Reikenzan: Hoshikuzu-tachi no Utage - Reviews

I expected this to be mediocre garbage. I was dead wrong. It's actually quite good. My only real complaint would be its crude humour & its annoying character mentality. Otherwise, it's very good.

 the second season was great also so many ways for the story to evolve. One of my best anime.

my reviews are straightforward. I watch anime to escape and if a series give that feeling then the overall rating of that series to me is at least 7/10. This anime does that and more. the other thing that affects my review is how many times can I watch the series and I can still escape and not be bored 

Animation and sound problem are not really important to me. The storyline and the character development are excellent, that is all I care about.

"Reikenzan: Hoshikuzu-tachi no Utage" - A Blend of Fantasy and Comedy

Story (6/10): "Reikenzan" follows the journey of our protagonist, Wang Lu, as he enters a mystical world of cultivation and martial arts. The story is a mixture of fantasy and comedy, with Wang Lu navigating various challenges, making friends, and seeking enlightenment.

While the story offers an interesting twist on the typical martial arts genre, it can be episodic and occasionally lacks a cohesive overarching plot. However, it compensates with humor, amusing character interactions, and light-hearted moments. It's an anime that doesn't take itself too seriously and provides an enjoyable, if somewhat shallow, narrative.

Animation (7/10): The animation quality in "Reikenzan" is decent, with colorful visuals and well-animated action sequences during the martial arts battles. Character designs are distinctive, and the backgrounds capture the essence of a mystical world filled with ancient temples and magical creatures.

Sound (6/10): The soundtrack of "Reikenzan" is fitting for the series, featuring traditional Chinese-inspired music during martial arts scenes and comedic tunes during lighter moments. While it complements the atmosphere, it may not be particularly memorable.

Voice acting performances are adequate, with characters' personalities coming through effectively, especially in comedic situations.

Characters (6/10): The characters in "Reikenzan" are a mix of classic martial arts archetypes, each with their unique abilities and quirks. Wang Lu, the protagonist, stands out as a humorous and unconventional hero, often using wit and unconventional methods to overcome challenges. His interactions with other characters, particularly the stoic and serious You Ye, create entertaining dynamics.

However, character development remains limited, and some characters feel underutilized or one-dimensional. Deeper exploration of their backstories and motivations would have added more depth to the cast.

Overall (6/10): "Reikenzan: Hoshikuzu-tachi no Utage" offers an entertaining blend of fantasy and comedy within a martial arts setting. While it lacks a strong, overarching narrative and character development is somewhat limited, it makes up for it with humor, amusing character dynamics, and enjoyable action sequences. It's a series that's best enjoyed when you're looking for a lighthearted and fun adventure in a mystical world.

Regarding the manga/novel comparison, "Reikenzan" originated as a web novel before being adapted into a manga and eventually an anime. The anime follows a specific narrative arc within the larger story, and while the manga provides additional content, the anime serves as a self-contained story arc within the "Reikenzan" universe.

I'm actually enjoying edit: somewhat enjoyed this series, though normally I like series that are released for the season a lot more than if I watch a series seperately after they are completed. I attribute this reaction to the feeling of 'it's new material, fresh animation!!' etc. Personally, I rate this series a 3.5/5 stars. But I give it a 6 in this review, for several reasons. However, I would reccommend this series to those who like fantasy worlds with some explaination. Not on the level of 12 Kingdoms, but there is some fleshing of the world we see. There's also comedy that's not always fanservice related. :D 

Story 6/10:

There could be something here. I feel like our main character, Ooriku(...that's probably his name?), could have some sort of interesting background with possible drama attached. My first impressions from the first few episodes and the vibes from the Op/End songs was one where I thought there would be a lot of comedy, but also some plot and story. (You know, when I say 'serious' plot I mean like the "Muahaha 3 minutes at the end setting up the antagonist/Ooriku's gone missing from his home/he actually was a prince/evil plans.(Does not have to be cliche despite the cliche examples I gave :P)) However, it's episode 9, and it's possible there won't really be that main, more serious story present. So far this show has stuck to lenghtly explainations of gaining power and only Ooriku's (and the side characters) slow climb in apprenticship. Another failing aspect the plot is the lack of romance. It's not just that the place I'm watching this originally labeled romance as a tag for this show...but also the opening that could make you wonder if there is going to be some sort of relationship between the purple haired lady and our main character...? I wasn't expecting romance only, but I thought it could be an interesting side plot if they added it in. But no. No hint what so ever at any sort of romance, even though it seemed implied. It would have been an entertaining matchup considering the couples normally seen...Basically what we get is some light comedy with training in a fantasy setting. I think an actual serious plot would have fit well with the set up, even if it wasn't the main focus. 

However, I do appreciate the fantasy and Chinese influence on the setting rather than another highschool comedy. Don't get me wrong, I've watched and liked some of these, but I get tired of them. And I'm still giving plot a 6, yes it's not great, but the comedy(the kind I prefer) and learning about their world is fairly interesting to me.

Edit: The story (and comedy) felt slower as it progressed with less genius moments on the part of the MC, one of the funnier and wittier parts of the show. MC is definately making progress, but there are few showings of his actual power in battles so it just feels a little...blah. Apparently a 2nd season is guarenteed though. There also was a slight hint at the MC motivations near the end but that does not count for anything...

Animation 6/10: 

This was another issue. Considering what we've been seeing, and what year it is, I think the animation is a bit a dissapointment. I'm pretty much fine with any style, even the weird 3D one, if it's done correctly. In this show the first few episodes were ok, but then I noticed a lack of effort in details, a few skewing/awkwardness of the facial features here and there, over all very simple coloring and not to mention the somewhat sad action scenes. It's not horrible, and I don't know what budget they have, but there is stark contrast between higher level animation that can and is done on a regular basis and the animation here and what you see in Divine Gate (another anime of this season, if anyone wanted another example of sub-par animation in contrast to today's standards). 

One thing I did like was the light coloring and their gradient/diverse eye colors. 

Sound 8/10: This is your personal opinion. I like the opening, nothing else stands out to me.

Characters 6.5/10:

Charaters are good over all. The protagonist is a know it all and capable, but not the type where they are perfect. He talks fairly fast but I kinda like it actually. It is kinda weird that he gets older after a few episodes but his voice pitch stays the same. The other characters aren't super developed, but aren't exact cut outs. There's an overweight wimpy kid, a couple of more swagish but fairly intelligent males, and the supposed 2nd main character, the purple haired woman, Oobu(I think that's her name), is the lazy mentor character type. In particular I found Ooriku's servant, who goes independent from the MC for an unexplained reason particularity intriging. He and the others all seem slightly narcissist. But, if they don't bother doing anything other than introducing more characters (which they have been), the characters already given will only seem shallow.

Edit: Which is kinda what happened. I felt like the characters were bypassed for spending long amounts of time explaining techniques. Only to end with this 'look how strong they' in the final episode which wasn't exciting at all because of this. This also caused me to drop the character .5 after finishing this. It just was dissapointing how the characters lacked definition other than what they were introduced as.

Overall 6/10: 

To sum up this show quickly, this is basically a guy training to be sage, that meets other people training to be sage in a fantasy world, and there's comedy. That's it. Yes, there is the pretense of battling monsters here and there but that's never more than a few seconds. Will they do any actual plot...? It's episode 9, so I'm not so sure there will be. It's not bad, I can watch it, it's entertaining, but there's nothing really that amazing about it. Story is one of the ones where the smart/cunning MC finds a way to succeed etc. Overall animation has some issues, I feel like the plot could be better (even if it's comedy you can add in some (slightly) tense moments such as what God's Blessing on this Wonderful World does), characters are fine but there's only a base for each of them, so it feels like I've hardly been introduced to any of them in a way that sticks.

Thus leading to a score of 6/10, watch for comedy and a fantasy setting, not for animation/plot/super interesting characters.

I'll just get strait to the point, I did not like this anime. When I read the little summery I was like oh, sounds intrestining. The beginning if this anime was good but then as I countinued watching my intrest for it decrease. I kept on thinking to myself that the anime would probally get better but it didn't. Season one was ok buts season two sucked. I didn't understand what was happening that well it was really confusing (well for me it was). In the end I stopped watching the anime when I reached season 2 episode 9. Your opinion on this anime might be different so it's ok if you don't agree with me.

Sound- The sound was okay

characters- Characters were also ok (ok ish).

Animation- Meh

Story- didn't like it that much.