Reviews

If you are a mystery/thriller lover and haven’t watch this drama, you are missing out so much

Let’s start with the fictitious country/city they had created for this drama, while I find it creative, the fake language really took me out. 😅 They didn’t even sound like a language. I think this is the only thing that bugged me aside from the unclear ending (maybe I am the only one who didn’t really understand it).

I liked the mystery element in this drama, and I really liked the concept of it, like how the ones that had really decided for their death actually made something out of it to make the predators pay for their sins and crimes although most people won’t take this as something good. But for me, watching this drama, I come to think of all those people who quietly left the world, taking with them their suffering and possibly their predators' crimes too. It make me think that maybe if they were determined enough like the characters in the cases of this drama, some of the sinners/criminals might have been put behind bars although I am certain it might not be easy like in the drama.

I really liked the songs in this drama, after rewatching the drama so many times, I even started to sing along at some point. 😁

I recommend this drama to anyone who love mystery/thriller because it is that good! I even rewatched this drama right after I finished it.

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My Sunbae likes me (°•°)

Thought this drama was about family and taking care of a child. Definitely not.

Not going to mention anything about romance between the leads. Because there's not much between them.
SML been getting all the cute scenes with fl.

So FL wanted to be a guardian to her sister baby.
She tried finding a job to support herself and the baby. Gets hired not because she's talented, oh no! She gets hired because she knows someone that works there.
She did not know the man she liked before was working there, but he most definitely got her into the company.

What about ML? His character is not important in this story. He's just the baby sitter that lives with them!

FL returns late every night because her Sunbae keeps her at the office to overwork her because he likes her (weird). He knows she got a baby to take care of, but he doesn't care because it's his universe with fl!

ML is left to watch WooJoo and worry himself because fl is too busy with her Sunbae.
She doesn't answer ml phones calls because she just doesn't bother to update him or care to.
Which is dumb because she wanted to be a guardian.

The first dumb thing I thought she did was go with her Sunbae to a hotel room to finish a work project alone at night. Haven't seen this guy in years mind you. It might be nothing to you, but you'll see why if you watch it yourself. She does more dumb things later. FL just doesn't think!

I don't know what's up with the way she's written.
Or why they needed to have her Sunbae with so much scenes. When this was supposed to be about taking care of a child with her in-law.

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Good noir vibe, but it pulls its punches

​Honestly, a lot of the low ratings are probably from people who watched it with trash machine translations or expected a standard polished K-drama. It’s actually a pretty solid, gritty movie, but I totally get why it frustrated some viewers.

​The atmosphere is definitely the best part. It really nails that desperate, dirty underground vibe. The dynamic between the two female leads is raw - they aren't your typical best friends; they're just trying to survive and aren't afraid to be completely toxic to each other.

Throwing in real-world problems like the housing scams and loan sharks gave the story some actual weight.
​But here’s my biggest issue: for a movie trying to be a dark noir, it’s way too timid. It heavily hints that Ye Seul works in the shady nightlife (the whole "blue bracelet" thing at the market), but it never actually shows what she goes through. Why be so vague about her actual job? If you're making a movie about women trying to escape a messed-up life, why sugarcoat the very thing they are trying to escape from?

It felt like the director was just too scared to go all the way.
​Instead of exploring that actual darkness, we just get endless screaming matches in cars and a super cliché sports-betting plot. It’s still a decent watch if you're into the genre, but ngl, it left me a bit disappointed. It could have been a 9/10 if it actually had the guts to show the ugly truth instead of just playing it safe.

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Totally overrated. I am shocked at the glowing reviews.

ABO Desire is one of the weakest BLs I've ever seen (out of many more than 100 titles so far). Those who gave it 10 stars: Were we watching the same show?

Although I don't like mpreg content whatsoever, in judging this series, I put aside all my reservations and feelings about it in order to give it a fair review. I am not familiar with the omegaverse, but I think it's an intriguing concept when it comes to having an alternate universe in which people are so strongly driven by their animalistic sexuality (pheromones, mating rituals, sexual selection and compatibility) to the degree where they have "rutting periods" and can't stop themselves from forcing themselves on others. It's interesting, but it gives me one overwhelming expectation: That the series will be very horny. Given the premise, I expect a lot of sex. The series doesn't deliver it at all. Nothing sexual is shown, even the kisses are really boring. How do you have a show about hypersexualized people, and even the kissing is passionless? I understand that there may be censorship issues, but then maybe China isn't the place to realize a series like this, or maybe they needed to find a better way to get around it. It just doesn't work. I've seen shows with steamier scenes that are basically Hallmark romance plots.

The irredeemable script: ABO Desire felt like it must have been created from some very weak source material. I have not read the source material, I'm just assuming it's bad because this entire series was like watching a terrrible fanfic. Most egregiously, the plot exposition was often handled by unrelated people simply telling us what is going on. The worst were the moments when totally random bystanders would give us the plot points: "Can you believe so and so did such and such? I heard that..." This is not how you write a story. You show it, you don't tell it. Less offensive, but still so disappointing were moments like Hua Yong explaining Shen Wen Lang's entire backstory like a footnote (and the backstory didn't even give us an easily understandable reason for why he hates omegas that much). Finally, we had this random narrator suddenly pop up out of nowhere in a late episode when (I guess) they really couldn't find another way to explain certain events. What? You can't just introduce a narrator randomly. You need to start and finish with one, or have one throughout or intermittently.

Unexplained inconsistencies: Let's think about the episode where Shen Wen Lang forces himself on Gao Tu, and neither of them recognize each other. Okay, maybe it's supposed to be pitch black in the room, and we have to just imagine that we can't see anything even though we can see everything. But these two have been close for what, like 10 years? They don't recognize each other's voices or anything, while being as intimate as possible? Shen Wen Lang doesn't recognize that same omega scent that he keeps telling Gao Tu to wash off? It's so incredible. Meanwhile, Sheng Shao You doesn't recognize Hua Yong in bed either, who is... his actual lover, with whom he lives.

The acting: With the exception of Li Pei En as Gao Tu, I didn't find any of these characters believable or relatable. All the other main characters seemed constantly bored. When something upsetting happened, no one looked upset. Their facial expressions never changed throughout the episodes, no matter what was going on. It was totally jarring. The worst offender was probably Qiu Ding Jie (Sheng Shao Yu), who may as well have been a mannequin. He had one crying scene which was his only actual acting moment in the whole show, that I can recall. If your loved one is injured, you should show grief. If someone has wronged you, you should show anger. If you're kissing someone you want, you should show desire! These characters mostly show nothing, and because I'm watching other shows at the same time where the actors actually do act, I could not stomach all the blank expressions throughout this series.

The main romance: While Hua Yong's scheming was kind of interesting, the love story fell flat. One moment they liked each other, the next they were together, somehow skipping the most exciting part of a romance (when two people who like each other finally get together) and then we just had to watch all their petty disagreements and reconciliations for the rest of the show (and a lot of cooking and eating, for some reason).

The side romance: From reading other reviews, I know that I'm definitely not the only person who was bored by the monotonous main romance and much more invested in the side romance. Gao Tu and Shen Wen Lang did not get enough screen time, and their story was nothing but an endless conflict. Why? It was repetitive; as soon as a possible solution arose, so did a new problem (such as Gao Tu's father's scheming at the very end of the series, something that probably should have been introduced earlier). I don't know why it needs to be explained, but a plot should introduce conflicts with the goal of having the satisfaction of conflict resolution. Gao Tu and Shen Wen Lang were never able to work through their issues, things that could have been quite easily settled if they'd just tried to talk about them. All we got for conflict resolution with these two was, at the very end, a mere suggestion that things could possibly be fixed in the future. Not to mention, we now know that they'd already lost years together and that Gao Tu had to endure the presumably torturous pregnancy that Shen Wen Lang could have helped him with, as first years of child rearing without his partner (and that Shen Wen Lang is a stranger to his own child). We never had the satisfaction of seeing them reconcile or understand each other. You don't build up all these obstacles over the course of 16 whole episodes just to have them still remaining by the end.

In summary, I found ABO Desire to be a frustrating watch whenever it wasn't completely boring.

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BOC never DISSAPOINTS

I have always felt that BOC knew what they wanted with their story and they serve it! Even with their very first series, KinnPorshe, even with it being the “average bl trope” if you read thai bl novels or fan fictions, they stand alone because of the decent acting and lack of that maturity of their level.

So yes, when I got to know they were having another series for MileApo, I was in for it. Shine wasn’t the topical bl, it was much more than bl, explore the elements you won’t normally find in other series and they slayed it!

Acting, visuals, the depth of the characters, were great. I like the fact that they dared to make the main characters with flaws and not your topical good all the way just because they are the mains. They were pretty realistic in exploring the marriage/relationships between gay men and women, I liked those parts. You really got to see the bitterness, from both sides.

It is worthy of being rewatched again of course, but for me, one round was enough because this isn’t the typical story you could sit around and enjoy leisurely.

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Ignore this version for your sanity.

I checked this drama after Li Shengxuan version and this is worst decision i ever made. Bai Xinyang acting was never improved from i started watching Chinese short drama. I wonder how he can keep his stiff acting for all the entire drama i ever watch (i watched around 5 dramas when he was the main lead and his acting was indeed bad even his supporting role on Wang Nan recent drama was not that good). Not to mention the Female Leads, i don't ever watched Zhang Rui En drama but the chemistry between them was non-exist, it feels like she reciting the dialogue. Avoid this, Avoid this, Avoid this. Unless you're blind hardcore fans of both actors.

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The best Li Shengxuan drama based from i watched.

I watched this drama this year for Li Shengxuan and so far this is her best drama for me. I haven't check other versions except i dropped the Bai Yixiang one since both the leads acting were so ..bad. The plot is indeed clichéd, and the setting is average. It's rare to find a suitable match for the Li Shengxuan since she almost never have sparks with her ML so Li Pei Yang was her best CP for her. Both the ML and FL s are love-obsessed, so the sweetness of their interactions is guaranteed. The biggest drawback is the sheer number of villains. Aside from the father-in-law, almost everyone in the series is hostile to FL. SML is practically invincible, and everyone sides with her. Therefore, whenever the FL leaves the ML, she's constantly in danger.

Aside from the sweet moments between the two, she's either being harmed or on her way to be harmed. ML's supposed tyranny is unconvincing; despite his supposed devotion to FL, she's repeatedly hurt. His most capable assistant is SML, and his repeated leniency towards the SFL is incomprehensible. While SFL is executed in the end, the satisfaction is severely lacking compared to the harm she inflicted on FL. The system in this series is basically the most incompetent in the entire series, a mere mascot, but at least it doesn't drag the show down too much.

Recommended to watch.

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A rare show. Meant to be treasured by some and disliked by others

This is actually a really brave & rare show. Brave because its the kind of show that could kill careers if it does badly. When you do a more safe, conventional show, even if it does badly, people will still say you are a decent director, actor, etc... Whereas a show like this gets you in director jail, actor-cannot-act hate, etc...

Good news is: You would know within the first few episodes. If this show is for you, it will be something you treasure. Its a proper farce that commits to its tone and flawed characters. Not just for the silly & over-the-top parts. Its also not afraid to really make you feel raw frustration & angst when necessary. It even has some thoughtful things to convey about love, making it work, and how it can give life meaning, even for people who may not necessarily deserve it

That being said, its entirely natural to dislike this show. For some, you may even feel a visceral hatred for the lead characters immediately. If that's your gut feeling, you should stop watching, because what you hate about it is intentional and it won't get better

TLDR: I am over-analyzing and making it seem too intellectual. Whereas, you should just watch a few episodes and see if you vibe with it. If you do, likely you would love it

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Conformity vs. Surrender

Kyoichi plays with theatrical precision the role of a “good man”. The reliable employee, a "good husband" who discreetly fails as an adulterer within patriarchal acceptance. His affairs are extensions of conformity, with women who are aesthetically pleasing and submissive. His life feels less immoral than anesthetized.

The sudden reappearance of Wataru, who has secretly loved Kyoichi since their college days, brings this façade crashing down. Wataru knows his weaknesses, his failures, and his ugly truths. Armed with that knowledge, he overwhelms him emotionally, as well as physically. What begins as a surrender of control gradually turns into a revelation.

The film’s explicit sex scenes may strike some as disruptive; however, their structural similarity is precisely the point. The mechanics of desire remain comparable, yet the emotional posture differs radically. With women, Kyoichi’s sexuality appears performative and rushed. In contrast, the intimacy between the two men unfolds through passion and a gentler mutuality. The difference lies not in the act, but in Kyoichi’s state.

Further within this new arrangement, Kyoichi appears generally more carefree, his laughter unforced, his gestures playful, almost boyish. Their shared space mirrors this contradiction. Though modest and framed by cold concrete and urban austerity, it radiates a quiet warmth, an intimacy carved out of an otherwise indifferent world, a fragile pleasure that seems in need of protection.

Yet the past catches up. Kyoichi’s habitual impulse to fill his inner void with trivial encounters remains omnipresent. The social “unacceptability” of their relationship, coupled with the weight of internalized shame, begins to erode their relationship. Longing turns into insecurity; vulnerability into pain.

During their ritualized separation, Wataru describes the type of woman who would best suit Kyoichi, painting an image of conformity and comfortable domesticity. In return, Kyoichi wishes Wataru a love that will grant him the affection he deserves, a quiet, guilty confession as farewell.

In his anguish, Kyoichi seeks another taboo breach, yet he cannot bring himself to follow through. Instead, he returns to old patterns, a new doll-like girl, and an outlook of domesticated security.

Wataru can't let go. Another passionate collision makes a defeated Wataru discard the small sign of hope he once left behind in Kyoichi’s space, and leave without a goodbye. Only then does Kyoichi realize the true imprisonment was neither marriage nor desire, but conformity and the emptiness that comes with it. He breaks with social comfort, choosing an uncompromising loyalty to his own emotions, even if that means solitude.

Overall, I appreciate the message because it refuses to offer an easy answer. The ending remains open and rightly so. It does not follow the formula of the romanticized myth of “I can change him” with a happy ending. Both Kyoichi and Wataru carry deeply rooted issues. Their emotional baggage and trust issues cannot simply be undone by passion. Yet it does not feel hopeless. Change will be slow and self-driven. Whether their paths cross again or not, something essential has shifted within them, especially within Kyoichi.

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Waste of time

If you're looking for a dark/mystery Bl, probably skip this one to save your time.
First of all, why do something you're not good at? Gmmtv, please look at what you're selling people and choose a goddamn genre for once and for all. If you don't know how to make thriller bls, DON'T make them. I promise you have a choice and you will save time for people who actually know what a thriller has to have to be good and watchable. And no, don't give me the "Well, it's a Bl!" argument, because thriller bls have a their rules as well. Compared to Manner of death or DFF, DYTD didn't even get close to that. Why?
This company knows damn well what they need to do to earn money from a Bl. Good quality? No. Good acting? Nah. Good ending? Absolutely not. A fan favourite ship? OF COURSE! Works everytime, doesn't it? If you feel offended by this, you're a part of the problem. This company sees you as idiots who will devour anything that involves First Khao, Joongdunk, Pondphuwin, ect, no matter how shit of a bl they play in. They just don't care and that's the root of this problem. You don't consume low quality media, = they don't deliver it and put actual effort in it instead.
Second of all, the vision of the storyline is pretty good and to my liking, but the amount of lovey dovey and unbelievably cringe scenes that tried to fill up the plot holes and left us with zero updates ruined it. Especially in the last episode - the amount of insufferable dialogues between Jade and Kamin, plus their beach scenes just proved the storyline was never the main goal for the directors. A good, fair ending is very important, especially in thrillers, but they killed off Puifai's character just like that? I'd love to see her revenge be fulfilled and see her run away with Puth. But I knew these endings aren't to gmmtv's liking. Sure, let's let Jay live just because we want to, right? It made no sense. Not to mention that after that we didn't even get an update on how the lives of the survivors continued. Again, they just showed us the main characters flirting with each other for like 20 minutes. I never skip things like this in bls, but I was fed up and did so.
Acting felt really off almost all the time, but I really enjoyed Fai's and Puth's screen time. He looks good as a villain, he deserves more more roles like this.
Overall I'm really disappointed because I was excited for this as a dark bl fan, but it was so bad. Do better.

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Li vs Lin :) ... Hidden Love or Forbidden Love ??

Usually, I avoid CDramas for the amount of time I need to spend on them (24-60 episodes with 1 hour run time scare me, hehe)
And I prefer such short CDramas.

Also, I love Historical / period dramas, so though the Summary looks little bothersome (incest, romance between half siblings etc), I gave a try.

*** CONTENT WARNING:

First of all, this incest part though bothering, it is clarified later (Not gonna give away the SPOILER), so u can watch 👍🏻

So as a Content Warning, if u find it as disgusting or intolerable, just drop this drama.
But I can say -- FL character is pure n kind at heart. There is really nothing vulgar shown here.

***

Watched the 6 eps format -- 24 eps, each 15 mins, are complied into 6 eps

6 eps format with 40-50 mins run time is Good to follow.
Else 15 mins per ep, is too short to concentrate on the flow of the story.

(There are some sound issues with the videos I have watched, so irritated lil but can be watched)

*** STORY:

The Story is about a concubine's daughter (FL Chuchu) at her step mom's house (ML Li's home), the troubles she faced and the sacrifices she made in her life.
There are many family secrets related to her birth.

Story and Direction are Good.
Costumes and Setting (traditional style houses etc) are Good.
Loved OST song.

Uff, the number of Twists n Turns in the plot, the number of Murder plans n Revenge plans by Everyone -- haha, Silly but INTERESTING Revenge Family Drama to pass the time 👍🏻

*** CHARACTERS:

Aigoo, Chuchu n her Never-Ending Struggles throughout the drama -- uff, Tiring!
Whatever happened with her is disgusting and sad.

She is Very Good and Kind at heart.
So, initially, she is troubled and harassed, almost by everyone.

Later, when the kind Chuchu got bold and
goes on a Revenge Spree, it got VERY INTERESTING!
She gave back to everyone who harrassed her, thrashed every murder plan against her, like Tit for Tat -- this part is very enjoyable, in the whole drama n delightful amid her never-ending struggles.

She is really an one-woman army, doing a solo fight against everyone who harrassed her, without any help.
Aigoo, poor Chuchu!!

Every Character is Suspicious, Bad and Pure Evil, except Li and Chuchu.
Loved their chemistry (leaving the incest part).

The rivalry between Li and 2nd ML Lin for Chu, out of jealousy, is funny.

Liked Chu n Li, out of all characters.

*** EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS (6 eps format):

Ep 1:
My mind is blown away with the thought of siblings' romance (grew up as half siblings) -- weird & immoral

Editing is lil odd here, like bits and pieces.
So, initially it is difficult to differentiate which is which among Chu's dreams, flashbacks n the present story.
But continued watching as it is interesting in few scenes.

Ep 2:
Editing here, made it look like there's something missing in the story.

From Ep 3, the actual revenge drama started.
It is exciting to wait for what happens next.
Every scene is like mystery -- who attacks who, with an evil plan or a murder plan or a revenge plan.

Ep 5:
The misunderstandings between Li and Chu got cleared.

Ep 6:
Climax is Rushed but Good Closure to the story.
(There's a Twist related to Lin -- his true face is revealed here)

Every point of the story is answered (Expected that a miniseries would be rushed in the climax, leaving few points unanswered but that is not the case here👍🏻)

*** RATING:

My Rating is 8 /10
(Could be 8.5, if it is better executed, if not for the confusing editing in the first two eps & if not for the incest story).

One Time Watch!!

***

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