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...
Tom and Jero are a gay couple who have become well-known on Instagram. On what would be their first anniversary, Jero comes home to find that Tom has left him. The only item left behind is a pink box with 300 letters that Tom wrote on each day they were together. The letters seek to explain why their relationship reached the conclusion it did, and as Jero works his way through them, he realizes that the relationship was nothing like he thought it was. Flashbacks take us to the early days of their relationship. We don’t really see Tom writing the letters in the past but he does seem to document the ups and downs of that year. The early days of Jero and Tom’s relationship is dominated by sex. They meet up initially for a one-time hook-up that turns into something more. They both agree that normally they both won't go for the sort of the person that the other guy is (Jero is chiseled and what one would call muscle gay while Tom is more of a fem gay). With each letter, Jero feels he has had enough and gives up but he comes back again, becasue he is not really getting the answer. And finally when he sees what really happened and ho Tom used Jero for his benefit, this twist does come as a surprise and helps us confirm our growing dislike of Tom while also confirming our empathy for Jero.
Jero has no idea that there’s anything wrong in his relationship, so when he discovers Tom’s letters, he’s plunged into a world he never expected to find himself in. Tom does make it clear in his letters right from the start that he and Jero are very different and likely incompatible. Tom sees Jero as “superficial” and labels himself a hard-working teacher and poet. This allows us to consider that maybe Tom had a good reason to leave Jero. Eventually we learn more about Tom’s overall intentions with Jero, suggesting that Tom may not have been as truly committed to the relationship as Jero was. The film primarily rests on shoulders of the two main actors out of which Jero is the lead. He acts well, is easy on the eyes and walks around most of the film just in his underwear, so there is a lot of eye candy as well. His lean, muscular, hairy young body is constantly on display. Given how Tom's role ends, he performs well but no one from audience will like him. Esteban, who plays Jose's friend also does a good job whose job it is to pick his friend up off the floor and help him move on. Thankfully the ilm doesn't show any secret feelings for each other. They were truly just friends. The film is different but is not without its flaws when you start to look into the details of it but nonetheless it is an interesting premise. The film makes you really think about how each one of us has different takes on the same situation, and it could prove an eye opener for those viewers who walk through life believing their viewpoint is the only one that matters. (6/10)
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