So far I'm really enjoying this story. Vampires live alongside humans but have to be super careful because they are stronger and can easily hurt humans and also go into frenzy and will rape and kill if they see blood. Naturally there is discrimination against them and harsh laws restricting their lifestyles because they are dangerous and it is very easy for them to lose control. Despite that vampires are essentially humans underneath and most just want to live their lives, go to work, fall in love, and not be hated by everyone.
The problem is how easy it is for them to go out of control and hurt someone and get hooked on blood sex and rock'n roll. The story being told is very interesting but it has been done before: Halfbreed police officer stuck between both sides falls in love with a regular human. That said some new twists get added onto the story that make it different than the other series that have covered the same outline. When the main character goes out of control and gives in to his vampire half those around him are actually in danger for one, and he isn't always in control; they really sell you on the struggle. Also while he is trying to regain control it isn't all epic action series "the power of friendship will conquer all" moments, there are sad pathetic "better lock myself away" moments that strike me as far more realistic than I've seen the situation depicted as in other series.
Naturally this story is "edgy" but I think it has the right amount of edge and isn't just edgy for the sake of being edgy. They get the little touches right like making the main character look sleep deprived all the time because he isn't getting blood and not looking like a glittering prettyboy despite being a dangerous, starved, killing machine. I feel like they might be telling a tragic story for the sake of telling a tragic story and it may turn out that way but so far it has been pretty dang good so I'm in it for the ride to find out.
The atmosphere and tone of this show fits a dark romantic thriller with berserk vampires blending in to the population. To describe the atmosphere as best I can I would say it reminds me of old detective stories where everyone is smoking heavily.
Other than being worried in the future the show will cross over the finely walked line between gritty realism into "edgy"/"stupid emo fantasy" territory my only immediate problem with the show is I really have a hard time believing the female lead is anything other than a living fleshlight. In the first episode she gets some truly horrible news and she recovers from it almost immediately and seems to get on with her life just fine. (Spoilers for the first episode to follow) I feel like it is totally unrealistic to find out that your best friend has a crush on you and because you rejected him (even though you didn't actually dislike him) he went berserk and raped and murdered other women to avoid hurting you in his out of control state and not blame yourself for it. She neither blames herself for it nor her former best friend and one or both of those things should definitely be going on. To make matters worse she then falls for the guy that arrested her best friend. That's a whole new level of friendzoned. It just feels like other than being a nice girl that cooks a mean hotpot she has absolutely 0 personality. As it is still early in the show I hope this is something they expand upon in the future.
The male lead going after her becomes even more questionable as his female coworker is constantly flirting with him and has way more personality. She's a 10/10 future trollmom. Not to mention she is also a vampire so he wouldn't need to worry about seeing her blood and eating her alive one day or hurting her on accident. Sure the female lead is nice and the shy girl with big tits flavor of pretty but underneath the tropes there isn't even a skeleton. All she does is act shy and blush. (Spoilers for episode 2 to follow) She almost gets raped by a guy and guess what she does the entire time? Acts shy and blushes. I don't dislike the female lead because there really isn't anything to dislike but the partner clearly shows they can at least make a female with some personality so I really hope they develop her character in the future.
Right now I'm giving it an 8/10 overall and suggest watching it if you like a good tragic romance story or gritty vampire thriller. It feels a lot like a cross between Blood+ and Psycho Pass (season 1).
