Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
So, from the teaser of ‘The Promise of the Soul’, some of us assumed this was going to be a comedic tale of a grandfather’s soul ending up inside his gay grandson’s body, and he figures out how to get his grandson back in the right body, while befriending his grandson’s crush. But no, the story gets weirder, because apparently… okay, wait, that would be too much of a spoiler. Fine, I won’t say what happens, but let’s just say things get bizarre, going into re-incarnation and supernatural ‘red thread’ territory.
Directed by Joe Tsai (‘Unknown’, ‘We Best Love’), the Taiwanese series ‘The Promise of the Soul’ is adapted from the novel “Ling Hun Te Yueh Ting” by Hsu Tzu and spans 12 episodes.
Martin Wong plays primary protagonist Xia Ze Fang, a smug college kid hopelessly crushing on his neighbor Ye Hai Yuan (Kenji Fan), never mind that he is already in a situationship with a guy called Guan Ri Qing (Yaron Qiu). But when a freak accident kills both Ze Fang and his grandfather Xia Cha (played by Huang Hao Yung), things get twisty. Xia Cha wakes up in his grandson’s body, forced to stumble through the chaos of college life. With only Hai Yuan in on the secret, Grandpa-turned-student sets out on a body-swap adventure.
The first few episodes of ‘The Promise of Soul’ are entertaining, with the comedy centered on grandpa Xia Cha pretending to be Ze Fang at the college dorms and confusing everybody with his ‘old man’ ways. He wears outdated clothes, is clueless about Gen Z slang and ways, which generate a few chuckles early on.
But as days pass, grandpa starts falling for Hai Yuan, who, by the way, is about 400 years younger (fine, only about 49 years maybe). Not exactly your typical romance, and ‘The Promise of the Soul’ doesn’t make it any less awkward, making the love story possible courtesy a supernatural twist. To force in a “love triangle,” Ze Fang’s ex Guan Ri Qing keeps circling back to harass or outright assault him. The ex-boyfriend subplot is overblown and clumsy, though to Yaron Qiu’s credit, he plays the vile character with enough restraint to avoid turning it into cartoonish villainy.
A lot of it is quite cringe-y, and honestly, I just wanted Ze Fang back in his body, instead of haunting his own skin with endless angry stares. Imagine turning into a ghost and watching your grandfather inhabiting your body and romancing your crush. Nobody would be happy about that. ‘The Promise of the Soul’ does have a few sweet side-stories, including a surprise cameo by ‘Fight For You‘ lead couple, but the primary plot needed a lot more work.
Lead actors Martin Wong and Kenji Fan look adorable together, their onscreen chemistry is cute, which might just be enough reason for some viewers to tune into ‘Promise of the Soul’. But the whole “grandfather stealing his grandson’s body and crush” storyline was a dealbreaker for me. Sure, the real Ze Fang is bratty, selfish, reckless, but that doesn’t mean an old man who has already lived his life gets to hit reset button using his grandson’s body. Hard pass. Besides, if the gramps can get a second chance, who not poor 20-something Ze Fang?
For viewers who don’t mind suspending disbelief, and overlooking the odd premise, perhaps there’s some appeal in watching a grandfather hijack his own grandson’s body for love. If that strikes you as a fresh twist rather than a red flag, then go ahead and give this series a shot.
I really wouldn’t recommend ‘The Promise of the Soul’ though. If you’re looking for a reincarnation gay romance, I’d suggest the Thai series ‘Century of Love’ instead.
Rating: 4 on 10. ‘The Promise of the Soul’ is on iQIYI.
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