If you detect a problem, please let me know. I was able to visit all links without any issues I could detect, but as always please follow all links at your own discretion. Adult content ahead, viewer discretion advised. MANY of these games will have, or heavily allude to, sexual content. I decided to add them anyway so those interested can track or seek out the potential for translations, be they in development or fan-made. Some games do not have an English translation yet. Each section is broken down to when a title was added so that you can quickly track changes. For LGBTQI+ Chinese viewers, this is such a landmark in representing and accepting their identity.This list will be semi-regularly updated so check back again soon! On a cultural level, such stories challenge the state narrative that queerness is antithetical to Chinese traditions and values. Certainly, the Untamed has won millions of fans worldwide, reflecting how receptive audiences are to queer themes. The dedication that the producers put into staying faithful to the novel is hopefully signals the beginning of a journey to greater acceptance of portraying LGBTQI+ themes in Chinese media. The Untamed ultimately portrays a world that feels like queerness is a norm, even if it must fall short of actually depicting queer relationships because of Chinese censorship.
Besides the relationship between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, the drama portrays the relationship between Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao in romantic terms, replete with lingering gazes, protectiveness, and dramatic displays of devotion. Jafar and Ursula), but the Untamed avoids pairing queerness with evil by essentially queer-coding everyone-from the fan-toting Nie Huaisang to the brusque doctor Wen Qing, the seemingly-inseparable Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan, and the amoral and giggly Xue Yang. It has gained a bad reputation through Disney’s notorious penchant for queer-coding villains (cf. Queer-coding is a neutral term that refers to certain traits or behaviours in characters suggesting that they are not cisgender/heterosexual. This is mostly conveyed through queer-coding basically most of the characters. In general, the entire vibe of the drama suggests that queerness is not unique to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji’s relationship. So, what does depicting a queer relationship look like in a censored media culture? Here is how the Untamed did it. These representations affirm the place of LGBTQI+ people within Chinese culture. For queer audiences with Chinese heritage, it is doubly important that such a large-scale and popular Chinese production has been so dedicated in preserving the queer content, instead of hetero-washing the whole adaptation. Many fans of the novel expressed surprise and delight at the lengths to which the show went to depict Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanji’s relationship in queer terms. In spite of this impediment, the showrunners were undaunted. Produced in China with strict media censorship laws against the depiction of queerness, the show was forced to erase the more romantic elements of the protagonists’ relationship.
The show is based on a webnovel ( Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xian Tong Xiu) and has one glaring difference to its source material: the Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji of the novel end up getting married. They find themselves embroiled in political conflicts that result in Wei Wuxian being killed as an outcast, before he is resurrected sixteen years later to reunite with Lan Wangji and solve a murder mystery. This Chinese historical-fantasy drama follows the hijinks of the Wei Wuxian (Xiao Zhan), a cheeky young man who forms an unlikely bond with Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo), a strict rule-follower. But what if the situation was… reversed? What if creators wanted to but couldn’t depict queer relationships because of media censorship? What do they do then?Įnter the Untamed. The aim is to “bait” LGBTQI+ viewers into consuming the media in question without alienating more conservative audiences. This much-condemned practice-or, more accurately, marketing technique-sees creators hint at queer romance in fiction but stop short of depicting it. By now, audiences are no strangers to queerbaiting.