Guan Hai Ce

There is a large war brewing up involving two large kingdoms in Ancient China. The Kingdom of Ji lies south of the Kingdom of Qu Tu separated by large cliffs; the only way for Qu Tu to invade the Kingdom of Ji is through a cliff passage which is the last frontier of the Ji Kingdom. Having lost its King and a lot of its troops to a trap laid out by a Great General of Qu Tu, General Mu and his army have been holding off attacks from Qu Tu. Ji governed cities bordering the Qu Tu are in a state of panic as ... food supplies become scarce, the late Lord of Mu City's sons have a power struggle and crimes are performed in broad day light.

Strategies of Sea Observation follows Ji Kuang of the Agriculturist Sect and former Taoist Sect Red Warrior elder Master Ling. Ji Kuang is on a mission to deliver food supplies to a military fort in charge of defending North of the Ji River and happens to meet his vagabond former elder Master Ling on the way. The 3rd faction in Strategies of Sea Observation are the Qi, a small state founded by the evil serpent tribe of Feiyi who practice sorcery. The duo intercept the royal son after preying on women which sparks the attention of the father, the King of Qi to mobilize his army to defeat Ji Kuang and Master Ling as well as seize the Ji governed Fort to the North of Ji River. Things aren't as simple for the King of Qi as he underestimates the powers of Ji Kuang and Master Ling.

Story: 6/10
The first season felt like a perpetual series of back and forth fighting between the Ji forces from the fort and the Qi forces. It begins with constant wins on the Ji side thanks to the fast behind-the-scenes planning of Ji Kuang and Master Ling but half way through the series the Ji side experiences some losses and it spirals out of control between the Ji and Qi. Strategies of Sea Observation Season 1 felt like a dragged out version of Kingdom; it had some interesting war machines and strategies but most of the time the enemies get caught and released unscathed setting that perpetual back and forth fighting until episode 16. It would have been more interesting to focus on the real opponents the narrator keeps mentioning at least once in Season 1 (Ji kingdom vs Qu Tu kingdom) Apart from that, it had some good entertaining aspects like the crossbow Ji Kuang uses or the boat decoy Master Ling used toward the end.

Art & Sound: 7/10
For a series 3+ years old, it has some really good CGI art and animation. It beats a lot of series released in 2020 and 2021 which is kind of sad. The studio has only made Strategies of Sea Observation Season 1 and Season 2 which is tough. I can only speculate that this production was a one-off high budget adaptation of the novel so we can't expect any good visuals from the studio.

The sound was pretty good, a lot of battle SFX and eery music which suits the theme of the series. The VA sounds similar to many other Chinese donghua maybe voiced by the same people, nonetheless good job on the sound.

Character: 7/10
I'm conflicted whether it was a good idea for this series to have 2 main characters. The main characters are in a senior/junior comradery relationship which is a surprise since literally every series with 2 male MCs are borderline yaoi especially Chinese donghuas (Scumbag System, Mo Dao Zu Shi etc) Except in this series, it explores 2 people on the opposite end of the spectrum, a determined and respectful Ji Kuang and a lustful and cunning Master Ling. The character conflict with the Ji fort troops and the male MCs are funny sometimes like the arrow scene with Ji Kuang and one of the commanding officers boasting (Episode 5 16:15) The only thing I think this series really lacks is the enemies; Throughout the series the MCs are battling against a Qi King sorcerer who is at deaths door, 2 high ranking commanders who have muscle brains and a seductive simpleminded female sorcerer instead of the rumored talented Qu Tu commanders and armies. It seems like a waste of character establishment to mention the Qu Tu right in the beginning because it's deceiving since Season 1s enemies aren't Qu Tu.

Enjoyment & Overall: 7/10
This was a lot easier to watch than some cultivation donghua since it didn't follow the same boring tropes generic Chinese wuxia novels/manhua follow using Tournaments, Auctions, Cultivation academies, noble family vs. useless branch family etc. It also had some sense of plot and character progression. The story didn't throw as much random backstory at us. Overall, good watch.