Fanren Xiu Xian Zhuan: Chongzhi Ban

Having read some cultivation novels, it is really refreshing to be watching one. A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality has a simple premise of a normal boy following the road towards immortality by chance. It doesn't focus on his powers & doesn't spend time explaining how cultivation works in detail. It focuses on the relationships he forms & the hardships he faces. -- The skin textures & facial models look extremely good, and animations are fairly fluid. Most environments & enemies are decently designed. Same goes for all the SFX like fire/sparks. Unfortunately the show is made to be weirdly PG & they don't really showgore, which I think should have been a crucial aspect of the show considering how many people are killed or injured. There is one major issue regarding graphics that will be relevant even in later seasons, and it has to do with several characters looking very similar to eachother. This is amplified with women, since for men they can add beards & make them uglier, but all women have a similar, beautiful face shape. -- The prologue in my opinion is a 9/10 from a storytelling perspective, although perhaps the pacing could've been adjusted to be a little slower when it comes to explaining the cultivation aspects, especially for people new to the genre. Some camera cuts also are a little too fast & if you blink you may lose context. Past the prologue there won't be anything notable regarding story, but it's all reasonably well written in the sense that it's usually not bad & is fun to follow. The fights past prologue will however be larger in scale, which I am fairly sure some people will enjoy. -- My two dislikes for this show are how often the main character Han Li will stand around like a tree stump whenever interacting with women, and how sometimes combat scenes drag on for a little too long. Overall this should be a good watch for most people.