Di Wang Gong Lue

The story is great, but the animation is not. There are humors along the way. The story is not too complex and quite easy to understand although some characters just show up or disappear without reason. The ending is quite open, so I can only wish they will make a sequel, but I haven't read the novel or the manhua, so I can't say for sure if that's really the ending. You shouldn't expect much romance from this since it's China's "laws." The relationship between the leads are only shown as superrrrrrrrr best friends. You can find the first 3 episodes in YouTube and the rest is in the channel owner's google drive. It's open to public too.

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This animation is very beautiful as I could not stop watching the episodes continuously. However, the pacing was bad. For example, in the beginning, the story progressed slowly, however at the end, it progressed quickly which leaves me unsatisfied with the ending. Therefore you have to use your imagination at the cliffhangers that this story offers you.

I think it is easy to get confused with the plot if you are not familiar with the concept of how royal works. I found myself having to replay some parts to understand the complex hierarchy, position and so on.

It was worth the watch, and if I have to watch it again, I would.

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I hold a lot of respect for this anime as it tries to keep integrity when portraying certain themes, however, I simply cannot recommend it.

I heard the original novel is excellent (which I plan on reading) but the show, as it stands, is quite boring. It's almost definitely a budget thing, but the pacing of the series is all over the place and it's hard to keep up with the plot. At first, I assumed I may have had been having trouble with it because I was binging the show at 3 in the morning, but I don't seem to be the only one. I had a friend start the show too, but he gave up after 2 episodes because it just failed to captivate him.

The art is better than I expected, but it's not outstanding either. Certain effects and scene transitions are outright questionable. The animation is just mediocre, but this would all be forgivable to me if the story had kept me interested. They don't develop the world and its affairs enough, so the audience cannot really care for what's going on. It's always important to let the viewers immerse themselves with current events so that they can create a connection to the story, its world and its characters, but that isn't accomplished.

I do think there is potential here though, and that may be what's keeping me from giving the show a lower score. If a second season is ever produced, I'll definitely check it out, hopefully if it'll be higher quality then.

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帝王攻略 is a Chinese anime obviously not perfect in everything, but with good strengths letting me recommending it, especially for people being used to watching Chinese anime, but it can also be a satisfying first Chinese anime for non-initiates. This review is spoiler – free.

####### (+) #######

%% Nice and complex plot in Chinese imperial era. I find it quite realistic in how the Chinese imperial court is represented, the role of the Mandarins, influence struggles, corruption and games of power for the domination of what was already one of the most important countries in the world. More precisely, two separate cases (from ep 1 to ep 9 and from ep 10 to 18) and the two last episodes would be teasers for next season. The first case is good but sometimes confused (cf later), the second one is much better with truly interesting development.

%%Nice music with relaxing Chinese themes.

%%Art is very good, nice colors and drawings, yet the animation is not perfect and sometimes feels a bit odd but that’s no big deal.

%%Chinese atmosphere, you have this very particular “Chinese humor” you can find in many Chinese anime, basically embodied here by Xinan king’s brother, Yao Er.

%%Sometimes people do not like Chinese voices, I actually enjoy it, being myself more familiar with Chinese language. The voices fit particularly well the characters.

####### (-) #######

%%Some issues with the rhythm, especially in the beginning; a bit slow in the first 10 episodes, and the end appears in comparison a bit rushed. Mentioning the end, it is quite abrupt and somehow frustrating – there is no doubt there will be a second season, but when?

%%You don’t learn that much about the characters in the beginning, and sometimes you will regret the lack of interaction between the main characters (which is mainly due to the realism of the supposed interactions between the Chinese emperor and his vassals).

%%Too many names, it is sometimes hard to identify key characters in the beginning, but this is usual common flaw in many Chinese anime (cf Mo Dao Zu Shi).

%%I don’t really see the point of introducing some “fantasy”, I would had preferred if they had designed it in a full realistic scheme; because it is not really significant in the plot; well they could have done better without going this way.

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Overall, a bit confused in the rhythm, some will potentially stop after 2-3 episodes, I recommend not to do so, because this is a nice Chinese anime that will enable you to glance over Chinese imperial court and administration, which is truly fascinating.

P.S. : I have seen it twice, with several months in between, and I didn’t change my rating of this anime nor my overall impression. Just give it a try!

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