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...
Phat, a university students long with his mother have recently moved to a new mysterious house via the landlord Aunty Nuan, who herself is a mystery. Phat is unhappy with his situation because his father has just left them to become a monk and then he feels some mystery shadow lurking in his room. This leads to altercations and strained relationship between mother and son. Spooked by a supernatural presence in his room, he feels help of his childhood girlfriend Dream, who can speak to spirits. The spiritual ceremony reveals the presence of Phob, a ghost who resides in Phat’s home. Phat gains clairvoyant vision with Dream’s help. He can now interact with Phob, who has been trying to catch his attention. Phob has recently died and has 49 days to figure out why is he being prevented to move on to afterlife and why is he stuck in between. Unfortunately, Phob lost his memories after dying. The confused spirit doesn’t know his identity, the circumstances of his death, or why he lingers in the living world. Slowly Phat starts getting used to Phob and they start developing a close bond leading to love. They slowly find out who Phob really was, what was his family situation, secrets about his mother and father and also in the process find out who the landlady Aunty Nuan really is. Now the lovers need to figure out how to correct some of those things so that Phob can move to a happy afterlife.
There are a lot of things going on in this show. Romance, friendship, mystery (although most times it turns out a fizz), drama and some unnecessary horror. Every single scene is starched beyond your imagination. The one thing different here from your usual BL series is that there are a lot of adult characters and they all have prominent roles. It is a totally different story that most of them are relevant. For example, there are so many scenes between Aunty Nuan and Phat's mother and the show could easily remove all of them and it would make no difference to the story. I didn't understand why Aunty Nuan was shown to be this vampire, when you an understand where she was coming from. I hate forced drama. The focus should have been on Phob and his past and how Phat and Phob work to find out what happened in Phob's past leading to his current situation. Some interesting incidents help them figure things out , especially with the help of their friend Dream, but then again, many a times I felt the stuff was starting to get repetitive. Yes, the show is poignant and it uses a sweet, gentle romance to maintain a warm, cozy atmosphere. It also injects quirkiness at the appropriate moments to lighten the mood and soften the heavy topics. But it just takes forever to get to the point and that is a huge negative for me. If the show makes me lose interest at so many places where I was shouting out loud ' Just Move on', then I think there is an issue with the show. The love story between Phat and Phob is organic and nice and pleasant but Phat's character is pretty bland and basic. You know literally nothing about him except that for some reason he feels that his mother is to be blamed for his father turning a monk. It just doesn't make sense. Phob is contrast is a good actor and his character had a substantial storyline which is slowly revealed.
The show has a sad ending, which may not be appreciated by many people, but then you cannot expect a ghost-human love story to have a happy ending. But even to come to this ending, the show overall feels dreary and dragged. The last episode that lasts almost 75 minutes offers absolutely nothing since mystery is resolved in in the with episode. Also what was the deal with Dream and Luck love story. Some episodes it was there and then there were times when you felt that the makers had completely forgotten about it. Again, there is so much randomness in those two characters that a lot of their scenes could be edited and this series could have been easily mad e crisp and very interesting show. Sadly, this heartbreaking drama, which had the potential of being a memorable one, ends up being a self indulgent overstretched show that tests your patience every ten minutes. (5/10)
Comments
I think we are the ones to blame though, what's in our mind to go watch a "long version" of thai dramas already known to be stretched beyond reasonable -_- We should know better haha.
It was really interesting to see the traditions and rituals around the topic of spirits in the inbetween before crossing over. It's 40 days here, a bit less than 49. That's for every spirit, it is believed that they need to finish their unfinished issues and the living ones need to assure them during that time that hey, don't worry, we'll manage - have a safe journey home. The moment Phob said that he doesn't remember anything I thought "sudden death by accident, if it happened here". There has been someone involved in writing the script who actually KNOWS what they're writing about when it comes to ouija boards, protective charms and other details about Dream. She was really well written and the actress playing her did an amazing job.
Dream's hair... again thank you, whoever helped with writing that. The one who included the amulet made of her hair and the scene where her hair started showing white roots. Gosh, I wanted to hug her then! Being a teenager and an old wise person at the same time, having literally acne and white hair at the same time - here's a believable portrayal of a young witch. And it was heartwarming to see she got her special person who believes.
Since no-one seems to give any credits to the non-human features of the production, I'd like to point out that the intro, the watercolor-style pictures and soundtrack were really beautiful and well executed. Almost the same vibe as the intro of "Vice Versa" :)