Thundercloud Rainstorm (2025)

A Dark, Addictive and Seductive Korean BL That Instantly Hooks You

Honestly this has become my favourite Korean BL after Secret Relationships, and I’m lifting my rating to a full 10/10 after episode 4!!!

Thundercloud Rainstorm delivers one of the most explosive openings I have seen in a Korean BL. The darker cinematography and moody tone set it apart immediately, giving the story an intensity and emotional weight that makes it impossible to stop watching. It feels mature, atmospheric and bold in all the right ways.

Jeong Ri U has always impressed me in short projects like Bad Guy, Blue Boys and Seoul Blues, but seeing him in a full BL series is on another level. He is tall, handsome and effortlessly seductive, the perfect match for the adorable and expressive Yoon Ji Sung. Their chemistry is electric from the very first moment they share the screen.

The intimate scenes are a major highlight. The couch kiss is hot, slow and incredibly sensual. The kitchen bench kiss is just as intense. I love how both cousins are so forward with their feelings and actions. And since they are not related by blood, it avoids the tired step brother trope we see too often. Their dynamic feels fresh, daring and full of tension.

The hotel room scene absolutely blew me away. JeongHan tying IlJo up, kissing him like a predator claiming his prey, was one of the sexiest and most captivating scenes in recent BLs. It balances toxicity, obsession and vulnerability in a way that feels dramatic but still deeply emotional. The acting is strong, the chemistry is undeniable and every moment between them feels charged and meaningful.

This series already stands out as one of my favourites of the year. Stunning visuals, addictive storytelling, passionate chemistry and the perfect amount of dark red flag energy make Thundercloud Rainstorm unforgettable. A solid 10 out of 10.

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The thundercloud that growled but only drizzled...

A promising beginning which concluded with a lackluster ending.

When this drama started, the first four episodes were super intense and exciting. But as it proceeded towards the second half of the drama, it lost the angsty essence and circled around a vague story that was only full of misunderstandings, miscommunications and ego problems. Personally, Jeonghan's character seemed very interesting to me but not Iljo. And shout out to Iljo's best friend Suho, who never expected anything in return but stayed by his side when Iljo was nothing.

Some characters spiked my blood pressure, some only made me roll my eyes, so overall it's a decent drama that you can binge on as a one-time watch, but it won't leave any long-lasting impression on your brain (only the important scenes like— well iykyk 🤭)

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We’ve got toxic romance, and fluff, and angst - we’ve got it all, but truly we’ve got nothing.

Let’s be real, the only reason I am giving it a 7 is the entertainment value created by the insane chemistry and the insane plotlines that made no sense.

We honestly got 3 separate dramas here - toxic possessive romance, fluff rom-com with some background conflict, and the most ridiculous and illogical angst melodrama. Usually when the writers reveal new information or drop the hints of the past events and characters’ background the overall picture of the story becomes more clear. Here every new detail just made the show more and more confusing. I felt like a victim of gaslighting.

What do you mean the character that was lying is “the most honest”? The character that ran away “was not holding back and gave his whole heart”? Why do I feel like my toxic ex is trying to create some false memories in my brain? This is not what I witnessed and no amount of hot chemistry, make out sessions and choking is going to convince me otherwise.

Truth to be told - no one watched it for the plot. We all watched it for Jeong Han and his sexy voice as he gets more possessive and obsessive towards Il Jo.

Plot? What plot? The plot built on the absent development? The laughable villain with no working brain cells (which is fair with all the drugs he was doing). The sweet Alabama themes that made me want to throw my laptop out of the window and bleach my eyes? The noble idiocy? None of this mattered when we got to Jeong Han looking at Il Jo with all that fire in his eyes.

Acting wise, it’s actually pretty good. Lee Dong Joo gave me the most over the top, but somehow fitting performance. Yoon Ji Sung transformed into a completely different person and each line, no matter how frustrating, was actually believable. Jeong Ri U was able to balance between the possessive force and broken puppy - somehow making it make sense.

One thing that for sure stood out for me in a positive way was the soundtrack. Maybe it just perfectly matches my type, but I added all the songs to my playlist by the end of the drama.

Overall, fun, but not necessarily good.Maybe if they had more time to actually establish the relationship and develop the characters and the conflicts the transitions between the phases of the relationship would feel more smooth and gradual. What we've got was just hot frustration.

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what a messy story with unnecessary drama...

Hmmm... on the one hand for some this was entertainment pure, for others, that series does not make much sense and is frustrating. I lean to the group who thinks, the whole series was unnecessary when Iljo had talked in the first episode. Then maybe the could have expanded on how to bring Iljo's brother down. Iljo wallowing in the victim role was a bit much at times. Of course SeoJeong is not free of fault either. While under pressure from his father he does not know how to express his feelings at all. I think he did not receive any love from his family at all, but I would have prefered also to see some backflashes in his childhood.

Overall this is a mixed bag. You may like it or you may hate it or like me, it's more positive then negative but the story is messy. Production quality was good, but it was not a high polished one. It has raw edges, but what works is the chemistry between the leads. Both did a very good job and together they did even better. So, if you like it toxic, this is a show for you!

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Didn't stick the landing, but for the first time in history...

The premise was good, the first half of it was super good and promising. Then it took a funky turn the last 3 episodes.

I'm easy though, I forgave everything because for the first time in kdrama history they lifted someones bangs to place a wet towel on someones fevered forehead when they were sick. AND, and, they didn't try and fix his hair after they took it off and his hair was a bit wild. We are living through history y'all. So, while I took points away for the messy ending episodes, I gave a full point for forehead realness 😂. It really made me that happy to see it.

It was messy, it was somehow rushed, it was jumbled the last 3 episodes, and there was way too much back and forth at the end, BUT if you can accept the ride, I'd say it's definitely worth a watch. The fire between them is no joke in the first half. They had some cute moments. I'm a sucker for dominant romances.

Idk, it wasn't horrible. I liked it well enough. We have plently of BLs to see in the future. Not the end of the world. Give it a try, maybe you'll like it, even just a little bit. On to the next BL!!

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sudden character shifts

Overall: note that this review and the series might be triggering regarding intimate partner abuse. My main issue was how multiple characters flip flopped and I couldn't trust them with one in particular who was abusive one minute and then super sweet the next. This is based on the web novel "Thundercloud Rainstorm" by Caesim, which I haven't read and I reviewed the series based on its own merits. 8 episodes about 30 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/thundercloud-rainstorm-episode-1-1n404dlzgcg?lang=en_us ; GagaOOLala (available in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Southeast Asia and Europe (excluding Spain, Portugal, and United Kingdom)) and on Heavenly in South Korea.

Content Warnings: non con kiss, punch/beaten up, manhandling, coercion, intimate partner abuse, victim blaming, blackmail

Watch Suggestions (to focus on steamy & sweet)
- episode 1 watch 24:15-end
- episode 2 watch 9:40-10:30, 16:10-16:30, 25-end
- episode 3 watch beginning-15
- episode 4 watch beginning-15
- episode 5 watch beginning-9:15, 28-30
- skip episodes 6 and 7
- episode 8 watch 3:30-end which gives an overview and shows how the series ended

What I Liked
- chemistry (in the beginning, it fizzled a bit in my opinion)
- visuals
- that one character wasn't completely child-like (the kick in ep 3 was good, wish we saw more agency from him)
- one character had consequences off screen

Room For Improvement
- some choppiness especially in the beginning with time jumps
- a character's action in the beginning of episode 1 made no sense if I understood the timeline correctly, also they said he should have been in a ton of pain??
- the drunk and forget cliche
- Il Jo needed more agency
- inconsistent characterization, a character was cruel and the next second was in love, then abusive, then a sweet puppy and so on (it made it so I couldn't trust their nice side because the other side was always lurking around the corner)
- a character knew something terrible could have happened and then sat around for awhile towards the end of episode 4
- some night scenes were too dark, needed more light on the actors' faces
- noble idiot trope
- a character stayed trash thru the end and had zero consequences

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ONE OF THE BEST KBL I'VE EVER WATCHED!!!!!!

I'm 4 episodes in. Couldn't stop myself from watching it on air🤭. The drama is soo good it made my heart flutter and also made me cry🥺🥺. Usually KBLs are either filled with awkward acting, lot of pauses and rushed story line. But that was not the case here the pacing was right, the actors were not awkward and there were no long empty pauses. I'd say this one was as good as "My bias is showing!?" & "semantic error"❤️.

Another good thing about this bl is that they didn't turn it into "i like you cz you're my brother." This is probably the 1st incest I'm not dropping cz usually when it's stepbrother or cousins troup it's like one likes the other and forces them into a relationship like we saw in "HIStory 4". But here they're cousins who definitely didn't grow up together. They did meet occasionally but all they had was friendship not like you treat him as a brother all your life and have romantic feelings for him.

Damn Il joo deserves happiness. He's suffered soo much in life and now he's suffering in love too. Jeong Han is well... i can't say he's a red flag he's more like a yellow flag. He's loved Il joo but doesn’t wanna accept it other than that he's a nice guy who cares for him. Also we can't forget the visuals both leads are soo damn handsome. Like every scene they're literally shinning 🤭🤭. Overall i think you should give it a go it's a fun watch if you ignore the cousins part... which is what I'm doing😆😆

Edit: okay he's moved from yellow flag to green flag era so 🤭🤭 extra satisfied. Damn and the NC scenes are quite on par with thai bl... kbl and cbl are literally raising their bars🤌🤌 also i like that il joo is not just a weak guy. He even "rejected" jonghan... yes he does get beaten up a lot but atleast he's got a personality ✨️✨️ but yeah last 2 eps i felt there were gaps like why was iljo away from Jung before he went to the airport? N why was he even worried about the photos? I guess I'll get a clear picture when i read the webtoon so I'll give it a 9

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Amazing KBL. Truly one of the rarest

Korean BLs are scarce really. They are rather conservative and very rare to find.

This one in particular, has a beautiful setting. The leads' chemistry is amazing and the story is very engaging.

It's has the cliche plot with a few twists but what keeps the drama going is the leads' chemistry.
The kiss scenes, skinship, etc are truly palpable.

The second half became a little flat but nonetheless the character development was beautiful and everything was wrapped up.
All in all, one of the beautiful Kbls i have seen. the chemistry is amazing!

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Il Jo and his love

You know a story is entertaining when you bypass all the flaws and still switch on, anticipating the enjoyment of what is to come. Yes, there were major flaws. Repetitive dialogue. A clueless, possessive dictator when all the clues were right before his eyes. How could he not know that Jeong In was threatening Il Jo? Why did he take so long to take action? Why did Il Jo allow himself to be a punching bag, when he could have come clean from the moment he knew Jeong Han loved him? Yes, the flaws were in the script and a bit of over the top petulant acting. Hey, that's Korea but they deliver.

Il Jo stepped into Jeong Han's life and his heart. He held up the mirror, causing him to see his true self and showed him how to love. From the moment this started, I was curious to see how they would meander the course to be together. There were moments of rage, disdain, pity, passion and love. The spots of humor enlivened the mostly dark and sombre plot. Jeong Han, in his delirium, begging Il Jo to stay, when in fact it was Jae snapping him back to reality was good. At the end, through all the muddle, they found their way back to each other. For his miniature stature, Il Jo weilded most of the power in their relationship by his actions. The cafe owner proved to be a true friend. Although, he had other wishes for Il Jo, he backed his decision to return to Jeong Han. His happiness meant more.

Jeong and Yoon acted well together. Their break up scene in the bedroom was raw and phenomenal. Their happy moments - cute. Their physical interractions - intense. Admittedly, Lee Dong Joo shone in the role of the drug addicted psycho half brother and helped make the series that much better. Perfectly cast for he delivered with his depravity. The series length was perfect and also the last few scenes at the airport. Jeong Han needed to trust what he had with Il Jo and allow him to make his own choices. It ended on the right note.

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Strong Start, frustrating finish

I enjoyed most of the show, but the last two to three episodes were disappointing and rushed.
I started the series really liking Il-Jo, but in the final episodes his character became increasingly frustrating. Being submissive doesn’t mean letting everyone walk all over you and acting helpless all the time. By the end, it felt like Jeong Han was the only one putting real effort into fixing their relationship.

The drug storyline was another issue: both male leads knew about Jeong In’s drug use, yet the decision to report it to the police only happened ages later, while he could have done that 2 episodes ago... the main target was IIJo but of course he wasn't the one who reported him nor thought of reporting him for the drugs and the assault.
Overall, it felt like many things could have been handled better in those last 3 eps. That said, the chemistry between the male leads was strong, and the earlier episodes were much better written and more engaging. Despite its flaws, I’d still recommend giving it a watch

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An entertaining mess

Not a big fan but it was good.

The leads have amazing chemistry. The kisses were really good. The storyline kinda sucked. They tried to do a complicated story with complex characters but failed at it. It's worth a watch though. I'll never be re-watching it but bingeing was fun.

It's always a "I'm doing this for you" and never a "I'm being threatened, what should I do?". I'm not a fan of "I'm breaking up with you for you" type of stories. It just causes unnecessary misunderstandings and separation when you could've just communicated and developed a solution which would benefit both of you and bring you happiness. Or you could just sit and cry together rather than being miserable alone.

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A plot that's missing its backstory

I found myself lost throughout the series. We didn't get a clear exposition of what Il Jo back story was about to drive the plot. We only go small snippets about a redevelopment and Il Jo not wanting to sell his adopted father's house. Why the other cousin had it out for him so bad but still wanted to sleep with him. I don't know if I missed it in the show or just simply done. So if anyone cares enough to explain, please send me a message.

It felt like the script was written by an amateur and it wasn't proofread when it was being sold to be made into a series. However, I do think it was created by a well developed production. The director worked well with what they were given and if it wasn't for the director and production team this show would have been a disaster. I also, strongly believe that Jeong Ri U carried this show. I feel like the writer was biased towards this character, gave the character a lot of thought and was consistent but forgot about Il Jo character and missing the entire plot completely.

Il Jo character really annoyed me too. He was a bit of wimp. Kept coming and going as he pleased. They didn't write it in a way that made you feel sorry him.

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