The Starry Night, The Starry Sea II (2017)

SUMMARY
A love story between a human and a merman king. Includes an element of gender-bending (at the very beginning of the series), prominent vengeance plot and a few other cute pairings between other characters.
NOTE: This is a prequel to The Starry Night, the Starry Sea, which is set in modern times.
If you haven’t watched season one, I would recommend watching this one first, because otherwise you would know the outcome of S2.

PLOT
I would say that it is a mix of innovative and typical elements. The creative side of the drama is that the main male lead is a mermaid (or rather a merman). However, quite a few aspects of how the plot is executed are very standard for the land of dramas. Also, there is not much variation or unpredictability in how events unravel. The drama remains interesting as episodes progress (and there can be a lot of angst/anxiety involved), but I wished that some of the characters could change their behaviour, because it makes the drama a little monotonous.
On the plus side, there are quite a few side characters, each with their own little story (there is a really funny couple, a tragic couple and a few other characters that we get to know during the course of the drama). Besides main and secondary pairings, there is also an aspect of brotherhood, loyalty and friendship between various character groups, all of which enhance the plot.

ACTING
In short; good, but not breath-taking. Quite a few viewers seem to complain about the female lead. I think she was just ok. I would say that, in turn, the male lead could be accused of having too few expressions.

MUSIC
Generally very good and fitting the situation. Includes a few songs (Zhou Shen is one of the singers!) and some instrumental tracks as well.

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This show was a prequel to it's first season. The fact that the same two main actors were used contributed to the smooth transition, and helped the story development a lot, I feel.

The character development in this show is as worthy of praise as the first. The acting was excellent and there were several tear-jerking moments throughout the show.

When I completed watching the first part of this series, I honestly had doubts as to whether I wanted to subject myself to another 30-plus episode montage in the tragedy genre, but curiosity got to me. I am glad it did, because I ended up on a journey with the characters in this show that I do not regret.

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