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...
I dunno exactly how I felt after this film finished. This was a very average film, where conveniently strained situations are created and by the end of it all life goes back to being very rosy; which all feels too good to be true. Touted as a teen comedy, I personally did not laugh at ay point and I couldn’t really connect with the actors either. Three oddballs in a school ultimately come together: Dan is a new boy in the neighborhood, openly gay and wants to start a gay straight alliance but the school board would not allow. We then have Diwata, an aspiring outspoken wanna be actress who is heart broken when she is not selected for a school musical because she is against the changes made to the story to suit the sensibilities of the conservative town. Finally we have Solomon, who has a lot of thoughts and topics that he wants to write about but the school newspaper is heavily censored because of board rules and hence he is also frustrated. Among the only options available to them...