Shixiong A Shixiong

This donghua is an adaptation of a novel (source); since I have read both the novel and am watching the donghua, I will review this work as both an independant work and as an adaptation.

Plot Summary: Li Changshou (our MC) is a cultivator who is 10000% risk adverse. Because of this, he does everything he can to avoid being the center of attention. However, because of his master's coming tribulation to become an immortal, he is forced to go search for a rare medicinical herb to try to help his master pass the tribulation. Druing this trip, he ends up catching the attention of some ... elders, leading them to try to help him make a name for himself (which he does not want). This story is about all the butterfly effect events that happened because he broke his personal covenent to not stand out in anyway.

This is the newest released donghua that I have watched, and you can see the quality and time put into it. The animations, character models, fights, effects, everything feels perfect and state of the art. All the choreography is smooth and nothing feels misplaced. To date, this is the best donghua graphically that I have watched (also watched closest to the release date so there is that).

The plot is clean an smooth. The transitions for time skips seems natural. As for the story, it balances the comedy , intense fights, and plot development very well. It has just the right mix of all of them. All the comedic moments (both the internal monologues/complaints and the humourous acts) are all greatly done. You'll get a good laugh out of this while enjoying the plot.

This donghua is a perfect introductary watch for anyone, especially for those who like cultivation and comedy.

Review as an adaptation:

As an adaptation, this donghua is similar to the novel, but does not completely capture the tone and comedy. Some details were left out, like the fact that our MC Li Changshou is a reincarnator and uses his knowledge of Chinese Myths to understand what is to come (understanding of future events). The show also suggests the possibility that he might also be a time regressor (traveled back in time). While the show does a good job of showing his overly cautious, risk adverse nature. They don't present the comedy of this quite as well as the novel. For example, that trip MC made to the northern continent, he prepared for 15, yes 15, years. This detail that was left out really exemplifies the his overly cautious nature. Other than this, the comedy has been toned down to PG level and most of his internal monologues have been left out. The comedy was originally derived from his overpreparedness and from kinks that he didn't account for, like Youqin Xuanya's But overall, this is a good adaptation of the novel.

Note: this donghua covers the "prologue" of the novel, covering everything up until right before our MC's tribulation to become an immortal, covering chapters 1-52, though it is a bit of a speed run of the plot, as there are usually years if not decades between major events, like from his master's immortality tribulation to his (about 12 years). There were also supposed to be a few years between his master's tribulation to the dragon palace competition.

Adaptation score(how faithful to source): 7/10

Shixiong A Shixiong is a Chinese animated series that combines fantasy, comedy, and cultivation. If you enjoy lighthearted, humorous stories , this donghua is a good pick.

The animation is bright and visually unique, featuring plenty of funny moments and strong interactions between the main characters.
The voice acting is also very good, bringing the characters to life with genuine emotion and personality.

However, Shixiong A Shixiong is enjoyable, it has some weaknesses. Sometimes the story moves too slowly or feels the same for a while, which can make it less exciting. Some parts of the plot are easy to guess, so there aren’t many surprises. Many side ... characters don’t get much focus and feel plain.

Li Changshou, a disciple of Xiaogong Peak's Master Qi Yuan regresses 200 years into the past after a catastrophic event occurs that puts Duxian into a state of disarray. Terrified with the loss Li Changshou becomes motivated to cultivate to the realm of immortality along with his Master Qi Yuan as soon as possible in order to be prepared for the impending doom. Will their preparations be enough or will the catastrophe swallow them up a second time?

Story & Character: 6/10
The story of 'My Brother is too steady' does well in building an expansive world with a deep lore from the beginning. We start off ... with an interesting hook about the remains of an evil faction lurking in the shadow while the righteous peaks partake in their own affairs oblivious. The story is interesting and I'm sure that there is a lot of potential world building in the works but as it stands now it lacks depth in many fundamental plot elements. The two main arcs that start and end the season feel very lacklustre mainly due to their lack of importance or contribution to the narrative. Conflict is bound to happen but it felt meaningless where a coup is staged and a tournament between species occurred. I was expecting an ease in and maintain a pacing that allowed for better exploration of the world but also at a rate that was comprehensible; In this series new lore is thrown left and right but isn't elaborated on in depth in any way.

Characters were enjoyable and developed well throughout the series. Although they are introduced almost as abruptly as the story, they feel organic in terms of interaction with each other and had their own personalities. Characters that you'd expect to be stoic and reserved are shy yet playful; Likewise characters who are young are actually old and old are actually young it throws me off in a good way. The chibi comedy adds a lot to the character's demeanors too and are a fun addition to the series. As for the antagonists, we haven't seen any clear faction pop up beyond what's already been established as characters but I can expect to see a faction or two in opposition of the Duxian like we see in the concluding arc.

Art & Sound: 7/10 & 6/10
The art is of good quality and textures are clear, in some close ups you can see wrinkles in Li Changshou's fists. The clothes and hair have physics so they are animated and the particle density during many scenes are high. I enjoyed the chibi designs since they had a better effect on the comedy despite it being CGI, I think it worked better than 2D. The battle/sword aura animation and lighting in general were high quality as expected of Sparkly Key Animation Studio. I think a lot of the fight scenes could've had better angles and shot choreography, many of the shots were too wide for immersive action. Some of the character rigging felt very rough and you can tell especially in the smaller actions like moving arms or small head movements.

The sound is passable; Voice acting and sound effects were of decent quality. There is a good use of effective music and sound effects for comedic effect but beyond that there wasn't much explorative or extraordinary.

Overall & Enjoyment: 6/10
I personally enjoyed the series for its shift of focus being on its characters not just the main character. I do wish the main character Li Changshou would be more greedy and focus on his own circumstances but he chooses to put others before himself in many situations; Furthermore he is a very safe character which makes altercations fairly anticlimactic. The events also aren't anything new in terms of the typical donghua with tournaments and disciple missions being the norm in usual martial arts stories. However, overall I think this series is worth the watch.