Wu Shan Wu Xing: Xichuan Huan Zi Lin

One of the most unique, action packed, fantasy donghua that I have enjoyed... and I avoid donghuas
Ever since the first Fog Hill kept being pushed on my timeline I just wanted to watch it for the fights and skipping the lore and dialogue because most common donghuas overcomplicate their lores especially on things referencing chinese myths or fables. This sequel improves upon the first season and more, each episode with an interesting story and action sequences that makes sense and looked like a high budget shonen's climax fight per ep.

dunno what to say other than I'm excited for the next season/sequel

The folks watching Fog Hill are honestly brain-dead; that said, this season wasn't too shabby. There's another review out there with mixed feelings, and folks blasted the guy with 24 perplexed emojis. It's honestly hilarious because the ones claiming this is a masterpiece are delusional.

The initial season was action-packed and genuinely intriguing. However, its major flaw was the story's scale. In just 3 episodes, they crammed so much lore alongside the fights and everything else. The second season was more about exposition than some full 12-episode seasons of other shows. To truly build up these three seasons, they should have at least 24 episodes. If ... folks are evaluating shows solely based on animation, well, this is probably the anime GOAT. But if we're trying to be objective and unbiased beyond the flashy action scenes, then we can provide a fair assessment.

The fights were insane, especially in the last episode; things got lit. I wasn't invested in the story for the first 3 episodes of season 2, but that episode managed to grab my attention. The person who reviewed this and gave it a 9 is out of their mind. It's honestly amusing(in a bad way) how many plot holes we encountered; it's as if the director is trying to mimic Link Click with how that show unfolded, dishing out tons of plot while keeping us in the dark about most of the major plot points. I get that the first season had a minuscule animation team of only 9 people, and in terms of production, it was astounding. The final fight was phenomenal. What I'm critiquing is the story and plot, nothing more, nothing less. Having said that, I'm looking forward to how everything wraps up in the last season.

The second season improves on what the first was good at. The visuals are more consistent, as no longer some elements look like they don’t match well with others in some scenes, and the animation during non-action sequences has improved.

The big improvement of this season was the sound effects which were mediocre in the previous one, and are now good. The music and the voice acting retain the same level or at a bit better, since now more demons appeared and they all have cool and differently sounding and well mixed and edited voices. A big change I noticed where the opening and ending, as ... the ones from the first season where quite inferior and more relaxed, and the ones from this one are slow but powerful rock ballads with traditional Chinese music vibes, very appropriate.

The fights didn’t have the same spectacular level of destruction of the ones we’ve seen so far, but had a bit better choreography since the newer characters added a bit more to their fighting styles and techniques than just an element and martial arts. The guardians use the environment far more than the protagonist, and in general the fights are no longer one against one and involve more teamwork and a bit more of strategy.

The downside has to do with the plot, since despite the first season ending with what seemed to be the setup for a big conflict, there was veeeeery liiiiittle progression from the point it left off, and the big expectations led to…nothing special, just a setup for the next and final season, as things just keep moving slowly.
There is even a problem with the writing which is the demons being unguarded. They are sealed alright, but letting them without someone watching them is plain dumb, that’s how one of them escaped in the first place. Also, characters bump into each other casually or appear out of nowhere for a fight or to save someone at the right time.

At least this season bothered to show a little more of how its world works, and gave the protagonist a backdrop story, an objective, and a strong connection with another character. By the end of the previous one, every secondary character had something they wanted to achieve, but he had nothing, he was just a badass plot device, so this season turned him into a bit of an actual character. With that said his background was shown weirdly, in the middle of a fight, as the demon itself pointed it out. Another cool aspect is how there seem to be shortcomings for using his power, as it affects his body and energy and makes the fights harder for him, and he even needs the help of others.

As a whole, if all you want is action and cool visuals, this mini franchise still keeps being a blast, but plot and characters are still very basic, mostly absent, and barely progressed much, in a far longer season, so I still can’t openly recommend it, but it is ok enough to kill some time.