The more I read of MDZS, the more impressed I am by the casting of The Untamed. Truly incredible. Volume 2 features the intensely tragic Yi City arc, which is very faithfully adapted in the show. Knowing what would happen did not reduce the impact of positively Sophoclean events. Perhaps the most chilling moment is this exchange after Xiao Xingchen has just been tricked into murdering Song Lan:

If Song Lan had passed his sword to Xiao Xingchen, he would know who he was. He'd recognise his dear friend's sword with a single touch. But that was no longer an option for Song Lan. How could he give his sword to Xiao Xingchen, and in doing so, tell him who he had just killed with his own two hands?
Xue Yang was betting on this and didn't feel the slightest bit of fear. "C'mon, let's head back and make dinner. I'm hungry," he said idly.
"The shopping is done?" Xiao Xingchen asked.
"Shopping's all done," Xue Yang confirmed. "Too bad I had to run into that thing on the way back. How unlucky."
Xiao Xingchen left first. Xue Yang gave the wounds on his own shoulders and arm a pat, then picked up the basket again. As he passed in front of Song Lan, he smiled lightly and lowered his head to murur.
"You're not invited."

Fucking hell, Xue Yang! During the Yi City chapters the juniors in general and Lan Jingyi in particular are a light amid dark times. Wei Wuxian in teacher mode is also delightful, there and later when instructing Jin Ling to get into fights while he's young enough to get away with it.

Turning to divergences that The Untamed made from MDZS, the scene with drunk Lan Wanji goes a bit differently. The TV version is cute, but the novel's is better. Wei Wuxian gets tied up with Lan Wanji's forehead ribbon and has the effrontery to ask, "Hey, do you not want this forehead ribbon anymore?" Then they play tag and Wei Wuxian kisses Lan Wanji tenderly, whereupon Lan Wanji knocks himself out! After these romantic shenanigans, we return to the plot and learn a lot more about the difficult dynamics of 3zun (Jin Guangyao, Nie Mingjue, and Lan Xichen) over the years. I enjoyed the little glimpse that Wei Wuxian gets of his past self while exploring Nie Mingjue's memories:

He saw himself, dressed in all black, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. A black flute with a bright red tassel hung at his waist. He was not carrying his sword with him. He stood side by side with Jiang Cheng and nodded in greeting. His body language was arrogant, his demeanour so awfully enigmatic and disdainful of everyone present. Seeing this cringe-worthy posturing, Wei Wuxian had the sudden urge to charge up to his younger self and beat the hell out of him.

I found the second volume as much of a joy as the first and read it as soon as it arrived. The translation is fluid and readable, the edition beautifully presented, and the art really lovely. That said, the first colour illustration juxtaposing Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang with Lan Wanji and Wei Wuxian (which is also on the cover) is painful! Mercifully on the next page there's Lan Wanji gazing with incredible softness at Wei Wuxian, which is very soothing. ( )

An absolutely amazing volume! Loved it! It has so many of my favorite scenes!

It’s been a while since I’ve reread this, but it’s even better on a reread. I’m catching all the little things I missed before. A particular favorite is Wei Wuxian noticing the bell Jin Ling is carrying.

Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, A-Qing, and Xue Yang’s story is always beautifully tragic, and Wei Wuxian reflecting on how it parallels his own life is so sad. Song Lan carefully holding the spirit pouches at the end is so tender and sad. I also thought it was neat how Wei Wuxian thinks about the first of Baoshan Sanren’s disciples to leave the holy mountain, Yanling Daoren, who was later killed after turning evil. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu doesn’t fill in all the little story threads in her works, rather leaving a lot to the imagination, which is fun, but I wonder what his story was, particularly because we know how Cangse Sanren and Xiao Xingchen’s stories end.

It’s also sweet seeing the relationships between the juniors flourish. Jin Ling is very obviously closer to Lan Sizhui than the others, and they’re quite cute together, though his relationship with Lan Jingyi is also quite adorable. And Wei Wuxian is so cute and funny when interacting with them.

I’ve always loved Nie Mingjue’s story. Like so much of MDZS, it’s so tragic but well-written. There’s a bit that starts “Nie Mingjue never got close to other people, and he rarely bared his heart to them. To finally have a competent, trustworthy subordinate whose capabilities and character he approved of, then discover the person’s true colors were not at all what he’d initially thought—it couldn’t have been easy on him.” This is so sad, particularly in regard to his warm reception to Lan Xichen (clearly on those rare occasions when Nie Mingjue opened his heart, he could be very open). He deeply cared for Meng Yao once, when he so rarely cared for anyone, and what happened in their relationship hurt him, as well. And I feel so horrible for Nie Huaisang, who was abused by his elder brother, but also clearly loved him, and yet had to watch him die.

The cover art by Jin Fang is gorgeous, and I feel conflicted talking about the interior art by Marina Privalova, because on the one hand I adore almost all of the pieces, and Xiao Xingchen/Xue Yang fans will be quite happy, honestly. There are some truly beautiful interior art pieces in this. On the other hand, the piece where Wei Wuxian and the juniors are looking at the paper mannequins, while featuring good art of the human characters, is completely off for no apparent reason when it comes to the paper mannequins. The descriptions for the mannequins are quite specific and detailed, and well illustrated in the manhua and animated in the donghua, but here they’re grotesque and innacurate, in a way that’s completely unnecessary and incredibly bizarre, given the description of them immediately follows the image and we are very clearly not staring at what we’re supposed to be thinking of. I truly do not know why they were drawn so wrong, particularly given the accuracy of the other artwork. Creepy lifelike dolls don’t need to be grotesque to be creepy. That’s why mannequins are so common in horror.

The pronunciation guide is also still missing IPA. They really need to add that.

Overall, this is another incredible volume from one of my favorite danmei. I'm so happy to finally have this, I loved it, and I bookmarked nearly every page, and I look forward to volume 3! ( )

Yes, these books still have their teeth round my organs.

Volume Two is almost all Yi City arc and Meng Yao backstory, which are both absolutely plot essential but also involve a LOT of flashbacks. But this volume also contains the absolutely epic moment where Wei Wuxian convinces the reserved Lan Zhan to get drunk, and discovering that Lan Shan likes to GET LICKED after reasoning that Drunk Lan Zhan likes to play chase/tag because of his repressed/austere childhood, decides it would be a SUPER FUN PRANK to KISS DRUNK LAN ZHAN ON THE MOUTH with just ABSOLUTELY ZERO self-knowledge or introspection, 11/10 disaster bisexual Oblivious King moment. I DON'T KNOW WHY HANGING AROUND BORING STICK-IN-THE-MUD LAN ZHAN MAKES ME SO HAPPY. HE IS JUST SO GOOD AT EVERYTHING AND SO FUN TO TEASE AND HIS LIPS ARE SO SOFT.

Listen. Sometimes I am reading MDZS fanfic and I think the "two geniuses who consult zero brain cells when it comes to each other" is fun but over exaggerated, but then I reread the canon and THAT IS REALLY HOW THEY BE.

These characters have my heart forever. ( )

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji follow the dismembered body's trail to Yi City, where they learn the tragic story of A-Qing, Xiao Xingchen, his friend Song Lan, and Xue Yang. This then leads to Jin Guangyao and, finally, to the discovery of the dismembered body's head.

I definitely preferred the first half of this volume, in Yi City, to the second half. The supernatural aspects were fabulous, and both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji got to be awesome. Wei Wuxian acting as a confident and calm mentor/babysitter for the younger cultivators was fun. Also, I enjoyed the massive tragedy that was Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan's story, even if I had trouble remembering what any of it had to do with the series' larger story. My heart hurt for pretty much everybody but Xue Yang.

The second half of this book was mostly cultivator politics, which I wasn't nearly as interested in. All I really cared about were the details surrounding the dismembered body.

Not a very informative review, I know, but I wanted to finally get this off my plate so I could move on to the next volume and eventually let myself do the thing I really want to do, which is read Heaven Official's Blessing. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation is okay, but definitely my least favorite of MXTX's works. It just doesn't have enough fun character interaction. I need more than the occasional "Lan Wangji is hilariously drunk and Wei Wuxian is oblivious" scene.

Extras:

A couple full-color illustrations, a character and name guide, a glossary, and black and white illustrations throughout.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Vol One introduced readers to Wei Wuxian, infamous & newly reincarnated, and Lan Wangji, loyal & indefatigable. They are investigating the mystery of a dismembered resentful corpse. In Volume Two, they journey to Yi City where they encounter Wuxian's nephew Jin Ling and other young disciples, an old enemy, and uncover the tragedy of Xiao Xingshen. They'll discover who the corpse is, but the mystery just deepens.

The heartbreaking story of Xiao Xingshen and Song Lan takes up a lot of this volume, but is well worth the time. It spurs our heroes to greater effort in taking down their enemy and pursuing his mastermind.

This volume was just as engaging as the first. I absolutely loved Wuxian's interactions with the teen disciples, how he teased and protected them in equal measure. The underlying romance builds slowly, the mystery is expanding and the stakes are rising. I cannot wait for more. ( )