Reviews

So many people are discussing this on feeds. So I decided to watch it to see if it’s actually worth the hype. Haha... Let’s dive in and discuss this drama!

This is the story of Cheng Yi Chen (YC) and Lu Feng (LF). Their love story spans over a decade, from their innocent school days to a fraught, intense adulthood.

YC is a quiet, diligent student from an ordinary family, while LF is a rebellious and wealthy heir who lives by his own rules.

They knew each other in high school, where LF often bullied YC. But everything changed during their university years when they were placed in the same dorm room. LF finally dropped his bullying act and became friends with YC. As it turned out, LF had harbored feelings for YC all along; but as a teenage boy who didn't know how to handle his emotions, he had initially expressed his affection through bullying. As they spend more time together, their relationship deepens, and the two young men eventually fall deeply in love, forming a profound bond.

When their romance is discovered, they face intense opposition from their families and the people around them. LF is sent to the United States under his family's control, while YC is forced to transfer schools and rebuild his life without the one person he cannot forget. Separated by oceans and with no certainty of ever seeing each other again, their love becomes a memory that neither of them can escape.

Years later, fate brings them together once more. By then, both men had changed. YC has tried to move on and leave the past behind, while LF has never truly let go of him. Determined to reclaim what he lost, LF re-enters YC's life and pursues him with unwavering persistence.

They finally decided to try again for a second time, but reality quickly hit them. LF was ready to fight openly for their future, whereas YC was far more cautious, constantly torn between his love for LF, his responsibilities toward his family, and the harsh reality that the outside world still does not accept them.

This difference creates a growing gap between them. The breaking point comes when YC’s family situation becomes increasingly difficult, particularly because of his mother's illness and her inability to accept his relationship with another man. Rather than continuing to fight, YC chooses sacrifice. He pushes LF away, believing that ending their relationship is the only way to fulfill his duties as a son.

For LF, this second separation is even more devastating than the first. During their youth, he could blame circumstances and family interference. This time, however, he feels that YC is choosing to abandon him. Having already lost years of his life because they were forced apart, LF cannot bear the thought of losing YC again. His anger, desperation, and obsession intensify as he views YC's decision as a betrayal of the promises they once made to each other.

Years later, they crossed paths again. But this time, LF has completely shed the gentler side of himself and transformed into his ultimate toxic form. Consumed by a desperate need for revenge and an absolute refusal to let YC leave him again, LF resorts to extreme and controlling measures. He keeps YC under constant watch, using emotional manipulation, confinement, and surveillance to trap him in a gilded cage of his own making.

Yet, despite the intense psychological warfare and the sheer toxicity of the situation, YC never truly stopped loving LF. He tolerated a staggering amount of cruelty, recognizing that LF’s destructive behavior stemmed from deep, unhealed trauma and overwhelming heartbreak.

So, how does their story ultimately end? Will they finally break free from the trauma that has haunted them for years, or will that trauma ultimately destroy one—or both—of them?

That's pretty much the story without giving anymore spoilers.

What I like:
+ The growing pain is so real
+ How protective Yi Chuan (YC’s brother) is for YC.
+ YC & LF inescapable and consuming their feelings for each other.
+ The bitter harsh reality in Asians county. Unlike Thai BL where everyone seem accepting gays, here we can really witness the harsh reality when gays not accepted.

What too much for me to handle:
- The sheer of toxicity & feel the ownership that LF had for YC

Overall this quite worth the hype

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i am happily married to this show. forever.

somehow, i always find my way back to this series. i've said this before but this series navigates love in every kind of way soso beautifully im still stunned.

"myung-ha, you don't have to go through everything by yourself anymore."

this shows the kind of love that surrounds the average person - the love of support. the fact that 29 year old tae myung-ha had forms of depression and ended up drowning himself but then regretted it at the last second and begged to stay in death shows that we should all be given chances - and give life a chance to improve and to find love in all forms.

"i want to stay. i want to stay. with yeo-woon"

this shows the intense affection - and eventually love - myung-ha possesses for yeo-woon and how experiencing life through his younger self helped him learn to love and find happiness in the small things. he at first rejected yeo-woon but started to fall for him. every time i watch the scene of them on the rooftop and myung-ha says "i love you cha yeo-woon" under his breath, i still giggle. one of my favourite bits.

"but cha yeo-woon is still unhappy / that's just life / but being fated to live that kind of life, is just so unfair."

i love this scene. it shows not only the perspective of myung-ha on love and society, it depicts the savage way some people are just left alone and don't get their happy ending. they are pushed away and are forgotten. this series brings the idea of including everybody and finding your own unexpected happy ending.

as i've said before - this series is not about a game. i love to think of it as the game is a message to its viewers about the events and roads of life. the "system errors" that myung-ha experiences pop up when events in any human being's life happens - the first i love you, the tragedy of picking between people, feeling rejection and loneliness.
the fact that this concept was all to make tae myung-ha love himself and find happiness breaks me everytime - it was never about cha yeo-woon (no offence, he's still so adorable and so key to the story).

"and i died like that on that day. but i regretted it at the last minute. regretting everything."

"i wish that i would disappear"

these are spoken by 29 year old tae myung-ha, who shows strong signs of depression and ends up drowning himself, though regretting it at the last minute. this shows a darker side to the human mind - that it can twist and turn against it's own body if it experiences unpleasant emotions and events. for tae myung-ha, being alone and rejected by his mother is enough to be gone. he is then given a chance to enjoy life again and find that happiness that had disappeared. it sends a message that even if the darkest of tunnels, you can still find a light.
i love this series with everything because not only are cha yeo-woon and tae myung-ha SO ADORABLE, it discusses every form of love: romantic, platonic, relative - everything. it also has darker topics as shown by senior tae myung-ha who is entirely alone and abandoned.

dare i say best kbl i've ever seen and probably will ever see. yes, i do dare.

"senior. i get it now why you like the sea. im starting to like it too."

it was never about the sea...👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

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Minoru was the brother I preferred and feel like he showed more external consequences whereas Makoto showed more internal consequences of their parent's death.
Minoru struggled with social interactions and seemed not to talk to many people and had no friends
Makoto being the older one, had tk be the strong onw for his brother and hold everything together. This drama portrayed human emotion incredibly like the fact Minoru shut down completely and never ate when he cooked food for his brother when Mogi was discovered to have killed their parents and then died so couldn't get an explanation but left the cooking recipes for the brothers.

The actual story on how they discovered their parent's murderer was confusing at times like the role of the ex police officer that was still in contact with detective Koike. I'm still unsure on detective Koike role other than the fact he was was in charge of the case and failed to catch the perpetrator. It was fully explained in detail in certain aspects making it difficult to follow at times and understand people's decisions that they made.

This showed human nature of pain, sorrow and trust that can be manipulated or broken in different ways and how it affected people. It made me cry at betrayals, laugh at good memories and hope that the culprit was found.

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MY TOP 2026 C-DRAMA!!!

All the reviews have been talking about the story, the angst, the acting, yes, which all are amazinggg, but can we appreciate the OSTs!?!?!?! THEY HAVE ME HOOOKEED. Also, the cinematography is just fascinating, the scenes are so well put and honestly just beautiful. If I had to point smt out, it would be to see more of grandma's actual personality and not just her being sick, Yes, its important to her character but as someone who has raised her granddaughter alone after all her family's been through, I believe we can see her point of view of the trauma as well. Right now, it just seems she is bringing her granddaughter down. WDYM she left her college entrance exam for you and you did not even say anything to show remorse?
Other than that, LOVEEE THE CAST, THE ACTING, AND HOLLLYYYYYY THE ANGSTTT!

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Losing the plot

Somewhere, in the middle of the plot, the writers got their wires crossed, and their characters mixed up. Also, they make the crucial mistake of telling instead of showing. So that the delightfully anachronistic speech of the female lead, and the subsequent hilarity and confounding of the male lead, overall a promising start , flattens out into a drawn out slug of flashbacks to the secondary world not well explained, and a disfunctional relationships with repeated cycles of declarations of love and abandonment. Even a bit of Goblin wasteland thrown in, but with ennui rather than perseverance.. This needed some serious proofreading before making it to production.

I would rewatch just to figure out where the drama wrong.

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I still hate noble idiocy. Despite the ending, they still need to COMMUNICATE!!

The constant dying and reviving is tiring, like why bother kill some characters if they can comeback later somehow.
But still, i dislike how the writer NEED to kill some of the best good characters like Gu Jun and Jing Jian. And then you have the annoying villain be alive and well, like why tf is Jing Yang somehow got a redemption arc and Jing Zhao can stay alive and didn't face any concequences?!!!

Also Yuan Qi deserve better! the kid barely has a funtioning parents because of everything.

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Late to the Hype, But Completely Worth It

This drama wasn't even on my MyDramaList watchlist. I only decided to watch it recently out of curiosity, and although I'm a little late to the hype, I genuinely think it deserves all the praise it received.

What immediately stood out to me was how unique the premise felt. A selectively mute female lead paired with a presidential spokesperson male lead created such an interesting contrast. Their relationship initially appeared to be nothing more than a political arrangement, but as the story progressed, it became clear that there was much more beneath the surface.

The twists were some of the drama's biggest strengths. The revelation that Hong Hee-joo had been living as a stand-in for In-na, followed by the even bigger reveal that Baek Sa-eon himself was also a stand-in and not the "real" Sa-eon, completely changed the way I viewed the story. Looking back, many of their actions and choices suddenly made much more sense.

What I loved most was the emotional depth between the leads. Knowing that Sa-eon had already discovered that Hee-joo was 406 and understood the loneliness, pain, and sacrifices she had endured throughout their three-year marriage made his character even more compelling. The fact that he chose to silently protect and understand her rather than immediately reveal the truth added another layer to their relationship.

The ending was satisfying and emotional, giving the story the closure it deserved.

My only real criticism is that I wish Hong Hee-joo had been written as a slightly stronger character. She was already a well-developed and sympathetic heroine, but I felt there was still untapped potential in her. Considering how much she had bottled up over the years, I wanted to see her express herself more and have moments where she truly stood up for herself.

As for the antagonists, I appreciated how the drama incorporated family conflicts and political power struggles. From the mother and father to the grandfather and the real Sa-eon, each villain served their purpose in the story. However, while they were effective plot devices, none of them became the kind of villains that truly made my blood boil or left a lasting impression. Their arcs were decent, but not particularly exceptional.

Overall, this was a surprisingly enjoyable watch. It offered a refreshing premise, strong plot twists, and a relationship that gradually unfolded in a rewarding way. Despite a few flaws, it's a drama I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for something different from the usual romance formula.

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An Epic Premise, a Forgettable Romance

The concept of Goblin is undeniably fun. You have a goblin who has lived for over 900 years and cannot die, a grim reaper burdened with eternal punishment for his past sins, and a "goblin's bride" who can see ghosts and seems to have outlived the fate originally written for her. On paper, it's a fascinating setup filled with mystery, fantasy, and emotional potential. The show deserves credit for creating such unique characters and an intriguing world.

Unfortunately, after the first few episodes, the story started to lose its momentum for me.

The female lead accidentally summons the goblin and gets pulled into his life. She keeps summoning him, discovers his powers, and that's where I expected the story to really take off. Instead, it slows down considerably. A lot of the plot revolves around her living with the male lead, which raised a bigger question for me: why does everyone act like that's completely normal?

What disappointed me most was the lack of a strong central conflict. It often felt like nothing particularly important was happening. Episode after episode was filled with everyday interactions, and while some viewers may enjoy this approach, I found myself getting increasingly bored.

The goblin himself felt like a missed opportunity. Here's a man who has lived for almost a thousand years, possesses immense power, and has witnessed centuries of history. Yet the story rarely explores any of that in a meaningful way. Instead, his character seems to revolve almost entirely around falling in love with a teenager. For someone with such an epic backstory, it felt like an incredible waste of a potentially fascinating character.

As for the romance, I simply couldn't buy the chemistry between the goblin and his bride. I tried, but the age gap was far too visible for me to see them as a convincing romantic pair. Every romantic scene reminded me of the imbalance rather than making me root for them. Ironically, the second lead couple ended up carrying the romance aspect of the show for me. Their story had much stronger chemistry, and the longing, heartbreak, and connection from their shared past felt far more emotionally compelling than the main romance.

That's ultimately how I felt while watching the drama. I didn't go into it intending to be critical, and I can absolutely see why so many people love it. The cinematography, soundtrack, and fantasy elements are all impressive. But these issues stood out too much for me to ignore. Considering how popular *Goblin* is, I kept waiting for it to click with me and it never quite did.

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B-list acting and story cringe-fest. But apparently it "hits new high". What a joke :))))

I don't remember the exact numbers but you can find the article on MDL. "New highs"= 6%. Comparatively, "Perfect Crown" had 11% or something like that. But hey, the clickbait works. And most viewers think "highest means good, right?" anyway :))
So, this is going to be a very short review. Finally.
Visuals. Everything's on low settings. Colour palette, cinematography, vfx. Everything. And no, the "hand-drawn cute vfx" while ED, it doesn't count. It literally takes you (at most) 2 minutes to select the necessary brush, to draw, to mask, to apply the custom effect, to hit save, per image.
** Honorable mention. The character takes a bath, wants to send a message by smartphone. Usually we get different methods like compositing, overlayer etc of messages or phone display over the original image. You know, half screen is the phone, half the character typing. Or bubbles with text. Stuff like that. Well, this drama did something fking brilliant, just for that one scene. Because of the hot water and the steamy room, they could make the message appear looking like an invisible finger draws the letters on a fogged window. The fact that the message was very short also helped. But the idea was awesome. The second nice thing visually, the music box looked amazing.**
Audio. Poor sound design. From OP to the normal tracks. Sometimes it worked, but most of the scenes were lousy, so... Also, this sound design is used mostly like a way of manipulating the audience as to what the scene is about. Bad comedy? Just add some quirky track and make it seem like something high-quality funny is actually on. Heavy track = tension. And so on and so forth. It doesn't matter if the things on screen will make you feel/think certain way, the tracks will give you a queue as to how you MUST feel. Another mention: the ED theme was decent. Or not bad.

Sht writing. Sht directing. Nothing makes sense, everything is a plot device and plot contrivance. "It just so happened that....". Thats all there is to it. Especially when its about the "bad guy". Its like any bad guy was like a child compared to him. The amount of domino pieces falling as intended is staggering. Oh, should I also mention her "6th sense" schtick that they make a big deal about (with lots of examples) and thats used as a plot device in the first few episodes but then completely discarded later? More so when a couple of "something big" happen in the later episodes, and those things should've activated her "sense" at full power. But then the script would've been screwed and we can't have that. Amazing writing quality, isn't it? *sigh*
About the script, every dialogue is an out loud monologue, sometimes even an expository one. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense as "words on paper". It just wants to sound... , I don't know, grand, or smart, or something. To give it gravitas? But only sometimes, because most of the times is just sht writing.
The so-called acting is reduced to "act like a Jack Sparrow. No, more leaning. More. Thats it. Now you surely seem a noblewoman". Yes, again, there are a few good scenes of good acting from some very few actors, but thats because of the actors itself, not the director or the script. Tiny mannerisms and such. It gets a little bit better towards the end, but just a tiny bit, so it doesn't really matter. And also it raises other questions. Like, Was the bad acting intentional because of the directing, or what? How? Anyway.
Plus, lots and lots of plots and subplots that go nowhere. And we still have no idea what all that was about until the end. Oh, I'll put it here, because it doesn't matter: it got worse as time went by, sure, with the last 4 being horrible,and the last 2 in special were horrendous. Besides the fact that I knew it was the last week of torture, it felt boring and horrendous because magic bullsht was the writer's answer to everything. I'm not joking. Magic/spiritism/whatever you wanna call it. Suddenly it can grant wishes to end a shtshow (I wish). *sigh*
** Some examples. "The Writer: how can we create nonsensical drama? Oh, I know, lets make her "get lost" on a well lit road. Hmm, yes, lets make her go off-road for no fkin logical reason". Thats the kind of writing we have here. The writer's only solution is to make the character ret***ed every time there's need for drama. That same scene has even more idiotic stuff happening. Lost, but she is saved and leaves by herself in a random direction (I've checked, its not the one he came from). So, lost but not really. All that drama was for nothing.... Or a scene happens. We get "his" and our pov, later we get "hers". But they actually were two very different filming. It is supposed to be some sort of manipulative editing, but its on the level of Glass Onion. As in, it never happened, we can clearly see what happens the first time, later, all that sht that supposedly its what really happened is invented. And then, one minute later, he has a flashback, remembering what? The first version, the one that we saw the first time.... This level of idiocy is mind-boggling. Like I said: sht writing, directing, acting.**

Most of its comedy is cringe. That low iq comedy you find in this kind of drama. Yeah, there were also a few, very few, good jokes there too. But mostly, the usual slop of low comedy. "See? Because different time, she doesn't know the modern things and the way she acts. See? Its funny. Pls laugh".
Same for romance. No chemistry, no matter who we're talking about. Poor script (again). The main's pair is reduced to: "We can't, who do you think you are? Ok, fine, I'll accept and go with the flow. We can't. Ok, fine, I'll accept it. We can't. Ok, fine...." *sigh* Basically, you start the episode with "don't wanna see you", then it gets to "why weren't you here, near me?", the second half is "I must leave anyway", then it ends with "I thought I could but I can't...". Do you understand? All in just one episode... Unfortunately, the whole season does not contain just one episode... *double sigh* To be fair, the whole episode might've covered one week or one month, we don't know....
No character development, no world building. Sht pacing. As in stuff just happens, for the sake of happening. At one point, apparently two weeks passed and I had no idea. Luckily the ML told us. So, something might happen, no one talks or does anything about it for any time they want, everyone else also forget about that fact, "suddenly" it is 2 weeks later, and "suddenly" everyone remembers and starts reacting.... Now imagine the rest of the show, when we're NOT told abut time lapses, but it does happen. And so on and so forth. Yes, later we find that 3 months has passed, but my previous point still stands.

You get the gist. So, a rating of 3. Not recommended, no rewatch value. No nothing. If someone said or gave it a rating higher than 6 (this was never mid-quality, but lets pretend), they are trolling you. Or they have mental issues. If you like someone from the cast, just watch/rewatch some of their other works.
Btw, I'm talking about quality, not enjoyment. All reviews should be about quality, and yes, you can even like bad media, there's nothing wrong with that (aka "my guilty pleasure").
Don't just "Omg, I loved the actors. I loved every second of this kdrama". Maybe you enjoy this media, but you also enjoy hitting puppies. We don't know what kind of person you are. So a review should be about its quality, not just your opinions...

Have a lovely evening.

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Last episodes

Last Twilight is an emotional and beautifully acted BL series that really drew me in. The performances feel natural and heartfelt, and the story builds a strong, tender connection between the leads that makes you genuinely care about them.
For most of the show, the emotional pacing and relationship development are done really well, with a soft atmosphere that makes the journey feel meaningful and deep.
The only downside for me were the last episodes—the breakup felt unnecessary and more like added drama than something that truly fit the story. It took away a bit from the emotional flow.
Still, overall it’s a very moving series with strong acting and a story that stays with you.

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One of the best.....

Shades (uncut on YouTube) has to be one of the very best series out there. It is only 6 episodes, BUT there is more to come from this series.

If you are going to watch it, I would 100% truthly recommend you subscribe and join the FRT Entertainment channel on YouTube, for level 2 membership it is still pretty reasonable in cost, especially because you get to watch Shades the series Uncut version.

This version is absolutely right on the fine line of what is acceptable for youtube and tv with the simulated sex scenes. These young ladies have all been very brave and daring in shooting this series, I will say that!

The storylines are top notch, not a single bit of it felt like it dropped off or just simply vanished like what has happened with other gl series. You can truly see the heart and energy that was put into writing the scripts, deciding the storylines, choosing the actresses and other cast. Plus all the other hardwork that goes into filming a series of this size. The behind the scenes people should be very happy and proud with what they have produced with this series.

It shows quite alot of different forms of love and falling in love. Plus a whole variety of trials and tribulations that come with same sex love and the drama that often occurs same sex only schools, especially all girls schools.

I will be eagerly waiting for season 2 of this series and hoping it is just as good as this one. If the same people in front and behind the cameras are all involved I just know they will 'smash it out of the park' again.

I didnt like that I had to wait (Im in England) for this series to be released on this side of the world, but now im kind of glad because I may have missed out on the uncut version.

Thankyou for all your hard work in this series, i love it so much.

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I don't quite agree with the rest of reviews so here I am writing my own!
I started this drama solely because it's a short drama and the synopsis sounded interesting!

the acting is meh/inconsistent! (I would've called it bad if I hadn't seen worse!)
the dubbing is bad! lots of incoherent dubs which is hard to ignore.
fight scenes are not good.
the music is annoying.

ZhiZhi has one of those childish voice overs which almost made me drop it! thankfully she doesn't have much screen time.

The story/plot:
-it's a shame that we don't get to see why ml is so in love with fl! he is a heart eyed loving fool from the get go!
-Luo Wushuang's love for ml is as mysterious for me! Her outfits are pretty.
the lack of build up for all relationships has made it extremely shallow and I don't care who is with who!
the lack of chemistry between the leads didn't help either.

-too much "low budget gore" was used for a drama that doesn't know if it's a lighthearted comedy or serious one. (more details on the warnings at the end of this review)

-I think this drama needs a "comedy" tag, it's trying so hard to be funny, but it's not working for me. it's more on the cringe side.
-it got a bit boring midway but I pushed through and skipped some bits to be able to finish it. (I don't think I missed anything while doing so)


It's not unwatchable but it's not something I would recommend either.
**********************
!!!CONTENT WARNING!!! for those who want to watch:
It's not too graphic thanks to the low budget but there are scene such as:
*a hand cut off by sword flying mid air in ep4 and blood.
*there are some bits of torture scenes like throwing hot water in ep 6.
*unnecessary amount of blood spatter when someone hit their head to the table in ep 8.

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Predictable, could have done with fewer episodes

Yoo Yeon Seok played his part well. It was fun watching all his different personas come out. I especially loved watching his brother-in-law discovering and coming to terms with what was going on - comedy gold. A couple of the stories made me cry.

Unfortunately, as I was watching, I found myself thinking, "Okay, this will happen next", and I was usually right. So, for me, I couldn't be totally in the story, if that makes any sense. I was always aware that I was just watching the drama.

The romance angle was unnecessary and didn't work. Romance is my favorite genre, but it needs to make sense. Yoo Yeon Seok and Esom had no chemistry, and she seemed too old for him.

If you have nothing else that you want to watch and you need something easy, you'll probably like this one.

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