We are introduced to a kingdom of Emmaly in Thailand. There are 4 big clans who take turns running the kingdom deepening on which family proves to be a worthy successor. We are introduced to Khanin, a young man living in London and who is a pro fencer. Unknown to be him, he is the secret young prince who was sent to UK for his safety. One day the kind sends the royal guard Charan, to bring Khanin back to the kingdom to participate in a prestigious competition where the heirs of the royal clans compete, and the winner’s father will be crowned the new king. As you can imagine, this comes as a shock to Khanin. Once his identity is revealed there are some attempts to take his life but Charan eventually manages to bring Khanin back to the palace. Khanin take a while to get used to the formal life of the place. It is presumed that his father, the man who raised him got killed in the ambush in London. Once back here, he meets his fellow competitors and other family heads. While he gets used to the idea of fencing competition, at some point Khanin starts to fall for Charan and seduces him almost since Khanin is a royal guard. He is totally smitten by him, spending most of his time being needy, clingy and seeking Charan’s attention at the palace. This whole situation somehow feels very comical and just not "royal-like". Khanin's main rival is Prince Ramil, who has a secret boyfriend but his father gives him no love. Their rivalry starts off good but somewhere becasue of too many sub plots, it just loses the steam. Ramil asserts power in a few rescue scenes with his boyfriend in bedroom but everywhere else, he’s constantly belittled and bullied by his father. There is another princess also in the mix for the competition but there is not much story to it. Eventually as you would expect, the competition happens, lots of drama, mysteries uncovered. Khanin eventually wins leading to his real father becoming the king. All this while his one affair with Charan continues.
The big problem with this show is that the storyline keeps dragging on and on forever introducing to us to more and more inconsequential subplots and twists and character assassination towards the end. While waiting for the issues to be resolved, you forget what the show is about- is it about Prince Khanin adapting to Emmaly’s culture, is it about his desire for change & evolution; or is it about his risque romance with his bodyguard, Charan? (Which was quite lackluster). The love affair starts off ok, but is also bit unbelievable in the way how Khanin behaves like a puppy dog in front of Charan. Also once the love is established, the makers did not know what to do with that and it pretty much starts relegated to the background. In contrast, the risqué romance between the other prince Romil and his boy was much more interesting, although there was just no reason for that at all. They have quite a few BDSM scenes between them. The polished cinematography, sparkling costumes and wide shots of castles and palaces screamed high budget and no one will be able to deny that the makers have really tried to go all out on this one, but only if they also focused on a bit character development here. Or maybe a story like this need a few seasons and should not have been a BL. I dont know. Also the product placement at a few places felt so odd, especially given the setting of the show. There are random club scenes, protest scenes, market scenes which look so fake clearly made in studio and don't feel organic at all. The writing is the biggest culprit here. The show submerges too many storylines into a show which gives too little time to develop them individually. How does Khanin just forget his life in UK and settles in a kingdom as if nothing happened? After a few episodes, my interest was lost and I kept hoping something interesting would happen but to just dragged, romance lost the steam quick and it became a snooze-fest. A very polished effort but only if just grand visuals could make for a compelling watch. (4.5/10)
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