**Wasted potential.**



It's really such a shame that this series started off so strong and then got diverted into half a dozen subplots and left the main couple in limbo for most of the series.

I really enjoy slowburn romances and shounen-ai series so I wasn't upset by the lack of intimacy between Great and Dech. I honestly felt like the pacing of their relationship made sense considering how their relationship is at the beginning of the series. Watching it develop from enemies to lovers over such a long period made their love seem more organic and natural which is something I really liked. Leng is such an endearing actor and he played Great so well it really was impossible not to grow fond of him and August did such a great job portraying Dech as stern, but never overbearing or antagonistic. I think both actors did such a great job. I also really enjoyed the initial episode layout, spending the bulk of the episode in the past, but then taking 10-15 minutes at the end to dedicate to the present timeline. I really liked seeing how the present drama was unfolding while Great was stuck in the past, but unfortunately the writers chose to switch the format and we got too see less and less of the present storyline and the writers sidelined nearly all of the character in favor of showing more and more of Sri.

People like to throw around the word queerbaiting a lot (usually targeted at shounen-ai series) but if you ask me this is what queerbaiting is. We were promised a time travel BL but instead we got a historical drama about a guy hung up on married women. Sri is an interesting character, but I didn't come here to watch a series about him. I came here to watch cute boys making out. The writers spent so much time on this one character who had nothing to do with the main plot that the show really suffered for it. All of the other side couple relationships were incredibly rushed, the subplot with Falcon was never even finished, and the ending was by far the most haphazardly put together ending I've ever seen, barely anything was explained.

For me this series could have easily been an 9 or even 9.5, but the obsessive focus on Sri bogged down the whole series. If you happen to like historical dramas and slowburn romances like I do than you'll probably like it about as much as I did or if you're a fan of the original hetero Love Destiny series and are interested in seeing the story include Sri than you might find this series worth the watch. But if you're here for yaoi and smut and couldn't care less about the historical figures being depicted here than you're not going to like this show. (Also just fair warning the ost for this series is hella overplayed, it's not that great of a song and it was on repeat for every single episode which was really annoying.)



General info for anyone wanting to know:

• Is the series spicy/nsfw? Yes, there are a few spicy scenes with the side couples and one them was really well done (you'll know it when you see it).

• Is there a love triangle? Randomly enough there is. Why it's there I have no clue, it had no bearing on the plot.

• Is there violence/noncon? Yes, there are fighting scenes with swords and guns, some of which lead to bloodshed, and there are also scenes depicting animal cruelty.

• Is the original Love Destiny series and/or book worth watching/reading? Wouldn't know, haven't read or watched either of them. I know they're not BLs so if that's what you're after than the answer would be no.