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...
This one's probably not going to work for everybody. It's definitely artsy, but weirdly enough it also ends up feeling pretty calming, and it's full of these little surprises and moments of delight, kind of mirroring the sexual experiences it's showing us, or honestly just experiences we've all had ourselves. What you get is a bunch of snippets from different midnight hookups, some of it feels real, some feels more like fantasy, and it's not always clear which is which. There's even a question of whether the film's playing with time in reverse, showing you how things came to be, but that's something you'll have to watch and figure out yourself. The story follows Adnan, a grad student studying art who's apartment sitting for his uncle in Williamsburg through the summer while also interning at a small gallery. The film breaks itself into three parts, each one built around a different guy Adnan's been involved with. First up is Yariel, a del...