Changye Kaita Zhe

"Zhangye Kaituozhe" translates literally to something like "Expansion by the Pioneer". The title advertises a show in which our main character, Duke Galway, founds and expands his realm. But this is better described as the best tabletop RPG anime ever made. The whole story feels like it was lifted out of a good D&D-like campaign, with some political power grabbing, some creative abuse of the magic system, some combat, and no murderhoboing.

We follow a party, led by a Warrior, usually accompanied by his trusty Rogue companion and a rotating cast consisting of two Wizards, a Paladin, Druid and more, depending on who could show up ... for D&D night. The group is trying to make a place for themselves in the world, and are often confronted by a political plot or malicious villain who they have to figure out and confront. Even as the party acquires a settlement and underlings, they still prefer to solve most problems personally, because this is after all a D&D campaign. The Dungeon Master is benevolent but prefers to keep the story rooted in politics and mystery solving, so the party members are never given overwhelming personal power and always struggle a bit in direct combat. The story can at times be slow to advance and it can even feel episodic.

The production quality is good. The 3D animation in particular is very detailed and far above what I've come to expect from Chinese 3D showings.