Reviews

Great contrasts but the ending was rushed.

This was a decent watch, an easy binge with a decent take on the measurements some must take to survive in an exhausting world... Boundaries and the way one is perceived while just trying to make it trugh the day.

The season has a bit of second hand embarrassment, some over the top moments and at least one character I wanted to send in to small dark room to rot. Some parts dragged out a bit to long while others were cut short, especially the ending flet like they skipped a chapter or two just to get to the point. That said the contrast and growth of communication between the leads was fun to watch and the episodes truly did just fly by...

Also I am not a fan of multiple seasons, but somehow Yumi makes it work, I am not sure if Im hoping for another chapter/season or not.

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I desperately want Chinese companies keep producing BL dramas, Toxicity on top hits different.

I can't believe it's the remake , This version totally eclipsed its predecessor
China has elevated the production value of BL dramas to new heights . And 2026 marks a turning point for more intense and creative Chinese BL genre .
The quality of Chinese Bls is day by day getting higher .
The first two episodes is about the backstory/ flashback of the past relationship between lu feng and cheng yi . The two lovers who meet again in the future as boss and employee , still stuck on their previous feelings .
Xiao Chen tries to deny his consistent feeling for lu feng
Their story improved in the next episodes , cheng yi discovered his unconditional love for lu feng .
Even though cheng yi never knew about how honest and sincere lu was , I just can't believe that he was literally head over heels for him , howw is lu feng that much devoted to cheng yi that he was willing to even give up his passion or job for himm , the biggest green flag , the was he was craving for cheng yi was insane .
The second couple's chemistry's fire , even though I hate yi-chen's guts cuz he keeps on troubling the lover boy , but can't deny he looks so fine with Qin lang.

Detailed Review ( Alert !? )

I'm sorry!! my reviews are quite detailed, cuz I enjoy capturing my emotional response to every significant scene

Don't worry my point totally changed till the end. It started crazy but till the end loses its uniqueness.. I hated what they were always gloomy and chaotic but later on they loosed that look forever..


Their emotional bond is truly unbreakable, and their enduring love is so healing to watch. I honestly had very low expectations after seeing the trailer, but episode one completely changed my mind.
Seeing them reunite—and watching Lu Feng literally give up his family, career, and wealth for love—makes me wonder if that's even possible in real life. The healthy relationship they’ve built genuinely brought tears of joy to my eyes.

Honestly, Lu Feng never stopped loving Xiao Chen. The way he continuously tries to reach out to him makes me cry. No one else could ever bear the pain he went through—from the physical beatings to being locked up by his sister—yet he never gave up. I just don't understand Xiao Chen's brother. Why did he hide all of Lu Feng's messages? If he hadn't kept them to himself, all of this painful misunderstanding could have been completely avoided.

The central conflict driving this heartbreak is pure homophobia. Lu Feng is the ultimate green flag; he willingly endures his father's physical abuse and accepts every ounce of pain just to stay by Cheng Yi’s side.
Tragically, the cruelty continues with Cheng Yi’s mother. It is devastating to watch a mother call her own children "abnormal" instead of offering them the unconditional love and understanding they deserve.
And what was the point of saying SORRY after literally destroying everything.

While Lu Feng’s love is unshakeable, Xiao chen’s constant pushing away is deeply painful and is driving Lu Feng to his breaking point.
Ultimately, neither of them is to blame—it is the toxic weight of homophobia that is actively destroying their relationship.
Everything's so horrible , their lives turned into a nightmare .

Xiao Chen never truly chose Lu Feng. Instead of fighting for their love, he took the easy way out by breaking up and marrying a woman he had no feelings for, just to appease his mother. He accommodates everyone else’s needs and listens to his family, showing kindness to the whole world—except to Lu Feng. It is incredibly cruel how he refuses to stand up and protect the one person who actually gave up everything for him.
He is painted as a kind, compliant person who pleases everyone, this trait turns into cowardice and cruelty when it comes to Lu Feng. He is simply unwilling to fight for their love, making him the ultimate source of Lu Feng's heartbreak.

Lu Feng, just do whatever it takes, we are completely on your side!
I hate seeing him get hurt like this.
He literally just finished eliminating those homophobic parents and dealing with Yi Cheng's nosy brother.

Now, after years of getting Lu Feng arrested and prioritizing his duties as a husband and brother, Yi Cheng suddenly remembers him just to cause more pain?
I seriously cannot wait to see Yi Cheng burn with jealousy.
..

The psychological power dynamics in these drama is fascinating. But too intense and aggressive isn't good , it's okay if it's in drama onlyy..
Lu Feng’s manipulative behavior—specifically using third parties to provoke Xiao Cheng's jealousy—creates incredible narrative tension, but too cruel, he's actually mentally abusing the other person, forcing him to stayy locking him up, that's kind of shitt.
And there are striking structural similarities between To My Shore and Double Helix that back this up. In both stories, the male leads (Yunxi and Lu Feng) suffer a major betrayal, spending years in prison after being reported by their respective partners. Furthermore, both narratives utilize extreme confinement tropes, with the leads trapping their wives to prevent them from escaping.

From being the greenest flagg to a manipulative black flagg...

Even after all this yi cheng doesn't feel bad about what he did to lu fengg literal 5 years ago, I just can't stop hating him, broo have some guilt.
Yi cheng totally deserved that gun shot and it's not lu feng's fault.

Seeing Lu Feng completely shattered after Xiao Chen was shot truly reveals the depth of his love. By staying at his bedside and caring for him every single day until he woke up, Lu Feng proved Xiao Chen's immense worth to him, showing a profound devotion that Xiao Chen often struggled to deserve. The raw fear of losing him was unmistakable in Lu Feng's eyes.
Ultimately, if Xiao Chen had not letting his own fear and cowardice dictate his actions, this entire tragedy could have been avoided.

I honestly cannot comprehend how Yi Cheng can just leave Lu Feng behind to go abroad with his brother. It’s devastating that he’s abandoning Lu Feng to face everything all alone with absolutely no one to turn to.
At least Cheng Yi Chen realized Lu Feng wasn't at fault once he snapped out of it. Learn from that.
Letsee what happens nextt.

It is incredibly painful to watch Lu Feng beg Xiao Chen to stay.
I knew how deeply Xiao Chen has been suffering emotionally. Even through all the trauma, his bond with Lu Feng is too strong to just let go. When Xiao Chen finally chooses to stay and attempt a healthy fresh start with Lu Feng, it highlights how tragic it is that the entire world seems against their love. Ultimately, it is a massive relief that Xiao Chen chose to stay and live his life with Lu Feng instead of moving abroad.

I was sadd too watch Lu Feng struggle with his deep-seated insecurities, past trauma, and the constant fear of losing Xiao Chen. My heart broke when he opened up about his trauma—especially the painful revelation that he avoided the hospital just to keep Xiao Chen from feeling burdened by a sick partner.

The plotline where Xiao Chen borrows money from his brother for the house is a hilarious idea honestly. Why is he overcomplicating things when he could just be direct with Lu Feng.
Given how severe lu feng's illness is, chen needs to drop the arguments and just force him to get help. Lu feng is completely stubborn with everyone else, but chen is the only one he actually obeys.
It is shocking how indifferently he reacted to the sight of Lu Feng's bleeding hand. Rather than rushing him indoors to tend to the injury, he chose to deliver his entire speech out in the pouring rain while Lu Feng bled. Sometimes this guy's reactions makes me laugh hilariously. But gotta say he's so good at wiping..
I actually wonder lu feng in love literally got himself mental illness whatt . It's so hard right going though that illness that drives you crazy??
For the first time chen accepted Lu feng as his familyy ..

Lu fengg had intense, uncontrollable, and toxic obsession towards Yi Chen, bordering on a severe mental health issue that manifests as erratic, manipulative, and often violent behavior.
That made him look like a ruthless and manipulative, displaying dangerous behavior such as isolating, controlling, and emotionally damaging the person he loves. It's all because of his traumatic past, but I didn't wanted him to overdo itt..
Him acting totally impulsively everytime instead of thinking properly and acting wisely, was okay at first but I got annoyed cuzz it doesn't look good everytime.

(((( Actually they could've planned the fake marriage to satisfy Chen's mother than secretly dateee and then when she dies.. That's a good idea ))))

After suffering for days and nights he finally got away from his mental illness.
At the end they got their happy ending and I'm happy about it, after bearing a lot of pain lu feng and chen got it.

Overall I really enjoyed this series I waited for literally every week, I always give it to first priority because it deserve this actors really acted very well I can see that in the literally deserve a big hand, I'll always support them. I had a very great time watching it every Saturday and Friday, not to mention sometimes I actually loss patience and I know actually the patience was worth it.

Beautiful quality of production and nice script except a lot of parts were logic less ( ofc nothing's perfect ) , I really appreciate each and everyone's effort in the production of this series.
They leads had great chemistry throughout the whole series, the second couple had a steady and healthy relationship.

It's really good to see the China is developing so well and we are getting something that is unexpectedly incredible.
I can't believe it's the time to say goodbye to double helix, and the story between lu feng and xiao chen will always stay in our memory.

RECOMMENDATION
I personally won't recommend this drama because it's extremely toxic. If you cannot handle extreme toxicity, you should definitely skip this one..

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I'm maybe totally biased but it was amazing.

Their relationship, the chemistry was on top. They really suit each other, Workaholic x Workaholic.
I love the angst and yearning with each other. It was one of my favorite part (yes I love to suffer..).

I think 4E got a lot of wholesome family relationship. Either with Lada and her mom or between the 4 cousins. They love each other a lot and show it. It warm my heart a lot.

I usually hate the forget part of bad parent, but I think it realistic. The daughter was the only one to care, and in the end, she still take care of her dad, even if he was the worst. It's usually like that the daughter get hate even when she is the only one to care, while the son don't really care but get loved.

I also love how Lada tried so hard to make her dad proud, probably to find happy, but she find happy in trying for herself.

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promising drama with a good story, which falls a bit in the acting department towards the end

Avoiding spoilers as best i can, this drama is a case solving mystery style drama with an emphasis on feminism and women's treatment. There is an overarching story, but it's not super obvious until the last ten or so episodes.
So first, the good things. This drama is visually stunning. The sets and backdrops are beautifully purposeful and aesthetically pleasing. The costumes are stunning. Bai Lu's in particular have such pretty embroidery detailing, and the fitting is fabulous, but most of the cast have at least one or two show-stopper outfits. The music is great too, I've already added a bunch to my playlist!
Bai Lu is very good in this, she plays a cold but charming Fl who's goal is to find the truth in every case she undertakes. She's cold but never to rude and treats those around her with respect which i find a lot of her male counterparts in these types of dramas do not. Her acting really impressed me in this drama, I didn't even relise id seen her in other things, and her face, especially her eyes are very expressive. you could pause the drama and show the screen cap without context to someone and they would be able to tell how shes feeling. It was a great line, subtle but not invisible and not overdone!
The ensemble cast is charming, especially the women are well written and have a range attittudes. I especially appreciate the emphasis on female code/friendships, especially because a lot of the tiems these historical dramas have a bad habit of being full of catty women that just hate on each other the whole time. This drama has a bit of that but its treated very senstaivly, and instead of just blamming the women the systems that caused them to act this way are awknoledged and criticized. Its done very subly too, so it doesnt feel preachy and anoying just very real. Honestly the writing and acting from most of the cast is very very well done, especially the first case with the princess, that one made me sob, and i really enjoyed the relationship between the FL and the princess.
The cases! I throughly enjoyed them. There were a few less interesting ones, but they were never bad enough for me to skim through them completely, and the good ones more than made up for it. As always i apprecieate the feminist nature of the cases, and although the endings often made me sad it was nice to see such heartfelt stories about different status's of women in the palace. i also lliked that the drama hightlighted men who were just as sensative about womens issues. It didnt make this a male vs female issue, it highlighted that it is a systemic issue that affects us all.
Some people have issues with the pacing, but it didnt really bother me. i thought that the cases were interesting enough that I wasn't hurrying to figure them out. But i do love these types of dramas to i might be biased!

okay, on to the not so good.
The ML. i actually have no gripes with the character itself. i enjoyed how he was a bit of a loner but never rude or demeaning, and i thought that the drama balanced the ML and the Fl very well, in terms of case solving.
Honestly where it fell flat was Wang Xingyu's acting towards the end. This is by no means hate, i knows hes quite young but honestly his acting was a bit poor in this. He was fine in the beginning, because the script required him to be a bit mysterious and in the middle when he was supposed to be a little more obvious about his emotions he was good enough but towards the end it seemed like he couldn't quite handle some of the emotinal scenes. It took me out of it soo bad because I just felt absolutely nothing. it felt like an amateur or someone in a high school play and was extremely jarring. It was especially bad in comparison to Bai Lu, who is much older than him and a veteran at this point. The camera kept flipping between Bai Lu's expressive eyes and WXY who just looked like a very pretty wax statue.
In the Double, and in Kunning Palace and now here it just kind of seems like hes playing variations of the same character, and once i noticed that it was hard to ignore. I'm not sure if it was a directing choice, or they told him to act like that, or its just inexperience but it was really distracting.

Final Thoughts:
i really enjoyed this drama, and i think you'll like it if you like case style mystery dramas, revenge dramas, or dramas with a strong male lead. All of the relashionships, especially the female ones, are really well written and the character motivations are well thought out and feel realistic. i related to a bunch of the women, even the villains.
All of the issues ive listed with it are towards the end, and negligable if you like WXY's past characters. Definitely watch if your a Bai Lu fan, shes great in this.

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sad and mad

I’m sad because I really wanted to like this one more than I do. The couple gets together in the first episode which is fine. It’s how teens tend to move with this stuff. Akira’s kinda a fool tho, his pushiness when they were teens pissed me off. If he was like this with a girl and not a guy it could have gone south pretty quickly.

He confesses to his sister about dating Yuuki, who mind you is thrilled for him, and still goes on to fuck it all up. WITH A COWORKER. I’m flipping all of the imaginary tables.

And yes. I get it. It’s hard. You have to be next level sociopathic to actively hurt someone you love AND yourself after building a life with them tho.
I have little sympathy for Akira. You’re not just screwing your relationship but also fooling this poor woman. All for the sake of seeming “normal” when no one even gave you shit for being “abnormal”.

SHE LIVED IN THEIR APPARTMENT!! And then what?? They randomly meet IN ALASKA after forever and Yuuki supposedly just takes him back??

Yh, alright.

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Justice for Seojoon man….

Nahhhhhh….. ON HIS BIRTHDAY?!?!!??!! Han Jiwoo!! You little sociopath!!!
I get him and have even been him but it feels like his character had absolutely no growth in two whole seasons. Zero. That ep.5 dinner scene was hard to sit through also..

After watching some bl’s I tend to leave with a gut feeling that one of the people in the relationship just deserved better, this is one of them. I’m not too mad at Jiwoo but the guy is way too emotionally stunted and is hellbent on not compromising a single one of his set values.

“If you’re going to act at least do it well until the end” line stuck out to me.
Jiwoo pushing Seojoon away in the worst way possible because of his insecurities, giving in enough to sleep with him and then continuing to treat Seojoon like trash.. Stick to your script baby boy. Just set that man free.
Seojoon should not have taken him back. I stand on that.
Big fan of the corny ahh handkerchief story tho.

Yooha has my heart. I don’t know enough Korean to place it well but her dialect sounds very fun to my ear.

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First half of the drama, there wasn't that much chemistry between the two main lead. They were great at acting everything except being in love. But after a few episode, it got better.

The plot isn't bad but some part deserve better writting. Some part didn't make sense. Like why would they make random person do fanmeeting even if they are the inspiration for a game??? Why would they put an engineer to chara design in a game? Especially if he just come into the business. But I put my logical thinking aside and I enjoy it.

I don't know if it netflix, but some part are weirdly cut?? Like the screen freeze for a second and moving to the next scene?? And yes my phone was working.

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Pure Comfort and Genuine Friendship

Watching NANA TOUR with SEVENTEEN honestly made me love SEVENTEEN even more. What makes the show so special isn’t just the trip itself, but how natural and genuine the members are with each other. You can really feel that they’ve spent years together because their bond looks so effortless—whether they’re teasing each other, eating together, arguing over small things, or just laughing nonstop. Nothing feels forced, and that’s what makes it so comforting to watch.
One of my favorite things about the show is how each member’s personality shines naturally. Even during simple moments, they make everything entertaining because of their chemistry and energy together. They’re chaotic and funny, but at the same time, you can see how much they care for one another. The small acts of kindness, the way they include everyone, and how they understand each other without needing many words made their friendship feel very real and sincere.
The whole vibe of NANA TOUR feels warm and healing. It’s not just a travel show—it feels like watching a group of best friends genuinely enjoy each other’s company. It made me laugh so much, but it also made me appreciate how rare it is to see a group with such strong teamwork and love for each other. Watching them together honestly feels comforting, and it reminded me why I love SEVENTEEN so much. 💎

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It’s alright

“If I turned into a bug, would you still love me 🥺👉👈“ Saw the set up for it coming from a mile away but Donghee’s reaction to Hotae’s answer still got a giggle out of me. Sometimes it’s the simple things!!

The tomato scene… Is this how high schoolers actually deal with crushes?? Practically cuddle one night then get randomly pissed off and lash out when they touch you lightly??
“I like him so I better ruin his entire day”??

Man ep.4….. I don’t tend to really enjoy the “found siblings into lovers” trope which kinda makes this a bit weird for me but those two can kiss… actual kissing!! IN MY KBL!!
Donghee 100% has a hyung kink btw, I won’t be convinced otherwise.

I hope they get a better script and act again in the future.

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Incomplete series at the end feels mehhh

So let's start from acting, it seems to be forced and over dramatic. The story was nice but seems to be not so well portrayed. Music was ok too. But the rape scene doesn't digest with me, and even falling in love later for him was also something not so realistic. But i believed that obviously there are some ppl like this out there in these world but we shouldn't normalised it. The only character i felt bad for is Huaziou or whatever the name was. He was a helpless victim is these series. Also Gu leng is pretty looking like really like out of cast members he is the only one beautiful there. Anyways a nice one time watch only. Also one more thing is that everything in these series seems so FAST.

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Painful watch

Oh. This one’s just pure pain. Not the good kind.

I kept expecting them to explain the zombiness away but they kept digging deeper into the science of how it works until they just straight up went - “you know what, magic fucks in this universe”. Made me knock it down from a solid 8 down to a 5.

The supernatural-ness of it all cheapens the plot immensely in my honest opinion. I think it would have been so much better if it all actually was just in Micchans head which would have then made him learn to navigate his life after coming to terms with the death. Would have made for way better story.

I am however glad that they got to spend those last 4 days together and say goodbye properly.
I don’t know if that would help or worsen one’s grief in real life tho..

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“We are all prisoners... prisoners of our own nature”

A kind of psychological noir more than a typical “solution-driven” thriller, “Reverse” builds its strength through an intricate structure that functions not as a mere narrative device, but rather as a system of distorted perceptions capable, from its very first scenes, of immersing the viewer in a skillful game of reversals, ingeniously portraying the way memory, trauma and desire can deform the very perception of truth.

Structured with meticulous ingenuity through flashbacks, ellipses, temporal gaps, sensory memories, omissions — real or presumed — and continuous shifts in perspective, the drama uses its narrative fragmentation not simply to create suspense, but above all to drag the viewer into a labyrinthine journey inside a fractured consciousness, where past and present progressively lose any clear boundary.

Despite its relatively short length — only 8 episodes — the drama constantly manages to call into question what the previous episode seemed to have established, overturning every viewpoint perhaps too hastily taken for granted. Through deception and manipulation, unexpected fractures, memories that take on the tone of confession and revelations that verge on staged performance, the viewer is progressively deprived, much like the protagonists themselves, of any stable point of reference, eventually coming to constantly doubt the very meaning of the images being shown.

Rather than using amnesia as a simple thriller device, "Reverse" gradually transforms memory into a true identity performance, where the recovery of recollections coincides not so much with healing, but rather with the slow re-emergence of a repressed, traumatized and potentially manipulative personality.

It is here that "Reverse" performs its most disturbing movement: instead of clearly separating victims from perpetrators, the drama constantly works on their overlap, forcing the viewer to continuously reconsider the moral role of its characters.

Beneath its thriller structure also emerges a surprisingly fierce reflection on class privilege and on the ability of elites to transform guilt into aesthetics. Art itself, through the character of Hee Su (an excellent Kim Jae Kyung), seems to become a sublimation of trauma and privilege, to the point of converting the suffering of others into creative language, sensitivity and even moral legitimization.

It is therefore no surprise that the image of fire returns throughout the entire series, transforming itself into primal trauma, sensory memory and the symbolic repetition of an impossible-to-erase violence. Every fire, whether real or evoked, seems to lead the characters back toward the same nucleus of guilt, desire and self-destruction. Within such an unstable perceptual and moral landscape, the work of the actors becomes fundamental, as they are called not to embody immediately readable figures, but rather characters perpetually suspended between trauma, simulation and moral ambiguity.

In this regard, Seo Ji-hye probably delivers the strongest performance of the series, crafting a version of Myo Jin that is layered, elusive and continuously indecipherable. Through an extremely restrained control of glances, hesitations and minimal expressive variations, the actress simultaneously conveys fragility, pain, lucidity and calculation, transforming the very face of the character into an ambiguous territory that the drama constantly invites the viewer to reinterpret.

While Seo Ji-hye chooses the path of opacity and continuous indecipherability, Go Soo instead constructs a Jun-Ho that explicitly recalls certain classic figures from Hollywood psychological noir. His elegant charm, seemingly reassuring control, emotional manipulation and the gradual emergence of opportunistic cruelty inevitably evoke archetypes close to Charles Boyer in “Gaslight”, with Jun-Ho transforming the house he shares with Myo Jin into a sophisticated perceptual prison built upon sedation, isolation and emotional control, where protection and coercion ultimately become indistinguishable.

More melancholic and crepuscular, instead, is the figure of Adjushi Ki Cheol portrayed by Yoon Je Moon, a character who seems to come directly from a Jean-Pierre Melville polar: a man consumed by time, guilt and the awareness of his imminent death, yet still capable of preserving, until the very end, a form of silent moral lucidity.

Balancing the tragic tension are also the deliberately more buffoonish characterizations of the secondary criminals, often constructed on the border between real menace and grotesque mockery, in a way that recalls certain noir deviations found in the work of Joel and Ethan Coen, where violence, absurdity and dark comedy coexist within the same degraded moral universe.

"Reverse"ultimately makes its relationship with the viewer fully explicit above all in its finale, where one of the most effective intuitions of the concluding episode is represented by the figure of the psychiatrist, who gradually assumes the role of a true alter ego for the audience itself. Like the viewer, the doctor is forced to retroactively reconsider every gesture, every answer and every hesitation shown by Myo Jin, realizing far too late that she too has been manipulated by a truth constructed through omissions, simulations and deliberately altered perceptual fragments.

In the courage of its conclusion, "Reverse" probably finds its most complete dimension. Far removed from the increasingly common tendency to redirect ambiguity toward conciliatory or morally reassuring structures, the drama refuses any form of definitive reconciliation, choosing instead to preserve until the very end the painful, contradictory and profoundly unstable nature of its characters.

Truth, in "Reverse", does not truly liberate anyone, restore balance or transform revenge into a cathartic or morally ordered journey. On the contrary, every revelation seems to further contaminate what the viewer believed they had finally understood, leading the drama toward a conclusion that is both tragic and ambiguously unsettling.

The “gift” evoked in the final part of the series therefore acquires a devastating meaning: not merely an extreme gesture or terminal provocation, but the possible specular recognition of a shared darkness that Myo Jin, perhaps too late, ultimately begins to glimpse within herself as well.

Perhaps the most radical choice made by "Reverse" lies precisely in understanding that certain truths do not serve to heal, absolve or restore order, but merely to reveal how deeply trauma, desire and revenge can deform a human being. Even when there is no longer any possibility of turning back.

8/10

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