K-Drama 
This review may contain spoilers
ABO Desire is an utterly wild show… Mpreg, anyone?
I started ABO Desire intrigued by the promise of an Omegaverse BL but otherwise largely clueless as to what it would be about (I heard about the show from a comment on Tumblr of all places). The first few episodes lay out the wild world of bureaucratic intrigue that all of our main characters have ties to, while also teasing the relationship between the delicate Omega secretary Hua Yong and the wealthy Alpha CEO Sheng Shaoyou. I’ll admit, at first I was disappointed with how straight-foreward this couple’s relationship seemed to be. Shaoyou’s heart melting for Hua Yong, while cute, wasn’t particularly compelling to me and I kept wishing that Shaoyou would be the bottom in the relationship instead, idk he just had those vibes. I settled in to watch the drama between the second couple, Omega-disguised-as-Beta secretary Gao Tu and Alpha CEO Shen Wenlang, which seemed more intriguing…Okay, but the entire show is built on an important twist that I began to piece together pretty quickly: Hua Yong is actually the secretive CEO of X Holdings, and a rare Enigma. His plan? Make Sheng Shaoyou fall madly in love with him and then turn him into his own Omega. Why? Because he’s obsessed.
The plot of this show is chaotic, full of forced ruts/heats, so much business drama, and many relationship red flags, particularly from the two platonic besties, Hua Yong and Shen Wenlang. Gao Tu spends most of his screentime throwing up in the bathroom or passing out from his pheromone disorder/his secret Omega identity/being pregnant. He is truly the saddest boy and I love the guy so much! Shen Wenlang wouldn’t know love if it passed out in front of him (see Gao Tu), but is somehow incredibly, infuriatingly likeable. Hua Yong is… well, the man is the textbook definition of a toxic, obsessive partner and somehow still manages to have the audience root for him?? He’s special that way I guess… And then there’s my beloved Sheng Shaoyou. Turns out my bottom-radar was correctomundo because guess who gets pregnant?? Mr. S-class tough-boy Alpha himself. God I loved that twist.
Two cases of Mpreg, plenty of angst and peril, and some deeply sexy scenes—this show is well-worth a watch, even if you know next-to-nothing about the Omegaverse. And out of all the BL I’ve watched so far, these characters are definitely four of the most iconic.
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Wayu and the host club made this show shine ✨
What really made this show shine for me was our MC, Wayu. Boy is such an earnest, motivated person who is both way too naive for this sh*t and also genuinely good at being a host at Moonlit club. The host club premise made for incredibly sexy and also deeply touching moments. I couldn't help but care about the club hosts' odd little family and for sure cried! The story petered out a little for me towards the end and i felt like it wrapped things up a little too neatly, but omg was the host club stuff good.If you're looking for a very sex positive show tho, this is definitely it! There are some dark themes surrounding human trafficking and the violence sex workers face, which i felt were handled with nuance and appropriate gravity. Here's a breakdown of my own specific ratings:
Angst: 8/10
Whump: 8/10
Sweetness: 7/10
Spiciness: 10/10
Realism: 7/10
Ending: 7/10
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This review may contain spoilers
Pit Babe is one heck of a ride
Okay, so I finally got around to watching Pit Babe!! Omg, absolutely not what I was expecting and frankly, I’m really happy about that! I knew it was Omegaverse-adjacent, but after THE Omegaverse BL, ABO Desire, I was prepared to be disappointed. I also didn’t know about the whole nontraditional CharlieBabe relationship and admittedly hesitated because I assumed it would be another cool big guy/cute little guy dynamic which isn’t my fave… So first off, it’s not really an Omegaverse show. Yes, Mpreg is canonically possible, but it hovers as a vague threat over Babe’s head and the Alpha and Enigma titles mostly refer to having supernatural powers. Instead, what seems to be a sports drama turns into a bigger story involving human trafficking, adoptive siblings, betrayal, and mafia-type activities. The car racing mostly functions as a way to heighten the drama at pivotal moments—my absolute favorite racing sequence is when they cut between a particularly pivotal race and an incredibly steamy locker-room scene between Charlie and Babe.Regarding CharlieBabe, there has been a lot of hate about the nontraditional top/bottom dynamic in Pit Babe (the mock-bickering about it between Pooh and Pavel is really funny tbf). Frankly, I LOVED this choice and I appreciate that from what I understand it is more emphasized than in the novel in which Charlie is significantly bigger than Babe. I personally don't often enjoy the assumption that the smaller, more feminine partner has to be the bottom while the bigger, more masculine one has to top. And with Charlie and Babe, I feel like those tropes are further destabilized because neither of them are forced into a more feminine or masculine box, even with the whole “papa/mama” thing. Babe is giving major James Dean while Charlie’s nerdy look and sassy attitude truly make him such a puppy.
I was not as invested in the second relationship in the first season between Alan and Jeff, but it was definitely cute and fit a more traditional vibe for those who prefer that. There were a few other relationships teased throughout, but you gotta see season 2 for most of them to actually blossom (and boy were they worth the wait)! Also shoutout to Kim, the bestest boy! He’s somehow both the normalest and least messed-up of the entire cast and he still gets dragged right into the middle of the chaos.
The ending was pretty rushed and messy which is what lowered my rating a smidge, but over-all Pit Babe was one hell of a ride!
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This review may contain spoilers
I'll definitely be rewatching this chaotic, hot, and so very loveable show again!
[As a heads-up, I watched the Uncut version]Okay, so Season 2 actually made me go back and reevaluate my rating of Season 1 because I liked it so much… I know there was a lot of hate over S2 and I’m honestly not sure why? Was it messy? Oh absolutely! Did it expand on pretty much all the characters and punch the angst levels waaaay up? You better believe it did!!
Like with the first season, car racing is really more of an excuse to put the characters in all kinds of situations™ than anything else. Because what’s way more relevant in S2 are the challenges the special Alphas of the main cast face as their powers start to intensify and a certain father figure reappears and starts to manipulate his ex-kids again. S2 felt even more speculative/sci-fi than S1, which was very enjoyable and gripping. I was also expecting to hate the Willy plotline, and the tease that Babe would cheat on Charlie, but this whole plot turned out to be both more angsty and relevant than I expected. Also this goes without saying for most BLs, but PLEASE watch the BTS for S2! It’s so funny and provides a great perspective on how they approached a lot of the acting/production choices!
Pretty much all the couples that are teased in S1 get together in S2, including a few surprises like Pete and Chris, Way’s long-lost twin brother and Kim and Kenta, my beloveds. I wasn’t sure about the recasting Nut as Chris thing, but omg did this guy serve as his new character! In the BTS, he refers to him as Christina and has this whole very gay persona for the role and I love it so much. Definitely made me like the character a lot more than I expected.
Again, the ending of S2 was pretty messy, but I honestly liked it a lot better than S1’s ending. I felt they took more time to flesh out characters and their relationships, and the Charlie and Babe plot had me absolutely on the edge of my seat. I get that S2 wasn’t for everyone, but I frankly found it made me like the show as a whole even more. Getting to spend this much time with these characters was amazing as a 8 or 12 episode show sometimes feels too short, and I will definitely be rewatching this chaotic, hot, and so very loveable show again.
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This review may contain spoilers
Pit Babe is one heck of a ride
[As a heads-up, I watched the Uncut version]Okay, so I finally got around to watching Pit Babe!! Omg, absolutely not what I was expecting and frankly, I’m really happy about that! I knew it was Omegaverse-adjacent, but after THE Omegaverse BL, ABO Desire, I was prepared to be disappointed. I also didn’t know about the whole nontraditional CharlieBabe relationship and admittedly hesitated because I assumed it would be another cool big guy/cute little guy dynamic which isn’t my fave… So first off, it’s not really an Omegaverse show. Yes, Mpreg is canonically possible, but it hovers as a vague threat over Babe’s head and the Alpha and Enigma titles mostly refer to having supernatural powers. Instead, what seems to be a sports drama turns into a bigger story involving human trafficking, adoptive siblings, betrayal, and mafia-type activities. The car racing mostly functions as a way to heighten the drama at pivotal moments—my absolute favorite racing sequence is when they cut between a particularly pivotal race and an incredibly steamy locker-room scene between Charlie and Babe.
Regarding CharlieBabe, there has been a lot of hate about the nontraditional top/bottom dynamic in Pit Babe (the mock-bickering about it between Pooh and Pavel is really funny tbf). Frankly, I LOVED this choice and I appreciate that from what I understand it is more emphasized than in the novel in which Charlie is significantly bigger than Babe. I personally don't often enjoy the assumption that the smaller, more feminine partner has to be the bottom while the bigger, more masculine one has to top. And with Charlie and Babe, I feel like those tropes are further destabilized because neither of them are forced into a more feminine or masculine box, even with the whole “papa/mama” thing. Babe is giving major James Dean while Charlie’s nerdy look and sassy attitude truly make him such a puppy.
I was not as invested in the second relationship in the first season between Alan and Jeff, but it was definitely cute and fit a more traditional vibe for those who prefer that. There were a few other relationships teased throughout, but you gotta see season 2 for most of them to actually blossom (and boy were they worth the wait)! Also shoutout to Kim, the bestest boy! He’s somehow both the normalest and least messed-up of the entire cast and he still gets dragged right into the middle of the chaos.
The ending was pretty rushed and messy which is what lowered my rating a smidge, but over-all Pit Babe was one hell of a ride!
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This review may contain spoilers
I'll definitely be rewatching this chaotic, hot, and so very loveable show again!
Okay, so Season 2 actually made me go back and reevaluate my rating of Season 1 because I liked it so much… I know there was a lot of hate over S2 and I’m honestly not sure why? Was it messy? Oh absolutely! Did it expand on pretty much all the characters and punch the angst levels waaaay up? You better believe it did!!Like with the first season, car racing is really more of an excuse to put the characters in all kinds of situations™ than anything else. Because what’s way more relevant in S2 are the challenges the special Alphas of the main cast face as their powers start to intensify and a certain father figure reappears and starts to manipulate his ex-kids again. S2 felt even more speculative/sci-fi than S1, which was very enjoyable and gripping. I was also expecting to hate the Willy plotline, and the tease that Babe would cheat on Charlie, but this whole plot turned out to be both more angsty and relevant than I expected. Also this goes without saying for most BLs, but PLEASE watch the BTS for S2! It’s so funny and provides a great perspective on how they approached a lot of the acting/production choices!
Pretty much all the couples that are teased in S1 get together in S2, including a few surprises like Pete and Chris, Way’s long-lost twin brother and Kim and Kenta, my beloveds. I wasn’t sure about the recasting Nut as Chris thing, but omg did this guy serve as his new character! In the BTS, he refers to him as Christina and has this whole very gay persona for the role and I love it so much. Definitely made me like the character a lot more than I expected.
Again, the ending of S2 was pretty messy, but I honestly liked it a lot better than S1’s ending. I felt they took more time to flesh out characters and their relationships, and the Charlie and Babe plot had me absolutely on the edge of my seat. I get that S2 wasn’t for everyone, but I frankly found it made me like the show as a whole even more. Getting to spend this much time with these characters was amazing as a 8 or 12 episode show sometimes feels too short, and I will definitely be rewatching this chaotic, hot, and so very loveable show again.
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