“Tinted With Love” First Impressions (Ep.1 & 2)

The new Korean BL Tinted with You starring A.C.E.’s Jun as Jung Eun Ho and actor Yoo Hyun Woo as Lee Heon is a time travel romance about a crown prince exiled by his usurping older brother and a modern high school student in love with art. By a mysterious twist of fate, this student, Jung Eun Ho, ends up inside a painting where he meets the exiled Prince Lee Heon.

In all honesty, the first two episodes don’t give viewers a lot of story outside of what is already available in the synopsis. Jung Eun Ho somehow ends up trapped inside a painting that places him inside the Joseon Dynasty. He meets Lee Heon and his bodyguard Geum, and then he spends the rest of the first and second episode making promises to keep from losing his life, including a promise to deliver a letter to Lee Heon’s brother. Prince Lee Heon later withdraws the request as Geum watches from a distance.

The Pros

Although much of the plot is still left to be revealed, two things are made very apparent in the opening episodes. Bodyguard Geum feels something for the crown prince, and Lee Heon and Jung Eun Ho have a decent amount of chemistry. I enjoy watching love triangles, especially ones taking place in a historical setting. The palpable jealousy from Geum any time Jung Eun Ho gets near the prince sets up a possible triangle nicely.

The Cons

With only eight twelve-minute episodes, I have difficulty seeing how this drama will conclude in a complete, well-rounded way. While I love historicals, time travel, and court intrigue, that’s a lot of complex plot points to introduce and resolve. Unlike modern dramas, Historical romances with any intrigue generally take a lot more time to flesh out. Because of this, I am expecting it to feel rushed and incomplete. However, it may surprise me.

All in all, I’m impressed with the acting and chemistry in Tinted With You, which is enough to keep me invested. I truly hope the short format doesn’t hurt the story itself, but I am certainly willing to find out.

For those interested in watching along with me, you can check Tinted With You out on Viki.

Rating- 3.5 out of 5

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