All that glitters...
Like so many other BL series with a novel concept, The Next Prince starts off quite well, only for whatever illusion of innovation to vanish and make space for vapid nonsense-plots and romantic clichés as the story unfolds. In the show’s defense, TNP is by no means uniquely bad. Its flaws are what we’ve come to expect from many a mediocre BL. If the pairings had captured my heart, I wouldn’t have bothered to activate my neurons. Alas, they didn’t, so here we are.
Initially, I wasn’t looking for super progressive politics because this kind of monarchy BL clearly isn’t the right setting for that (but it could be!). Then the protesters broke out into song. The laughably weak portrayal of rebellion almost looped back around to being funny but missed just hard enough that from then on, I wanted more (more, more). My irrational desire for serious commentary was met with criticism of the systemic abuse of power that was so comically defanged that I found myself genuinely wondering if I was watching satire. Women shouldn’t be confined to the domestic sphere and instead be allowed behind the stalls, selling snacks and charms for the prince to enjoy? Groundbreaking. Miners should continue mining but with basic safety equipment? Your grace is immeasurable. Domestic abuse is bad, actually? You don’t say!
I would say: Bring back the guillotine! But then again, this show does a perfectly good job of assassinating its characters without any outside help. Luckily, Paytai and Ramil were not /not/ entertaining and Calvin and Jay had half a spark that one time. But before addressing the most obvious disappointment character-wise, I’ll air my grievances with Khanin’s character: Did I hallucinate a likeable version of him? He was spunky in the beginning, right? Why couldn’t he have kept the backbone we were led to believe he had? Or, the show could have at least had more fun with the power Khanin had over Charan. I mean, come on! The fiery prince(ss)/ devoted bodyguard couple is as BDSM-flavored a dynamic as the one between our trauma-bonded Paytai and Ramil is.
Anyway, Ava. Look, anyone who has seen more than one BL knows that it’s exceedingly rare for them to succeed in doing anything worthwhile with their female characters. Obviously, female characters aren’t the point of BL, that’s not the fantasy. But like man, if you’re going to include women in the cast, could you try to not be quite so half-assed about it? When they announced the final participants of the fencing competition, I found myself wondering, eyes burning (from binging too many shows) (“Keep your eyes open wide”), throat dry (drinking water in between episodes really helps) (“Everyone deserves to breathe”): Is this genius? Is this an exemplary depiction of the limits that genre conventions impose on storytelling? Not really.
By the end (the last episode made a last-ditch effort), Khanin technically achieved everything he had set out to do, but it felt very unsatisfying. Not to mention that with the budget they had, mistakes such as the face of a character currently speaking being completely out of focus and a timer that doesn’t count down should have been caught. Unless you’re a massive fan of ZeeNuNew, I’d skip this regrettable waste of characters with initial potential and beautiful costumes. Don’t critique the royalty romance genre if you’re not going to do it well! That kills the enjoyment for both the viewers who like its tropes and those who would like to see them subverted.
Initially, I wasn’t looking for super progressive politics because this kind of monarchy BL clearly isn’t the right setting for that (but it could be!). Then the protesters broke out into song. The laughably weak portrayal of rebellion almost looped back around to being funny but missed just hard enough that from then on, I wanted more (more, more). My irrational desire for serious commentary was met with criticism of the systemic abuse of power that was so comically defanged that I found myself genuinely wondering if I was watching satire. Women shouldn’t be confined to the domestic sphere and instead be allowed behind the stalls, selling snacks and charms for the prince to enjoy? Groundbreaking. Miners should continue mining but with basic safety equipment? Your grace is immeasurable. Domestic abuse is bad, actually? You don’t say!
I would say: Bring back the guillotine! But then again, this show does a perfectly good job of assassinating its characters without any outside help. Luckily, Paytai and Ramil were not /not/ entertaining and Calvin and Jay had half a spark that one time. But before addressing the most obvious disappointment character-wise, I’ll air my grievances with Khanin’s character: Did I hallucinate a likeable version of him? He was spunky in the beginning, right? Why couldn’t he have kept the backbone we were led to believe he had? Or, the show could have at least had more fun with the power Khanin had over Charan. I mean, come on! The fiery prince(ss)/ devoted bodyguard couple is as BDSM-flavored a dynamic as the one between our trauma-bonded Paytai and Ramil is.
Anyway, Ava. Look, anyone who has seen more than one BL knows that it’s exceedingly rare for them to succeed in doing anything worthwhile with their female characters. Obviously, female characters aren’t the point of BL, that’s not the fantasy. But like man, if you’re going to include women in the cast, could you try to not be quite so half-assed about it? When they announced the final participants of the fencing competition, I found myself wondering, eyes burning (from binging too many shows) (“Keep your eyes open wide”), throat dry (drinking water in between episodes really helps) (“Everyone deserves to breathe”): Is this genius? Is this an exemplary depiction of the limits that genre conventions impose on storytelling? Not really.
By the end (the last episode made a last-ditch effort), Khanin technically achieved everything he had set out to do, but it felt very unsatisfying. Not to mention that with the budget they had, mistakes such as the face of a character currently speaking being completely out of focus and a timer that doesn’t count down should have been caught. Unless you’re a massive fan of ZeeNuNew, I’d skip this regrettable waste of characters with initial potential and beautiful costumes. Don’t critique the royalty romance genre if you’re not going to do it well! That kills the enjoyment for both the viewers who like its tropes and those who would like to see them subverted.
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