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Come for the yaoi, stay for the supernatural trauma symbolism
This was an okay show. It started very strong, with a story that was both intriguing and entertaining. The biggest problem with this was an unstable quality across the board from plot to acting, which diminished a good part of my enjoyment. This went back and forth throughout the show causing both frustration and confusion. But still, it had enough redeeming qualities to make the time spent on it, worthwhile.
First on the plot: So the story follows Khemijira who carries a centuries-old family curse on his back that will result in his death, once he turns 21. He already has terrible luck and ghosts follow him everywhere, trying to harm him. Desperate and inching closer and closer to his birthday, he and his best friend petition for a great shamanic master's protection but the master is reluctant, for unknown reasons.
Right out of the gate, the setup for the story is great! We have flashbacks across multiple timelines to help tell the story, we have ghosts and murder attempts, we have mysticism and spiritual rituals, and I would say the strength of this show was in its scenes of traditional practices and focus on religion and folklore rituals. When they worked with those elements, the show was a ten out of ten for me. Showing the vicious cycles of resentment, revenge and karma was brilliant here. Not only was it interesting to watch, but it was also executed with care and attention to detail. The ritualistic chanting was beautiful. The ways that karma is shown to be felt cross lives was enlightening. Even the simplest subplot about ghosts and karma was interesting enough and in "some" cases, it was connected to the main plot, so the story wouldn't feel stagnant. The thing that was dragging the show down, however, was the main plot!
So the romance plot: In my opinion, the romance was weak, underdeveloped, ham-fisted, and not engaging enough. The show does this very boring thing where we are told about a past connection between the main characters, and then no more attempt is made to make this romance work! There is no attempt to build a connection between these characters as they are now. There are only external elements pushing them together; a pre-destined connection, jealousy of potential rivals, and the forceful jeering of side characters. These are alright situational plot devices to draw characters together; however, the show needs to actually build a basic chemistry base for these characters, first. They barely talk to each other! The master is constantly avoiding Khemjira like he killed his pet kitten as a child, and Khemjira just cooks and cleans like a modern cinderella, giving kicked-puppy eyes to everyone but mostly the master, as if doe-eyes and a dream are enough to build a relationship around. The two of them are not put in enough one-on-one plot situations to build any kind of dynamic together. They are mostly kept away from each other in the main episodes focused on their romance which not only made those episodes drag with barely anything happening but also, just wasted those episodes because the curse-plot was sidelined and nothing was happening on the romance front, either. Well, unless we count the really boing romance between the supporting characters as development, which I don't. On that note, I did not like the second couple. It was just very forced. Their scenes bored me. Most of the romance was focused on their lame dynamic, and there was this sense of "this is gonna happen, anyway" to them which made it feel like this was not happening because the story was naturally headed in a romantic way but because this was a genre trope that could not be avoided. This was true for the main romance, too. There is an automatic feel to all of it. Like two great hands are grabbing these characters like dolls and smashing their faces together for a kiss. As a result, I did not enjoy the romance. I like my romances with massive build-up. I like them heavy on the conversations and building of connections, so when we are just expected to accept they are destined to fall in love, and no one actually tries to explain their attraction in any way besides "Pretty boy! Me kiss kiss!"...yeah, not my cup of tea!
To make matters worse, the actors had NO chemistry. I get it! They are handsome men! But you can't just put beautiful people together and call it a day! They were so awkward together. The actor who plays Khemjira is so obviously a tall and broad man, while the actor who plays the master is clearly lean and delicate in the features, and they tried SO HARD to make the master seem domineering and macho while Khemjira was delicate and dainty...and it was not working! I could SEE Khemjira slouch in on himself to appear smaller when the men were clearly the same height! lol (also his head was way bigger than the other actor which lol, doesn't mean much just...the doe eyes were not working!)This made everything feel so odd. Like, why are we making this giant man act like a sweet, feminine, tiny person?! It was just odd, and the effect was unsuccessful, which made Khemjira's character uncomfortable to watch. I wish they would just let the guy be an ordinary, not-dainty, but just kind and sweet, person. Which is how the show started, before the romance was introduced and how the book depicts him (heck yeah! I read enough of the book, to judge the show's adaptation skills, for it!) but once the romance starts, they start to feminize the character which while there is nothing wrong with more feminine male characters, it was just not working here!
None of this was helped by the fact that the core four main actors are bad at acting. There! I said it! I'm sorry. They could not act. They stood out like sore thumbs too because the supporting cast was good! The subplots about ghosts and folklore that made up the best parts of the show were the parts that mostly dealt with side characters, and I would say these supporting actors were doing the heavy-lifting when it came to acting. Even the child actors were better! I guess these guys were cast for their looks and to sell that yaoi aesthetic because they have to work a lot harder to sell...anything! The crying was awkward, the lovey-looks they gave each other made me cringe, the sex scenes were a torture to watch (weird choreos there, too), the line delivery was bad! I suffered! The acting was bad. Not the support cast, though. They were fine! Some of them were actually good! Not the mains, though.
I will say one good thing about the casting, the casting team's ability to find past lifetime equivalent actors who look so similar to the mains was astounding! The female counterparts of the male actors looked so similar to them that I was totally speechless! In fact, all of the production on this show was great. I will give them that. The multiple past lives were gorgeous and I loved those parts.
So, to sum it up, this show had 4 solid episodes of intense plot, focused on the curse and developing the base for the show. Then the next 4 episodes that focused on romance were boring, not good. Then from episode 9 onward, one episode would be amazing, and one would be lackluster. This level of unstable quality across the whole run of the show is what was slightly disappointing to me. However, I gave this show an 8 because I thought the good parts were very good and I was invested in the show thanks to them. Shoutout to my favorite character, Ramphueng. She was what held this show together. Vengeful, wronged, chaotic, yet pitiful. She was so compelling that you both felt for her and feared her and resented her actions all throughout the show. I honestly would have given this a 5 if the show had messed up the ending with her but the show ended the plot surrounding the curse so beautifully (at the 11th hour, too! lmao) that I raised my rating from a 7 to an 8, just because of how emotional it made me. The plot was dragged though...
I also enjoyed the past live plots. I will not spoil anything but what was happening there was told much better than the modern era. I liked those moments so much. I wish the show had been more focused on those lifetimes.
There is also plenty of fan-service after the main plot, which I know a lot of viewers will be happy about.
Overall: I do recommend this show! Weirdly enough, though I didn't like the romance, I loved the other parts of this show enough to recommend it. The production is great, and sans romance, the story is compelling too. It's not too scary either, as far as horror stories go, since the show breaks a lot of tension with cheap BL-exclusive humor. You will enjoy it even if (like me) you don't like horror.
Fun fact: There is a scene at the end when one of the characters just lists all the plot holes. Very funny! lol
First on the plot: So the story follows Khemijira who carries a centuries-old family curse on his back that will result in his death, once he turns 21. He already has terrible luck and ghosts follow him everywhere, trying to harm him. Desperate and inching closer and closer to his birthday, he and his best friend petition for a great shamanic master's protection but the master is reluctant, for unknown reasons.
Right out of the gate, the setup for the story is great! We have flashbacks across multiple timelines to help tell the story, we have ghosts and murder attempts, we have mysticism and spiritual rituals, and I would say the strength of this show was in its scenes of traditional practices and focus on religion and folklore rituals. When they worked with those elements, the show was a ten out of ten for me. Showing the vicious cycles of resentment, revenge and karma was brilliant here. Not only was it interesting to watch, but it was also executed with care and attention to detail. The ritualistic chanting was beautiful. The ways that karma is shown to be felt cross lives was enlightening. Even the simplest subplot about ghosts and karma was interesting enough and in "some" cases, it was connected to the main plot, so the story wouldn't feel stagnant. The thing that was dragging the show down, however, was the main plot!
So the romance plot: In my opinion, the romance was weak, underdeveloped, ham-fisted, and not engaging enough. The show does this very boring thing where we are told about a past connection between the main characters, and then no more attempt is made to make this romance work! There is no attempt to build a connection between these characters as they are now. There are only external elements pushing them together; a pre-destined connection, jealousy of potential rivals, and the forceful jeering of side characters. These are alright situational plot devices to draw characters together; however, the show needs to actually build a basic chemistry base for these characters, first. They barely talk to each other! The master is constantly avoiding Khemjira like he killed his pet kitten as a child, and Khemjira just cooks and cleans like a modern cinderella, giving kicked-puppy eyes to everyone but mostly the master, as if doe-eyes and a dream are enough to build a relationship around. The two of them are not put in enough one-on-one plot situations to build any kind of dynamic together. They are mostly kept away from each other in the main episodes focused on their romance which not only made those episodes drag with barely anything happening but also, just wasted those episodes because the curse-plot was sidelined and nothing was happening on the romance front, either. Well, unless we count the really boing romance between the supporting characters as development, which I don't. On that note, I did not like the second couple. It was just very forced. Their scenes bored me. Most of the romance was focused on their lame dynamic, and there was this sense of "this is gonna happen, anyway" to them which made it feel like this was not happening because the story was naturally headed in a romantic way but because this was a genre trope that could not be avoided. This was true for the main romance, too. There is an automatic feel to all of it. Like two great hands are grabbing these characters like dolls and smashing their faces together for a kiss. As a result, I did not enjoy the romance. I like my romances with massive build-up. I like them heavy on the conversations and building of connections, so when we are just expected to accept they are destined to fall in love, and no one actually tries to explain their attraction in any way besides "Pretty boy! Me kiss kiss!"...yeah, not my cup of tea!
To make matters worse, the actors had NO chemistry. I get it! They are handsome men! But you can't just put beautiful people together and call it a day! They were so awkward together. The actor who plays Khemjira is so obviously a tall and broad man, while the actor who plays the master is clearly lean and delicate in the features, and they tried SO HARD to make the master seem domineering and macho while Khemjira was delicate and dainty...and it was not working! I could SEE Khemjira slouch in on himself to appear smaller when the men were clearly the same height! lol (also his head was way bigger than the other actor which lol, doesn't mean much just...the doe eyes were not working!)This made everything feel so odd. Like, why are we making this giant man act like a sweet, feminine, tiny person?! It was just odd, and the effect was unsuccessful, which made Khemjira's character uncomfortable to watch. I wish they would just let the guy be an ordinary, not-dainty, but just kind and sweet, person. Which is how the show started, before the romance was introduced and how the book depicts him (heck yeah! I read enough of the book, to judge the show's adaptation skills, for it!) but once the romance starts, they start to feminize the character which while there is nothing wrong with more feminine male characters, it was just not working here!
None of this was helped by the fact that the core four main actors are bad at acting. There! I said it! I'm sorry. They could not act. They stood out like sore thumbs too because the supporting cast was good! The subplots about ghosts and folklore that made up the best parts of the show were the parts that mostly dealt with side characters, and I would say these supporting actors were doing the heavy-lifting when it came to acting. Even the child actors were better! I guess these guys were cast for their looks and to sell that yaoi aesthetic because they have to work a lot harder to sell...anything! The crying was awkward, the lovey-looks they gave each other made me cringe, the sex scenes were a torture to watch (weird choreos there, too), the line delivery was bad! I suffered! The acting was bad. Not the support cast, though. They were fine! Some of them were actually good! Not the mains, though.
I will say one good thing about the casting, the casting team's ability to find past lifetime equivalent actors who look so similar to the mains was astounding! The female counterparts of the male actors looked so similar to them that I was totally speechless! In fact, all of the production on this show was great. I will give them that. The multiple past lives were gorgeous and I loved those parts.
So, to sum it up, this show had 4 solid episodes of intense plot, focused on the curse and developing the base for the show. Then the next 4 episodes that focused on romance were boring, not good. Then from episode 9 onward, one episode would be amazing, and one would be lackluster. This level of unstable quality across the whole run of the show is what was slightly disappointing to me. However, I gave this show an 8 because I thought the good parts were very good and I was invested in the show thanks to them. Shoutout to my favorite character, Ramphueng. She was what held this show together. Vengeful, wronged, chaotic, yet pitiful. She was so compelling that you both felt for her and feared her and resented her actions all throughout the show. I honestly would have given this a 5 if the show had messed up the ending with her but the show ended the plot surrounding the curse so beautifully (at the 11th hour, too! lmao) that I raised my rating from a 7 to an 8, just because of how emotional it made me. The plot was dragged though...
I also enjoyed the past live plots. I will not spoil anything but what was happening there was told much better than the modern era. I liked those moments so much. I wish the show had been more focused on those lifetimes.
There is also plenty of fan-service after the main plot, which I know a lot of viewers will be happy about.
Overall: I do recommend this show! Weirdly enough, though I didn't like the romance, I loved the other parts of this show enough to recommend it. The production is great, and sans romance, the story is compelling too. It's not too scary either, as far as horror stories go, since the show breaks a lot of tension with cheap BL-exclusive humor. You will enjoy it even if (like me) you don't like horror.
Fun fact: There is a scene at the end when one of the characters just lists all the plot holes. Very funny! lol
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