This review may contain spoilers
cliché story, bad lip-syncing, bad sound-effects, no happy end
I thought, that could be nice, but it isn't. Even indoors they do not record the original audio, they lip-sync everything which ruins the flow and on top of it, they add foot-steps and other effects as well. The story is quite easily told. The older "boy" "adopted" the younger one - but of course a child can not adopt anyone... it's not really explained. But for arguments sake we asume the younger one was adopted and the older one took care of the younger one and they grew up together. And because they are so close the younger one falls in love with his brother, but is refused, even when it's obvious he is also in love.That is quite similar to the series "Unknown" but with a big difference. The story was way way better and made sense, the older brother confronts his own feelings even after he refused him also. Also a difference, the older one was not styled as metrosexual or gay... at least for me he had more gay vibes compared to the younger one. So to run away from his brother and ask for a date with a girl was weird to me.
Overall this is not a series to recommand and the weird audio made it even worse and imho ruins the acting, which was not bad. If you can cope with a "bad" ending, you can watch it, but it would be better if you watch something else.
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The story was bland and there was no story and there are so many stepbrother tropes that is better. It was just based off an obsession the younger stepbrother had with his older brother.
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A Beautiful, Mature Chinese BL with Stunning Cinematography
I just finished Moon and Dust and I have to say, I really enjoyed it. Even though each episode was only around 15 minutes long, I was never bored—every moment felt engaging. The cast is absolutely stunning, and the music and cinematography were on point. 🎶📸 The acting was impressive, and Chinese BL really hits differently; there’s a level of maturity and subtlety to it that I appreciate. No cringey sound effects, just genuine emotion.I’m a big fan of the stepbrother trope, and this series nails it! The chemistry between the leads is electric, and I loved the dynamic between them. 🔥 It's also refreshing to see a Chinese BL that isn't censored.
It's a shame that BL is still restricted in China, because if it were fully legalized, I truly believe the genre could explode in popularity, especially with past hits like Addicted and The Untamed. I’m hoping that one day China will embrace the potential of this genre fully. 🤞
My only downside is the length—if the episodes were longer, this would be a perfect score. Plus, the ending felt a bit like a cliffhanger, so I’m hoping for a special episode or a continuation. Fingers crossed! 🤞
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Low budget BL with unhinged Didi obsessed by his adoptive Gege : poorly produced & written
Let's start with the few positives : I enjoyed a lot Liu Xuan Cheng playing the role of an adopted little brother, madly in love with his big brother....He is super charismatic and I'm looking forward to see him in more roles. The series was very short and despite its numerous flaws, I was never bored. Its bite-sized format made it a very easy weekly watch. That's about it.The production is really bad : the budget is seemingly inexisting so I cannot fully blame the production crew. However, there are some huge issues : the dubbing is just atrocious and worsen over time, the whole sound layering is really not well made, you truly feel the sound is not connected to the scenes played on screen. There are some fight scenes or others where characters are being hurt that are just school drama play level and laughable... The acting is difficult to judge : it is really a mixed bag, with the bad dubbing and script not helping at all.
I would definitely not recommend it unless you are a huge fan of toxic obsessive relationship between brothers and don't mind chopped editing and very low production value. Its ending also kind of left the viewer hanging, with no resolution brought to anything, in a pretty frustrating way. It is super short, so you might want to give it a shot to see the train wreck. Having said that, if there is a season 2 (which I truly doubt), I will likely watch it to get to the bottom of the story. If you want to watch series that handled thousand times better a similar premise, you can definitely give a shot to "Unknown" and "Stay With Me".
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Not a bad drama.
This was not a bad drama, but not great either.The acting was good. The story was good but i think it had a lot more potential. The execution was not great, but that was not the fault of the actors, but of the film makers. In my opinion the editing was messy.
The great star of this drama was Liu Xuan Cheng, he shows to be a great actor.
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This review may contain spoilers
zero payoff
Overall: I was into the obsessed brother but the progression wasn't good and the ending was awful. 6 episodes under 15 minutes each. Aired on PPeachStory YouTube channel https://youtu.be/81-EFRHQbXE?si=XlJ0V6IjmBTRA0no This production also made Uncle Unknown.Content Warnings: arson, (past: child abuse, beaten up, murder/death, blood), violence, coercion, sexual assault, non con kissing, manhandling, non biological brothers raised as siblings from elementary age
What I Liked
- visuals
- tension
- how the younger guy was the unhinged one
- enjoyed how they were watching other BL/queer series in episode 3
- good dream in episode 3
Room For Improvement
- sexual assault in episode 6
- the first "kiss" was terrible, not sure their lips even touched and also the circumstances of how it happened
- terrible ending
- the adopted brother thing didn't bother me a ton but he kept saying 'brother' every single sentence which was cringey
- sound effects like the hits or footsteps were cheesy/unrealistic/too loud
- nonsense stuff, they didn't call for help for the dad???
- dubbing
- annoying how free episodes only stay free for 1 week
Note: the two were not biological brothers as the older guy said he adopted the younger guy in episode 2, but it did show that they were raised together (the younger one seemed to be in elementary school). That aspect of their relationship didn't bother me, but I can see how it might not be everyone's cup of tea.
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hi there the drama was very good
the story was good, and the acting was good but they need more practice and I like the actors too they were fine🔥 I liked the music too and headline "moon and dust" was the best Chinese black drama so far I like everything the actors, the story, the music, and the acting😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤Was this review helpful to you?
Song Li is shy, gentle, and passive, but definitely not innocent. Song Qi, on the other hand, is possessive and paranoid, determined to protect Song Li at all costs. Their bond slowly evolves into something far more complex and layered.
Song Qi is clear about how he feels. Song Li, though, is torn—trapped in guilt over emotions he doesn’t know how to face.
The ending was bittersweet. If there's a season two, I'm watching it.
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Volatile, forbidden, twisted story leaves me waiting the special episode
If ep 6 was the real and final ending my review would be differentIt's not. SO, EP 6 IS LIKE EP 11, storyline come to dramatic emotional confrontational ( akwardness is mostly intentional).
If you missed the micro exoressions, non verbal actions, watch to fully grasp what is being told in this story.
We know guilt, shame, confusion, cultural expectations, will be present, and both characters have to find what they are going to do after ep6.
The special episode needs to give answers as to what "Ge" and "Didi" will decide... we know Didi is obsessive, it's all consuming and ep 6 events pushed his buttons and "Ge" buttons.
What will happen next?
The fact i want to know tells me depsite it not being A+ for a mini series, it certainly gave me enough story to watch weekly and wait for the conclusion in the special episode. Well done to PPeach Story, with limited time and budgets, we have learned about these characters in a gradual way that led me to keep watching.
If you want prediciatable, this is not.
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This review may contain spoilers
not the worst
judging on the many other reviews it has came to my attention many people dislike this and i can see why, no happy ending, sort of an abusive story, and left with a cliffhanger, but i’d definitely rewatch it. i watched this all in one night because of how hooked i was, only to find out that it was cut short.i would definitely recommend this to my friends because of how addicting it is but there isn’t anything special about this title, so feel free to skip it, there isn’t anything to miss out on.
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Made Me Feel Icky
Just plain weird. Honestly, there are not many instances that give me the ‘willies’, but watching this series frankly did. Everything about this story left me disquiet. And the way the narrative was fashioned felt like what the two protagonists were somehow involved in, between the two of them, was ‘dirty’. Therefore, the whole drama felt – unclean. Sadly, it did not need to go down that road. Overall, this feels a lot like another stepbrother trope BL series, only more obscenely because the direction made it feel that way. Rather than being an adult story, they made these ‘brothers’ caricatures – one almost angelic while the other demonic. Completely unnecessary. What would have been so wrong with treating them in average terms, more relatable to the everyday world, rather than truncating them into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ personas? Not everything is either a yin or a yang. Why can we not have something more genuine and real for a change that is relatable? The real question here about this series is an obvious rhetorical one: What would have been the outcome of this series if the plot had been that the protagonists were not labeled ‘brothers’ but something less salacious? Would we still want to watch it?Was this review helpful to you?
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Could Have Been Better Scripted!
Just plain weird. Honestly, there are not many instances that give me the ‘willies’, but watching this series frankly did. Everything about this story left me disquiet. And the way the narrative was fashioned felt like what the two protagonists were somehow involved in, between the two of them, was ‘dirty’. Therefore, the whole drama felt – unclean. Sadly, it did not need to go down that road.Very little of this story made sense. It is a story of two ‘brothers’, loosely defined. The older brother, Song Li (Zhang Yong Bo) ‘adopts’ a boy from the streets as his brother. His name becomes Song Qi (Liu Xuan Cheng) and both have a stepfather unrelated to either who is abusive towards the two of them. Song Li felt sorry for Song Qi who was existing on the streets and brought him into the family. The two of them, even though they were not related or connected in any way, created their own family and decided to adopt each other and call one another brother. The stepfather is essentially a drunkard and turns his intoxicated rage onto the boys, with Song Li usually taking the brunt of the beatings for both. Because of their abusive upbringing, they learned to rely on each other and indeed grew closer to one another. And clung onto each other for physical and emotional support. Perhaps with the younger one being so susceptible and malleable, only learned what love is by loving his older brother.
Read the complete article here-
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2025/07/15/moon-and-dust-series-review-ep-1-to-6/
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