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...
Kit and River come from completely different worlds but were friends as kids. Kit was the son of River's family's helper. They lost touch and ended up in totally separate social circles in high school. Kit is openly gay, creative, and pretty much an outsider in the school's social order. River plays the confident popular athlete. River is about to fail his guitar class and can't afford that, so he goes to Kit and asks for tutoring, offering protection from bullies in exchange. The more time they spend together the clearer it gets that River has genuine feelings for Kit and starts flirting. Kit doesn't really know what to do with that, thinks it might just be a phase, and kind of plays along without fully buying into it. River eventually comes clean about his feelings and the two get together. River's girlfriend finds out and threatens to out him, which causes River to pull away from Kit completely. Kit goes to him directly about it and gets nothing back. Finally River realizes he can't keep away and in a really sweet finale he sings a song for Kit and tells him how he feels in front of everybody.
The show doesn't use suffering as its main tool, which already puts it ahead of most things in this genre. Fear, repression and bullying are all part of the story but the emotional connection between Kit and River stays at the center of everything. River's fear of being outed connects to his mother being a public figure, which makes it feel grounded. There's also a guy who bullies Kit throughout the show and it turns out he's closeted himself, using the aggression as a shield. Kit comes across as isolated early on but he's not someone who just takes it, he confronts River directly when he feels his feelings are being treated as unimportant. River isn't just written as the typical closeted guy either. He's a teenager who has spent years building a version of himself that has nothing to do with who he actually is, and balancing that with his mother's public image gives him a conflict that actually feels real. The show clearly wants to avoid the toxic, shock-heavy patterns that vertical BL has become known for and goes for something warmer and more romantic instead. At under an hour it holds together, even if none of it is new territory. Both actors look good and handle the material fine. Satisfactory pretty much covers it. (5.5/10)
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