youhadmeatzb1

WHY?

I think overall, this one faulters in comparison to the Thai version. This one had the potential, but it tripped over itself in the process. The source material was 13 eps that were 50ish minutes each. This one is 8 eps of 25ish minutes. That's a huge cut and not that it's impossible to deliver, but it makes it that much harder. There's less time to tell this reimagined story and I think that's the biggest issue. So we stumbled from episode to episode, unnecessary scenes are dragged out, necessary scenes are missing completely, etc. And then we find ourselves at the last 2 eps and it felt sloppily put together.

There were funny moments and the actors did their jobs well. I think if you watch this without comparing, you might enjoy it vastly more. But with the comparison, it does fall short and is the reason for my low score.

Also, just an added note.... the 'previous episode' time in the beginning of every episode was so long and it was annoying? You have a 26 minute final episode and 5 minutes of it is the previous episode rundown? Tbh, we needed those 5 minutes to tell a better story.

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Beautiful Growing Pains

More than a BL, this felt like a realistic portrayal of LGBT / queer life with all of the complexities of growing up and the challenges of loving others and also yourself.

There's so much beauty in the story telling: the longing, the desperation and oh the loneliness of finding your own way in life. And the poetic justice of things not being perfect in the end, because isn't that truly l i f e? Sometimes the happily ever after is only in the acceptance of yourself and the capacity to find your own beat in the world. There's joy in that too, joy in the discovery that mundane days with a lost lover could be what you crave most.

This story truly is perfect in all of its imperfections.

Major kudos to Nam Yoon Su for bringing a needed story to mainstream media in South Korea. I give him major applause for choosing to fiercely charge ahead with leading this project, knowing that South Korea has such a long way to go as far as LGBT acceptance. He has faced backlash and has stood his ground, and I think he is exactly who was needed to tell this beautiful story.

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Hmm.

To be honest, I finished the finale of this series and literally said out loud to myself, "what the hell was that?" to myself.

It started off with promise, but quickly lost it's footing and I foolishly kept watching hoping it would somehow get better. But... it didn't.

Pros:
- Beautiful cast. I could write poetry about Petch.
- I loved the mixed languages of Thai and Korean.
- If you love NC scenes, this series serves them hot and heavy.

Cons:
- Storyline is... messy and failed to deliver. So many plot holes and screentime for nothing.
- I felt like SangminDinneaw (the title and main pairing) didn't get enough time to tell their story well enough. I felt like Sangmin lacked focus and good resolution. We didn't even get a proper reunion scene for them, but we got to see Dinneaw and a pillow having fun???
- The two extra friends, who I can't even remember the names of but were weirdly placed for comedy and their cringey NC scenes. In the finale, the scene with the cucumber had me scratching my head so bad. I just don't understand why that was needed. So much time wasted.
- Also the random doctor pairing? Why?

Overall:
- Wouldn't recommend watching.

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Pit Babe wins 1st Place in my heart

Pit Babe's pilot episode is one of my favorite episodes of the series, it has the magic to pull you in before you even realize it. The story is fresh and sprinkled with omegaverse elements. Pavel shines on the screen, fully embodying Pit Babe, almost like he was born for this role. Pooh follows in stride and eats up the golden retriever boyfriend vibe 100%. The entire cast is full of talent and I enjoyed seeing them all onscreen together.

This series, while far from being perfect, still had me clinging to every episode desperately. And there will be a void felt for some time now that it's done airing.

Positives:
- Complex storyline that felt new and refreshing
- Solid acting, especially from Pavel
- Amazing cast through and through (hard to not love them honestly)

Negatives:
- Omegaverse or not omegaverse? I really think they should've leaned harder into these elements or they should've removed them altogether. For the casual BL watcher, who maybe doesn't read fanfic, these dynamics are confusing and create a lot of distracting points if aren't already brushed up on what omegaverse is.
- Too many characters / storylines - too little time to make them all worth it
- I love Pooh, but there were times he did pale in comparison to Pavel. Some of this is intentional, and some of this stems from lack of experience. They needed to give him some emotional depth, but it was missing and he felt one dimensional at times.

Overall:
Pit Babe captivates from the starting line, has a few bumps in the road, but finishes solidly. Will be adding to my rewatch list and to my favorites overall. Would love a s2, special episode, or movie.

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Cute but also frustrating

The pairing for this BL is really cute and they have insane chemistry (as most Taiwanese BL partners do). The story started off really promising, but I did find myself really tired of the cat and mouse episode to episode, especially in the last few. I just wanted them to be together. I also didn't like how dumb they made Shunyu out to be, when it came to Shang Zhou's feelings (and his own). So, that kind of took a few stars away for me personally.

All in all, the actors here deserve another BL and I hope we get to see them in another series with a better story.

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Star Struck didn't leave me seeing stars

Unfortunately this show fell into the KBL cog and wheel of 8 eps with 12-18min run time and the result was less than star worthy in my opinion. The story was too overly complicated with many elements happening at once, while execution of them was less than wonderful.

Childhood friends to lovers is a great trope, but instead of feeling the pining and the slow burn, I felt a huge annoyance {almost bordering complete dislike} towards Yoojae. There were points where I honestly questioned what it was exactly that Hanjoon had fallen in love with. Because even before Hanjoon confesses, to the confession scene, and afterwards--Yoojae was a jerk to Hanjoon. And even after they were separated and finally reunited at college, when Yoojae threw away those chocolates that Hanjoon had kept all that time {right in front of him}, I wanted to kick his face in.

I never felt genuine love or care come from Yoojae towards Hanjoon. He felt self absorbed, selfish, and at times cruel. These feelings couldn't be resolved by the last two episodes and those were the absolute worst ones out of the 8. They were a mess: spending too much time on family drama that isn't resolved for more than HALF of the episodes and leaving a small window of time for us to see Yoojae and Hanjoon together.

I'll never understand why Hanjoon was desperately looking for his mother, only to see her in the hospital and then leave two seconds later because he was late for his anniversary with Yoojae. And not only that, but afterwards, the boys never talk about what had happened and Hanjoon never discloses that he was late and lost his phone because he was seeing his mom in the hospital? Of course I would expect Yoojae {laughs} to understand, but instead it's pinned that Hanjoon has to apologize for disappearing and he promises to never do that again.

This was literally a mess and there's nothing really salvageable about it.

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Found Family

This is a great JBL from start to finish. The pacing, the story, the end game... everything felt right from beginning to end. The overall touching point being gathered around the dining table was very unique and really drove home the overall feeling of all of us wanting to belong somewhere. The navigation through both of their stories, of love, loss, and a sense of not belonging are very human concepts and are touched on beautifully. To love is special, a miracle in itself, and it does not come without risks. But to love, is to also risk the most of ourselves, and I loved how this was explored also.

I couldn't complete this review without mentioning that Tane was a highlight throughout, the actor did so well and the series wouldn't be half of what it is without him. He definitely has a bright future if he chooses to continue acting.

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Don't judge a book by its cover.

This show completely surprised me. Not only in the acting department, but in the NC department as well. I think this story was well crafted and executed and it makes you go through a journey of emotions. The way Ritsu is painted during he first part of the series is terrible, and I found myself really hoping Masumi never got back together with him {even if the world was ending}. But as we go along for their journey towards the end, things come to light and we have to rethink the past. Also, I really enjoyed the unexpected {at least to me} supernatural-ish touch we got in this series. Overall, this was an enjoyable watch and I would recommend.

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A notch in the Thai BL Belt that redefines what can and SHOULD be delivered

I'll start this review by stating that I have not read the source material for this adaptation. So I had no real expectations going into this and wasn't really sure if it would land anywhere in the realm of relevance in my overall year of favorites. But wow, my mind is absolutely BLOWN at how incredible this series unfolded week after week. I think seriously, this is the refresh I needed from Thailand, who in my opinion has been complacent and lazy in a lot of their releases within the last few years.

Payback dedicated itself to staying true to the source material through and through. I would see people post side by sides of the manhwa and the series and they were matching almost completely. Which is a triumph of the production as a whole, from the script, to the casting, the directing, etc. It literally proves that it CAN be done, it's just a matter of is the production of it WILLING to go the extra mile.

Something else I am stoked about is that Minlee and Toptap are newcomers to the BL world and well, they knocked it out of the park. You can see the effort from their side as well. And it's not only them, but ALL of the lively mix of actors that also brought their characters to life in the best ways. It really was a top tier crew from top to bottom and no effort was wasted. They all deserve their flowers.

This series with Sun's trauma and his story of self punishment turned to revenge, only to land on the one thing that matters most -- his want to live and THRIVE. It's beautiful really, how Sun walked through more than half of this series with an expressionless face, but his eyes held the wounded heart and all the turmoil he'd been holding in. And it's not even when his tears come that you feel relief, it's in the small crumbs of a smile that Jay worked out of him one day at a time. The way it breaks over his face and it feels like the clouds parting wonderfully to let Sun SHINE. And oh, he does.

And while the story is founded around Sun's POV, the remaining story was equally heavy. The way the entertainment works in general and those that prey on newcomers and established actors alike for the sake of an opportunity... It's not an easy thing to shine the light upon, but it does force you to realize that these kinds of things DO exist and ARE happening. And I hope there's more Jay's in the world who will destroy them from the inside out.

The series was so good that it even landed a perfectly executed finale. I was hoping for a 2hr runtime and was initially disappointed that it was it was like an hour and 15mins instead. I didn't really think they could steer the ship to the end in a way that would be satisfying enough--BUT!!! Then it did? I was shocked and gob smacked. And honestly when those credits started rolling for the last time, I teared up.

What a journey! But I'm so glad to have been a part of it as a viewer because it was well worth the weekly heartaches waiting for the next episode. This series is going at the very top of my favorites list of 2026 and I don't think there will be anything else that will come along from now until the end of December that can knock it off that shelf. I hope this series, Minlee and Toptap all get their accolades for their job well done. I look forward to the special episode and also the Payback fan tour that will also be coming the states. I hope there's a date in California. *fingers crossed*

No matter what, the future is VERY bright for both of them and I'm excited to see where they go from here.

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Seeing Double (in anger)

Twins, on paper, sounds very interesting. Twins, on the screen, failed to deliver big time. The story is so convoluted, wasting large amounts of time for no reason, with little to NO resolve by the end.

Biggest Plus - Great acting. Esp for the Zee / Sprite actor. He pulled off the different personalities very well. I loved Sprite and wanted to shove Zee's head into the toilet a majority of the time. I commend him for sinking his acting chops into this worthless piece of script writing and giving it his full effort.

Biggest Negative - We call it Twins, give them this weird storyline and a not so clear wrench between them. We spend 11 episodes absolutely hating Zee and by ep 12, he smiles a little and all is forgiven? Same thing for First, he's lied to by Sprite for 11 episodes and get a half assed explanation in ep 12. It was just too much of all the wrong things for me.

Takeaways - Get these boys in another series because they're great and definitely deserve a lot better.

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The magic that is CC & WSW

I honestly went into this series a little scared to get emotionally invested in something that was going to either A) Disappoint or B) Be ruined before it finished airing. And to be honest, I feel like both of those things could have been realized, maybe the second one a little too close for comfort, but somehow we narrowly escaped with all 24 eps intact and our fears relieved.

I am giving this show a full 10/10, not because I think it was perfect, but because I think overall the cast and story melded together beautifully enough to deem it worth of it. There are things I wish could have been a little different, but that's my personal preference (ex: Wang Shou (needed less screen time) and The Finale (needed to be so much longer than 33 mins)). All in all, this little series became our Monday & Tuesday routine that warmed our hearts and continuously left us wanting more. This last stretch seemed to go by so fast that I don't think I've even properly realized that it's truly over.

Thank you to Ziyu and Tian Xuning for stepping into these shoes and for becoming the most beautiful versions of Wu Su Wei and Chi Cheng. Their story and their love will remain with us for a long time.

I also hope that the road ahead for both of you is kind and welcoming. I hope that you always look back fondly on this time and that you always carry it with you. You both deserve all of the success this series brings and while I know it's challenging, I hope you always find more reasons to smile than to cry.

<3

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ABO Desire is charting new territory for BLs

ABO has been around for a long, long time. It is a category of fandom space I never dared to think we'd see a live version of. Pit Babe name dropped ABO but didn't really fulfill the elements of it and instead left a lot of people confused on if it was or wasn't ABO at all. And then the trailer for this series was released and it almost seemed too good to be true. A CBL about ABO? It had a lot of us holding our breaths because we all know how the CBL journey has been and well, it's never good to get TOO invested in anything that is dropping from that region.

But ABO Desire did the impossible and it did it in a way that was true to the ABO realm and didn't shy away from any of it's elements. This is an incredible first for any BL. I give so many props to NJ, the actors, and the production team for also standing behind this project so confidently and with so much heart.

The story is largely about Hua Yong and his obsession with Sheng Shao You and I honestly don't have a single complaint with this story line. I think Eliot and Qiu did an amazing job stepping into the skins of these characters and truly committing to bringing them to life. One of the things I loved the most was the way their power was their absolute duality. Hua pretending to be an Omega, but revealing he's Enigma. The way Shao You never lost the edge of his S Class Alpha, but how he glowed beautifully after being marked by Hua.

Truly the only real issue I had with this series is the second couple storyline which seemed to spin its wheels week after week and somehow never resolved itself in a satisfactory way by the finale. I feel like a true disservice has been done to the character Gao Tu, who was the bearer of so much pain that he was never able to actually vocalize. Peien is a masterclass in acting, because even though Gao Tu's lines throughout the series could fill a single sheet of paper, his expressive emoting filled the quiet spaces with so much heartache. It left us all rooting for all of that pain to be worth it in some sense, by Shen Wenlang apologizing, but in the end this was never realized.

In the same, Jiang Heng's acting was top class, but it's unfortunate that he was handed such a one dimensional character to portray. There was never character growth, it was just the same DENSE brain space for 16 episodes.

I think what truly needs to be acknowledged is that ABO Desire was never intended to be a perfect series and trust me, it wasn't perfect at all. But even though there were things that could've been better, things that we could've done without and things we could've done with more of -- ABO Desire still succeeded by being the first and the most iconic drop from China in a long time.

We can already see the way this has set the foundation for other BLs and I'm personally sat for any future projects that may drop in this lane. And while ABO Desire itself is done, I am also excited for this casts future projects, whether that's a new series or their Desire4 group. They're quite literally doing what no other could do from China and I'm so very invested in what the future holds for them.

TLDR:

Pros:
- Actually ABO - the first of its kind
- Great cast / great acting
- Amazing sets and clothing
- MPREG!!!!
- Enigma Hua Yong is everything

Cons:
- Story flow could've been better: felt like the tires were spinning in place at times
- 2nd couple didn't have a good enough resolve by the end - JUSTICE FOR GAO TU SPECIFICALLY
- While I know the time skip was necessary, I never really like them in any series and that feeling didn't change here
- I'm not sure if 16 eps was enough for this series, or if the writing / pacing of the story was just too slow.

Overall:
- I would watch it again and it's solid series for the first of its kind.

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Could've been executed better...

I am giving this series as a whole a very level 7 for my overall rating because even though I love PerthSanta, I can't lie to myself and say this was the best thing I've ever watched.

The concept of this was very promising and it highlights trauma and mental health issues in a way that's overly glaring in contrast from the bright school grade colors that soaked the rest of this series. This stark difference and the cheesy comedy that it was sometimes painted with, made this land in the realm of 'hmm...' for me.

The overall problem for me is that Perth & Santa are both powerhouse actors that are severely under utilized by GMM. Whether that is by the lack of funding that was provided for LYT or the lack of support on the GMM side, I guess I'm just confused at why I'm still sitting here wanting 'more' for PerthSanta. For example, I am thinking of JimmySea and the projects they have been in and continue to choose - they're usually emotionally complex stories that allow them both to shine. I guess I would just like for PerthSanta to be able to chase the same vein as JimmySea because I think that would be their sweet spot.

All this to say that they both did the best they could with what they were presented with in terms of script, funding, and time. So to me they absolutely bear no fault in the flawed execution of LYT. I can only hope that the future mafia series they've swapped to for their next project will finally be the one that let's them stretch their acting legs fully, letting them both do what they do best.

TDLR:
Pros:
- Perth Santa (obvs)
- Great concept (on paper)
- Acting was A+ from Santa; tackling two roles in one is a tough task and he did amazingly
- Appreciated the tightknit friend group
Cons:
- Lack of funding was obvious
- The comedy mix with serious topics sometimes felt like it missed the mark
- Perth sometimes seemed awkward in the comedic area
- GMM had this geoblocked and inaccessible for a large portion of the fans that wanted to watch it
Final Thoughts:
- I wanted LYT to be THE SERIES for them, but it stumbled quite a bit in execution. Let's hope that the mafia series is fully backed and supported by GMM (with the type of funding the boys deserve). I'm ready to see these two in a series that lets them both fully stretch their acting legs and bring us all the feelings I know they're truly capable of.

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I meannnn

I'm not really sure where I sit with this one as a whole, but it was cute. I just felt like it needed something and I'm not exactly 100% on what that missing thing was for me. Additionally, emotionally, this felt very flat at times and I wish it hit a little more in the soft spots. There's supposed to be a lot of heart in this story, but it doesn't really come through.

Personally, I've been more invested in the actors outside of the series than I was with their characters. It's evident that they are really close and I'm happy they were able to find each other through this project.

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