Sirenas

Great Season

This review is based on a re-watch after a long hiatus. I didn't want to review it at the time due to the first season ending on a heavy cliffhanger and was waiting for season 2 to complete. As I'm about to drop season 2, this review will solely be on season 1.

This season is deserving of its fame and there's no need to really go into too much details for the review because of it. The plot flow was great as there are multiple sub-plots that keep the series interesting. This is also one where you'll find yourself having multiple favorite characters. The humorous layer attached to some very serious and intense underlying situations really makes the series shine.

My only qualm is our main ML's love interest. There isn't great chemistry between the two, their romance doesn't feel natural, and the FL is pretty useless. Even during my first watch, I had skipped through most of their interactions as it was quite boring. Fortunately, the romantic scenes between them aren't heavy-handed. If it weren't for this, would have given the series a higher score.

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Memorable

This a great casual watch with a unique take in the historical genre with a focus on how clothing impacts the palace dynamics. It's likely deserving of a higher score but unfortunately it's a story that really requires far more than movie-length time to blossom. This is the only reason for the lower score.

It's definitely one I'd recommend for those who enjoy this genre as the acting was great, the plot was straightforward but also not predictable, and of course, the costumes were gorgeous. It hits all the spots for minimal investment and I do hope they one day decide to create a series with a similar feel around royal tailors.

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A journey of military corruption

Having not yet seen season two, season one could stand on its own without one. In only six episodes, this series put me through a journey of much more. My heart swelled in both warmth between our two young MLs and from their desperate crossroads of choosing to do their duties and being human.

While the plot is grim, I wouldn't consider this as dark fiction as it's a very realistic depiction of corruption. There's no excess dramatization, no saviors, and no particular antagonist. It simply portrays the difficulty in choices everyone has to make or continuously make at some point in their lives. This one was just uniquely centered around the military dynamics. If you are someone who ever chose to join a company, a sorority/fraternity, or any group that has any type of hierarchy, how many would speak up for another if it meant risking your own position and livelihood? And even if you were to speak up, would you even have any ability to even make a difference? Then those who blame their immediate authority fail to recognize that the same authorities themselves have high authority to answer to. In the situation of the military, it's even worse than being an employee at a company where you have the option to quit and find a new job.

Most series want to showcase a hero who steps up and manages to somehow defeat all that is bad. This one captures the realism in how multiple people try their best in their own capacity to do what they can, and how a small act of kindness can go a long way. Unlike what we want to believe in our idealistic worlds, the "good and righteous" does lose the battles most of the time so those who live under a rock in stubborn ignorance may not appreciate this series as much. Reality is far darker and stranger than fiction and this series definitely does not have a feel of over-exaggeration.

All of the actors did such a fantastic job in their respective roles. What really elevated the series was the natural injection and focus on the relationship between the two MLs. Their bonding with one another shone some light and humor on the hands they were dealt with and it made the series much more digestible to watch.

P.S. I think every organization out there needs a Han Ho Yul, because he's someone I would totally want around.

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Binge-Worthy

I'm usually not a big fan of time-slip types of plots because it just usually isn't done very well. Had this series on the plan-to-watch list for a while because of this. I also tend to avoid anything that appears to be romance heavy. However, this one outwitted my initial expectations and had me fully invested until the last episode. You have certain series which are just good and then you have those that will pull you into their world, and this was one of them. This is also one of the rare times where I'm in agreement with MDL's average rating.

The cast was fantastic including the support roles. Because they based this one on written/accepted historical events, it will keep you guessing on how they plan to follow or diverge from the past. The concept of a male being in the body of a Queen took the entire plot up a few notches (it wouldn't have been as great otherwise). Within just 20 episodes, your emotes will pleasantly be balanced with laughing, crying, biting your nails, and smiling with warmth. As for the romance aspect, because the FL/ML were both interesting characters with such good chemistry, that I didn't mind any of the romance portrayed within the series at all.

The only slight less than positive comment is that it felt just a tad long-winded with the political aspect of the plot in the first half but nothing in comparison to other historical dramas. It doesn't take away from the binge-worthiness of this series and I've admittedly lost more than few hours of precious sleep.

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*Very minor and broad spoiler*

The first episode will draw you in immediately with its calm yet increasingly suspenseful atmosphere. It's not an easy series to describe so I'll keep it relatively short. Because the story has such a strong romantic baseline, I half expected it to overpower the crime and suspense as some series do. Fortunately, it was well balanced and it did not disappoint.

The only aspects that made it a bit less than for me was somewhere in the middle when the original flow started to feel rushed. The shifting of Baek Hee Sung's emotions was abrupt (even if there was a trigger) and since that shift, it became less and less believable. Mostly because it was followed by dramatic events clumped too closely together which caused some encounters to become a tad repetitive, and some plot holes to develop.

Nevertheless, this series will draw you in and keep you in enough suspense to want to keep watching in lieu of sleep. I think it's a great one for those who enjoy different genres inclusive of psychology, romance, crime, or mystery. While it isn't a masterpiece in any particular genre, it did equally well in all of it.

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Dropped mainly because of one scene...

As with some older series, we need to keep in mind the resources available at the time and the mindset of the audiences back then. For its age, the costumes and action scenes were done relatively well. The dialogue and pacing in this one was a bit rough in the beginning but it progressively gets better. The plot itself and the actors are what draws you in. There's are loads of mysteries/plot twists, misunderstandings, secret pasts, romance, fight scenes, etc.

My main gripe was mostly the repetitive conversations between the characters and I've become exhausted from the constant melodramatic cries of love/love-stalking, and unlimited self-sacrificing stories. But let it be known that this is very watchable for those who aren't as exhausted as I am currently. This is why I was able to watch this many episodes but what made me finally drop this was when for the sake of one very loved person, they sacrificed the ghost doctor's lifespan of 10 years. And for his love interest to state that he was already old anyway and that 10 years wouldn't make a visual difference made me barf a little. Then to seal this nonsense, after he heals the ML, not a single person thanked him or showed any concern for him as he walked out alone without anyone even noticing. This completely discredited every single other main character for me.

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Annoying female lead

This is the second time I've tried watching this series because I REALLY want to. But despite all the great things going for it, the character of the main female lead, Niao Niao, is just too infuriating to watch.

Despite all the empathy or justification I've tried to muster up for NN due to her circumstances, her incessant self-pity and inability to empathize for others is just too irritating. It's hard to believe how much she's been "bullied" by her family when she acts like such a spoiled brat who is jealous of everyone for having a mother. Her parents were away risking their lives to support the family and although they had to leave her behind, you'd think she'd be happy to have both of them back alive. If she really were as clever as depicted, she should have known that her family were all liars and manipulators and anything they said about her parents were potentially false. Instead, she kicks into high manipulation gear the minute she sees them.

She acts like the biggest victim in the family but appreciates nothing and no one. Her father is loving and her cousins coddle her but she can't stop complaining about her mother disciplining her. Pouting and manipulating without putting any real effort into herself, and yet she just blames everything on everyone else. Her aunt physically and mentally abuses her husband and daughter but nope, NN is the only victim here. She makes it impossible to root for her.

It's such a shame because NN's parents are fantastic and have amazing chemistry with one another. The series initially won me over at the scene her mother rode in on a horse fully suited up in war gear. Her character is just so good. The male lead, Zi Sheng, is also intriguing so far, as well as the case he's working on. Even the family dynamics and drama are interesting.

I really wanted to try and just bear with NN's character until there was hopefully some severe character growth. But when within an episode, she had men falling for her left and right from their one and first encounters, it was game over. The score for her is almost nothing and an 8-9 for everything else about the series so far.

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Not bad but not enough

This follows a pretty straight forward revenge plot as the ML assists with multiple cases as an attorney to uncover the truth. It has its usual tropes of everyone and everything just coincidentally tying together, etc. The main highlight in the series is our ML and his character. He's quite charming and the bond between him and his ML partner will bring you plenty of laughs.

The cases the ML handles are individual cases that all ends up tying into the underlying case, which is intentional. The cases aren't very complex but it does highlight some real issues such as cult-like mentalities and taking justice into your own hands when the government is corrupt. He solves them relatively easily but I actually quite appreciate how they incorporate his flashbacks to his past when coming across some victims - the right way to truly empathize.

I would have loved to have continued for the overarching plot but I've become more cynical of female leads these days. And while the FL here isn't the worst I've come across, the heavy switch over to the development of their relationship... really killed the plot flow for me. She's also another one of those hypocritical characters who prides herself to be righteous and bashes on the ML for not using the "right" way to help people. Thankfully she does realize her naivety and ignorance at some point, but this is also when they turn the romance aspect up way too high and way too quickly. Unfortunately, her character is a teetering one for me and I don't really feel the chemistry between the ML and FL. The fact that he's head over heels for her also ended up diminishing his character for me as well.

But for those who are more into the romantic genre, I think you'll definitely enjoy this one more than me.

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One Major Flaw

With series like this, there are a number of factors you know you'll be overlooking. This series indeed contains many of these flawed factors but the one I couldn't overlook was the female lead and her entire persona. I'm a huge fan of strong and independent female characters but it feels like the industry is going overboard these days or they are just confused. They want to portray how tough the woman is, but also don't want to give up the "damsel in distress" who is saved by her handsome man just to build the idealistic romance.

This particular FL is self-righteous and obnoxiously hypocritical. She constantly claims how much experience she has and what she knows but when she loses her cool over nothing, she then blames it on the lack of experience. She is painted as someone who can do no wrong in her coroner and medical skills as well as someone who knows how to assess people around her and manipulate as needed. This isn't believable when she's throwing temper tantrums too many times. Her coroner and medical skills are also not believable when she finds a multitude of dead bodies and just goes on a high rant about how she underestimated the evil in the world. Wasn't her entire persona based around finding vengeance? Overall, her personality isn't of someone who is truly professional but more like a spoiled teenager who is riding too high off of the skills she picked up from her background and family.

The ML is less annoying but also quite dull. He's painted as someone who's rugged from war experiences since he was a kid and someone to be highly feared/respected by many but then pretty much immediately follows the female lead around like a loyal puppy. He has enough redeeming qualities to still keep him in the game but not enough to make up for the shortcomings of the FL. Can we also lay off the overly dramatic FL/ML scenes with slow longing looks at one another and change in music to emphasize what we all already are aware of? How many times does it need to be shoved in our faces? At least for series in this genre? Subtleties can be a strength.

This was given a higher score because the actual mysteries and the unraveling of them were done decently well. The costumes and action scenes weren't a major turn off and it would have been much more enjoyable less the items mentioned above.

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Started off decent before it trails off...

The plot started off pretty well with engaging characters and good pacing. But for some reason, the dialogue starts to increasingly becomes more bland and both the plot and character developments just drops off a cliff.

Although the ML and the FL were decent individually, they didn't do a good job building up their chemistry. And from far away, one can see a good story but it starts to crumble with random inserts of events and people. It's as if they weren't sure how to connect the dots and just threw scenes in abruptly to fill in the blanks. The mysteries behind all the cover-ups are compelling for me to want to finish series but I've lost feeling any connection to any of the characters. It's a good-looking cast so it likely will still appeal to a wide audience (except they used slightly too much of that whitening filter).

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Watchable but missing is something

This series is like following a recipe exactly but the results somehow lacks the flavor it should have when completed. It's definitely watchable and entertaining enough but lacks that emotional tug. The cast is quite good but feel they feel as if they are acting in parallel as individuals without any real connections between them.

The plot isn't terrible but it's also one of those where everything just happens to work out unnaturally. The FL, while believable as a capable person, is also just a bit overstated - especially around her "miracle" physician abilities. They do try to rationalize this aspect but for her to always confidently claim she can absolutely cure everyone is a far reach. And instead of being strategically intelligent with considerations for potential missteps, she's just always confident everything will go her way. Even when she ends up needing to be saved over and over again.

Then you have these odd situations that don't make much sense. As an example, her master died climbing the mountain trying to get a rare flower (coincidentally a day or so after her escape) and then she decides to later do the same to almost die the same way. Neither of them had any particular reason for needing this plant, yet it's worth risking their lives and plans to get it?

The highlight for me was really her main male love interest. He showed well as someone who was both loyal, intelligent, and physically capable. The interactions with his brothers felt genuine and fun. Overall, it's one of those series where it's watchable if you need a break from a binge but not really memorable.

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Started off great and then...

The initial episodes and scenario that brought the main cast together was fantastic. There were interesting villains, great action scenes, great pacing, and a good comradery growing within the team. But then it just slowly started going downhill along with the pacing. The main ML/FL who initially gave a great impression as to their individual characters also just slowly became mush.

The plot has multiple underlying mysteries occurring which in itself is interesting. There are also some supernatural aspects that were acceptable until it got a bit out of hand later into the episodes, such as the ghost boy becoming a small person from being injected by the devil and then easily being back to his normal from the ML's miracle healing abilities. They want you to believe he's a miracle healer but when his FL takes a couple of hits to the chest, he's unable to heal her. The plot also tends to jump between different scenarios between the political aspect and the different characters but it started to feel really choppy and disconnected.

I think this is still a watchable series but I've lost interest mostly because the characters of the ML/FL became quite dull.

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Uninteresting

It's been four hours or four episodes and both the characters and the pacing are exhausting. It started off with an interesting concept of assassins infiltrating the Gong family but the assassins are so monotonous, it doesn't really make sense for them to "blend" in anywhere as they only seem to have skills for stealth. As grandiose, secretive, and careful as this Gong family is, their way of choosing brides also don't make much sense. The same goes for their "rule" of having to have a leader at all times based on who is present, no matter how incompetent the next leader is, also doesn't make sense.

- The conversations are all seriously snail-paced and not very effective.
- The two main FL assassins are uninteresting.
- The main ML (incompetent leader) is uninteresting and is a fool who falls in love foolishly.
- The flamboyant elder sister who's supposed to be the humor lifeline so far in the series, is also uninteresting.

The only character that seems to be interesting at all so far is Gong Shang Jue, but he hasn't really officially entered into the scenes yet. Nevertheless, four hours later and my facial expression from watching the series has been as expressionless as the characters so far. Slightly higher score is for production quality.

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Unrecognizable

It is really quite unfortunate how season 2 really ruined the series for me. I've been anticipating the continuation of season 1 for quite some time but the majority of the characters are now unrecognizable and the plot is all over the place.

Foremost, we find out in season 2 that our ML faked his death from our season 1 cliffhanger. But apparently despite very intelligent scheming we see from season 1, this fake death apparently didn't fool anyone and doesn't seem to have served any purpose at all. What was the point in this entire elaborate plan?

Secondly, the characters are all completely not in character anymore. The second prince who was portrayed as very stoic and nonchalant is now throwing mini-tantrums? The ML who was supposed to be highly strategic and careful, is now casually hiding at his trusted friend's house risking his friend's family's lives? It almost seems as if the director completely disregarded the essence of season 1 and decided to turn season 2 into a comedy instead.

Thirdly, the plot flow is terrible in this season. It may not be as detrimental if it was a standalone but compared to the prior season, not much seems to make sense in this one. It's really disappointing particularly for those who were fully invested in season 1.

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Not For Me But...

I'm dropping the series mostly because even up through episode 8, the action aspect of the plot never picked up pace. And personally really dislike the typical romance stories with overly innocent and useless women. What's worse is the rest of the other women so far have been portrayed as either being just as useless, full of drama, evil, and/or manipulative. This is very typical of the old-school ideal of Asian romance and couple portrayal. Poor woman/rich man, innocent and sweet woman/powerful and misunderstood man, attached with unrealistically cute voices that belong to girls who haven't gone through puberty.

But for those who love these types of sappy stories, I can see why this one is on the higher-rated end and would definitely recommend. Personally I was putting up with the heavy romance scenes for while hoping the action and backstories would pick up at some point but it's been a slow burn.

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