The Untamed was my glorious introduction to Chinese costume drama and wuxian, but the positively luminous performances of leads Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan more than whetted my appetite forthe gene and led me to look for more. Oh! My Emperor has not nearly the production values or complexities of Untamed but it does have Xiao Zhan and a cast of talented actors as well as a fun premise which is sort of a cross (to put it in perspective for Westerners)of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and the beloved film Sabrina. The plot: a young doctor in modern day has an accident and is somehow transported to an feudal fantasyland whose noble families are each connected to different signs of the Zodiac and have magical powers. She quite literally falls in with these people, including the Emperor, his prince brothers and his Royal Uncle (Xiao Zhan) who then all fall under the spell of her quirky but delightful personality. I admit to having only seen Season 1 thus far but it is (for the most part) engaging and entertaining. For new Xiao Zhan fans who also having been looking for his body of work, the actor has a good, solid role as the Royal Uncle (although not the lead) and when he is on screen, it's hard to look at anyone else. But tear your eyes away so you can enjoy the delightful work of Rosy Zhao s theyoung doctor whose comedic timing had me laughing out loud. Jiacheng Gu has the lead role of the emperor and he plays the almost homely, serious young ruler very, very well. Also worth looking out for are Jiacheng Wu who plays the emperor's brother with great enthusiasm and Emn Chen as Royal Uncle's best friend. This is a English sub-titled series. Those can sometimes be hit or miss on quality, but these subs are quite good. Definitely a must-see!
