As a semi-fan of mxtx, I came in with high hopes.
I was first exposed to MXTX books after I watched MDZS. Same writer.
I should preface this by saying I have not read TCGF or any MXTX books (to the fullest at least).
I hope to come in this with an unbiased opinion and just come in how the average viewer may come in and see this: not having read the books or any prior knowledge of this series or the society as a whole regarding "cultivation".
(I say this because I myself have very little knowledge how that fanciful world works well)
The translation I watched was by Funimation.
Upon first glance: (I am 10/11 episodes in)
ART:
It's stunning art work. The opening is stunning in its graphics and work of art. I applaud the artists who worked on this.
When it comes to the overall animation though, that's where it behind to lacks.
Some episodes you may begin to notice an odd mouth movement with no words being said, or the odd position of how their hair is moving versus how the wind is blowing. It'd odd but it it happens more than one watcher could stand to bare.
This is disappointing as well. It's disappointing because of how GORGEOUS the artwork is. Even while animated poorly they are gorgeous while doing it.
SOUND:
The sound is standard. Nothing great but not terrible. Sound track is fine as well.
CHARACTERS:
Some characters are interesting. I wish was more given about the characters. Since MXTX books are remarkably long, the story probably gets revealed the more you read. Unfortunately, you can not know much about these characters UNLESS it is more than 11 episodes. 11 episodes is not enough to cover the epic proportions she has written.
What you see about the characters, they appear to be strong and worth of their own merit. Both of the two main male protagonists are interesting. I just wish we were given more.
STORY:
The story. So disjointed. So random. So odd?
Once again, since her stories are typically 100+ chapters long, this can NOT be summed up in 11 episodes. This adds to the oddness in how they are writing these episodes. I feel sometimes things are thrown in or the story is hard to follow. The subtitles move QUICK. I am unsure if that is due to Chinese dubbing or due to subtleties in the Chinese language. Due to this, you find yourself going back, asking fellow viewers what is going on, or even if you understand something correctly. (I had this same issue with MDZS, though I found it less jarring in TGCF)
Overall:
It was fine. It wasn't something I would write home about. I will probably watch a second season. I just wished it was executed better.
SHOULD ALSO NOTE:
Each episode is more like 15 minutes? The tedious op's and ed's give you actually about 15 min of story. The last 5min of the episode is almost ALWAYS some kinda of arts or craft chibi show?
They have the characters as chibis talking about something in China. (And Funimation doesn't even translate this... they just leave it attached to the show and that is it. So you can watch it... but it has no subtitles)
Mean score:
6.6
I rounded down to 6 because the story and art really hinder it.
