I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
Tyler is a young gay writer suffering from a peculiar medical condition called 'Analysis Paralysis'. With this condition, one cannot help but imagine all the possible ways that a possible choice or a situation could go wrong. And if not tackled head on, this condition will lead Tyler into a state of complete inaction. His therapist asks him to deal directly with it by facing his biggest fear, which in this case happens to be his crush on his neighbor Shane. Fighting his anxiety, Tyler manages to ask Shane out for a date and despite a flurry of imagined disasters, the date goes well, and Shane and Tyler ultimately become involved. Tyler confides in Shane of his disorder and he supports him well. The relationship keeps moving forward but not without the hiccups of Tyler imagining all things that could go wrong. Finally, convinced that Shane is leaving as a result of an uncomfortable interaction with Shane’s mom and dad, Tyler steels himself for what he sees as the inevitable rejection. But Shane has plans to propose him and be there for each other forever. But was this all a true story or did just Tyler imagine a whole life even before actually asking Shame out for a date?
Initially the repeated scenes every few minutes of situations that could go wrong got on my nerves and my expectations with the film went down, but eventually it started becoming funny. Some of the situations that Tyler would imagine were really funny and hilarious, especially of their first sexual encounter. The 2 scenes of their dinner and lunch outing with a very uninterested waiter were also hilarious. Shane was particularly brilliant in both those scenes. After a while the multiple scenarios got interesting. The reactions of meetings Shane's parents, of Shane breaking up with Tyler etc were quite funny. The film didn't feel stretched. And thankfully the 2 characters who are there throughout he duration of the film share an excellent chemistry and feed off each other very well. They are both good actors but I felt Shane had a slight edge over Tyler.
A good rom-com needs a good chemistry and some decent laughs which this film had. This is a decent time pass fun one time watch. My rating is not super high because the film doesn't have a repeat value and also there is nothing super great about it. Having said that, it does manage to bring a smile on your face, which a lot of films fail to do in today's time. (5.5/10)
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