Review of The Last Summoner

Okay, so I saw the key visuals and the trailer for Zuihou de Zhaohuan Shi (The Last Summoner) and I was kinda curious. The art in the promo stuff looked decent and I'm always down for a new fantasy action show. I went in with some hope, I really did. But... oof. This was a miss. A big, big miss. Story: 3/10 Ngl, I'm struggling to even say what the story is. There’s a guy named Ah Jie, he’s a cook, and then suddenly he’s a summoner and he’s like, secretly super OP. That’s it. That’s the whole plot. There’s no real goal, no driving force behindanything he does. He just kind of... stumbles into situations, summons a spirit, and wins. The end. It felt like watching someone else play a boring video game with all the cheats turned on.

There are no stakes at all. You never feel like he’s in any real danger. The plot just wanders around from one random event to the next without any real connection. I kept waiting for that "aha!" moment where the main story would finally kick in, but it never came. I was literally scrolling through TikTok during some of the episodes because I was that bored. There's a serious lack of any kind of world-building or interesting lore, which is a death sentence for a fantasy anime. It’s just so, so empty.

Art: 4/10

Okay, this is my biggest issue with the show. The animation is just... lame. It's stiff, the character movements are awkward, and the fight scenes have zero impact. It’s all just bright flashes of light and characters standing still while yelling.

And we have to talk about the elephant in the room: this show tries SO HARD to copy Solo Leveling. Like, it's not even subtle. The glowing purple and black aura, the way the summons look... it’s a total knock-off. But where Solo Leveling has fluid, dynamic, and incredibly hype animation, this just feels like a cheap imitation. They tried to replicate the "cool factor" but completely failed because the underlying animation is just too weak. It’s a classic case of wanting to be the cool kid but not having any of the style. The animation budget must have been non-existent for the actual episodes.

Sound: 7/10

Alright, I have to give credit where it’s due. This is the one and only area where the show is actually good. The opening and ending videos are fantastic. The OP is an absolute banger, I’ve had it on my Spotify playlist since the first episode. The animation in the OP is also amazing, which makes the terrible animation in the actual show even more frustrating! Like, why couldn't the whole series look and feel this cool?! The ED is also a really solid song with nice visuals.

The rest of the sound design is pretty forgettable, though. The background music is generic fantasy noise and the voice acting is... fine? Nothing to complain about, but nothing to praise either. The 7/10 score is literally just for how great the OP and ED are.

Character: 4/10

The characters are as bland as the story. Ah Jie is the definition of a cardboard cutout MC. He's nice, he's OP, and that's about it. He has zero personality development throughout the entire show.

And then there's Dora. Ugh, Dora. Let me be clear: Adult Dora is awesome. She has a cool design, she's powerful, and she’s actually an interesting character for the five minutes she’s on screen. But 99% of the time, she's stuck in this smol chibi form, and she is SO. ANNOYING. The super high-pitched voice and constantly whining for "Master" just grated on my nerves. It felt like they took a potentially great female lead and turned her into an irritating mascot character. Such a waste. The other supporting characters barely even register. I honestly can’t remember any of their names.

Enjoyment: 3/10

I did not enjoy watching this. At all. It felt like a chore. Every week I’d tune in hoping it would finally get better, that the story would start or the fights would be cool, but I was always disappointed. It wasn't "so bad it's funny," it was just boring. The only enjoyment I got was from listening to the opening song. The rest was just a waste of time.

Overall: 5/10

So yeah, a 5 out of 10, and I feel like that’s being generous. That score is pretty much held up entirely by the amazing OP/ED and the potential I saw in Adult Dora. The show itself is a 3/10 at best. It's a boring, poorly animated series with a non-existent plot and bland characters that tries, and fails, to ride the coattails of better shows.

My final advice? Save yourself the time. Go to YouTube, listen to the opening and ending songs, and then go re-watch an anime that's actually worth your time.