This review may contain spoilers
Everything was great except the plot...
I love ZeeNunew, so I was genuinely excited for this drama, but unfortunately, it fell short. While the costumes, cinematography, and soundtrack were stunning, the plot was messy and unfocused. The show couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a royal romance, political thriller, musical, or BL wattpad fanfic and in trying to be everything, it didn’t fully succeed at anything.That said, I can’t deny the visuals were stunning, costume design, cinematography, and the original soundtrack were top-tier. In fact, those elements were probably the reason the rating went up for me.
The tone was inconsistent. One moment you’re watching serious political protests, and the next, Khanin is singing with piano music in the background. It felt out of place and took away from the emotional weight of key scenes. As for the main couple, their relationship lacked development. Khanin quickly became a lovesick character who forgot that his lofe was taken away from him in London, while Charan remained stoic and emotionally distant. Even their big romantic scenes felt like it was fan service and chucked in there for the sake of it.
The second couple, Ramil and Paytai, actually had a compelling dynamic, but barely got screen time. Ava had potential too, but her arc was constantly undercut by the plot. The side characters were more interesting than the leads, which says a lot.
Despite the high production value, it felt hollow and empty. Product placements were also distracting and constantly there so got a bit repetitive. All the relationships lacked development. I could tell all the actors had great chemistry but it came off robotic and flat, most likely due to the poor scriptwriting and a plot that didn’t give their characters the depth or space to grow.
I wouldn’t recommend this for someone looking for a deep, well-developed plot. But if you’re in it for the stunning visuals, cinematography, costumes, and aesthetics, it might still be worth your time. I don’t agree with the very low or very high reviews out there as the show has clear strengths, but also major weaknesses that can’t be ignored.
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The straightest BL i've ever seen.
The cast and the music are the things I can praise about the drama otherwise it was just so disappointing.The ending disappointed me so much, they built a really good plot but it went downhill. Mainly only stayed for Toptap and Mike as their couple pairing is one of my favourites, the songs for the series were really good and I really like the fact that Bright got his first solo song.
If you are looking for intimate scenes this isn't the series for you, there isn't really much character development either and it is mainly based on plot so if you want something where the characters change and improve this isn't the drama for you.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Good Adaption to Dakaichi
As a long-time fan of Dakaichi who’s read the manga, watched all the anime, and seen the movie, I was a bit hesitant to watch this at first. I wasn’t sure a live-action adaptation would do this well-known piece of anime justice, but I was wrong.The casting was phenomenal. The actors had the most chemistry I’ve seen in a BL live-action in a long time, and the emotional scenes gave me the same feelings I had when watching the anime, which I appreciated. It felt like they truly understood the emotional core of Junta and Takato’s relationship. The intimate scenes, too, were handled with surprising care; the camera angles and cinematography worked seamlessly to keep the tone consistent with the original while also making it feel grounded and cinematic in its own right.
Taking the plot out of the equation, this was a very well-done adaptation. There were a few changes here and there, but they felt necessary or wise rather than distracting. That said, the plot of Dakaichi has always been a bit questionable for me, especially in terms of pacing and consent dynamics, and this version doesn’t change that. Seeing it played out in live-action makes some of those issues stand out more clearly. But I think fans are already familiar with the story and will know what to expect.
Overall, though, I was impressed. This live-action series managed to bring the heart and drama of Dakaichi to a new medium without losing its soul, and for fans of the franchise, that’s all you can ask for.
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Dissapointed.
This drama was so promising at the beginning, I saw the cast and I saw Toptap and Mike and they are one of my fav side couples obviously from 2gether the series and I was excited that they would be featured in another series together but honestly I got my hopes up too much.Very typical plot of 'I like only you' and the homophobia is very prominent in the series. Only characters I love are Ai, Ni , Miriam and Chonlatee's mum. It's probably not worth the watch if you want a deeper plot line, however there is character development for Tonhon's character.
The story ended way too quickly and it was paced very weirdly. If you are hoping for any affectionate Ai, Ni scenes don't bother because they always pan the camera away from them which got me so annoyed and honestly both of them deserve their own series.
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Just Average.
As an avid webtoon reader who genuinely enjoyed the manhwa, I expected more from this adaptation. Unfortunately, it fell flat, and in many ways, it felt like a betrayal of what made the original story so compelling.One of my biggest frustrations was the heavy sense of queerbaiting throughout. The adaptation seemed to go out of its way to “heterofy” the story for reasons that are honestly unclear and unnecessary. So much was changed or cut, and those decisions didn’t just affect the plot; they completely altered the character dynamics. With the original four boys reduced and restructured, the core emotional tension and friendship dynamics that made the manhwa great were lost.
Heesu, who is supposed to be central, was barely present. The writers made little effort to bring him into focus, and instead, he ended up pushed to the background. The pacing dragged terribly, with many scenes feeling like filler rather than emotional build-up. Every time the story offered a heart-fluttering moment or a genuine spark between the leads, it would be undercut in the next episode by a sudden shift to the other couple. It often felt like the show was too scared to fully commit to its central romance, offering no connection before quickly pulling away into safer, more ambiguous territory.
Overall, this adaptation missed the mark. It stripped away much of the emotional depth and relationship authenticity that made the manhwa so beloved, and instead gave us a diluted version that was frustrating to watch. If you loved the original, this may not be easy to sit through.
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