Da Li Si Rizhi 2nd Season

The second season of Da Li Si Rizhi (White Cat Legend) continues right after the events of the first season and takes a darker turn, with a greater focus on political intrigue and Li Bing's past. Li Bing & co investigate General Qiu Shenji's involvement in the burning of Bo Zhou city, but things aren't as simple as they seem. Not to worry though, there is still the same slice of life and comedy from season one interspersed between heavier moments. The supporting characters really shine here; we get to see more of their past, their motivations, and their connection to the main characters. Theanimators and voice actors did an excellent job bringing the characters to life by displaying the complex emotions and personalities of each one. There are plenty of terrible characters, but no terribly-written characters. It's all too easy to get attached to them. Story is good, and it works largely because of how well-written the characters are. Same as in season one, the characters are the ones that drive this story. Everything that happens is the cause and effect of each characters' decisions, like a butterfly effect. "What would have happened if I did things differently?" "This wasn't what I intended, where did things go so wrong?" "Is this my fault?" The characters repeatedly struggle with these questions, and it's interesting to see the results of everyone's actions influencing each other and shaping the finale. Art quality is good if not better than first season, music/sound is excellent (OP is by Zhou Shen, the same person who sang Big Fish & Begonia's theme song) and enhances the atmosphere. One instance of good animation+sound was during a graphic part of the story where they used non-graphic visuals and sounds to cue the audience on what was happening, and made the scene just as impactful as if the audience were witnessing it themselves. (Graphic scenes were not allowed in the show so they had to be creative when illustrating certain scenes.) Only critique (this is more a personal preference) is the show's pacing: This only happened a few times but it was awkward when they'd abruptly switch to comedy right after a heavy scene. The director likely wanted to give the audience a breather, since many people who haven't read the manhua weren't prepared for the serious turn this season. Where to watch: the entire show is free on Youtube!