Quanzhi Gaoshou 2

Probably the best anime that explains games, not take you into the game like SAO. Quanzhi Gaoshou 2 one is really unique anime based on eSports and pro players life.

It is in chinese, but you might enjoy your time for its cool atmosphere setting and funny comedic scenes.


Story : 7/10

There is a slow burning story. Former no 1 Player of GLORY Ye Xiu, continue his journey to come back as a pro player. But this time he has a lots of enemies to face. His former team Excellent Dynasty is also becoming his foe, but he tackle them with his funny evil plans.

If ... I have to rate story, this anime doesn’t have great story. But I think QG 2 offer more action then story.


Art : 9/10

Characters design is very good compared to other Chinese anime. Animation quality is also good. This season also have clever uses of CG. But they are very beautiful to watch. Imo, the art style really suit this anime premise, thus making it enjoyable.


Characters : 7/10

Well tbh, Chinese names are very hard for me to memorize. So I am not too connected with characters. But it is also truth that they made side characters in a way that only enhance mc. So, I don’t think you need to know every characters, as this season also perfectly ensure that you will also keep adventuring with the protagonist.


Sound : 8/10

Opening and specially ending is good. Background music is also very cool and goes with anime very much.


Enjoyment : 9/10

Well tbh I always look forward for next week to watch another action packed episod. If you are a an game themed action anime lover, then this season will definitely for you.

There are a lots of action and lots of laugh. So, I personally think if you prefer non-story heavy, action packed anime, QG 2 is a perfect match for you.


Rating :

Episodic : 8.25

MAL : 8/10

This anime surely justify its MAL rating BEING ABOVE 8.0

Worse overall quality and excitement, but setup for next season.

A few big complaints being

-First few episodes are super meh.

-Animation is a big drop from season 1

-Main cast other than Ye Qiu from season 1 could literally be replaced by any other character and it wouldnt change a thing.

...
*If you want to watch this, but dont feel the urge to watch it asap I would just wait till a month or so before season 3 and watch it then. That way the setup wouldnt feel as flat, and this season could just reignite any remaining excitement from season 1 and prep you for season 3 where the buildup is hopefully paid off.

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The first few episodes are really dissapointing, I would guess they are here to show the 10th server a bit more before it becomes irrelevant like the rest of the main cast from season 1 and to give this season some exciting episodes. When watching it while it was airing, I felt the seasons held me back from what I wanted and were super uninteresting, might be slightly better on a rewatch because they dont suck up a week but only 20 minutes instead but it still wouldnt be good.

After the first few episodes however, it starts to do a really good job at setting the next season up to be a great season with all the set up they've created. With character growth and change postponed for introductions which were interesting but I felt a bit dissapointed about a few of the characters basically not existing this season. The new introductions are pretty exciting and cool, with there being only one exception but this exception is out of the main cast so its not as bad as doing this to them.

the continuation of the king's avatar is certainly different from the rest of all anime I think.
It's takes the esports road the most serious way possible.
the plot revolves around the main protagonist who was removed from a pro epsorts team and had his account ceased. Then on he builds his own team and a new character.
the art work is outstanding and the storyline is also great. One of the best point of King's avatar is its well done animation and also its soundtrack.
People who wants to see what's in for a epsorts team can watch this show also those who doesnt know anything about epsorts ... should give it a try.
the only downside for me is its Chinese voice over. It takes the pace of the dialogue at a fast rate and its hard to coup up with the subs and the screen.
everything else is great!!!! including its OP and ED.

I'm going to review Quanzhi Gaoshou as a whole series: the movie, OVA, season 1, and season 2.
Honestly, Quanzhi Gaoshou really doesn't make a lot of sense if you haven't read the novel. The novel is ~1200 chapters long, and the anime series crams around 600 chapters or more in 27 episodes. That's impossible. While the anime does adapt to the original material, it's quite a bit rushed, and there's a lot of heavy emphasis on certain parts of the story, while basically cutting out the other parts. As a result, you will find the story a bit weird and perhaps not make a lot ... of sense if you don't read the novel.
Season 1 and the OVA has decent pacing. It maybe adapted 100-200 chapters or so total? Season 2 on the other hand probably adapted 400 chapters or more. Season 1 keeps basically 1:1 with the plot points. Sure, it sort of feels rushed, but you get the idea. Season 2 liberally adapts bits and pieces while getting rid of any unimportant points, and even changes quite a few things in the plot. I think the most important thing that gets changed is how Ye Qiu is depicted. Yes, Ye Qiu is pretty OP, but that doesn't mean that he effortlessly beats everyone like what the anime tries to depict. It's like when he's fighting 1 on 10, he can win? Yeah, that never happens in the novel. What about beating Huang Shaotian in the 1v1 arena battle? He certainly does beat him with a good lead, but it's not nearly as one sided as the anime depicted. There's a lot of sticky scenarios that Ye Qiu gets in the novel, and they get trivialized in the anime, to the point where the viewer thinks that Ye Qiu has no weaknesses. That's not true at all in the novel. Ye Qiu strategizes, thinks, and only then, can he take small victories against the big guilds. It's not as smooth sailing as you'd think. Ye Qiu is not a one man army, and he can't beat everyone by himself.
As for combat, same sort of thing. I like the fights in the anime. Honestly, Quanzhi Gaoshou is definitely the best Chinese anime when it comes to animation and art. Fights are frequent, yet the anime manages to keep up with good quality animation. The OVA and the movie are in a league of their own, though, really amping up the art quality. Definitely super professional, but even just the anime is good. CGI is pretty terrible when it comes to bystanders, and there are still frames and reused sequences here and there, but for an anime to have this much fighting, this is a given.
I love the combat, but the combat in the game is never explained. There's a lot of in-depth explanations in the novel describing key abilities and mechanics for every single class. The anime barely mentions any skills, and as a result, you don't have an appreciation for when a pro player manages to pull an amazing feat off. Cancelling animations, parrying, special CC effects when you hit the same spot twice, synergistic combos, "true combos", vanishing step, partner combos, and just all the abilities are explained in depth in the novel, but the anime never does. Even then, the novel is quite badly balanced and doesn't make sense at parts, how does the anime have a chance?
Some characters are also kind of butchered. Again, Tang Rou in season 2 probably was in the show for about a minute. Same with Bao zi. Both characters are really important, so for them to have little to no screen time when they were first getting into Pro and improving at the game trivializes them. Tang Rou was a real strong character, but in the anime, she's kind of just an ornament. Even just for all the cast of characters, a lot of relationships and dialogue are cut off due to the anime cutting a significant portion of the bonding moments they had through in game events like dungeons, raids, PVP, etc. You don't really get to understand their personality, what it means for them to go pro, and what their motivations are, and you certainly don't get a sense of progress when you see them improving in skill.
Look, I love The King's Avatar, but the anime should be a supplement to the novel. It definitely shouldn't be watched first, since you won't know what's going on. I think it's not a good standalone piece. However, the animation and fights are still good, and just seeing Ye Qiu on screen and seeing key scenes in the novel being adapted is good enough for me to put this at a 7. Biased? Yes. Hotel? Trivago.

In a nutshell: It's a Chinese anime (or Donghua) and it's actually very well made and quite interesting if you're into esports.

Story... it's a sports drama, what else do you want?
Story itself is kinda generic. Legendary pro player Ye Xiu is having rough times in a team with bad management and proceeds to form his own team with Chen Guo, manager of nearby internet cafe. But before he comes back he needs to wait for a year until he is allowed to play in League. So, for two seasons he is basically chilling and training rookies for his team, while messing with big guilds and ... other pros.

Characters... too much of them.
There is a TON of characters and it can be troublesome. And this means something coming from me, because my favorite anime is Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu! Characters are mostly interesting but they just don't get enough time because the story is focused on Ye Xiu.

Original novel is huge and adaptation tries to compress it pretty hard, so we are constantly being bombarded by the names: some of them are new and some of them are forgotten since the first season, which is already 3 years old! And also it is very strange to hear nicknames and team names being translated from Chinese and not being English from the beginning but I get why it happened and I know the reason why it is bothering me (short answer: LPL).

Music... fits the show
OP and ED are really cool and their quality is on par with «actual anime from Japan». I would even say that ED is better than OP but it's subjective. Soundtrack overall never felt out of place, especially in action scenes.

Short stories... they are at the end of every episode
They exist and they are cute but they are as pointless as Lucky Channel in Lucky☆Star.

Art... made in China, but looks like top-tier Japanese!
The King's Avatar 2 is extremely well drawn. Character designs, action scenes and backgrounds are all great and comedic moments are usually hilarious from visual standpoint.

Game... it's called Glory
Well, they just can't decide how Glory should look. Every time it is shown on the screen of PC it rarely looks like a game and usually it is just anime with some UI slapped on top. Should it be third person MMORPG (which is kinda what Glory is in the first place)? Or it is actually a first person shooter? I don't believe that every class have different modes of the game and balancing around it should be a nightmare, especially in Pro League. But it is just a minor inconvenience.

Overall... Quanzhi Gaoshou definitely deserves to be called anime!
The best anime about gaming by far. Well, it is not like there are any rivals...

This is probably the best animated series to come out of China in its quality and consistency.

The story and characters are quite average, except for the main character who is fleshed out quite nicely.

There was one scene that encapsulated my experience, it was one where the main character has to control two different characters at the same time, so he had to keep track of two screens, two mice and keyboards at the same time and I thought that was so silly but so awesome.
I thought that it was such a weird contemporary experience, since my perception of the 'coolness' of clicking madly on ... two different pieces of plastic would be so alien to a majority of human beings through the majority of history and the fact that it happened here made me glad that this show exists.

Hello fellow gamers, and welcome to the greatest show on earth - wait, game on earth.

Anyways, coming in fresh from S1 and S1.5 we now have S2! (and a prequel!) S3 is soon on the way, and a amazing 41episode drama adaption was made! Wow! (If they ever get a season 2 it would be fantastic T.T)

Having seen the drama, I had some idea of what was to come with S2 here ;)

As some have noted, the art style is a bit more matte than S1, but the animation itself is carried out well. I have no real complaints there.

The score was ... on point! The music greatly benefitted scenes! (the drama's ost moved my heart!)

The franchise plot and characters are fantastic and S1/S1.5 laid strong foundations.
・However, S2 really needed more episodes, the first half was executively planned out well enough but we're bridging into S3 way too quickly!! As another review said, the character stories of our up-and-comers are basically not shown, trivialising their entire presence. I have to agree with this point. These are major characters, and a story is not a one-man show but requires team work!! -- ironically, this is a lesson we're supposed to be learning in-seriesagainst the head of the God of Glory's former dynasty.

・Plot points for how things are moving forward are also too rushed, where it feels like we're making large jumps without establishing foundation properly.

・・S2, especially the latter half, feels like it's being pushed just to take us to the lead up to S3, rather than having fun with what it has!

So that could certainly have been better with more room to develop.

Anyways, the episodes themselves were perfectly fine and charming. Definitely worth the watch.

We'll see you all at the Championships ;)

'As the leaves fall, the seasons change' ;)

As a fan of eSports (particularly LOL), this is an show that got me by surprise. Contrary to many animes about games (which usually have an isekai or slice of life approach), Quanzhi Gaoshou focus in the life and sportsmanship behind professional gamers, and the result is quite enjoyable.
Now, the plot, the characters, the sound and the art are not particularly special. Nevertheless, it is a shame that many people do not give this show a chance just for being a Donghua. The production values are high enough. Hopefully, we will continue to get more high quality made-in-china animes.
So, do not be fouled by the ... description of this show or it’s genre. This is an sport’s anime. If you like esports and professional gamers, I am quite sure you are going to enjoy this donghua.

Story
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Like with season 1, TKA season 2 is essentially a slice-of-life show that’s more driven by the characters than the plot. If you recall, season 1 began with the main character, Ye Xiu, being forced into retirement for a year. Season 2 takes place within that year, so he’s still in the process of building up his character and recruiting new players. This means the majority of the season is still focused on meeting new people, both potential teammates and future rivals.

Art & Animation
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The season is animated by the same company as the OVAs and movie, so there is quite the noticeable difference between this ... style and that of season 1. Where season 1 used more of a seinen art style, season 2’s styles is more bishounen. This results in the majority of characters appearing “prettier” which works for the younger characters and the few female players, but takes away the imperfections of some like Han Wenqing and Wang Jiexi who are supposed to look intimidating and have uneven eyes respectively; however, that’s a fairly consistent issue with the designs as they’ve always been drawn/cast that way dating back to the official art for the light novels all the way up to the live action adaptation.

As with season 1, the animation varies. Season 1 was known for reused animations and ugly CGI background characters. Although season 2 tones down both, it is now plagued by still frames and reused background character models. A lot of shows use still frames, but the way TKA2 does them really shows the studio’s inexperience with this genre. The background characters getting reused isn’t as in your face since they are just extras and don’t stay on-screen for long, but it gets awkward when they are using the same models for a crowd of famous professional players seconds after they used those same models for regular players. It isn’t all bad, though. The animation as a whole is largely serviceable, but the Wei Chen fight in episode 8 and Zhang Jiale fight in episode 10 in particular are some of my favorites in the entire series and they both take up good chunks of both episodes with noticeable improvements in animation. Again, this is the same company that did the OVAs and movie, so we know they can do great work. My guess as an outsider for what happened would be that they had to use most of their resources on the movie, leaving parts of the animation feeling rushed.

Sound & Music
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Like with the previous entries in the franchise, this season is dubbed in Chinese. It’s obviously going to be different from Japanese or English dubbed anime, but that isn’t really a negative. TKA features more subdued and calm performanced (with the exception of a few characters). This means it will be harder for some to pick up on things like emotional cues, but they’re definitely present. For example, toward the middle of the season, Ye Xiu has an argument with someone from his past (not really a spoiler since episode 1 starts with a flash forward which includes a glimpse at this scene) and despite both remaining rather calm, the scene carries an incredibly tense atmosphere and it’s hard not to agree with them both to some degree as the conversation goes from cordial to angry to disappointed. Again, I’m not saying this is better or worse than typical performances in anime; it’s just different.

The OP lacks the punch and impact of the season 1 OP, but it’s fine. I would consider it the weakest of the 3 we’ve gotten so far, trading rock for pop. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t something I could see them playing during a climactic fight like how the season 1 OP accompanied the final fight of that season. The ED is better, really suiting the upbeat feel of the season. The insert songs are fairly good as well, really punctuating many of the more emotional moments. Special mention goes to the insert song, Accompany Me to Forever, which they play in a couple of episodes.

Characters
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As I referenced before, TKA is basically a slice-of-life show meaning the main appeal will be seeing the characters and their interactions. As with the first season and OVAs, there are a huge amount of characters. Ye Xiu clearly remains the central protagonist, but the majority of his party from season 1 get a reduced role as he enters the post-game server of sorts. We get bits of Tang Rou, Steamed Bun, Yifan, and Concealed Light (technically, we get more of him than we got in the previous season), but after Ye Xiu’s big confrontation with the guilds in the first couple of episodes, they largely get replaced with Chen Guo becoming the main companion. Chen Guo could be a bit of a nuisance in the first season, but thanks to her knowing Ye Xiu’s identity after the OVAs, she now comes off less as oblivious and more as the audience viewpoint character that she was meant to be, often getting used to play off of the new characters as they get introduced. Also, beginning this season and continuing onward is her relationship with Ye Xiu growing from boss/employee and fan/celebrity to them being more on equal footing. Beyond that, new characters like Deception and Wei Chen are incredibly fun additions, each bringing their own distinct personality. Zhang Jiale showcases the emotional weight of the show’s premise. Excellent Era (not their guild, Excellent Dynasty) plays a much more prominent role as the antagonists this time, while also allowing insight into Ye Xiu’s actual thoughts on them and getting kicked out. And Ye Xiu, himself, is given more sass, both in the sense that he’s quicker to trash talk as opposed to how calculated he was previously and in that he takes more sass from other characters as we’re introduced to more players who see him as a peer rather than the master/idol that most season 1 characters saw him as.

This season also continues the largest conflict set forth by the OVAs between the older generation and the younger generation by introducing a couple more grizzled vets to play off of the established younger characters like Sun Xiang and Yu Wenzhou (not particularly young, but he’s a special case). While season 2 remains similar to season 1 in terms of being set up, they differ in that season 2 isn’t just introducing new characters, it also sets up the main dichotomy that should be used throughout the series.

Enjoyment
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Whether or not you’ll enjoy TKA2 will largely depend on whether or not you enjoyed the first season. If you enjoyed the character interaction and unique take on the idea of a video game anime that season 1 brought to the table, season 2 is more of the same despite the different animation studio. If you found season 1 boring or not to your taste, you probably aren’t considering watching season 2 anyway. And if you were fine with season 1, but were mostly waiting for them to get to the e-sports part, you might be disappointed to find that that won’t start until a potential season 3. Personally, I had a blast watching season 2. It isn’t anything ground breaking or something that’ll change the way you see the world, but it’s a solid show to watch to see some endearing characters bouncing off of each other with flourishes of action in between.

The story was ok, it was really just a build up for the next season, introducing all the characters new characters, ones not seen in the first season.

IMO the art style was a downgrade from the first season and definitely from the 2018 3 special episode. I think its because it was because of the COVID-19 delays. You will probably notice a lot of cut and copy scenes, and cgi looking out of place, or bubble heads to show expression if you know what I mean. It made the show feel a lot more childish, whereas the first season and 2018 specials had a ... much more serious approach, it set a completely different tone.

The sound was really nice, I enjoyed listening to both the OP and ending OST.

The character development was really the weak point in this season considering that the entire season is practically meant to introduce all the characters. It might be because I saw the drama version of this and they did a better job with the back stories. There was really a lack of emotion in this season which is the main job of this season. Compared to even the first season and not the drama, in the first season imo they did a much better job. For example portraying Ye Qiu being stoic and yet lost/hurt from his termination, Tang Rou you could feel her frustration of losing to Ye Qiu and that motivated her to learn to play glory, or in the 3 episode specials Yifan's loss felt like a crushing defeat for him. One suggestion I make is to watch the movie right before episode 7, I think that gives a lot of insight into Ye Qui's past and his decision in episode 7, even if you have already seen the movie it brings up the feels. Just one example that if they played the back stories right it could have a much strong impact. Although it wasn't actually meant to be played there so you have to read between the lines a bit to understand what I mean. Also, episode 2 introduces a minor character, but in the anime they made his part so minor that it makes you even wonder why he was written into the story. It really should have shown more of Ye Qiu's past because the dialogue between Ye Qiu and this minor character should have a lot more meaning, but instead it just felt kind of random and you have no idea what Ye Qiu is talking about or why they are really talking.

My enjoyments of the first few episodes were mediocre, but I did enjoy the shameless duo at the end. Though imagine if they did everything right, would've been even better.

Overall the season could have been done much better through the use of character development but instead just glossed over so much detail that the season is meant just as an intro of characters and hopefully for plot development in the next season. What they fail to realize is that what makes shows like this enjoyable is the character development not the plot. Just like in sports shows when you know the team is going to win because thats just the way they are written, but it is the emotions they feel during each match that draw us in. In Quan Zhi Gaou Shou you just know that they will ultimately win even without watching, but will they be able to draw us in for next season? It will be difficult IMO because they did not spend this season to tell us why each of the players are joining the team, what is motivating them?

<<<SPOILER FREE>>>

Blurb: A worthy expansion for an entertaining universe.

My review for The King's Avatar Season-1 says most of what I want to say about the show as a whole. It's essence, why I enjoyed it and why I'll continue to watch it. Those views remain unchanged and I see little point in reiterating them there. So, I'll just stick to what I further enjoyed from Season-2, and in a word it was the 'leveling-up' of the plot and the side-characters.

Ye Xiu's story is more than just a rise-after-a-fall narrative. In essence, it tackles the big question that players in E-Sports face today. That ... question being: "Do you play for the money? or do you play for the game?". Given the stature and popularity of E-Sports today, it's hard to imagine that during the early days, E-sports were generally regarded as the provenance of maladjusted, awkward, and reclusive individuals who found more meaning and solace in 2D Pixels than they did in real-life. Today, they are (or have to be) very open, outgoing, and as a necessity possess a charisma by which they can attract more fans and more importantly, more sponsors.

The character of Ye Xiu is for all intents and purposes the embodiment of ' the old-days'. When players played from a place of passion and not from a place of commerce, and it this this thematic exploration coupled with a few hilarious character introductions that have made viewing The King's Avatar an ongoing pleasure.

After the first season, I found this somewhat disappointing. Not in terms of storyline or characters, but in terms of the animation and art design.

This has taken huge steps back from the first season that had quite a unique style that fitted with the storyline and characters. But with this one, it has lost a lot of the feeling that the first season carried. The main character is now unrecognisable aside from the voice, and now he looks like a generic anime protagonist instead of the more unique style of the first season.

It is not only his looks that is off but also the facial ... expressions. In the first season, he seems more conserved in his expressions but it isn't supposed to be from shyness or anything like that. He still smiles a bit, but in this one, he is way too smiley. It doesn't fit with the character.

It isn't just him, though. All the characters seem off and just don't generally look as well done. I mean the art standard is actually of lower quality for the characters themselves. Particularly Mucheng, who I think looks quite bad in comparison. And the lighting detracts from the overall quality.

I am surprised some reviews think the animations are better because I, again, think they have taken a huge step back, particularly in the fights. The first season seemed to animate every stroke of the sword/spear at high speed clashing with the opposition that made it feel like these were really skilled gamers. This one doesn't have that, instead choosing to cover the strikes with far too many big flashes so you can't see anything.

The art itself carries less detail and, again, undermines the unique feeling that the first one gave off. The music has also lost the vibe of the first series. It is a shame that the original studio wasn't available to do this season.

I voted the first season a 9, but this one I have to only give a 7. It still has a good story and is enjoyable, but it just doesn't reach the highs of the first. It has become more generic than it was in the first season, which is a shame.