terms and due to these character traits of his personality, he keeps putting himself and his family in trouble. He is someone adored by his elder sister. A character who sees a lot of hatred because of his free-spirited actions and how his whole family and everyone around turns against him is one of the major conflicts in the drama.
When we talk about Lan Wangji, who has a calm and composed personality, with insane martial arts skills, and is a highly respected person around the vicinity. Being sophisticated his character speaks less with words and more eyes (gaze).
There are some other characters as well like Wei Wuxian’s brother, Wei Ning, his elder sister, and Lan Wangji’s brother making them excellent characters which drive the story to its final conflict with the main villain.
PACE OF THE STORY –
Packed with supernatural elements and a lot of martial arts, this story is packed with an engaging storyline with a strongly progressive story. Every episode develops the story and the characters at a quick pace with an excellent storyline that keeps the audience hooked.
MOST ICONIC SCENES –
Though the whole story is worth watching there are an end number of scenes that will become your favourite coz of the indirect portrayal of emotions and brotherhood and excellent portrayal of relationships and their meaning.
1. The opening scene showing the chaos and the death of Wei Wuxian , engages the audiences to understand the upcoming plot of the story. That scene itself build a strong urge to continue watching this drama , coz that scene pops up a long list of questions in the viewers mind.
2. The scene in the second episode where both of them crosses path while Wei Wuxian is trying to calm Wei Ning ‘s mind. That single shot tells us there is a whole bunch of history between them, we need to know , and then goes the flashback.
3. After waking up in Cloud Recess, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have a conversation 16 years later , the placement of that scene is perfect as it is the first scene that comes right after the flashback, and both of them have a conversation that is so intense and deep.
4. After knowing about Wangji’s punishment and his past , which is enclosed by his brother to Wei Wuxian. That beautiful monologue in the snowfall is simply beautiful. Wei Wuxian realizes how much Wangji means to him and vice versa, building a strong bond that keeps getting stronger and stronger.
5. The scene where Wei Ning spills the beans in front of Wei Wuxian’s brother about the golden core is so dramatic and satisfying, it will surely give you chills.
CLIMAX –
Despite having above-average action sequences, the fight scenes do justice to the plot. Some sequences are done well, specifically the final fight scene. It’s a combination of action and drama perfectly twined together.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS SERIES –
Two of the most excellent features of this drama are the character development or the journey/story of the main and the sub-characters. Almost all the characters pulled out will showcase excellent growth in their personalities and powers.
Rest assured the conflicts both internal and external in The Untamed are also well defined, making it an exceptional piece of fantasy drama whose popularity is no joke across boundaries. The internal conflicts of the two main characters and how they are overcome. Parallelly external conflicts or the small mysteries they solve to bring out peace and how both these internal and external conflicts resonate with each other is exceptionally done.
WHAT I FELT WAS MISSING –
OK, every fan of this drama knows about the one aspect that is missing. Apart from this everything falls into its place perfectly and its a worth watch.
Note to the Reader – If you manage to reach this far , thank you for reading it. I would like to know your thoughts, you can drop a comment below. If you have any suggestions regarding my work you can write to me as well. Thanks for your Support.