Tunshi Xingkong

Swallowed Star Review

Overview
Swallowed Star is a Chinese Donghua set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian metropolis where the outside world has crumbled as a result of the RR virus, capable of mutating the organisms on earth into man eating beasts. These beasts have a hierarchal system where each species has a King, General, Captains, Majors etc. and as the ranks increase the intelligence increases which is why humanity is forced into shelters. These beasts are scheming and territorial so humanity's plan of action was a modified superhuman army of Warriors and Spirit Masters.

Story
Luo Feng, a high school student with passion and strength always wanting to be a ... warrior but couldn't due to financial struggles proves himself worthy of taking the warrior-to-be test and finds his true talent. As his current enemies get eliminated thanks to his Martial Hall and eventually his overwhelming strength, he attracts big enemies of the major families after murdering a young master an God of Wars Luo Feng slips into big trouble. He is forced to reveal his hidden talent and is exposed to the major family of this young master and becomes a target as his home is raided by a cunning Dragon King.

The apocalyptic and mysterious nature of this science fiction donghua is what compelled me to write a review. A good overpowered main character that has a fairly powerful narrative is much better especially a chinese creation that isn't exactly wuxia or xianxia based literature. It has a fair amount of love interest and suspenseful fighting scenes, the series is a bit predictable after the Young Master and God of Wars were slaughtered by Luo Feng but the outcome was still satisfying.

Character
Luo Feng is a strategic, strong, diligent, finessing character with hidden talent which beats many OPMC series that rely on pure strength. Seeing him acknowledged as a genius in his exam and within his initial Squad was very satisfying as he developed because they didn't shrug it off as luck. I was surprised with the lack of filler content in this series despite being 26 episodes long, the first quarter is more or less character development and introducing the childhood antagonist. But as the story progresses, Luo Feng encounters many betrayals and even kills a few people himself to save himself, he also steals eggs from powerful dragons to make bank. His reputation in the training camp arc grew which was badass, good execution but was very short-lived.

Art & Sound
As a CGI animation, the quality is very detailed and character rigging is almost human-like. The beasts however, are a hit-or-miss for animation; sometimes they hit buildings and their character phases through or their character rigging is 'bony'. Nonetheless, when it comes to the big beasts like the dragon or the big monster from the beginning episode, it looks detailed and intimidating.

Sound design is pretty decent, nothing particular to say since it wasn't as memorable even soundtracks didn't really stick with me in key moments.

Overall
Sadly, this series isn't spam released like some wuxia Donghuas otherwise it would have been more popular even in the eastern world. Still highly recommended overpowered main character series.

This show is incredible! I couldn't help comparing it with Douluo Dalu as I first found out about this show from the promo at the end of one of Douluo Dalu's episodes. The way the stories are presented are both similar. It's a cultivation story set in a dystopian sci-fi setting, not something I thought I would like initially, but I love it!

The story is engaging from the very beginning and Luo Feng is such a compelling hero. Sometimes I question his choices and he seems to lack some forethought and cautiouness when it comes to making decisions, and this lack of foresight sometimes makes ... Luo Feng seem a little immature, however, he never fails to impress!

One thing I will say about the story is that it moves very fast espcially in season 1. I don't have any background knowledge of the novel, but I know it's quite extensive. They don't really have a lot of time to let events unfold slowly so it moves very fast, but I found that also kept me engaged as I was never bored.

The characters are wonderful, though I felt like Luo Feng's relationships could do with some further development. He meets a lot of people, friends, colleagues and teachers but because of the speed of his advancement he never 'sticks around' for very long before moving onto the next group of people. Hopefully they'll have more time to develop his relationships in season 2 as there are double the number of episodes!

If you're a fan of Douluo Dalu definately give this show a watch you won't regret it!

Swallowed star is the adaption of the chinese webnovel Swallowed star by I eat Tomatoes. I'm just going to start by saying that I have read the entire webnovel and I've restarted it very recently, so I'm a bit biased.

Swallowed star WN is an excellent story, at least in the beginning. I enjoyed the first ~200 chapters immensely, and it's really different from the average xianxia since it's in a sci-fi setting.
As of episode 8, the anime has managed to adapt the characters and monsters quite well. The art is pretty good and the sound is good as well.

But my main problem is that I've ... read the webnovel. Unfortunately, they have decided to keep most of the events that happen in the novel, but completely changing the way they happen. I don't think it's a good thing but I could have accepted it if the way they did it made sense, which isn't the case.
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Spoilers from episode 8 :
Xu xin is in danger outside the city without any protection. Luo Feng and his squad goes to rescue her. Except that Xu xin comes from a really important family and is a direct descendant, so how the f*** would she be outside without protection. Not mentioning the fact that she is a university student so how is she outside to begin with. Also, the main job of warriors is to hunt monsters when they go outside, so they don't usually wait for a mission.
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Anyway, so far I would say the anime is great. Too bad I have to take 2 points because of the nonsense modifications, 8/10.

Edit after finishing: Unfortunately my impressions after episode 8 were right. It's better to consider this story as completely different from the novel. Most events and characters are the same but the way they happen is way different, and sometimes don't make sense at all. It's really sad because it would have been way better if they just decided to stick with the story.
Overall I would say it's a 8 only if you haven't read the novel, because it's still pretty good. If you did and you remember it, it's closer to a 6 and I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

This show is amazing! . This is a cultivation story set in a dystopian sci-fi, not something I originally thought I would like, but I did!

The story is engaging from the start and Luo Feng is a very interesting hero. Sometimes I question his choices and he seems to lack forethought and caution when it comes to making decisions, and this lack of foresight sometimes makes Luo Feng seem a little immature, however, he never fails to impress!

One thing I will say about the story is that it moves really well. I have no background knowledge of the novel, but I know it is quite ... extensive. They don't really have a lot of time to let the show unfold slowly so it moves really quickly, but I find it also keeps me busy as I never get bored.

The character is excellent, although I feel that Luo Feng's relationship can develop further. He met many people, friends, colleagues, and teachers, but because of the speed of his progress, he never 'sticked' for too long before moving on to the next group of people. Hopefully they will have more time to develop their relationship in the next season.

I'm waiting for the next story.