High Budget, Talented actors, Poor story
This drama has two of the most popular actors in BL and a very high budget. It is addictive and easy to watch but it unfortunately falls to poor storytelling and potholes. I still recommend to watch for the actors and fun royal theming. There are some very well acted moments such as the crying scene where khanin is told his father is dead and the romance scenes are believable and full of chemistry being well crafted and performed.
It seems like all the budget and focus is on visuals and chemistry, the story is back seating which is a shame but it is still watchable.
Good points:
- High budget locations and costumes.
-Great chemistry/ beautifully shot NC scenes.
- Well cast drama/ great acting.
-The tournament is a pretty good plot point to keep us rooting for khanin.
- Butler Chakri is great and funny.
Problems:
- The fencing tournament is supposed to be a sacred tradition to choose an heir to the throne, however by episode 5 they changed the rules twice already by allowing a female heir to compete which was previously banned and then to add archery. This is bad writing and makes you feel it was never such a tradition to begin with as rules are changing all over the place.
- The two main characters interactions are written for convenience and it is hard to believe that the king would allow charan to be so close to Khanin after first saying his job was done as his protector and then somehow just letting Khanin have his way just because he asked once to bring him back as his trainer/bodyguard. They could have made it more of a forbidden love story where khanin sneaks out to see charan constantly as its his only opportunity or something.
I know at this point (ep 6) that we don't know too much about charans backstory and why the king is now trusting charan with more responsibilities but it seems to be a whole lot of convenient plot points especially his fear of the rain. I dunno but it was sweet to see charan display some deep emotions, however it seemed a bit too out of character and could have a better build up except just the one plane scene in the beginning where he stairs out at the rain and then later suddenly he cant function in it after defeating two bad guys. I am holding out and hoping they will give us a deeper explanation for this, i do enjoy seeing charans emotional side but i don't think its been written and added well here so far.
- Prince Khanin came across as very needy and entitled in episode 5 which was nearly painful to watch, again this was the script and not the actors fault.
ep reviews:
- ep 7 was much better but the lead up to the replacement coach and poisoner reveal were not as exciting as it could have been. The scene where Khanin was poisoned was well acted by Nunew and the love scene following later on was beautifully done, It was very tasteful with a lovely soundtrack and some intense moments towards the end.
-ep 8 some BDSM scenes from the second couple here, I like the way they cut this, showing us little snippets of the collar scene and then some build up and then the actual scene. The rest of this episode was Khanin longing for Charin at every moment and ending up being disappointed he couldn't get the chance to sleep with him again. Not a bad episode but lacking in plot and progression. Butler Chakri was once again the star of the episode.
- ep 10 - the plot is starting to really drag now not much has happened over 9 and 10 except the king being angry at Khanin over the mining conditions which feels so much like a randomly added plot point without much planning. The acting is still holding up this series especially in the emotional scenes with Nunew and the love scenes which are beautifully done.
I will continue to watch this because of the actors and good points, i hope the writing improves and the company behind it didn't just rely on the high budget to carry it through. We shall see.
It seems like all the budget and focus is on visuals and chemistry, the story is back seating which is a shame but it is still watchable.
Good points:
- High budget locations and costumes.
-Great chemistry/ beautifully shot NC scenes.
- Well cast drama/ great acting.
-The tournament is a pretty good plot point to keep us rooting for khanin.
- Butler Chakri is great and funny.
Problems:
- The fencing tournament is supposed to be a sacred tradition to choose an heir to the throne, however by episode 5 they changed the rules twice already by allowing a female heir to compete which was previously banned and then to add archery. This is bad writing and makes you feel it was never such a tradition to begin with as rules are changing all over the place.
- The two main characters interactions are written for convenience and it is hard to believe that the king would allow charan to be so close to Khanin after first saying his job was done as his protector and then somehow just letting Khanin have his way just because he asked once to bring him back as his trainer/bodyguard. They could have made it more of a forbidden love story where khanin sneaks out to see charan constantly as its his only opportunity or something.
I know at this point (ep 6) that we don't know too much about charans backstory and why the king is now trusting charan with more responsibilities but it seems to be a whole lot of convenient plot points especially his fear of the rain. I dunno but it was sweet to see charan display some deep emotions, however it seemed a bit too out of character and could have a better build up except just the one plane scene in the beginning where he stairs out at the rain and then later suddenly he cant function in it after defeating two bad guys. I am holding out and hoping they will give us a deeper explanation for this, i do enjoy seeing charans emotional side but i don't think its been written and added well here so far.
- Prince Khanin came across as very needy and entitled in episode 5 which was nearly painful to watch, again this was the script and not the actors fault.
ep reviews:
- ep 7 was much better but the lead up to the replacement coach and poisoner reveal were not as exciting as it could have been. The scene where Khanin was poisoned was well acted by Nunew and the love scene following later on was beautifully done, It was very tasteful with a lovely soundtrack and some intense moments towards the end.
-ep 8 some BDSM scenes from the second couple here, I like the way they cut this, showing us little snippets of the collar scene and then some build up and then the actual scene. The rest of this episode was Khanin longing for Charin at every moment and ending up being disappointed he couldn't get the chance to sleep with him again. Not a bad episode but lacking in plot and progression. Butler Chakri was once again the star of the episode.
- ep 10 - the plot is starting to really drag now not much has happened over 9 and 10 except the king being angry at Khanin over the mining conditions which feels so much like a randomly added plot point without much planning. The acting is still holding up this series especially in the emotional scenes with Nunew and the love scenes which are beautifully done.
I will continue to watch this because of the actors and good points, i hope the writing improves and the company behind it didn't just rely on the high budget to carry it through. We shall see.
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