A Witty and Brilliant Conflict Between Fantastic Characters
This is a detective's show in its finest form. Unique and interesting characters brought together in a game of cat and mouse between a disheveled but gifted detective and an equally intelligent antagonist. The story was phenomenal, the acting was great, the music was catchy and well-made, and the production quality was perfect.Besides being a little drawn out, there isn't much I can criticize (that's why it's nine out of ten). And... well, there's not much to say about a great show except that it's great, so we'll leave it at that. I strongly recommend watching this show.
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Story Shines Through
This show is the ultimate proof of my belief that, as long as the writing is good, the show is good. You can take a drama with, frankly, several flaws on the production side, but give it a good screenplay and not only is it watchable it stands among the greats! What's more, Queen of Mystery graces us with the holy grail of kdramas: a romcom with an extremely intelligence female lead. Yes!So, just to bite the bullet and get it out of the way, this movie is no Lovely Runner/Start-Up/Twenty-five Twenty-one. We're not getting Netflix level production here. The video quality is decent at best, the camera movement is interrupted by not-to-infrequent bumps and jitters, and the lighting is really hit or miss. In my eyes the acting was... good enough. Not the best I've ever seen, but the actors had enough charisma to keep us invested, and that's what matters.
As for the plot, that's where things get really good. The show does an expert job of weaving in the episodic nature of mystery shows with the steady romantic tension of a romcom, with the interpersonal drama, intrigue, and character growth that you'd expect of a well written kdrama. To top it all off, the female lead feels like she's pushing the plot forward, and not being dragged along by it, which is certainly less common these days but is great to see for a drama of this age.
Anyway, loved it! Highly recommend.
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A Simple and Interesting Series that Fumbles Here and There
This web drama is short and sweet and had an interesting premise. Things like plot and acting and production are good enough for the length (and likely budget) of the drama, and don't generally detract from enjoyment. There are a few places where things could have been done better, and the plot certainly wasn't incredible, but the time investment is low enough that it's worth the risk to just watch it regardless.The best aspects of this drama that I found were the original premise and the main female lead. The idea of telling a story from the perspective of a succubus is quite interesting, and though the setting during COVID-19 felt odd on occasion, it did provide a plot device to separate the female lead from other love interests and pursue the main romance. In addition, the general charisma of the female lead really carried quite a few scenes, her cavalier attitude to intimate situations managing to both produce conflict and endear the viewer. These two aspects were what really kept me watching to the end.
If I were to give a few complaints I'd firstly mention a poor portrayal of information in some areas. The origin of the succubus, existence of other succubi or even other unnatural creatures, and the nature of the succubus's power are all described vaguely at best (although this information isn't entirely crucial). This only becomes a problem when a certain plot point relies on information about how succubi work in this world, and I actually had to search the comments to find an explanation as to what had happened. Another thing I'd make a minor complaint about is the male lead, who seemed to give a somewhat emotionless performance (unless this was intentional, in which case it would be the fault of whoever made that decision). Finally, there were a few productions details like audio inconsistency and an almost overbearing amount of product placement which were a bit distracting, but ultimately forgivable.
This web drama has just enough good in it to be worth watching, and lacks the seriousness to be ruined by any sort of plot failings or production mishaps. It's just a short and fun exploration of a neat premise, and frankly it does a fine job of it. The fact that the entirety of the series is the length of a single episode of a typical drama certainly means it's no huge commitment to watch it, and so for this reason and because the show is good I will casually recommend this series.
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A Fascinating Premise with Something Crucial Missing
I had very high hopes for this drama as a show that could be quirky and strange in an interesting and unique way. In truth, I guess it did follow through on those fronts, but still I couldn't find myself enjoying the vast majority of it. It didn't dawn on me until the end of the story, when every mystery was revealed (or at least supposed to be revealed), that I discovered what was missing. Execution. An incredible premise with an honestly very good story was completely ruined by flat acting, unclear information, and a basic lack of chemistry between the characters. It was a confusing and in the end, very disappointing experience.The vibe of this show is not at all what I expected, or what I hoped, for it to be. A cover poster and trailer filled with outlandish colorful creatures and a school nurse wielding a light up plastic sword gave me the impression of an off-the wall, lighthearted, and occasionally funny tone, but what we got instead was an unexpectedly dark feel only made worse by bad acting. Although I don't despise a show with a darker tone, it's hard to take it seriously with all the aforementioned oddities. What's most confusing is when a plot point seems entirely meant to be played off as a joke or over emphasized in it's own absurdity, but then is portrayed as another normal development by our perpetually depressed characters.
The chemistry, in my opinion, is one of the most egregious failings off the show. There is none. And I mean NONE. It's romance without the love. Friendship without the friendliness. Banter without the jokes. Our two main leads are- as revealed by dialogue- supposedly falling in love, but you'd never guess that without them telling you. They never seem happy to be together (I think I saw the female lead smile a total of three times in the whole six hour runtime), the female lead is perpetually pushing away the male lead, and there is no sexual tension whatsoever. From a big picture plot standpoint, I can see all the elements which would lead to a romance (with maybe a few missing, but still doable), and yet the love just isn't there. And this doesn't just go for the romance, as bonds between friends is known only by who isn't outright bullying each other. Acts of kindness happen seemingly out of nowhere when you suspect there should've been something leading there. It's payoff without the setup, and frankly, the setup would've been the most interesting part.
Oh boy, was the story confusing. I felt like I had to run my brain on full power to try and puzzle out what the heck was going on. I'm pretty sure there was a twist at the end but I can't for the life of me figure out what it was. It's always unclear who knows/believes the female lead can see jellies (they're basically ghost creatures no one else can see, and I love the name and design of them). Relationships between characters is often unknown, and this isn't helped by the complete lack of chemistry between them. I really can't explain too much else for fear of spoilers, but if you end up watching this just... good luck.
I'll mention real quick that I liked episode five. It was the first time I really understood the lead's emotions (and was able to tell she had them), and it dealt with some really powerful topics and what to do about them. You could almost watch that episode alone, but it isn't really it's own self-contained story so some things won't make sense or will feel unfinished. In the scope of an ideal production of the show, I imagine episode five to be the one where our typically upbeat and wacky main character is shown dealing with tougher issues and making difficult choices. Instead she just finds a better reason to be depressed.
This drama is like if someone made a really great mold for some metal sculpture or something and then poured sad, lame, lumpy metal into it. It looks great from afar and on the outside, but get a little closer or take a look within and you'll find a sloppy mishmash that isn't quite cohesive enough to be considered good. I'm actually really disappointed with how it turned out, especially with how much potential the premise had. I'm going to have to recommend against watching this, as it's probably not what you were expecting or looking for.
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