The Promise of the Soul

stellar visuals with mediocre writing (watch suggestions)

Overall: it has a unique premise but the pacing was very slow and the writing was lackluster. 12 episodes about 23 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5405/the-promise-of-the-soul-2025-e01 (available in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, India, Southeast Asia) ; iQIYI https://www.iq.com/album/the-promise-of-the-soul-2025-w4opu9ieap and VBL Series YouTube channel with membership (not available in Japan) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akfMhc4hIXw - VBL (Variety Between Love) has also produced: Fight For You, Eternal Butler, Stay By My Side, You Are Mine etc. There are sometimes bonus scenes at the end, including at the very end of the finale.

Content Warnings: non con touching/kissing/sexual assault multiple times, past deaths, death, bullying, punches, ex-partner intimate abuse, held against will, blood, suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide (it's complicated)

Watch Suggestions (if you aren't into slow pacing/a cold ML and focus on their sweet/steamy parts)
- read the synopsis
- skip episodes 1-4
- episode 5 watch 5-11:10 and 19:45-end
- episode 6 end at 21:55
- episode 7 watch 4-10:35 and 13:20-end
- episode 8 watch beginning-19
- watch episode 9
- skip episode 10
- episode 11 watch beginning to 9:10
- episode 12 watch 3:30-5:15, 6:50-8:05 and 15:45-end

What I Liked
- visuals
- the grandpa
- that everyone knew what happened right away
- the GL couple
- VBL cameo with the dorm supervisor and his boyfriend

Room For Improvement
- slow pacing
- the sexual assault (multiple times) and then poorly done redemption arc
- tropey (the accidental kiss)
- nonsense (not talking about the premise) perfectly coiffed hair after waking up in the morning, he wasn't brought to the hospital at the beginning of episode 7
- in episode 8 our supposed hero acts exactly like an abuser

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A Beautiful Concept Lost in Messy Execution

Imagine being straight for 70 years, then suddenly kissing someone your grandson’s age. If that’s not awkward enough, I don’t know what is

This one was so hard to rate. On one hand, the cast is absolutely stunning, and the concept is unique and intriguing. On the other hand, the execution left me frustrated more often than not.

Take episode 10, for example. I’ve been enjoying this drama since the beginning, but wow… Taiwan just cannot compete with China or Korea when it comes to fight choreography. That classroom fight looked so fake it honestly would have been better left out entirely.
And the logic? Completely gone. HaiYuan disappears for a couple of hours, and ZeFang acts like he’s been missing for days. Then suddenly bam an accident, and then right back to searching again. The ex goes full psycho and stuffs him in a locker (because apparently that’s a thing). But the real kicker? HaiYuan somehow tracks ZeFang’s exact location through an app like he’s got Find My Boyfriend installed. Please.

Then in episode 11, we suddenly get a third couple thrown in. Out of nowhere: “I had a dream you were with someone else. I don’t like it, so I’m jealous, which means I like you.” And then boom a kiss. Seriously? What was even the point? It was rushed, forced, and completely disconnected from the rest of the plot. Instead of spending time developing this random couple, it would have been so much better to focus on the main relationship that we’ve actually cared about since episode one.

But at its heart, the show did give us moments of beauty, and sometimes words fall short, so here’s a poem that captures it best: I wrote this poem

Xia Ze Fang pushed too hard,
a kiss not ready to be shared 💋
Ye Hai Yuan turned away,
heart untouched.

Then came the soul switch 🔄
and suddenly…
it wasn’t the face he saw anymore,
but the spirit within 🕊️
gentle, steady,
filled with quiet warmth.

This story teaches
love is not a chase,
not a force,
but a slow unfolding 🌱
If it’s meant,
time will lead it there.

Yet in reality,
a twenty-year-old loving a seventy-year-old?
Unlikely.
But here…
youth’s beauty hides a lifetime’s wisdom,
and a golden heart 💛 makes all the difference.

The series had so much potential, and there are still moments that shine, but the lack of consistency, unnecessary jealous scenes, and sloppy pacing keep it from being great.

Final verdict: 7.5/10. Stunning cast and unique idea, but a messy, uneven execution.

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