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

This show is superb, SUPERB. I came into this watching season 2 straight after season 1. I was coming into this season on a MASSIVE high. Season one if one of the best anime have ever seen. Season 2 did a great job at maintaining my love for the show. The animation is very much aligned to my taste. I still think Demon Slayer is the greatest feet in TV Show animation. I say TV specifically because i haven't seen enough movies to make this claim for all anime forms. This show however is my favourite. ... It is absolutely gorgeous.

The animation is this season is just as good. Ill be honest, some of the set pieces are even better. Its getting silly now how good the animation is in this show. I wont say much more as I said enough in the first review. These comments still stand so here is what i wrote.

''The animation here unquestionably gorgeous. The fight sequences are incredibly well done with attention to detail rarely seen anywhere else. The watercolour landscapes are to die for and oozes the artists care and attention. Every single hit you feel and they hit HARD. I watched most of this show aghast at the magnificence i was witnessing. Coming back down to earth now....ill be honest, I'm a little biased. I'm a sucker for anything hand drawn and I love watercolour. So maybe the gushing above is a little over the top but i don't care. The character art is also phenomenal and every character looks amazing in both story progression and fighting. There are just so so many things to talk about in relation to the animation. Its beauty is mind blowingly stunning. The animation is simply fantastic and with this alone, the show is top tier for me. Easily a 10/10, I would give it more if I could. However, the animation is not the only area which carries such quality.''

One thing I do want to mention in addiction to the above is the final fight of this season is the best fight i have ever scene in terms of animation. If extraordinary.

Music wise, I don't feel like it hit the stratospheric heights of the first but nevertheless it of superb quality. The music and sound is in a similar vein to the first. It is string orientated and fits the show perfectly and is a nice change to the overused EDM music in the background of any action sequence. I gave season 1 10/10, i give this season 9/10

Story wise, we get more of it here. I feel like more effort was put into tell the story at the forefront rather than the action taking centre stage. We get some backstories and actual context to the show we didn't get in the first. Despite this providing more story than the first however, i don't think it did as good a job of telling it as the first. Again, the story is still great, but i feel the momentum this show carries loses its way a little in the more story driven parts. Its trying to expand the world and characters across 4 episodes and although it made a bloody good effort, i feel like it tried telling too much in the time allocated to tell it. The ending however is excellent and very exciting. The dip comes in ep 2 to 3 I feel. Therefore, i will be given the story of season 2 8/10

Make sure you stay watching post credits in episode 4.

This show is still outstanding. I feel its a much watch for fans of action orientated shows. If you are into pure works of art in the anime medium, this is also for you. It the most beautiful looking shows i have ever seen and has some of the best actions sequences one could ask for

This show is extremely slept on. Donghua isn't mainstream among anime fans, but it really should be.

The second season gave a lot of much-needed structure to the plot, world & story, which the first season was missing. Originally, the characters' motivations & purposes were kept ambiguous which made it difficult to follow along with the plot at times, but things are portrayed more cohesively & clearly within the second season. The world is also expanded, and we get more insight into what different factions stand for & how they interact with each other, which added depth and realism to the world.

Despite the focus clearly ... being the action, the writing is not too terrible (although it isn't anything special); I was so intrigued by the world & fight scenes that I didn't really care about plot holes or "convenient timings", but if those things bother you, you may think differently. It's not any more guilty of these flaws than the average mainstream shonen.
The incorporation of Chinese mythology is also intriguing and helps the show to feel a lot more unique & interesting in comparison to Japanese productions.

Although this show is relatively short with only 7 thirty-forty minute episodes (counting both seasons), the fight animation & choreography has to be within the top 3 most consistently amazing out of any show I've ever seen. There are few shows that can even compete with this level of consistency considering how action heavy it is. The use of different camera angles to showcase how force is meticulously traded between two characters, alongside the usage of different colours, animation styles & incredible martial art-inspired choreography is just insane.
The sound design is also solid and complements the stellar animation.
I'd also have to mention the stunning background art. You don't usually notice it in shows but it's just too beautiful not to mention, especially with the incorporation of traditional Chinese artwork.

I'm now fairly invested in the characters & plot, and am excited to see what future seasons bring. I would recommend watching the first & second season back-to-back, as they fit together & complement each other very well.

Critically, I'd give the season 7.5/10
Personally, I'd give it 8.5/10

Wu Shan Wu Xing: Xichuan Huan Zi Lin does a good job of wrapping up the loose ends of the episodes 4,5 and 6, which brings this story together in the 7th episode, leaving the audience fulfilled with this 2-hour ride, and giving us some nice cliffhangers to lead us into the final chapter(s). With a passionate push to polish this into a beautiful gem in the end, I believe we will be in for a hell of a ride the next time we get reintroduced to Fog Hill. This season does have some problems, like a juggling act with its story, but ... again, the final episode did the rest of the season justice, so I can't be too hard on the criticism. Ultimately, the animation carries the anime, and does so beautifully in episode 7. That is why I watch Fog Hill, and so, I am happy with its presentation.

Animation 10/10
- It's different, but the settings, and vibrant color palette drive the tone of the anime.
Sound 8/10
- Great sound effects, setting sfx as well, and a cool ED (Chinese metal?), however, the voice acting is very similar, I personally find it hard to distinguish character from character.
Story 6/10
- It is a basic premise, with many sub plots, which is fine, but it is a bit much to fit in a small 2-hour season.
Characters 7/10
- For the number of characters in this season, they actually did a pretty good job fleshing out the main cast and making new characters relevant.
Enjoyment 8/10
- Episodes 4,5 and 6 were okay, but episode 7 really elevated this season.

I'd wait to watch Fog Hill of the Five Elements until it is completed. It's been 3 years since I watched season 1, so I didn't remember everything from then. I would generally recommend it to everyone though, because the animation and setting is worth it at the very least.

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.