FANREN XIU XIAN ZHUAN

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionFanren Xiu Xian Zhuan
ONA ActionFanren Xiu Xian Zhuan: Yanjiabao Pu Zhan
ONA ActionFanren Xiu Xian Zhuan: Fanren Feng Qi Tian Nan Chongzhi Ban
ONA ActionFanren Xiu Xian Zhuan Movie

REVIEWS

• 

  AntyVerse2021

  50/100
  A Record Of Viewer's Journey To Enlightenment Through Boredom

  I'll be honest: this is my first experience with Chinese 3D animation. I decided at some point in some day of some month of some year to diversify my repertoire and see what people from the country of Winnie the Pooh can create. Especially as I have not had much exposure to Chinese pop culture in my life, at least not to the same extent as Japanese pop culture. Here, of course, we are not counting creations i.e. the poor remake of Mulan from Disney or the concentration camps for Uighurs. So how did Fanren Xiu Xian Chuan fare after that huge number of reviews on MAL, four in number while writing this in 2024, of A Record of a Mortal Journey to Immortality? It was just meh. Like a big MEH.

  STORY 5/10

  Let's start with the story: a poor kid joins the minor sect (that doesn't sound at all like an introduction to a psychological horror film with a theme of reliving trauma) and so soon begins his story towards immortality, surviving along the way... moderately interesting adventures. Let's start with the most important thing: the story is boring and seems to be going nowhere for most of this season. In the sense, we know that the main character wants to achieve immortality, so along the way he walks into a parade of various bad guys, defeats them, occasionally acquires some piece of equipment from them or another superpower, which makes him stronger, and that's about it. Only towards the literal end do we get some interesting plot expansion and foreshadowing of some interesting conflict. Before that, the first half of the show with the Wolf Gang resembles a half-baked side quest from Fallout: New Vegas that you want to complete mainly for the extra EXP. And this sentence is a great insult to NV, because at least there was something worth remembering from Goodsprings. The conflict itself is just resolved crudely, without any life. Overall, the whole world in this donghua seems lifeless and it's not about the graphics, we'll get to that part later.

  Some people in the reviews praised this work for some philosophical message, and it made me spit on my monitor laughing as I was drinking tea. There is as much depth here as in a dried up puddle. To be clear: not every story has to have a profound message. Sometimes an idiotic action movie is just what our monkey brain needs after a hard day's work. But saying that Fanren Xiu Xian Chuan's first season has some deep message is like saying that 365 Days is the pinnacle of Polish romantic cinema without having seen any Polish film before.

  I complain about the plot all the time, but I'd be lying if I said it was something entirely bad. It does have some interesting moments, I particularly liked showing that life and the system aren’t always fair, even when you work very hard. It wasn't anything special, but it was nice to see. And as I said: the ending shows some seeds of an interesting conflict, but I was simply bored on the whole.

  GRAPHICS 7/10

  The universe likes balance, so it's time for me to praise this ONA for something. The 3D graphics look just fine. It's not some work of art, but the particle effects and the whole thing looks good, it certainly could have been worse. The only time it really looks bad is when the camera zooms in on a character's eyes, it then looks like someone is putting their hand up their arse to use them as a puppet. It is also lazy to use real-world photos or video, but this is rare enough that complaining about it starts to border on being petty.

  What I must commend, however, are the fights. These look genuinely good, even if they sometimes resemble PS3 cutscenes. And it was a nice change seeing completely fluid combat, from the usual turn-based combat of most anime. The fights themselves have nice choreography, the characters fly coolly, continuing the glorious Chinese tradition of being suspended from ropes, varied with various magical abilities and weapons, in that respect it's the full package.

  CHARACTERS 3/10

  Know what? The plot really doesn't have to be anything particularly good or deep. Sometimes it's enough for the characters to be easy to like and memorable. Well, you guessed it from the rating that A Record of a Mortal Journey to Immortality contains some really 'fascinating' characters to get to know.

  I'm really trying to recall any characterisations of the main character. Han Li is such a white piece of paper that if the number of character elements were converted to the amount of fat in the body he would be bloody anorexic. If the same process was applied to the rest of the cast we would be left with a skeleton crew.

  Authentically I am able to say more about Bell from Danmachi, Kirito from SAO, heck, even the main character of OniAi than I can about Li Han. I've seen pieces of titanium that were less stiff than the protagonist of this series. As for the rest of the characters: by some miracle it is even worse. Apart from the characters from the first half, no one is worth remembering, and the interesting ones just disappear after the first half. After that, it's only the NPCs who are defined by one trait, and you can consider a character with two traits as a luxury.

  The antagonists, on the other hand, are so one-dimensionally evil that it is an insult to one dimension. Some of them aren't even fun to watch lose. Literally the one enemy Li Han fought against was somehow interesting. And yes, you guessed it, he was only in the first half.

  MUSIC 7/10

  About the music I have the least to say, but it is good. So much, no one track is memorable, but it adds the right attitude and is generally nice to listen to.

  AVERAGE SCORE: 5,5

  So what can I say more about Fanren Xiu Xian Chuan? It was just so plain. You can watch it, but you'll be asking yourself every now and then during the viewing, like me, why you're not watching the Spy x Family cinema film or catching up on the latest episodes of Attack on Titan instead of watching this slugfest. It isn’t the worst, but it’s so mediocre I’m gonna remember this only as my first attempt at Chinese animation. Of course, I’m gonna see what’s happening in the next seasons, hoping it’ll get better. But for now I’m feeling like it was a waste of time. Because with a really bad product I could at least remember how bad it was. And that will fall out of my head as soon as I watch something really good.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  Abdiel7

  100/100
  I've never given a donghua a 10, but with this, it was impossible not to. Simply incredible, make haste and binge it.

  CGI this, CGI that, Complete and utter nonsense, Cry more..
  Complain about CGI? Watch this show!

  For me, the binge was truly effortless.
  I would start the episode, a moment went by, and the ED would start playing
  These were 14-16 mins long(excl OP&ED). It just sucks you in.

  I'm not lying when I say; There is movie level animation every episode.
  The fight choreography in show is just incredible. There's so much of it, so expertly done, it's impossible to get bored. There is so much attention to detail. You will be amazed at how well they revere fighting styles and techniques.

  Have you ever sighed when watching the MC of your average show just effortlessly hack down giant, powerful beasts in absolute impunity with the standard dumb as rock monster fight choreography? Me too...

  This show takes that boring garbage and throws it out the window with the most freakishly animated and intelligent monsters, beasts and bandits you have ever seen, It's a sight for sore eyes.

  These beasts are beyond ruthless, no tea breaks you can't even breathe, you make a single mistake you are instantly obliterated.
  Never have I seen animators respect every character, whether beast or human so well, everyone in this show is a threat. No one fights like an utter moron, beasts will relentlessly attack their enemies overpowering them with strength with ample intelligence. The animation conveys strength and weakness so perfectly.
  There's rarely any stopping to talk in fights breaking the captivation, it's so realistic. You will truly feel the struggle in the fights, the soundtrack truly amps the stakes and there's no pointless time-wasting in battle.

  The MC is a sight for sore eyes, a lot of his character is shaped from his experiences. The author displays their wisdom and prudence, there's great deal of understanding of human nature. You'll find yourself able to sympathize with both sides of every conflict. There's no evil bad-guy just clashing desires and ideals.

  Chinese donghua usually do power scaling quite well, however this show is a true distinction. It has probably, the best power-scaling and progression I've ever witnessed. There's no plot armor, they focus on what's important, having a well-thought out trade-off for many decisions taken. Many things are explained quite well, I was rarely confused.(Well unless you're not used to remembering the sea of Chinese names for the cast)

  While death is abundant, they keep the overall lethality of the cultivation skills quite low for this type of show, heavily restricting the general scale of the powers. This remarkably, does wonders for the immersion. The powers only get crazy at the very top and we're still no where near destroying planets or evaporating the ocean. Every tool is used extensively and well is accounted for.

  One thing the show does best, is that it's very focused on it's core purpose and story.
  It doesn't let the common editor tack-on tropes over-power the story, allowing the viewer to be engaged throughout. There aren't any filler arcs or entire episodes wasted on gag characters pissing about. The characters are many, but each are respected and are used masterfully. Notably, They're not afraid kill them off for good reason, however important they might be.

  All in all....
  There might have been a single solitary arc i didn't enjoy, the rest was wholly exhilarating.
  As with a lot of these donghua you actually learn something and gain some wisdom, this one doesn't disappoint.

  Animation? Best out there. Go watch episode 20-21 and tell me if you've seen much better out there.
  Characters? while fleeting they are well crafted.
  Story? Top tier. No faffing about, no agendas, just a damn good story.
  Sound? Top tier.
  Enjoyment? Best out there...
  11/10 but you can only give 10.

  Just watch the whole thing including S1 and you'll start talking like me, if only all CGI could be like this.

  I've never given a donghua a 10, but with this, it was impossible not to.
  Simply incredible, make haste and binge it.

  Hope this helps.____

  Continue on AniList

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