Biao Ren: Blades of the Guardians

A chinese series that its gonna caught you with the guard down (on the good sense) with an overall solid quality on most aspects that makes as a whole the experience that you are gonna have with this series.

Starts off with our two main characters (mainly one) the kid does nothing on the entirety of the series (besides fullling some stereotype) which makes you wonder the reason why he is here on the first place, on the other part Dao Ma is the one who takes most of the spotlight though what early on the series seemed to be revolving all around these two turn ... out pretty quickly not being the case with not only taking place a plot that is on scale much bigger than what we could think on the beginning but also focusing on multiple characters along the episodes giving us a different perspective on how are unfolding the events that at the end of the series converge on all of them getting involve in it, all of this executed really well.

The characters are interesting, have good developments, design wise almost all of them dont resort to some cliche or stereotype leaving few exeception like the kid or one chick (Yan Ziniang), and the motivations are solid, just to give an example really surprised me Ayuya shu a female character not only as an strong one persona and as a fighter but also the whole transition on her along the episodes is really well executed not relying on the cclasic tropes we are bore to death on seeing for this kind of characters makes it even more a pleasure to watch, not even mentiong other one to not make so long the review XD.

The animation was good sure if i get very very picky i might catch some moments that could look bad but speaking on general terms nothing to complain even i would go so far to say that was a little over the standart, the fights scenes also decent.

Sound wise the op was fine, the ending didnt like it, and the ost was kind generic.

The episodes supposedly last 20 minutes each and i say that because there are some that end a little before and others that even go to last more than normal which i found it kinda strange and might be due to the format in which was released maybe.

I only have watched a couple of chinese series so far and this one like the others i watch it with chinese dubs (because i couldnt find it on another language) and might be the reason why i found that the delivery on the lines for the characters mainly on key moments lacked of emotion and really didnt convey well the whole situation which maked me really dont feel completly invested on them on really important events mostly on the last strech of the series, with that also i have to say it feels a little off on how connect the events of previous episodes for the firts couple of minutes for some of them.

End up in a manner really satisfying and of course without closing the story yet, we get to know a little on the past of Dao Ma but there is clearly a lot more that wasn't told on this season which leaves room for a future secuel of course.

Due to the settings in which the series take place with many historical elements infused in it feel might not be the most appealing to many people who are not into works that deal with these kind of themes although i would say give it a try because it might hook you either way, and to those who already watched series of the same nature like kingdom or arslan senki this one is most than certainly for you.

Finally, a good Chinese adaptation.

Want to know why most Chinese adaptations suck? Because a lot of them straight up adapt from web novels. Do you know how long web novels are? Thousands of chapters, millions of words. Just not suitable for an animated adaptation. Worst of all, a lot of the famous web novels are cultivation or xuanhuan novels. This means a bunch of fighting and a bunch of generic tropey plot devices, and that means a large majority of adaptations will need a lot of good animation budget to recreate the frequent action sequences. It's just not sustainable. Japanese web novels, while adapted ... frequently, only work because they get serialized into light novels, and finally, adapted into anime. Manga is even better since there are fewer words, characters are already drawn and recognizable, the pacing is more similar, and there's your storyboarding right in the manga panels. Don't believe me? Most of the best Chinese animations are not web novels, such as Mo Dao Zu Shi, which WAS eventually serialized into a novel series, and the original webnovel was only a hundred chapters long.
And Biao Ren follows these rules. It was adapted from a Manhua, or manga series so finally, I get to see a properly paced series.

Biao Ren is good. It reminds me of Kingdom if the characters weren't so self-righteous. The main character's a vagabond, a bounty hunter. Even so, he repays his debts, forgives people, and can be said to be a pretty compassionate man. He loves his son, and in the series, you will encounter more and more characters that will be part of his entourage into a plot bigger than killing bounties for money.

The development from a small-scale plot to eventually, the bigger picture of the instability of the Sui dynasty and the borders around it is great. There are scale maneuvers, deployments, and politicking in the show, and the way it's presented is good. You'll find that each side of the war has enough character development, and thus the conflict becomes that much more interesting. The plot is quite slow, with the first season covering only the first major arc. Yet, there are a lot of details to unpack, the plot that's been exposed, and the characters that have been introduced. The show lays the groundwork for the next season brilliantly.

Dao Ma's entourage is only the size of four or five people, but with this small band, they encounter a lot of conflict. And yet, the animation is fine. Definitely miles better than Kingdom's garbage CGI. This is where the animation studio's art direction comes into play. Yes, Biao Ren uses CGI to recreate large-scale battles. However, the use of CGI is much more subtle, well executed, and has more production value. First off are the models. They are just straight up a level better than the Japanese ones. Still, "better a JP anime CGI" is a low bar. It still looks bad. However, the liberal use of dark lighting and CGI placement is all the difference. The entire art direction is well done. Dialogue is accompanied by hand-crafted 2D CGs that look great, characters look good, and backgrounds are superb. There is more shading, and a lot of fights have a good light-to-dark contrast. The key to the animation in this show is that the CGI is placed in a darker setting which fits the art style. This makes, well, CGI look better since it's harder to see. CGI is usually accompanied by 2D close-up shots. Even when soldiers are marching, there's always some 2D animation covering the front of the army with 3D in the background. It's the dark, more gritty art style that fits the CGI which makes me tolerate it.

Plus, there are a bunch of fights that are hand-animated. Are they particularly good? Well, not really. They're all okay. For the sheer amount of battles that happen, the show does a damn good job. I am pleased and satisfied with the fight scenes. That being said, are they particularly good? Um...not really. Again, the regular character animation and backgrounds are good, but fights are just passable. Still, I am pleased with the animation in general. It's good, and the only thing it needs is more budget.

Finally, are the themes. These tie into the bigger plot quite seamlessly, but there are quite a few themes that hover over people. The fact that people all lunge for riches. That kindness and compassion go unrewarded while the greedy and scheming succeed. That people will switch alliances as easily as flipping a hand, and that you're a poor fool if go against the tide, even if it's the right thing to do. These tie into corruption and the selfishness of man. I'll be honest, themes of rebellion against a Chinese dynasty are pretty rare in a story produced in China. Need I say why? I'm surprised this story passed the auditors. Maybe they got bribed.

If Kingdom glorifies the royalty of the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period of China, then this shows the reality of ruling dynasties that constantly wage war in ancient China. I put this score in hopes that the series continues its current quality into the next season

STORY: 9/10
Without any spoilers, this adaptation covers a few arcs from the comic. The last arc they animated really got me invested and hooked. The story was so engaging and emotional, along with epic confrontations and conclusions. Besides focusing on the events happening at hand, there is also an overarching plot brewing in the background, which makes me very interested in knowing how everything will come together eventually.

ART: 8/10
Gorgeous art that is so refreshing to see among the sea of anime I watch. The studio does a pretty good job of keeping the original art style intact, but there were definitely inconsistencies and lack of ... attention to details in the animation from scene to scene that I found distracting.

SOUND: 9/10
Beautiful soundtrack and great voice acting.

CHARACTER: 10/10
I love the character designs and character development. At this point, we still don’t know everything about the characters, but I WANT to know more and that’s just the way I like it. A story is no fun if the author gives up everything at once.

ENJOYMENT: 8/10
I love the story and believe it has amazing potential, but this adaptation is somewhat held back by the production quality. Overall, the animation can get choppy, which certainly doesn't do action scenes justice, and there are glaring inconsistencies. Having said that though, I think the studio overall still did a great job. It made me want to read the source material, which I also recommend! There are some storytelling nuances that I believe are better in the comic. If they produce a season 2, I am definitely watching it!