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...
Ko is a singer and soon becomes quite popular online, including Teng, on whom he has had a crush on forever. But Teng is not interested in him romantically, so he goes out with his friends in search of the "Love poison" that could make Teng fall in love with him. We also have Ko's brother Sek, who is seeing this girl, but her ex-boyfriend Tak warns him that she is no good. The reality is that Tak likes Sek and wants to prove him that he is much better for him. Tak is friends with Ko and the only person whom Ko confides in. Teng eventually drinks the love poison but that does nothing. In fact, he starts dating a girl soon and it soon breaks Ko's heart. Meanwhile Sek finds himself attracted to all mischiefs that Tak does but still not attracted to him. When Teng break's Ko's heart , the two pretend to be in a relationship with each other. This eventually works out because Teng soon realizes his true feelings for Ko and even Sek finds true love in Tak when he sees the true color of his girlfriend.
Like most BL series, you are not allowed to put too much brain into the proceedings. Just simply watch and enjoy. This one specifically is a very simple production, in a rural area of Thailand, not fancy at all. The actors were all actually quite good, not great but alright and thankfully they had some good chemistry. It didn't seem forced at all. Although I am not sure, was alcohol necessary to show the 2 sex scenes that couple has. It sort of gives a wrong impression that they don't truly love but its all under the influence of alcohol. There was a song in pretty much every episode and alos all the side actors, like friends of all main characters were funny. It was quite endearing to see Ko and Sek's father being accepting of his sons the way they are and how, he would always invite their friends for dinner. This whole inviting guest Asian culture is something that I relate to very much. On a negative note, It is never clear whether Teng eventually fell in love with Ko because of the serum or was he really in love? Again, the whole concept of making someone fall for you using witchcraft is a bit silly. Also not all the humor was funny, but then, by now, you expect that in most BL series.
Thankfully this was only 8 episodes of about 30ish minutes each , so a smaller series compared to some other shows and an easy breezy watch. This is a simple love story of 2 couple and what they would do to win their love. Nothing earth shattering but not bad either. (5.5/10)
Comments
It was a welcome change to see setting in rural areas than the typical college and universities that most shows come up with