genie234
Australia
This review may contain spoilers
Strong vocals with awkward acting and lacklustre storytelling
Rainbow Prince had a original idea, a musical themed BL which was very interesting and entertaining but it struggled in terms of quality. The story telling was average but the biggest issue was the acting.
Rainbow Prince is about Zeyn a prince from Zurbania who has to run off to the Philippines after his dad (the king) dies and his uncle Zafar stages a coup. The show mainly explores Zeyn living his new life in hiding in Manillia, with his aid and bodyguard. They work at hotel to survive and it is where Zeyn falls in love the hotel managers son the adorable Mickey who is also the hotel tourist guide. The show explores their romance and Zeyn's plans to return to Zurbania to take the rightful place as King.
Let's start with a positive. One of the impressive parts of the show was the singing and musical numbers. It's really hard to pull off writing numerous original pieces and the singing talent that was shown from EVERYONE was impressive. From the leads, Eurwin is a talented singer and his vocal control is insane but also Adrian shocked me. I thought he couldn't sing but when he finally broke into song half way into the series, he showed he does have the talent. I'm actually impressed by the whole cast, I wish I could go into everyone who slayed their numbers but the list is LONG. I think everyone was booked more on their singing ability rather than acting.
The series quality was unfortunately really rough and all over the place. The plot spent too much time seeing Zeyn's life in Manila when I wish they explored more on his plan to take back the throne in Zurbania. In the end we didn't actually see him plan the take over. We just got numerous scene of him saying he needs to make a plan and the actual scene where he does wins power from Zafar was anti-climatic. Throughout the whole series when it came to line delivery the whole cast appeared to be improvising and it felt very unnatural and interrupted the flow of the show. I'm not exactly sure but it looked like the director was using the first takes instead of redoing shots to get a better result. Also characters had the weird habit of repeating the name of the person they were conversing after saying five words of dialogue. Almost like the audience might have forgotten character names with it.
When it comes to the BL element, the main couple had decent chemistry. The scenes together were some of the best in the series. Eurwin did pretty well in his role and is a pretty good theatrical actor. Adrian is newbie and unfortunately it showed. Sometimes he was decent but other times it felt like he was just having trouble remembering his lines with awkward breaks in between and his body language could be really off. I personally think this role was too much for a first-timer but I think he does have a great future in acting. Although the acting was a bit off, the chemistry between the leads was quite great. I was thoroughly impressed. But I was pissed off about the fake kiss which deflated the roof top scene in Ep7 after they confessed they loved each other. I really think actors need to be okay with doing the BL elements when taking on a gay series.
The side characters impressed me too. Prince Malik and Kevin were pretty cute and I wish they gave them a more intricate story. I feel that would have added more interest. Also their singing scene in episode 10... AMAZING!
The adults really seemed to excel in terms of acting for this show. The acting for Zafar, Zeyn's dad and mum, and Madam Vee. Although their delivery was not typical tv drama, it had a broadway feel to it which matched the musical theatre/Disney genre of the show. Zafar was definitely my favourite character, Apollo completely slayed the role.
Now should you watch this show. If you love singing this a show to watch. However if you're looking for show with a strong interesting story and you can't look past awkward acting this show won't be for you. I recommend viewing the first episode and that should give you a decent view if you like the show or not.
Rainbow Prince is about Zeyn a prince from Zurbania who has to run off to the Philippines after his dad (the king) dies and his uncle Zafar stages a coup. The show mainly explores Zeyn living his new life in hiding in Manillia, with his aid and bodyguard. They work at hotel to survive and it is where Zeyn falls in love the hotel managers son the adorable Mickey who is also the hotel tourist guide. The show explores their romance and Zeyn's plans to return to Zurbania to take the rightful place as King.
Let's start with a positive. One of the impressive parts of the show was the singing and musical numbers. It's really hard to pull off writing numerous original pieces and the singing talent that was shown from EVERYONE was impressive. From the leads, Eurwin is a talented singer and his vocal control is insane but also Adrian shocked me. I thought he couldn't sing but when he finally broke into song half way into the series, he showed he does have the talent. I'm actually impressed by the whole cast, I wish I could go into everyone who slayed their numbers but the list is LONG. I think everyone was booked more on their singing ability rather than acting.
The series quality was unfortunately really rough and all over the place. The plot spent too much time seeing Zeyn's life in Manila when I wish they explored more on his plan to take back the throne in Zurbania. In the end we didn't actually see him plan the take over. We just got numerous scene of him saying he needs to make a plan and the actual scene where he does wins power from Zafar was anti-climatic. Throughout the whole series when it came to line delivery the whole cast appeared to be improvising and it felt very unnatural and interrupted the flow of the show. I'm not exactly sure but it looked like the director was using the first takes instead of redoing shots to get a better result. Also characters had the weird habit of repeating the name of the person they were conversing after saying five words of dialogue. Almost like the audience might have forgotten character names with it.
When it comes to the BL element, the main couple had decent chemistry. The scenes together were some of the best in the series. Eurwin did pretty well in his role and is a pretty good theatrical actor. Adrian is newbie and unfortunately it showed. Sometimes he was decent but other times it felt like he was just having trouble remembering his lines with awkward breaks in between and his body language could be really off. I personally think this role was too much for a first-timer but I think he does have a great future in acting. Although the acting was a bit off, the chemistry between the leads was quite great. I was thoroughly impressed. But I was pissed off about the fake kiss which deflated the roof top scene in Ep7 after they confessed they loved each other. I really think actors need to be okay with doing the BL elements when taking on a gay series.
The side characters impressed me too. Prince Malik and Kevin were pretty cute and I wish they gave them a more intricate story. I feel that would have added more interest. Also their singing scene in episode 10... AMAZING!
The adults really seemed to excel in terms of acting for this show. The acting for Zafar, Zeyn's dad and mum, and Madam Vee. Although their delivery was not typical tv drama, it had a broadway feel to it which matched the musical theatre/Disney genre of the show. Zafar was definitely my favourite character, Apollo completely slayed the role.
Now should you watch this show. If you love singing this a show to watch. However if you're looking for show with a strong interesting story and you can't look past awkward acting this show won't be for you. I recommend viewing the first episode and that should give you a decent view if you like the show or not.
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