Ling Qi

Before I get started I want to say that this review is for the Japanese dubbed version. I do not know why myanimelist deleted the separate entry when they already had it set up on their site, but whatever. Honestly, Spiritpact was kind of annoying, but it's not the worst I've seen. The main story is basically that Tanmoki makes You Keika his spirit shadow after You dies. You is the person who now will fight along side Tanmoki as he faces evil spirits and other people that come after him. There's more detail that you can learn about the plot, butI'd be spoiling a bit of the anime if I included that information. Overall, the plot was a mess though. I guess the art and animation were kind of average. Nothing really bugged me about either aspect, but at the same time, neither one was necessarily good either. The opening, ending and background music were kind of bad. I personally don't like the opening and ending themes. The background music didn't do it's job of getting me, the viewer, more excited about what was happening. Most of the music scores are kind of just there. The characters are really bad too. None of them really have a special personality trait and a lot of them can get on your nerves really easily, especially You at the beginning. 2 or 3 of the main characters, like You and Tanmoki got some development, but no one else really did. Most characters were just present with no real purpose for being there and they didn't add much if anything to the plot. Like many others, I didn't really enjoy this. Some episodes were ok, but more were boring and seemed pointless to even include. There's some ok action and other things from time to time so it's not the worst I've seen; I'd still rank this above many other anime I've watched, but I definitely wouldn't say this quit lived up to being average either. I don't recommend Spiritact, but some people reading this may decide to check it and like it.

Okay, this is my first review, but this show leaves many things to be said. I have always been a fan of LGBT+ works, and I have enjoyed many Shounen-Ai, Yuri, and Yaoi anime. This one, however, was just bad. There were too many problems with it that even if I tried to shut my brain off, I just couldn't overlook it. I haven't read the web manga, and if it's better, props to it. Beware, there might be "spoilers" in this review, but it's not all that important. Most of what I talk about happens in the first episode, and the rest of the "spoilers"are so easy to guess because of the show's predictable nature. Anyways, without further ado, let's get on with this. Story- 5 Okay, this is where almost all of the major problems are. The show starts off with You Keika (Yang Jinghua) living his life as a savage fortune teller. His life has pretty much hit rock bottom and then he suddenly dies by good old truck-san. When he wakes up, he meets the oh-so-cool and good-looking Tanmoku Ki (Duanmu Xi) and is informed that he is dead. For some reason, Tanmoku Ki wants to hire him to be his "Spirit Shadow" which is a fancy word for a supernatural bodyguard. You Keika rejects his request, but after a cliche run in with a darkened spirit or whatever, he decides to take the rings (yes, rings) and become his Spirit Shadow. Pretty typical plot, right? One could easily overlook this as just an average show, and it is. However, unlike other average shows, I literally felt insulted as a member of the audience. The story continues with giving fangirls bits and pieces of the good gay stuff, while also making Tanmoku Ki have a fiancee. My biggest gripe with the show is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. It goes far enough with the yaoi to leave fujoshi's squealing, but not far enough to make the character's relationships feel natural. The tone is constantly shifting from edgy, to "funny", to romance, to edgy and funny again. I am aware these tone shifts are natural for any story, but the pacing in this show is so bad it makes it feel awkward and cringe-worthy. The pacing is really awful and it's a major gripe I had while watching this. There are these awkward pauses in animation, the dialogue feels like a 13 year old wrote it, and the relationships are so forced for the sake of the plot. Keep in mind 90% of the show takes place in a week. A WEEK. And you know what happened in like the 4-5th episode? A montage. A f**king montage of all the time the two mains spent together, when at the time, they had only known each other for FOUR DAYS. The story is constantly trying to make it seem deeper than it is and make their "bond" known to the viewers, but it just doesn't work. You can't throw montages in our faces or little cute moments here and there and expect us to go along with their relationship. Why they're even so close in a week is beyond me, and it's one of the biggest turn off points in the show. How am I supposed to get invested when the two main characters have such a forced bond? If you start off trying to instantly make them close after an episode or two, you lose the aspect of them growing to like each other. You lose their development, how they change their view of each other, and why they become close. If you slap it together with force at the beginning, you get a relationship that's completely empty. Also, the show does the cliche tie ins to past lives and reincarnations and all that other stuff you've seen a million times. The sudden relevance to that in the show is so cheap it's almost laughable. Literally, everything about the story has been done before, but better. Much better. In conclusion, the story has choppy pacing, weak characters, and cliches all around. There is literally nothing special about the story. If it weren't for the fujoshi bait, I don't think anyone would've continued watching this. And trust me, the creators know that. That's why they barely tried to produce something decent. It's an insult to the audience's intelligence. Art- 7 I mean, the art wasn't anything great, but it was passable. I can't be too hard on it; it served its purpose. As I mentioned earlier though, there were parts with choppy animation or where they looped it. You could sometimes see through the cracks of where they made budget cuts, and it would only increase the awkward feeling of the show. The awkward pauses with the dialogue following a tad behind happened way too often to be an accident. I did like the opening, but I felt it could've either calmed down some, or been more action packed. The sound didn't fit the animation at all sometimes, which brings us to our next category. Sound- 6 Okay, I actually like both the opening and ending. I even like some of the piano tracks in it. The soundtrack on its own is pretty decent. However, the creators have no clue where to place their tracks in the show. It ended up having the weirdest background music for some scenes that either required softer or heavier tones. Sometimes there would be random songs with a vocalist just thrown in there for the hell of it. This is the first show I've seen where I've actually noticed that the sound doesn't fit. And it wasn't just once, it was throughout all 10 episodes. Sometimes they'd get it right, but most of the time it was just weird. Character- 3 This is the worst part guys. I already mentioned that the two mains had such a forced relationship, and it really shows. The main guy can be pretty obnoxious. The creators think having him ramble off random sh*t is comedy gold, so he does it every. Single. Episode. He's a weak attempt at a comedic character. Not to mention they try so hard just from the beginning to make us feel bad for him. Alright, ladies and gentlemen, time to pull out your anime tropes checklist! What do we have for You Keika? Dead parents! Check! No relatives! Check! Living poor and on his own! Check! Ties to a supernatural past! Check! Gets hit by a truck! Check! 5 in a row makes a winner! Stand up and claim your prize you sack of sh- So anyways, I didn't enjoy his character. I tried to, but the writing didn't make that possible. I remember in like the 3rd episode or so he got in a fight with this flame lord and umbrella loli, and his special move was calling for help. Then immediately after that, with no explanation, he was suddenly like "I can't rely on others and cry for help anymore! I have to fight for myself!" He gets that weird determination out of nowhere and decided to be a badass at random moments for the hell of the story. Sometimes he powers up because of his past life or whatever and becomes a boss that can defeat this blind master, then other times when he's in his power up mode he's completely useless. There's no consistency with his strength or character whatsoever. Speaking of that, there is literally a magical girl transformation of him changing into that form. I'm not kidding. I'm really not. It happens. A f**king magical girl transformation. It's not funny. Nothing in this show is funny. It's just a bad attempt at reference humor. It's so bad. IT'S SO- ~We'll be right back after these messages!~ Okay, I'm back. I'm not sure if this review is coherent or not, but I hope that you see what I'm getting at. Before I get any more triggered, let's move on to the next main character. Tanmoku Ki, is the cold, calm, and collected stereotype. Pull out that checklist again, ladies and gentlemen, it's time for round two! Cool, handsome, and rich! Check! Supernatural powers that are super special! Check! Head of some family of exorcists or whatever! Check! Dead parents and possible illegitimacy! Check! Cold to everyone except the main character cause plot! Check! There's not much I can say about his character, because he really doesn't have one. He gets randomly worried and worked up over You Keika's safety for reasons that aren't explained until the last episode. Even when they are explained, it doesn't make it any better. He's a walking trope of every cool rich guy that came before him. His character is so bland that if it weren't for his powers and social placing, there would be nothing special about him. So yeah, not much I can say. Enjoyment- 4 Not gonna lie, I had a few laughs while watching this insanity. The montage part and the magical girl transformation both made me lose it because of how bad it was. Even with some of the stuff being so bad it's funny, most of it was just bad. I cringed more times than i can count. Overall- 5 It's average. Average and insulting. Don't waste your time on this. If you want to see boys in love, go watch Doukyuusei. They actually, you know, TRY. If you just want some ancient supernatural stuff with good action, go watch Moribito. Good characters, interesting plot, and plenty of action to keep you entertained. So yeah, pass this show if you value your integrity. There are better things out there to watch. Don't waste your time here.

Because I'm Chinese-American, I've always had a connection to Chinese culture however, never have I really been interested in the Chinese "anime." I started reading Chinese light novels such as Quan Zhi Gao Shou (waiting for the anime this month!) but other than that, not much else. Recently however, I was impressed by Shuangsheng Lingtan and decided that I wanted to see what Chinese anime is like. So, I picked Ling Qi by random (I think it's recommended if you like Shuangsheng Lingtan) and started watching. I was not disappointed at all. Story (7/10) - Good: The story is not particularly fascinating or unique, however theway the characters are portrayed made it worth following. I liked seeing some of the Chinese traditions and customs to honor the dead/death. There were some points where I felt like I'd missed something though. A character would mention something and events would take a direction that seemed like it came from nowhere even though I'd given it my full attention. Whether this is me just being stupid or the story actually missing pieces is something you can decide for yourself. Art (8/10) - Very Good: The colors are nice and vibrant and the shading seems more in depth than in most anime. I was impressed by the detail that was put into it and the special effects were great. Every so often though there were some minor problems with continuity; sometimes certain details would be omitted but then reappear later. Overall though the coloring felt more sophisticated than typical anime. Sound (8/10) - Very Good: Since this is technically the first Chinese anime I've watched (completed) then I don't have much experience with judging Chinese voice acting, but basing it off what I hear in Japanese voice acting then I'd say they're pretty consistent. I didn't hear anything I thought was particularly awful to say in the least. The soundtrack was cool for sure though. If there is one thing that can surpass language and culture barriers, it's music and I really enjoyed Ling Qi's soundtrack. Character (8/10): Honestly, I liked all the characters and how they were portrayed. There were a lot of silly moments that were just kind of nice to see and it didn't ruin the story or break the pace. It felt natural and seemed fitting for the show. If I could see this same cast in another season, I don't think I'd mind. Enjoyment (9/10) - Great: For my first completed Chinese anime, I had a lot of fun watching and comparing it to Japanese anime and it's fun to see and compare the cultural differences. I've been trying to branch out into other anime media such as manwha (the Korean webcomics) and manhua (Chinese manga) and I plan on continuing and learning more about Northeastern Asian culture from every point. Even though a lot of it may be romanticized. Overall (7/10) - Good: Ling Qi isn't the best show I've ever seen and I wouldn't say it particularly stands out from anything I've ever watched but it's still enjoyable. I wouldn't call the series "deep" or poignant in any way, but there were moments that were very touching and I recommend watching it for a quick source of fun. Even though I give it an average score (to me- 7=70%/C/Good), I actually do think very highly of it. As a quick side note though, it is worth knowing that Ling Qi is considered a shounen ai (homosexual romance). There is nothing "heavy" or explicit, but it is apparent that the main characters have romantic feelings for each other and is implied and shown in a few ways. I, myself, actually did not find out about this fact until after I'd already started the series. I'm not against shounen ai at all, but it isn't exactly a genre that I pursue or have at the top of my priority list. There's nothing too explicit like in Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi or Junjou Romantica, but if the topic makes you you uncomfortable even in the slightest, then it might not be the show for you. (You're missing out though.) Bonus: Oh yeah, there is one Attack on Titan (ep 7) reference and one Sailor Moon (16 ep) reference so if you find sightings/references of other shows funny, you'd most likely be amused by it.

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