| Episodes: 12 | Score: 7.9 (180617)
Updated every at | Status: Finished Airing
Type: ONA
Producers:bilibili | Tencent Video | China Literature Limited
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Synopsis
Widely regarded as a trailblazer and top-tier professional player in the online multiplayer game Glory, Ye Xiu is dubbed the "Battle God" for his skills and contributions to the game over the years. However, when forced to retire from the team and to leave his gaming career behind, he finds work at a nearby internet café. There, when Glory launches its tenth server, he throws himself into the game once more using a new character named "Lord Grim." Ye Xiu's early achievements on the new server immediately catch the attention of many players, as well as the big guilds, leaving them to wonder about the identity of this exceptional player. However, while he possesses ten years of experience and in-depth knowledge, starting afresh with neither sponsors nor a team in a game that has changed over the years presents numerous challenges. Along with talented new comrades, Ye Xiu once again dedicates himself to traversing the path to Glory's summit! [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Voice Actors
Reviews
Agent_Redacted
Quanzhi Gaoshou “The first Chinese anime I watched. The first Chinese anime I dropped. The first Chinese anime I re-watched. The first Chinese anime I cried to. And The first Chinese anime that became the best RPG anime I've ever watched.“ Now I have a lot to say about this show but I shall condense it to make it easier to read. Quanzhi Gaoshou is possibly the best RPG-based anime ever made. Though it does not really go into the detail of skills & feats of players. The show excels in representing the competitive side of gaming, giving the appreciation and admiration it sincerely deserves. Aretired professional gamer goes into the new server of a game and has fun. Though the OP MC trope may be considered as "overrated". I find Quanzhi Gaoshou very entertaining to watch. Why? Because this anime is indeed NOT an isekai. But an anime about true gaming, and to simply put it, it's just like watching a pro player's montage on Youtube but better ( because of anime enhancement ). I have already adapted to the Chinese accent so it is no longer a hindrance for me. Thanks to that, I can now watch even more anime like this. Good grief, good grief. Recommended to everybody, honestly. Just try to adapt to the language of the gods. With a bit of motivation and determination you can become keen.
Callanthe
Quan Zhi Gao Shou, or King's Avatar, can be seen as many things. China's first big-budget foray into the world of animation. A realistic take on MMO gaming in Anime. An OP protagonist stomping everyone with masterful mechanics and strategies. The long-awaited "eSports anime". A character study about a master of his craft striving to reach the peak one last time. It is all of these and yet none of them, a unique entity that is truly one-of-a-kind both as a novel and in animation. The entire novel clocks in at a whopping >1700 chapters, of which this first season covers ~250 in 12 episodes.Now for a more detailed breakdown... 1) Story King's Avatar has a fairly simple premise. The man known as the "Textbook of Glory" (Glory being the MMO game at the center of this anime) carried his team to 3 championships in the glorious past, but is now being discarded by his organization because of his rising age and unmarketability. Now he must start over as a new character on Glory's newest server, where he quickly rises to the top due to his unparalleled experience with the game. He meets both old friends and new, and eventually builds a team of his own aiming at the pro gaming scene as his final hurrah. I will say there are occasional flaws at times, especially in regards to pacing. The source material loved worldbuilding, including long discussions about the game mechanics and the current events of Glory's pro scene. The animation cuts down on these exposition dumps, which can be both a plus and a minus. In general, the story takes a while to start up, as Ye Xiu and his friends are initially engaging in relatively small-scale activities (leveling up, setting dungeon records, etc.). It's a fairly predictable plotline overall. However, King's Avatar understands that the simplicity of its plot can be used as an advantage. There are no obvious plot holes, and every character behaves in a sometimes startlingly realistic manner. Like a sports anime, King's Avatar is very much about the journey, not the destination. And what a journey it is! 2) Art The Chinese animation studio behind this has really gone for a distinctive, detailed style in its character design. (I personally love it). Of note, they do use quite a bit of CGI, especially for backgrounds: some instances it turns out fine and is practically invisible, while other times... not so much. They will also recycle some animations, such as when the main characters are repeating the same skills in-game. However, I will say that every single fight scene is a joy to watch, complimented by unique situations and the choreography to go with them. And my gosh do I want to buy a poster of the beautiful character designs. 3) Sound I was impressed by the consistent quality of the music and sound design for this anime. Each song fits very well with the appropriate scene. The main OP is surprisingly catchy. The voice acting is also excellent--every voice actor fits their character perfectly, from Ye Xiu's calm and dry attitude to Chen Guo's brash spunkiness to Su Mucheng's sweet playfulness to Huang Shaotian's babbling. Not much to criticize here. 4) Characters Given how this season was limited to 12 episodes and many characters only had limited screentime so far, I feel that the studio did the best they could to flesh out each character. Even the most minor of characters have understandable motivations, they have realistic biases that color their thinking, they try to make logical decisions based on their knowledge of the situation... they all feel human, which is my highest praise for a character. And yes, every single character is an adult, so no high school level drama here! Let's take our main man Ye Xiu as an example since he gets the most spotlight anyway. Normally, I avoid OP protagonists because too often they come across as blatant wish fulfillment for their audience, with a cardboard box for a personality. However, Ye Xiu's character strikes a perfect balance between "a Glory god incarnate given his gaming knowledge" and "a sympathetic human dealing with very relatable problems." We of course enjoy the many moments where he is delightfully badass and smug about his own awesomeness. But we also empathize with his struggle against time and his own age, his unresolved feelings about his former heights of glory, his deeply hidden sorrow at being kicked out by the team he poured his soul into, his compassionate mentorship of all the adorable noobs he meets. Best of all, the show can be surprisingly delicate/subtle about the depth and growth of its characters, from major to minor. (Of course some characters got cut out or reduced in the transition from novel to animation, but I think the adaptation definitely preserves the spirit of the original work.) Overall, while this area of King's Avatar isn't perfect, I get the feeling that it's doing its best with the time it has. This means the characterization of this show can only go up from here as we get more scenes with each character. 5) Enjoyment I will admit that individual biases will definitely color this area. I personally had extreme amounts of fun with both the show and the original web novel. At times it made me cheer. Other times it made my heart hurt. And there were many many instances where I just couldn't help but laugh at the hilarious situations. But there are specific types of people I would highly highly recommend this anime to. - If you want a take on gaming/esports that is both realistic and turned extremely awesome... this show is a love letter to every level of gaming: from the colorful trash talking/ranting to the helpful/kind advice, from the most clueless of noobs to the most seasoned of pros. - If you have strong nostalgia for MMOs and cooperative gaming in general... this show will hit that button like nothing else in existence. - If you want colorful character designs (both real-life and in the fantasy world of Glory) and awesomely choreographed fight scenes - If you want a show that knows how to have fun, while also quietly pointing at the real world of gaming beneath the surface. It never takes itself too seriously, never engages in silly melodrama, it knows exactly what it wants to be: an awesome protagonist kicking tons of ass, helping his juniors, and fighting his own battles both in and out of game. Overall, does King's Avatar have its flaws? Of course, just like any other anime. But most of all, King's Avatar is a joy to watch.
BruTrue
CHINESE CARTOOOOON Shì de, wǒ cāi zhè shì hǎo de, bǐ zàixiàn jiàn yì gèng hǎo. This isn't considered anime but still, the show isn't that bad. I enjoyed it at most times but it started to get boring around episode 8. I enjoyed how the main character Xiu Ye is not a God from the start, he has to build his way back to the top by leveling up and gearing. If you liked sword art online or enjoy esports you should at least give this "anime" a chance. If you're reading this right now... what are you doing? Watch it! Watch it now!
ScatCat
I like video games, so I had high hopes for this series, but they were quickly dashed. The protagonist is a typical Mary Sue character. His sole flaw is being too nice and amazing a guy. No, I did not make that up. Nice and amazing is why this professional player is penniless despite being a "god" among men. Quanzhi Gaoshou is about this amazing guy who, when others don't recognize his amazingness, leaves the rockstar-like existence that is professional video games behind and lands a job where he plays his favorite video game full time. He starts a new character and continues doing amazingthings. Storywise, this series is extremely shallow. There is no real conflict, since there's nothing the main character can't do. Supporting characters are likewise one dimensional. Each exemplifies a single quirk serving only to throw the hero's dignified stoicism into sharp relief. Bad guys are people who frown, and they are bad solely because they don't like the amazing MC's amazing amazingness or appreciate his sandbagging. Actual animation quality is abysmal. "Real World" CGI shots look like they came from the 1990s. In-game CGI is better, but nothing special. Action scenes are split evenly between in-game and real world viewpoints. Real world action shots consist solely of...typing on keyboards. Occasionally a mouse gets moved. Yes, typing gets just as much screentime as in-game PvP action. In both cases, assets are reused frequently, ofttimes within the same episode. The soundtrack isn't terrible, but isn't good either. Synthesized stuff you can hear anywhere. Taken as a whole, this was clearly a low budget production. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, but this show fails at every turn. Plot, characters, and setting are all terrible. This is one of the worst series I've ever seen. I can not recommend it to anyone.
PakiUSA
STORY: 6/10 CHARACTER: 6/10 ART: 9/10 SOUND: 7/10 ENJOYMENT: 8/10 OVERALL: 7/10 ‘The King’s Avatar’ is a Chinese anime that manages to be a joyous ride, filled with many badass Action settings and well-placed Dramedy that will have you wishing for ‘GLORY’ to exist in real life! (GLORY is the MMO game played in this anime) The story focuses on a superb player who’s forced into early retirement, so he creates a new character instead and starts from scratch. Some of the game settings are beautiful to behold showcasing amazing landscapes but unfortunately the anime also takes liberty in explaining the game system to the audience. The downside to this isthe negative effect on the story which feels incoherent in places, so some concept goes unexplained like how the MC can employ such vast damage to his opponents? Or why can’t experience and higher-level players outdo him in matches or record breaking? I know his experience helps him a lot but that can’t just be it right? (I have many other similar queries but no need to dive into them) Easy fix is to just go with the flow and enjoy what’s unfolding in front of you. You do figure out a few things along the way like ‘GLORY’ rewards players with high APM (Actions per minute), game skills or a team player mindset. And since half of the anime is set to an E-sports theme, the eventual goal for all the players is to be offered a lucrative contract and be part of a professional team with a separate location provided for practise matches. The other half happens inside the game where all the battles take place in an arena type context with PvP style aspect to it though it’s never fully explained. The MMO featurette presented here was entertaining and played well with your nostalgia (Only if you are a Gamer!) so little things like training weaker players, forming guilds and completing missions together just made me very happy. What makes this more fun is the journey we take with our MC, who’s practically a master of this game. With 10 years’ worth of experience, Xiu Ye knows everything about it, from its mechanics to the materials needed for crafting special weapons and the knowhow to beat different bosses! This certainly makes him an OP character but its believable to an extent, so I won’t fret too much. Although the constant praise he is showered with by everyone is too much, it’s understandable when new or mediocre players are in awe with him but when experienced players started doing the same, I had to roll my eyes! (I also understand he lost his position because of losing interest in the game due to the shift in focus from the agency. It wasn’t about games anymore, it became more about exposure and sponsorships but still I would have preferred some challenges for him in the game since he started playing with a new character) His weapon is very unique, changing forms from a spear to a sword or a gun which was very cool and the back-and-forth with between Xiu Ye and Rou Tang was nice. The pacing of the subs was an issue people had problem with. (Chinese dub doesn’t count as one! :P) But you get used to it by reading faster, still the names were a little difficult to remember which in turn hurts the side characters as they were hastily presented without giving them much screen time. In addition, some characters looked alike which is why most of them fail to leave an impression! Although the people Xiu Ye teamed up with were fun to have, especially that one person who talks too much! (from episode 11) The artwork and animation here is a stand out, dazzling viewers with stylized fights that always manages to entertain, and the playfulness light comedy attached to it was appreciated. It’s not perfect though as Chinese anime is known to feature a lot of 3D, and while most of it looks good, some of it is either unnecessary or sloppily done. (The Internet café parts) The Voice Acting and OP/ED translated well but nothing stood out for me. I did enjoy the sound effects added whenever we were inside the game, especially during the battles. The animation during fights were very pleasing due to the details with which they were choreographed and outlined. The light novel or manga this is derived from is pretty long and comes in depth with details of how the game works. (Class and level system, weapon crafting, etc.) So, I figure most of the loopholes from this show can easily be clarified there. Still that’s not fair to the ones who just like to watch so they better fix this problem for their next season as its very clear many details and plotlines were skipped. They need to pace themselves by slowing down a bit and explaining things along the way. Maybe have more than 12 episodes for the next season. And the side characters need more limelight, so we can care about them too. (Don’t just focus on OPing your MC!) I must commend the anime for not catering to most of anime watchers so no form of fanservice or clichéd game genre tropes shall be found here. The story feels more grownup with mature characters and real-world problems which is a breath of fresh air. Which is why Xiu Ye development as a person was done differently here, subtler and realistically put. Nevertheless, I was impressed with the animation and the action, so I am excited for another round, but they better fix their blunders or next season won’t be a hit!
entropyflow
Quanzhi Gaoshou, or more better known as The King's Avatar, is unlike any anime I've seen before. Although it deals with gaming, it is not the typical augmented reality or death games you'd see in the infamous Sword Art Online or Btooom!. It is focused on a "retired" professional gamer who plays a normal computer game using keyboard and mouse, but with immense skill. And with talent, one would naturally attract attention, fellow skilled players and enemies. And that's what this anime is about... In a few highly condensed sentences. * Story: 7/10 Without spoiling anything much, the story is about the esports scene of a fictionalMMORPG game called "Glory". The main character, Ye Qiu, is an absolute legend at this game although he has been forced to resign from his professional team due to various reasons. This doesn't stop him from playing Glory, as he finds an internet cafe, works there and starts to make a comeback. I think the anime is greatly focused on the esports side seeing as Ye Qiu is constantly surrounded by professional players and is, on occasion, haunted (or even hunted... in-game) by his previous team members. The story itself is quite enjoyable but it can become predictable... As most animes with overpowered characters are. However, it does have commendable originality and it's pretty funny. Overall, it's an enjoyable premise but could be improved since it didn't really feel like there was a complication or problem the characters had to resolve. * Art: 10/10 Alright, why the 10? Well that's because when I watched the first episode, I was absolutely blown away by the quality of it all. Watch and you'll see what I mean. The merging of the 2D, and highly rendered graphics^ and animation was smooth and appropriate. The character art is very pleasing, and their designs and colour schemes are not over the top. The scenery and backgrounds are amazing and every episode makes me feel as if I'm watching an anime movie, and do not feel low-effort at all. The animation during combat is very smooth and the characters' movements are fluid, realistic and mostly all make sense. ^Disclaimer: when I say highly rendered, I mean realistic backgrounds and scenery, almost on the level of Shinkai movies (Your Name, Garden of Words, etc.) where it mimics life, or a really good photograph. I do not mean the awkward 3D models that are sometimes used in anime (for example in Sailor Moon Crystal or Love Live). * Character: 7/10 The characters are very unique and we see a variety of types of characters. We have the cool dude (obviously Ye Qiu), the cool dude's waifu, the cool dude's tsundere boss, the cool dude's annoying friend, the cool dude's cool dudes and the list could keep going. Haha, hope you get the idea of the amaaazing range of characters. Anyway, most of the characters are easy to watch and you won't be getting angry at anyone for being rude to your favourite character, even if they're the antagonists (since that's their job). There are however, one or two characters that I just wanted to slap sometimes since they were really stubborn. Characters are alright, nothing really stands out but there are some special boss-type people that appear from time to time. They're kind of like the characters in Kuroko's Basketball where you'd have characters with "special abilities" appear. Characters are easy to watch and understand, so that's good. Majority just aren't particularly memorable. There are those who break stereotypes, which I think is also a good thing, if you want to consider the anime's homeland country China. * Sound: 8/10 Good music during battles keep it hyped up. There are a few scenes where I turn it down a bit because the constant clashing of weapons can get a bit too loud for my liking. The background noises are pretty good in fact since they add a realistic kind of atmosphere to the anime. The opening song is quite nice too and can be catchy after you hear it 12 times. Same goes for the ending song. Overall, good sounds and music but during battles it may be too loud. * Overall: 9/10 Because I'd watch it again. It's really good in my opinion since it is engaging, has interesting characters and story, really high quality of art, and I have easy access to it (official uploads on YouTube if you didn't know). This would be my first review here! I felt like Quanzhi Gaoshou was deserving of a review and just absolutely had to write one. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves anime and PC gaming, especially RPGs.
bip2000
I disliked this anime primarily for 2 reasons: there were too many characters to have actual development and relationships, and there was no real story line. This being said, it was slightly enjoyable to watch just for the change of pace in the Chinese anime. When it came to characters, there were just too many. Even in the last episode, they were adding new characters that had large, important back stories just to have some more fights. There was no development and all the characters were quite 2 dimensional. In addition, the main was way OP and whilesome might find this enjoyable, they never explained how he was so good aside from saying 'he has played for years'. The story line also was quite lackluster. This ties into the characters but because there was no development, it felt like nothing changed and every episode was just as many fight scenes as they could fit.
kiawe
brick punch OP better nerf not a perfect masterpiece but defenitely outstanding. the story is good. its set in this day and age and it does give you a perspective into a career you rarely get (yet). i feel its lacking a bit on relationship developement. there is a hint of romance but not much happens there. it has a climax but it feels weird to find out about the 9 year old rivalry in the very last episode. maybe i missed the hints because im not yet used to chinese names and i often had no idea who was talking about whom. the art is good. there area few scenes where the 3D usage feels a bit jarring but overall its quite fitting especially ingame. the sound is great, the voice actors seem good and i really love the opening song, very fitting in dramatic moments. the characters are absolutely amazing. you have the main character who is godlike and could by all means be holier than thou and above it all but he isnt. he honestly enjoys the game and isnt afraid to say that he learned something new. the show isnt afraid to make fun of him or have him bossed around. he is kind but still ambitious and even angry. the supporting cast is amazing too i could go into detail about all of them. theyre a joy to watch. i enjoyed this show a lot. i loved the new perspective (professional competetive gamers) and i loved the characters (interacting with each other in a genuine and relatable way) i really really hope theres gonna be a second season and we get a bit more about how they developed in the past year and if there are some changes within their relationships ect.
Call-Me-Captain
This show is getting a full 10 out of 10 from me. It was truly outstanding - And people still say gaming can't be made into a good anime. Guys, if you were disappointed by SAO or any other anime about gaming, go and watch this. In my opinion it's close to be a masterpiece, and I don't say that very often. Story 10/10: This part of my rating is probably the one that could be misunderstood the easiest, because the story may not have been as intricate and full of twists as are some other really great stories. It is, in a special kind of way, very simple -The main topic being "pro gaming", and everything that this notion implies. We see snapshots of the protagonists in real life as much as in the game itself, and while all of the action scenes and many other scenes are focused on the "gaming world", I'd honestly say that the actual topic of the anime is not about the game itself, but about all the "real life" implications the gaming has for the characters. This first season does hint a lot about old and new relationships of friend and foe, but I'd say that none of them are as stereotyped as they are in most anime - We don't really have the "White Knight" fighting the "Evil Lord" trope, nor any other of the often overused tropes. So, yes, the story may seem very simple at first glance, but in this particular case I do not believe that "simple" is the description that will lower the score. It's "simple" in a "down to earth" kind of way, as in that the story itself is quite straightforward - But all the details that are given to it makes it absolutely worthwhile. Art 10 out of 10, nothing more to say. The animations are absolutely FANTASTIC. Better than any I have seen yet, and I have seen a lot. Just see it for yourself. Sound, 10 out of 10, same as with the art - It blends in perfectly with every scene. Characters, 10 out of 10: While, again, not incredibly complicated (Even though this statement may even be quite degrading to the anime, since it does hint at a lot of subtleties that could be very important), I absolutely loved the personalities of all the characters and the way they interacted with one another. Again, I'd say that you don't have the "over the top cliché" characters, and much more down to earth people - And while the character development is rather slow, we do uncover more and more about each character each episode, and it all just ties in together beautifully. Enjoyment, 10 out of 10: Well, what can I say. This was my favorite anime this season, and arguably one my all-time favorites, right at the top with FMA:B and Legend of the legendary Heroes (Even though it is *completely* different than those two). I totally looked forward to each episode every week, and the time spent watching it was a peaceful time of absolute bliss (Ok, this may have been worded a bit too flower-y, but I did enjoy this anime a lot. Hoping for a second season.) Overall, 10 out of 10: Guys. Yes, I know. It's about "gaming". How could "gaming" ever be made into an enjoyable series, you may ask. Many other series may have failed in doing so. But really - Just give it a try. It is a bit slowpaced, so if you don't like that, you may disagree with my judgement, but all in one it is a really beautiful piece of art.
KitsunehimeMilhi
For being a Chinese anime, The King's avatar is actually really good. The only other one I watched was spirit pact, or I at least saw the story since I actually watched the Japanese version. Either way, the story and character set up was just bad and pretty uninteresting. The King's avatar comes along now and brings about a much better feeling. It certainly has it's flaws, but it was still really good. The basic story is about Ye Xiu being forced to resign from his professional team for the online game, Glory, due to how he treats the other members.They bring the scolding or whatever upon themselves, which is told a little later, but it is still the reason he was kicked out, and I guess a little bit of inner politics as well. After the initial stuff, the show becomes about Ye Xiu, or Lord Grim, in the game, as he spends his days after having his contract terminated. The anime actually does a really good job at showing off an ex-professional's skills in fighting as well in coordinating teammates. He manages to train a couple of capable new players to be almost on par with many of his skills; their skills are certainly not as good, but they don't exactly act like complete newbies either despite their lack of experience. It becomes a story that show cases lots of action while showing the everyday life of people in the professional gaming industry. It could be better, but I'm willing to give the story an 8/10 since it is still unique among gaming/fantasy anime and comes to a very satisfying conclusion. The art and animation part is easily the weakest. For the most part it was really fluid even during action scenes, but this wasn't always the case. At times the subtitles seem to really lag behind the conversation on screen and there was some inconsistent grainy scenes during a few fights throughout some episodes that detract from the overall art and animation quality. The character designs are still really nice though and most of them easily leave an impression to the point that I'm confident you should recognize the face at least even after it being a while since finishing the show. There is a lot of weird emotionless backgrounds, that seem to be filled with 3d cgi designs, early on and in the middle, but much of this is taken away as the show continues. The overall quality is still really fluid despite the lapses in quality. I'll give it an 8/10 because of the lapses, but it would've been an easy 9, especially if the 3d cgi background people were gone (it felt awkward to see them). The sound is certainly one of the stronger aspects of the anime. The opening and ending themes certainly stand out among other fantasy and gaming themes, despite them not being the best of the best, in my opinion. The background music is superb though and certainly gives a different feeling than other fantasy gaming soundtracks. As a viewer, I expect these types of anime to have very good/great soundtracks, but they are not usually as different as this one. I'm giving another 8/10 for the superb background music; a 9 would be warranted if the ending and opening were a little better. Even though I think the show has really good characters is a little hard to talk about them since almost everything was so team based rather concentrating on individuals. Every character was really good in their own way, and most of them were not purposely flashy for no reason. Ye Xiu is actually a great main lead too despite being an overpowered played. Unlike a lot of other stories though, it's not because the plot demands it and rather because he actually possesses the skills. I really enjoyed the cast and I hope you do too, so another 8/10. My enjoyment score is another 8. I really liked/loved almost every minute of the anime, despite the backgrounds bothering me from time to time. It's a really good fantasy show and I would recommend watching it if you're a fan of the genre or sick of trapped in another world shows and want a different twist.
Ryuuryota
My first Chinese originated anime and i was not left disappointed. It took about 1 episode to get used to hearing Chinese voices instead of common japanese seiyuu, after that i fully enjoyed the refreshing experience china had to offer. Story: 9 If you've read the synopsis then it sums it up pretty well what you're getting in to. I personally really liked the realistic e-sports gaming story. Some people may say that it was kind of slow paced but i feel that it was paced appropriately for the story it was trying to tell. Art: 10 I loved seeing this refreshing new art styles China broughtto The Kings Avatar. The colors were not too vibrant and perfectly matched realism outside of the game and in the game was drawn how you would expect to the your average MMO. The background scenery was very detailed even down to showing irrelevant background humans doing normal actions but they were animated which is not seen that often outside of relevant background scenery. Sound: 9 The OP and ED choice really fit the anime in my opinion they had an emotional sound that could relate to the MC's life. The choice of music for different scenes didn't drop in quality throughout for fulling purpose and synergising with the current scenes ideals. The voice acting was really good it felt very natural and not over exaggerated which adds more depth to the characters themselves. Character: 9 The Characters didn't feel bland at all and perfectly fit the personality's of what the author was trying to portray. They were drawn really well except for some facial expressions were absent where it felt necessary this is why i didn't give a 10. There didn't appear to be any common cliched characters which is one of the reasons this anime felt so new and refreshing to me. Enjoyment: 10 I personally really enjoyed this anime and it felt very refreshing when i've only ever watched Japanese anime before so it was very enjoyable to watch. This was my first Chinese anime and it surpassed my expectations. I was recommended this anime from a friend on MAL and it was a great recommendation many thanks. Overall: 10 I gave this anime a 10 for overall enjoyment but this is just my opinion you may not enjoy it as much as i did or you may enjoy it more. I believe it should definitely be given at least a few episodes chance if you feel like it's not for you then that's up to you, as for me i will be waiting for a second season.
HaXXspetten
People tend to meme a lot about Chinese cartoons in this community, but did you ever imagine that a genuine example of such a thing could turn out this spectacular? Quan Zhi Gao Shou—or The King's Avatar in English—is indeed a Chinese production based on an award-winning web novel series of the same name. While it is certainly not the first Chinese anime that has been produced over the years, I do believe this is in fact the first time one of them has actually gotten overall praise and popularity from the general anime community. Perhaps the main reason for this is that Quan Zhi GaoShou feels like it fills a hole that has so far been left unexplored by Japan. While there have been tons of anime in recent years about otaku, games and people somehow being transported to game-like fantasy worlds, this is the first one I've ever seen which is actually about esports. There is nothing supernatural, fetishized or parody-oriented about Quan conceptually speaking; instead it is a story about what it's like for people in their twenties to go about their everyday lives as professional gamers and everything that comes along with being a part of that industry. As someone who has been watching esports for almost a decade now for a variety of different games and genres, I must say that this anime interested me a lot from the beginning, and while it's not exactly perfect, it definitely hits a lot of the right notes. The story primarily follows Ye Xiu, a former top level professional gamer of a fictional game called Glory who was once recognized as perhaps the best player in the world. However, that time has passed, and in recent years he has started to decline on the professional scene as he's gotten older, and in the first episode of the anime, he gets promptly screwed over by his own team owners who want some new blood to become the new face of the team. He's forced to hand over his account to a younger team recruit and is told to publically announce his "retirement", effectively meaning that he's not allowed to compete professionally again for a full year, which considering his age is basically the same as ending his career for good. However, Ye Xiu isn't willing to give up on the game he's dedicated half his life to quite so easily, and ends up getting a job at a local internet café where he decides to start anew in Glory by creating a new alt character called Lord Grim upon the opening of the game's newest server. And thus begins the journey of an old dog trying to rise from the ashes to once again make a name for himself, this time primarily by trying to break speed records in PvE raids unlike the PvP-oriented pro scene, with the added challenges of having to find new players to team up with and also doing it all anonymously. In general the anime revolves around a number of areas. These include the in-game events starting to play out on the new server as well as numerous issues Ye Xiu finds himself having to deal with in his newfound personal life, such as interactions with his friends and coworkers at the internet café as well as connections with old pro gamer acquaintances who start to raise their eyebrows at who this new record-breaking Lord Grim guy is supposed to be. What I really like about it overall is that it all feels very believable. Yes the MC is pretty overpowered relative to his surroundings, but for once I feel that's perfectly natural considering that we're talking about one of the most experienced and formerly perhaps most skilled player in the world now playing alongside a bunch of ordinary people. The way this is presented is also quite respectable; Ye Xiu acts mostly like an old mentor to the people he plays with and teaches them a lot of tricks he's picked up over the years in terms of itemization, raid tactics, class and skill builds, old out-of-meta strategies and more. For anyone that's knowledgeable about professional gaming in general, there's a lot to relate to here, and although not every single detail about Glory's functions are explained in the anime (but supposedly they more or less are in the novels), it explains enough for you to get the general gist of it. Glory is an MMORPG which in this universe is supposedly the biggest and most competitive game in the world. In a general sense it seems to function more or less like your typical MMO, but the biggest difference is that your APM (actions per minute, I.E: how fast you are at giving in-game commands) is a big deal here. Whereas most MMOs have capped casting times for spells and abilities, in Glory the combat functions more like a fighting game where you can actually act faster if you can input the commands fast enough on your keyboard as well as chain advanced combos together. As a result, it is not just a game where experience, intuition and strategy is important, but also your physical ability as a player. While there are certainly a lot of good aspects about Quan Zhi Gao Shou though, of course not everything is perfect. Perhaps most notably, the anime feels like a fairly low-budget production. The in-game fight scenes generally have average animation at best, and you can also spot a lot of reused footage, especially in the first few episodes, presumably an attempt at cutting corners and saving money. There is also some really strange and almost experimental-feeling 3D CGI utilized for various types of panorama shots of the internet café's gaming hall and the people playing in it, though fortunately these shots only last for a few seconds per episode on average. But either way, this is hardly an action-driven series at heart, so the mediocre animation isn't really a huge deal in my opinion. Regarding the audio though, Quan Zhi Gao Shou comes with the obvious twist of... being in Chinese. Yes, this is not a Japanese dub, it is the genuine Chinese original. Of course this is by no means a bad thing, but for people used to hearing Japanese spoken in anime it can be a somewhat alien experience hearing a completely different language being spoken instead, though you get used to it in time. The anime's origins has also made accessibility to it a bit lower than normal as it's not available on any standard legal streaming service (to my knowledge), but rather interestingly enough the official (and legal) English subbed version of the anime is instead available on the Chinese streaming service's own YouTube account called "TencentVideo 腾讯视频", which is where I'd recommend you go to if you're planning on watching the series. Quan Zhi Gao Shou is as far as I know an unbelievably long series in terms of its original novels, however only a tiny portion of it is covered in this mere 12-episode anime unfortunately. But either way, what little we got was an absolute treat to watch, even if the last episode or two don't quite end on the most satisfying ending note I've ever seen. Still, this is quite likely the best Chinese anime that has been produced to date, but I have a feeling that this is far from the last time we'll see China delivering. Current trends foresee that the anime market will be growing exponentially in the Chinese industry in the near future, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if we'll have a ton of Chinese anime of this level in 5-10 years or so. Who knows, maybe in 2025 people will look back on Quan Zhi Gao Shou and remember it as the first truly great Chinese anime that paved the way for many others to come. Or so we can hope at least.
Fuzzy
Everyone is saying Quan Zhi Gao Shou(The King's Avatar) is like Sword Art or No Game No Life. IT IS NOT LIKE SWORD ART or NGNL other than the fact that it is about an MMORPG but, its based around Esports. Its centered around one of the best professional players in this mmo(Glory) who is forced into retirement and begins to play again on the games new server. I wont spoil anything. I'm just writing this review to say : YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS ANIME. Get over the Chinese voice acting and you'll love it. It took me a few episodes, this show getsbetter every episode. PLEASE WATCH. 15/10
PatheticRanger
The King's Avatar (Quan Zhi Gao Shou) short review. Positives: Characters - Each character has a goal or reason for being there whether its for redemption, fun, a challenge, revenge etc. Setting - Mostly based within an MMO game with some E-sports type elements and real life in there as well. Although mostly set within the game itself. So don't get your hopes up for it being an E-sports anime at this point. Negatives: Animation/Art - Although clearly good for a Chinese made anime, wouldn't say it quite matches Japanese anime. But is the best I've seen so far out of China and is likely to catch upto the Japanese sooner rather than later. Not Positive or Negative: Story - Although I enjoyed the story, I kinda feel like this season was only the ground work for the future. Therefore, wasn't particularly amazing nor was it bad. Sound - I liked the opening and closing soundtrack for the anime, but the sound quality in the episodes when it came to certain weapons didn't seem quite right to me. Character Development - Although lacking overall, supposedly the anime has been planned out for somewhere between 3-6 seasons according to rumours that I've read so far. So the lack of character development isn't as much of a problem if it does get fleshed out in future seasons. Overall Score: Recommended. Although it may seem as though The King's Avatar may not have all the things for people to love to bits. It does enough things right in my opinion to be worth saying to others, "hey, check this chinese anime out, its pretty good for what it is" at the very least. What will carry this anime in particular is the MMO setting and following the main character of Xiu Ye. If you like games, fighting or action its likely that this anime will be for you. If you want story or character development then you should wait for this anime to get more seasons/episodes first, otherwise you probably find it disappointing. Even though the majority of the things I've said are not under the positive category, I quite enjoyed watching this and each episode seem to have gone by quite fast for me with none of the episodes feel like it was dragging. Plus I think it might be the anime of the season for me (Spring 2017). Since I rate anime on how much I enjoyed it overall instead of averaging out all the different elements, I gave it a 9 and its highly likely that I'll be rewatching the anime in the future.
WhiteTigerSRank
Since i just watched finish this anime,i shall make a review about this. I will keep the spoilers to the minimum. To be honest, i have very low expectation about this. At first, I thought it will be a typical anime about the main character getting stuck in the game or going in the game through the virtual device. However, it is about professional gamer, playing games using their computers. This idea is original as i think there is no anime or maybe few anime having contents about professional gamer. The main protagonist is also very strong and overpowered others which is something that I like.Story: 9/10 i gave high score for the story since the ideas are original and not typical. I also learnt about the life of professional gamer through this anime. Art: 10/10 I have to say that the animation/battle scenes are really in the top tier. There is no flaw to point about the art. Sound: 7/10 I don't think the voice of the voice actors really suit the characters.It kind of feel weird at first but i kind of used to it after a few episodes. It is not bad but it can be better. The sound effects of the battle scenes are all at top tier. Character:10/10 I liked the main protagonist a lot, he is very good at what he is doing. Enjoyment : 8/10 I would have give 10/10 for the enjoyment from the start to the middle of the series. However since from the middle of the series, i think the contents are kind of repeatable which i cannot enjoy it to the fullest. Therefore, i gave 8/10 instead , 2 points are dropped from it due to that. Overall: 9/10 For those who like OP main character as well as gaming, i think this anime is for you.
xNevan00
THIS REVIEW COULD CONTAINS SPOILERS Hi everyone, I'm here writing this review cause this anime definitely catched my interest in this season, mostly cause I played a lot of online games and I am defnitely a RPG addicted, or at least, I used to be one. -Story: 7 If we already saw from SAO, Log Horizon and hack//Series the "trapped in a videogame" plot, this time the subject is for sure something more "actual": The eSport scene. Putting aside it's an intresting concept by itself that is probably the main reason this anime catched your attention, I felt uneasy by not having a certain knowledgeof the game they are playing, quite often it looked like a music beat game where you have to hit the notes, or a typical hack and slash (maybe this was supposed to be in the enjoyment paramenter, but I consider it a very important missing background to be fully aware of what made so many people play it, creating such a huge follow/bringing it to be an eSport). Going forward in this short 12 eps. adventure we still get the chance to have some thrilling moment based on pure RPG concepts such as speedruns, strategies, plotwists that keeps the attention level constantly high. -Art and sound: 7 I really apprecieated the scenaros where the story take place, even the character desing was in my likes, not something exceptional or innovative, but they gave the idea of how the scenarios where stories like this take place. But what about battles? Amazing skills in synchro with some metal with an orchestra background, making every fight looks like it's the final one, absolutely a good way to keep the tension and show how much concentration was required making it sounds fairly intense. -Characters: 8 Here we are, I was waiting to discuss this point since when I started reviewing this anime. Finally we see both games and animes arent something related to high school guys, which made this serie even more attractive by not seeing the classic 17 years old having in his hands a really heavy burden. Might look like something "minor" to the majority, but this is very important to me cause I was starting to feel out of place by being "too old" compared to anime characters and confronting myself at their age. Overall characters have their own personality and they reflect it on their avatars while playing. We see some of the most common categories of players we can meet online (for example, did you just meet someone typing 300 messages in one second saying the same thing?) -Enjoyment: 8 I can't denie I had fun watching this first season, that kept me willing to watch every second of it without skipping any sequence of it as I usually do, which is quite something to me. In conclusion, if you read my review and made it this far I apologize if something is out of context or it looks poorly described, it's my first one. If you wanna join a new world where the characters aren't trapped into it, you like eSports and you are willing to close one eye for some strange premise, this anime is for sure something you'll enjoy, both as Player and as Viewer which has a very good potential to be one of the best animes of the videogame genre. I'm looking forward to the second season already, hoping it has a good developement, overall this 8 is well deserved.
Danielle
**TL;DR at bottom* *Spoilers are clearly marked* The fact that this series is getting rated so low really saddens me. To put it simply, the King's Avatar is great, and hopefully, in this review, I can provide a reason to convince you. Before I begin, however, I want to preference this is NOT an anime about eSports. This anime does not deal with, nor care about the struggles of, eSports players. It has eSports elements to it in order to logically and naturally bring in the topic of video games and how the main character Ye Xiu is so good at them. Elements of this are glorifiedquite often, if nothing else as a love letter to eSports in general. It is not about the struggles of players and the industry. If you're looking for something like that, I suggest Valve's eSports documentary Free to Play. So, if TKA doesn't deal with eSports, what does it aim to do? The answer, quite simply, is to watch a likable character and his friends be good at video games. That may sound boring, but it's really not, due to the sheer quality of TKA. The only real and only main character is Ye Xiu, who is, like many of his contemporaries in video game anime, a total God at this universe's most popular game, Glory. The justification for this is that Xiu is a former leader of one of the best professional teams of the game, and after a decade of leading it, is maliciously kicked off from the team and is forced to make a new account and grind his way back up. If the fact that he's spent a decade playing this game confuses you, then let me inform you on one of the bigger selling points of this anime -- all characters are adults. Xie is said to be between 25 and 26 in the series, and he only plays with adults throughout. That allows the majority of the annoying, overused anime tropes such as excessive fanservice, stupid love triangles, a high school setting, etc. to be totally vacant from the anime. This really helps the series both focus on being about games and also have a fresh feeling to it, as it's not super interested in feeding into the wish-fulfilment teenager crowd many video game anime target. Ye Xiu, (Western order Xiu Ye) is a really well written character, which is important since he's the only one who gets a major amount of screen time. A big element of the series is watching Xiu grow from replaying the game out of spite (and simply not knowing what else to do with his life) into loving it once again, which is done very subtly but ends up being satisfactory in the end. A big element of Xiu's character is subtlety, primarily considering the air of "I am better than you" he frequently puts on, however, the series shows time and time again that he has doubts about his own skill, fears, and goals of his own, even if he could easily wipe the floor with anyone he battles. A fantastic example of this, and a great example of the amount of care put into the show, is Xiu's smoking. Both a symbol and an indicator of his stress, the cigarettes always come out when he is put into a situation that upsets him, notably when he's reminded of his eSports past. **MINOR SPOILER WARNING** In episode five, he does just that -- Xiu, a character still keeping this sense of superiority around him, makes some remark about a professional event going on, before leaving the net cafe he's in to take a smoke outside. The way he does it in private, and the stance he takes, including his expression, show simply how upset he is about the whole thing, and that he's not the one up there in the tournament.**END SPOILER WARNING** It's subtle--quietly great--but tells so much more about Xiu's character than any dialogue saying "he feels this" could ever do. TKA has so much of this sprinkled throughout, and it works great to really make the audience sympathize with Ye Xiu. I've spent so much time talking about the lead simply because the series focuses on him, but for anyone interested in both interesting side characters and fantastically animated fight scenes, TKA does both well. No supporting character gets as much development as Ye Xiu does, but some do grow quite a bit from the introduction to the conclusion, notably Rou Tang, a friend of Xiu's. All of these side characters are still very likable, and none are some dumb anime trope designed so heavily to be liked, they just come across as artificial. As for the animation, TKA's is both experimental and well done. Many of the smaller scenes are where the series falters, having to opt to use 3D models for background characters to allow for room to the incredible animation during in-game fight scenes. Absolutely all of them are extremely well done -- great fight choreography, framing, and extremely detailed animation, especially during the bigger fights. If you're the type of person who loves good fight scenes or animation, this series will more than please you. Regarding the voice acting, yes, this is a "Chinese anime", more properly referred to as donghua. Donghua has a bit of a bad name to it, considering it's known as both invasive to Japanese anime and lesser quality, to which TKA is neither. Yes, the people in the series speak Chinese. If you can get past how odd it's going to feel initially, the voice acting is very good, albeit different, than Japanese. Rather than the bigger, more campy style voice acting that tends to come out of a series like this, the Chinese opted to do something a lot calmer and natural sounding, which definitely helps the series stand on its own and makes the entire show seem more grounded. (TL;DR) Overall, the King's Avatar is a fantastic series about skilled video game players. It uses a logical setup, interesting and developed characters, and well done but easy to miss symbolism and character development, while not slacking on the action and animation in the slightest, to bring a great story about adults who love games. While it may not be the best representation of the eSports scene, it doesn't aim to be, and still manages to have compelling characters and growth.
DarthInvader
TL;DR: Ex-Challenger player creates a secret smurf account to have fun with noobs in this epic MMORPG game called GLORY! In other words, if S.A.O and Log Horizon had an illegitimate unwanted child, this would be it. [Story: 2/10 , Characters: 2/10, Art: 8/10, Sound: 5/10, Enjoyment: 4/10] Quan Zhi Gaou Shoul or The King's Avatar hypes itself up as this hardcore e-sports anime that will have fans of online multiplayer games watching just to get a glimpse of the life of an e-sports player. However, does it really deliver at the end? Not really. Not even close to it at all. Though this anime is basedon the award winning Chinese LN written by Butterfly Blue, the adaptors really let the author down. Just read on and you will know why. The premise of the story is interesting. Ye Xie (Battle God) was once a pro in Glory but now no longer in form so he is conned and forced to retire. How will he climb his way back? Sounds interesting right? Well, it wasn't. The story just moves along linearly with him creating a smurf account and playing against noobs in this internet café he works at. Every now and then you will see him carry out raids and beat the high score because he is smurfing. It's not really surprising is it? Of course he will beat noobs, he is smurfing. Eventually pros figure out this person is a smurf and all gang up to take him down. Hype it up as much as you want but after a few fights, the repetition in the attacks and strategy just made the fights mundane. Honestly, there really wasn't any complexity with the plot and it was too simple to even have plot holes. So overall, meh. If the story didn't fail the viewers, the characters did since they barely stood out. Besides the all mighty MC and the guy who talks too much, everyone else seemed like placeholders. They just existed because they needed to be. They didn't have any purpose. They were just glorified pawns for the MC to obliterate and look cool doing it. Massive credits should be given to the seiyuus in this show. They really tried but a lack of substantial plot foiled their efforts. The best thing about this anime was its animation. Though this anime is created by a Chinese studio the animation was on par with studios like Ufotable and Wit Studio. Outstanding work with their cinematography, world building and fight sequence animations. It was crisp, detailed and the CGI blended really well. The OST and the OP/ED were good as well. It fit the anime and gave it a soul that the story lacked. Overall, the anime just didn't live up to the hype it portrayed in its trailer. It was fun to watch the fight sequences and some form of intelligence the pros displayed. However, you can only watch so many episodes of a smurf player manhandling noobs in a game. The characters became stale and story became too linear to the point where viewers might just want it to end. Who knows, knowing a second season is declared to come out maybe they will fix the obvious flaws. One can only hope. Anyways, give it a watch and let me know later how you like it. P.S. Thank you for reading. I hope you found this short and supaishi review helpful!
CodeBlazeFate
I've played my fair share of games. I will fully admit that I have played games since I was 4, and I managed to git gud at some pretty hard games, like the Megaman Zero games and Robotech Battlecry. Now, I must confess: I am not a pro or competitive gamer. I've never done any E-Sports, nor have I done any real competitive gaming. The closest I've gotten to is dabbling in some online Pokémon battles and some "For Glory" on Smash Bros. 3DS. So, this was certainly an interesting series to look forward to, as while we've definitely had some game-oriented anime in the pastthat ended up being popular (namely SAO and No Game No Life), we never had one that showed the competitive side of gaming, since other game anime merely used gaming to basically flesh out a fictional game by putting players in it or have them celebrate them. This anime, made in China, shows a true badass in the realm of E-Sports. Given that China is more passionate about E-Sports than any country in the world (if World of Warcraft is any indication), it's no surprise that they would make the plunge into this before the japs would. I'm sure that plenty of E-sports players find this show to be great since it seems to really understand the terminology and what makes a good MMO game that is capable of E-sports. As for me, this show is, for most part, will adequate, if not amazing. Again, if I were someone who dabbled in E-sports, I’d probably be even more fond of this show but nonetheless, it's still a good series to have come out, and is proof that even a Chinese anime can be not only popular but good as well since those have been getting a lot of bad rep recently with titles like “Cheating Craft” and “Bloodivores”. So, how did this series do it? Well, let’s find out, shall we? Ye Xiu (formerly known in-game as Ye Qiu) has just been forced into retirement of the team and of the game “Glory” by his old team “One Autumn Leaf”, and interestingly and refreshingly enough, we see a protagonist (him) keep a level head in all this as opposed to the traditional angry retorts we’d normally hear from a situation like this. This 25 year-old man is a bit rusty, but given that he is still basically a gaming god, it's frustrating to see his team just discard him and lock him into taking only one approach for his contract. Afterwards, he simply goes “oh well” and begins like working at a café. Even though he starts a new account (Lord Grim) and decimates everyone, we still see a really human touch that is somewhat prevalent in this series. After all, like any real-life sport, people take it very seriously, and people do have to retire earlier than with most jobs. We see moments of true, civil familiarity that doesn't remotely touch the realm of melodrama like most anime do, like when he and his old friend Mucheng meet up again in episode 5 long after he was kicked and she had to watch, or when he and one of his old rivals square off in the finale, only for us to see their battle history in the middle of this to really sell us on their relationship. It's refreshing to see all of this. To add onto how refreshing this show is, I should make note that every single character here is a full-fledged adult, which is insanely rare nowadays. I don't have any major problems with the story to speak of in terms of any plot holes or inconsistencies or major leaps in logic, and in fact, any and all worries I began having were actually addressed. When I began wondering “how come no one realizes that Lord Grim is Ye Qiu”, we see veterans hypothesize and come to that exact conclusion. After I thought “man, you'd think more people would be apprehensive to his assholish behavior and start turning him down”, we see him fail to score a bargain in episode 9 for demanding too high a price. I really like when a story can assuage our worries of it. I'm not gonna spoil anything much, but the story does pick up after the first 4 episodes and we really get to see all sides grow tensions and even some members in many teams grow as people,and the finale, while not really giving a sense of finality, even for a season finale that will segue into a sequel, it still builds character and shows up a pretty well done human side to this whole thing. The story isn't grand or anything, but it is really solid, do I have to give it that much credit, especially since it actually assuages certain fears we have. Plus, it's very in touch with E-sports culture given how they properly use terms like “aggro”, “PK”, etc. Apparently, there are a number of people sort of upset about character development, or lack thereof, namely for our protagonist. Let me tell you why, in this particular instance, this isn't that much of a bad thing. The main character, Ye Xiu has already grown into an expert, and it's not only about seeing him deal with new situations in his already grown state as opposed to most characters growing while dealing with their problems, but it's about seeing how he makes others develop, not only as people, but often as rivals that team up to try to surpass him. It's not like Mahouka in which the show is about GodSuya trouncing everyone and no almost no one developing as a result of trying to reach his level since everything is all about him and how “badass” he is. We see Ye handle things in a way that actually forces others to grow. Also, he is a total dick, often making witty trash talk comments at anyone and everyone, or exploiting people for his own personal revenge in episodes 1 and 4. He is still a good person at heart, like how he encourages Yi Fan to grow by changing styles. That's what this show is all about: seeing a cocky bit usually well-meaning badass adapt and force others to grow, which more shows that have OP protagonists should focus on instead of the usual “look at our main character, he’s so cool that he dominated everything effortlessly and everything revolves around him” like that other show I brought up. Admittedly, most of the characters here aren't inherently very memorable, even if I like how they bounce off each other. That does become a problem given how many characters there are to keep track of, so I'll say that they are all pretty decently characterized despite not having much to them, and leave it at that for everyone but the major protagonists that Ye recruits for the second half of the show (and onwards). Mucheng is a beautiful badass who seems almost romantically interested in Ye, and is almost as playful as him in some regards, even if her role is more minimal than the rest of the team. Guo is the manager who has the most banter with Ye and is probably my least favorite, since honestly, after the initial episodes, she hardly provides anything to the story, bit even being part of the major team. Rou ultimately had to nod to learn since while she was powerful with hand speed, she was beyond unskilled for her talk, but ultimately, she became one of the more prominent characters to the team, even if she doesn't have that much to her personality, even less so than most of the characters. Rao Xing (Steam bun) is definitely a more nooblike, almost idiotic character who has muscle, but he actually provides some amounts of cleverness that save him from truly falling to that dreaded archetype. Ultimately, Ye carries the show in terms of the characters since we don't really see much nuance to them, but we do get to see some of them grow, whether it be these guys or some of Ye’s rivals, even if I'm not showing the full extent of that (for brevity and spoiler reasons). To be honest, I’m aware that this one of G.CMay Animation and Film’s first anime projects, but there are some things I’d like to see them improve on. The character designs are pretty good, and the flashy animation is well, flashy, but the choreography isn't anything really great. Their use of CGI is...interesting. On the one hand, when doing establishing shots and first-person perspectives on certain things in their real world, it can look pretty good, sort of like a trailer at EA for a PS4 game (especially in the first few episodes), but when they get to using character models or other objects in either stock-footage or CGI, it all looks terrible, and honestly, a lot of the techniques here, especially the ones that don't work out well, remind me of Hand Shakers, which is frightening. It doesn't do any of that anywhere near as badly as that show did, so that's a plus. However, there is an unnerving amount of reused animation, particularly when Ye switches his weapon to gun mode or when he is battling goblins (namely him throwing them and them colliding and falling in CGI “glory”). Certain CGI models either look pretty bad or look like bad claymation models that were simply painted on to the point where they look melted. Overall, the series isn't badly animated, at least for a newer studio, but I hope they can tweak the CGI and improve on the choreography. The OP, “Xin Yang (信仰)" by Zhang Jie (张杰), is just an eh OP to me. Maybe it's partially due to me never hearing Chinese music before, but it's just rather meh to me. Same applies to the ED, "Rong Yao Zai Lin (荣耀再临)" by Da Dan Yin Zu (大胆音组). In fact, the OST, while it does fit everything, it's rather meh and unmemorable, though the alternate rendition of the OP in the later moments of the final episode was pretty nice. Not a bad OST, and both the OP and ED were simply ok, but overall, it's just meh. Ultimately, this first outing of The King’s Avatar has more substance than some people might give it credit for, but despite the relatively entertaining humor and action, the characters and production values don't hold up all that well, even with the surprisingly solid story. Again, I imagine that E-sports players (or MMO players in general) on the whole, probably find this show more enjoyable than I do, but that doesn't mean it's not a pretty decent show, because it is. I just hope that when the next outing of this show arrives, some of these issues are ironed out and that we get to have more reasons to invest in the characters. Either way, I'm really looking forward to what the rest of the series has in store if they choose to keep animating it. With all that said, I bid you adieu.
Eanki
Esports, through the years, have yielded amazing stories tempered by colorful and magnetic personalities. It promises a wealth of untapped potentials for stories that can go toe-to-toe with some of anime's best character dramas and captivating sports series. Sadly, Quan Zhi Gao Shou offers little and captures less of the allure of the narrative weaved by esports. It’s worth noting that the genre tag did not even include “Sports”, given that esports is sports through the medium of video games. It’s a run-of-the-mill redemption action series with the questionable virtue of not having moe or harem elements, which apparently is enough to be praised and lovedin this day and age. Claims that the series is mature due to simply having "adult" characters are equally hilarious as attitude and temperament, not age, defines maturity. This is not mature, grounded series by any means. Especially not when your adults are nothing more than upscaled teenagers. First off, we need to make one thing very very clear: adaptations are suppose to stand on it’s own. So zip it with the piteous noises about the source material. Quan Zhi Gao Shou as an anime stands or falls on it’s own (de)merits. Let’s start with the basics: a drama is as compelling as its characters. Nothing cripples a show as much as the lack of character investment on the side of the viewers. This is supposed to be a man's journey back to the top, a sports drama people have been perfecting for years, decades even and they fucked up the one single crucial element: character motivation. There is only one character of consequence in this show: god-mode MC-kun who’s APM (actions per minute) is so god-tier glorious he can solo MMORPG bosses. The numerous side characters the anime crammed without proper pace and care are simply background props and cheerleaders relentlessly praising and gaping in awe over MC-kun. The antagonists on the other hand are busy trying to outdo each other in a contest to see who is the most irredeemable prick to make MC-kun look better by comparison. It does get aggravating how the show executes character investment with all the skills of a stereotypical 90s high school movie. What this show really needs and what it tellingly lacks is his reason/motivation for soldiering on despite everything so far. That should have been the core of the show’s drama and it should have been established early on immediately why we want to root for him. But they didn’t. Instead it’s left to the viewer to project their idea of why he is doing all of these. Every single platitude by non-LN readers points to various reasons they assume is his motivation and struggles moving forward. (LN readers on the other hand seem to know what I’m sure is some emotionally manipulative boohoo story somewhere detailing the why of his love of the game to fix it all up. The characterization is so sloppily executed that they're overdue at least one boohoo scene to compensate.) The alternative is to set him up as the complete/mentor character, a paragon, that enables the growth of the people he works with. While the setup was indeed teased later in the story with just one other side character, there was never enough commitment to develop it. A even better option is to have the main cast bounce their development off one another. Maybe they help rekindle his love of the game, and he in turn build them to a competent team from the ground up, all the while learning more and more about himself via their interactions as they form a professional team together. I assume that is the intention, yes? Let's talk about that. The show has a tendency to jump from one scene and one event to the next without rhyme or reason, except maybe to have another excruciating demonstration on how godly-good the MC is. These scenes should have served to showcase why we would want these side characters to help the MC in his potential comeback. The MC prattles on that Glory is a team game and yet we never get the sense of how and why they work as a team, except for the fact that the MC tells us, the viewers, that they are really good players. Oh, and that they follow his commands to a T, with little to no input of their own. Yeah, this anime's universe revolves around MC-kun it seems. Even his rivals, pros who are supposed to be his equals, are in awe of him, constantly fellate him, and their actions are almost always done with him as context. I hate to bandy the term Mary Sue around because it has lost all its meaning and therefore power in internet criticism, but yeah, this is textbook Mary Sue. What we have so far is more a spectacle than a story. And it’s not even a good spectacle. Yes, the visuals is well within standards, CGI notwithstanding. Yes, the background looks gorgeous. The anime is certainly pretty when you look at the still frames. Put those in motion however, and it all becomes awkward. It’s grating. The show is so scared of going off-model on the characters and ended up with motion looking stilted instead of overflowing with life and vitality. And it doesn't help that though there were a few series over the years that embraced the concepts of character motion and grounded, subtle facial expressions as powerful narrative tools in anime, Quan Zhi Gao Shou knows only three: scheming face, evil scheming face, and wacky-tries-to-be-funny face. Maybe that’s what passes for slapstick humor in this anime because the comedy genre tag certainly confuses me. To be honest, the show is more cartoonish compared to other anime with less detailed and more fluid designs. The action scenes are subpar as well. The anime has a huge boner for shitty shot angles, shaky shots, poor choreography, and the firm belief that adding enough flashy fluffs would cover it all up. So in other words, your average anime. If you like the fight sequences in Asterisk Wars, you’ll like this. The problem with these kinds of fights is that you get no real sense of space or flow. A fight is a synthesis: thesis and anti-thesis, action and reaction. Some of the best fights in motion pictures have both action and reaction in ONE frame. QZGS doesn't. It has a tendency to show action in a frame and then reaction in the next. What it does is merely gives the illusion of thrill because there is movement and pretty colors flashing about. Refusing to show both action and reaction in one frame rids the viewer of a frame of reference to ground the action which ends up limiting the impact of a fight. The impact here is subdued, lame even. A shame really that they prefer the Hollywood shaky-cam method instead of the clean, wide shots, and solid choreography typical of Oriental martial or action movies. The sound is okay, I guess. Nothing stood out but I'm not an expert on these things. It's Chinese though. I've already seen several Chinese live-action flicks so I don't really care but it might throw you off if you got so used to Japanese that you can get the gist of a conversation just by listening. Also, I want to add that like almost all hack-writing involving videogames, there is way too much emphasis on mechanical skills/reflexes and way too little on good game knowledge, map/situational awareness, proper positioning, and the value of a good support. When you play the game at the highest level, the APM gap tends to narrow a lot. It becomes more about knowing all the options available to the enemy, predicting which one he'll chose, and then proactively stopping it instead of being reactive and defensive. Credit where credit is due, of course. The character designs, animation, and visuals are, again, well within current standard and that retirement announcement in Episode 2 captures a glimmer of the fervor an eSports gaming community has for its own flock. And while I have a plethora of reasons to go against the MMO eSport concept of the show, it does help non-gaming savvy viewers to easily identify the characters when they assume their in-game avatars. Here’s to hoping that it’ll get better and to knowing that it probably won’t. Let it have a good arc at the very least. Let it have it’s own Mother’s Rosario. *slyly winks at those who understands what I am implying* Alternatives? Well, there is Log Horizon, a world-building masterwork that captures the soul of gaming in a way no other piece of fiction has, since or ever. But the one I highly recommend in the topic of esports are the Valve documentaries "True Sight" and “Free to Play”, which are available on YouTube for free. The former is a series about the lives and times of pro-players preparing for the Dota 2 Boston Major. The latter is a story of three players, set in the beginning of one of the largest and most prestigious competitions in esports, Dota 2 The International.
Animanga