The Untamed (陈情令) Chinese TV Drama /w English & Chinese Subtitle

Didn't like at first, thought it was nonsense. Tried a third episode out of boredom, then another, then just one more... And that was it, I was totally hooked. It's an intriguing, complex plot underpinned by an epic romance so beautifully played by the two leads that you'll emerge at the end of the last episode as if from a beautiful dream. That ending almost had me going, how could they??? Nooo! But got the HEA. Straight back to the start to watch it all again. No, I never want to watch anything else. Ever. This'll do.

The DVDs arrived well within the time frame and in good condition. Just as a warning I didn't receive any of the six postcards meant to be included, so watch out if this might bother you! Picture quality and English subtitles slightly less than what you can get on Youtube and Netflix but passable. Mainly I make a habit of buying a DVD for a series I enjoy as a backup and to show a bit of support for those involved.For the series itself, I can just say it fully deserves its popularity. Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo have fantastic chemistry in this and tend to steal any scene when they're together. That's saying something as the standard of acting and the characterization is very good in The Untamed, some of the best I've seen. The first two episodes do wonders for setting up the world, plot, and introduce Wei Ying as a very fun and likable protagonist. A lot of pretty scenery and characters, add to that nicely choreographed fights, political intrigue, and mystery and you've got one of the best dramas out of China in recent years (and there's been a fair few excellent ones recently).One criticism seems to be the drama is a bit slow off the ground. It is, but I guess that as I generally am a fan of slow-burning stories I didn't mind as to me the first 10-15 episodes were just so amusing. I guess not all us in the Western part of the world have short attention spans.Compared to the anime adaption of the story Mo Dao Zu Shi (can't comment on the books as haven't read them), I feel the pace of the plot and characterization in The Untamed is much more superior. That might be to so with me liking Xiao's portrayal of Wei Ying so much, the fact the dramas way longer and thus more content or the fact I'm burned out on anime - I'm not sure. I just know I really struggled to watch the anime and didn't enjoy it nearly as much. As for the movie tie-ins to The Untamed, I didn't think much of The Living Dead and thought it offered very little to the universe and seemed very inadequate. As for Fatal Journey, I found the opposite, it was brilliant and well worth watching to find out more about the Nie clan's history.