Ling Qi

Low on luck after a series of unfortunate events, You Keika works part-time to try bringing himself out of a life of poverty. After a strange encounter with a white-haired man in a junkyard, You wakes up to discover that he was killed in a sudden accident and has become a spirit. The man he had encountered, Tanmoku Ki, is revealed as the 13th Youmeshi of the Tanmoki, the highest-ranking exorcist family of China. Noticing the wandering spirit, he offers You the opportunity to form a pact: he will offer You protection from humans and in return, You will have to become his spirit shadow, keeping him safe and guarded at all times.

From then on, the two face untold challenges in the spiritual world, striving to keep those around them safe from harmful spirits. Along the way, the pact they formed grows into something more; a bond that neither of the two ever expected. Behind their roles as master and servant, a lingering admiration begins to emerge.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yang, Jinghua Main

Iguchi, Yuuichi Japanese

Duanmu, Xi Main

Takeuchi, Shunsuke Japanese

Yinzhe Supporting

Sugiyama, Noriaki Japanese

Duanmu, Luoyue Supporting

Takeuchi, Ken Japanese

Yang, Ning Supporting

Kawada, Shinji Japanese

Qin, Shiyao Supporting

Ookubo, Rumi Japanese

Yin, Huayu Supporting

Sorami, Yuki Japanese

Situ, Lu Supporting

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki Japanese

Duanmu, Siming Supporting

Miyake, Takahiro Japanese

Duanmu, Siyun Supporting

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Tang, Yunkang Producer

Li, Haoling Director

Iizuka, Kouichi Sound Director

Ping, Zi Original Creator

Reviews

Mar 28, 2022

chi4you

Recommended

This review is based off the Chinese version, because the Japanese version of the show combines 2 episodes into 1 episode, making it very rushed and cutting scenes out. I tried to watch the JP version, but it doesn't really feel the same as all of the cultural references made in the OG Chinese version. The plot has potential to be good, but the execution of it really fell flat with me. Not sure if it's because each episode was only 15 mins long, but it really deserved more time on screen. Although I suppose that may be an issue with budgeting.

STORY: 6/10 - ... Could be better execution from the directing side, but again, budgeting issue I guess because season 2 is LOADS better in terms of storytelling and art even though it's the same guy directing the show. Most dialogues and events felt rushed and I got confused with how fast paced it was going.

ART: 7/10 - I love chibis. They're cute, but the art isn't anything that's too consistent with frames missing.

SOUND: 9/10 - THE CHINESE OPENING IS A BANGER SOUNDTRACK. I LOVE IT. I HAVE IT ON REPEAT. IT IS POPPIN. IT IS SO CATCHY. You'll come to understand that it describes Jinghua and Duanmu Xi's relationship quite well. On another note, the ending theme is nice and soothing, also another one of my favourites from this show. Battle theme 2 is also very hype with the rapping in the background.

CHARACTER: 7/10 - Bruh everything was so rushed that it felt forced in the show. Couldn't find an attachment to the characters until ~season 2~, but that's excluded from this review. Jinghua is a bundle of joy and makes so many cultural references. I love his energy. Can't say much for Duanmu Xi though, since he's your typical stoic, mysterious MC (TBC in Season 2 hahaha). The side characters are shallow at most without much screen time, and Qin Siyao is just cast aside as a third wheeler for the majority of the show. With that said, I couldn't feel much of Jinghua and Duanmu Xi's bond. Their motivations are skimmed over real quick. Heck, I have more interest in Luoyue and YangNing's past instead. So. Many. Unanswered. Questions.

ENJOYMENT: 8/10 - Despite all the issues with animation, quality, storytelling, this was honestly so FUNNY. The comedy is great. Random insertion of various languages in Korean, Japanese, English, LOL references, Song Joong Ki, crossovers from other donghua like Fox Spirit Matchmaker, and our favourite quote "YOU CAN YOU UP. NO BB". Serious. This gets better. The minor fanservice we get is nice too. Like, literally this series has KISS scenes! It's a donghua too! Absolutely wild to see how loose the censorship laws back then when it came to media. RIP. Maybe that's also why season 3 is bust.

OVERALL: 7/10. I would just watch the show if you enjoy the comedy aspect. I recommend the Chinese version if you can still find it, despite how obscure it is. The drama gets touched upon briefly and continues in season 2. Or if you enjoy BL/Danmei, you may or may not like it. They kinda remind me of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji with their own twist. Their love for each other is not overtly stated, but they truly do care for one another.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 3, 2020

kloekalle

Mixed Feelings

Honestly, it's pretty bad. There is barely any depth to the characters, there's no real story, and it doesn't have any other redeeming qualities. The art isn't horrible, but it's definitely not above average. The opening as well isn't that good. It's boring, I watched it recently yet I can barely remember what happened. And if you were going to watch it for the shounen ai tag, then you'll be disappointed to know that there's little to no romance.

However, I would say it's worth watching only because I really like season 2. The characters are developed a lot and there's an actual story with pretty ... decent conflict.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 9, 2021

Ironoverloaded

Not Recommended

~Review copy-pasted from Season 2 review~

"Master, a relationship with a person is like a kite. It won't fly high if you hold it too tightly. Loosen your grip too much and it falls, and when you pull strongly on a kite flying high in the sky, the string will snap and it will never come back."

I wish I could like this anime. I wish I could write nothing but good things about it, especially since it seems to have a cult following with fans. But I can't.

I'll start with the most glaring issue - This doesn't feel like Shounen Ai. This feels like queer baiting ... and people clutching at straws. This was produced in China, which you probably know has a strict censorship law over gay relationships being shown in the media. I believe this show only got away with what it did show because its producers were Tencent - a very well-known Chinese conglomerate. But even they had their limits.

Let me start by saying every kiss in this has a purpose. Much like Mahou Sensei Negima!? and Yamada-kun and the seven witches. Each kiss is an "exchange of energy" or forming a contract between the two characters. There is never any mention of love and each kiss has a clear purpose to it.

Which is fine. We're watching Shounen Ai, not smut, right? But that's where it falls apart. The characters are unlikeable and never really develop from their initial introductions in season 1, and therefore their emotions never really develop. They're never shown to love each other beyond this sould connection, and it's never even explained why Ki makes the connection with Keika in the first place. ~Sure~, we're given backstory and how they're fated, but Ki doesn't know this at the time he makes the pact and he never shares this information with Keika.

And sadly, there is no season 3, so we can expect to never know past the webtoon as this anime has been cancelled. If there was a season 3 - I might've spared this anime such a harsh review, but the entire plot was just all over the place. There was no pacing, scenes felt awkward, places that were supposed to make you cry just left me sighing and wishing I could fast forward to the resolutions. I couldn't connect with these characters or their emotions, and the emotions felt by most of them seemed flimsy at best - or had overarching, massive conversations and conflicts between them go unspoken or even straight up forgotten about and ignored.

So I couldn't even go "at least this is a good anime, even if there's not any real romance." Because there wasn't any real plot, and any plot was quickly abandoned for the new, shiny plot line they decided was better the next episode. In fact, 5 episodes in the second series were dedicated purely to a flashback between a character introduced 4 episodes into the season within these flashbacks. And the 5 episodes weren't even needed - it was two perspectives of the same events, and by the second run-through, I really didn't care anymore.

I think a portion of this criticism can also be attributed to the Japanese dub. They tried to match the lip animation to what the original Chinese dub said, but Chinese is incredibly fast compared to English and Japanese, and I feel like a lot of what was ~supposed~ to be said was lost in translation and lost it's impact. Instead, scenes flew by unnecessarily fast, littered with sentences and statements that made me go, "uhh, and?" where I'm sure they were supposed to shock you and add tension.

I was going to let this all slide, because "at least the art is good" but it's very sloppy in some frames and scenes, and for some reason, Keika's eyes are retconned and made purple in the second series instead of yellow. Which really doesn't help when Ki and Shouken also both have purple eyes, so every important character just looked the same in the flashback scenes. I wouldn't have cared if they'd even explained it. But there's zero explanation, and Keika's eyes are purple in flashback scenes, so the fan theory that they "changed when he got closer to his ancestor's power level" is redundant because he has them as a child.

I feel like this entire show was trying to do too many things at once, and spread itself too thin as a result. It prolongued the scenes it should've shortened and missed the big picture involving the things it should've prolongued instead.

I can't hate it. It has guys kissing in a CHINESE piece of media. That's nigh impossible to achieve ordinarily and I'm certain Tencent's production was the only reason this was given a second series. It's paving the way for more acceptance in a culture that desperately needs it. And it wasn't a horrific anime. There was semblance of a plot here, and it tried. It just didn't try very hard.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Ling Qi Episode 4 Discussion Stardew - Sep 10, 2016	9 replies	by Celestriarts »» Feb 6, 3:30 PM
	Where is Spiritpact? Wrath - Jan 29, 2017	34 replies	by animesamsur »» Jan 14, 11:05 PM
	Save yourself the trouble. (spoilers about seasons) Konani - Dec 16, 2021	11 replies	by quercifolia »» Aug 26, 2023 4:21 PM
	Poll: When will MAL fix episode count? jocelynkara93 - Feb 27, 2023	2 replies	by jocelynkara93 »» Feb 27, 2023 2:38 AM
	Poll: Ling Qi Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) R_TF - Jul 21, 2016	78 replies	by Roch2001 »» Dec 18, 2022 3:38 AM