Reviews

A huge disappointment after months of waiting

The drama actually started off quite well. I thought it would be a typical historical romance where the leads slowly fall in love from afar. However, the male lead started displaying some really questionable and abnormal behavior later on. I personally cannot stand it when one character forces their feelings onto the other, and frankly, what is labeled as 'romance' here felt more like a toxic relationship.
I also really dislike passive female leads. Sure, she might have felt ashamed of her fiancé, but she was portrayed as a smart character. She could have easily reached out to someone, spoken up, and handled the situation instead of just enduring it.
I managed to watch up to episode 10, and hoping things might improve, I checked out some spoilers on xiaohongshu. I’m honestly so glad I did, otherwise, I would have made the mistake of finishing this terrible drama. I had been anticipating this release for months, and it was definitely not worth the wait. I normally really like Cheng Lei in his other roles because he usually portrays gentle, respectful characters, but this project was a huge disappointment. :(

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All of my Love and Respect!

This show really puts so much into perspective, and I'm honestly so grateful for it.

I've been hoping someone would create an idol drama that truly explores the struggles idols, artists, and everyone behind the scenes go through. Not just the fame and success, but the pressure, sacrifices, expectations, and challenges that come with it. I hope it helps people become a little more understanding, a little less judgmental, and more appreciative of these incredibly hardworking individuals.

I have so much respect for this industry. It cannot be easy.

In a way, it reminds me of my own journey as a surgical technologist in the operating room. Obviously, they're very different professions, but most people will never truly understand what happens behind those OR doors or the struggles we face every day. I've experienced so many highs and lows. It's definitely a love/hate relationship! We're constantly learning, adapting, overcoming obstacles, and pushing ourselves to do better.

And I imagine that, in many ways, artists experience something similar, except they're doing it all while the world is watching.

I truly hope things can get better for our artists. They deserve kindness, understanding, and the freedom to be human.

I love and adore them all so much! I can't imagine living under that kind of spotlight.

And I have to say, I absolutely LOVE AuAuSave and the entire cast! They're doing such an amazing job bringing this story to life. I'm genuinely so happy for them and incredibly proud of everything they're accomplishing. I hope they know how loved and appreciated they are, and I wish each and every one of them nothing but happiness, success, and the very best in everything they do!

Nothing but love, admiration, and respect! 💜

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About Dean in Ep 9

والله الحلقة هذي أثرت بي بطريقة لم اتوقعها.
من البداية يخبرون دين إن أبوه توفي في العملية. استغربت لي ما قالوا له إن أبوه كان في العملية من الأساس؟ كأنه فجأة خلاص انتهى. والحلقة كلها تقريباً عن أيام العزاء والجنازة، مو مشهد واحد وخلاص. التفاصيل هذي مؤلمة جداً، لأنها تذكرك إن كل واحد فينا مر أو بيمر بشيء زي كذا.
دين طول الحلقة كان هادي وغير مهتم ظاهرياً. يحاول يتصرف صح، ما يبكي قدام الناس، يرفض الاهتمام كأنه ما يستاهل أحد يهتم فيه. لما موث يسأله إذا يحس بأي حزن، ويرد عليه “هل لازم وجهي يكون اكثر حزن؟”… هاللحظة كسرتني. يعني هو حزين جدا، بس كبريائه وعناده ما تخلّيه يطلع الحزن بشكل طبيعي. يكابر ويحبس كل شيء جوا.
وبعدين في المشهد الأخير بعد حرق الجثة، ينهار. أعتقد وقتها بس حس بفراغ غياب أبوه فعلياً.
طول عمره كان يشوف أبوه كأنه بطل. أبوه يحب أهله ويعتني فيهم، ودين كان يريد يصير مثله. كان يؤمن إن الحب والاهتمام اللي تبينه للناس هو اللي يحافظ على كل شيء مثل كيف يحضن والدته في العلن . لكن يوم اكتشف الخيانة، انهار كل شيء جواه. الثقة راحت، والصورة المثالية اللي رسمها لأبوه انكسرت، وحس إن الحب نفسه شي خطير ومؤلم.
من يومها وهو يبني جدران حواليه. في بانكوك صار الشخص اللي نعرفه: يحب الحفلات، يجذب الناس بسهولة، يواعد كثير بس ما يتعلق بأحد. ما ياخذ أحد بجدية، وما يخلي أحد يتعلق فيه أكثر من اللازم. لأنه جوا نفسه صوت دايم يحس: “لو أحد تعلق فيك وصرت زي أبوك، راح تجرحه بنفس الطريقة اللي أبوك جرح الكل”. فهو يهرب من العمق قبل ما يحصل.
هذي الخيانة اللي شافها وهو صغير هي اللي خلته يرفض الاهتمام ويرفض يكون ضعيف قدام أحد، حتى لما مات أبوه كان يكابر ويحاول يبين إنه ما يتأثر. بس الحين نفهم إن كل هالبرودة واللعب اللي كان يسويه مو لأنه ما يحس، بالعكس، لأنه يحس زيادة ويخاف من الإحساس.
ويليام كان رهيب ، قدر يخلي هالجرح القديم يظهر بدون ما يتكلم عنه كثير. والحلقة كلها ثقيلة ومليانة مشاعر حقيقية.
حلقة حلوة ومؤلمة في نفس الوقت، ومن النوع اللي يخلي الواحد يفكر بعد ما يخلصها، ويراجع كل تصرفات دين من الحلقات الأولى بعين ثانية.

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Till the End of the Moon … When Fantasy Becomes an Endless Suffering

I read The Lord of the Rings when I was 14, so fantasy has always been part of my imagination. Give me nine hours of Tolkien’s Middle-earth and I’ll happily sit through every minute. But Chinese xianxia dramas? That’s where I struggle. It’s not the fantasy itself, but the fluidity of the storytelling. CGI spectacles, magical battles, and cartoonish creatures do very little for me. Even the miniature models of the original Star Wars had more charm and felt more believable. Perhaps that’s why I’ve always preferred wuxia, where even the most impossible sword fights are grounded in human emotions, ambition, loyalty, and revenge.

Halfway through Till the End of the Moon, I’ve already skipped more episodes than I care to admit. I feel like I’m watching a tennis match, constantly turning my head left and right as the characters bounce between love and hatred, life and death, suffering and even more suffering. How many times can someone die without actually dying? And how much misery must these characters endure before the writers decide they’ve suffered enough? When death becomes another temporary inconvenience, sacrifice begins to lose its meaning. Instead of building tension, the endless twists simply wear me down.

And here’s what disappoints me most. I’m a fan of Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu. I wanted to love their characters, feel their pain, and lose myself in their romance. But I just couldn’t connect. Maybe it’s me, or maybe the script simply wasn’t compelling enough. The performances are certainly there, the costumes are beautiful, and the production is ambitious. But all that visual grandeur means little when the story fails to touch me. Watching people suffer endlessly doesn’t automatically make their story more emotional. Sometimes it just makes it unbearable.

Tolkien understood something that I feel this drama has forgotten. Fantasy doesn’t need to be realistic, but its characters need to feel real. Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, and even Gollum lived in a world of impossible creatures and magic, yet their fears, sacrifices, and struggles were deeply human. I could understand them, sympathize with them, and care about what happened to them. That’s what makes a fantasy memorable, not how many times the heavens explode or how many lives the characters must endure.

So I’m dropping this halfway through. Not because I dislike the actors or the genre, but because I’ve simply lost the desire to find out what happens next. There’s only so much suffering I can watch before tragedy becomes repetitive and romance becomes exhausting. Perhaps the second half is brilliant, and perhaps I’m missing something extraordinary. But a story shouldn’t require me to endure twenty episodes of frustration just to discover why I should care.

For me, the greatest tragedy of Till the End of the Moon isn’t what happens to its characters … it’s that I eventually stopped caring what happens to them.

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Way too much AI !

The amount of AI used in this show is atrocious. The music, the theme animation and some effects seemed weird/potentially AI to me (especially on the "brother" of the doctor)
I'll try to organize my thoughts here, so here we go.
Plot : it didn't convince me. A post-apocalyptic setting is pretty original for a BL, but the script ? I didn't feel the progression of the romance, both between the leads and the second leads. Sure, they are physically attracted by each other, but I didn't feel their emotional attachment at all.
Actors : they are handsome, but once again, I didn't feel the emotions of the main leads, especially the mc. I feel like the script and the lack of details about the characters played a big role in it, so I won't criticize them as actors. I hope they'll get a series where they can truly display their acting skills.
Characters : too much archetypes are used here. Most of their backstories seemed cliché and predictable, especially between the second leads. For a BL with that much episodes, I think they had the place to make the story and the characters way deeper, while some scenes didn't seem necessary to me.
Music : as I said, except the one the mc sings in episode 4, everything is AI generated, and I could guess it pretty well. For a show that has two singers as main actors, I would have expected better.

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it takes a bit of time to warm up but it gets interesting

the first episodes are not particularly thrilling but, after some time the story picks up and drama gets really enjoyable.

I liked the very simple plot and dynamics. nothing gets overcomplicated and that's totally fine.

I feel the drama is able to captured what being a teenager really is. day dreaming, struggling, making very dumb choices and exploring new emotions. the girls felt "real" with their crushes towards the teachers, embarrassing moments between friends, jeoulosy and so on.

on the drama it self:
the right amount of episodes. nothing drags for too long. I missed a bit more comedy. this is definitely not a ''ha ha" kind of show, it's more on the cozy\nice side.

the only thing I probably missed is some more depth from the other teachers. I get they weren't the main focus, but some more time could have been nice.

overall this is a nice show about following your dreams, making mistakes and them making up for them.

definitely recommend

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I watched in one sitting into the wee hours of the night

I am so taken by this limited series. The storytelling *chef's kiss, no notes*, characters that fit well together, most times likeable as to make me root for them and celebrate the wins, and at times wanting to tear my hair out for their mistakes and/or selfishness.

The core message of the series asks the viewer to consider the mess, and the mess is an archetypal theme EVERYWHERE in the show. It's in the moral grey zone of the characters. Their choices, and highly imperfect actions and ensuing consequences. The "mess" is seen in innovation, unchecked techno-modernization, the consequences wealth can have on a person's emotional maturity and their relationships when endless resources means never having to apologize or compromise.

"Burnout Syndrome" puts into stark relief the absolute bonkers symbiotic relationship the arts has with capitalism, and the macabre abomination that happens when that symbiotic relationship is "messed" with without a moratorium on its impact. The "mess" is seen literally in Koh's nearly hoarder-like apartment, and even in Jira's painting style, and also in Peem's rage room moments.

The show asserts life is messy, but that is a HUMAN aspect and it is albeit not always fun, but regardless, provides us all with enrichment in our lives.

Of all the ways we can spotlight technology vs humanity in our current era of storytelling, "Burnout Syndrome" does it surprisingly in a humbly analog, but fantastically effective way. 10/10 best thing I've seen on streaming in months!

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This series does not disappoint !!

This series exceeded my expectations , just chef's kiss 💋 . I wait for Saturday's just so I can watch it with my sister's . Its mine and my sisters new fav series💯 . Just the way Save shows the emotions when he cried literally made me cry with him 😭 and the why James acting of Nine just super like this episode really made me believe that nine really changed but then I saw he didn't , the way james fooled us his acting . The cast is chef's kiss love AuauSave , RujinPatji and James. I hope this series keeps being good and does not disappoint us mid way like Knot or the others . I haven't read the novel so I don't know if this has a happy or sad ending but I hope it is happy

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Don't fall into this trap. Avoid this drama at all costs.

If you want to watch a beautiful relationship slowly die, then watch this drama. If you want to see how decades of love can be destroyed, then this is the drama for you.

There is no logic in this story. There is nothing but pain and heartbreak.

This drama has tried to prove that someone who came into your life just two days ago can become more important than a 30-year bond. They have made a mockery of long-term relationships and disrespected the meaning of years of love and commitment.

The entire team behind this drama should be ashamed of themselves.

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The complexity of life and relationships

I was really touched by this drama, it’s been a long time since I’ve been moved like this.
There’s a bit of everything: grief, love, self preservation, guilt, friendship… And all topics were treated with care and softness.
The couple of plot twists really got me, I had other things in mind, but I did appreciate it didn’t went where I thought, though I was right about Azusa and Mr. Seo relationship being mostly innocent (we can debate if it was emotional cheating? I love that it was presented in a way that it’s impossible to say for sure).
Human beings are complex as much as the relationships between them. Marriages should be easy, but it still takes a lot from both parts and each of them has to also take time to maintain their own individuality to not lose sight of who they are.
It moved me, it made reflect, I think it’s gonna stay with me.
A good example of a 10 episode drama that can do everything that is supposed to do.

One thing that bugged me was the forced (for me personally) plot twist of Mrs. Seo also having a big secret after the husband return and share his.

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