Review of The King's Avatar
The most basic fundamental of a great anime, is having a good MC. If your Main Character is good, everything else will fall into place. That's the case with The King's Avatar. Ye Xiu/Lord Grim was a great main character. He reminded me so much of Donnie Yen in Ip Man. (Check those movies out if you haven't seen them.). Unflappable, smooth, slightly arrogant, but also considerate of the young talent on his team. Normally, I don't like OP characters, but I felt like with the type of character Lord Grim was, he needed to be OP. Thisanime isn't just another SAO knock off. More than trying to treat the gaming world like the real world, the story is really circulating more around the business side of e-gaming. The basic gist of the story is the king of the game, "Glory", has been undermined by his subordinates and gets screwed over by his gaming company. The story is following him rebuilding the legacy that was stolen from him, and in the process, creating a team of promising young gamers who he expertly mentors into what will most likely be the new top team in future seasons. It's an interesting and unique take on game world anime.
The cast surround the Lord Grim was kind of hit and miss. A lot of them were very bland, and there were so many different gamers in the show, it's hard to keep track of them all. (It didn't help that the version that I watched had terrible subbing, either.). But, the only supporting characters to stand out were Bao and Shaotian, both of whom were pretty fun to watch. Although too much Shaotian would be a bad thing as his character talks a lot. It's funny in spurts, but if overdone, could become irritating to the viewer (as his character is meant to be to his opponents.).
The other characters were completely interchangeable to be honest. No one really stood out.
But, The King's Avatar shines best in its fights. And that's what it gives you, fight after fight after fight. It's packed full of great action. Lord Grim has to have one of the coolest weapons I've ever seen, as it's an umbrella, spear, dual swords and Gatling gun all in one. His fighting ability, as well as that of his team's, is fun to watch as they strategize to break records, defeat opponents and make their mark on the game.
I also have to specifically mention how great the animation was, as well. It's a mixture of traditional 2D and 3D animation styles. It really looked great. Although, oddly, the non-fight scenes were better animated than the fight scenes. Still, the entire project was very well designed.
I'd say the worst part about the anime was the soundtrack. Man, that music was TERRIBLE. Listening to that Chinese singer howl over power ballads was pretty rough. Maybe it's just because I'm more used to K and J-pop, but it was distinctly bad and made me quickly skip the intro.
I also had a problem with the ending. Without spoiling anything, this ending was kind of "meh". I find that a lot of animes are ending their seasons lately with the expectation of a second season, so they don't give you the feeling of a proper conclusion. Quanzhi Gaoshou was no different. It's a bad habit that needs to stop among anime creators.
Overall, this was a very entertaining anime, with a few weak spots in a bland supporting cast, weak ending, and horrible soundtrack. But, if you like action and e-gaming themed animes, this one is very good.
Story: 9
Art: 10
Sound: 1
Character: 6
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 8