Sirenas

Muddled Potential

The series was just entertaining enough for me to have completed it but I decided to drop it to move on to another. It really already started faltering a bit for me after the first few episodes, when all the characters personalities does too large of a shift in attempt to soften up the tone. Here are the positives followed by the negatives that watered them down.

- The cast is quite good with some interesting characters but there isn't enough depth to really solidify an attachment to anyone.
- While there isn't a distaste for the ML, they did portray him in a confusing way. One minute, he's this genius who can see 10 steps ahead and the next, he's just missing in action. He continuously talks so confidently about what he can handle but ends up just using someone's life to survive. I can deal with this if this was part of his plan, but it isn't if he's slightly moping about the sacrifices. And if he's fated to use others lives to survive, it would have been better if he showed some humbleness in his opinions about his abilities and maybe grow from it.
- The main plot itself is relatively intriguing and I actually really do appreciate that the "genius strategists" doesn't always succeed. But the are too many large plot holes that are left unanswered and the pacing is too overdrawn for it to be overlooked smoothly.
- I also appreciate the hinting towards who the future emperor will be and how this journey is a harsh but needed reality check and growth phase for him. But his character growth felt more like a double personality disorder which ironically could also make more sense given his background.

This really did have a ton of potential because there are a lot of positives and there is a good base of complexity. If it was just woven together better with focuses on being more detailed instead of drawn out conversations, it would have been great.

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No Chemistry

The series isn't necessarily bad (based on the four episodes seen) and the actors are actually pretty good. But it's just lacking chemistry in all sorts of ways and it's hard to pinpoint why. The first episode is nothing like the second episode forward as it takes a leap from somber to an infusion of comedy. I was pretty excited that it had a relatively similar feel to the Fiery Priest in the beginning but it was short-lived. The ML/FL characters were made to be too extreme in personalities from the start and then shifted out of character very quickly and continually, which made what would have given them their individual charm a blur instead. The supporting actors were even more extreme with their personalities/quirks and it took too much realism out of what is actually quite a decent plot.

As some minor examples, the ML is supposed to be a badass high up on the chain in the Italian mafia. Yet when he arrive in Korea, he's easily drugged by a drink offered by a cab driver and then mugged? I mean, even normal tourists with any common sense would have known to not get into a random black car at the airport when the driver is being overly pushy about using their services. As for the FL, while the actress did the best she could with what she was dealt, the character was spicy but didn't make much sense. They should have highlighted more on the reasoning behind why she was working against her father before she suddenly decided to have a change of heart. The tiny explanation of their relationship right before a major event really didn't do much. Then there are the tenants living/working at the building who are supposed to be regular folk but their characters leans more towards a circus-asylum feel. The ML's interaction with them is equally awkward.

Should reiterate that the series isn't necessarily bad but unfortunately dropping the series because I've already seen how well it can be done with the Fiery Priest.

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Choppy Plot Flow

Having only seen six episodes so far, there's not much opinion to give on the complete plot. But I'm dropping this because the plot flow feels like a number of boxes being strung on a string with too much gap in between. This causes me to not really vibe with any of our mains.

- The ML starts off great but his personality shifts oddly shortly thereafter and becomes less and less likeable.
- For a country who is well aware of the past with demons and the dangers of anything happening to this red pearl, they all seem pretty nonchalant about it. Especially when they are seriously weighing the retrieval of this pearl that can destroy the world to fixing someone's broken weapon just because of sentimental reasons. Makes zero sense.
- They are trying to group together a team of demon hunters but sudden bonding from individuals who should have complex backgrounds also feels unnatural.
- They try to incorporate lighthearted moments into the drama which I always appreciate, but it's not commingled well where serious events feel like it's all just brushed off quickly.

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Poor Plot Flow

While this series isn't one of the worst as there are flickering moments of relatively good scenes, it's pieced together pretty poorly. The introduction in itself wasn't done well with a slapping together of the main leads who continued to not have much chemistry with one another. But when the supporting actors do a much better job in acting than the leads, it's difficult to stay interested. The lore of the reapers world was not believable even for a fantasy/supernatural genre. As a minor examples (among many), the comatose state of the "new guy" was at the fault of the reapers, and yet the choice they gave him was three years of coma which could be reduced to six months of coma if he joins the team. There's no explanation of why they can't just reduce the come to a month or to just release him from it, if they are capable of providing different time ranges. Another example is when they are apparently forbidden to change history when going back into the past, but the "new guy" is pretty much allowed to make drastic changes to the past like preventing a death from occurring and yet, there's barely any repercussion before the plot just moves on.

Because I can probably continue watching this on a very casual mode mostly due to the supporting actors and their stories (hence the slightly higher score), but as none of the mains are likeable, prefer to drop it instead.

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Missed the Mark

Always on the lookout for plots that involve undercover characters who go out and help people. One of my favorite childhood series was when the Emperor himself strolled the streets in plain clothes so he can understand his country. So I definitely wanted to like this series but I've been emotionless for all three episodes.

The acting wasn't terrible but was subpar and the main characters had no chemistry with one another (or with any other characters for that matter). But the biggest cause of the series missing the mark wasn't the actors but the actual plot flow. You can see the potential but the execution of each scene was done with poor timing and execution.

As an example, when the FL is helping with the birth of a baby to a dying woman. The male doctor and her are both looking at the baby's entrance point. In historical times, it's unlikely a male doctor would be at ease even being close to that area. The FL admitted she had no experience and despite the dying woman having an arrow stuck in her chest while pushing the baby out, the birth was super effortless. It's difficult to describe in words but you can tell that not much thought was put in with no attention to detail throughout the series. And it resulted in a very unnatural plot flow.

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Another annoying and hypocritical female lead

The first three episodes were great as they set up the personalities of the main cast. But unfortunately and yet again as with many of these Chinese series, the female lead drifted off character and became irritating.

She is depicted as the sweet and kindhearted victim in her middle-class household. She consistently praises about maintaining etiquette. She marries into a powerful and wealthy family that everyone is afraid to offend, yet she has no problems telling her parent-in-laws that she literally "hates" their son the very next day. It then veers off further into the abyss when despite priding herself as being a proper lady, she barges into the brothel with a gang of workers wielding a large sword in public demanding her husband return home so he can "study books" and pass the imperial exam out of nowhere. Then proceeds to air her "poor me" story to a crowd full of strangers while continually shaming her husband (who has been kind and genuine to her since they've married). Whaaaaat?

These series are so often ruined with these types of female lead characters. I wonder if it's a modern cultural thing where the writers simply have no idea what a capable woman is realistically like? Please go back to creating actual content with substance instead of just visual entertainment with good-looking leads that have average acting abilities. Seasoned and good supporting actors can only carry the main leads so far. My higher scores for dropped series are usually for the supporting cast.

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Underwhelming leads

Ever have one of those series that are just interesting enough to click to the next episode but when you set it aside for a few days, it becomes unmemorable? This is one of those for me. The most interesting thing in the series for me was the involvement of supernatural beings and getting to the mystery of our main lead.

The main issue that brought down the intrigue for me was both the male and female leads. The acting for both were subpar and they both had very limited facial expressions, which also caused a lack of chemistry between the two. The female lead character itself is quite mundane and already into episode 22, yet she still hasn't added much value.

It's a shame because the supporting cast did a great job carrying the leads. And I am curious on diving deeper into the lore of the supernatural but dropping it for now. May potentially try again at some point if there's nothing else.

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Not Bad, Just Not Enough

Foremost, I really can't stand this type of costuming in historical settings. But every so often, if the plot and actors do a good enough job, it's something that can be overlooked. It is still cringy though. The long stringy bangs that half of the male actors have and the over-bleached hair colors. I mean, for characters that are supposed to be highly skilled in martial arts, apparently their bangs don't seem to get in the way...

However, the characters were pretty charismatic and the plot flow skipped along okay. The action scenes were typically of series with this type of costuming: lots of floating around, actors who try to make the martial arts believable but it's obvious they don't have any real training, and attempts to make up for the lack in martial arts by incorporating heavy CG (of which, some were pretty decent). It's a fantasy setting so there's no high expectations of realism and while the negatives mentioned above are not as bad as some other series, it's still a bit overdone for my personal taste.

Stuck around for 11 episodes mainly for the plot, the charismatic actors, and the nicely incorporated humor. But it was one of series where you can do some chores on the side, miss out on some dialogue, and not feel like you've missed much. It's good enough where I can probably continue to watch to the end but not enough to feel like I have to get to that next episode.

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The positive. The team has a nice bond between them and it has a fun vibe. Got a few laughs out of it.

Started the series in the mood for a bit of the supernatural but this didn't quite cut it unfortunately. Reminds me of anime live actions where it tries to but fails to capture its essence. That's in my personal opinion of course, since taking an imaginary world of endless possibilities and trying to bring it into the "real world" is a daunting task.

I think they tried so hard to incorporate a little of everything that no one bothered to actually sit through it to consider whether any of it made sense. It's like let's just make it look cool and hope no one notices. There are times when things can and should be overlooked but if even the actions scenes felt mundane, it accentuates everything else that much more.

- A high school kid (as usual) has become the team's main hope to defeat demons and despite having a zero fighting background, he ramps up almost immediately (of course). How did the supernatural spirit survive without him all this time?
- The detective who has amnesia knew enough facts about his prior life but apparently spent the last seven years not caring to look into it? He knew he was a detective and at which station but again, never even met the female detective who signed off on his suicide case? Nope, didn't get emotional or care until he met the high school kid who reminded him of a business card he had in his pocket.
- Ignoring the corny theme of spirits choosing human grim reapers and living in a white room, the grim reapers only exorcise demons but only the ones who commit violent murders? Who takes care of other demonic predators then?
- Having been given instant superhuman strength, what was the point in dramatizing the detective doing calisthenics on the bars? It would be impressive for a normal human but completely pointless for him otherwise? And worse, it hints that the high school kid who was handicapped for years and never worked on his physique is actually the stronger one in strength?

Only being four episodes in, the reason for dropping it isn't even about the inconsistencies because it could have just been categorized as entertaining. However, the flow was just all over the place. You couldn't really tell if you should find the serious moments amusing or if it was meant to be taken seriously. Then the obvious scenes that were meant to be serious transitioned with poor timing or just didn't make sense. If they focused more on the fighting demons aspect instead of trying to incorporate multiple genres right off the bat, I might have made it through more episodes.

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Unreliable Review

Since the series is being dropped only after three episodes and because there was nothing offensively bad, this should be considered an unreliable review.

The main reason I'm dropping this is because I just wasn't able to connect with any of the characters or buy into the events. It wasn't so much the actors but the flow of the plot and the dialogue. It felt like a storyteller who's telling what should be an emotional narrative in a monotone voice. The reactions and aftermath of every turning point didn't feel quite natural and the character growth of the ML wasn't very impressive.

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If a high school drama club wrote the script and played the roles, they would have probably been graded pretty high. Unfortunately, there just wasn't a "good enough" reason to keep watching.

They tried to incorporate a bit of everything into this when it comes to martial arts, the supernatural, detective work, etc. but didn't execute well. I initially overlooked the less than average acting, fight scenes, and the odd modern music attachment because it had a lighthearted, comedic undertone but there were just too many fails in the plot and character builds. One example is you have a character who is supposed to have some type of super strength but yet they couldn't get themselves out of being tied up with normal ropes? There just isn't any consistency.

The one positive is that at least the costume-work and makeup wasn't as tacky as I've seen in some of the other historical series. Whenever I attempt to watch series in the historical era and they change the image of the leads into a boy-band looking outlier, it usually lays the groundwork of someone trying too hard to appeal to other cultures or the younger generation. Fortunately, they weren't too heavy-handed in that aspect here.

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Note to Self

I've tried watching this twice. Despite reviewers having listed The Untamed, Guardian, and Winter Begonias as recommendations (all three that were enjoyable), this series really doesn't have the same feel at all to any of them. But I should have known to not trust recommendations when it comes to BL-related series.

There's nothing outrageously terrible about this series. Dropping it for the same reasons why I've dropped many other well-known and relatively highly reviewed ones. The dialogue and interactions between all of the characters are just unnatural and cringe. It's not necessarily an actor or plot issue, but perhaps it's just how some Chinese series are directed or maybe partially due to the dubbing. Similar to the flow of older American soap operas- it's just not believable. And while Guardian also had tinges of this flaw, the two MLs had much more chemistry and the plot moved along more smoothly.

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Not bad, but...

The series has a good structure overall with respect to the cast and plot so far (as far as an episode 3 goes). But the series is titled Maiden Holmes where one would expect a clever and competent FL. But despite the FL being somewhat intriguing by showing off her capabilities right from the start, once the main ML steps into the picture, she melts into helplessness. It was "somewhat intriguing" because there are also inconsistencies with the solution/results to the initial case results, brushing over much needed details and requesting the audience to just accept the brilliance of the FL.

The case inconsistencies can be ignored to a degree but by episode 3, there is already an excessive amount of physical contact scenes between the ML/FL to force feed the beginnings of their romance. Which would also be acceptable if it weren't at the cost of character deterioration as the FL now needs constant rescuing. Additionally, the closeness between the group (i.e. the woman about to be sacrificed) was unrealistically instantaneous. It's a shame because there is a decent amount of chemistry with the actors/actresses.

I would be been pressed to continue watching but after hitting up the reviews and confirming that the FL never ends up redeeming herself, it was a definitive drop for me. Would have give it a lower score but I'm sure this aspect wouldn't bother other viewers as much and the FL character is really my only issue with the series thus far.

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Enticing Beginning

The first few episodes were great-- loved the cast and the pacing drew me in immediately. The action scenes were done well and I was super excited to come across another potential binge. But I decided to drop this relatively early because I'm already seeing signs on how they are going to direct the development of their romance. Instead of creating a more natural and gradual bond between the two, they have already slotted in heavy flirtations much too early. Because they did such a great job on who the ML and FL were as standalone individuals initially, their characters were really diminished by this. The constant abuse directed at one another to try and convince you of their status as enemies is really not believable.

This disappointment has given me the desire to re-watch The Double instead to help fulfill the unsatisfied build-up.

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Unreliable review

This is likely an unreliable review as I only managed to get through two episodes. But the two episodes were enough for me personally.

The initial scene was relatively intriguing but the actions of our main made no sense from the get-go. Let's say he slaughtered everyone because he was trying to be completely obedient to what he was asked to do. Yet he makes a scene about his regret, and then manages to leave the organization by doing self harm. If those he assassinated were really that important to him to begin with, couldn't he have just done exactly this to prevent himself from being a part of the murders? He makes another scene about how his self harm is part of his redemption, yet when the pain flares up, he does everything he can to ease the pain. Then the odd transition of wearing some mask to disguise himself so he can just drink his life away and be a bum... is pretty distasteful.

Insert the female who starts a fight with him, after an odd and awkward obsession to communicate with a bum. As if she's a two-year old who has never seen bums before. The fight causes damage to the carts of innocent bystanders, and they just prance off as if they are supposed to be respectable good folks. Insert again, some wealthy kid who also just coincidentally happens to be obsessed with befriending the bum out of nowhere after having met him for two seconds. Only for his family to be slaughtered later and this bum just decides to watch for a while until suddenly trying to step in at the last second to be a savior. Insert yet again, the male companion of the aforementioned female. The fight scene between the two is a dramatized dance rather than an actual fight.

Yea... no matter how good the costuming or background is. There's nothing that can redeem these details in only the first two episodes.

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