Mixed Feelings
This season is a direct sequel to the first season, so please watch S1 before watching this season as most of the main characters in this season were introduced in the first season. This review may have spoilers for S1. Also, Yuan Long was originally a novel which has been adapted to both manhua and donghua. I am more familiar with the manhua so I will make an adaptation comparison in the latter half of this review, rating it based on how closely it follows the source. General Plot: After the brief time skip at the end of season 1, Wang Sheng has made it out ofthe QianJueDi (Land of infinite danger) to Wuyou City, where he was forced to flee because of the pursuit of the 5 most powerful clans. Once making it to Wuyou City, he is temporarily safe, as this city is free from most influences and has rules to prevent killing. This season follows Wang Sheng while he is at WuYou City.
The plot for this season is a mess like most of the other things (explained further down in the review). It feels like characters and plot are changed specifically to make fights happen or create drama. The pacing and tone of the story is also done poorly, it intermixes comedy randomly with the "serious" portions of the plot. All the characters are as smart or retarded as the plot requires them to be to move things along to the next fight. It really feels like action/fights first, everything else is negotiable or can be bent to fit this. And what's with all the melodramatic stuff in the last third of the season?
When it comes to characters, this season of Yuan Long is a mess. Gao Yao was part narrator, part comedic relief in season 1, but now she's also a very annoying damsel in distress when the plot needs her to be so that they could cram in another fight. Then there is Qiang Wei who has some dual personality problem so they can have her be the "final villain" of this season and also have some convoluted romantic-subplot with her. A Qi has also clearly shown she is in Wang Sheng's harem because of the "kill or marry the man who sees your face" rule. Wang Sheng, the MC, is a serious mess. His character is inconsistant; when he's threatened, he's willing to start fights, but backs down too easily or gets pummelled for plots sake or he's willing to lead people into danger so they get killed but won't kill them despite the detriment to him, and he sometimes acts like a philatropist when he can't even protect himself. All these character problems really hamper enjoyment of the series.
Animation and character designs are great, as are the fights, as expected of a high budget production. But like the previous season, alot of it feels like they are trying to "show off" their technical prowess. They shoehorn in fights whenever they can, in the first 5 episodes alone, there are like 10 different fights resulting from disagreements, fights for comedy purposes, and even a "storytelling fight" from the opening (telling the exaggerated version of Wang Sheng's final fight in the previous episode. It really is too much.
My final assessment of this is that: this is a barely passable watch, with it's only redeeming features being its high budget character models and action, but its problems with the forced plot and inconsistent characters really tank it. There are too many fights forced in, making it seem like the studio is trying to show off their animation prowess.
Comparison as an adaptation(will contain novel spoilers):
I will give an adaptation score to Yuan Long Season 2, but this doesn't really qualify anymore as an adaptation. There are changes to basically everything but the setting. I will break this down into two categories, character changes and plot changes.
Character Changes:
-Qiang Wei, the new female that has a romantic subplot with Wang Sheng, was originally an important connection that Wang Sheng made. She was supposed to be a main harem member and one of the reasons he gets a 600+ harem later. But in this "adaptation" they gave her some contrived dual personality and then killed her off.
-A Qi, the assassin, was not a traitor to the Xia family and was a "death soldier". Eventually she is "given" to Wang Sheng after failing to assassinate him three times as reconciliation as per the clan's rules. Here they forced her to join Wang Sheng early by having the retarded "kill or marry rule".
-Song Yan, the main female lead, somehow loses her memory basically resetting their relationship
-Random clan elder/leaders these people got created just to get beat down? Was that even necessary?
Plot Changes:
-The only original plot elements that were kept the same were the lore/backstory bits like about Lin Xiu/phoenix spirit and the setting of the story. Other than that, almost everything else has been changed.
-The modern weapons like guns seem to be a mainstay in this donghua, perhaps the producers want to make this a trademark "mascot" for Yuan Long. The new "enchanted" bullets are what makes me think so. In the original novel, as Wang Sheng depleted his stock of ammo and equipment, he cultivated alongside that and thus became less reliant on those, making them fade from the story. The research into his equipment was never done, though some people did investigate his methods. The technology/weapons from the modern era were his final trump cards and carefully used by him.
-The focus of the plot is intense action and comedy with actual story mixed in. They force in fights, romantic scenes, or comedy wherever they can fit it. It feels almost like the point was to have action or first and story second, which is why I said in the first half that this feels like a showing of animation prowess.
Adaptation Score(how faithful to source): 2/10
