Sirenas

Typical

The plot flow and feel of the series is similar to those like Dong Yi, with similar strengths and flaws. The FL is overly idealistic and perfect without much character growth. Despite consistently being painted as a poor soul who was orphaned, she was raised with an abundance of love and support. Then continues to develop relationships with those are all always willing to risk life and death for her as she continues to get put into one predicament after another.

There are a lot of familiar faces in this series with great acting abilities. The plot started off well with a unique take on a girl being born and raised in prison, and accumulating different skills from a variety of prisoners. She grew to be intelligent, strong, and capable of fighting. However, her character starts to falter with each predicament as it starts to focus more heavily on the various men in her life trying to desperately save her as she is placed again and again in the role of victim. The FL also wasn't the greatest cast for this role as she felt very one-note most of the time. It is also pretty hypocritical of her to want to find the murderer of her mother, when she seems to have no issues with murders of others (especially in the beginning when she just easily obeyed orders to kill when she didn't know the reason).

While the story line stays somewhat interesting and the flow is steady, there's also a significant amount of heightened drama that causes it to feel repetitive. I'm dropping the series mostly because the dramatics are just a tad too much and the FL is becoming less and less interesting. It's too bad because my favorite support character, Jong Geum, is likely to have significant development. She's an underrated actress.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

Although the mortician aspect would have been interesting, this series is a poor imitation of The Longest Day in Chang'an. While the dramatics actually worked there, it was poorly executed and unnecessary for this plot. I do appreciate that more Chinese dramas are starting to bring back some of the essence it once had, before they tried to incorporate poor graphics and terrible costume work. The action scenes are feeling more skill-based again instead of the floating around nonsense or having characters with strange hairdos that are ridiculous for any time period. One of the mains here also starred in The Untamed and while that one was also somewhat gimmicky, it wasn't as severe and it made more sense due to the supernatural aspect.

Nevertheless, at least visually, this series was done better than some of the others I've seen but it still had too many gimmicks attached to a poorly written script:

- They make Gao Bing Zhu seem like some brilliant fighter and observer but for some reason, he doesn't realize the guy he killed was wearing a completely different mask and didn't have the wound he inflicted earlier? Ugh.
- Baili Hong Yi ties a flimsy white cloth around Gao Bing Zhu's wrist and tells him it's some type of magical knot that he would never be able to untie himself from? And Gao Bing Zhu is somehow threatened enough to give in to his demands? Ugh again.

For what seems like a fairly expensive production, the camera work was subpar. Each episode also made less and less sense and the cheesy dialogue only became more cringe. This series really felt like they tried to reuse or combine all the elements of what made The Longest Day in Chang'an, Nirvana in Fire, and The Untamed successful, but didn't bother to care whether the effects actually made sense for the plot. Note that what didn't make this one work for me wasn't because of the actors but from the cards they were dealt.

Read More

Let me start off by stating that I've watched this series years ago and this review is an attempt as a re-watch.

Although I've only re-watched a few episodes, I decided to drop it. It captures your attention quickly and easily with the initial backstory of your leads. But the script feels shallow for its setting and genre, even with its good attempt to build intensity into each scene.

1. The male lead for example who tries to hunt down his "first love" in the streets by following strangers. It isn't as if she changed her name from when they met or internet wasn't available. So it doesn't make much sense even when we exclude the fact that he apparently can recognize her by face a decade later (especially when they met as kids).

2. The female lead was fantastic as a child but she somehow turned into a rude, extreme snob as an adult? So much so that she can't say a simple "thank you" when someone finds her wallet and is outwardly rude instead? Very odd. While it was believable that she was a shitty lawyer, it is nonsensical that she somehow gets chosen as a public defender just because she told a tale of her past. It would have made more sense if she had credentials to back it up but she doesn't even know how to search for browser history on a computer?

Her mother got fired as a housekeeper and they had to move out. Not a big deal. It isn't as if she didn't have a loving mother who had her back and a decent roof over her head. Even if you try to apply the "she conceded to societal norms", it is still overreaching. Maybe her one traumatic incident as a kid, just wasn't traumatic enough (especially compared to a kid who saw his father murdered). Yet the series builds so much around this.

Then, somehow her moral fibers start to kick in within a couple of days because of some lecturing and a sudden reminder of how she was once falsely accused herself? What has she been up to all her adult career life then?

3. Who in the right mind would decide to hang on a windowsill just because they didn't want to get caught smoking? Ever heard of dropping the cigarette and saying you just walked into the room? It's not as if the room was barricaded.

It's tough. As mentioned, they did well with the intensity level and the light comedy so I can see why it would capture high scores with some. But if you really look at the basis, there just isn't much depth. I wouldn't have been so judgmental if this was supposed to be on the lighthearted side but it really isn't. Would have given it a lower score but because the actors were able to make it somewhat entertaining, I could have probably sat through it to the end.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More