**The writers bit off more than they could chew.**



After reading reviews the number one complaint that I kept seeing pop up was the past and present timelines being told side by side, but I actually really liked this sort of frame narrative because typically when we have a reincarnation or time travel BL the story almost exclusively focuses on only one timeline/one story at a time and the other timeline only gets a few minutes at the beginning and/or ending of the series. With the two stories being told side by side though the audience is able to compare and contrast the characters and the relationships better. Unfortunately, the writers here got very hung up on explaining the past lives because around mid season the story's focus shifts more and more on to the past timeline and we only get a few snippets here and there of the present timeline. The storytelling became unbalanced and all of the problems and subplots from the present timeline were quietly swept under the rug which was very unfortunate. I wish they had explored more of the ghost powers, shown more of the temple and monks, discussed the relationship between Sin, Saen, and Ruedee, taken more care to explain the reincarnations, and actually taken the time to develop the relationship between present day Kaewta and Khun Yai. With that being said though the story that was told here was very lovely and moving, the death scenes from their past lives made me tear up and I was so excited when Kaewta and Khun Yai finally got their happy ending. The actors did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life and you can tell that the production team put in a lot of effort and care to build the setting. I think if they had kept the past timeline as only brief moments told through dream sequences for the audience to piece together the story would have been better off, but I still really liked it and I can understand why the writer's wanted to fully explain the past timeline, because there was a lot of emotional baggage to unpack from that side of the story, but it hindered the present timeline story from being told the way it should have been. Overall though, I definitely recommend giving this series a watch if historical dramas with a sprinkle of fantasy are your jam.



 

General info for anyone wanting to know:

• Is the series nsfw/spicy? Yes, the intimate scenes are fully shown and we get to see naked butts.

• Is there violence/noncon? Yes, there are fighting sequences, murders, suicides, a whole lot of emotional trauma, and a very brief noncon scene.

• Is there a love triangle? Yes, unfortunately. It becomes a whole thing.