➸ edit, episode 125 (nov 9/25) the end of season 5 is here 😭 which means we only have one more season left i'm pretty sure. waiting is absolutely brutal when it comes to passion because this has worked its way up to being my number 1 fav manhwa. this season felt so short though 💔 we got lots of good stuff regarding taeui's brother (holy fuck 👀) and taeui and ilay's relationship though!! they are so in love and no one can change my mind! xinlu's return had me in a chokehold wtffff! i can't believe that's actually what he looked like the whole time we were just seeing him through taeui's filter. that man almost stole me from ilay (JK that could never happen). but him and gable!!!! i am so excited for passion: raga. now the waiting game begins again 😭
➸ edit, episode 110 (may 12/25) i just wanted to come back and move my initial rating from 4 stars to 5 stars because this is my number one favourite manhwa EVER. with my favourite characters EVER (ilay and taeui). this is everything i look for in a story, storyline wise, tropes, the chemistry, the obsession/possessive vibes, characters development, the soulmate energy these two give, just everything 🥹🖤 nobody will top them for me.
➸ reread #2 (dec 2024)
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"this body is mine. there's not a place my hands haven't touched."
"look. everything you see belongs to me."
bitchhhhhhhhh the mirror scene???? i get what people say how iconic this scene is because wow 🦋😩😮💨🫠 it never fails even though i've read it countless times.
mr ilay riegrow definitely has worked his way up into my top 5 manhwa men 🤭
season 5 starts releasing december 26th!!!!!! so of course i had to do another reread in preparation. i fucking love passion so much, it grew on me more than i ever thought was possible. i will never get tired of reading how much ilay loses his mind when it comes to taeui. taeui's got that man wrapped around his finger you can't tell me otherwise 😩
and the cliffhanger???? i need to new season asap i just know it's going to be so good and some shit is about to go down.
➸ reread #1 (oct 2024)
well i went from despising this to tolerating it to liking it a lot! i need to explain myself 😃 there is 103 episodes released on tappytoon so far (so this is a review up until that chapter) and i had this random thought to give this manhwa another try because i see so much hype about it and i'm really happy i did.
the moment ilay blinded a man for staring at taeui's body and burning down an entire forest to find him, it won me over. i'm not going to lie, i was pleased AF 🤣 but goddamn, 103 chapters in and these characters cannot get their shit together. it's the slowest burn to exist (them becoming a couple not the 🔥 part) and even after this many chapters, these bitches still aren't together???? 😂 (it makes sense though)
i have a real hatred for ilay still (sometimes), what i said previously still kinda remains but during my second read, i felt like i understood his character a lot better. i think i was just too pissed off by his actions to really understand why he does what he does. he's a psychopath and feeling all these new emotions he has never felt before. he takes lives without a second thought….the author does not hold back at all, he is a pure black flag all the way. so i shouldn’t expect too much from him honestly. it's makes sense for the process of his development to be gradual. where the manhwa is at now, he's definitely starting to realize that what he's feeling is different than anything he has ever felt. he's just not quite there in figuring exactly what it is yet. there was even some moments of him being so soft which was a nice surprise. the character development has been super slow but satisfying. we still have A LOT to go though.
another thing that really got on my nerves was that fact that ilay planned for taeui to see him and xinlu sleep together (knowing that taeui likes xinlu). i remember being so fucking mad and thought this was VILE. however, i'm actually not mad about this anymore. ilay is so insane for taeui he doesn’t care what he has to do get him, as long as he does. so i decided not to put much weight on it because it clearly didn’t mean shit to ilay 😅 i know it was ilay's plan for taeui to see them so taeui would realize that xinlu ain't shit. to be honest, it worked. taeui and xinlu's relationship started changing drastically after that. and thank god for that because i wanted xinlu GONE. what REALLY made a difference for me was seeing that ilay actually regretted doing that to taeui later in the manhwa and he even said he wished it was taeui that he did it with instead. i literally thanked the manhwa gods for this because a lot of my anger went away after reading that LMAO.
the plot also bothered me my first read because it bored me so much, which i still feel the same about. but i am eager to see how it's going to turn out with taeui's brother though. i just hope we get more character and relationship development for ilay and taeui. it seems to being going in the right direction but who knows 😭 i'm giving this 4 stars for now, but it may change depending on the what's to come. i'm praying it will be good 🙏
➸ april 2024 (first read)
i'm going to reviewing my thoughts from episodes 1-71 here, and if i do end up continuing with this i will just update this. this will have spoilers!
unpopular opinion and rant incoming 😭
for those who are worried about a love triangle, the "second" male lead is in a good portion of the manhwa but it's really clear who taeui is going to end up with. so coming from someone who hates love triangles, don't be worried about that!
now to my total surprise, the "love triangle" was not my biggest worry AT ALL. it was the rest of the manhwa 💀 i'm slowly going through all the toxic men manhwa, as i've read the novel codename anastasia (and fell in love with zhenya) and also reading roses and champagne, but ILAY??? i HATE this man.
ilay's character was so confusing at the start and still is. i couldn't tell if he was causing all this shit because he's been obsessed with taeui since the beginning or if he did it because he's an asshole and just wants to cause shit. ilay knows taeui like xinlu (the second lead) and purposely says to him, how xinlu is exactly his type and how attractive he is. how it would be "so nice to feel his body" ilay does sleep with xinlu, and taeui sees them of course. i think(?) i'm supposed to be seeing this as ilay's way of ruining taeui and xinlu's relationship. but how exactly can i make myself see it that way 💀 that's like the last thing i would suggest. how is going after the man that YOUR man likes, going to make him like you?? and that wasn't even the worst part.
there is one thing in romances that i absolutely hate and puts a bad taste in my mouth every time. it's when one of the main characters always goes on about how unattractive the other mc is, how they would never date them etc.... ilay says this multiple times even up to CHAPTER 71 when he then is fucking taeui the next chapter!!!!! like bitch? genuinely as i was reading those words it made me feel sick. it really bothers me, i don't know why. i know a big part of it was because ilay’s intentions to me weren't quite clear even fucking 71 chapters in. like is he using him because he's the good luck charm or whatever, so he can find taeui's brother? and all they do is have sex. so it just seems like ilay wants him for sex, yet is constantly saying how ugly he is (to his face btw). LIKE BITCH BE FOR REAL.
like in codename anastasia, zhenya was kinda like that too, but it was clear that he was infatuated and absolutely attracted to taekjoo. i think he set my standards to high 😭
now for the actual plot, BOREEEEEE. and it was also so confusing due to ilay for me. it had me snoozing because all i wanted was a little relationship development. no matter how good a plot can be, if i'm not feeling the characters or their romance, my interest will fly out the window. we'd finally get the start of something between ilay and taeui but then it ends with sex or it stops and the panels go back to the plot. LIKE NO I DON'T CARE GIVE ME TAEUI AND ILAY 😭
this ended up turning into a big rant. so i'm going to stop here because i could go on for a lot longer 💀
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i’m going to be reviewing everything here because i find that easier plus this is still ongoing. i had to stop at chapter 71, i could not take anymore. RTC later because i need to contain myself for a bit so this doesn’t turn into a rant 😭