The Untamed, a Chinese series based on a manhua called Modao Zushi (魔道祖师 / The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). It’s about a quasi-delinquent cultivator going against the grain, using “wicked magic” to get things done and everyone close to him has a shit time and/or ends up dying, and he gets blamed for everything that is bad.

I saw the donghua first (same name as the manhua), and while I enjoyed it a lot, it was difficult to keep up with all that was happening. The live action felt better paced, partly because it’s just longer and gives more room to digest and get used to the characters and names. I was a little unsure about it at first - it seemed a little silly, but after a few episodes I grew really attached to the characters as they were acted and portrayed. For me, the occasional silliness became endearing and didn’t detract from the overall serious, melancholic atmosphere.

I’m binging Chinese productions these days because I’m really bored and sick of Hollywood (and my part of the world sucks at quality TV fiction), and I feel seriously uncomfortable with how underexposed I’ve been to non-western cultures (aside from Japanese). SEA is massively diverse and populated but virtually all I ever see originates from within the Anglosphere or northern/central Europe, and I’m discovering that that’s not for a lack of quality content elsewhere. But I digress.

Basically, 10/10 recommend escaping the Anglo-trap.