Zi Chuan

Two hundred years ago, on the Battlefield of the Blue River, the last remaining army of the Empire of Light collapsed in the midst of demonic outcries. As the last Field Marshal and Emperor fell, the chaotic world of the Western River no longer had a common ruler. Factions were formed and endless conflicts ensued, military might became the only currency of survival, and the dream to reunite the lands became the sole goal of many rulers in the generations that came after.

In the south-eastern part of the land, a powerful faction with over two hundred years of history – House Zichuan – fought off the Demons to the east, defended against the House Liufeng to the west, and contained the House Lin to the south. In order to accomplish their great ambitions and extend the bloodline of their family, countless heroes of Zichuan gave their lives in order to make this magnificent hymn come to life. This is a story about this legendary family and a hundred years of their blood and tears.

(Source: AniList)

Staff

Reviews

Oct 9, 2022

GPDonghua

Recommended

Before I start my review, I want to point out that even though this donghua is tagged as action and fantasy, the fantasy elements stop only at the fact that demons and demi-humans exist (with some wuxia/martial art elements mixed in), and the action is good but not a focus. So if you are here purely to see action or heavy fantasy elements, this is not for you.

Now onto the review: This review will have some spoilers to this and will evaluate this work as an adaptation of its source material (novel). I will give it an adaptation score based on how closely it follows ... the novel and a score on how well it tells a story through the medium of donghua.

The story of Zichuan follows the life of 3 brothers, Di Lin, Sterling, and Zichuan Xiu (Zichuan Xiu being the main MC of the story), as they fight for the country. The first 1/3 of the story focuses on the attempted coup and its suppression with the help of the three brothers. Because of their philosophies and actions, they are rewarded differently, with 2 rising in power and Zichuan Xiu being "punished". The remainder of the covers the wars/battles that are the fallout caused by the attempted coup.

The donghua does a good job with its exposition, so that new viewers can get a good general understanding of the plot. However, it is very difficult to understand many of the intricacies and finer details because it is too difficult to show in animated format. This donghua, in my opinion, is so much more enjoyable if you have read the novel. Another criticism of this donghua is that there seems to be misplaced humor and its somewhat disjointed (tangental) stories. This is because some attempt has been made to include the signature comedy that the novel that made it popular, and introduce characters that are important and relevant in future seasons (but not so currently). This results in some awkward moments and can cause confusion. Last but not least, I recommend reading the "side story" review and watching the "side stories" since they are important, but not required to enjoy this fully.

As an adaptation, I think this donghua does a good job. There have been quite a few changes, but the overall story is the same. Unfortunately, the story/plot is too pack, complex, and detailed for it the studio to cram it into 42 episodes, so some sacrifices had to be made. There are also changes to introduce more characters, like Liufeng Shuang who is not that important in this season but is very important later in the story, or to give more importance to others, like Zichuang Ning (a side character whose existence many of the MC's decisions revolve around). The comedic side of the novel has also been simplified and cut, since most of it was immersion-breaking. Overall, despite the changes, I think this adaptation did a good job in telling the story to new viewers (those who have never read the novel before), though there are many details that can be understood only if you've read the novel. Having read the novel will definitely boost enjoyment.
Adaptation score (how faithful to source): 7/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 21, 2022

erhangundogan

Recommended

Preliminary (29/42 eps)

Zi Chuan (Purple river) one of the best 3D donghua I have ever watched. It deserves better score to be honest. 3D, art and sound there is no other anime like this.

Story is war between different races. It's kinda typical and might be boring after some episodes for some people. But I enjoyed variety of stories in between war scenes. Such as doing business with tradesman in frontlines, pact with Orcs, get in touch with Dwarves, there are some good stories apart from war.

Art is no doubt well prepared and well presented, It's rendered beautifully in 3D. I enjoyed every little detail of 3D ... rendering. Studio put so much work into this anime, it's rendering and post-production. I don't think that 2D animes can compete with such an artwork.

Sound and music is so good that I always watch and listen opening and closing scenes and it gives me goosebumps.

Characters are well thought and there are variety of different characters. Especially main character with his wisdom and power he is charming. There are other officers, coup people, rebels, enemies from demon race, orcs, etc. There are plenty of side characters take place. It's not boring from characters perspective.

After all Zi Chuan is awesome anime/donghua. For me it's one of the top-notch 3D anime ever made. I would like thank you everyone who participated in the production and please keep up your good work.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 28, 2024

ST63LTH

Mixed Feelings

Zi Chuan takes place in a fantasy setting where the Empires of Humanity and Demons are in constant conflict over resources and territory. Zi Chuan Xiu, the adopted second brother of the Zi Chuan family, one of the three major families in the Empire begins his journey proving himself by committing great war deeds and increasing his reputation in the Empire's army. Along with Xiu, first brother Zi Chuan Dilin and third brother Zi Chuan Sterling lead factions within the Empire to help turn the tide of the ongoing war on the Empire's Far East border town Pai City. How will the demon factions respond ... to their mobilization and what ulterior motives lie in wait for the three brothers?

Story & Character: 6/10
I want to like this series in terms of its narrative accomplishments but it's so hard. Zi Chuan starts off as a faction battle between the young leaders to see who can achieve the most contributions to the war efforts and this was met with an enjoyable series of arcs that featured incredible world building elements, new characters with wild personalities and even some potential love interests. However, as the story progresses along with the war we are greeted with slow paced arcs with political talks that lead to absolutely no action whatsoever. In the end, the story gives us a brute-forced conclusion to the series with incomprehensible character decisions and even more unexplained plot logic. The story strays away from team-building and war strategies and instead aims for a dull plot focus on constant betrayal, corruption and fabricated court trials (inevitably leading to dead-ends)

Character development was the better of the two in terms of consistency and depth. At first it is confusing to discern who the main character of the show is because we follow through the footsteps of the three Zi Chuan brothers and their individual perspectives. However, it becomes clear that Zi Chuan Xiu is the real protagonist among the three main characters. Beyond that, Dilin and Sterling don't lack in terms of depth; They try to solve their own personal issues just like Xiu. The characters surrounding the brothers lack in terms of depth but many aren't discarded in superficial plot events or involved in meaningless internal quarrels especially characters that Xiu has picked for his squad. There are some side characters that really lack in impact to the story like Princess Kardan or old President Zi Chuan where they are used for dialogue, shock factor or in a complex romantic subplot. I did enjoy the antagonist character's factions but they felt intentionally inferior in terms of combat tactics and decisive formations despite their species being on par with the Empire's technology; For a group of species that caused trouble for humanity over hundreds of years you'd expect the Demon army/God's race characters to have a cunning and calculative set of leaders no?

Art & Sound: 6/10
The art is of higher quality in comparison to the CGI series released in its period and that makes this viewing experience a lot better. However, there are times where shots feel very cheap and it tends to be scenes with high population density - This makes the background textures look low-poly and budget. The fight scenes also felt too wide angle in some scenes making the battles less immersive. The character designs were very detailed; I liked Princess Kardan, Ka'dun Emperor and Zi Chuan Sterling's character designs both because of their detailed faces and detailed character clothing.

Sound is passable, there weren't anything out of the ordinary. The background music in many of the battle scenes were suitable to the mood. Especially the Pai City defense, the background music choice and timing were perfect for the mood. Voice acting is good quality, there were some characters that sounded the same in tone and talking speed so it was hard to discern between them - Mainly the Empire officials VA. Sound effects were good, nothing too bad.

Overall & Enjoyment: 5/10
I really enjoyed the earlier arcs of this series with the team-building and team bonding but the story led all the progress astray in order to focus on the three brothers and their factions overall. I did enjoy the funny scenes with Zi Chuan Xiu being a menace to his troops and the Demon factions. Overall, it was a little hard to watch the latter half than the former half but it was because of the slow pace and unnecessary characters.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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