A Beautiful Fanservice Mess

Do you like cute boys? Do you enjoy fanservice? Are reverse harems your thing? Are shoujo anime-esque boys the bane of your existence? Are you fine with just turning off your brain and having a fun time? Then you should absolutely get invested in this franchise because that is the essence of "Prince of Legend". This is actually a sequel movie to a 10-episode drama (which I did not know until halfway into the movie, my bad. I won't be able to judge this movie in terms of being a sequel, so I'm just gonna review it as its own thing) but you actually don't need to watch it first because the movie gives you a 20-minute recap of the ENTIRE drama complete with a handy informational relationship chart between all of the characters (yes, it's just as mind-numbing as it sounds). (Just a quick note, if you are watching this movie for specific actors *ahem* I'm looking at you Keita Machida fans, please be warned that when they say *side characters* they are really SIDE characters (but they do give them some really great moments). There is an obvious endgame couple and the movie focuses on them, so if you aren't willing to sit through that, turn back now!)

STORY: Think back to the 2000s with the boom of Asian dramas about "princely highschool boys" all fighting over the same girl. The plot of this movie is basically the Kidzbop version of High&Low (I mean, they're both produced by EXILE after all) mixed in with a little Ouran Highschool Host Club. The competition between the boys is an excuse to give the viewer a ton of fanservice while the actual "plot" progresses the relationship between the male and female lead. I mean the competition scenes literally include POV shots of the boys doing kabedon on you (complete with confessions, flirting, and even a kiss), carrying you like a princess, and going on a date with you. This movie pulls out *all* the cheesy cliches to give the people what they want. Every shoujo romance cliche you could think about is in here, and the movie does not feel bad about doing it.

CHARACTERS/ACTING: If you like boys, you will definitely be able to find someone in this cast who is your type. We have princely boys, delinquent boys, the student council president, the foreign boy, dancer boys, a handsome teacher, and some playboys, and at the end of the movie, they even tease a new group of boys that come in for the sequel. (Personally, my favorites were the teacher (played by Keita Machida), and the male lead's second courtier (played by Hiroki Iijima). They all fall under himbo and borderline-himbo territory. As for our female lead, she's a bit bland. This isn't necessarily bad, because her purpose is to be there to move the plot when it's needed and be there for you to self-insert yourself with, but it does get ridiculous at times at the fact that these boys can fall for her so hard for barely any reason and how she can do no wrong (and even if she does, all the boys will forgive her for it). BUT, despite that, I don't actually think she's a bad protagonist overall. She may be insanely bland at times, but at least she's somewhat realistic (and has some cool moments). She doesn't *get* why all of these guys are into her and she doesn't care, she calls them out for being immature and only competing for selfish reasons without considering how she feels, and she doesn't want to bother with them trying to "romance" her. All she wants to do is pay off her debts and live a normal life, and she does what she needs to get there. She isn't the typical "Oh no I don't know which boy to pick, I like them all :(", I mean she tells the boys multiple times "Can you please leave me out of your deluded male fantasies?" when they're all head over heels for her and constantly trying to court her. There are some typical BL bait moments between the boys too so if you're into that, there you go (though, it isn't always exactly "bait", because one of the boys is confirmed to be in love with the male lead and it's actually a part of his character and motivation, and at the very end of the movie there is another character who is hinted at being gay). Don't expect Oscar-winning performances and be prepared for full-on cringe acting (especially from the male lead, who is cute at times but I wasn't a fan of his character or acting). It's one of those movies where the actors have to try and pretend they're anime characters, but since this is real life, the result is pretty awkward.

MUSIC: Can I just say that the music choices for this were weird? It has an official OST along with good original songs and they use it a lot but most of the time it just...doesn't fit? But at the same time, it does? The songs are fine on their own (I have some of the original songs in my playlist) but it just doesn't work with the movie that often. I mean, they play Take On Me (yes, THAT Take On Me) as the theme song for the delinquent boys. The music totally throws me back to 90s/2000s drama OSTs which isn't terrible, I'm guessing that's the vibe they're going for, but there were a lot of moments where I feel like they just felt the need to throw in a song to make things less awkward/more intense in place of the writing and it just didn't work. So all in all, the music is good on its own, but the way they used it throughout the movie wasn't that great.

REWATCH VALUE: As much as I had a fun time watching the movie and getting surprised at the very "interesting" choices that were made, I honestly think that watching this one time is enough. Unless you want to rewatch purely for the fanservice moments, which I won't judge. If you really want more from Prince of Legend (2019), there's the 2018 prequel drama. The new iteration of the series (Aristocratic Birth and the 2020 Advent of an Aristocrat movie) seem to be doing their own thing, but if you really want those cute boys then go ahead.

Overall, this was a beautiful mess to get through and I actually don't regret it. It definitely isn't for everyone, but if you're fine with cringey stuff that is purely romantic fantasy, then I would consider Prince of Legend the blueprint. As long as you don't take it seriously and go into this knowing that it's an eyecandy fest for these actors, you can probably find something to enjoy. If you want a genuinely well-written story with character development and conflict though...you're looking in the wrong place.

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