Swallowed Star

ST63LTH★ 8

Swallowed Star Review Overview Swallowed Star is a Chinese Donghua set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian metropolis where the outside world has crumbled as a result of the RR virus, capable of mutating the organisms on earth into man eating beasts. These beasts have a hierarchal system where each species has a King, General, Captains, Majors etc. and as the ranks increase the intelligence increases which is why humanity is forced into shelters. These beasts are scheming and territorial so humanity's plan of action was a modified superhuman army of Warriors and Spirit Masters. Story Luo Feng, a high school student with passion and strength always wanting to be awarrior but couldn't due to financial struggles proves himself worthy of taking the warrior-to-be test and finds his true talent. As his current enemies get eliminated thanks to his Martial Hall and eventually his overwhelming strength, he attracts big enemies of the major families after murdering a young master an God of Wars Luo Feng slips into big trouble. He is forced to reveal his hidden talent and is exposed to the major family of this young master and becomes a target as his home is raided by a cunning Dragon King. The apocalyptic and mysterious nature of this science fiction donghua is what compelled me to write a review. A good overpowered main character that has a fairly powerful narrative is much better especially a chinese creation that isn't exactly wuxia or xianxia based literature. It has a fair amount of love interest and suspenseful fighting scenes, the series is a bit predictable after the Young Master and God of Wars were slaughtered by Luo Feng but the outcome was still satisfying. Character Luo Feng is a strategic, strong, diligent, finessing character with hidden talent which beats many OPMC series that rely on pure strength. Seeing him acknowledged as a genius in his exam and within his initial Squad was very satisfying as he developed because they didn't shrug it off as luck. I was surprised with the lack of filler content in this series despite being 26 episodes long, the first quarter is more or less character development and introducing the childhood antagonist. But as the story progresses, Luo Feng encounters many betrayals and even kills a few people himself to save himself, he also steals eggs from powerful dragons to make bank. His reputation in the training camp arc grew which was badass, good execution but was very short-lived. Art & Sound As a CGI animation, the quality is very detailed and character rigging is almost human-like. The beasts however, are a hit-or-miss for animation; sometimes they hit buildings and their character phases through or their character rigging is 'bony'. Nonetheless, when it comes to the big beasts like the dragon or the big monster from the beginning episode, it looks detailed and intimidating. Sound design is pretty decent, nothing particular to say since it wasn't as memorable even soundtracks didn't really stick with me in key moments. Overall Sadly, this series isn't spam released like some wuxia Donghuas otherwise it would have been more popular even in the eastern world. Still highly recommended overpowered main character series.

WhiteZet★ 6

This was the first 3D Donghua I personally liked, but this might be a hard sell for a lot of people. I still think it's worth giving at least a try to see if you're into it. But don't go in with big expectations. I want to touch a little on future seasons, so this review reveals what you can expect later on without going to any plot details. -- Visually, I think the artstyle is inconsistent. Some environments look way too empty & unnatural. At times it's like the characters are driving through barbie land with a couple of plastic trees on a plastic ground. Even texture qualityis inconsistent. Animations are very stiff, and the combat sequences are not that well made. It's especially bad when the main character fights beasts for the first time. You won't even see the sword making contact with them. After first 12 episodes there are some improvements I noticed though, since the swords start making cuts on the enemies. Both the visuals & animation do slowly get some improvements as episodes pile on: The scifi style is pretty well pulled off & the show gets more futuristic the further you go. Past first season most fights are done midair & it's a lot prettier to look at than ground combat choreography. Nice visual effects & the animation quality feels less relevant. -- The plot begins with humans defending earth from beasts, but future seasons eventually start to become more & more scifi & eventually there's even space travel & space combat. I think the story writing is pretty terrible outside the major plot of winning the earth back. The subplots are always very surface level "You offended me, so I will end your bloodline" type of deal. Personally I wasn't a fan of fighting overgrown beasts or dinosaurs & thought the subplots were cringe, so the future seasons with their scifi settings are where this show shines: dope armors, lots of nice visual effects during combat, nice spaceships, nice metallic interiors, lots of combat. -- Overall I'd say first 2 season are a 6/10 on average, but seasons 3-4 are a 7/10 for me. It's cringe, but it's also fun.