O Lobo (2020)

Patiently waited 3 years for this. . . .

The story is pretty similar to other tropes done before. The main difference is the background of the male lead. Darren Wang plays Lang Zai/Prince Bo. He was raised by wolves and after he and Xing Er (Li Qin) meet at a younger age, they become close friends. Misunderstandings happen, Lang Zai's entire wolf family is killed and, thinking Xing Er betrayed him; Lang Zai is taken in by the ruler of Yang Kingdom, renamed Prince Bo, and raised to become a lethal weapon at the discretion of his foster father. During these 8 years of separation, Prince Bo has become cold and calculating while Xing Er maintained her kindness that's now mixed with sorrow due to her guilt at the failure to save Lang Zai. They meet again after Prince Bo's people are given the orders to and follow through with killing Xing Er's family. Now alone, Xing Er believes Prince Bo and his people to be her saviors and soon they are betrothed to each other (a ploy by the king to control the remnants of Xing Er's family's army). Their relationship starts off antagonistic because Prince Bo still believes she intentionally betrayed him but after the misunderstandings are cleared, he returns to treating her with the love and care he always held for her. Sadly good things never last long, and they are separated by more misunderstandings when Prince Bo realizes the true evil nature of his foster father. This leads to them eventually standing on opposite sides of a long-coming war.

I think this is one of those dramas where, if you have an enjoyment for angst and misunderstandings, then this will be your cup of tea. The leads do spend nearly half the story on opposite sides due to the misunderstandings that the male lead refuses to mend (for his own reasons). The noble idiocy/sacrifice trope is the main cause of their misunderstandings but we see that both Prince Bo and Xing Er employ this when they make the choices to protect each other.

I personally enjoyed the soundtrack (I'm still searching for the song from the trailer from 3 years ago). The opening theme is alluring but I think the gem is Song Nian Yu's "Heaven Wolf Star 天狼星." It gives a melancholic, lullaby-esque feeling of heartbreak that perfectly matches the journey of love, separation, longing, and loss between Prince Bo/Lang Zai and Xing Er.

I really do think the cast is the selling point of this drama.
Let's start with the obvious: the three main leads are very good-looking. The three have similar facial structures (longer faces, slim noses, high cheekbones, etc) so all three complement each other very well. Styling-wise, Li Qin looks beautiful like she always does. I don't think the styling was flattering to the men. I loved Darren Wang's hairstyle but the outfits he wore made him look clunky. You can tell he's built but slim and his attire made him look bulky. I had the opposite opinion of Xiao Zhan. His attire was fine but his wig towards the end didn't highlight his facial features. Regardless, they all still looked beautiful because it would take a lot to make any of these 3 look unattractive. Truthfully, no matter who Xing Er ended up with, she looked fabulous with both.

My interest in this drama came from Darren Wang and Li Qin. I saw "Legend of the Naga Pearls" back in 2017 and instantly liked Darren because of his versatility as an actor. His characters from one work to the next were drastically different and it was his allure for me.
Li Qin has always been a weakness for me. Despite playing characters with similar dispositions/trajectories, she does it with an endearment that's very enjoyable to watch. She is one of those few actresses who can portray the "innocent, naive, and spoiled" female lead without making the role seem ignorant or annoying. I'm happy Xiao Zhan was here too since I did love him from "The Untamed" but if this drama had aired before 2019, I still would've watched it solely for Darren Wang.

Darren Wang is a gem and I don't think this drama truly allowed him to showcase his talent. He is so interesting to watch because he can pull off any character given to him. He has this innocence to him when he's Lang Zai that makes you want to stick him in a bubble so he will never get hurt. But as Prince Bo, he exudes hostility and malice. When he has on his veneer of cruelty, it makes you instinctively take a step back but then. . .he smiles his sincere smile and you question everything you know about life. Darren Wang has this extremely boyishly handsome smile that just wipes away any trace of doubt you could have in him.
Xiao Zhan has been very lucky because he's been able to play lovable characters, even as the second romantic lead. I don't say this to mean it takes away from Xiao Zhan's acting; he is a very talented actor. He certainly brings life to the lovable characters he does play which makes them more endearing. My first encounter with Xiao Zhan came from "Oh! My Emperor." As soon as I saw him smile, I became a sucker for him. He, like Darren Wang, has this amazingly handsome smile. Their smiles just melt your heart because there's this undeniable sense of awe in them. But when they smirk, it makes you want to simultaneously slap and kiss them.
As for this drama, Ji Chong is so awesome! He becomes Xing Er's rock and steadily stays by her side while respecting that her heart belongs to Prince Bo/Lang Zai. He has no malicious intents and he's reasonable. After a point, Ji Chong and Prince Bo/Lang Zai have a heart-to-heart, lay all their cards on the table, and reach a mutual respect and understanding with each other.
(SPOILER) Ji Chong is the reason why Prince Bo/Lang Zai and Xing Er are able to reconcile. If you didn't love Xiao Zhan before, you probably will after finishing this drama.
A very fantastic characteristic of this drama is how the two male leads approach each other. They are obviously rivals for the affections of the female lead, but neither fight in an underhanded way. When they pursue her, there's no purposeful deception about the other male and they both respect the choices of the female lead. It's also really telling that both men acknowledge the other is a man of quality and is worth entrusting the female lead to. Sadly, that kind of character maturity and self-awareness doesn't happen too often in dramas.

Overall, I don't think the story itself is anything spectacular but it was an enjoyable watch, especially if you love the cast like I did.

Leia Mais

on being strong, on love, and on this drama in general

This drama started out good. The cinematography was great, the CGI effects were at least not terrible, and everything the actors did made sense. It was heartbreaking seeing the first of many conflicts form between the two main leads who shared such innocent and beautiful love for each other. If I had to summarize the main reason for nearly all these conflicts and misunderstandings, it would be:

"If I emotionally hurt this person, they won't care for me anymore and will leave this place. This way, they won't be further hurt by forces I can't control. This way, they won't die."

This is a common trope that plays out in wuxia/xianxia c-dramas, with the characters thinking that the worse thing that could happen to anyone is for them to die. It's considered the "noble" thing for them to do. The question is, then, if it's so "noble" for them to do, why does it cause so many conflicts and misunderstandings? When the female lead first played out this trope, I could understand. They were both young, and the world was against them. When it happened again, and again, and again, I quickly got tired of how the male lead (Bo Wang) kept on humiliating, insulting and degrading the female lead all in the name of playing the noble sacrificial idiot. All the insults he hurled at her were apparently supposed to make her become stronger, but to me it just left an bad taste in my mouth. Bo Wang was supposed to love her. He was not supposed to make her cry and make her feel inadequate for being gentle and compassionate and warm. His belief that being strong meant being heartless and cruel is completely wrong and I hope the viewers out their don't come out of the drama thinking they want to fit these standards of being "strong". Being heartless and cold is not strength. It just simply means you don't have the ability to be vulnerable -- and to be vulnerable requires much more courage and bravery than boxing yourself up in a cold detached armor does.

Sure, maybe this part of Bo Wang's personality can be explained by being raised by wolves, or being put through torture by the king to become a killing machine. Maybe some people can say that his loyalty to his fellow soldiers and brothers meant he wasn't completely heartless. Maybe his strength on the battlefield means he gets a free pass at treating the woman he was supposed to love the most in the world horribly. I don't know about you, but the way he does whatever the emperor wants him to do even though his heart may be telling him to do the exact opposite just tells me that he's a cowardly man who's afraid to stand up for what matters the most to him.

Now, on to the acting. I haven't seen Wang Dalu in any of his dramas in the past, so I don't know if this is his usual level of acting. In the first arc, I fully believed him when he played the role of the naive wolf boy. He had a childish gaze and a genuine smile that melted my heart. It was when he became Bo Wang that I became confused by his acting. I sometimes couldn't understand why he would have a particular expression on his face. Was he trying to be Bo Wang playing the wolf boy? Or was he the wolf boy coming out from Bo Wang's inner heart and trying to show that oh, Bo Wang does have a heart? Overall, I'd give his acting in this drama maybe a 7/10.

Onto the female lead. Li Qin is good as usual. She's in many historical dramas and always tends to play the character of an innocent clueless girl who, through many hardships and obstacles, becomes worldly and wise. Not much to complain about here -- her character is believable and familiar. There's nothing about this character that really surprised me. I"d give her a score of 8.5/10.

On to Ji Chong. His character made me crack up in the beginning. His mysterious and suave personality was often comedic relief when the relationship between the two main leads got particularly tense. He has jokes up his sleeves LMAO. I'd say he was a good opposition character to Bo Wang because they were both princes, but their personality could not be anymore different. Ji Chong was thoughtful, funny, and compassionate. The one complaint I have is that after he truly and fully accepted the role of being Jing Guo's prince again, his character was minimized into being just a romantic partner for the female lead. I can almost say that everything this character does is due to the simple reason of liking the female lead. That's really all there is to this character in the second half of the drama. It was disappointing to see a character I had such high hopes for become such a bland and one dimensional character. I don't really know if this was the script, or just because this was Xiao Zhan's first big role, but I wish there were more levels to his acting that would have fully fleshed out this character as a powerful prince of an entire country. I'd give his acting an 8/10

tldr: everything would have been fine and no misunderstandings would have happened if only the two main leads were honest with each other. I would not want to be the female lead character.

Leia Mais

Regretting not dropping it ,, I stayed for the actors and the music

First of all I watched this drama because of the hype that was about it while it was on air,, just because Xiao Zhan was part of it after the untamed we needed any thing with Xiao Zhan in it ,, that was the main reason for me to watch it
it started without him and I liked the two main leads also the story started really strong and fast paced
I enjoyed it at first to about episode 18 and then the Going around on the same circle began
going around and around the same story of the girl not knowing what the wolf real intention are and him laying to her abusing her psychologically ,, saving her from danger some sweet moments then going back to lying and deceiving and plotting against her in the name of protecting her and loving her
she hates him cry ,, endanger herself to get saved by him yet again then loving him few moments then hating him again
and that circle repeated itself for about 30 episodes ,, no politics no actual war or military actions no other side stories
just that over and over ,,, the side character didn't have much to tell about their own stories
I wanted to drop it at episode 29 but some fan said it will pick up the pace later in thirty something and it didn't ,, it just changed direction added Xiao Zhan's character to compete for her love with the main lead and them trying to win her over ,, one by rebelling her from him and the other by acting as her savior and servant
This was brutal watch of people annoying each other most of the time
Xiao Zhan's acting was amazing as his first role but it was really good
The only thing that I really love about this drama is the music and the songs in the scenes were really good
I regret the time I lost on this story but now I finished it by skipping alot to the end
and I'm not recommending this to anyone
the romance is dull and repetitive and the ending is tragic without meaning

Leia Mais

*sniffs, grabs tissues* A BEAUTIFUL SELFLESS yet SACRIFICIAL LOVE STORY

I just finished this drama. I don't even know where to start. *lemme grab some tissues*
Okay I just want to say that I gave the rewatch value a 7 because there were just too many scenes where I shed tears so I knew I wouldn't want to rewatch every single episode.
I'm currently a mess with a pile of tissues and my screen blurry because i'm half crying.
~just pointing out this drama hit home for me and made me cry so much because it made me realize how short life is and how precious every moment in life is. It made me understand what selflessness was and for once I was afraid. I was afraid of losing someone I knew. This is a bit personal but i thought id share. me and my mom haven't been on the bestest of terms and she has several illness and so this drama just made me realize that no matter how much we hate each other, at the end, we both truly love each other and secretly care and worry for each other. Life is short, don't take it for granted.~
ok. onto the review.
*its not going to be a plot review fyi it would take too long lol*
1. the production
This drama was incredibly breathtaking. Every single shot was worthy enough to be my desktop wallpaper. The costumes were just immaculate and fit every single character and scene perfectly whether it be happy, grieving, or anger. The cinematography as I mentioned was just incredible. The fighting scenes were one of my favorite parts to watch.
2. The story
The story was well paced and well written. One of the best dramas I have ever watched (coming from someone who watches many historical cdramas) Sure while watching it I felt some scenes could've been fast forwarded but now looking back every thing was worth it and a meaning.
This drama tells the story of the tragic romance between our 2 leads. Early on, it is pretty visible that they aren't destined to be, sadly. However, what we get is an incredibly MOVING AND TEAR JERKING story about their love.
The message/theme of this drama is about how ruthless and power hungry humanity is and how it brought innocent people like the wolf/prince bo and manufactured them into little puppets to control. What's super interesting and unique about this story is that the main character, wolfie was actually raised with wolves. He was super innocent and righteous never seeing the dark side of humans. But due to a betrayal that was meant to protect him, his view on people changed and became cold and very untrustworthy of his surroundings. Then throughout the rest of the drama, we see him struggling with his 2 identities: being prince bo aka the evil king's puppet and the other being wolfie, being by his true love, ma zhai xing our FL (the one person who doesn't view him as a monster).
In the first half of the drama I felt hatred towards wolfie/prince bo and was so frustrated with his actions but as the story unfolded, I felt sympathy and empathy for him. I realized how selfless and sacrificial he was along. He stayed true to his one and only love, ma zhaixing never once wanting to hurt her. What made me fall in love with this and become so invested in this was his character and his undeniable love he had for xinger. How willing he was to hurt himself to protect singer at all costs throughout all the misunderstandings and break ups they had. I just cannot explain this well enough but all you need know is that once you watch this you will be on a journey and cry so hard but fall in love with this character. I used up 2 boxes of tissues while watching the last 15 episodes.
Darren Wang played his character, wolf/prince bo so perfectly, better than I could've imagined. His subtle expressions, smirks, grins, just everything captured the wolf to the T. Also might I just add he looked fire with the costume and hair and in the fighting scenes.
At some points, I was quite disappointed and a bit frustrated with the FL's character and was actually quite close to quitting the drama but thank god i continued. She grew up, matured and realized that life wasn't black and white and accepted the harsh realities of life. The leads had chemistry for sure. Her character in the last 10ish episodes really just solidified my love for this drama. Ugh.
Besides our 2 awesome leads, there was an amazing supporting cast especially our second Ml *sadly tragic doesn't end up with the FL* Ji Chong played by Xiao Zhan. XZ played ji chong really well. His character was the classic example of the 2nd tragic ML that was always there for the FL and was kind, supporting and respectful for her. Towards the end what made me love that character even more was how willing he was to let go of xinger and support her going back to wolfie instead of staying with him.
i just cant-wolfie and ji chong-yall gonna make me use another box of tissues.
Besides ji chong, we had 2 other female leads that were quite interesting to say the least and an antagonist that made me want to punch him in the face. Everyone played their role super well huge props.
3. OSTs
IF THERE'S ONE THING YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS PLEASE LISTEN TO THE WHOLE OST
wow. and i thought there wasn't more i could say bout this drama. this ost was *chefs kiss*. Each song accompanied each scene so well and just made the tears flow even harder. Thank goodness it's not on spotify or else i would be crying in class. While listening to it, it just hits you in that spot and is just encaptivating. I'm listening to it while writing this review and i'm already reliving the drama in my head. BEST OST OF ALL TIME THANK YOU VERY MUCH
4. The ending.........what can i say...they were never fated. Sure they reconciled at the end but knew it wasn't going to work out. I cried harder than i have ever cried while watching a drama or anything.

IN CONCLUSION
please watch. you will not regret it. if you are thinking about dropping it, please don't. its a true gem and one of the best dramas of all time at least for me.

if you've read up to here, wow.....thank you! hopefully you'll love it too!

Leia Mais

Best C-drama of 2020

I watched this show because of Li Qin and I have never seen any of Xiao Zhan or Darren Wang's dramas before but it seems most people are watching The Wolf because of Xiao Zhan and his popularity from Untamed. What captivated me from the very beginning was the selfless love that Zhai Xing (Li Qin) had for Lang Zai. I was surprised at the incredibly fast-paced, action-packed storyline with barely any fillers. From beginning till end, it never lost its pacing which is exceptional as I find a lot of C-dramas rush at the end and just kill everyone off but this series feels so complete from beginning to end. It really is a satisfying series to watch with many action and fighting scenes, beautiful scenary, exceptional acting, strong storyline, really loveable characters and a heart-wrenching love story that will make you tear and cry.

Darren and Li Qin did such an amazing job and they have very strong chemistry. They had some really difficult scenes to act out but they nailed it. Darren was impressive and he had such dynamic acting. He was the gentle and kind Lang Zai as well as the cruel and powerful Bo Wang who was vicious from his brutal training by the emperor. Yet he loved Zai Xing so deeply that I have to say, this was one of the most touching love stories I have seen in a C-drama. Xiao Zhan was very cute and he played his role out well, I understand why so many ppl had SL syndrome but I was rooting for the ML and FL from start to end. The ML and FL lead had to go through was so much torment and suffering, I really just wanted them to be happy.

This series isn't perfect with some unrealistic scenes but I am totally ok with that. I was trying to take my time to watch the show to really savour it but I binged watched it in several days like many people here. I felt so sad and heartbroken at the end with a sense of such longing for more but I was also satisfied. There is so much character development even with the side characters that I really couldn't ask for more. I will probably rewatch this show a few more times. I really miss Lang Zai and Xing Er. Hopefully these three can collaborate in a show again.
You can tell they put their heart and soul into their acting and I will now probably have to check out their other works.

The Wolf was definitely the most unforgettable drama that I've seen in a while. I think the last time I felt like this after watching a drama was after watching Ashes of Love, and I can't even remember before that. The soundtrack is very addicting and more modern than the typical ancient dramas which is refreshing.

Grab some tissues, you will need it for some scenes!

Leia Mais

The Never Ending Misunderstanding Love Story

It had a interesting synopsis at first, until I sat down to watch it. Ma Zhai Xing is portrayed as headstrong, stubborn, curious and intelligent girl, willing to solve a mystery, but for the life of her can't figure out why her Wolf boy isn't the same boy she knew or why he keeps pushing her away. The first 3 episodes went well, but the 8 afterwards went quite slowly. I know it was for character building, but the pace was too slow for my liking. It picked up after Xiao Zhan's Ji Chong showed up in episode 11, and quite frankly, I was interested more in his story arc than hers so would fast forward Lord Bo and Ma Zhai Xing scenes to get to his because it was a lot of "I'm pushing you away because I don't want you to get hurt because my adopted father may kill you because he knows I love you" and for her it was "Why can't you love me? Why can't you be Wolfie (Wolf Boy depending on which translation you're watching) and I know you're Wolfie, stop lying". It dragged on too long, and I seriously wanted to slap her in some episodes.

It bothered me a lot how she reacted to Lord Bo treated her so badly - in most dramas, the bad treatment is usually in private and in public cold but civil; but the scene where he humiliates her in public, in front of three men who previously proposed to her and the city's castellan, and the almost rape scene were maddening. At times she's brave and commanding, then others a lovesick teenager with terrible expectations of love. The almost rape scene in particular - she tries to push him away and say no, and when he stops, her behaviour is apologetic and then tries to encourage him into it by saying she wasn't prepared for it but he can continue if he wants. She is essentially chasing him for nearly half of the series until she realizes his secret, which wasn't even really his fault. That Ji Chong fell for her is understandable - but it becomes the whole nice guy never wins; it's always the bad boy. You felt more for Ji Chong's unrequited love than you do for Ma Zhai Xing and Lord Bo. He changed for her; from the free wanderer back to the reluctant royal prince, helping her to gather her troops and wage war against Lord Bo & Chu Kui to gain her revenge. I will admit, she does redeems herself in the end - the one part I'm thankful for is for releasing Ji Chong, Lord Bo, and pretty much everyone in the entire series. It just took her character a long time to get there. A lot of the things that happened, could have happened much more quickly.

Fave characters - Other than Ji Chong; the Night Fury - Wen Yan, Ha Die, Mo Xiao and Yao Ji, and Bao Na. Loved them. They brought character to the series.

The acting in the series was quite good - Xiao Zhan in particular. Ji Chong's character had charisma and he shone in his role and in this series. Li Qin's Ma Zhai Xing was believable and I can't blame her for the storyline or the direction her character was given. Hard for me to believe that she's an intelligent, forward thinking leader, when she spends half her time wishing the red string didn't break or wondering what she did to make Lord Bo so distant with her. Darren Wong is more believable as Lord Bo than Wolfie/Wolf Boy, and at times I felt he was acting, versus Xiao Zhan's Ji Chong. He was Ji Chong; Darren was acting as Wolfie and Lord Bo.

The Rewatch factor isn't there for me - watching Ma Zhai Xing and Lord Bo interact is so difficult and made me nearly tear my hair out. I really had to fast forward their scenes. I get all the people who talk about misunderstandings, but there were just too many. And it bothered me she couldn't get past the fact he grew up - she held on to Wolfie for far too long; and made the person who did everything for her so unhappy.

Why watch this? If you love Xiao Zhan, you'll love him in this role too. He makes this series and thank goodness, he has a happy ending; although it was a little hard to believe he and Bao Na have a romantic relationship because everyone felt she was a little girl with her spoiled behaviour. Overall - I gave this a 7. If Ji Chong wasn't part of this series, I couldn't have gotten through it.

Leia Mais

Ok, bear with me, this is going to be looong

No spoilers! Since reviews are mostly for people who didn't watch the drama yet :)
First the disclaimer. I am not trying to be a critic. To me whether I enjoy a drama (movie or a tv show) depends on it's ability to catch My interest. I can overlook bad CGI (especially in c-drama), dubbing, costume and some plot gaps. I don't mind clichés and I don't base my opinion on whether I like the characters. What is important: acting - if it's bad, I'll drop it, being able to sympathize or at least understand character motivations (not agree, just understand where they are coming from) and at last some idea of end-goal, as in this is going somewhere: to resolve a mystery, a conflict, find treasure, anything that at least promises some culmination at some point.
So, for all that I'm going to complain later on: I did like this drama. There were some moments that made me facepalm, some plot gaps (mostly due to deleted scenes, I think). But. I watched this, waited for the next episode, never thought of dropping it and very rarely felt the need to fast-forward (not never, I think it's impossible to never want to fast-forward with most c-dramas, some scenes are just dragged out. Yes, I'm talking about you "let's stare dramatically at each other or into distance" type of scenes).

So what did I like? Let's start with positives.
The acting is very good. I honestly don't have much to say about it, other than: it never felt overdone or robotic, I understood everything they were trying to portray.
The overall storyline. No this is not political. Some people compare this to the JOL and just no, if that's what you're looking for The Wolf is not it. They are not the same, other than being costume and somewhat historical. To me this drama was about people (how they grow or don't for that matter) and their relationship (not the romantic ones, if I had to, I'd say this is more about family: the one we have and the one we choose). I did not get invested into the main couple (explain later in the negative), but that does not mean I thought their story was unrealistic or outdated. Every relationship is different. Somewhat toxic, self-destructive ones are real too. They are just not pleasant to look at.
To me what was important is that all the characters were in place, they all had their roles and weren't just used as a plot device. I did not feel indifferent when something happened to them and they all had just enough backstory for me to understand them, but not so much that it distracted from the main plot. That is another good point: this drama is pretty concise. While there were some scenes that, IMO, could be shorter, most of the flashbacks and dialogs were interesting and to the point.
I did see characters grow and change. No one was one-dimensional (even if sometimes inconsistent).
Chu Kui is not a "villain" you sympathize with, but he is also not just flat boring "bad guy". I could see what he's feeling, how he consciously makes choices that alienate people around him, how he deteriorates more and more.
Ma Zhai Xing is an interesting one. In the begging it's very frustrating, because it seems like she's stuck in one place and is not willing to grow. But she does grow and change, it just takes a long time. And maybe that's more realistic? Because people don't just change overnight, sometimes it's difficult to accept reality and take responsibility.
I don't want to list all the characters. They are all pretty good and in place. I do have a favorite though, and it's Ji Chong. No it is not because of the actor. I just think that this character has a very charming personality. He is, sometimes, childish and stubborn, but also smart and free spirited, kind of a bright spot in this drama along with Bao Na (who we unfortunately don't see as much of). He accepts good and bad things that happen to him, learns and moves on. A rarely sensible character.

Ok, to the bad parts then.
The script. OMG. To me this is the weakest point. It's problems were made even worse by censoring and deleting some scenes, but even without cuts it's... weak. The characters are very inconsistent at times: MZX goes from smart and astute to simpering idiot in a blink of an eye. And Bo Wang's actions (to me at last) sometimes defy logic. Some situations and explanations are just... the only reaction I got was: "WTF is going on??". Sometimes it's due to cuts: the last few episodes are, honestly, a mess. But some things just can not be attributed to deleted scenes. The two main characters go back and forth so much in the beginning, it frustrating to watch (goes to much into the soap opera territory for my liking).
Which also brings me to my next point. I did not feel a drop of empathy for the ML and FL. There is no Relationship, only a mess of misunderstandings and ridiculous sacrifices. The whole "Romeo and Juliet" vibe is annoying. This is not love, it's infatuation, that would not survive past the honeymoon phase under regular circumstances. Therefore all of their romantic scenes, to me, were kinda "meh". Nor did I feel sad when they argued with each other.

This drama left a good impression. I would not rewatch it, but I did enjoy the experience.

Leia Mais

Must watch! Amazingly good drama and acting especially for Xiao Zhan. Love Ji Chong.

Heard how much Xiao Zhan had worked on this drama, I am so impressed with him after watching the wolf. He said he had to take lessons and write an essay/report every night after filming to reflect about his character/role. It really pays off as he did a great job as Ji Chong. The story is very touching and there are several scenes where I need tissues on hand for my tears. Darren as the wolf boy did a great job in portraying his character from child hood to when he became a prince. I love all the action scenes where he jumped and moved like a wolf. Li Qin (Female lead) did a great job as a mature princess but not as convincing when she acted as a younger girl. I love Xiao Zhan's portrayal of Ji Chong, carefree, masculine, handsome and playful. He had shown clearly how he matured in this movie from a carefree bounty hunter to a prince. He was a happy guy as a bounty hunter with no worries but when he went back to his family as a prince, he had to take on the responsibilities. I liked the relationship between Lang Zai (Male Lead) and Xing er (Female Lead) when they were young and playing in the forest but I was rooting for the Female lead to fall in love with Ji Chong (Xiao Zhan) in the later part of the story as the ML is still responsible for the death of FL's family and Ji Chong had sacrificed his own safety several time to save and help the Female lead. But I am still happy with the ending where Ji Chong ended up with someone who loves him unconditionally (Bao Na).

There are so many crying scenes and also full of great fighting/action scenes.

Leia Mais

A strange unsettling feeling may wade in you after watching The Wolf.

Scripts and scenes from this drama appeared to be overboard as the scriptwriters tried to make it look realistic. Throughout the drama, except for the last few episodes, I felt most episodes heavy to watch . Words and scene were so harsh on the main female character, Ma Zhai Xing. Sometimes, when Bo Wang was saying things to hurt her, the conversations were so unbearable that I had to fast-forward the scenes to escape all the harsh words MZX had to go through. I find this kind of scenes very unsettling , edgy and not refined.

Costume was an overkill. The designer tried too hard and tried too many new things. Bo Wang looked heavy in some of his clothing, which made him look awkward. Xiao Zhan also looked weird in his clothing after he became the prince. It's too shiny. Overall costume was weird and didn't fit well on most of the main leads.

The cinematography of this drama is just weird. They tried so many new angles and compositions, resulting some of the martial art scenes to look completely ridiculous. There wasn't a need for a good martial art choreographer in this set. The cameramen virtually stole the job of the choreographer. There was also a lack of attention to detail, they simply caught a Tom, Dick or Harry to be the stuntwoman Ma Jing (MZX's sidekick) without caring if the stuntwoman had the same body shape as Ma Jing.

Darren Wang's performance in this drama was not on the dot. Very often I can't really guess the next moment of the drama because I couldn't read the expression of Darren correctly. Watching a good drama is alot about anticipating what will happen next. As audience, we would be satisfied if the actor could bring us into the story by setting a mood as to what would happen next. This didn't happen all the time with Darren in this drama. I felt that he was either too stiff or too jubilant. It was as if he couldn't own his character. On the contrary, Li Qin and Xiao Zhan did better job in expressing themselves and owning their characters. Many smaller details of this drama also didn't jive well, a lot of holes. The editing was not well done but I guess this wasn't important compared to the bigger problems above.

The only thing that I liked about this drama is the OST. I like most of the songs as they are contemporary and modern. It takes away some of the negativity of this drama.

I won't rewatch this drama mainly because I find it too heavy.

Leia Mais

It was good after awhile..

I started this drama because Xiao Zhan was in it. I would say the first few episodes were good and it got me hooked because of the chemistry between Zhai Xing and Lord Bo aka "wolfie." However, as the story progressed, I was just dying inside and wanted to finish this drama right away. There were some scenes that were unnecessary and repetitive that it just dragged the story longer than expected. I honestly really wanted to drop this drama but kept going for the sake of Xiao Zhan. Some reasons why I didn't like this drama was mainly due to the characters.

First, the characters were just annoying as heck. At first, I really liked Zhai Xing because of her cute bubbly personality in the beginning. However, once she got older, she just got super annoying how she would repetitively keep calling for Wolfie wolfie wolfie! Like dang shut up! Even when Lord Bo and her were together already, she would continuously keep bringing up about how he is not the wolfie that he was 8 years ago bla bla bla. Like she's seeing two people in one person indirectly saying as if the current Lord Bo is a bad person if he doesn't act like wolfie. Then she passive-aggressively like pushing him to bring some aspects of wolfie back which is just annoying as hell. Like girl, people can change throughout the years, it's common sense. Do you seriously expect that he'd be the same exact person after 8 years? She's too busy living in the past. If I was Lord Bo, I would've dumped her HAHAHA. These type of scenes just repetitively went on for like who knows how many episodes out of 49 that it made me genuinely hate her. I especially felt so bad for Ji Chong, he tried his best to win her over but she was she soo madly obsessed and in love with Lord Bo that he couldn't break their bond and had to let go of her. BUT, he sorta did end up with Bao Na in the end, which I feel like is the only BEST thing that happened throughout this whole drama LOL.

Lord Bo, I had mixed feelings for him because he was just utterly horrible to Zhai Xing throughout who knows how many episodes (which is prob the only times I felt bad for her). Like I know he's acting cruel to her because he is trying to protect her and knew she'd hate him if she found out the death of her family had to do with Bo's clan. However, he was just too cruel and extra that it was hard for me to re-like him again even after he redeemed himself. At one point, I did sorta start to like him when he started showing more of his soft side when he attempted to sacrifice himself (but ironically didn't die like 1000 times which I have no idea why or how). But still, I just ended up really hating both Zhai Xing and Lord Bo because of how they were. Towards the end of the drama, I basically just skipped all their sweet moments together because I could care less. I just didn't care anymore what happened to them in the end of the drama (whether they die or whatnot). But I guess this is called "good acting" maybe? I don't know. I think the only people I actually liked in this drama was Bao Na and the Fourth Prince.

The story itself was okay and somewhat interesting, disregarding the annoying female/male leads. Like I said before, there were a lot of repetitive and necessary parts that was just unbearable to watch. But watching some of the intense scenes and the development leading up to the climax of killing off the antagonists were good. One good thing I can say is that I actually liked the way the drama ended. Not because the female/male leads that I hated died in the end, but it's actually a perfect way to end the drama. Having the female/male lead die together in the place where they had their happy times together. It's different from most happy endings which I liked. It's like a bittersweet ending for me.

Overall, I don't think I would watch this drama again or recommend it to anyone. Wished they had shortened the drama so I wouldn't waste 49 hours of my life watching the majority of repetitive scenes and annoying characters.

Leia Mais

Looking objectively

I really don't like this drama, but after many days of struggling, I decided to put my own feelings aside and evaluate The Wolf as objectively as I can.
I don't like this drama because I'm a thousand years too old for it. Plot is infantile, and so are the heroes, but that's what it is meant to be. This is a costume idol-drama that is not meant to be difficult or clever, it's entertainment to pass the time and arouse emotions, just as the audience demands, so in this respect, The Wolf is excellent. The music combines old-time features with a modern style, which is an ideal solution for today's young audience. There are tender scenes for romance lovers and very good fight scenes for lovers of something stronger. Even I found elements here that I really like.
The actors are definitely brilliant. Everyone has given their heart to this drama and it shows. Even if a character irritates me so much that I feel like tearing it apart, it's just proof of how well it was played.
Completely getting rid of subjectivity, knowing in what style The Wolf is shot, after watching 16 episodes with a clear conscience, I give 10. Maybe I'm too old for this style, maybe some elements seem funny to me, but objectively The Wolf perfectly filled all the elements of the drama of the style, which it represents and in places even exceeded the expectations of the genre.

Leia Mais