The Love Never Sets

Emotional and heartwarming but slow and lacking depth

This reminds me so much of the earlier BL dramas and also some newer ones such as lITA ( side couple) and tharntype (without the toxicity).

It has very sweet and emotional moments involving a few misunderstandings about each other where they have to work to gain the others trust and overcome traumatic past events. Ja is an experienced, almost veteran BL actor at this stage having starred in many BL dramas since 2019 such as Tharntype and Don't say no which paved the way for many other series. This new CP with Tae is perfect, they compliment each other very well in terms of skill and style making the scenes believable.

This series touches on many mature topics such as sexual abuse, trauma, nightmares/mental health and bullying. However it fails to deliver with integrating these into the story leaving it hollow. It is a series about healing and growing together as a couple, I have always enjoyed this genre for BL since Tharntype however it is portrayed with less toxicity with no abuse at least with the main couple.

Consent is taken seriously, the characters take on a project as actors under an inexperienced director and there is a scene where they forget to ask consent when acting out a 'restraint' scene before checking if they were both ok first. They then discuss the right and wrong way to perform scenes and begin workshopping.

Some scenes are a little childish such as the bullies pouring water over themselves and bowing low asking for forgiveness, this came of as comedic and was not taken seriously even though ice was hurt by their actions. I find the smoking scenes to be unnecessary as well as the really awkward bra advertising scene right in the middle of an intimate moment.

edit: The show really starts to drag around episode 7 and some of the character interactions are quite childish making the production look low quality. There is a lot of unnecessary drama and an S/A scene where the jealous ex is wearing a comically stained shirt to suggest he hasn't washed and spilled food on himself.

The scenes with the second couple GL, are sprinkled in with not much build up and a strange ad for a bra company right in the middle of an intimate scene which is distasteful and insulting to the actors and their work in the moment.

The main story itself is quite weak and takes forever to build and reach any sort of excitement.

Warnings: The show promotes smoking in a few scenes. Some scenes may also be triggering as it covers topics such as SA and trauma.

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It's good. Really good but with minor flaws

Ok had to review this one while it's ongoing. It's good. I started watching this because it had a unique plot. Romance between a "ex-porn star" and a university perfect guy. Being Tae's 1st drama as a lead he's done an amazing job potraying ice. Yes he still looks a bit stiff during the NC scenes but not like their chemistry sucks. I hope to see more dramas of them together. I've usually seen tae do happy go lucky characters so this one was something new i saw in him. I think he'd do well in sweet innocent kinda characters too🤭🤭 cz his doe eyes is really adorable. Especially in the lollipop scene in ep 8.

As for Ja we all know no one can beat him when it comes to green flag characters he's done a good job as saint. But i think he has potential in toxic characters too. Saying this cz he did well as Kit (the character he plays in the short movie) we gotta see him play 1 toxic character. He was really good.

Overall the story is really good it shows how SA victims think and the problems they face really well but yes there are scenes where it was kinda confusing like cut off but then they do explain why it happens but then you might feel weird till the explanation comes in. Like saint ignoring ice and also flirting with him at the same time cz of the father's spy. I was like whats the point of ignoring ice if you're gonna flirt with him infront of the spy😆😆 The actors are good but overtime especially after ep 8 the director and screen writer has messed up and it's like you get the story but you feel it could be done better.

And yes our 2nd couple kinda dumb but kinda cute pair🤭🤭 I'm loving their story too.

Ok I'm at ep 10. After ice and warm's breakup the story gets dragged. This should have been a 10 ep drama but it's 13 so they're just dragging it to the end to fix the father problem.

Overall watch it. If u liked fortpeat in love in the air. This is similar probably a bit intense than their story at times but yeah u won't regret it but yeah u gotta skip a lot after WarmIce breakup.

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I had high hopes

The starting was little bit tacky and lacking. I've never written a review in my life. I solely made this account today to write this review after finishing episode 7. I sat through whatever this drama was trying to be. Trauma? Romance? College life? Separation? Second chances? Asshole predatory professors and boyfriends who deserve to be thrown into the ocean. I didn't want to give up on the drama because trauma and reemergence of characters from said trauma (re- Sky from LITA) to me is like what a flame is to a moth. I just can't ignore it but then the end of episode happened and I was like "no" do not ask him to kiss you right now. Honestly...what was the thought process behind that? Like come on! I get it that everybody processes trauma differently but those around them are supposed to bear responsibility.

This just felt a little cheap and hollow to me. You could have had so many scene to differentiate Saint from other characters-especially Warm...it was not difficult. This just was not it. And you want me to believe an assault victim isn't vigilant about their surroundings-with an intoxicated ex just around the corner. Throughout that scene I kept going "Lock the damn door!". I can overlook whatever happened after that because locking up\freezing up is the kind of response your body turns to when something like this happens again BUT you're telling me he didn't lock that damn door for whatever reasons!??

This felt a little insensitive to me.

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Explosive Start for a New Uni Enemies to Lovers BL

Yet another university enemies to lovers trope, but this one surprisingly starts with a big bang. I really enjoyed episode 1. There were no cringe moments or awkward background music like in many other uni BLs. The plot feels fresh and interesting, with the main couple already knowing each other and fate bringing them to share the same dorm room.

I’m so used to seeing Ja paired with First, having watched three series with them, so it’s refreshing to see Ja (as Saint) acting alongside his new partner Tae (as Ice).

Ice is cold, cocky, and incredibly talented. Can we take a moment to appreciate that he wrote and sang that song so beautifully? He can sing, play guitar, act, and he’s good-looking, a perfect match for Saint. Saint is gentle and caring, and it’s obvious he still has feelings for Ice. Their chemistry is electric. I loved the scene where Ice ate durian just to annoy Saint, yet Saint still washed and hung up his clothes. They’re practically living like a couple already.

Their chemistry is off the charts, and I can’t wait to see their hearts slowly find their way back to each other. The first episode had it all: romance, comedy, tension, and great emotional build-up. My Wednesday nights are going to be fun with this series until January 2026.

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The Pain (Almost) Never Ends (watch suggestions)

Airing: note that this series and my review may have triggering content. 13 episodes about 1 hour each. Airing on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/the-love-never-sets-episode-1-2edr2dc2xxw?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: past (rape shown 27-30 ep 1 and 29-34 episode 2 , grooming, drugging, non con video taking/sharing, miscarriage, blood, manipulation, intimate partner abuse/violence, near suicide, child abuse/violence), current (beaten up/fight, held against will, slaps/punches, grooming, trauma/PTSD, intimate partner abuse, manipulation, sexual assault multiple times, drugging)

Watch Suggestions (to focus on sweet/happy)
- episode 2 watch 16:15-26:20 for cute backstory, 37:30-46:05 GL
- episode 3 watch 21-27:35 cute backstory
- episode 4 watch 23:10-26:10 maybe side couple, 32-38:20 GL, 55-58:45
- episode 5 watch 21:45-24:30 and 44:30-46:15
- episode 6 watch 19:30-25:20
- episode 7 watch 22:30-39and 58:45-59:05
- episode 8 watch 9:30-12:30 and 50:25-52:20
- episode 9 watch beginning to 36:30 and 38:40-40:10
- episode 10 watch 18-19:15 and 34-end

What I Liked
- visuals
- sweet moments in the past/present
- the past miscommunication was a bit more realistic than similar situations in other series
- that Ice at times stands up for himself like telling Saint that he was two-faced
- the GL escalated very quickly, but I enjoyed them quite a bit
- someone went to jail in episode 8

Room For Improvement
- exposition dump in ep 1
- it seems that Saint knew what happened to Ice before reading the diary so him restraining Ice like that in episode 1 was awful (and then a later convo about not needing consent was terrible too, I don't think the production talked to any survivors)
- the bullies felt very cookie cutter, bad redemption arc (plus another poorly done redemption arc)
- the friend knew what happened to Ice yet put him in a situation she should have known would be triggering
- cheating
- stupid drinking duel in episode 7
- kissing someone when they were drugged
- in episode 8 a character could have easily had a mutual friend explain what was going on
- very nervous they are going to do the trope "love heals all trauma"

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