Revamp the Undead Story

a vampire and a lackluster story

i'm going to start this review warning that i'm being extremely critical of this work due to how anticipated this series was. even with the story appearing more dark and mysterious with the pilot, i understood and accepted that boun had a very particular vision about revamp and what it would entail given this was part of his deal coming into gmmtv.

what i don't understand is why such a huge project was entrusted to p'new. he does not work too well (for me) with mystery or lore-heavy stories. in fact, the deepest storyline he has worked on was Absolute Zero and that was a giant fucking mess. i don't think he was the right choice to bring boun's series to life and it's a shame for this being bounprem's first work with gmmtv with a story that boun was so excited for.

to expand, the problem with how p'new works is that he has a hard time getting the story across completely. if the actors don't pull off the communication of the messages to the audience, he doesn't really fill in the gaps through his direction. in this case, ramil's story was stunted to the point that at the end i was confused about how they had decided to return to the painting. it seemed so out of left field, and i understand it was in an effort to keep themselves together forever, or whatever is close to it given that punn is human, but i think that should've been explained better than just "we're leaving" conversation.

the romantic scenes were so lackluster for bounprem that i felt pretty disappointed by even the NC scenes. maybe my expectations were hoping for too much, but the reverence that ramil sometimes hinted to when talking about punn felt like he would've been more lavish in how he expressed himself, if that makes sense. there was no passion i ever felt in these choreographed scenes and that was frustrating to see because i know that boun and prem are good actors.

speaking of good actors, barcode was incredible, but even he was made to come off too flat and it was frustrating. he had that ability to actually put in the frustration that ciar felt, would've been able to give the one-sided fight with punn into the level that would express to viewers just how angry he was about ramil prioritizing a human that, in his eyes, was not worth the sacrifice.

another topic i found entirely confusing was the lack of explanation of how exactly feratu was able to control jett like that and how deep his control over him might've been. the contrast between the jett we saw during the series to the jett at the last episode was jarring. there had to be more to that, and i'm confused on how exactly the mind control blocking device was decided on by the hunters given that jett was the only one that had not been controlled before and now suddenly he was the main concern for this while coincidentally feratu is able to control minds too? or was it his consciousness that escaped his body and made jett his new vessel? it made no sense to me.

overall, this was disappointing to watch during the entire airing of this. there was always the feeling of something missing, of any real emotions being put into this (not by the actors, just the style) and i fear that p'new didn't feel like the right choice here at least for the concern of the storytelling. i know there's a book, but what's the point of a series if you need to read the books to know half of what is going on? sadly, there was no real appeal left to this after watching all of it and is not ever going to be on my rewatch list. it's a shame, but i'm hopeful that bounprem get a better idea on how they want the storytelling to work for their next series. boun had a part in this, and i think he can use this as an opportunity to grow in his endeavors too.

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Not perfect at all, but full of heart, and way better than the hate it got.

Let me start by saying this: I am a Broccoli. Whether I like it or not, that shapes how I see this series, and I want to be upfront about it. That said, I am also not a fantasy fan. I don’t like fantasy or vampire shows – I actually think most of them are painfully stiff. I have tried watching all the so-called classics, and none of them ever did it for me.

So when I say Revamp the Undead Story isn't Boun and Prem’s best work, it’s not coming from a place of hate, it’s me being honest. I know both of them are capable of much more. I actually think the main problem wasn’t them, but rather the direction and production team. This crew usually handles romcoms, and I love their other series in that genre. But Revamp needed a darker, more fantasy-oriented touch, and that mismatch really showed!

Now, visually? Absolutely stunning. The cinematography are top-notch - it’s one of the best-looking BLs I have seen from gmmtv/WabiSabi. Acting-wise, I personally think everyone did a good job. Sure, there were awkward parts, but to me that came more from the vampire theme than from bad acting. The story itself? I liked it! It wasn’t perfectly delivered, but I could clearly see what they were aiming for, and story-wise it wasn’t bad at all. The music? 10/10 - i love all of the OST's and i love the overall soundtrack!

I know people keep complaining about Boun and Prem’s kiss scenes, but honestly… I didn’t care. I never thought they were particularly great at that even in UWMA or Between Us. It’s not why I follow them anyway. I’m a fan because I love them – their personalities, the way they treat each other and everyone around them. That is what makes me a Broccoli.

What truly stands out in Revamp for me are the relationships. Director New has always been great at portraying emotional connections between friends and family. The scenes between Ramil and Pokpong, or the lighthearted moments in episode 9, were my absolute favorites. They had heart, and that’s what I personally value most.

Overall, Revamp has its flaws. Some moments felt forced, the “tough” vibe they were going for didn’t always land, and parts of the execution fell short. But it’s still an enjoyable series with a unique charm. I would give it a 7.5/10. It's not perfect, but it’s worth watching – especially if you appreciate the actors!

And as a side note: people on MDL seriously need to take a basic etiquette course. The amount of hate this show got week after week was ridiculous. If you don’t like it, just drop it and move on. It’s really not that deep.

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