The untamed is based on very popular novel tho. It also have anime. The author is same as the one who wrote Heaven Blessing Official. And the story is genius I say. Romance between the two is very much as bromance but when we get the flashback, wangji has been in love since they were students. Tbh, both anime & drama adaptation is toned down the scariness. The fighting, the zombie, the ghost, the demon are all very very creepy in the novel. And wei wuxian is super ruthless when he attack his enemy.
The thing is China was severe censorship laws, like production can go to jail or heavy fines if they make gay shows... That's why they make bromances. It's DADT (dont asl, dont tell).
Korea doesn't have those laws, that why we can get Korean bls. But, this is a mainstream production, Korean is still a conservative cpuntry, so if u want to make a TV drama, u need to censor it.
Right I love Wei Wuxian's evilness too like they described him to be so cruel yet bewitching sadly both adaptation tone down the gore but still delivered and slay them visuals anyway HaHa
there's also another reason why they don't pursue BL genre that much. It doesn't fit the actors image even after Untamed the actors still got some backlash from viewers because they are sus. There's R18 Chinese drama too but not that many, mostly filmed long time ago and the latest are either bromance or subtle romance
Actually if u pay attention, there are way more censored adaptations. Some productions are even moving to Taiwan or Thailand (Unknown based on Priest's Dage is Taiwanese bl, My Standin is a Thai bl based on Professional Body Double).
There are even mini bls that are released directly online.
Still different. Korea doesn't have any censorship rules. Untamed was good even with so much government interference. Korea directors just don't wanna take the step.out of that heternormativity even if they don't have any banning.
I'm actually not pointing out the genre but the quality of their production, cast, acting and plot haha also it's totally chill to never watch that show we all have our own preferences and opinion.
Someone asked me why I'm forcing it but I'm not maybe it came off that way because I'm defending the show. I'm a fan of the two actors and they didn't fail to give me a good show so I wanna voice out that the straight Washing is indeed awful but not the show. To Minnie, I'm not forcing anyone to watch it we all are free to drop or pick so chile bae
(￣∇￣")
Show is done shooting. It has also finished airing.
The production house that made it has made proper bls before. Won Taemin, who plays the Deuk Pal's right hand, is a well-known K-bl lead with 3 bls, and one which is shooting right now.
The drama was changed from bl to bromance with a bit of straight-washing BECAUSE of fans of the actors. International fans dgaf, but Knetz threw a tantrum (as they do, bécause the leads are idols). This was when the casting and the source was just announced. Then the production house came out with it's a bromance, not a bl and the inter-fans got pissed. But the drama is made for Knetz and they are happy with, so
That's a shame. Why do Knetz bother with shows they don't like even or that's not their cup of tea? I really liked the novel and was excited for the LA. I would have been happy if it had unknown actors who can play according to the story without the straightwashing. Oh, well. (￣∇￣")
Yk the Untamed is also a bl to bromance right and was it bad? No, Is it worth to binge? Of course. So this one is the same. I honestly didn't like the the drama now that I know it's originally a wonderful BL but then it was actually a hidden Gem.
The actors showed the complexity of their characters and kudos to the script writers/director of that cause they really put life to the characters and not just categorized them as black & white like the Bully who got his redemption arc which was intense at the finale. The drama is filled with talented good looking actors, no plot holes, and it's actually relatable. The bromance is also genius like instead of romantic interest they made it into real friendship which is very pleasing. If they did not cut the bl part I think it will be more lovable to watch but regardless The novel, manhwa and Kdrama are all worth to binge