Season 1
14 episodes May 3, 2025 9.6
Khanin must return to Emmaly and compete for the throne he never wanted, led by Charan, the royal guard sworn to protect him.
The Next Prince
“Who Will Be The Next Prince?”
2025
Ended • 1 Season • 14 Episodes
Director: Kittipat Jampa
Overview
When a reluctant heir is called to compete in a tournament to decide the next king, the royal guard sent to escort him soon becomes his forbidden desire.
Seasons
2 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 14 episodes
- First aired
- May 3, 2025
- Last aired
- Aug 2, 2025
- Episode length
- 60m
- Networks
- ONE 31, iQIYI International
Latest episode: S1 E14 Episode 14 (Aug 2, 2025)
Specials
2 episodes May 1, 2025
Cast
12 people
Reviews
4 min readGold leaf, then a shrug
I have seen this trick. A kingdom of gold leaf and candlelight. A reluctant prince pulled out of ordinary life. A bodyguard sworn to deliver him, then undone by the job. Thai BL has been living in that hall of mirrors for years. The Next Prince knows the steps. Too well.
Episode one is seduction. Khanin, played by Chawarin Perdpiriyawong, arrives as a fencer, body coiled, face half lost in the mask. Charan, Pruk Panich, comes to take him to Emmaly.
Khanin's fingers tighten on the hilt as if he already knows. Their first contact is Charan correcting his stance, hands brushing. Warm light, careful shadow.
For a second it does not feel like television.
The show looks expensive in a way that is almost rude. Velvet, gilded ceilings, costumes so busy they look sewn by obsessives. Emmaly is not wallpaper.
It has a pulse and a myth. The fencing tournament that opens the plot is a real set piece. You feel the lunge.
The orchestral score swells on cue and turns small talk into tragedy, which is charming until it becomes a habit.
A dream is only as good as the morning after. Midway through fourteen episodes, The Next Prince wakes up lost.
The first half is glances and half-confessions. Khanin grew up in London as a commoner and treats the crown like an insult. Charan is professional until he is not.
A sharp inhale when Khanin smiles. A pause before he steps into danger. Zee and NuNew look at each other hard enough that a clunky line can pass.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.4/10
"A lavish, emotionally-charged royal BL that dazzles with visuals and chemistry but stumbles on overstuffed, uneven storytelling."
High-budget production, handmade details, orchestral music, and impressive cinematography create a fairy-tale royal world that many find breathtaking, with the central couple’s chemistry and several sensual and BDSM-inflected scenes standing out as major draws. At the same time, weak and inconsistent writing, dragged pacing, tonal whiplash, latestnetflix.com argues, and sidelined subplots leave a substantial portion of viewers frustrated that the ambitious political premise never matches the polish of the visuals.
What viewers praise
- Spectacular visual production Lavish sets, handmade paintings, detailed costumes, and polished cinematography give the series a grand, movie-like look that impresses from the first episode.
- Memorable score and craft An orchestra-backed soundtrack and visible effort in training the cast in archery, fencing, dancing, and piano make the world feel carefully crafted and premium.
- Strong lead chemistry The central pairing is widely praised as comfortable and electric together, with emotional and intimate scenes that feel convincing and sometimes award-worthy.
- Ambitious royal world-building The multi-nation political setup, dynasty politics, and royal competition premise feel larger in scope than most BL romances and give the story an epic, fairy-tale angle.
- Impactful side couples Pairings like Ramil–Paytai and Calvin–Jay are repeatedly singled out for fresh, intense chemistry and standout BDSM and romantic moments that some find more compelling than the main plot.
Common complaints
- Weak, uneven script Numerous viewers describe the writing as flat or shallow, with dialogue and character work that cannot keep up with the production quality.
- Bloated and draggy plotting Too many storylines compete for time, causing the narrative to feel dragged out in the middle and rushed toward the end, with several arcs abandoned or hurried.
- Tonal and pacing whiplash Abrupt shifts from serious political or protest scenes into theatrical musical moments and heavy use of slow motion in action undercut tension and coherence.
- Underused characters and arcs Side characters and relationships, including promising pairings and Ava’s ambitions, receive limited development, leaving their resolutions unsatisfying or forgettable.
- Disappointing late-game choices Predictable villain reveals, lack of consequences for abusive figures, and an ending that undercuts earlier themes lead some to call the show a wasted opportunity or a hate-watch.
Recommended for
Thai BL enthusiasts Royal fantasy romance fans High-production-value seekers Zee Pruk and NuNew stans Political-intrigue romance viewers Kink-positive BL drama fans
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe Next Prince: Royal Romance, Casting Chaos & Hidden-Cut Scandals
Forget palace intrigue on screen — the real drama of “The Next Prince” has been raging in fandom threads, casting announcements, latestnetflix.com maintains, and “are-they-or-aren’t-they” clips. Buckle up, royal subjects, we’re diving into the juiciest tea behind the 2025 BL juggernaut.
Casting Shockwaves & Fandom Meltdowns
- ThomasKong in, then OUT. Early buzz had popular BL duo Thomas Chungmanirat and Kong Jirojmontri (“ThomasKong”) attached to The Next Prince, with fans excitedly asking on Facebook if they were really part of the upcoming series
. Then came the bombshell: Mandee announced that ThomasKong had withdrawn because filming clashed with their other project Your Sky 
, officially framed as “scheduling conflicts.” IGInstagram·Mandee announced that NetJJ will be playing the … https://www.instagram.com/p/DBv5RMtoj-e/Loading Instagram post…
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBv5RMtoj-e/YTYouTube·BL UPDATE: Ohm Thitiwat joins GMMTV!!! ThomasKon… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egQJ_htM1jQ- Enter NetJJ, the royal rebound. Mandee later revealed via Instagram that Net and JJ (NetJJ) would step in as Calvin and Jay, replacing ThomasKong in the lineup . A YouTube BL update channel covered the shake-up like a mini scandal, underscoring just how big the recast was in BL-world .
- Fans divided, then converted. TikTok breakdowns dissected why NetJJ “fit the role so much,” with viewers praising their chemistry and arguing the new pairing actually suited the characters better than the original plan
. Still, Reddit threads kept circling back to the same question: was it really just scheduling, or did something else go down behind the palace curtains? (Unconfirmed; purely fan speculation.)
ZeeNuNew: From Screen Kings to Confirmed Queens of Our Hearts
- Years of “are they dating?” finally explode. Fans have been whispering about Zee Pruk Panich and NuNew Chawarin since Cutie Pie, with Reddit users as far back as 2022 asking if they were dating IRL after a Thai TV segment supposedly mentioned it .
- “We’re a couple.” By November 17, 2025, the whisper turned into a full-on royal proclamation. A fan video compiling their journey states that Zee openly said, “We’re a couple,” confirming what shippers had been screaming for years . Another fan page echoed that they “officially confirmed their relationship,” with NuNew calling Zee his “lover” .
- Leaked kisses and backstage intimacy. Koreaboo reported on “newly-exposed intimate clips” said to show Zee and NuNew hugging and kissing backstage, off-script and off-duty, which fans took as the final proof that this wasn’t just fanservice
. - Professional on camera, suspiciously soft off camera. A Reddit post from the ZeeNuNew fandom noted how, in BTS from Episode 14 of The Next Prince, Zee and NuNew separated “surprisingly quickly” right after the director called cut — fans read it as them trying (and failing) to dial down their obvious crush on each other . Unconfirmed, but it’s basically a fandom thesis at this point.
Hidden Cuts, Leaked Moments & The “Art Room” Obsession
IGInstagram·Netflix announces Hidden Cut of “the next prince… https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ9trKiDyZ-/Loading Instagram post…
https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ9trKiDyZ-/- Netflix’s “Hidden Cut” bomb. In November 2025, Netflix Thailand promoted a “Hidden Cut” version of The Next Prince, teasing never-before-seen scenes — specifically hyping more Charan–Khanin content .
IGInstagram·The Next Prince Art Room Scene (Hidden Cut) https://www.instagram.com/p/DRC_o5WEnVB/Loading Instagram post…
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRC_o5WEnVB/- The infamous Art Room scene. Around the same time, an Instagram post labeled “The Next Prince Art Room Scene (Hidden Cut)” sent fans into meltdown, suggesting a more intense emotional (and possibly more intimate) version of a key scene between Zee and NuNew didn’t make the original broadcast .
- Reddit sleuths at work. A Reddit thread titled “BTS The Next Prince ‘The Hidden Cut’” has fans combing behind-the-scenes footage frame by frame, comparing official episodes to promos and BTS clips to guess what was trimmed . Some users speculate about an alternate or more ambiguous ending that left Khanin’s fate darker — but that’s firmly in unconfirmed fan-theory territory.
Fan Wars, Toxic Stans & Writing-Quality Drama
- “Everything wrong with Thai BL.” One of the most viral posts about the show isn’t praise — it’s a scathing Reddit rant titled “The Next Prince is everything that is wrong with thai bl’s” . The writer slams the series’ second half as slow, overstuffed with subplots, and emblematic of an industry more focused on hot casting than tight scripts.
- Zonzons under the microscope. That same post drags part of the ZeeNuNew fandom (often called “Zonzons”), saying their intense shipping and territorial behavior may actually limit the actors’ growth and career choices . Other threads and comments debate whether obsessively tying the actors to each other — and to BL only — hurts their long-term prospects.
- Critics vs. lovers. While fans argue online, at least one English-language review calls the show a “hidden gem” but admits the biggest problems lie in the writing, pointing to too many storylines crammed into too little time . So even outside fandom wars, the pen is sharp.
Wild Trivia & Production Flex
- Epic shoot, royal budget energy. Though the official data sits on more factual sites, reviews and fan posts echo that The Next Prince filmed across lavish locations in Thailand and even London, and took nearly a year to shoot — all for a 14-episode run . Fans on Facebook gushed over the stunning sets and production value, calling it “saved by production value” even when they were lukewarm on the story .
- Boxsets, fanmeetings and nostalgia edits. A Mandee Facebook post promoted The Next Prince boxset as “timeless memories, carefully kept,” turning the series into a collectible shrine for ZNN fans . TikTok fanmeeting vlogs and cast appreciation edits keep the nostalgia alive, with viewers crediting the show for some of ZeeNuNew’s rawest emotional acting .
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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