Dare You to Death

Amazing plot twists

I wanna start off by saying that I absolutely love JoongDunk, but to be honest, the romance in this wasn't it.
I just don't feel like it added anything to the story, which is weird considering this is a bl series. I like Jade and Kamin as characters, and they definitely have chemistry, but the romantic scenes felt corny and forced. This show would've been much better as just a thriller drama.
I also do understand people who didn't like Dunk's acting in this, he was definitely a little stiff. (To be fair though, Kamin as a character is a little stiff himself).
The rest of the actors did absolutely wonderful. I definitely felt their fear.

That being said, the plot itself is amazing. The concept of the "truth or dare" letters is so original and well executed, the murders were actually unsettling, and the plot twists were AMAZING. I also loved how every character in the friend group is morally grey and they've all f*cked up in one way or another.

Summarised: great plot with great characters, not a big fan of the romance.

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it was fine.....

Overall, it was an okay watch. I especially liked the storyline with the murder mystery and the group of college students. The plot had a few twists and turns that were handled quite well, which kept things interesting.

However, in my opinion, the actor who played Kamin was a bit weak. I also didn’t really like the way the story was edited. They often showed the murder first and then switched to a soft, romantic scene with the characters who later discover the body. I think it would have worked better the other way around to build more suspense.

This is just my personal opinion, but I also think the story would have benefited from a second couple. They could even have focused more on the college students, which might have made the story feel more balanced.

The main leads felt a bit too boring to carry so much of the focus, mainly because they didn’t really have a strong storyline of their own. Their scenes sometimes felt like they belonged to a completely different narrative, and then the show would suddenly switch back to the actual plot.

All in all, it was still an okay watch with an interesting concept, but it had some weaknesses in the execution.

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I tried!!!!

As a thriller fan, i am disappointed. How can you call this show a thriller when all there is romance rather than actual solving of case. I loved the chemistry and actors but the plottt, LET ME ATLEAST GET INVESTED IN THE PLOT BEFORE JUMPING TO UNNECESSARY ROMANCE. I was so excited for this series but i know how i have managed to complete. Initial investigation of victim's room didn't uncover the hidden cameras but one random house just did.

What were the officers doing when it was obvious that the killer will attack everyone in the group, was Jay the only one that needed protection? and trust me Jay was not all cute AND fluffy, HE FUCKIN' KNEW WHAT HAPPENED TO FAI STILL DID NOTHING LET ALONE SPEAK UP ABOUT IT AFTER HER DEATH. I tried so hard to like this series and i know this is just work of fiction but this series missed the obvious points. The poor balance of romance and thriller made the series go from wow to meh

I love the pair, but i just don't like their kissing scenes mainly due to dunk (I am not a hater) I feel like he should go with the flow rather keeping his lips tight and reserved and all the warmth a hug holds but with this pair in this series, i didn't feel anything from dunk's side. Joong was enjoying the hug (i don't know how to explain) but it didn't look the same with dunk which made the hug feel weird to me.

AGAIN I LOVE THE PAIR SO PLEASE DON'T COME AT ME

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I love Joong and Dunk but this series is not highlighting their talent/chemistry

This story could have been amazing but the amount of genre swapping in terms of tone throughout the series made it really difficult to be invested in. Serious murders are happening but Jade and Kamin are off being romantic instead actually taking anything seriously.
The characters could have been interesting but they didn't have enough time to develop, having loved series' like manner of death this attempt at that genre is poor.
They really needed the investigation to be at the forefront rather than the back and let JDs chemistry do the romance building through a few (like literally a few instead 200) flightatious remarks and lingering glances. The runtime could have been extended to increase the investigation sections or just half of the romance bits could have been shortened and that would have made the series a least somewhat better.
At times the colours and lighting was also very off and looked rather awful making their skin look sallow and jaundice.
I don't want to say but this is probably the only JD series I'll never rewatch.

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Promising start, but loses its impact

5.5/10. I think this series had a strong and promising beginning, but it eventually fell flat for me. My main issues were the editing and the way the show tried to balance the police investigation with the romance. Unfortunately, these two elements didn’t blend well, and it weakened the overall impact of the story.

The main premise was interesting, and the acting was decent at best, with some stronger moments here and there. I do wish we had seen more depth and background for the friend group, because I never felt fully invested in most of them—except maybe Jay, who stood out a bit more.

The biggest highlight of the series was definitely JoongDunk’s chemistry, along with the OST, which helped carry some emotional moments. Those elements made the show more enjoyable despite its flaws.

I’m glad it was available on Netflix, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have discovered it. Hopefully, this is a step toward making more BL series accessible on major international streaming platforms, giving them the wider audience they deserve.

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A Good Cast Cannot Save You From a Bad Everything Else

I love Joong. I love Dunk. I need you to know this. I need you to know I wanted it to be so good and exciting and fun. And I had such high expectations as well. With the teaser and the trailer, which were super cool, and with them being some of my favourite actors, it had everything.
Except, of course, when I was finally able to watch the actual series, it had nothing.
The plot doesn't have a gigantic hole in it. It IS a gigantic hole. The characters are shallow and their motivations are nothing but the fact that the story needs to move forward. Their relationships are underexplored and even Joong and Dunk seem to be lost in the middle of the nothingness that is the supposedly developing relationship between their characters because they seem to be unable to make their chemistry work inside anything.
On top of that, the mystery is bland and you can figure it out most basically by episode 5, at the very least, although my friend and I had the basics of what was going on by episode 3. AND, as if that wasn't bad enough, the police force is incompetent and seems to be entirely unable to run a fucking precinct, let alone solve a serial murder case. Because, no, let us not be fooled, even if all those kids sucked massively, it is entirely Jade and Kamin's fault that they're all dead and yes, that is a bad thing. Cops aren't vigilantes and, although sometimes they seem to be trained to be just that, should not be executioners.
So this means that the core of the series sucks.
But just in case they made everything else suck too.
The sound design is non existent, I think the tech was sleeping the whole time. The places echo, the mix is bad, some people are louder than others and it's just frankly horrific.
And then the special effects suck. My personal beloved is the fake fire, it really adds to the vibe of "I don't care" that the whole last episode has got going on, fantastic. Shout-out.
Finally, even the shooting is bad bc continuity errors keep showing up and the montage just seems to be unsure what the pacing of the story should be so we just have long scenes about nothing and then rushing through major plot points.
In the end, the sum is a pile of rotten things catching fire. The absolute heartbreaking part? The rotting parts used to be premium quality salmon. Someone could've used that to make a delicious meal. And they were robbed of that opportunity so now we're all left starving.

PS: Ohm was great in the series, by far he's the best part of all of this. I don't know how he managed to make the handful of nothing they gave him work but kudos to him, he did really well.

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Disappointment is an UNDERSTATEMENT

So here comes my rants…ahem…review.

I thought about whether I should write a review on this show because it left nothing but disappointment for me (and many other, I believe). But I decide to do it after giving my time to finish it and thought I should be able to express my feelings. Let’s start with what the story was supposed to be, a Thriller! Yes, it got my attention right off the bat when I read the synopsis, being a sucker for thriller. It being a bl, I was even more excited since I wanted to see something new in the world of bl for once, from GMM (because if you read the comparison between them and other company under bl series, it’s not hard to guess many are feed up with how badly produced their series are).

I decided to give GMM and this pair, JOONG AND DUNK, a chance. Though I have watched some of GMM series, in the earliest making of bl series, JoongDunk was a first, I thought they looked good, which was a plus of course in entertainment industry, especially in bl world (for all the fangirl/boy, the requirement to make money). I wanted only two things, decent story and decent acting but guess what, both GMM and JoongDunk (especially Dunk) disappointed me.

The series did not turn out to be what was promised, it was so bland, tasteless and unrealistic beyond comprehension. It look like GMM wanted to balance the gore to be lightened by the fluffy (cringey) romance of the leads but ended up messing it up so bad that they ended up with nothing on both part, no part was developed in its potential, like the dog that wanted the bone in the reflection and ended with nada. They killed a very potential series by trying to focus on something else, the romance of the two that should be chasing bad guys and solving the crime to prevent another dead! It’s like they think a bl have to have romance, no, two men flirting, kissing and NC scene is a must! They should learn from Chinese bromance series. They should realize by now that exposing everything is less attractive than exposing this and that, minimum, leaving viewers some imagination. Not everything has to had it all spelled out. I believe if they had toned down the romance and focused on solving the crime, it could have been one of those rare gem produced by them. Romance wasn’t needed in this kind of genre, not to mention how they choose cringey romance instead of matured kind of it. The mystery wasn’t that mysterious either with how predictable it was, even Jay’s “crime” was I able to guess (maybe growing up watching Thai drama helps).

The most thrilled I was was when the first murder took place, so much for being a thriller, after that the series pretty much went down, nothing was thrilling and the disconnection the inspector and captain have to the case took the charm of a possible thrilling series away. Like, how could they be so busy with their own romance that they practically look like they only exist to catch the killers in the last episode and didn’t need to do anything to investigate? Like they weren’t the ones who were supposed to be solving this murder spree. They were so misplaced. Most of the time, it felt like the murderers were plucking flower petals after each crime—they are on their way, they are not—and ended up going home bored to death, wondering if they made it too hard for the duo. If I were in trouble, I sure as h*ll did not want these two on my rescue team.

Moving onto the cast/acting, I think the only ones who acted decently were Chimon and Sing. The other avengers team did good job too with the screen time they were given, Joong was okay but I think he can do better. On the other hand, Dunk, this actor was so stiff it made it uncomfortable to watch him. I am not lying when I said I already saw his wooden acting from his first appearance, the car scene. At first I thought it was me who wasn’t used to him but the more I watched, the more I feel that he lack. And reading the comments, it doesn’t look like this was his first project. And many claims that this was his “improved version” which made me wonder how the h*ll did he act in his previous projects. How did he even secure this project to lead? And the next. Frankly, he really needs to take on acting classes. As a leading man, for his fans and his co-star, he owe that much. I don’t think it was he being in character, sure, Kamin was supposed to be reserved and strict but those two personality did not equal to being wooden stiff. It was his acting that lacked, too stiff. Many says that he and Joong are very comfortable with one another but maybe because of his stiff acting, for me, he always looked guarded, especially in those intimate scenes, that I couldn’t feel the chemistry between them. It looked too awkward. Too uncomfortable to watch. Many blames the director for how it turned out but they could only direct and guide, the acting was done with the actor’s ability, his perception of the character, maybe this was how much the director could bring out from Dunk which says a lot about him. I hope he saw how he act from the reaction videos they made and have enough self-awareness to try and improve himself. He is not ready to be Kamin. Give it 3 stars for cast/acting as a whole cast.

What I like about this series would be the idea, the story and development we didn’t get, and I like the ending credit ost in earlier episodes.

Rewatch? H*ll no, one round was more than enough. I am not putting myself in that torture again. (Geez, why is it a must to rate rewatch value when there is none?!)

Yup, it’s decided, I am leaving GMM and JoongDunk behind, as I had wisely done until now.

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lots of potential leading to disappointment

Honestly when I heard of this role for JoongDunk after watching Heart Killers I was super excited. It looked to be the complete opposite dynamics of Fadel and Style and I believed this would continue on their high from school and college projects to explore more mature concepts and stories. The original trailer excited me as leaned towards a more mysterious and crime focused vibe. When the official trailer dropped, most of the more serious scenes of the trailer were replaced with more cutesy scenes regarding their relationship as the case evolved, which slightly diminished my spirits but made sense with how JoongDunk's chemistry works. Plus the fact that this was even resembling such an action-esque genre made me so happy for their acting progression. The cast was finalized to be with Ohm, June, Marc, Sing, Chimon, and Earn along with the main pair, which intrigued me as I had enjoyed their individual projects before and knew they would do justice to the story.

The first few episodes did live up to the hype by managing the thrilling murder case while slowly building up Kamin and Jade's tension in their partnership; however here is where the show stopped its rise. At one point it felt as if there were two conflicting plots fighting to be portrayed in the series: the crime case and the love story. I started getting whiplash from how the show would go from a character's death to Jade flirting with Kamin and being all lovey dovey. Additionally both plots also started advancing more quickly without proper buildup, thus feeling weak and rushed at the end of the series. I haven't read the novel so I'm not sure of the speed in which the story is supposed to progress in, but it all felt very insincere and and many times in which you can't at all understand why characters are acting a certain way. At the climax battle, the killer and the twist was interesting, but again felt too short as there wasn't much buildup before their quick demise. The fight and its motivations seemed very shortlived compared to all the buildup to the moment and some decisions felt surprisingly illogical especially given how intricate the killers plan was up to that stage.

Overall the acting and cast were incredible and I do believe everyone did their part phenomenally. I really enjoyed Dunk's new side of intensity in this role and he pulled it off very well. I also loved how Chimon portrayed Champ's smart but spoiled attitude. The music was great as always with Joong's amazing vocals and I also liked Dunk 's Wordless. The only problem I had was with the interwovenness of the love and crime plots and also the poor development of them both. I understand that with 10 episodes there is only so much time to develop the story. (If I remember correctly I think Joong mentioned something like that in one of the reaction videos of the episodes), but I wish there were atleast a bit more episodes to properly setup both plots. When I was watching while the episodes were airing, only the fact that I wanted to confirm who I had suspected to be the killer kept me going near the end. After that aspect is now gone, I fear that the rewatch value has diminished as really just JoongDunk's chemistry is running the show. Thoigh they do have amazing chemistry, it just disappointed me that this trailer and story held so much potential with the crime story and possible slowburn tension built with the crime tension but fell short severely with everything just touching the surface. Thus the show earned such a low rating in my books due to its loss of potential.

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High Stakes, Sharp Shooters, and Suffocating Tension! ??

The premiere of Dare You to Death set the bar incredibly high! Here is my breakdown of why this episode was a total win:
The "Adversary" Spark: The professional friction between Inspector Khamin (Dunk) and Captain Jade (Joong) is intense. They refuse to back down or lose, which perfectly matches the energy of the OST "Dare You To Love".
The "Drunk" Act (Captain Jade): My absolute favorite moment! Joong’s acting was so convincing that he had me totally fooled until the moment he broke character. It showed just how clever and unpredictable Jade can be.
The Sharp-Shooting Solution (Inspector Khamin): Dunk as Khamin proved why he’s a top detective. Solving the case and taking that shot in one go was a powerful "boss" moment that showed his precision and fearlessness.
Cinematography & Vibe: The night scenes and high-stakes investigation vibe were top-tier. The production quality is clearly premium.
The Chemistry: The "enemies-to-lovers" tension is already suffocating in the best way possible!.
My Rating: The visuals and acting micro-expressions are easily 10/10

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Top Notch

Dare You to Death has been a gripping watch so far. The casting feels spot-on, and each actor brings depth and authenticity to their role, making the story even more engaging. The performances are convincing and keep the tension alive in every episode.

What really stands out is the slow-burn mystery. The way clues are dropped subtly keeps you guessing and constantly questioning who the real culprit might be. The suspense is well-built, and it makes you eager to dive into the next episode.

I’m genuinely excited to see how the mystery unfolds and to finally discover who committed the murder. Definitely a series worth following till the end.

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