Reviews

Unpopular Opinion: I didn't love this drama.

I binge-watched Flower of Evil over the Christmas holidays with my boyfriend, but I think I'm going to stay away from melodramas for a while.

I think the show has a lot of interesting elements that make it stand out. Firstly, the ML is not your typical good guy. He has antisocial personality disorder and his dad is a serial killer, so from the beginning the show keeps you guessing on his motivations/actions. Part of what makes the show good is you keep wondering - would he have done ____? what is he really like? is he really a bad guy?

In terms of romance, I feel like the ML and FL were a good couple / complemented each other. The flashbacks in each episode were really well done and made me want to keep finding out about their love story and past together. As the show progresses you also learn more about the ML and I felt so bad for him. It was so sad seeing the flashbacks of him in the village being taken to be exorcised and the other stuff that he went through. This is definitely a show that makes you think about prejudices and people's judgements and what actually makes a person evil.

I was enjoying the drama until Episode 9, which is when things just went downhill for me. Once the real Baek Hee Seong opened his eyes, I feel like the drama was just a bit too melodramatic for me. Previously I felt like every episode ended on a cliffhanger and that made me want to keep watching, but by that point it's quite obvious that the ML is a good guy and nothing bad will happen to him so a lot of the suspense is gone. There were multiple times where things could have gone wrong for him...and then they just don't happen so it feels like they were pulling their punches at that point with the plot. I'm all for happy endings but I feel like in a suspense drama there needs to be more stakes/uncertainty to keep you watching.

It felt like regardless the ML would be okay and the plot pivots to finding the accomplice, which I wasn't that invested in.
It also got a bit predictable when it came to the bad guys and what they were going to do. Watching episodes 9-15 were honestly a struggle, but I didn't want to just drop the drama without giving it a shot to get better later on. The reveal about the ML's father's death was interesting but I wish that they delved into that more later.

The acting was good but ultimately the plot was just too much for me.

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Beauty, Brains, and a Third Act That Blinked

I can’t believe I’m writing this review again after accidentally deleting the first one, but maybe that’s fitting— this is the kind of drama that makes you want to revisit your thoughts anyway.

Let’s start with what ''Glory'' does exceptionally well.
- Visually, this drama is an absolute feast. The tone, the narrative style, the color palette, the costumes—every frame feels deliberate. The attention to detail pulls you straight into its world, and the OST doesn’t just accompany the story, it elevates it. This is one of those shows where aesthetics aren’t decoration; they’re part of the storytelling.

- The cast deserves genuine applause. Supporting characters aren’t just fillers here—they all have agendas, motives, and secrets. At various points, I found myself rooting for them, distrusting them, or doing both simultaneously. No one feels entirely safe, not even the characters who initially present as innocent. My naturally suspicious heart was on high alert from early on. Bonus joy: spotting so many familiar faces from short dramas felt like a delightful little Easter egg hunt.

- Plot-wise, the first two-thirds are rich, layered, and genuinely gripping. Tea cultivation heritage, a powerful family monopolizing an industry, murder mysteries, abductions, reverse harem undertones, and multiple no-nonsense female characters—it’s a dense mix, but one that mostly works. The Rong family arc in Linji, in particular, is where the drama truly shines. That stretch is confident, immersive, and sharply written.

- And then there’s the female lead. A queen, frankly. Cool-headed, scheming, razor-smart, and always ten steps ahead while chaos unfolds around her. She had me fully sold at the very first slap. What I admired most is her consistency—she never bends her core personality to appease the plot. I know the comment sections were in full meltdown mode over her “overly cool” demeanor, especially in romance, but you don’t get to ask for a strong, calculating woman and then complain when she’s emotionally composed. The traits that make her formidable are the same ones that make her restrained in matters of the heart. Personally, I loved her throughout and found myself applauding like a proud stage mom every time she outplayed everyone.

Now, where did I struggle?

- The male lead. HMH is endlessly charming on screen, and his portrayal of LJL—scheming, mischievous, shameless and morally grounded when it truly matters—was a joy, especially early on. He’s justice-driven, devoted, and willing to burn the world down for the woman he loves. That’s the good stuff. I genuinely enjoyed the leads’ dynamic up until around episode 20ish.
But in the final third, his character veers into insecurity and emotional neediness that didn’t quite work for me. This is entirely personal taste, but I tend to adore strong female leads paired with unwavering male leads. Watching him oscillate between fierce devotion and emotional instability left me conflicted—swooning one moment, mildly annoyed the next. HMH handled the role amazingly and made the character’s emotional arc believable, even when the writing choices didn’t fully work for me, and full transparency: I probably wouldn’t have picked up this drama if not for him. Still, I wish the writers had taken his character in a steadier direction.

- The final third of the drama also suffers in comparison to what came before. After spending around 30 episodes deeply invested in the Rong family arc, the Capital storyline—compressed into roughly six episodes—feels rushed. The pacing wobbles, the editing becomes uneven, and the overall narrative polish drops. You can feel the story sprinting toward the finish line instead of arriving with confidence.

That said, I still consider this a good drama, especially when viewed through a female-centric lens. From that perspective, it succeeds more often than it falters.
The romance is… fine. Enjoyable, but restrained. The chemistry is there, the kisses (though few) are undeniably fire, yet there’s a lingering sense that something is missing—more spark, more heat, more emotional payoff. Again, very much a personal take.

So, would I recommend ''Glory''? Yes, absolutely—especially if you go in knowing what kind of story it wants to tell.
Will I be rewatching it? Probably not. But am I glad I watched it? Definitely. It’s flawed, stylish, ambitious, and anchored by a female lead who refuses to dim her brilliance—and that alone makes it worth the journey.

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Awesome series,worth watching,actors did great job

This needs to be recognised,actors earth and santha did a amazing job ,the storyline is good and i suggest everyone to watch this, light weight, feel good series.i would give 10/10 for such an amazing series,i would re-watch again once i complete this ,earth is my all time favourite actor,his acting took this drama to another level ,it really needs a huge recognition.i have watched 8 episodes so far can't wait for further episodes,i really goona miss this series once i complete,you can watch this series in you tube ..earth is such an cute actor❤️.. didn't expect this drama would make me fall in love with this

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Silly rom-com with bickering main leads & slow burn romance

The main leads Zhou Ye and Lin Yi definitely carried the drama. The script was lacking but their chemistry and strong on-screen presence made up for it. The drama is about the female lead who fakes her personality in order to catch the attention of the male lead. She confesses to him and he rejects her, only for him to find out that she is also the gaming girl he’s had a secret crush on. Their love story includes the gaming world, where they work together to create a new generation of gaming experience.

The start of the drama is not the strongest. The female lead spends the first few episodes chasing the male lead with a fake personality and pretty much becoming a doormat for him. As soon as he rejects her at episode 7, the drama begins to get real good, with now the male lead chasing her and trying to win her back. The main lead’s bickering dynamic is top-notch and the highlight of this drama, as well as the many cute and silly interactions between them.

The drama fell short for me in the final episodes (19-24) that focused on unnecessary work problems instead of seeing the main leads go on romantic dates. The romance is slow burn which I usually love, however I feel the script didn’t allow for the audience to truly experience their dating era as they only became a couple in the last few episodes. Even though the main leads had many cute and romantic interactions between them throughout the drama, when they became a couple we didn’t see them go on an actual date or see any grand romantic gestures.

POSITIVE:
- Silly and light-hearted vibes.
- Top-notch bickering dynamic and fun comedy moments between the main leads.
- Zhou Ye and Lin Yi had natural on-screen chemistry with fantastic acting. They were the star of the drama and carried the whole show.
- Good push and pull dynamic between the leads.
- Cute/romantic scenes.
- No love triangles. The main leads only have eyes for each other. (Note, there are two love rivals that try to get with the female lead).
- No annoying side characters.
- Female lead acting like a delulu girl in the first episodes.
- Male lead chasing her for the longest time in the best way possible.
- Fun gaming scenes that didn’t take too much screen time.
- Work scenes in the first half of the drama provided good character development for the female lead.
- Approving and supportive parents (that’s a huge plus for me).

NEGATIVE:
- First 6 episodes were not strong.
- Ordinary plot. The script doesn’t bring anything new to the table.
- Not enough spark. I felt something was always missing in this drama.
- Dating era didn’t fully deliver. There was a lot of build up and yet the execution was lacking. We don’t see the main leads go on an actual date or have any grand romantic gestures.
- Episodes 19-24 felt underwhelming, the plot was draggy and the romance didn’t fully deliver.

OVERALL:
This is a silly and light-hearted rom-com with cute, bickering main leads. It’s perfect for those who want to watch a fun and entertaining drama after a long day to unwind.

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Promising premise but drag midway too much

San Young ended up being possessed by a juvenile ghost when she touched a cursed inheritance. This ghost takes control of her body, acts beyond her consciousness, and separates from her body to commit murders. A folklore professor Hae Sang, who is able to see ghosts met her and try to get rid of this ghost.

Revenant is a supernatural thriller drama with a promising premise set up strongly in the first 4 episodes. Besides our male and female lead investigating these based on the folklore pov, the two police officers investigating them through logic pov. I like how both of them were coming to the same conclusions despite working in very different ways, but I wish that they interacted a little bit more.

Production-wise, the camera angles, lighting, and the sets are creepy yet intriguing. Kim Tae Ri's portrayal of San Young is perfect; whiplashing between her character and being possessed. The folklore aspect are described with clear rules and they follow these rules. It’s very important to the story so I appreciate the writers for that.

But the plot is super slow after 6 episodes. It’s like watching the same episodes, and our protagonists are mostly bark but not bite. Each case did give clues, but they were repetitive and the lessons about folklore is a bit preachy.
They conveniently wrap up well, but left some loose ends.

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Maybe the most underrated gem of the year

Writing this review after having posted many comments on this as i binged on this for 2 days. I kept off this as it aired for 2 reasons -1 )Didnt want to wait as it aired and 2) It was getting terrible comments as it progressed
The rating has reached 7.6 as of writing this review and it may dip further as this show seems a target of MDL commenters lately for negative comments.

Coming back, I found this incredibly entertaining,fast paced,emotional and topical hopeful drama.It deals with costs that come with time travel and is hence quite different than many fantasy dramas that promote this concept. Every episode starts with a quote on time and its importance for lives..

Am a fan of Joo Won esp in intense roles and his turn as Lieutenant Park was like a superb fit..As the show progresses you feel for him a lot..One of the most memorable Kdrama ML characters now for me.
Kim Hee sun ,esp the mom aced this one.I dont remember any other Kdrama showing a mother son bond so beautifully.She basically sacrificed her entire life for her son,had an utterly tough existence and the end she kept getting repeatedly was so unfair.. As Tae Yi,she was a diff character but her fondness for the Lieutenant was beautifully shown..Many people are disgusted with this Otp (Both Mom and Tae Yi have identical faces) but they are fine as per me..She is NOT his mom,period.
Kwak Si Yang as Min Hyeok was another tragic character and while he didnt get the end i felt he should have ,he was superb throughout
All other supporting characters were awesome..
Melodious OSTs,BGM, beautiful cinematography,production are all pluses for this drama.
The PD and writer really made a beautiful show..The ending has plotholes ,but is very serviceable..I was just happy to see Joo Won living a good life and with a hopeful romance to follow..
Maybe the MDL raters would rate this better if it ended with a sad ending ..I love happy endings though.

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A General Without Her Legend

This series had the potential to be a masterpiece, but it struggles with focus and execution. At times, the dialogue and scenes feel truly epic, yet they are quickly undercut by fluffy, love-bubble moments that seem more suited for early teens. With episodes running only 30–45 minutes, the show often downplays serious issues just to insert romance, and these lighter scenes end up taking even more screen time than the plot deserves.

What I had hoped to see was a story centered on He Yan—her legendary reputation as a general, her brilliance as a battlefield tactician, and her skill as a martial artist. Instead, the narrative leans heavily on a childish romance with the male lead, sprinkling in only a few fighting scenes in an unconvincing attempt to showcase her strength.

Despite this imbalance, I still watched through to the end, hoping for redemption. The core story is genuinely strong, but the forced romance, misplaced focus, and glossing over of critical issues hold it back. The true highlight remains He Yan’s fighting scenes, which revealed the kind of depth and power the series could have delivered if it had trusted its own potential.

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This is bigger than us

Who always expects a typical BL will probably be disappointed because this series is so much more. Instead of just giving us a series with a good plot, Not Me manages to combine sophistication and entertainment to create unique art.
This series breaks conventions on so many levels, be it visual, auditory (one of the best soundtracks!), or narrative, and ultimately sweeps you away with a storm of emotion.
It has a lot of epic scenes to offer when the sun shines through the palm of a hand and the words "Freedom is the oxygen of life" can be heard, it touches you just as much when a deaf-mute mother tells of her unemployment or when main character Gun dances under a rainbow flag and shouts loudly for equality and justice.
But Not Me is not a clean, beautiful series. It is a bloody and dirty ballad, told with rage, but also a vulnerability, as only the affected themselves can do.
To sum it up, Not Me is an exceptional show that breaks up multiple genres and takes you on a trip, that leaves you breathless and exhausted. But it’s also an important series, who dares to say true things in a world that is getting more and more out of joint.

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A lot of shock value, but little story value

After seeing the high ratings this drama has on pretty much every platform I had pretty high expectations and was unfortunately kind of let down.
While the beginning (especially the first episode) starts off pretty strong, the drama soon wastes most of that potential within its first 4 episodes. A bunch of strikingly different characters are introduced very quickly, but instead of deepening their characters with detailed looks into their past the drama just gives a few superficial (and pretty stereotypical) glimpses of their backstory and never really developes past the characters being rather one dimensional and predictable. We have Sieun being a psychopath, Suho being a loyal, but mostly unserious cool guy and Beomseok... well, he is just kind of there.
Many interesting characters disappear as fast fast as they appear (for example Seokdae) and instead of taking their time to develop the story through more subtle changes of character we get fight scene after fight scene, with characters unrealistically changing within minutes and crossing, double crossing, triple crossing each other faster than you can blink.
All of what is happenning in these 8 episodes could have been easily spread over 16 or more episodes, giving more backstory and letting friendships (and enemyships) develop more slowly and naturally (and not pull so many last season of Game of Thrones moves).

The reason my rating is still relatively high after all this criticism is that nonetheless the acting is pretty good, and the teenage angst, insecurity and despair to belong definitely is palpable. And although the story seems rather rushed, it does keep you on the edge of your seat... even though that is mostly only thanks to the shock value of the extreme violence depicted.
Besides that the use of music is subtle, but effective, the show is beautifully shot and the fight scenes are well choreographed.

Overall it's not a bad show, just not as deep as people make it out to be, and not as interesting as to justify its astronomically high ratings.

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A Breathtaking Start to an Epic BL Fantasy which Started as a Masterpiece but Collapsed by the End

Rated a 10 out of 10 at the start but now an 8 out of 10.

The Cursed Love started as an absolutely epic series. The opening was everything I hoped for and more. From the very first scene, it pulls you in with its powerful atmosphere, striking visuals, and a sense of mystery that lingers long after. The forest and mountain scenery are breathtaking. Lush, cinematic, and completely immersive. Every shot feels intentional, from the vibrant greens of nature to the magical aura layered throughout the landscape.

The action scenes in the early episodes are sharp and intense, blending fantasy elements with emotional weight. The production quality is genuinely impressive. The costumes, the lighting, the music. Everything comes together to create a believable and hauntingly magical world. The flashbacks add depth and tease a rich backstory that felt exciting to explore.
This was my first time seeing Au and Ongsa on screen and they were incredible. Their chemistry is so natural. The way they look at each other and that quiet overnight moment were soft, intimate, and genuinely moving. Their connection felt fated and promised something deeper than a typical romance. The entire vibe even reminded me of The Sign with its blend of mystery, fantasy, and aching emotion.

But as the series continued, the issues started piling up. The plot became messy and confusing with too many threads and not enough clarity. The romance between the main leads almost disappeared, leaving very little emotional progression. The villains kept shooting nonstop and it felt like characters were dying just for the sake of it. The GL couple and the second couple had no real development and their kiss at the end felt forced. The fighting scenes and stunt work became weaker over time and the product placement advertisements were distracting. Worst of all was the ending. It was rushed, incomplete, and filled with missing pieces, leaving the story feeling unfinished.

Overall, the scenery is stunning and the wind, fire, and water magic is a highlight, but the messy plot and wasted potential of such a strong cast turned what began as a perfect ten into a disappointing eight.

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Worst Season 2 of a BL EVER

To say I'm disappointed in this season 2 would be a serious understatement. This is the WORST season 2 of a BL I've ever seen. There's no way the writers thought this show had good writing. So many plot holes, inconsistencies, and overall things that just didn't make sense. Don't get me started on how irritating and annoying the new characters are. I could go on forever how terrible of a character Willy was. To have a character assault Babe MULTIPLE times and get away with it with just a pat on the back is INSULTING. No way the writers thought that was appropriate not only for the show but just in general to be shown. How sorry I feel for the victims of assault for having their trauma being portrayed as a mere plotline thrown in there for shock value. I could go on forever about Willy, but I want to speak on other things.

The side couples were written so poorly and even the main couple at that. NorthSonic isn't even considered a couple in my eyes. They've been dragged out for way too long and their writing wasn't even worth seeing in the show. Sonic is an annoying brat that needs everything done for him which makes being in a relationship with him extremely tiring. He annoyed me the whole season and frankly didn't need to be with North. North deserved better. I couldn't imagine having to wait for the person you're literally in love with for that long and then that person being the brattiest person. In the end, their story and relationship were not worth it this time around. PeteChris did not interest me enough to watch their scenes for more than a few seconds. I skipped most of their scenes. Pete is so delusional and it's cringy to look at. I wasn't shocked that they didn't become a couple till the end. Their screentime could've gone to more important things. KimKenta were wasted potential. I didn't like them like that but even I know that their whole relationship was wasted. This couple just seems like something the fans wanted so the writers wrote something for them. I didn't even envision them as a couple. Also, why did Kenta have to rely on other characters so heavily? He was either a part of KimKenta or being Tony's prisoner. His character deserved so much better.

CharlieBabe and AlanJeff need their own paragraph. I'll start with CharlieBabe. Them being the main couple and characters did not stop the writers from writing them horribly. Them constantly breaking up and lying to each other was too much and didn't even make sense. Them in season 1 would have never had that much of miscommunication. The writers got incredibly lazy. The whole WillyBabe thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Everything about that was dumb and unnecessary. Babe in season 1 would have never thought to cheat or do anything along the lines of cheating to Charlie. I have the same thoughts on AlanJeff. The lying that Alan did to Jeff was truly out of character. Alan's character seemed completely rewritten by someone. They did not understand him in season 1. Jeff was better than me for staying and wanting to marry someone who lied to him. Overall, the main couples were done dirty by the writing.

Winner was so annoying and pathetic that he got himself a paragraph too. Never in my life have I seen a character more pathetic in my life. Truly can't understand why he got away after all the things he did. With this type of writing, I don't expect any realism or things that make sense. In the end, I didn't care for him at all, and I don't feel bad.

Dean was a character that tried to prove himself multiple times and was shut down at every time. He was a character that didn't even feel like he was in the show since he was in a coma half the show it felt like. Another character that was done dirty by the writers. I was glad at the end that he was forgiven.

Tony is the last character that I'm going to talk about before I say the conclusion. PATHETIC. That's the only word I could use to describe him. I don't know why he thought that singing the same song was going to work. In the end, nothing he did worked, and he died knowing that Babe did not care about him.

Overall, the show was below average. How it's not the worst thing I've ever seen is fascinating. The actors and their acting were the only thing that saved this awful show. I hope the actors get better work in the future that doesn't have this bad of writing. The story felt flat and there is nothing much worthy of watching this show. This show was just a way to show off Willy and that is the reason why this shouldn't even be called Pit Babe. Not worth it.

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Normalizing toxic relationships 101

This show is the worst thing I've watched in a while...
Why is it normalized that Diao and Kuea are literally SCARED of the people that should love them?
How are Kuea and Lian supposed to be close
childhood friends even though they can't have a conversation about anything else than their relationship? Don't they have any common interests?

The characters of this show are puppets, flatly written to somehow drive the barely existent "plot" to some fan service, (there are so many unnecessary kiss scenes!) and then slip into the next recycled filler material about how they betray and gaslight eachother. These relationships are so unhealthy!
I was also just disgusted by the way that Hia Yi and Hia Lian treat Kuea and Diao like they are their dogs, it was infuriating! Two of the few things they did right in the show were letting Kon Diao stand up for himself and having Kuea be determined to call off the engagement (Only at first unfortunately). The glaring problems in their relationships were rather ignored instead of actually solved.

Despite the weird premise of the show I was genuinely hoping that the main couples were going to develop a meaningful connection over time, but there was barely any development. In fact for example, instead of showing his rebellious side more as the show went on, it felt like Kuea adopted a part of the "Annabelle " mindset more and more as his real personality. Just saying yes, smiling, shallow sweet talk and ditching the last bit of depth his Character had, until his breakdown when Lian proposed to him (The only emotional moment, I could actually get invested in). But afterwards he quickly paddeled back into mindlessly
obeying Lian.

Onto the next problem: Yi and Lian seem always keen on making Diao and Kuea as dependent on them as possible, taking their autonomy and controlling them, which is being portrayed as cute and caring, but it is plain toxic.

The "friendship" between Yi and Lian was also very lackluster, when they were meeting up they always just seemed annoyed and were missing, like pretty much any relationship in the show, any real common interests apart from being business partners.
Fortunately at least Kon Diao and Kuea's friendship was overall supportive and one of the few positive parts in the series.

Side note: I do appreciate the effort the actors put into portraying the characters well, but even good actors can't save a badly written show.

The only romantic relationship that wasn't absurdly unhealthy was the one of Syn and Nuer, they seemed to actually be on one wave length and even though their relationship was also lacking depth, it was still very cute and worth watching.

I truly believe that this show was made for a kind of thirsty viewers who don't really care about the plot as long as there are plenty kissing scenes between two hot actors (even if the kisses don't really feel romantic), as this is the only way I can explain why this show isn't as widely called out for what it is:

(also tldr) A substance lacking excuse for kissing scenes with a plotline almost exclusively consisting of normalizing unhealthy relationships, a few good songs and 10 minutes of preachy dialogue in the beginning and end, that can't be taken seriously, because nothing said is actually reflected in the show.
They should have called this series "normalizing toxic relationships 101"

I'm very disappointed, what a waste of time!

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A strong first half that dwindled into the biggest disappointment of this year

For something to 'disappoint' you, you must have had high expectations of it to begin with. And with the way this show started off, many would not have been unreasonable to see its vast potential and expect the show to live up to that potential throughout its duration.

By episode 4, the writer had a rich plot and a set of decently shaded, fascinating characters that were just begging to have their stories told. What started off as a tale of a prickly girl learning to live again with the help of a happy-go-lucky boy-angel dissolved into a hapless mess about two star-crossed lovers being forced apart by a wholly unsympathetic diety whose intentions nobody in this drama understood (not even the writer it seems).

It’s just...GOOD GOD...it had so much going for it you know?!? One of the biggest mistakes this drama made was when it shifted the focus off the female lead’s journey, i.e. her return to ballet, her scheming relatives, her emotional growth, and instead onto the ill-constructed love story between her and the male lead.

Being a romance, a love connection between the two was imminent. But I just wished it had been executed and drawn out better. Not only did it seem to come completely out of left-field, but also Dan and Yeon Seo's relationship was never explored to the extent where it would be believable that they were truly as crazy about each other as depicted in the drama. When does companionship equal passionate love? All I saw was a budding friendship that suddenly turned into a love-or-die kind of affair, which was jarring at best.

Secondary characters had extremely promising trajectories, which were abandoned halfway through the drama in favour of blander plot elements. Ji Kang Woo, a director at Yeon Seo's ballet company was being set up as a noteworthy second lead, and had a fascinating backstory that could've been used to elevate the fantasy aspect to so much more. Furthermore, he had such an intriguing relationship with the second female lead, Geum Nina, that to not expand on it was a disservice to this entire production. Instead, whatever Nina and Ji Kang Woo had soon dissipated into screeching one-sided love declarations from the former, while the latter coldly brushed her off in favour of the forever-pristine main female lead.

All in all, the writer set up some grand goals for herself and failed to follow them through. The lacklustre ending more or less demonstrated this perfectly, as the main couple are reunited in the last five minutes with no explanation given whatsoever. It's almost disrespectful to the characters and the battle they fought to be with each other in the second half of the drama. What writer is shameless enough to build the entire drama around a singular conflict, only to resolve it with one of the most half-assed endings of all time? Other than the writer of About Time, THIS one.

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The fairytale that wasn't

If you've been seeking out a review from someone who racked their head to find one, just one positive thing about The Next Prince and pathetically failed.. Congrats! You found it.
Fair warning - I'm going to tell you what this series was about but if it comes across like I'm desperately trying to convince you not to watch it, it's not me, it's them. The makers of The Next Prince have come up with a series so devoid of soul that there's isn't a single thing I can say to convince you in earnest to give this a try, and honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to.

This felt like a script idea that they fed into ChatGPT with the words
"Write a series that is based on The Princess Diaries, Harry Potter, Hunger Games and a few other movies of your choosing. Most importantly, make it as boring as you can."

The story develops from Kenneth being an outsider in an unknown environment to a story about singing protests?
Kenneth is Khanin by the way, the lead. I can't call him anything else.

Anyway, the story starts out with Kenneth being this smart, sassy and bratty fencer who is living his life in England, until Charan (played by the increasingly stone faced Zee) kidnaps him and takes him back to some fictitious kingdom that can't be situated on any world map, Emmaly. Kenneth, as it turns out, is the kingdom's long lost prince.

Emmaly has a weird monarchy, it is split into four regions ruled by princes and Kenneth's grandfather is currently the king and he rules all of Emmaly. His biological dad is one of the contenders for the throne because irrespective of time and space, once in a while, there is a competition where the grandchildren of all four regions essentially compete in a Hunger Games-esque competition so that their fathers can become the next rulers. Incredible. Basically, Kenneth has been kidnapped to compete in his father's stead.

But our boy doesn't take it sitting - he's away from home, his adoptive dad is pronounced to be dead by Charan, he's a wreck. He lashes out, he tries to topple the monarchy (not really). For all of two episodes. Because Kenneth is surprisingly resilient. He is a duck's back. He's being an absolute delight, taking classes, being his princely self all with a bit of flirtatious rebellion because of course. You would think that this is all pretence - so he can root the monarchy from the ground within and run off to find his dad, but no, he loves it. And he's in love! With Charan, the dude who almost made him vomit just from the sight of maybe two episodes ago.

He's in love, and he's willing to do the competition because.. reasons. So the rest of the story obviously has to be about the competition? Now that we've successfully become the epitome of royalty, and completely forgotten about everything else? Wrong.

This is where the story pivots into fan fiction. Specifically for Kenneth and Charan. The public ships them after they dance together during Kenneth's reintroduction to society and about three episodes are dedicated to their fake relationship to improve Kenneth's PR imagine. They visit all the kingdoms, they go clubbing, we learn about Charan's trauma and they almost kiss. All this while, Kenneth's Grandpa has been doing some evil plotting involving separating the two of them - but because plot said so, he obviously can't. But Grandpa's evil arc isn't over yet.. not by a long shot.

They romance and other unnecessary stuff like a second and third couple development happens, only to stop there because they get no more development. There are assassination attempts when the focus, shockingly, shifts back to the competition for a half a minute, but before we know it, they're romancing again. This is where stuff gets genuinely bad though.

They bring in the storyline of mining protests, which I was told was based on real life events (thanks Jojo), but if you were going to do that, why not take it more seriously? Singing protests, abrupt mood shifts, there was no real substance to that plot point, which somehow became all about Kenneth. He was supposed to be the person who grounded everyone else, yet somehow he came across as the most set apart from reality of them all. Grandpa is obviously involved in this - he's been involved in a lot of shady stuff all this while.

And because Grandpa's evil deeds know no extent, we find out that all the protests and the assassinations, literally everything had to do with - revenge on him. Which admittedly, is predictable but not bad. This may have been the only plotline that actually made sense and kind of did tie the story together and that's good. But not when it lasted all of one episode before the focus was shifted back to a useless competition.

But we got a happy ending of course! With complete ignorance of all the plot holes, missing characters and horrific storylines they pulled off, but who cares! All that matters is that we get one more awkward NC scene as cherry on top right?

It's so unbelievably sad how quickly this sank, maybe it was bad from the beginning but I was too wrapped up in what could have been to actually see that. And what could have been huh? I genuinely would not have minded a very fan fiction, silly type of series with abrupt comedy and some weird storylines. But in being so serious, the writers have turned the story into a serious mess. The mood shifts were jarring, the storylines were incredibly choppy, the logic was all over the place..

The characters writing was atrocious. I thought for a couple of episodes that we were finally moving on from the caricatures that Zee and NuNew so often play, but old habits die hard I guess, we were back to whiny and emotionless characters in a minute. And I'm sorry (not sorry) but Zee and NuNew have no chemistry. I was bored out my mind watching them on screen, I felt no real bond because their relationship was so rushed and most of it was awkward and uncomfortable to watch.

Ohm and Jimmy had potential as Ramil and Paytai, but their characters are once again, written so horrifically you can't root for them. Net and JJ looked like they would prefer to be literally anywhere but in this series, who can blame them?
I genuinely hope their individual shows can make better use of their chemistry, because admittedly, they do have some. But this series spent an absymal amount of time on either of them, so what do I know.
And all the other characters were either written badly and had some screentime, or were written badly and had no screentime. A select few like Ava and Chakri were written comparatively well, but had no screentime.

All the investment in making it look pretty. But what use is holographic video calls when your plot is less stable than the Internet connection they used for those calls? This could've easily been an eight episode series with the most incredible plot, crisp and concise, with great couples and cinematography. What we got was dressed up nonsense.

I wasted around 15 hours experiencing pure torment and wouldn't want you doing the same, so if you want to watch it.. I don't know.. do something productive while you watch? Maybe five sit ups everytime they do or say something egregious. Or journal. Do your dishes. Dealer's choice.

Because remember, at the end of the day, this is the series that hinged on Zee's abs to do all the heavy lifting.

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