The Untamed (TV series)
| The Untamed | |
|---|---|
| 陈情令 (Chén Qíng Lìng) | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu |
| Written by | Yang Xia Deng Yaoyu Ma Jing Guo Guangyun |
| Directed by | Zheng Weiwen Chen Jialin |
| Starring | Xiao Zhan Wang Yibo |
| Ending theme | "Unrestrained" by Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo |
| Composer | Lin Hai |
| Country of origin | China |
| Original language | Standard Chinese |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 50 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Sun Huaizhong Wang Xin Han Zhijie |
| Producers | Fang Fang Yang Xia Zhang Meng Wang Chu Ren Qiang Liu Mingtie Wang Wanning |
| Production locations | Hengdian World Studios Guizhou |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes per episode |
| Production companies | Tencent Penguin Pictures NSMG (NewStyle Media Group) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Tencent Video |
| Release | June 27 – August 20, 2019 |
| Related | |
| Mo Dao Zu Shi (donghua) | |
The Untamed (Chinese: 陈情令; pinyin: Chén Qíng Lìng) is a 2019 Chinese television series starring Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo. Based on the danmei novel Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, the series follows the adventures of two soulmate cultivators who travel to solve a series of mysteries that link to a tragic event in the past. It aired in China on Tencent Video from June to August 2019. A 20-episode special edition aired on WeTV on December 25, 2019. NewStyle Media Group (NSMG) owns the intellectual property of the series.
The Untamed was a critical and commercial success, both locally and internationally, with critics praising its strong plot, well-rounded characters, and elaborate clothing and makeup. While the original web novel depicted an explicit romance between the two main male characters, the adaptation was censored with homoerotic subtexts instead due to China's ban of LGBT portrayals in films.
The show quickly gained popularity, and edits and fanfictions flooded online channels. This sparked controversy among nationalist mainlanders, which led to the Xiao Zhan incident in 2020—where the one of the main actors of the show, Xiao Zhan, became the center of a nationwide scandal, after fans reported a boys' love fanfiction of The Untamed that was published on Archive of Our Own (AO3). This, in turn, resulted in the platform being banned in China due to strict LGBTQ+ regulations, amongst other censorship policies. The incident sparked major backlash, and created a platform for debate on media censorship and queer representation. In spite of all odds, the show was one of the highest-earning dramas of 2019.
According to Research Report on China's Internet Audiovisual Development for 2019 and the beginning of 2020, The Untamed ranked first in terms of popularity index. Due to the series' success, two spin-off movies focusing on supporting characters were released in 2019: Fatal Journey and The Living Dead. The series passed 9.5 billion views on Tencent Video in June 2021, a few days before the second anniversary of its airing date, making it one of the highest-viewed Chinese dramas on the platform. A mobile game based on the series is also set to be released by NetEase Games.