so, i think i can confidently say season 1 was better. and season 1 wasn't without a couple serious issues (the lady-man theme DOMINATING the plot for a good 20% of the season, and the return trip to their master's residence only taking ~3 episodes despite it taking them a quarter of the season on the journey away)
but season 1 was, generally, much slower paced. you saw much more kung fu training and dissemination of knowledge. season 2 was all "let's have a fight" and "let's introduce all these new villains with super quirky personalities". even the black/white siblings from season 1 aren't as interesting as in season 1. in season 1 they show up to battle with an entourage and hiding inside a coffin. they're the longest running "bad guys" in the show, and yet, they have so much plot armor it's stupid (every time they die they aren't really dead, and every time they consume people's power they just go and lose it eventually...it's a boring cycle at this point). in season 1, that little demon emperor dude was hyped up as THE MAN, but in season 2 he dies early and easily, and his clearly inferior brother becomes ridiculously strong at the same time
the only good things about season 2 were the mc's girlfriend dying (sacrificing herself to save his life after she unintentionally was the one who put his life in danger), and lightning boy learning who his parents were. except, i feel like both of these failed to make great use of these stories. mc's girlfriend was basically an afterthought though. she pops up in his "visions" occasionally during near death experiences, and that's about it. mc even has a new love interest already, and it's messed up that they disrespect that original girl like that. but mc's dead girlfriend was resurrected. by whom, and for what purpose? we don't know. we don't know where she is or what she's doing. again, she's an afterthought. and lightning boy's father dies immediately after learning who he son is and reuniting. he was only relevant in order to teach the lightning technique thing. lightning boy's mom is, again, an afterthought. she has no purpose whatsoever and lightning boy doesn't even seem to care that he just learned who his true mother is or spending time with her and getting to know her, his family, his father, etc
did i mention a bunch of quirky villains with weird personalities? yea. we have the weirdo in the masks who seemingly has split personalities and his little painted face subordinate, both of whom recite these ancient chinese idioms that make no sense in regards to the actual story and just waste time. there's the dude who has the mummified remains of his mother that he comforts himself with. the old lady from season 1 is actually not an old lady. the ugly face masked bad guy "handsome" magically starts being able to see the future, as if all these competing factions are just chess pieces on his chess board. the lady emperor actually dresses up as a man... the "library" ruler is actually just a subordinate to his wheelchair bound daddy. mummy mommy guy had some really strong female subordinate, who's now teamed up with the two "guardians" of the little demon emperor from season 1 (except they've given up their robes/cloaks and are actually younger guys - they gave off the vibe of being older in season 1, and while very strong, they don't seem to be as strong as hyped in season 1). the mc's new love interest is some bug poison cave girl who's daddy is a blind decaying body person of crazy strength? the ghost king who was almost never talked about in season 1 but who's the biggest baddie of season 2. lightning boy going full enraged/possessed mode and disregarding his fiancé. the lady emperor all of a sudden falling in love with the mc. guy from the snow mountains who was running away from his brother that seriously injured him - for no explained reason - who just magically knows how to reforge the broken sword and is all lovey dovey with mc and lightning boy...
good grief
in season 2, the main purpose of everyone was to get the sword, find the treasure, find the tomb where the treasure was located, etc. in season 1, the sword *WAS* the treasure. in season 2, once the treasure is taken from the tomb, the tomb starts to disintegrate indiana jones style. how is that a good treasure? it means it can't be passed down from generation to generation. once it's used it's gone? this is the type of inconsistency with season 1
the subs aren't great, but i don't think they'd make much difference in the actual plot. i wasn't able to keep track of the names of a lot of the cities/locations or the new characters/villains, but that was as much because i didn't care for them as it was the subs.
season 2 is like a 5.5/10. season 1 was a 7/10 (maybe 6.5). a clear step down imo. this is suffering from the "game of thrones syndrome", where it gets away from story and character development, and focuses more on craziness and battles. but instead, all it does is "lose itself" and become a worse version of itself. i'm going to start season 3, but if the STORYTELLING doesn't improve, i might have to drop it |
