Juan Siliang

Bc its been weeks and the synopsis i submitted still hasn't been approved, i'll put it here:

In the universe, between heaven and earth, there are gods, immortals, and mortals, living in different time and space, each assuming different functions. Among them, the gods are in charge of the laws governing the world.

Siliang Island is a place of exile built by the gods to punish other gods and immortals who have committed terrible sins. Located at the junction of the Divine Realm and the Heavenly Realm, it is sealed off between both realms. After being exiled here, gods and immortals will ... experience birth, aging, sickness and death same as a mortal. Upon contact with the seawater around the island, they will burn up and vanish from existence.

Legend has it that every five hundred years, there will be a "Heavenly Redemption", gods, immortals and descendants of those trapped here can leave the island and return to the heavens as long as they pass the test. However, some gods and immortals do not have the patience for that.

One day, an immortal man by the name of Shang Zhen sets up a magic formation that involves the sacrifice of children, determined to break through the barrier and escape from Siliang Island. Causing an abrupt rise in the sea levels, flooding parts of the island and causing the lives of many. His wife, overwhelmed by guilt, dies by committing suicide via falling into the sea. The man tries to save his wife, but ends up failing and joining her in death. This leaves their child, Jing Xuan and adopted mortal daughter, Tu Li on the island.

After the incident, Jing Xuan and Tu Li got separated from each other. Jing Xuan goes undercover to figure out the truth behind the incident while protecting Tu Li from harm in the shadows. On one of his missions, he discovers that no one has ever been able to leave the island for millennia.

That begs the question,
"Is the heavenly redemption real?"
"How did a mortal girl even end up on an island for exiled gods and immortals?"

Source: translated from Baidu and also edited with my own understanding of the show.

My actual review:
The plot of the story was very intriguing. Not to mention the uniqueness of the world building. Characters are well written, each with their distinct characteristics. THE ANIMATIONS OH GOD YOU GUYS NEED TO GIVE THIS A TRY. LIKE I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN THE STORY, JUST WATCH LIKE LITERALLY 10 SECONDS OF IT AND YOU'LL SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS. HOLY THE ANIMATORS DID A VERY GOOD JOB AT THIS, SOMEONE GIVE THEM A RAISE. THE WATER ANIMATION LOOKS SO REALISTIC, THE INDIVIDUAL HAIR STRANDS, THE CLOTH MOVEMENTS, EVEN THE CLOSE UPS OF THEIR EYES AND LIPS. MY DAD THOUGHT THE OLD LADY IN THE SHOW WAS A REAL PERSON BECAUSE OF HOW REAL HER WRINKLES LOOKED.

I streamed it on discord with my friends 4 times in a day and they all loved it. They didn't get the storyline though since they need to read the subtitles and the animation was just too distracting for them to pay attention to the story. They just watched it for the animation. Luckily for me I understand Chinese so I can enjoy both sides of this masterpiece. *dies in smooth animation simp*

The island of Siliang Recap (minor spoilers)
Siliang island is a mythical land surrounded by vast never-ending seas; The inhabitants are stray gods that have been exiled by command of other gods in the heaven realm. On Siliang island, gods succumb to mortal fate by aging or falling ill to sickness while most of their cultivation have been suppressed or wiped completely. They have no way of leaving the island since they dissolve when submerged in sea water; They do however believe of heavenly redemption, an event that occurs every 500 years where representatives of the heaven realm will open a portal and descend on the ... island where exiled gods can return after passing trials.

Among the gods community are several families/factions that have come to a mutual agreement of ruling on the island. Each faction nominates an elder that takes part in diplomatic decisions and rule-enforcement on the island. 10 years prior to the story, the Shang family used a forbidden formation sacrificing children in order to return to the heavenly realm early; After a shred of guilt, Shang wife attempts to fall into the sea while the castor, Shang husband follows. After the unsuccessful attempt of saving the wife and completing the formation Siliang island was in panic as the formation caused rising in sea levels killing many immortals and gods. The Siliang residents assumed the Shang family had been wiped out but under the guise of a powerful elder, the Shang son waits for the moment to discover what truly happened that caused his parent's demise.

Story & Characters: 8/10
The first 4 episodes feel very empty and uneventful; Most of the details shared this early in the series made no sense and discerning the main character became a confusing task. However, after episode 4 the story begins to take shape and the characters introduced in the beginning start to connect with the story. The island of Siliang takes a mystery adventure approach to cultivation and wuxia elements; We are purposefully fed vague details of events and characters in the beginning to make assumptions and become more engage with the trivial knowledge of SIliang island. The story shows how when stripped of power, the gods think no different than humans by sabotaging each other, failing to recognize their weaknesses and living short lives. The story's antagonist is very confusing and doesn't develop until the end of the season but it allows us to visit every character in depth and familiarize their behavior.
I'm really enjoying this series, it has quite a few flaws but the characters are written so detailed - they each have their own struggles which is clearly displayed throughout the series. (Xu Daughter's struggle is arranged inheriting marriage, Xiang Yu/Ji struggle is his family's imprisonment, Tu Li's struggle is her father, Jing Xuan's struggle is his parents and attraction to Tu Li and so forth. In contrast to many mystery anime, this donghua definitely beats it in keeping me engaged most of the time especially with characters that have a lot of conflict with each other and have different connections/relations.

Art & Sound: 8/10 & 7/10
Since I really enjoyed the story and characters the art and animation was a bonus for me; The visuals were really detailed you could zoom in and see pores, wrinkles and even individual strands of hair movement. I enjoyed how highly detailed the male character designs were but I wished some of the young female characters didn't have the skin glow/blur because it kind of ruins the character details. The elder characters felt realistic even Xu grandma or grandpa Heng's facial design were very real. You can tell that in order to compensate for the detail, the series opted to go the keyframed route for character rigging. It does seem obvious by the way the characters have robotic movement and mouth movements; I really did find Tu Li's lip biting an interesting touch to her character design though.

The sound wasn't as extravagant for me as the art and animation but I can tell there was a lot of groundwork for voice actors in the island of Siliang. The ambient world sounds didn't feel as atmospheric as I'd hope but it wasn't as bad considering the visual worldbuilding and atmospheric encapsulation.

Overall & Enjoyment: 8/10 & 7/10
The story isn't for everyone; The main character is a female 60% of the time and the other 40% is a mix of characters including Jing Xuan son of Shang family patriarch. A lot of round about character development like Tu Li being deceived by Xiang Yu/Ji because she empathizes with 'mortals' despite having the strength of many immortals. I didn't enjoy Jing Xuan's tsundere phase in the show when he follows Tu Li because it just shows his hypocrisy to take responsibility. It does get somewhat progressed in the end but unintentionally. Overall, really interesting watch and least expected it to be a good donghua.

The first episode has an absurd amount of information to absorb and they don't tone it down. This show definitely takes patience to sit through. But each subsequent episode slowly breaks down all the confusing stuff in episode one, so you won't be completely overwhelmed.

The main female lead: Tu Li, is awesome. If this was a game, I definitely main her. She isn't weak, has an ambitious personality, and all around skilled. The male lead feels a bit of a Mary Sue, but this season barely reveals anything about him, so i will reserve my opinion.

I would say the elder dynamic is very ... interesting. It's a typical story writing to have rival families fight amongst each other in these Chinese anime, but it never gets old. I am definitely on team Elder Feng if you know what I mean!

The visuals are honestly stunning and I am pretty sure most people watched the series because of it. Everything is gorgeous and is probably what kept me going despite the confusing story. Man, why I can't I be as pretty as the people in this show?