The Untamed

The Untamed (Chinese: 陈情令, pinyin: Chén Qíng Lìng) is a 2019 Chinese xianxia fantasy drama produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures, adapted from Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's danmei novel Mo Dao Zu Shi. The 50-episode series streamed on Tencent Video and WeTV and became one of the most widely watched Chinese dramas of its decade internationally.

Sixteen years after his death, Wei Wuxian (Xiao Zhan) is summoned back into a body not his own and finds himself standing beside Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo), the one person who never accepted the story the clans told about him. What begins as a string of unexplained killings pulls the two into re-opening the tragedy that ended Wei Wuxian's first life, and the series moves between the present investigation and the years the two spent as students, rivals and finally the only ally each had left. Around them the great clans manoeuvre: Jiang Cheng (Wang Zhuocheng), Jiang Yanli (Xuan Lu), Lan Xichen (Liu Haikuan), Wen Qing (Meng Ziyi) and Wen Ning (Yu Bin) each carry part of what went wrong.

BLGLFLIX classifies The Untamed as bromance rather than BL, and the distinction matters. The source novel tells the same story as a romance between the two men, but Chinese broadcast regulation does not permit depicting one on screen. The adaptation therefore rewrites the central relationship as an intense sworn bond, the devotion, the sacrifice and the shared history all remain, the romance is never stated. Viewers coming from the novel should know what was changed; viewers coming to it fresh will find one of the most closely watched male partnerships in Chinese television.