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...
I am very conflicted about calling this a gay movie. The protagonist happens to be gay, which we find out in one scene, and besides that this film has absolutely nothing to do with the sexuality. At its core, this film is a road movie, a kind of travel-and-talk friendship/romance. Victor, loves diving and is now looking after his sick grandmother on an island in Greece. He is a loner with a part time job. When his granny dies, he decides to leave town. We find that he has strained relations and some unresolved issues with his mother, who many years ago, left him and married a German guy and lives now in Bavaria. On the ferry enroute Italy, he meets Matthias, a very confident and outgoing German man. As odd as the two are, Matthias convinces (while flirting) Victor to take him along for the ride and he will take him through some scenic routes. Jere begins a road movie with gorgeous landscapes and a couple of incidents leading to the two men realizing their growing feeling for each other...