PPBongi

Sereno literally means serene in Spanish (there is a lot of Spanish influence in the Philippines) which this series displays very little of. It is an attribute sorely missing in this series. Lately, there also seems to be a rash of BLs about mermen with none piquing an exotic imagery. Most were cringey. While this series initially offered an interesting premise, it ultimately focused on the lowest common denominator – mainly sensationalism and titillation. The saga of mermen is ironically only instrumental; not integral. Admittedly, however, the graphics for the introduction to each episode and the music score are the most serene moments of this aberrant series. Overall, this series is unfocused and unhinged. Perhaps, if it had stayed to one theme, maybe it would have been a better series. Initially, its attention to the theme of merman was promising, but it soon got bogged down in tangential trivialities and/or silliness. Frankly, I am not sure what the intent of this series was. There is a lot and I mean a lot of innuendo and down-right silliness in this series. But secretly I did find myself surprisingly entertained when it got campy and off-the-wall gay (call me crazy). If the production seriously went campy totally or concentrated on telling a risqué gay story with a sharper script told in a tongue-in-cheek style or off-the-wall method, you might just develop an outright cult following, as no one and I mean no one is doing that. Keep refining what you are doing. Honestly, focus on one thing and make it really, really campy, nuanced, and above all melodramatic. And allow the actors to show their talents besides their bodies; you then just might have a hit. This theme could have been it. The male performers were all certainly eye-poppingly handsome and many were decent actors. Next time, do not be so trashy.