Xian Wang de Richang Shenghuo 4

The Daily Life of the Immortal King — Second Rewatch (English Dub)


Season One
The opening and ending soundtracks of season one immersed me in a state of euphoria—not solely due to nostalgia, but because of the sheer auditory splendor they delivered. Upon this rewatch, I found myself newly attuned to the series’ vivid and intricately crafted animation, which I had previously underestimated. While I initially preferred Wang Ling’s aloof demeanor, his evolution as a character was executed effectively. The climactic moment in episode fourteen, where Wang Ling descends into a frenzy, continues to evoke chills and a flood of dopamine. Accompanied by the transcendent track "仙," ... this sequence remains, in my view, one of the most sublime moments in animated storytelling.

Season Two
The opening theme for season two retained a high standard of musical excellence. However, I was disappointed by the abbreviated length of the season—a pattern that regrettably continued in subsequent installments. Episode ten stood out with its clever, meta-humorous depiction of the production studio’s inner workings, adding an unexpected yet delightful layer of self-awareness. Additionally, the introduction of brief 3D animation styles in episode eleven brought visual variety and artistic innovation. While comparisons are often made between aura-intensive characters like Gojo or Sung Jin-Woo, Wang Ling far surpasses them in scale alone. The duel between Wang Ling and the Demon King was elevated by its spectacular soundtrack and fluid animation. Ultimately, the final two episodes compensated for the relatively subdued narrative pace when compared to season one.

Season Three
Episode ten left a negative impression due to its use of static, Otome-style slideshow visuals, which disrupted immersion. However, Froggy’s character arc offered a redeeming highlight; his growth and antics this season solidified his status as one of my favorite characters. Despite this strength, the season as a whole felt significantly more lackluster and underwhelming compared to the vibrant narrative and emotional stakes of its predecessors.

Season Four
Episode one’s reliance on repeated flashbacks was immediately conspicuous, especially given the lack of such narrative devices in earlier seasons. I found the season’s concluding plot twist—Wang Ling’s mother’s pregnancy—unpalatable. Regardless of how the writers intend to integrate this development, I anticipate it will introduce an awkward and cringy overall dynamic into the story.

My Take Aways
1. Jiang Liuying is one of the most formidable antagonists presented thus far. My rationale stems from her resilience—withstanding multiple strikes from an enraged Wang Ling even without his seal engaged—and her ability to counterattack effectively, displacing him several times. While I do not contend she surpasses the Demon King, she unquestionably ranks among the top eight most powerful characters unveiled in the series to date.

2. The series director adeptly orchestrates a progressive evolution of the power system each season, introducing distinct thematic elements: season one established the foundational mechanics, season two focused on sword-based enhancements, season three emphasized magical creatures and enchanted artifacts, while season four further expanded on mystical implements and techniques.

3. I find the consistent reduction in episode count and runtime after season one disappointing. Whereas the inaugural season comprised fifteen episodes of approximately twenty-two minutes each, subsequent seasons were limited to twelve episodes around eighteen minutes long. This contraction correlates strongly with a notable decline in overall episode quality.

4. Seasons one and two represent the zenith of the series’ creative and immersive qualities. Conversely, seasons three and four exhibit diminished narrative engagement and a lack of the exceptional soundtracks that characterized the earlier arcs.

Overall Rating: 9.3575/10
Overall Plot: 8.3/10
Pacing: 10/10
Plot Twist: N/A
Plot Progression: 10/10
Plot Consistency: 10/10
Depth Perception: 10/10
World Building: 9/10
Main Character: 9.2/10
Side Characters: 8.8/10
Protagonists: 8.7/10
Antagonists: 9.2/10
Character Designs: 8.8/10
Character Development: 9/10
Notable Characters: 10/10
Animation: 8.9/10
Enjoyment/Entertainment Factor: 11.2/10
Main Character’s Morals/Ideals: 8.9/10
Backstories: 9/10
Outline Ideas: 10/10
Concepts: 10/10
Cringiness: 2.5/10
Voice Actors: 8.2/10
Art Style: 8.6/10
Music: 20/10 (Heavily Biased)
World Design: 9.8/10
Conclusion: N/A
Lore: N/A
Complexity/Depth: 8.2/10
Moral Obligation: 10/10
Power System: 9.6/10
Abilities: 9.5/10
Season One Overall Rating: 11.21/10
Season Two Overall Rating: 9.8/10
Season Three Overall Rating: 9/10
Season Four Overall Rating: 9.2/10

If you liked the previous seasons you're likely going to enjoy this one. It's basically the same, which is both good and bad. Good because it retains the aspects of it that I like, but bad because it is starting to become stale. The action scenes are better this season in my opinion, being what I would categorize as good, but not great. The indivdual frames still struggle however, but perhaps ever so slightly less than last season. Main issues are use of rigid cg in scenes that last too long for it to go unnoticed, zooming on a single image rather than redrawing the ... frame which can make the resolution drop, and some of the effects are low resolution as well, detracting from otherwise decent action scenes. The characters are still entertaining, but growing stale, and no character development is to be found, still fine though. Story is fine as well, but again growing stale quickly. Pacing was still pretty good, not over staying it's welcome and keeping me engaged. Probably helps that the episodes are only 14-15 minutes long after you get through the intro, op, and ed. Voice acting is the same. Fine, but in no way inspiring. The soundtrack however it worse in my opinion. Mostly because it's the same tracks from season 1, and it's starting to become maddening. The op and ed are also underwhelming compared to previous seasons which were great. Overall, growing stale, but still enjoyable. I'd like to see it move in some direction, switch it up challenging the characters in some new way. 6.20/10 dubbed

TLDR: I tend to be quite harsh with Donghua; they often try to minimize production costs and have much shorter episode lengths, resulting in smaller, less developed stories being told per episode. Japan has a much more robust animation industry and history, so some may consider it unfair, but Tencent and Billibilli tend to be behind many of the most popular works, a company worth billions of dollars. Daily Life of the Immortal Demon King often subverts this trend with decent production, sure not One Punch Man levels, but much higher than 95% of Donghua, especially when many solely use trashy PS2-level CGI. However, this ... season, it feels lost; the characters need further development, and the comedy has gotten stagnant, yet not unfunny. With the current direction, we've explored each episode's concept to some degree, even if it doesn't align with an earlier episode. The characters must undergo personal growth, and a proper challenge to the MC is needed, not a comedy gag. The series has had great action moments in the past, and this is exactly what is missing from this season so far. Nobody cares about the irrelevant three in the cast of the four characters around the MC besides the love interest. However, she hasn't had many further developments with the MC. In this Donghua, you can feel 100% confident knowing none of the main cast will die; this series puts comedy above all else, even story development that would make the viewers more invested/moved. Many anime also have this issue, but they tend to be shitty anyways; it is fair to compare this series to great anime as it had and maybe still has the potential to rival them in quality; at the current rate, this series will not, though...

While this season is not bad, and we are only five episodes in, much needs to be improved for me to recommend this series to the average anime fan. If you enjoy Donghua, you probably will end up liking it anyway. But if China wants to be competitive with anime, Donghua like these will not give enough soft power for Donghua even to be picked up by many anime fans. I'm still going to keep watching, but considering the past three seasons have ended with ratings of 7-8/10 for me, this is the worst season at a preliminary 6.