This review may contain spoilers
A Hypnotic Subversion of State-Enforced Conformity
ABO Desire is a fascinating, bizarre, and ultimately hypnotic mystery-horror-stalker mashup. While it utilizes the "Omegaverse" (Alpha/Beta/Omega) framework, it serves as a scathing satire of elite obsession, labor exploitation, and the rigid social engineering associated with contemporary Chinese power structures.The series is anchored by an outstanding, intense performance by Huang Xing. He is a master of microexpressions, allowing a myriad of thoughts and feelings to flicker across his face to communicate volumes without a word. His hypnotic presence makes the "Enigma" reveal feel like a profound philosophical shift rather than a mere plot twist.
His Enigma represents a radical "Third Way" outside the traditional Alpha/Omega binary. By portraying the Enigma as someone who holds the most power yet has zero interest in titles or status, the show mocks the elite’s social obsession with rank. It suggests that true agency is only possible by subverting the patriarchal, hypermasculine power dynamics promoted by both the genre and contemporary Chinese state-aligned “gender policies.”
A particularly poignant metaphor exists in the secondary romance. The lower-rank character’s desperate attempts to "pass" as a higher rank serve as a universal reference for marginalized people—whether they are LGBTQ+ individuals in repressive societies or people of color in racist systems. It highlights the psychological and physical toll of a system that demands conformity for social survival.
This struggle is literalized through the brief, yet telling, inclusion of "ABO toilets." For an American viewer, they are a surreal and disturbing reminder of our own country’s current obsession with public restrooms. The policing of these spaces in the show mirrors the real-world attacks on transgender citizens, who, like the characters in the series, embody a direct threat to and an undermining of traditional hegemonic masculinity.
Written and directed by a female-led team, the series acts as a visceral condemnation of labor exploitation and the rigid social engineering that defines the fragility of "Alpha" status. The "domestic stability" found at the end is only achieved by completely dismantling traditional power dynamics. The two dominant male characters are forced to "grow up" and broaden their acceptance of others, proving that true dominance comes from intelligence and strategy, not CCP-mandated artificial masculinity.
ABO Desire is far from perfect—it is dense, messy, and requires a rewatch to truly grasp—but it is brave and essential. It proves that even a "fantasy" genre can be used as a razor-sharp tool to attack the foundations of patriarchy and social hierarchy.
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ACTING/CAST: WOW, these guys are smokin' HOT. Good actors too, all mature. The sexual tension between the actors was palpable.
MUSIC: It was good for this drama, very polished.
REWATCH VALUE: Yeah, might watch it again with a friend cause I'd like to see the eye candy again.
OVERALL: I can't stand the love triangle stuff but this movie does have a high production value. It's sexy and slick with great cinematography.
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An evocative and powerful contemplation of war, honor, pragmatism, and defeat
This is my personal favorite Korean film and I consider this to be one of the best films I’ve seen from any country. I admit it might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It’s long and it’s not some Hollywood-esque war movie full of action and heroics. It’s a rather quiet and understated look at people in a dire situation being forced to choose between honor and pragmatism and come to terms with the fact that they’ve lost the war (I don’t consider this a spoiler, because the Korean audience would know this from the outset). It’s about the responsibility of leaders and the suffering of soldiers. Though rather bleak, it’s not depressing or entirely without hope.Hwang Dong Hyuk, who both wrote and a directed this film, has constructed a powerful and compelling work. There were scenes, images, and lines that lingered with me long after the credits rolled.
It’s quite dialogue-heavy for a war movie, as this story is really centered around ministers’ debates before the king, while the soldiers endure the cold, at the mercy of the king’s final decision. This may sound boring, but there is real tension and emotion in these scenes, especially as they build towards the climax. This is a film that takes its time, rather than moving rapidly from one action sequence to the next. Its depiction of enduring through a long siege in the dead of winter often pauses on the mundane; the king getting dressed, soldiers trudging through the snow. But these details are important to the storytelling and are part of the reason the audience at times feels that they are living this experience as well.
The acting is excellent. Park Hae Il plays a conflicted king, backed into a corner where he has no good options, while Lee Byung Hun and Kim Yoon Seok offer moving performances as ideologically opposed ministers. You can truly feel the weight of their characters’ beliefs and concerns for their country. There is more depth of emotion in these portrayals than you might initially expect from these rather stoic old men.
The soundtrack, composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, is frequently more atmospheric than melodic. Silence, punctuated by eire, icy winds, often envelops life at the fortress. In these parts, instrumentation is used sparingly. During the battle sequences the music becomes heavy, tense, and dissonant. In the moments the soundtrack does turn towards melody, it is gorgeous and poignant, though still has a slowness and vastness suited to the gravity of the events and setting. The cinematography by Kim Ji Yong is also perfectly suited to evoking the starkness of the situation. Somber silhouettes, snowy landscapes, and bleak colors dominate this film. These images are offset by warm-toned, fire-lit shots that offer contrast, so that when the warmth is absent, you feel the coldness even more.
Though the action scenes are well-executed, if you go into this film expecting glory and epic battles, you’re sure to be disappointed. This is a film that explores contrasting ideologies, the king’s responsibility to his people, and how the decisions of leaders impact those below them. If you’re seeking an antidote to overly-glorified all-action-no-substance portrayals of war, this realistic and contemplative film is likely what you’re looking for.
Content warning: This film is a bit gory at points (though I am someone who is pretty sensitive to those things). However, these scenes are used somewhat sparingly, and the violence is not gratuitous, rather it is used to depict the harsh reality of war.
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Why woman love? Could be because apparantly they are incomplete without a man?
This drama seems to be some kind of tutorial towards how to win the heart of a woman, could also be the heart of a man... But after watching 24 episodes I can not tell you why women love... If you figure it out please do feel free to tell me, but apparently women who get married choose to give their all to the man they marry and that is also apparently worth waiting for... A strange message in a drama that seems to try to empower women... But besides that the most important thing seems to be sincerity wether it is love, friendship or work... Be sincere and love will prevail... or something like that.@ Things I like about this drama:
-The friendships, most of the characters are lovable and even if there are a few characters that seem to need help, there are no really truly annoying characters.
-The humour, there is not a lot of it, but this does have some pretty gunny scenes here and there with good fun bickering humour.
-The Male lead is a sweetheart, fine he is a bit of a spoiled brat in the beginning but he is a sweet spoiled brat, not afraid to show affection, take charge... go on the thing line between persistence and stalking... ok maybe he is not that perfect but he is mostly nice, patient and understanding... and does not force himself on the girl even once.
-The female lead is kind of bland but does have her moments, the combination of the two is pretty good and the best part about her is that even if she is supposed to be stupid in love she is actually pretty smart... Shocking for a C-drama I know!
-The OST is pretty good (maybe a bit overused, for those who binge, but pretty decent)
@Things that bothered me:
-The Second Female lead... How her delusional, clingy... behaviour was not only accepted but enabled by the people around her.
-The 9999999 PUBLIC love confessions with flowers, balloons and what not... For a drama promoting sincerity... there are ways to show sincerity without involving pollen and peer pressure.
-The endless love monologs... We got it you love her, you love him...
- Endless flashbacks the dram would be several hours shorter if they just cut the flashbacks in half.
-Inconsistency... one moment the guy knows the girl is allergic to flowers the next he buys her a huge flower bukeet ...
-Extremely heteronormative Family, Couples propaganda ish... Fine a woman can take charge but she does seem to need a man to be complete, and She is allowed to be a career woman but again, she needs a man... Did I mention that no woman is complete without a man?
So to sum it up, it was okay, nothing really new and the few parts that had potential to be revolutionary fell short... But I have seen a lot worse and it is pretty funny, and do not forget all the good stuff I mentioned above so it is definitely an okay watch.
Bingeabilaty: Ok but not high
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The story was not unique, however, I like some of these older dramas because they have more realistic love scenes. No chicken peck kisses. I actually enjoyed when they replayed the love scenes to the beautiful, haunting music. My only complaint is that the writer didn't tie up all the complications at the end, although the ending was beautiful and memorable.
This is a "feel good" romance drama that you will want to rewatch.
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At first, I was very hesitant to watch the drama since I thought it would be disappointing one. I read lots and lots of reviews about this and they all said it was good. Now, well look at me, i'm writing a review about this already.
This drama may not have the very satisfying or perfect ending but at least we can formulate our own ending.
This drama will make you laugh --- a lot; and cry --- a lot too.
It doesn't have the best romance, the best acting, the best music or whatever but I can say they have the best bonding and will surely touch your hearts. ;)
Watch this drama and you won't regret it.
At first, I was like, "why would they even put Dae Sung in this drama?" Although his character doesn't contribute much to the main idea of the drama, his real personality was shown and thus making the drama more fun.
Park Tae Hee is cute too. Oh Doo Ri will be the next Yoon Eun Hye. Im Joo Hwan (Jang Jae Hun), I will wait for you to finish your service and film WHAT'S UP VOLUME 2! :D
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I can generally see the plot for the whole drama after the first episode or two. I can gather who is going to die and who is the culprit. What I liked about Wild Romance was that I couldn’t tell what was going to happen until the writers gave a hint. Although it is a rom-com there is some really intensive mystery going on, which really kept the plot going and moving. Kudos to the writers for not just relying on the romance to move things along! Although some characters were better played than others I really did like the majority of the characters that were introduced. I felt like the main and supporting characters all had depth that showed as the drama progressed. (I.E. Kim Dong Ho’s role as the Manager). I really fell in love with Lee Si young who played Eun Jae, she was one of those female leads who didn’t change herself for love, she found love just the way she was. I totally loved how really vulnerable she was the whole way through the drama, and how naturally Si Young seemed to play up that aspect.
The main reason I didn’t want to watch Wild Romance was because I was positive the Eun Jae character was going to be all talk. (I was wrong) Next I was sure the Park Moo Yul character would come to love her after some kind of see her naked scene, or she would save a loved one. (I was happily wrong as well) Lastly I didn’t want to watch because I started to feel really embarrassed for Eun Jae, and the more I felt bad for her (ep 4-5) the less I watched. I pushed through it and found it more enjoyable than I thought. Now I will admit to fast forwarding through long looks at each other, some baseball talk (though I learned a lot!) and some of the “searching” scenes. There were a lot of “searching” scenes.
Overall I am glad I watched this one all the way through. I like to see a character who feels like they don’t deserve love, win it on their own terms. That’s what happened with our Eun Jae, and that should give inspiration to many a girls who try to change themselves. Although there wasn’t much eye candy, there were a few bare chested men throughout so I am okay. I hope those who have put this down pick it back up because it certainly gets sweeter, better, and the ending is not what you think!
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This is adorable and smart
This is a one-off short, and it doesn't rise beyond fluff, but it rises about as high as fluff can get, and even if that's not your thing, I think you might like this.There are zero tropes in it, which is so refreshing. There is no "but we're both guys!" nonsense - it's just a straightforward romance, and it feels like one between two normal guys - not two Victorian 12 year olds, not a plaster-cast seme and uke, just two guys.
The dialogue is really clever and cute, and the guys are confident and witty, but not without youthful insecurity at the right couple of moments.
The main character, Rossi, is gorgeous - it's so nice to see a darker actor cast and not caked with makeup to whiten him. He's also naturally sexy and charismatic, although it's hard not to be when you look like that. The other guy does a great job too.
Watch it! The worst that can happen is you'll lose 17 minutes.
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coming of age story set in the 90s
Overall: though parts of this were difficult to watch, it did hit on some realistic aspects of growing up in the 90s (and still today). 8 episodes about 25 minutes each. No official international platform. See my spoiler comment for the ending.Content Warnings: past death, bullying, held against will, homophobia, sexual harassment, manhandling/non-con touching, vomiting, peeping, grooming, child abuse/violence, sexual assault, kidnapping/held against will, punch
What I Liked
- the two supportive moms
- characters weren't what they first seemed
- one of the few redemption arcs that worked for me
- non cliched female classmate (wish they had a bit more closure for her though)
- I couldn't tell how the story would end which is different from most of what I watch
- production value
Room For Improvement
- the comedy didn't mesh well at times with the realism
- was not needed to have a second scene with a group peeping for a 2nd time on the couple in the truck, could have spent that time elsewhere
- the awful scene with the teacher in the car was too cartoony villain
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"People can change completely depending upon the circumstances"
Takahashi Issei playing a dual role was all the motivation I needed to watch Reborn. The drama had an interesting premise but failed to capitalize on it for most of the episodes. While Issei was fascinating to watch as two different characters, much of the story failed to engage me.Neo Kosei began working in relief organizations gaining a good reputation. He propelled that quickly into a corporation that capitalized on others' misfortunes. He comforted himself by saying that the sacrifice of a few gave greater gains to the many. (I kept hearing a quote regarding Ebenezer Scrooge going through my head during this drama. "I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master passion, Gain, engrosses you," Belle from A Christmas Carol.) When Neo takes a tumble down a temple staircase, he awakens in the body of Nomoto Eito in 2012, who coincidentally looks just like Neo. Eito was supposed to have died in an accident and yet now Neo is walking around in his body and part of the Akari Shopping Street that Neo had destroyed in 2026. Eito/Neo finds himself competing against himself as he tries to save the Akari shopkeepers and gain his old life back. Despite Eito/Neo’s attempts to change the future, the alley and his own life seem on a collision course with the known future and terrible price to pay.
As I said, the premise is worthy of a drama. The problem was the implementation. Chiefly, the shopkeepers weren’t well written. There were three that were often in the shot but rarely called by name. Most came across as amiable but financially incompetent and worse kept electing Eito’s dad, the financially inept Eiji, as chairperson or president. He was maddeningly bad with money and relied on himself instead of Eito/Neo which repeatedly made the situations go from bad to worse. There was a reason the street was failing. Eito’s love interest was kept hanging for 14 years which stretched the bounds of credulity. To top it off, the ending was unsatisfying and left numerous questions unanswered. If not for Takahashi Issei I would have rated this lower but gave it a .5 bump for him. Watchable, but frustrating.
16 June 2026
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A storyline that tries hard to justify itself but fails to do so.
spoilers are there, read at your own risk.As from synopsis, the story is basically about an ML who gave up on life due to unemployment and getting turned down from most jobs which leads him to feel useless and kills himself. In turn death punishes him, saying he will be transferred in bodies of people for twelve times and these bodies are someone fated to die soon and if he manages to survive in any of those twelve times, he can escape going to hell for sin of committing suicide. The whole plot is about death asking ML does he realize anything from the lives he lived, had he learnt anything and every time hero says I will beat you in this and survive against you.
Like so the hero goes to live in bodies of 12 lives who are destined to die soon. Now each episode is filled with star cast who acted those 12 lives, and it was really entertaining. It wasn't boring at all and all those lives are connected to each other in the storyline and the wrap of those lives to the whole plot made so much sense, even though these 12 lives people are strangers to each other character, yet they all are tied up together brilliantly to make sense. For that alone I gave this show 6.5 rating.
The only reason I'm disappointed is the that even to the end death punishing ML didn't justify in slightest sense. At the end hero realizes he made mistake by killing himself because he gave the people he loved to live with the pain of his death. Which is a very valid reason and I agree the ML is at fault to an extent because the only thing that put him down and depressed is his unemployment, he had other things that most people won't even have. He had a girlfriend who wasn't ashamed he couldn't find a job but was rather supportive and proud of him and was ready to take care of him always. He has a wonderful mother who didn't pressure him into finding a job. Most people who actually kill themselves are someone who is totally alone unlike ML. Maybe ML failed to recognize this and killed himself without realizing how it would impact his close lives. Which is something some of the depressed people who still have supporting families fail to realize and end lives. I agree they shouldn't do that, this is why awareness of seeking help for mental health is very important. but other half of depressed people are someone who are abandoned to live in agony.
Anyway, by my above paragraph you might think death was right punishing him because ML ended his life without thinking about loved ones, but here is the twist. As you have read, ML goes to live in 12 bodies, during this time death says she won't interfere and also says I don't kill people, people are bound to die by the fate that was written to them. All along she tells ML he committed a sin by killing himself instead of dying at the time the fate was written. She says one shouldn't choose death but should die at fate written by god.
Let me tell you, in all those 12 times ML got to live, he witness his girlfriend death who gets murdered tragically, his mother is also supposed to die in a hiking accident but got to live because ML finally won against the fate of surviving in at least one of the twelve times and last life is he possessed his mom's body. Which means ML if he didn't commit suicide, not only would have witnessed his GF death but also his mother death and still live in unemployment.
You might think if he didn't kill himself, he may have protected his gf and mom by being near them. But death clearly says their fates are destined like that. Whether any change can happen to their fates is like a roll of dice, and no body can know.
Not only that, all the ten lives ML lived, are mostly innocent lives who got killed except for two or three lives where ML entered into evil people bodies who actually deserve to die.
So in conclusion, the drama major reason of death giving punishment didn't make sense because even if ML lived he had to live in misery of losing loved one's, if he kills himself, he has to face punishment of death god and get's killed 12 times. For me, the whole series I agree ML is at fault for not thinking about his loved one's and dying, but death is the most evil person as she punishes ML whose fate is already cruel even if he doesn't kill himself and another evil is god who wrote fate of innocent people to die soon in most painful way.
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I don't usually watch Thai lakorn but because of perth I watched this show
Truthfully I don't watch Thai lakorn I don't find them interesting may be because of barrier language and have to search so much.But since Perth acted as guest role of younger SIAHA I watched this show on Netflix with vpn I went to that extent to watch it . I really enjoyed storyline actors are so good and as always perth played young siaha(villian) role so well you can understand why he become villian his sufferings . No wonder perth got praised by thai fans for it even those who were not his fans. I love actress she is so cute .this show is making me think I should watch more lakorn shows
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This review may contain spoilers
How to do everything wrong in BL
This was an example of just about everything I hate in BL. They did a few things right, but very little and definitely not enough to get me to watch 2 more seasons of this SH**.The writing is HORRIBLE. So many times I would anticipate the great come-back a character SHOULD have said but didn't. Instead of truly exploring the characters' inner feelings, we are left with long, slo-mo shots of them staring into the distance. That might have worked if the actors could actually act and their faces displayed real emotions. But this cast (at least the 2 leads) cannot pull that off. The characters just kept repeating themselves, sometimes 3 or 4 times in the same scene. If you're not going to progress the story or characters, then just cut to the next scene. Because of that, I think 4 of the 12 episodes could have been eliminated entirely. Maybe even more.
The direction is MISERABLE. The pacing is sooooooo sloooooooow. Those long, slo-mo reaction shots. Moments where characters ask a question and no one answers EVER, they just cut back and forth and back again and forth again and back again and forth again to blank stares from the actors. Entirely unnecessary scenes, shots, sequences. Do we really need to see the judges of the Moon/Stars contest get up on stage and watch them applaud for 30 seconds? When they have no interaction with the main cast, the answer is NO.
The acting is WOODEN (at least the 2 leads). Nothing but blank faces, even during the most important and emotional scenes. Poor Yo is forced to play petrified throughout the entire series. He never looks comfortable at all. Even when he's won the popularity vote, runner-up Moon and has a boyfriend he still looks miserable. I did enjoy most of the secondary actors. Kim as Ming was very natural. He had charm, comedy, camaraderie. I also enjoyed Copter as Kit. His friendship with Tee as Beam seemed genuine. Naturally, all the actors I liked have been replaced in the sequels.
More BOOs for the music. The overly sentimental piano music that played over those long slo-mo shots was cloying. They really tried to wring out your emotions - especially when they weren't warranted.
Failed on so many levels. Can't believe how popular this one is. It's gonna take years before I'll watch the 2 sequels.
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The main female character wasn’t my favorite but she wasn’t annoying. Honestly, I kept watching because of the extremely good looking male lead and since my mans Jun Jie (who was in “Big Boss” had a role in this.
I’m glad that it didn’t take so long for the romance to start which tends to happen in some dramas, but I felt like the chemistry was a bit lacking.
The fact that there was a “past love” concept was brought out pretty well in this, and made me learn myself that love isn’t exactly eternal and can fade away for reasons after time, and moving on is hard but not impossible.
Overall I binged this for about 4 days and I’m a bit disappointed but not completely. The end wasn’t too bad although despite how not-great this series was I still yearn for a second season...
Recommend to those who like watching dramas partly for the eye-candy and romance! (But don’t have high expectations)
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This review may contain spoilers
HUMAN AND DRAGON SHENANIGANS
Pros: Loved the first half of the drama which I felt had the perfect amount of truly funny moments mixed in with the plot. I also absolutely LOVED the FL's character, and Zhou Ye's acting definitely made me shed some tears during some of the more emotional scenes. I do feel FL and ML had great chemistry and liked seeing them together. The ML was adorable and was definitely very pretty. Plus, he's a dragon!Not so great: The second half fell a bit short for me as I just could not take the main villain seriously. There were also way too many long and unnecessary backstories and scenes for all the villains, pseudo villains and the many, many side characters that I feel like they could have cut out. The whole production was also sort of a miss for me - it looked low budget, where some of the scenes are really awkwardly shot, and the costuming (mainly... the hair) and CGI looked hilariously fake, especially when the CGI was combined with human interaction (i.e. that scene of them petting one of the monsters... I could not help but lol). The acting was a bit iffy for the ML and SML ... my main gripe is with the ML in that he's definitely a bit of a wooden board and oftentimes just has one or two of the same expressions (concerned and angry). One more thing - music I felt was decent and times added to the story, but I have to mention that there was this one background music that they play during some of the comedic moments that COMPLETELY took me out because it sounded so ridiculous and I know it's a stock background music from somewhere else (maybe other shows? movies? IDK).
Conclusion: Liked it, but definitely not my favourite. However, it's worth a watch if you're looking for a xianxia to pass the time.
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