An Idol Ends Up Sandwiched Between Two Actors
About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Turn Off the Camera!.
Content Warning: There may be references to BDSM, invasion of privacy, dubcon/noncon, sexual harrassment, sexual assault, blackmail, violence, voyeurism, manipulation, perceived cheating (not between the main couple), slut-shaming, excessive drinking, child labor (child actors and idol trainees), gossiping, sex work (specifically sex in exchange for favors), blood, implied sexual relationship between minors and an adult (short AU side story), parentification, PTSD, drugging, kidnapping, ransom, sextortion, power imbalance, food tampering, obsession, mentions of bullying, mentions of breakups, mentions of chronic illness, corruption, and treason, as they do appear in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Yeon Jihoon is the leader of the idol group Biggest. Unfortunately, despite their name, they are far from the biggest idol group out there. On the contrary, their most recent album was cancelled, and after a less-than-stellar performance, it looks like the end is near for this short-lived group. That is, until Jihoon gets an opportunity of a lifetime. Due to an unfortunate scandal with another contestant, Jihoon has been asked to fill in on a reality game show with two famous actors.
If Jihoon does well, he stands to drag his group up from the dregs of anonymity to superstardom. But Jihoon doesn’t realize that these actors he’s bunking with aren’t as sparkly and clean as their public appearances might be. And, unfortunately for him, they have every intention of dragging him down into their depraved world with them.
Review:
This art style is very cute. It isn’t the most dynamic style, and there is something about when the characters are facing full-on that feels flat to me, but there’s nothing offensive or ugly about this style by any means. It isn’t perfect in the beginning, but most styles rarely are. Jihoon and Yohan, in particular, are absolutely beautiful, and while Yoojin’s face is lovely, the body is everything. The smut in this is gorgeous, and could only be made better if it were uncensored, but this is older (relative to the mass amount of BL getting licensed and released in English), so it’s not surprising that this is a lightsaber title. To my degenerates out there, this title is a good one.
But I’m not done talking about the sexy time. This is a very smut-forward title, with the story heavily relying on the sex and how that affects and changes the relationships between all the characters. This title is particularly unique in that the rivals for Jihoon are already in a casual sex partner relationship with each other, with Yohan being the bottom in their coupling. The primary focus is on how Yohan and Yoojin try to pull Jihoon into their situationship, leading to many interesting dynamics. I especially love that we have a versatile character in Yohan, which is a rarity in BL. My main disappointment with this situation is that even with a versatile option, we never see Jihoon in the top position. Even with Yohan, he is always relegated to the bottom position, even when he offers. Jihoon’s innocence and exploring his sexuality is a major point in this series, so seeing him explore all aspects of sex, including topping, would’ve been a really interesting addition. Plus, power bottom, BDSM-loving Yohan with sweet top Jihoon would’ve been the best.
Now, this is your standard love triangle, as opposed to a poly or ‘why choose’ situation, so if you’re hoping for the end result to be all three of them being together, or for Jihoon to choose both, you will be disappointed. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for that myself, as I think Yohan and Yoojin both provide something interesting and unique in their situationship, but, oddly enough, I actually preferred Yohan. Though Yoojin is clearly endgame based on Jihoon’s emotions and reactions, Yohan, to me, was much more honest, and his growth is much more apparent, which made me trust him more than I did with Yoojin. But Yohan is also given another love interest, which I was all for, as I was looking forward to seeing him finally get into a relationship, but the title ends before it could even begin. I wanted a lot from the different relationships here, and while I wouldn’t say I hated the story overall, it’s not as exciting as I think it could’ve been with such a fun setup. It actually reminds me a little bit of From Points of Three (oddly enough, this also has a versatile character that I also enjoyed more than the primary love interest), though that title has poorer art.
Before I close out, I’d be doing this a disservice if I didn’t mention the AU side story at the very end. I hate that they changed the cover art for this series, as it appears to be a historical title, but it’s not until this very side story. However, let me just say this side story is very interesting. I have heard of flowerverse in the past, and as many of you know, I’m a sucker for any of the various established universes like omegaverse, dom/sub-verse, cakeverse, and the like, but this was the first I’ve seen of an official flowerverse, and I’m all over it. The concept of blooming being like a heat, and luring people in with the scent of flowers like pheromones is really fun, and I would’ve loved to explore that more, but this is an AU side story, so there’s only so much that can be explored beyond the smut. It was fun, and I hope that with the uptick in universe-stories getting licensed, we’ll see more full-length titles.
Results:
This is a fun smutfest. Story-wise, I wouldn’t say this is all that unique beyond the initial setup with an established situationship, looking to the main character to be added in, only to become a love triangle. It had a few different opportunities to make it more interesting than just a standard love triangle, but it stopped just short. If you’re looking for another threesome-to-love-triangle scenario with a versatile character, I’d say check out From Points of Three, as it has many of the same dynamics, though with a few more interesting scenarios. However, if you’re interested in the flowerverse, it might be worth checking out the side story for this one.
Have you read Turn Off the Camera!? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!