Positives:
- The story is fun , exploring identity, friendships, trust and belonging.
- The show does not use excessive filters on the actors skin, leaving it looking natural.
- The couple dynamics are heartwarming and have some moments that are relatable and realistic.
- It has a nice balance between serious scenes and playful moments.
- Winnys character is portrayed realistically, being awkward at first and avoiding his feelings to then becoming protective and allowing his true feelings to be seen. He starts thinking about his lifestyle and choices differently after getting into a long term relationship.
-The Kiss scenes are sweet and believable without being stiff or forced.
Negatives:
- The political story elements were not overly interesting to me, becoming repetitive.
- The story does not go too deep and is best viewed as a light/casual drama.
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Started great but became monotonous
It didn't quite have the excitement I had hoped for, I wanted more ghosts with stories to uncover and set to rest but there were a handful with the focus on the eight feet spirit. The romance was very lacking and simplified unlike some other similar themed dramas (lovers of the red sky, tale of the nine tailed et).I think it would have worked better with more horror elements and less comedy/ lightheartedness and a tad more romance.
Still worth a watch if you like supernatural dramas as there arn't too many new ones lately and this is alright.
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This review may contain spoilers
Chemistry, Spice and angst along with forgotten characters and a slap in the face final episode.
HOT AND SPICY, the chemistry is on, the engines are hot and there's a Threat on the horizon called daddy Tony. Yes he's back in all villainous glory, this time, working on the sidelines experimenting on alphas to create a secret drug.The parings are full of complex emotions and push and pull elements. Many of the characters we wanted to see together in S1 are finally coming together in s2 with the exception of Pete/way which is now Pete/Chris (still a mystery who Chris is and why he looks like ways twin).
This is not your typical BL drama, the setting is unique as with the first season, which is why i was drawn to it so much. The alpha/enigma powers are intriguing and provide good drive for the characters and story without being too overbearing. The powers are more of a looming issue waiting to bubble up and spill over as with jeffs complications and increasing nosebleeds/ poor health.
The Willy character is both good looking and evil in intentions. ( The actor also has issues with an inappropriate SA comment about the end of ep 5, but we wont go too much into that here except, this made me dislike him as he showed no remorse for his actions).
The teasers are exciting every week with new story elements added and questions begging to be answered: How is tony alive? Who is the mole? Who is Chris and why is he suspicious? What is Tonys plan? Why is Jeffs power getting stronger?
Ep 10 review: omg there were frustrations this time around! I don't believe Alan would be this selfish about wanting the skill enhancer/ powers, everything he has done up to this point was for x hunter and Jeff. They made us believe he was putting off the surgery because of his love of jeff and to help the team at this risky time. But no, since the are all calling him old and uncle like he's in his 50s and not in his 30s and is supposedly in pain due to a spinal issue which i don't believe was added well into the series. We should have seen him in more consistent pain not just a couple of convenient ouch moments.
Tony said his chip in his neck is also pretty impossible to remove unlike Willys so i guess he gone got himself screwed! what a silly guy. At least he can now super punch and lift stuff i guess....
ep 11 and 12:
UPDATE and SPOILERS: ep before the final one:
ah man such a shame with the plot holes and lazy writing. it feels so rushed with random stuff thrown in. the characters have lost their empathy and feelings. in the last few eps pete and chris are now background characters when chris was supposed to be the reasonable in charge of operations guy and now hes just sat at the back waiting for everyone else to screw up first and even then he doesn't care about rescuing kenta or bothering much with alans betrayal which everyone seems to not give a crap about. great and now we have the predictable story for the final ep: babe and Charlie will get kidnapped willingly and then make a distractions for the other guys to sneak in, there will be some struggle and fighting with willy saving the day and alan getting shot and then pete and chris will magically say they finished the skill nullifying drug and inject tony so he can be killed. or even worse they may redeem tony or something who knows at this point???.
ep 12:
wtf was that ending??? Alan getting shot through the lungs and walking around and recovering, the rushed finalise. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SKILL NULLIFYING DRUG??!!! they all just abandoned it and now Charlie is ok with no issues? WAT! and the wedding scene where the producers just had to get involved. it really pulled me out of the story at that moment and made it a cast reunion. Kenta was practically ignored aswell after being stuck in the lab for days!
I would love to see more of the secondary couples as they have developed so much in their acting skills and chemistry. I'm staying tuned for 'I'm the most beautiful count' with ping/nut.
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High Budget, Talented actors, Poor story
This drama has two of the most popular actors in BL and a very high budget. It is addictive and easy to watch but it unfortunately falls to poor storytelling and potholes. I still recommend to watch for the actors and fun royal theming. There are some very well acted moments such as the crying scene where khanin is told his father is dead and the romance scenes are believable and full of chemistry being well crafted and performed.It seems like all the budget and focus is on visuals and chemistry, the story is back seating which is a shame but it is still watchable.
Good points:
- High budget locations and costumes.
-Great chemistry/ beautifully shot NC scenes.
- Well cast drama/ great acting.
-The tournament is a pretty good plot point to keep us rooting for khanin.
- Butler Chakri is great and funny.
Problems:
- The fencing tournament is supposed to be a sacred tradition to choose an heir to the throne, however by episode 5 they changed the rules twice already by allowing a female heir to compete which was previously banned and then to add archery. This is bad writing and makes you feel it was never such a tradition to begin with as rules are changing all over the place.
- The two main characters interactions are written for convenience and it is hard to believe that the king would allow charan to be so close to Khanin after first saying his job was done as his protector and then somehow just letting Khanin have his way just because he asked once to bring him back as his trainer/bodyguard. They could have made it more of a forbidden love story where khanin sneaks out to see charan constantly as its his only opportunity or something.
I know at this point (ep 6) that we don't know too much about charans backstory and why the king is now trusting charan with more responsibilities but it seems to be a whole lot of convenient plot points especially his fear of the rain. I dunno but it was sweet to see charan display some deep emotions, however it seemed a bit too out of character and could have a better build up except just the one plane scene in the beginning where he stairs out at the rain and then later suddenly he cant function in it after defeating two bad guys. I am holding out and hoping they will give us a deeper explanation for this, i do enjoy seeing charans emotional side but i don't think its been written and added well here so far.
- Prince Khanin came across as very needy and entitled in episode 5 which was nearly painful to watch, again this was the script and not the actors fault.
ep reviews:
- ep 7 was much better but the lead up to the replacement coach and poisoner reveal were not as exciting as it could have been. The scene where Khanin was poisoned was well acted by Nunew and the love scene following later on was beautifully done, It was very tasteful with a lovely soundtrack and some intense moments towards the end.
-ep 8 some BDSM scenes from the second couple here, I like the way they cut this, showing us little snippets of the collar scene and then some build up and then the actual scene. The rest of this episode was Khanin longing for Charin at every moment and ending up being disappointed he couldn't get the chance to sleep with him again. Not a bad episode but lacking in plot and progression. Butler Chakri was once again the star of the episode.
- ep 10 - the plot is starting to really drag now not much has happened over 9 and 10 except the king being angry at Khanin over the mining conditions which feels so much like a randomly added plot point without much planning. The acting is still holding up this series especially in the emotional scenes with Nunew and the love scenes which are beautifully done.
I will continue to watch this because of the actors and good points, i hope the writing improves and the company behind it didn't just rely on the high budget to carry it through. We shall see.
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Bad editing, depiction of forced toxic relationship. (EDIT)
Overall thoughts:I always like to watch something new and exciting, this being the first omega verse live action i couldn't miss it. It did make me angry though many times so i cannot rate it too high.
genres should be: Thriller, psychological and possibly Stockholm syndrome towards the end due to the forced permanent marking.
Manipulation, hidden identity, cheating, stalking, verbal abuse, classism, grape (multiple), coercion, power imbalance, psychological abuse, physical abuse, Love trapping by force, love trapping with pregnancy ( victim didn't know he could get pregnant and therefore was in denial, partner new this and didn't care to help him come to terms and make his own decisions).
Pretty sure second male lead is a psychopath as he doesn't appear to be able to feel or express love - its more like possession, jealousy, control and dominance. He shows no guilt for his crimes and no remorse. Does not comfort or support his partner without some form of pheromone warfare. No communication or full explanations offered for his actions. Keeps his partner in the dark about his true intentions.
EP 1-3:
So far this is very exciting, we have two couples with hidden identities. The enigma in disguise as an Omega to woo an alpha is intriguing, this would mean the dynamics would completely change as the enigma goes from shy, delicate omega with manipulative tendency to full on dominant enigma with irresistible pheromones to overpower the S class alpha who has always up to this point been the top dog.
The moody alpha and the Omega disguised as Beta will be a rocky journey as this alpha HATES omegas. The omega does everything he can to hide his true identity with risk to his health. I am looking forward to how this couple develop and how the moody alpha can be swayed to the omegas arms.
This is a very fresh take on the BL genre pushing the boundaries of gender roles and biology in this fantasy ABO world. It takes some time to go an look up the rules of omega verse otherwise this could very much confuse you. The dynamics are very diverse with the mention of an alpha female and omega male couple coming in future episodes which is something not often appearing in even the omega verse literature.
The acting a pace are really good, Elliot is fantastic as the beautiful, manipulative enigma. The cast perfectly match their roles, i hope to see more ABO series in the future!
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EDIT: I started at 8.5, I knew what i was getting into with this being omegaverse and more of a 'predator/prey' than a romance however I don't know why they made the forced heat cause Mr Sheng to just go unconscious, They could have him acting on more desperation and showing more need for his partner like we saw the very first time he went into an alpha Rut. When he is forced into Heat by the enigma, he just acts sedated which is hard to watch as it is very date r**e and S/A. I know they could have done better with this to lighten the load but we instead got full on sedation and S/A. (Yes we know Mr sheng uses omegas like a toy but this does not mean his being assaulted is ok).
I am also not feeling any genuine love from Hua Yong at the point of ep 8, the actor is doing a great job but it comes across as fully dominant even when he's faking it, I fail to feel any warmth from him towards Mr sheng except that he wants him for a toy that he had an eye on for years. It has crossed over the line too far into obsession which is blocking out any genuine feelings of love. I cannot rate this higher because of these points, it just doesn't feel right. I read the book and it was much easier to digest as Mr. sheng is depicted as 'giving in' and welcoming the onslaught instead of just laying there unconscious (this is still very S/A and doesn't redeem it much but it lightens the tone slightly).
(S/A is always wrong and lowers my liking for dramas)
EDIT ON EP 9:
The direction and editing are really off. Shen Wen Lang was supposed to be drunk out of his mind when finding Gao Tu but he seemed completely sober yet still failed to recognise him in a brightly lit room. They could have shown him stumbling around following the scent and getting more and more intoxicated but it was just so rushed. The main couple scene was also very rushed and behind a heavy filter which is more censoring than I've seen from most BL dramas, we could hardly see anything and it was just a couple of lines of dialogue for the most part. I also wanted to see Sheng Shao You fight back more, i loved the punch but i needed to see him fighting more before being subdued.
Mr sheng is being treated like a sex toy by hua yong - after he grapes him, sheng wakes up at home feeling violated and seeking comfort from his partner but hes no where to be found and instead there's a note that he has given his body to get the cancer curing drug for Mr sheng and that he is 'breaking up with him'. This is emotional torture and abuse along with physical assault. There is no point in this drama that Mr sheng actually has a choice. He is love trapped by the permanent mark and then baby trapped which is even worse as he's in denial that its really happening. This sounds like literal torture! imagine if he was a woman.
At the end of ep 9 Hua Yong arranges to meet with Sheng Shao You to pass over the cancer curing drug or something, but when this happens i want Hua Yong to see how injured Sheng shao you is and feel guilty but they probably wont go that far. It seems alot of the direction for this show has the actors being cold towards each other. If hua yong is supposed to care deeply for sheng shao you then why is he so unfazed whenever he sees the physical damage he caused him and emotional damage from messing with his pheromones and mind.
Ep 10:
Not a bad episode, except the special effects being cheap with the Styrofoam concrete. Its good to see Hua Yong suffer here even though its still hard to believe as he is so fake towards Sheng, who knows what's real and what isn't? The build up to the 'reveal' was lacking and if i don't see Sheng still pushing back and being difficult in the next ep imma throw hands at the director. This is the opportunity for Sheng to show his dominant side and make us see why Hua Young felt he had to work so hard to trap Sheng. Its the time for a bit of role reversal with Hua Yong begging sheng with apologies and explanations.
ep 12:
The fighting scene at the beginning is so poorly acted its just atrocious, when hua yong comes to permanently mark sheng, he shows no sadness or emotions at all! Hes not even worried for him, his face is literally deadpan! Their 'second time' is also non-con as Mr sheng is completely drugged out of his mind and practically unconscious, there is nothing sexy about watching an unconscious person being used. even though sheng says he wants hua yong, hes not in his right mind and this makes it non-con.
I'm disappointed that they didn't show sheng as being more alert, it comes across as very uncomfortable to watch. Its like his ability to make choices is removed as soon as he is marked.
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Some nice scenes but poor writing
The story is very weak and the actors managed to keep me watching till the end however there was some poor acting, a lot of cheesy/cringe scenes. This drama doesn't really take itself seriously and makes you wonder why they chose this story. I watched this because of the 'don't say no' actors but this show really didn't suit them. It seems rushed, poorly written and badly acted in places. It gets worse as the series goes on which is a real shame as the actors have potential.The story is so weak you can miss a few episodes and it doesn't matter, there's too much filler and unnecessary scenes this could have been a much shorter drama.
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Stupid but fun
If you like the old school BLs like tharntype, don't say no etc then you will like this. It is toxic and full of misunderstandings and a dumb non existent plot. The side characters are also really bad and the actors are not pulling it off. The show is almost all sex scenes and a paper thin plot. That office also has no HR or rules at all, they be doing all sorts of stuff and getting away with it.The lead actors are doing well especially with their romance scenes.
The drama has so many unnecessary parts and could have been 8 eps. The side couples are both boring and badly acted.
Sorn is a mega red flag, not understanding or respecting boundaries and not paying attention to Jun and his feelings and never changes or matures throughout the series. There are some interesting moments but I'm mostly just watching for the nostalgia as it is similar to some of the first BLs i watched.
If this was a real life relationship it would be harassment and SA. Sorn only cares about what he wants which is mostly sex, and doesn't want to give anything back or respect Jun. There is no character progression here.
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Beautiful non toxic story to warm your heart
The casting is on point and the height difference between the two leads is really cute. This drama goes through a range of moments, the bullying scenes are done very well and really make you feel for Seo Hae Bom as he goes through alot at the beginning. Its lovely to see the progression and how the romance develops. It is natural and the kissing scenes, although there are not many, are wonderful.South Korean dramas have really come a long way in terms of BL. They have matured and taken the next step into becoming one of the best places to find BL dramas that are quality and deliver realism and a beautiful romance that BL lovers crave.
The dynamic between the two leads was lovely and even made me cry when Jo Tae Seong protected Hae bom from the bully. Seeing Hae bom cry was heartbreaking as the actor did an amazing job at showing his emotions for the character. The story could have been deeper and more developed but what we have is still lovely and heartwarming. They do not have too many struggles as a couple that are shown which could have been improved on. The music was also nice but could have been better and more memorable. Overall, you should defiantly give this BL a watch.
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Traumatic but worth a watch!
Its a tragedy around inheritance and laws before legal gay marriage in Thailand where you are not entitled to your partners estate if he or she dies. It is traumatic and full of twists and turns. It will make you think about it days after you finished watching it because of the intense themes of life, death, family and relationships. It will defiantly spark thought and cause you to think about the topics covered. Jeff is a fantastic actor, able to portray intense scenes beautifully with such a great memorable, skilled performance.There is not a lot of rewatch value as it is so traumatising and once is enough for me. I hope to see the actors in other dramas/movies.
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Was fun till the last episode
The last episode was terrible, he plans to study abroad on a whim to escape his family and then still goes and leaves Yai who has experienced pain of his mother dying and him being alone. he could have done the masters in Thailand. this ruined the romance for me.Am I supposed to think its sweet when he prematurely returns and says he dosen't want to complete the rest of the degree? This just shows how it didn't mean much to him anyway and he should have just not done it to begin with. TRASH
It has a wonderful soundtrack but is triggering to watch. very dissapointed.
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Beautiful romance with amazing actors
This show is very beautiful both zee and nunew are fantastic and show real emotion and have a believable romance that is beautiful. The love scenes are some of the best I have ever watched with consent and a lovely soundtrack, they are very sweet and extremely romantic. There is nothing toxic about this series.It is wholesome and has some sad moments but they are resolved. I am in love with this series, It is so perfect and rewatchable because of the beautiful story that breaks stereotypes with an arranged gay marriage which is the first of its kind I have seen in a drama. You will love this if you want to see a beautiful drama with sensual love scenes and wholesome relationships with great chemistry! The main couple and side couples are lovely to watch as they progress in their relationships and begin to trust each other. This is my top series of 2022 so far.
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Intriguing story, complex characters, dark setting
The cinematography is beautiful like the costumes, the cast is fantastic and the story is deep, thrilling and dark.People aren't who they say they are, loyalties are uncertain and friendships can turn sour. This drama has all the suspense and mystery to keep you hooked with a beautiful cast and stunning visuals. The fight scenes are well choreographed.
I love the overall setting and theming. Its a very believable and compelling storyline that mellows out slightly towards the end. I loved seeing the two girls deceive each other and also work together for their own goals. the mail leads are stunning and experienced.
The main negative is the ending which is not complete, it is open ended and leaves you a bit confused at what they were going for story wise. There is also not too much romance but the rest of the drama carries it enough that it is not overly necessary.
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The ML and supernatural elements carry the show
The story is quite bland but there are cute and sweet elements. The Main lead the fox demon is worth watching this for. His acting is great and he looks lovely in this role. I believe he was also in Fangs of fortune as the water demon. The FL is quite dull and a bit dumb but the drama is fun to watch even so. I wish we got to see more supernatural elements with the fox demon but for a short length series it was good enough.Was this review helpful to you?
Sweet drama about dealing with introvert+extrovert relationships and misunderstandings
The casting was really good as both actors suit their roles well. The series is interesting as it shows an introverted persons struggles with wanting to fit in and find love but due to his negative experience this becomes difficult. His neighbour 'God' is very sweet and extremely understanding, he never pushes diaw too far out of his comfort zone and is a gentle and loving boyfriend. It is lovely to see introverted people get some representation in a more positive light.The problems with the show are the misunderstandings, I dont mind when shows have misunderstandings but i think it could have been handled better here. The misunderstanding was due to lack of experience in relationships which is understandable and also emotional maturity. They should have portrayed Gods character as sharing more about his background first before he complains about diaw not sharing his. This part could have been written better but overall its a good show and worth a watch. Its sweet and heart-warming.
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Another take on the Dark/Toxic romance BL genre
Ming is Extremely toxic at the beginning of the drama which is difficult to watch as you know the main leads will end up together anyway. Despite this and the fact he uses Joe for his own benefit and claims ownership over joe instead of loving him as a person. Somehow the Drama manages to turn this all around by the end part and show us people can can make mistakes, even toxic ones that have serious consequences and still be able to turn things around. I am not going to defend Ming, he is a strange individual with many privileges that allow him to get what he wants but still is able to come across as sexy and complicated, leaving you wanting to understand him.Joe is such a sweetheart and experiences many unfortunate events but just wants to be loved, look after his mother and maintain a stable career and relationship. He has a heart of gold and luckily is able to break into Ming's cold exterior.
The show is exciting and thrilling to watch nonetheless. Both lead actors are brilliant in their roles, showing maturity, complex emotions and believable romance scenes. I will defiantly watch both actors in other dramas.
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