Next to Link Click, this is very much my new favourite Donghua. Actually, it might just be one of the best anime I watched in recent times. What a way to start 2024.
Let's get down to its premise. This is a story that takes place on Kong, an afterlife world built around the concept of mecha boxing tournament system. Basically, Isekai Real Steel. Here's the fun part: in this world, memory is used as a trading and betting currencies in the form of Qian, and people who win tournaments will earn a large sum of Qian and regain memory of their past life whereas the
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losers lose some. When a certain Qian quota is reached, a fighter earns a second chance at mortal life.
When its trailer first came out, I thought this would just be a mostly fun and cute and occasionally badass mecha show, so I was already seated. But seeing the SAME creator of Link Click doing this show, I know I'm in for a ride.
Characters:
The protagonist of the show, Again/啊肝 is really likeable, despite not having much of a depth. She is honestly the most expressive character of the show, which helps showcasing the power of this show's animation, which I will get to. Incredibly cartoony and adorable, she makes it really easy to get invested in the world through her eyes. Her motivation is as cookie cutter as it gets, and if anything, her existence is a vehicle to follow the stories of other more interesting characters with their own unique purposes to appear in Kong, including the other main character, the talking helmet Three/张三, whose true nature is shrouded in mystery. Speaking of which, they have excellent chemistry even when they have just met. Have I talked more about side characters? Yeah no I want you to experience them yourselves.
Story:
The story occurs in arcs that explore the backstory of different characters, with the climaxes usually taking place on the Ringing Fate battlefield. With masterful foreshadowing and presentation, it's easy to become immersed in everyone's journey. However that is not all there is. It may appear at first there isn't much of a main plot, which would be fine because the anecdotes are great, but once things hit the fan you'd realize how much everything matters. Also if you know how Link Click tells its story you can certainly expect some good ol' Haoling feels.
Animation:
Like most anime fans, I am generally not much of a connoisseur of 3D anime. But I am also not so much a puritan that I puke at the notion of watching it. I did not, however, expect this show to blow my expectations beyond a Trigun Stampede-esque quality. This is another one of those cases where not being a 2D show straight up doesn't even matter, because when characters get cartoony, they go all out in making them work. Again is the perfect representation of how expressive their 3D animation can be. The talking helmet is not shabby either, as he is capable of expressing his umpteenth exasperation at his gremlin of a companion. Even beyond that, the mecha combat animation is very stylishly integrated with 2D effects familiar to enjoyers of shows like League of Legends Arcane and the Spiderverse movies. The fight animations are all so snappy, even though occasionally stiffness can be felt. My only other complain though, is that it's really hard to notice the silhouette of the actions, because sometimes they are just too fast.
Art & Visual:
I love it when shows just have an artstyle that is not just classic anime proportions or the uncanny valley semi-realism that plague anime and donghua. This one just says "fuck it" and hired a chibi artist named Hakuro and put fluffy adorable desings next to hardcore mecha designs. It's also a perfect balance of not being too cutesy to take away the effect of more heavy, hard hitting scenes. The show itself is visually striking and uses clean cell shaded 3D rendering, even though that makes it look like just some high quality mobile game sometimes. Interestingly, when it comes to showing glimpses of the backstory, they use blurred live action footages instead of animation and it creates a juxtaposition to the show's otherwise bubbly colours. I don't see a lot of shows do that, and honestly it's pretty cool.
Music:
For some reason this donghua managed to hack the perfect formula to make every single scene not boring to watch in the slightest.
Straight up, in the opening scene of episode 1, you get right into the mood of a short action sequence with fist pumping background music. Even in slower moments, the music makes sure you know you are just there to vibe along as the characters talk and learn about the world. And then when big set pieces happen they bust out big ol' Hiroyuki Sawano tier masterpieces that make even losing a game hype to watch, just saying. The Opening has simple yet engaging melody that gets you into the tournament mood, but the Ending has a beautiful nostalgic vibes not too dissimilar from a synthwave music that goes along a beautifully animated 2D sequences by Studio LAN. Just the perfect way to ease you off the show while still having it linger in your mind.
Before the series ended, I had wondered if it can keep up with the quality of the show considering how strong it started, but somehow by the end it managed to evolve into something even more and it exceeded my expectations. One thing I can say for sure, the more I rewatch the episodes the more I notice details that raise my overall enjoyment. It's like the Attack on Titan level of "Holy Shit it's right under my nose the entire time" effect. I had given this series a 9 before, but having finish it now I'm like nah fuck it it's absolutely a 10
This is an incredibly accessible Donghua to any kind of audience in the same way Link Click does, just as long as you keep an open mind about its animation and art style. I can only hope Mr Li continues to put out bangers like this, especially with his upcoming To Be Hero X.
Lastly, I hope this gets put on more streaming platforms with dubs so more people can see this gem of a mecha show.
Feb 20, 2024
Mingyun Quan Tai
(Anime)
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Next to Link Click, this is very much my new favourite Donghua. Actually, it might just be one of the best anime I watched in recent times. What a way to start 2024.
Let's get down to its premise. This is a story that takes place on Kong, an afterlife world built around the concept of mecha boxing tournament system. Basically, Isekai Real Steel. Here's the fun part: in this world, memory is used as a trading and betting currencies in the form of Qian, and people who win tournaments will earn a large sum of Qian and regain memory of their past life whereas the ... |
