Xun Jian

This apparently has a novel, but I have no intention of reading it (for now at least), so I won't be speaking to how this donghua does as an adaptation.

This donghua is something I classify as a "trash tier" donghua. I don't mean this is bad or trash, it is a classification that I assign for donghua that have short episodes (content usually ~5 mins of actual animation after cutting OP, ED and PV), and are clearly very low budget. This donghua has slightly longer episodes than the 5 min ones but not by much and it's really too short. It's watching experience is made ... even worse by the fact that it is seasonal and has 12 episodes in this season. Hopefully it will be better in the future, but for now, there isn't even much to watch. If you did a straight watch without skipping the OP, ED, etc, you would probably spend the same amount of time watching those as the actual content.

When it comes to the plot of Xun Jian, it feels very generic, and has poor execution (I won't fault it for being generic though). OP/gifted MC, has a romantic interest, arrogant young masters, some master villain plot. There isn't really anything about it that stands out. Now if you consider the short scenes and very disconnected nature of the plot building, it gets really confusing. Scenes jump from place to place and character to character making it feel disjointed. There are way too many characters to pay attention to for the runtime of the episodes.

The character models for this donghua are alright, they seem to be very generic, almost like stock donghua characters. They are not unique in any way, probably given the low budget, but are still acceptable. The animation quality, however, is very low. The beasts/animals feel run/move like PS2 or PS1 era games (the lion reminded me of Red XII from the original Final Fantasy 7 game). The action scenes are slow and even the more intense ones don't really have any impact; there aren't any "collisions" that feel like they have substance behind them. The characters themselves fall very flat. Like I mentioned earlier, because of the multitude of characters, they get give little screen time to all of them, making them lack development. Instead, attitudes can flip flop easily (like with the "FMC"). The only one that feels like it makes sense is the little sister, who is probably still relatively young and felt like the MC was a hero after being saved by him. The others, like the FMC, feels dismissive/hostile to the MC and agreed to the marriage because it was a convienent way to avoid proposals from others but acts a bit "tsun" later to him? There are also characters that just kind of show up and then get killed, ones that look like they could be interesting. Then there are the fights and power levels; early on the FMC couldn't beat that arrogant young master, but later she can beat that person's father? The MC seems to struggle in the final fight against the female antagonist, but somehow takes out a skill that restrains her so that he wins without any indication or buildup leading up to that? None of these make sense at all.

I usually don't comment too much on sound quality or voice acting, but in this donghua, I have to do so. Some of the "screaming" drags on too long and there is no inflection or anything. Much of the delivery is also flat, making it feel emotionless. It just feels off from whatever they are trying to portray.

This donghua, is barely passable as a watch, at least this adapatation of it. The episodes and season are too short to actually have any meaningful development of plot or characters. They try to cram too much into this short run-time so it feels like nothing much is gained even from watching it. You can get a vague outline of the plot but it's just a skeleton. There's so little that I couldn't even get attached to the plot or any of the characters, which these types of stories revolve around. Since this donghua is an adaptation, I hope the actualy novel (source) is better at explaining/expanding on plot, characters, motivations, setting, etc. For now, this donghua is not really worth watching. Perhaps that might change in the future when there are more episodes (because greater plot/buildup), but right now it is not.

Xun Jian follows the story of the main protagonist, Xiao Ling, who has been arranged to marry the beautiful Yunjing of the Jiang Family. The overall plot is Xiao Ling is ordered by his master to find ten legendary swords to save the world but there's no progress within the first six episodes which leaves me to believe this will be an extremely long running adaptation that fails to progress at a respectable pace.

Although the story may seem original and promising, it consisted of nothing but cliché tropes from other xianxia/xuanhuan titles.

1. Xiao Ling is actually a master who has hidden his true cultivation deeply ... which is the case in most cultivation donghua

2. Xiao Ling is looked down as trash by his in-laws and the antagonists of the story which, again, is like every other cultivation donghua

3. The proof of marriage is by matching the two parts of a ying yang necklace which is similar to The Legend of the Sword Domain's proof of familial ties

4. Xiao Ling has a evil sword spirit/demon heart as a companion which will likely be used to lazily give away plot/worldbuilding details that he otherwise could never know (SUPER LAZY WRITING!!!!) and who also wants to take over the host which is used from dongua like Wan Yu Feng Shen and Peerless Martial Spirit

5. Young Master Shen of the Shen Family is another arrogant, spoiled child who plays the role as the first anatagonist. He does whatever he wants because his family is the strongest in town (ughh). Every cultivation donghua in existence.

6. There's a hot, beautiful woman who uses her sexiness to take over power in the town and manipulate people freely which is another super common trope.

Honestly, there's probably many more stolen ideas but the complete lack of originality is forcing me to drop this earlier than I usually do. If these overused tropes are okay for you, go ahead and give it a watch but if you're looking for something new and original, pass on this one.