This Is it - Part 2

Six months ago, after much build up, I dropped part one of a two part review. Today you finally get the rest of it.

Surprisingly, you don't even have the hiatus to blame for this. In fact, it's probably because of the hiatus that I'm finally able to write the final part of this review. Our topic tonight is Mo Dao Zu Shi, or [roughly translated] The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. Let's call it GDC for short.

A quick recap: GDC was Chinese webnovel series that went on to be published in a physical novel form. Since then, it has receive four additional adaptations: an anime, a manhua (Chinese comic), a live action tv series, and most recently, a chibi anime series. GDC tells the tale of Wei Wuxian a talented and powerful young cultivator that went dark in his prime. The story takes place in a world wrought with evil spirits, beasts, and walking corpses that can only be dealt with by said cultivators. These cultivators belong to powerful clans and sects, which work to protect people in dangerous times. Which is why it should be no surprise that the clans would gather together to rid the world of of a dangerous, dark, rogue cultivator: Wei Wuxian. At the start of your journey you find that Wei Wuxian has died after a large siege on his den waged by the clans. However, the clans lived in fear that his spirit would return, and so they watched and prepared for a second fight- but nothing happens. Not only that, they cannot even communicate with his spirit- a common practice for cultivators. And so, the world finally rests easy... Until one day, sixteen years later when Wei Wuxian finds himself opening his eyes once more.

This story takes you on a wild journey of mystery, loss, betrayal, vicious battles and friendship, all in the form of a murder mystery. You follow Wei Wuxian through both the past and present to piece together exactly what happened 16 years ago and what in the world is happening now- all the while tackling the questions of good and evil, right and wrong, and friend versus foe to the bitter end. In our first review we covered the novels and the manhua, today we cover the rest!

The Anime:

Man, I never get tired of that art. In fact, I'm just going to be upfront about it: the art is my favorite part of this adaptation. I've been really considering all the adaptions these past couple weeks and I can honestly say that the anime is my least favorite take on the story. But hold your horses! Don't write it off just yet.

Even though it is my least favorite in the story category there are a lot of other things I love about it. For starter: the art. The art in the anime is leagues ahead of the art from the manhua. Not to mention the music! I loved the score and the way they chose to play the main instruments of the series, the flute and guquin, in their fight scenes. The animation of the characters and the settings are gorgeous, however they are very inconsistent. The animators tried to add CGI effects randomly throughout the series. Unfortunately, they are not good and can be distracting at times. If any one on the production team ever see's this please take my advise: forget the CGI- you don't need it!- the animation is perfection on it's own, I promise!

All of this is fine and dandy Allison, but why didn't you like the story!? Oh, peanut gallery, I missed you! Great question too, but wrong take-away! I didn't say I didn't like the story, because I did! What I said was it was my least favorite of the interpretations made. However, this ends up being a moot point, as it is actually the version that I recommend the most to people who want to experience the story. "The book is always better" is a very solid rule, and it still applies here. However, as I stated in the first review, the book is not for everyone and I would not list it on my recommended reading for majority of people. Though, in my opinion, it is a literary masterpiece when it comes to multi-timeline writing, it is X-Rated due to extreme violence, sexual content, and more. The anime gives you the characters and an over-arching telling of the story without any of that. There is no sexual content, and the graphic violence is significantly more subdued or blocked out. With that being said, they still managed to create incredible fight scenes and portray a lot of hidden emotions to nod at different relationships, which is more than we can ask for in a cross over like this.

My biggest complaint about this adaptation comes down to our characters. Without giving too much away, I don't like the way this adaptation built up Wei Wuxian's fate. I don't like the implications they make, as I feel it that I feel undermines his character's full potential. I also did not like the way they make Lan Wangji, our second lead character, appear filled with hatred at times, when I feel that also undermines his character! Overall, I just feel that the characters get sold a little short in comparison to their other original and adaptation counter parts.

Regardless of that, I do strongly recommend you checking out this anime. Be warned though, as Chinese subtitles are not for the faint of heart. They are much faster than Japanese or Korean subtitles if that is what you're used to. There are two seasons out right now, with a third season on the way in 2021. All of which can be viewed on YouTube.

The Live Action:

Hmmm, this one is loaded. I wasn't expecting it, but The Untamed really ended up holding a special place in my heart. Let's call it Stockholm Syndrome. You see, this live action is the reason this review took me so long. There are 50 episodes, each almost an hour long...it was a journey, and a painful one, at first.

If you have never watched a Chinese drama before- just like I hadn't- than let me stress one thing: it gets better, I promise! You see, we are spoiled. Spoiled little brats with great graphics. Which is something these Chinese dramas do NOT possess. Yes, the graphics and special effects are absolutely atrocious. Comical even. But I swear to you that it gets better, you get used to it, and you fall in love with these actors and their portrayal of these beloved characters. These suckers even made me cry a couple times!

This story is vastly different from the other adaptations because they decided to change the main mystery plot point. They also removed most of the key relationships and created new ones, but I genuinely would go so far as to compare this to Harry Potter. WAIT, put down your pitch forks and hear me out! I compare the two because the Harry Potter movies were different from the Harry Potter books, however both are still loved and successful in their own right. The Untamed was able to do the same thing: even though the live action is almost a different story from the books, it is still magical, powerful and provokes a lot of emotion.

Once again, I highly recommend you give this series a chance- please push past the bad effects- and find the treasure trove of adventure behind them! Plus, you can conveniently find The Untamed on Netflix!

The Chibi Anime:

This one is so fun because Mo Dao Zu Shi Q is brand new! You might have noticed, I didn't even mention this one the first review and that's because it didn't exist yet. This chibi series just dropped last month and is still currently airing on YouTube.

This series of cuteness is an adorable take on our otherwise traumatized characters, and I am here for it. The episodes are only a couple minutes each, more like 'shorts' than episodes really, but are satisfying enough. They show cute little quips of what you would expect from the characters outside of their main story, while still showing where they are in relation to the timeline of the story, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I don't have a crazy lot to say because this is just a cute little addition to the franchise. One that I hope is helping to push us in the direction of having not only English translated books but also PG-13 editions so I can finally put it on my recommended read list for all of you. How could the chibi series make that happen Allison? Well, it couldn't by itself, peanut gallery, BUT, to be honest, I am speculative that the chibi series was created to test waters. The Untamed, Mo Dao ZU Shi (the anime), and Mo Dao Zu Shi (the webnovels) have been gaining a lot of attention in the states. My theory is they created this spin off to see if it would also be successful before trying to actually publish here. What that means is: go watch the chibi series! Alli needs her books!

Overall, I think it is pretty solid and safe to say that the GDC franchise is one of my all-time favorites and will probably stay there for a long time [if not ever]. I do encourage you to check out one or all of these and tell me what you think! I'd love to pick your brain on it! Not literally- I'm not a walking corpse, so no need to call in the cultivators!

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Thank you so much for joining me tonight for a part two review on one of my favorite series! Say an extra prayer for James and Chase because I am sure they are tired of me talking about this for the last six months (also don't tell them but I'm probably still going to keep talking about it, shhh). I hope you're having a wonderful week and are up to your nose in your own series adventure! If not, now you have one recommended! I will be back with you all this Sunday with The Mess. But, in the mean time, always remember to stay nerdy and stay messy otaku!