The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep

Some laughable storytelling choices, including one that the writers had the nerve to play like a twist ending despite it being as inevitable as the rising sun. Voice acting does have a "pulled off the street" quality for some of the characters, but the performers from the Witcher show and the video games do a pretty good job.

Also, this is Netflix Witcher so you know going into it that Geralt is the 3rd or 4th lead. But for those who are unaware of how Netflix has managed this franchise, that's worth keeping in mind.

The action is actually pretty slick, although the last sequence tends to drag on a bit.

Altogether, this is a totally missable offering unless animated gore really gets you out of bed in the morning.

To be honest, I feel disappointed... I was waiting for this movie for months, hoping for something that would truly capture the essence of The Witcher, but it turned out to be mediocre at best.

The Japanese anime style, -excessive backflips and triple flips especially- just doesn't feel like our Geralt.

Another issue for me was the blonde girl's voice acting. She spoke way too fast and mumbled at times.

That said, the return of Doug Cockle as Geralt's voice was a highlight. Hearing the iconic voice from the games brought some nostalgia and familiarity, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save the movie.

Something has happened to the Witcher. Somewhere along the way, he has become a side character.

Story: It's not well developed but is serviceable.

Characters: As mentioned, somehow the focus is no longer on our hero - where it should always be - and it's not even on recurring characters important to our hero. This was a major error.

Animation: Passable but clearly on a very limited budget. Had the story been very good, this would have been easily forgivable.

Sound/Music/Voice: Low quality. The voice actors aren't very good, unfortunately. There's not much emoting, if any.

Verdict: Unless you're a die-hard Witcher fan, this anime is not worth your time. I gave six stars, mostly for nostalgia.

I admit, I am biased. Spoiled by the excellent writing and story of the books, I expect more and more from the series. Not everything has to be perfect, or even royal. But it HAS TO captivate the same soul.

It has to....

This show does not.

I am furious, how they decapitated the story. It had love, determination, conflict, understanding, regret.. This is the story I recommend to my friends if I want them to get into the Witcher universe or even fantasy fiction. I don't remember how many times I've read that story from the books, and cried.

I love crying, when it is over beauty. Yes, drama can be art.

This one isn't.

It is silly, unprofessional, absurd, shallow, ugly and most importantly, soulless.

I can understand what you did to the show.

I can understand why you did a silly spin-off.

But this animation is like drawing a mustache to Mona Lisa.

I haven't read the books, but I've watched anything Witcher related out there and I'm a big fan of the games. Although the fighting scenes with Geralt are perfect and entertaining, I feel like the entire thing lacked the emotion I'm used to with the games. The music in the background was barely audible, which took away a lot of the tension and feeling it usually creates. What you can hear the most is the sword slashing and voice acting (including breathing and whatnot), or other times just complete silence (which is usually used to create a certain atmosphere) that seems out of place. The story is pretty predictable and too much Little Mermaid like. The reasoning behind the characters' actions is too simple, in a way that makes you think "that's all there is to it?".

I think it had potential to be something good, even with the story being written as it was, if the rest of it managed to pull your heart into it by creating that Witcher feel. As it stands, it felt a bit disconnected or lacking at times. It was kinda boring because it completely missed the mark to be honest...