Disaster
I'm only watching this series for the second couple and they have very less screen time and the main couple who can't even act have full screen time . First couple story is very laggy and stretchy plus second couple story is not moving because they don't have screentime .that it.
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1addictive yet tragic
First of all this series is tragic and not like most fluffy romcom bls with the usual story that actually gets much more attention , this is DARK romance with manioulation and suffering , red flags that occupy your mind by loving them and thinking about them inside the show and outside of the show .this is the best bl in my opnion despite the hate that it gets because of omegaverse plot , yet this series is the reason many manhwa and novel readers started watching a bl .
this series is my obsession and it will take time for me to move on after it ends but my love for the actors will be forever .
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This review may contain spoilers
episode 9 made my score plummet
Overall: I thought it was a good start to a series with a unique premise but slow pacing and both characters doing something awful lowered my score. Note this review contains words that might be triggering. 16 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on: Viki https://www.viki.com/videos/1262518v-desire-the-series-episode-1 ; GagaOOLala (not available in Japan or Korea) https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5570/desire-2025 and Heavenly (South Korea) https://heavenly.tv/en/detail/955 Was originally also on iQIYI, WeTV, Youku and YouTube but was removed mid-airing.Content Warnings: two rapes both shown, past intimate partner abuse, intimate partner abuse, non con kisses, non con touching, manipulation, sexual harassment, fights, blood, kidnapping, attempted murder, gaslighting, lovebombing, non con kissing turned consensual, self harm
What I Liked
- unique premise for a live action series
- visuals
- how Hua Yong stayed consistent in his characterization
- an extremely wide release, might be the most platforms I've seen so far for a BL series
Room For Improvement
- in both couples one character raped the other character and both were shot in a romantic way and of course we know how this ends, I don't give af about fictional biology that made at least 1 allegedly not have a choice, both characters were jerks and abusive and I don't want them in a romantic relationship with anyone.
- I can enjoy a player getting played but the problem here is we never really see the player being a player and he is so manipulated that his biology got changed without his consent and he had pain/problems from the master manipulator who supposedly loved him. For me the manipulator treated a person like an object to own and it was about power and control which is abuse and not love.
- slow pacing in with both couples, felt like they went in circles for a long time
- the exposition dump/world building dump in ep 1; however, I realize that many people aren't familiar with the setting so it was a fast way to give everyone the basics
- Hua Yong's backstory was given too late
- the narration/mysterious voice in episode 15
- extremely rushed finale with a multi year time skip, that it was the dad that told him, how Shen Wen Lang was a jerk almost until the very end and then did not have nearly enough groveling and their story didn't really have a satisfying resolution
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Where Acting Meets Art: A Drama Worth Watching
This drama is truly impressive in many aspects. The actors' performances feel incredibly natural and effortless, allowing each character’s emotions to come through powerfully and convincingly. Nothing feels forced, which makes it easy for the audience to become fully immersed in the story. The filming locations are thoughtfully chosen—visually stunning and perfectly aligned with the mood of each scene. Combined with beautifully crafted cinematography, every frame looks like a meaningful painting. The blend of heartfelt acting and visually captivating scenes makes this drama truly deserving of high praise.Was this review helpful to you?
1THE MOST beautiful and realest chemistry
When you watch a series the most important thing is the chemistry between the leads then the story ,and when the story is one and only it will always leave a mark on your heart , and this series is the first real omegaverse series so it will always be in our heart .as a someone who have read the novel , i just can't describe how good the novel is and the show gives justice to the novel despite losing some important points which will affect those who don't know anything about ABO , but if you are intersted in the show it's not hard to ask the questions you have anywhere to be answered .
-if i talk about the chemistry and the beauty of the actors , words will never be enough ,the way actors love each other outside the show is enough to know how good the chemistry is .
-so this show is definetly 10/10
it deserves no less than 10
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This review may contain spoilers
Terrible direction with a rape to romance trope
This show was recommended to me so I was initially excited to watch something new (Omegaverse) even though I had minimal prior experience with such plots. And for a first experience this was a really disappointing one.The story revolves around 4 people or at least it is advertised as 4 main leads with 1 of them (Gao Tu) getting minimum to no screentime (so don't get invested). The original source (which I hadn't read but got plenty of insight on during the course of the show) had potential and the director could have improved upon it. Not only did they not improve it but there are so many scenes that simply make no sense if you have never read the original novel. It means the director did not hope to attract any new fans with their work. For example, the intro to omegaverse is rushed, the new vocabulary is never explained (which a good storyteller can do during the show), crucial scenes that were supposed to depict darkness are shot in extremely bright lights with those lights in clear view, unable to show passage of time which also leads to confusion, etc.
Regarding the rape/noncon trope - this truly got to me. Not only because these things make me uncomfortable but because it is normalised in this drama through omegaverse. "They can't help themselves" is such triggering messaging. Worse is one perpetrator is supposed to be in love with the victim and can see his love interest is in pain but is enjoying that and even laughs at their misery. The other doesn't know who his victim is and is victim blaming them for seducing them. I truly don't care that it is fantasy. To me this omegaverse felt like an excuse to normalise rape by using pretty and handsome faces.
Red flag characters. Both Hua Yong and Shen Wen Lang are toxic. Though I have enjoyed BLs with toxic characters too, the problem is again normalising it rather than calling it for what it is. All's fair in love and war? No. That's an excuse.
Hua Yong is an extremely manipulative character who has no trouble lying to the man he loves. All he cares about is the end result. Think stalker who succeeds in his goals. If you have never been stalked, let me say that it can be very harrowing and distressing and not at all romantic. Though the stalking is a bit downplayed, it is one of his most minor sins. The manipulation and lying and rape are far more egregious sins. He could have been the character you love to hate but it's more terrifying that he is portrayed as heroic and lovesick, rather than insane. Romaticising this character felt shocking since they are never really apologetic or empathetic.
Shen Wen Lang is horrible but nothing compared to Hua Yong because he is portrayed as a dumb guy who reacts on emotions and makes decisions as per his ego and arrogance. He constantly makes Gao Tu feel horrible about himself and want to hide and protect himself. SWL is also supposed to be caring but he simply is incapable of expressing it. Though he has some softer moments as opposed to Hua Yong.
The only characters I liked were Sheng Shao You and Gao Tu, who became my favourite despite barely given much of a presence. He still managed to make an impact. Shen Shao You has the most range of emotions in this show. Though he has his arrogant moments, ultimately he is a caring, nuturing and protective person. To be honest, I think Gao Tu deserves someone like him. These two characters don't really interact with each other.
ABO universe - in this universe, because men can get pregnant, 2 men being with each other is considered normal just like a heterosexual couple. What is considered abnormal is 2 of the same kind like two Alphas being together. So it doesn't really deal with the issues that real life LGBTQ couples face. Instead you have class issues where the rich look down on the poor, the alphas look down on omegas, etc. Again this isn't explored much on how society deals with these class injustices because it causes a character to hide themselves for their whole life.
There are few moments of humour that I enjoyed. The opening theme song is beautiful too. These are the main positives in my eyes.
The finale was extremely lackluster and anti-climactic. It simply didn't feel like a finale. Imagine watching this show spanning months and you don't even get a satisfying ending? When you have 16 episodes, you don't get to make excuses of not having enough time especially when you have time to add in supporting characters in the end that don't really support the plot.
Final thoughts - this show could have been made well but the director did not have the presence of mind on how to depict their source material. They invested a lot into locations which are grand but the scenes especially romantic ones are more or less slow or really blurry shots (no passion from the characters nor the director). The characters all speak slowly, mostly dispassionately and everything seems quite toned down. I haven't seen the other works of these actors so I don't know if it is them or that is the direction they were given. But I'm going to blame the director since it is their reponsibikity to get the required emotions out of their actors. They just wanted everything subtle. Whether it is pain, fear, anger or love (exception being SSY).
Bottom line - Quite disappointing. If you are fans of the main couple, you might have a better time watching but otherwise, not something I would recommend.
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BLACK FLAG
My favourite novels out of the all novels are those with a possessive male lead that will do everything for their lover , i'm a big fan of the husky and his white cat shizun and i love moran who is the main character of the novel and the drama version which is called immortality , many people have immortality in their watchlist yet the come here and complain about how possessive hua yong is ,like how they don't know how fiction works and how most chinese novels are full of tragic and black flag characters .some of the most popular danmei's have black flag mls including (svsss,case file compendum , ERHA, the film emperor ....)
so if you are not interested in those characters this series isn't for you like the most chinese novels .
10/10 for me with no doubt and it's a masterpiece .
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Groundbreaking Bl drama ( 1st Omegaverse)
I was shocked at the budget foremost, amazing. The story is amazing and did not expect an omegaverse to ever be adapted.This drama drama is pioneering a new era like Tharntype did in 2019, the budget is amazingly high, music, characters, storyline, everything is amazing. This is a drama where months from now everyone will start producing omegaverse, but will not meet the quality and will probably start mass producing to copy. I wish I had started it sooner, only at episode 4 while everyone else is 10 episodes in. The characters are very handsome and alluring as well.
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it’s bad
If you liked this, then I have nothing more to say. A story line like this makes it seem like children are fighting. And the story line is even worse, and the acting is even worse.And the biggest thing is that the fight between the two S-style Alphas, which is shown to be a fight, seems like a childish fight. And when you see the stories that are arranged later, you are interested in knowing what will happen at the end of the episode and you have a very beautiful desire in your heart. There is nothing like that in this story line that can create an attraction towards it.Was this review helpful to you?
perfect series i never watch it before thank you for make it
perfect series I'm in love this series and actors everyone you should watch this series rate 🏆1000000000/10 actors and story eliot qiu ocean pein love uu so much 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🏻🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶Was this review helpful to you?
Oh my gods, no. No. No no no no no...
Trying to calm down and failing miserably.This story is so messed up.
I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into with this series, but once I started, I couldn’t stop until I saw how it ended… Okay. I read the novel because I have zero patience. This is, without exaggeration, the worst book I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. And no, I’m not being sarcastic. The entertainment value of this novel is so low—it’s basically below the Mariana Trench.
I have very mixed feelings about this series. I hated it and loved it at different times. It took a while to grow on me, but then I devoured every episode—fascinated by that strange blend of love and manipulation. To desire someone so much that you want to possess them completely—this is love cannibalism. To love with your entire being, to watch, to seek, to chase the other, and yet insist you’re not in love. This is a love war. Such an interesting and twisted story.
And yet… I just couldn’t take it anymore. This romantasy is definitely not for me.
Imagine if Sheng Shao You were a woman. No. Completely out of line. The constant harassment wouldn’t fly in a male-female romance, and it shouldn’t be excused just because it’s set in an ABO universe. It’s incredibly problematic to justify it with “he wants it.” The other character doesn’t know that.
I struggled to connect with any of the characters—they were all irritating in their own special ways.
Xuan Hao is introduced as some kind of legendary Enigma, but most of the time he’s just… manipulative, hidden behind a mask of defenselessness and sweetness.
Sheng Shao You—he must have done something terrible in a past life to end up with Xuan Hao in this one. I honestly don’t know what he did to deserve it.
Shen Wen Lang was especially obnoxious; every time he spoke—or didn’t speak—to Gao Tu, I wanted to punch him.
Gao Tu… oh my god. Every time he looked at Shen Wen Lang, I felt my soul leave my body. So heartbreaking, so sad, so utterly pathetic. I loved him so much. I wanted to shake him, hit him with something, anything, just to make him come to his senses and run away forever.
And yet, I still felt sad for every single one of them. But I’m still reeling from some of the offensive, irritating, and downright wrong things in this story. And no, don’t tell me that’s just how “ABO creativity” works. I don’t care. It’s wrong, and popularity doesn’t make it less so.
I don’t want to be unnecessarily harsh—it was a good idea.
Overall, the series started strong, was tolerable in the middle, but by the end I just couldn’t stomach it anymore.
So my rating lands somewhere in the middle.
Why six stars then?
One bonus star because the opening song is fantastic,
and another because I got an illicit thrill from the second couple’s plot—though I only got crumbs of it.
Dear god, this should probably be minus one star instead.
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