Review of The Outcast Season 1

For those of you who don't know, this anime is co-produced by Chinese and Japanese studios, as an adaptation of a Chinese manhua. There are two dubs for this anime. A Japanese dub and a Chinese dub. I highly recommend the Chinese dub because the Japanese dub censors/cuts off some pretty important scenes that lessens the impact of the story. Even if you chose to watch the show in Japanese, at least watch the last two episodes in Chinese. The animation quality is also better with the Chinese dub. The budget for this series is not that high, but they made it work with that they had. Ipersonally feel that the fight scenes are really smooth and enjoyable.
The story is a slow burner because it does a lot of worldbuilding that is fleshed out throughout the series. This whole first season is like a prelude to a much bigger story. For the first few episodes, we only get introduced to the main characters and the plot advances kind of slowly. But it is very interesting and well thought out. There is a huge cast of characters in this show and each of them is unique in their own way.
The power system in this world is deeply rooted in Chinese folklore and religion, mainly influenced by Taoism. So sometimes the series will bring up references that is completely missed by the average viewer. But it also has lots of creative elements that anyone can enjoy.
However, you really need to pay attention to the exposition provided by the characters or you will be totally lost on what is happening.
I also want to point out that the original manhua that the anime is based on is still ongoing. Currently, the manhua is reaching 500 chapters and the story is still nowhere near finished. While the first season of this anime only covers Chapters 1-57 of the manhua. The second and third seasons that are currently out only goes up to around Chapter 200 in the manhua.
So unfortunately, you most likely will have a lot of unanswered questions about the story. But the plot is really interesting and I highly recommend you at least give it a try.
I must say however, I believe the original manhua has a much better quality than its adaptation. Unfortunately, most of it is not available in English and the translated parts cannot really reflect the style of the story.
Overall, I think this anime is really worth it for those willing to try it. However I must warn you that the first few episodes will seem pretty cringeworthy, but it definitely improves mid-season.
I will also list elements you should NOT expect from this story.
THIS IS NOT A POWER FANTASY: Although this series contains a lot of action scenes and a complicated power system. The main protagonist does not fight his way through all his problems. He starts off the series already with a average level of power and gradually gets stronger. But most of the time his opponents are way stronger than him. He really has to rely on his wits, the help of his allies, and employ underhanded tactics to solve the situation. This is will be evident in seasons 2 and 3. While in season 1 the main female character handles most of the fighting.
THIS IS NOT ECCHI/HAREM: There will be some "fanservice" scenes throughout the first season. But they will be non-existent later down the story. The protagonist literally have no genuine love interests even at this point in the original manhua.
THIS IS NOT A HERO STORY: The main characters are not "heroes", they do their jobs and does help people in need. But they are mostly after their own goals and does some "unheroic" things to achieve them. The antagonists are not all "villains". Most of the time they are just in conflict over their goals. There are full-on evil villains, but even then they are not always in conflict with the main characters. This will be evident in Season 2 and 3.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT ZOMBIES: While they make a huge impression in episode 1. The zombies, or actually "jiangshi", only appears as the powerset of one antagonist who is relevant only for the first season. But don't worry, the series will introduce tons of different unique powersets later on.