Reviews

A Royal Concept with Missed Opportunities

It’s been a few weeks since I finished the series and I wanted to share my thoughts. First, I want to talk about the plot. For me, the concept is interesting because it revolves around a monarchy, which isn’t something you usually see in a BL. But the execution, or how they delivered the story, felt a bit meh. They really should have added more depth to Ramil’s story, because honestly, his arc was more interesting than the main couple’s. Early on, I actually thought Prince Rachata was the villain. And I get it, it is a good twist if the true villain is someone who has no heir. But they should have explored Ramil more. Instead of focusing only on Prince Rachata wanting to bring power back to his kingdom, it would have been better if they showed him pushing Ramil harder in training to redeem his loss in the previous royal competition, since it is a tradition. And we already know he lost that competition because Khanin’s grandfather became king. That angle could have made his final conversation with Ramil so much more powerful.

For the cinematography, some of the shots were genuinely impressive and you can tell they had the budget for certain scenes. But other moments didn’t match that quality at all. For example, the scenes where they travel to different kingdoms and the parts where Khanin is shown exploring the area feel very tight and confined. You can clearly sense that it was filmed in a studio, and it makes the world feel small instead of grand. The atmosphere doesn’t give the illusion of a large kingdom with bustling people. Instead, it looks like there are only a few extras walking around, which makes the setting feel empty and less immersive. If they had expanded those scenes or filmed in wider outdoor locations, it would have helped the story feel more alive and the world more believable.

As for the main couple, they ended up being the least interesting part of the series. There is no deeper story behind them and their relationship moves too fast. Charan is supposed to be a royal bodyguard, but his fight scenes are so underwhelming. I have watched a lot of action movies and series, so I know what good choreography looks like, and honestly, his scenes made me question whether he is really meant to be a royal guard. And their NC scene was also disappointing. A lot of people online were hyping it up, but it felt bland to me. Maybe it is because they are in love, I am not sure. I actually liked Ramil and Paytai’s NC scene more. The main couple was basically just kissing while naked and there was nothing special about it.

My favorite part of the series is the ballroom dance scene. It was so magical and the song made it even better. I have actually had that song on repeat for the past few weeks.

Overall, The Next Prince had a lot of potential, especially with its unique monarchy concept and a few standout moments like the ballroom dance scene. But the series struggled with pacing and character depth, especially when it came to the main couple. Some characters deserved more development, and some scenes felt rushed or underwhelming. Even so, there were parts I genuinely enjoyed, and I still think the story could have been something great with stronger execution.

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Mostly style over substance

22 episodes at approximately 20 minutes each is exactly my style in speed. What it means is you can’t have too many fillers and you have to get on with the story..
This show is not bad. I really like the cast and the story is a slightly different take on the reincarnation trope.. the female lead is born again into a different character, but three years before but is identical to herself in this timeline if that makes sense. She eventually gets together with the ML in this version and they fought her father the main antagonist who killed her mother and who plans a rebellion but is taken down by our heroeswith the help of the Crown Prince and her former herself from three years ago.. the one thing I will say about the FL is that her former self was a bad character. She actually was a villain and you have to suspend belief to reconcile a change between the two even though they are the same person. Overall it was enjoyable though they ended it with her being the author of this story in modern times and meeting the ML and having love at first sight as it ended. Not too shabby.

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Letdown by doormat FL and lack of communication between the couple

I am a huge fan of Xie Yu Wang and have watched his older drama with Lu Lu Lu a few weeks ago. I was pumped when I heard about this drama because it's the second time Xie Yu Wang has paired with Lu Lu Lu. I was left disappointed by the time this drama ended.

What I liked:
1. Kisses - I loved XYW's kissing scenes. When permitted, he always expresses desire & passion in his kissing scenes, including those in this drama.
2. Twin trope - I liked how this story was done even thought the overall vibe was negative. There was a refreshing twist to the twin trope.
3. Styling - I liked XYW's clothes. The most stylish outfits I had seen on him.
4. Supporting characters - I liked FL's bestie because she was rational and most of the time, smarter than FL. I also liked FL's daughter.
5. Dynamics - I enjoyed watching interactions between ML and FL's daughter.

What I disliked:
1. Antagonists - ML's mother was annoying & evil. She favoured her eldest son over younger son. She disliked her daughter-in-law that led to disliking and punishing her granddaughter. I also disliked FL's family because they were parasites. Only concerned about wealth. The green tea character was pathetic.
2. Romance - They had sex but were distant & hardly communicated. FL kept on insisting on divorce due to pressure from her in laws. She was stupid.
3. FL characterisation - She was doormat - no wonder she was easy to be bullied. She married Si Ye out of guilt / pressure but never sought partnership from the marriage.

Favourite scene
When ML ate ice cream with FL's daughter

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When Memories Become Home: A Story That Stays With You

Watching Mystique in the Mirror felt like stepping into a world I didn’t realize I needed — a world that held my heart from the very beginning and slowly, gently, broke it in the most beautiful way. From the first episode, I knew this series was going to take me somewhere emotional, somewhere unexpected, somewhere deep.

The story pulls you in with its mystery, but what keeps you there is the way it makes you feel. Every moment carries a sense of longing, confusion, and quiet heartbreak as the truth slowly unfolds. The plot is rich with twists and layers, giving you puzzles to solve and emotions to untangle, all leading to a revelation that hits with full force.

The acting is truly exceptional — every expression, every silence, every glance feels real. The chemistry between the main leads, Alan and Win, is simply stunning. There’s a softness and sincerity in their connection that makes their love story unforgettable. You believe in their bond, in their history, in their forever.

By the time the last episode came, I felt everything at once — sorrow, understanding, grief, and gratitude. Watching Alan face the truth of his past, watching him hold onto the memories that made him happiest, and finally seeing him reunited with Win… it felt like a gentle ache in the heart that stays long after the screen goes dark.

Mystique in the Mirror isn’t just emotional — it’s deeply human. A story about love that refuses to fade, even when the mind does. I’m truly thankful that I watched it.

✨🩶🌙 A beautiful journey I’ll never forget.

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Second chance of what exactly?

I started this drama mainly because the trailer seemed so intruguing and also for Wallace chung and Qin Lan who are both mature and good actor/actress.

What seemingly looked like a mature romance about second chance love turned into nonesense because of a poor script, bad development, and bad directing. Even the production wasted so many materials.

The whole story revolved around a very selfish, controlling mother and that's it. Something was missing in this drama all the time. The leads were like robots. Romance showed up after almost 20 episodes of nothing happening, and there was no development. It was as if the writer was having visions and wrote things based on that LOL

For this drama to make sense i had to FF all the episodes after episode 5 ( because till episode 5 the whole drama looked promising but nope). You won't get something out of this drama if you watch it. I didn't drop it because i wanted to see how a hot mess can end.

Overall, don't waste your time. A totally wasted material.

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Great chemistry between Min Jie and Chen Ci - I enjoyed this drama

I was told by someone in subreddit CShortDramas that there is a cosplay scene in this drama. The fact that I could never find a Min Jie drama that I enjoyed prompted me to watch this drama. Glad I did because I enjoyed it.

What I liked:
1. Romance - plenty of kisses. I liked that FL tended to ML's needs. She made effort to love ML because in most vertical dramas, MLs are the ones making initiatives. I could sense growing love and affections between them.
2. FL characterisation - I liked her genuine care for ML. The temple scene was heartwarming.
3. Styling - I really liked ML's clothes. He wore a lot of collarless shirts that I often saw in Japanese clothing store Uniqlo. The cosplay scene was sexy and sweet - I liked it very much!
4. ML characterisation - I liked seeing his character grow. He was also smart in protecting himself from danger.
5. Acting - Min Jie and Chen Ci were good in their roles. They had excellent chemistry - I believed their love journey. Finally I found a Min Jie drama that I enjoyed.

What I disliked:
1. Antagonists - FL's family was fake & greedy. Their reaction upon hearing FL's characters was unbelievable. Sadly ML's family was evil too.
2. ML's action - I disliked him for holding FL captive.
3. Duration - At 2 hours 50 minutes, this drama was too long for me.

Favourite scene
When FL made her entrance after "fake" death

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Wolves in Sheep's Clothing VS The Grizzled Sheep Herder

Hello and welcome back to my dear review as usual. First of all, I need to tell you guys a great news – my exam period is over and now I’ve got a large amount of time to skim through dramas and write numerous reviews again (unlike my on-off hiatus period where I kept delaying). So, today’s review is about “Love on the Turquoise Land”, one of Wei Yu’s latest works which has gotten its live-action version. See my take about it below…

“Love on the Turquoise Land” is a thriller sci-fi based on Wei Yu’s novel, which has a similar name as this one. It tells the story about the earth fiends, which has been terrorizing the humankind for centuries. I don’t really know how earth fiends come to exist today, but they may have some kind of mutated DNA or contract an unknown stuff, transforming them from ordinary humans into earth fiends. Due to the rampant earth fiends on the earth, the ancient emperor sent a special envoy to thwart the earth fiends and protect the humans. They will be later known as Nanshan Hunters, its legacy continues until this day (though the number of members is dwindling day by day).

By chance, one of its hunters is none other than Nie Jiuluo, also known as “Mad Blade”. She inherits the title following her mother’s sudden disappearance and her father’s suicide due to depression. As “Mad Blade”, Jiuluo isn’t exactly thrilled and badly wants to resign from the organization because it constantly reminds her of her late parents. Years pass and Jiuluo grows into an astute yet exceptionally beautiful woman. To spend her free time, Jiuluo practices sculpting and sells her arts to make ends meet.

In one of her travels to the countryside, she accidentally meets her fated partner, Yan Tuo. On the outside, he is Roadsound Group’s general manager. But inside, he is being controlled strictly by a mysterious woman named Lin Xirou (who steals his mother’s original name) and is seeking to gain the so-called freedom. At first, they have the kind of enemies-to-lovers vibes as they never see eye-to-eye plus they’re on different sides from the get go. However, as time passes by, they begin to understand each other’s inner wound and heal themselves as they carry out high-stake missions to end the existence of the deadly earth fiends.

Joining in their groups are Lv Xian (Yan Tuo’s doctor friend), Lin Ling (Yan Tuo’s adoptive sister), Yu Rong (“Ghost Whip” who only returns to China for the sake of quelling the earth fiends), Xing Shen (“Mad Dog”, a queer bigot who has a high prejudice against Yan Tuo, definitely always up to no good), and more Nanshan Hunters on the go.

If I want to be honest, the premise is actually intriguing and makes me deep-seated for this drama (since it’s Wei Yu’s project, of course I’ll watch it). Moreover, the earth fiend also sounds like a new plot device, which has never been touched by other sci-fi dramas before (except for “The Seven Relics of Ill Omen”). Last but not least, we’ve got a new plot twist where the earth fiends ACTUALLY transform into humanoid creatures and blend into the human world seamlessly that it is very hard to make a discrepancy between a human and an earth fiend. So, Nanshan Hunters’ task is to learn how these virulent creatures manage to turn into humans and how to stop them before the whole world is turned upside down by the fiends (FYI, fiends need blood bags to ensure their well-beings by forcing humans to have sexual interaction with the fiends and produce an offspring (blood bag, I mean)).

Despite the mysterious yet enthralling premise, the drama falls short in the plot including the how’s and why’s. First of all, Nanshan Hunters need to be modernized fully – since when people still use hammers as weapons? I do agree blades and whips are also antique weapons, but I still have a deep affinity for them, which is why I won’t be complaining about those two. Nanshan Hunters are quite indigent in terms of income earnings since they won’t even buy new equipment and prefer to eat and laugh and drink or brooding instead.

Second, the antagonists always seem to be having an upper hand (same case with “Snow Eagle Lord”) and Lin Xirou and her little gang get a considerable amount of screentime, which I immediately skip because I can’t stand how slow she speaks and talks (it’s an essential point for an antagonist, but maybe I’m just being impatient here). In addition, Lin Xirou also has many modern gadgets in the mansion and the farmhouse (where she experiments with the transformation). Also, other than Feng Mi, I can’t stand the other earth fiends (especially get pissed off by Xiong Hei).

Third, weak ML. If you watch carefully, Yan Tuo is pretty weak and fragile in combat skills (on par with Qin Fang from “Rattan”). All he does is acting and sweet-talking Lin Xirou as if life were a slapstick comedy series, tailing other people, spying, recording, trespassing, or brooding (waiting for Jiuluo to save him). Even when he cradles the tranquilizer gun as if it were a little baby, it doesn’t help with his brittleness and makes him look more pathetic, if you ask me.

Fourth, the wacky ending and WTH the amnesia plot is for? To me, the ending seems to be off a little bit and why does Jiuluo has to forget everything about Yan Tuo, but remembers other people like Ms. Lu and Yu Rong? And after he takes her out from the membrane bubble her mother creates, how can he dive back to the shore with Jiuluo on his back (oxygen may not be fully sufficient)? All of these are plot holes like blah blah blah and suddenly you’ve got a beautiful ending even though it’s not.

Fifth, Yan Tuo’s sister Yan Xin is another wasted plot device as he’s hellbent on searching for him when Lin Xirou only takes a second to inform him that she’s also dead alongside his murdered parents.

After the plot holes, I’ll talk about the acting. As usual, Dilraba Dilmurat delivers a phenomenal act as the badass Nie Jiuluo and embodies her character seamlessly. Other than her, I can’t imagine who can pull off such a complex girl like her. Meanwhile, for Chen Xingxu, it’s my first drama of him (I’m sorry to say that I’m not a fan of his, so I’ve always been avoiding his projects, and if it hadn’t been for Wei Yu, maybe I would’ve skipped his drama), and I don’t what to say about him honestly – he does well portraying Yan Tuo’s conflicted emotions, but he still has room for improvement. For Lin Xirou’s actress, Zhang Li, I truly want to say her performance is laudable and I hope see her more (but not in Lin Xirou’s fashion anymore). Other casts are good to mediocre at best – that’s all I can say.

CGI, background, settings are so-so to me (the fiends look tacky, and the lighting is so f*cking dark, I have to enhance my screen’s lighting so I can see visibly, normally I won’t do this tho). As for the OSTs, I can’t say too much as I tend to skip the opening and ending credits (my habit) and the drama provides only “Paper Star” by Yisa Yu during the confession part. I badly need an ooze of the opera song, but I’m just too lazy for it TT.

Will I be rewatching? Only for the first few skirmishes between Jiuluo and Yan Tuo. And the rest can be buried beneath the grounds. I’m sorry if I’m yapping too much because I’ve been bottling my feelings up for days before I finally pour it into this review. Okay, time to end it, good luck and happy watching!!!

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Loved it

Though a lot of the other reviews are rather negative, I really liked the series. I do understand that it is hard to watch when you haven't read the novel yet. A lot of the story has been cut because it had to fit into the 12 episodes.

The chemistry between the actresses was amazing and the acting was also amazing. Fay and May really embodied their characters.
The story is a bit slow, that is true, but that's because the love story is a slowburn. Though normally we watch thai GL for the "GL"-part, I did like the yearning and the misunderstandings. That is what makes this series stand out from other series.

A small minus point was that they never went deeper into why they were dreaming about each other.

All in all, I would watch it again.

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Love can exist even in the most impossible way

Watching Snowdrop felt like stepping into a world that was beautiful, heartbreaking, and emotionally overwhelming all at once. At first, I thought it would be a simple romantic drama, but as the story unfolded, I realized it was so much deeper. The chemistry between Young-ro and Soo-ho pulled me in immediately—there was something so pure yet painful about how their connection grew despite the chaos around them.

The show really played with my emotions. One moment I was smiling at their soft interactions, then suddenly my heart was sinking because of the tension, betrayal, and the constant fear of what might happen next. The way the story mixed politics, sacrifice, and love made everything feel heavier, and honestly, there were scenes that stayed in my mind long after I finished watching.

What really hit me was how the drama showed that love can exist even in the most impossible situations—and how sometimes, loving someone means facing pain you never expected. Snowdrop wasn’t just a drama for me; it felt like an emotional journey I wasn’t prepared for, but I’m glad I experienced.

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The BL we all wanted

This was sooo refreshing to watch… ohh I love when we have good looking male leads in a show and when these two are the couple, hell yeah ,,,, it was a very very good watch. I loved their sizzling chemistry, watching their journey of falling head over heels for each other was soooo endearing.. I melted into a puddle with how amazing they looked together.. everything was spot on.. they made it sooo natural, it was like being there with them and watching their love story…. I need a part 2 pleaseeee, directors, plz trust me when I say this, we will eat up their happy domestic life in a drama. We will …

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Pretty disappointing

I blame my high expectations.
I expected too much and ended up with crumbs.

Now I'm not saying that this is a bad show per se, it's actually the best quality domundi had ever made, but still it's not flawless and not at all deserves this high rating.

Now I shall say what I liked and didn't like about this.

1- acting: everyone was amazing and I was really impressed by Keng, the first scene he appears in was spectacular, and the way he carries his character till the end was really good, also side characters were amazing specially FirstOne and Tle.

On the other hand, Namping was terrible, and I'm really sorry to say that, but him being the MAIN character is a heavy weight I'm not sure he is ready to carry yet, and I'm more sorry to judge him like that but the show is in his character name, mate literally just standed there, said the bare minimum he has too little script to deliver, his hands are glued to his side, he walks without moving his arms at all, and his shoulders are slightly up as if someone spilled cold water on him in the middle of December's winter, with little to no facial expressions at all, so I'm absolutely and utterly disappointed that Domundi focused on improving the show quality and yet this is who they decided to give the role of Khemjira to.

2-story: the beginning was amazing really catches your attention, but after a few episodes everything is so random, we have things that happens thoughtlessly, where is the ghost? What is she doing? Why did she stop harassing him? No answers, also some inconsistency in the plot like they are at school but don't attend it, and then we learn that they are on a break but once Khem decide to go back on a whim, he is back to school again like this part is confusing, and the end was really really anticlimactic, like a monk and a few chantings? Why didn't they do that earlier!! Why didn't they solve that grudge before it got to this point, and how was he alive all that time, if she is that strong why couldn't she take revenge earlier?

I skipped some other illogical things because they are necessary for the plot, still I couldn't help but having them spinning in the back of my head while watching.

3- characters: I said that a billion time before but personally it's hard to like a show if I hate one of the main characters, and here I didn't like both, I could stand Peem slightly more than Khem because of Keng, but he still was annoying in some parts, like mate why are you complicating everything? And Khem, why are you so damn pushy!!? Khem's character is just so ridiculous too, I know he has a female name, but I didn't know that he was also brought up as one!! He is so mushy, that's not someone surrounded by ghosts and scary stuff his whole life!! That is a 10YO girl, but it's a Domundi thing to cast the Uke as too feminine character, I just want to say if you really want a feminine MC, just cast a woman!! ALL female characters were so pretty and MORE masculine than Khemjira, he was the most feminine out of all the female characters in the show.
And that is not a compliment.

Am I being too harsh? Maybe, it's just too average and I expected too much that's why I'm slightly pissed off and disappointed tbh.
This had a few good things too, like Mix doppelganger and his blind lover, they were so sweet, actually FirstOne is the reason I continued watching, sadly I can't seem to be happy enough about any other tiny thing I enjoyed to write them down.

Lastly, lower your expectations and watch it. I would not necessarily suggest it if someone asks me about a show, but if you are contemplating whether to watch it or not, just give it a try, you may like it more than I did.

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