This review may contain spoilers
Easily my top 10 shows
Excellent pacing, story, sets, production, music, acting, effects.
I think because of how seriously they took basic concepts like karma or prayers, the world feels realistic. Ex: Karma is correctly used in this show. Here, you see it across lifetimes- which is how it is supposed to work. (The results of karma aren't seen in this life.) Karma at its core is an "explanation" for inequality and suffering- people suffer due to their bad karma in past lives. Once they repay their debts/atone for their bad karma over several lives, they can "move on" or be reborn with better karma. That is a complicated concept for many people so it is shocking how they have shown it pretty well here.
(Karmic curses are not out of vengeance, they are about justice. So, everybody involved in the original sin will suffer only until they "pay" for their crimes. Then they will be free from the curse, and the ghost's soul will also be finally able to move on to her next life. This is a very common concept in Karma. That's why we should do good deeds, because we pay for our bad deeds. But it is a fair system. The pain is not eternal, you suffer exactly as much as you deserve and then your soul moves on. This is also mentioned in this show- for example, Khem's father becomes a monk in the hope that his earned good karma/merit can help Khem. I am amazed at how beautifully this show describes it. I know many westerners will still have trouble understanding but to anybody familiar with karmic concepts, this is a really intricate story.)
SPOILER: For example before they are about to become intimate, the priest/shaman is reading a book called Dharma, and the chapter he is on is about Patience. And then Khemjira tells him to join him on the bed and he closes the book. That is what I mean about excellent storyteling, direction etc. That is so clever. In a lesser show, he would have been reading a random book or even been on the phone. But this detail adds layers to his character while still giving a comedic twist.
This isn't horror after the first episode. It is more tragedy/fantasy. I am genuinely taken aback every episode at how good this is. This is up there with Goblin almost (actually the story is much deeper than that show). It won't get as popular worldwide as it is BL, and most people just wont watch it due to prejudice. Which is why I am impressed they put in so much love into making this. It is also true that most BL audience doesn't care about the plot and will watch anything that contains their ship. Which is why most shows have no storyline, bad direction, same sets, etc. So, I am genuinely grateful to this team for making something amazing that BL fans can show to their friends IRL and go "See, you are missing out."
Even if ep 10-12 are awful and the ending is awful, the first 9 episodes are enough to give this show 1000 /10 stars. I am actually grateful they made this. We rarely see such well made shows, even straight shows with a wider audience and funding. So amazing.
Update: Finished watching it. Still amazing. Ep11 had a lot of filler IMO. But it's still an amazing show. Glad I watched it. Wish we had more BL shows with this level of production. I hope they make lots of money from it!
I think because of how seriously they took basic concepts like karma or prayers, the world feels realistic. Ex: Karma is correctly used in this show. Here, you see it across lifetimes- which is how it is supposed to work. (The results of karma aren't seen in this life.) Karma at its core is an "explanation" for inequality and suffering- people suffer due to their bad karma in past lives. Once they repay their debts/atone for their bad karma over several lives, they can "move on" or be reborn with better karma. That is a complicated concept for many people so it is shocking how they have shown it pretty well here.
(Karmic curses are not out of vengeance, they are about justice. So, everybody involved in the original sin will suffer only until they "pay" for their crimes. Then they will be free from the curse, and the ghost's soul will also be finally able to move on to her next life. This is a very common concept in Karma. That's why we should do good deeds, because we pay for our bad deeds. But it is a fair system. The pain is not eternal, you suffer exactly as much as you deserve and then your soul moves on. This is also mentioned in this show- for example, Khem's father becomes a monk in the hope that his earned good karma/merit can help Khem. I am amazed at how beautifully this show describes it. I know many westerners will still have trouble understanding but to anybody familiar with karmic concepts, this is a really intricate story.)
SPOILER: For example before they are about to become intimate, the priest/shaman is reading a book called Dharma, and the chapter he is on is about Patience. And then Khemjira tells him to join him on the bed and he closes the book. That is what I mean about excellent storyteling, direction etc. That is so clever. In a lesser show, he would have been reading a random book or even been on the phone. But this detail adds layers to his character while still giving a comedic twist.
This isn't horror after the first episode. It is more tragedy/fantasy. I am genuinely taken aback every episode at how good this is. This is up there with Goblin almost (actually the story is much deeper than that show). It won't get as popular worldwide as it is BL, and most people just wont watch it due to prejudice. Which is why I am impressed they put in so much love into making this. It is also true that most BL audience doesn't care about the plot and will watch anything that contains their ship. Which is why most shows have no storyline, bad direction, same sets, etc. So, I am genuinely grateful to this team for making something amazing that BL fans can show to their friends IRL and go "See, you are missing out."
Even if ep 10-12 are awful and the ending is awful, the first 9 episodes are enough to give this show 1000 /10 stars. I am actually grateful they made this. We rarely see such well made shows, even straight shows with a wider audience and funding. So amazing.
Update: Finished watching it. Still amazing. Ep11 had a lot of filler IMO. But it's still an amazing show. Glad I watched it. Wish we had more BL shows with this level of production. I hope they make lots of money from it!
Was this review helpful to you?
