El Lobo (2020)

(´･ - ･｀) an emotional rollercoaster

unlike others, i didn't wait for the wolf for three years with high anticipation, so i picked the drama up without any expectations. if you're interested in a plot-driven drama with a complex story, you might want to skip because the wolf mainly focuses on the characters & a lot of back and forth drama.

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story + production: 8.0/10

a bittersweet and tragic love story between our main characters, lang zai (wolfie) played by wang talu/darren wang, and xing'er, played by li qin, that takes us on a journey of heartbreak, betrayal, and sacrifice. note that this isn't a drama that centers around an intricate plot but more on the relationships and interactions between the characters. while the plot was unique in its own way, it wasn't extraordinary and without flaws. due to china's censorship, deleted scenes and poor writing, there are some points of inconsistency in the story and within the characters themselves.

there are weak villians with prolonged misunderstandings and the drama shouldn't have relied on them to carry the show. for some viewers, this may become frustrating and redundant if you aren't already invested in the lead's relationship. however, the general pacing of the story was not bad! it slows down at the middle (roughly around episodes 30 - 36) but picks up again. i personally wasn't bothered too much by any of the above and thought the last 12 episodes began to make up for the mess. despite its flaws, i enjoyed it for what it was.

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acting: 9.0/10

the cast really did the best they could with what they were given... i don't know where to begin, lol. as much as i enjoyed it, objectively, the writing was just not good,,, this is what created inconsistency and stunted much of the character development in this series.

☆ chu youwen/ lang zai (darren wang): darren was undeniably the perfect choice for the role of wolf boy + prince bo. i was impressed by his acting and thought he did a good job at portraying the complexity of his character (which people may disagree with) and i think his appearance helped embody his character, lol. hes very expressive, especially in showing emotions through his eyes. you could feel the hostility from him as prince bo and the inner turmoil he had in his loyalty to the emperor and how he struggled to hold onto his humanity, but also the kind-hearted & pure person he was as wolf boy. one of my favorite scenes of darren's "eye-acting" was in episode 19! i wanted more wolf boy tbh lol

☆ ma zhaixing (li qin): theres a lot to say about xing'er as a character and you either love or hate her, but i think i'm in the minority here because i liked her... first, li qin is really talented and beautiful (´･ᴗ･`♡) and has a way of portraying naive characters who don't feel overbearing. as the drama progresses, her acting definitely gets better! its understandable that people thought she was frustrating but tbh i kind of liked that she was very human and made mistakes and had her flaws. also, she was forced to change, traumatized, constantly lied to from the people around her, and had everything taken from her. i don't blame her for desperately holding on. for many reasons, whether it was their stubbornness and flaws, wolf boy and mzx were a good match for each other. the final couple episodes had me crying & i wish we could have seen them happy together on wolf hunt mountain. you too start to wish that they could just live the simple life they've always wanted to together without all the agony (´･_･｀)

☆ ji chong (xiao zhan): second lead syndrome for many and a lovable character although i'll admit that i didn't get sls this time since i felt prince bo & xing'er had stronger chemistry! this and the untamed weren't the first dramas i saw him in, it was actually o!me (2017 was the year of xz never getting the fl lol) but he did great in his first big role as ji chong. you can definitely see how much he has progressed from the wolf to the untamed.

and honorable mention for yao ji (xin zhi lei) because she was a great character, if only they didn't (so obviously) cut out so much of her storyline.

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music: 9.0/10

i really enjoyed the ost for this drama, although some might think the opening may be out of place for a historical drama, i thought it was fitting considering its meant to be historical fantasy (the scenes of him with red eyes, turning into a wolf, the warrior wolves, etc were basically cut) the instrumental tracks were good and set the mood for the series, imo. the only song i felt neutral about and skipped was the ending.

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rewatch value: 8.5/10

to be honest, i rarely rewatch things but i found myself going back to watch certain clips and episodes pretty often. i would rewatch this in full because there are a lot of touching/captivating scenes, especially the ones that built tension with silence (i.e: the bridge scene where he catches the perfume satchet!)

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overall: 9.0/10 (but its really an 8.5 lol)

tbh ..... i've seen way worse dramas rated higher than the wolf, and to me i think its a fair 8.0 - 8.5 but i have emotional attachment/bias lol if you are put off by what may be a constant push and pull situation, it definitely may not be for you. however i liked this messy sacrificial romance and was invested in their relationship so i enjoyed it. there are plenty of mixed reviews, but viewers should decide for themselves. overall, i'm glad i gave this a watch and the acting is what made me pull through even though the execution of the story is average.

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Binge Worthy

This drama is definitely binge worthy. I have lost sleep watching this drama and it’s well worth it! I love the characters and the actors and actresses who play them. My emotions have gone from excitement to sadness to anger then absolute joy with this one! Every emotion is felt with The Wolf and that’s why I love it! I am eagerly awaiting episode 49 which should be available later today. I don’t typically re watch dramas but this one will be watched more than once for sure. I think my favorite thing to watch are all the facial expressions made by Darren Wang. He is the absolute best at expressing emotion!

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Horrible plot and characters are lacking

I tried really hard to support this show because of Xiao Zhan, but I struggled the entire time. It was such a letdown because I was hyped waiting for it to be released, but the story just falls short.

The female lead was a chore to watch, and it was absolutely aggravating to sit through her brainless floundering about while they were building up her character development. She is so idiotic (even though they tried to portray her as intelligent), gullible and weak.

Lord Bo, the male lead was very attractive to look at but oh my god, was he toxic and moronic. The push and pull dynamic between the two leads made me want to rip my hair out and was unbearable to watch. Also, the way they tried to give Lord Bo "special abilities" because he was "raised by wolves" was idiotic. Being raised by wild animals doesn't automatically make you superman. Your body composition is still those of a human. *cue heavy eye roll*

There really should have been a trigger warning for episode 15 (I believe it was 15).

Ji Chong was the only saving grace and tolerable character. He was supportive without being overbearing, kind without being a pushover and he truly loved her. There is no logical reason that anyone would choose Lord Bo over Ji Chong, other than a contrived plot device.

Overall, the production value of this show was high and the cast were all great actors in portraying their roles, however, the story was just lacking and even with heavy suspension of belief, I still couldn't stomach it.

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Love , hate relationship

Unlike most , what gets on me is the "super natural" power of the wolf, however the story gets better as it goes.
Perhaps some people may be annoyed and disappointed as how the wolf treats the princess , it takes patience to see how it unfolds, one to understand each character, their upbringing, what they went through, the culture to understand their behavior and why it so.
Darren Wang as a rather new actor in drama, fit the role of cold, fierce Bo Wang, and the innocent side of LangZai. The emotion, the love hate relation tug at my heartstring, It has been a while , I have not experienced this kind of emotion ride as most of the shows I have watched recently are those heroes who are always there just in time to protect, treat their heroines with attention, care , love....
The ending is somehow not so convincing.
If you have seen the same review somewhere, I am the same author of the following comment

*SPOLIER ALERT*
Bo Wang is the team leader, part of the team and the team killed her family. He knows Xinger wants to revenge, he is split in between. I had thought along how likely people would react if you could be part of the tragic of your loved one. Which is a better way to help someone grow on strategy and strength- always there to protect, always purposely losing to her or via versa?
The emperor has paranoid personality, when Xinger thought 2nd prince was the culprit of the family massacre, she confronted the emperor, what would it be like when she knows the truth, most likely she would have been killed before she can revenge. (emperor behind the scheme. At that point, Xinger is indeed too weak and soft hearted to stand against the cunning emperor).
Bo Wang's "cruelness", stays to deceive and prevent the emperor from doing more harm , the emperor was lured to go to the war with his troops . He shifted the massacre blame from team to himself, hoping that will lift the hatred/revenge from her shoulder with his death (perhaps it can be stupid or there is a better way to do it. Original plot is he is indeed the one who conducted the massacre, perhaps staying with this plot will be more convincing , which however could mean that the couples will be more unlikely to be together)

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excellent character

i think the story its a bit drag, but each character have excellent job with their roles
What I dont like the early episode where the Li qin and Lord Bo keep misunderstanding and like a couple like fight and the okay again then the repeat the cycle again. Some said that its show their pure love but for me when you Princess Silver that was pure love. The action start at Ep 30 and above. the early episode more to the love between Li qin and Lord Bo. For Ma zhai xing character from a naive and innocent character from bad ass female is truly impressive. Darren wang is a versatile actor that put any character . For Ji chong the first drama i watched Him at the untamed where i think not so strong but in this episode he really improve a lot and Second Lead Syndrome is real.

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I loved most of this story but where it messed up for me during the ending of episode 23. I hate when these stories go up and down with their characters. You have a lineup of great actors and actresses but play them like the pieces in a GO chess game. I will have to come back to rewatch and try to focus. The main characters I love for sure. Darren Wang played Chu You Wen / Prince Bo, I never watch this actor before, but it seems like this role fit his character. Handsome that he is, I mean handsome. I will be checking out more of his work. Li Qin who played Ma Zhai Xing / Princess Ping Yuan I love the strong character she played. Sean Xiao who played Ji Chong / Li Ju Yao / Prince Chuan, I love this actor, but this is where I feel the writers had it wrong in the storyline. I hated that he accepted to play this role. He deserved better. Xin Zhi Lei who played Yao Ji, I hope the next role she plays is not an evil person. This actress is very beautiful and deserves to play something other than someone evil or a saintess. Maybe she likes that kind of role.

I loved all of the visuals of Martial Art, costumes, and scenery. There should have been a better ending. If it wasn't for the characters I would have rated a lower rating. I couldn't do that to Sean Xiao or the actors. They did their job.

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Annoying leads and their boring story

It could be the first drama where i hated the main leads n forwarded their scenes😭 I mean I wanted to like them but I couldn't at all to the extent I was happy that the fl is dying😭🤣 becos she was the most annoying ckt. She was wolfie obsessed not in love with ML as whole but only with the Wolfie with whom she played with in her childhood n wanted that Wolfie who was jst like her innocent pet but didn't like the grown up man much who has suffered so much n became wat he became due to circumstances. She needed to understand that people grow n change due to their good/bad circumstances, u can't expect them to remain same as they were in their childhood. I was so irritated with the fl doing stupid things, putting herself n evryone in danger n getting saved by either ML or SML n then getting hailed as someone so smart and noble n courageous 🥴.
I loved ji chong and yaoji ckts the most. Yaoji was such a badass n had such aura n charm n screen presence n ckt that i wanted her to endup with the ML n was rooting for it. But sadly she wasn't the lucky one, but I loved her anyway. The fl was only tolerable with ji chong for me. Ji chong was more suitable to the fl type ckt becos he really made her strong n reasoned with her n made her understand things in better way. ML as individual was okayish as ckt. The only enjoyable parts for me was of ji chong and from 2nd half when fl goes to Jin country. I was bored to death with first half n wanted to drop it bt continued anyway for ji chongs ckt and story😭.
The ost n music was okayish too. Not much addicting. I didn't feel any chemistry in leads even though they had so many kiss scenes n skinship scenes. Ji chong n fl had some chemistry but that also was not much root worthy too.
All in all torturous experience watching this show for xiao zhan like many of his fans watched for him😭 was happy wen it ended, won't rewatch ever again.

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A Must Watch!!!

This show is a masterpiece! The storyline was incredibly well-written, and the actors absolutely nailed their performances. Wang Ta Lu was perfect as Prince Bo, he really embodied the misunderstood yet sophisticated character. The chemistry between the characters was off the charts. Personally, I wish there was more focus on the romance instead of all the politics and breakups. Just a heads up tho: This drama is not for the weak as it deals with a lot of pain and heartbreaks. Prince Bo's character might even trigger some viewers because of his complex personality as the show delves into some deep emotional territory. Despite that, I still thoroughly enjoyed the show. Definitely worth watching! A 9.5/10 for me. I had to reduce 0.5 for the sad ending 😅

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The Wolf – Romeo Juliette

I liked this series as a whole, primarily for the stella cast. Everyone did a great job, but kudos to the 2 main leads and the 3 supporting lead casts. From the start it was about romance and it didn’t disappoint. The initial story idea is great, kind of a Romeo, Juliette. The 2 leads have great chemistry and should have had more scenes together especially in the last 10 episodes. Whether they were together or fighting against each other you were drawn into the pain and love they had for each other. There are 49 episodes and I enjoyed about 39. The best episodes are 19 and 37,38 and the first part of the series is much better than the second part. This is due to the writing and direction and not the cast. There are still a few good scenes in the last 10 episodes but it becomes predictable, boring and silly. Had I not invested 39 hours watching the first 39 episodes, I would have stopped watching. The best scene in the last 10 episodes in between Yoa Ji and Wolfie (episode 39 - Fireside Chat).

What I liked:
Liked this was centered around a love story between the 2 main leads from their childhood. Liked Night Fury, should have been more scenes like in episode 4. Liked that fact that there was background to many of the characters (except Yoa Ji). Liked the fact that they provided context with rewinds of past memories for Wolfie and Ma Zhar Xing. Liked the fact that despite what was happening we knew Ma Zhar Xing and Wolfie always wanted to protect the other. Liked the music! With some corrections listed below it could have been a classic

Things I didn’t like.
The depressing ending, which showed a severe lack of writing creativity that I expected after episode 19 (cliff jump). The ending reminded me of a bad mid-70’s kung fu movie.
Didn’t like the theme change in the last 10 episodes, trying to bring peace to the world.
Didn’t like much in the last 10 episodes. Boring with significant edits. These episodes couldn’t be saved even without the edits There were a few good scenes, but the writing is a major issue..
Didn’t like how Ma Zhar Xing learned the truth about Wolfie (episode 45). Early in the series she was revered for her intelligence, able to solve investigations, mysteries and find the truth. Alas in the latter episodes she has to be told the truth by Ji Chong (very disappointed). I wanted the series to stay true to what it had built on at the beginning, using her intelligence to figure out what really happened to her family and the elements during the Boxiang battle (episode 37). I would have preferred she figured it out herself as stated, but at the very least have Yoa Ji provide the truth setting up some tension not ji Chong.
We were supposed to believe that Ma Zhar Xing had grown, matured and changed but the only change was that she developed hatred believing Wolfie had killed her family.
The Yoa Ji character should have had more interactions with Ma Zhar Xing in the later episodes, instead of using her in scenes with the emperor’s court.

Things I don’t understand:
Ma Zhar Xing felt sorrow for Wolfie after the loss of his family killed by her own family, but didn’t think Wolfie deserved revenge, the way she did when she thought he killed her family.
Why didn’t Chu Ki (emperor) not use Night Fury to address the threat from his son Chu Yu Gui (2nd pince)?
How does Chu Yu Gui (emperor’s 2nd son) challenge for the throne after only getting out of prison a few days?
Why did the scene in the Longevity Forest in episode 45 not get cut (juvenile writing - Princess Boa rescue scene)?
Why would Wolfie need to rescue Night Fury (episode 45) if he’s going to be taking down the Chu Kui and Chu Yu Gui (emperor and son) 5 days later?
Why does Ma Zhar Xing throw her sword at the tree instead of killing Chu Yu Gui (episode 45)?
Why did Ma Zhar Xing get married (episode 40) a day after her return to quiet critics, wouldn’t that generate more talk?
During the early episodes both Ma Zhar Xing and Wolfie are narrating, how it that possible if they’re dead in the end?
Why did Ma Zhar Xing sacrifice herself in the end knowing that her people depend on her staying alive?
How do you square the 2 main leads and heroes having the same fate as the 2 main nemesis? –

Notice all these issues are later in the series. The problems are because there isn’t a book/novel as a guide or reference, so the writers struggled badly after a pretty strong beginning.

Despite all this, it’s worth a watch, but…. The sad ending, poor writing, bad editing throughout averts a rewatch. I would probably be interested in a director’s cut though.

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What I liked:
- the love between the main leads, despite everything that happened between them
- the male lead's silent sacrifices for the female lead.
- the acting of the cast
- OST - I liked the 對立面 by Jolin Tsai. Each time this song was played in the drama, I could feel the emotions of the main leads and felt very sad.

What I disliked:
- the ending - I was hoping that after all they have been through, they would move to the mountains and live there together forever, away from all the disturbances and unhappiness.
- the occasional rough treatment of the male lead towards the female lead in the early episodes

Watching this drama, many times I felt very sad but also extremely touched by the love of the main leads for each other. Really wanted them to be together and live happily ever after in the mountains.

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An extreme emotional ride

I have some complexed emotions about this drama.
It is not the greatest drama.
Some episodes had questionable directions and bizarre writing; however good grief, it was damn good.
The characters’ complexities were enticing.
The musical selections were on point.

And Darren Wang just blew my mind... and other things...
This actor has virility to sale... to share... to donate...;)
To say that he was ON FIRE; does not quite describe completely the depiction of the Chu You Wen/Lord Bo character.
I, for one, thought Darren Wang’s performance was undeniably stunning.
There were a multitude of intricate facets to the Chu You Wen/Lord Bo character.
Darren Wang knocked it out of the park.
Without saying many words; his pain, his cruelty, his aggressiveness, his viciousness and his profound love resonated and emitted throughout and from his entire person.
And that is an extraordinary feat for an actor to accomplish; while, wearing a perpetual impenetrable stoic face.
It felt if I had blinked just once, I would have missed something...

That was produced 3 years ago; I can not wait to see his more recent projects.

Fyi:
Let us take a moment to acknowledge that the best ancient Chinese man hairstyle of 2020...
Goes to Lord Bo.

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Beautiful lovestory : love is stonger than anything, so is hate

I admit that this drama was on my watchlist just because of Xiao Zhan and Xiao Qin staring together ! I was not quite interested in watching a "beauty and beast lovestory" cause I was sure to find too many clichés ! Actually this drama is amazing ! First of all I was astonished by Taiwanese actor Wang Da Lu (The Wolf). Honestly he incarnates his character so nicely and perfectly ! You may think that he was really raised with wolves ! Watch out, you may have a crush on him even when he plays evil.
Everything is just great : storyline, acting, soundtrack.
It's all about relationships and hardships : love (or cursed love ?), trust, friendship, misunderstandings, betrayals, hate, redemption. It's also about power, war, political issues and schemings. But over all it's about love, the love that can heal evrything, the love that makes oneselves sacrifying for others, the love that makes you suffer willingly...
I really enjoyed this drama very much. I was always wandering what would happen next and was eager to next episode.
Couple Wand Dalu and Xiao Qin has great chemistry and is amazing !
Bravo to the whole team of this drama : you have done such a great job !

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