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Hey guys, kanna here. I know it's not Monday, but I needed to put up AT LEAST one more of these that wasn't a video before I graduated and started packing for China, where I'll be on a three-month hiatus. My writer's mind was calling to me and I had to answer it. So this may or may not be the last one for a while.
Also, I plan on making April, May, or September Mental Health Month. This is where I'll review anime that has underlying themes of PTSD, anxiety, depression, ADHD, or suicide. I'd like to thank Anime for Humanity for allowing me to do this. I'll be posting phone numbers for you to call if you or anyone you know has thoughts of suicide. Please note that these will be American phone numbers, because I don't know any of the international ones.
Moving on.
I know some of you have wondered, "If the word 'anime' is Japanese, then isn't all anime Japanese?" Well, it is...to an extent. There are exceptions to the rule, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, Code Lyoko, Sonic X, The Legend of Korra, and so on. If you Googled "insert-nationality-here anime," you'd find TONS of results. Some of which wouldn't be on MyAnimeList, so it's important to keep an open mind to what you want to watch.
This, however, is not the case with The Founders of Diabolism (a rough translation from 魔道租师); a Chinese danmei (I'll define that later) anime produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures. Tencent is a pretty big media company in China (they created the popular microblogging service, Weibo), but I hadn't heard of Tencent Penguin Pictures until I did some research about this anime. I don't know too much about them, other than that they produced several series that I've been meaning to watch but haven't gotten around to yet.
A little background on The Founders of Diabolism.
The Founders of Diabolism could also be translated to The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. The word, 魔道, is associated with Buddhism and means devildom or domain of the devil. It could also mean sorcery or witchcraft. The second word in the title, 租师, has two definitions: founder of a school of learning, a craft, etc., OR the founder of a sect of Buddhism or Taoism. For the purposes of this review, we're going to go with the second definition.
Source for word definitions (because I honestly doubt they'd teach these words in Chinese class at American schools): Pleco dictionary (available for iPhone or Android for free)
Wow, I didn't realize the first part of the review would mostly be definitions. Um...ok. Let's just keep going and I'll define things as we go along.
This anime is based on a danmei wuxia (I'll define that later) web novel (I think that's pretty self explanatory) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (I'm not sure if that's a pen name or not, because as far as I know, Chinese first names are typically one or two characters and it's surname first, so I'm pretty confused about this...if any of my Chinese-speaking readers want to correct me on this, please do). It was first published on the Chinese web novel site, JJWXC (the site is entirely in Chinese, but if you use Google Chrome, it should be able to translate it for you...although it won't be a super accurate translation). It later became a manhua (Chinese word for manga), and an anime adaptation is scheduled to air this summer. So...this was going to be a First Impressions video, given that it hasn't aired yet, but I've never been in a good location for videos. So it's a post, instead.
Ok. We can finally get to the good stuff, right?
*looks at review again*
If...only. We have two more words that need to be defined: yaoi and wuxia.
Danmei: Boys love boys fiction for a female audience (the Chinese equivalent of yaoi)
Wuxia: one of the oldest genres of Chinese literature; literally means "martial arts heroes;" known for its spectacular swordplay, high-flying martial arts, and melodrama. Stories typically are about honorable warriors fighting against evil, whether it's an individual or a corrupt government.
Ok. NOW we can get to the good stuff: the plot.
Wei Wuxian (surname then first name in Chinese, so his name in Chinese is 魏无羡) was the founder of the demonic sect who roamed the world, hated by millions for all the chaos he brought. In the end, he was killed by one of his young disciples (in Chinese, the word for young disciple is is 师弟). This led to powerful cultivator clans seizing his lair.
However, Wei Wuxian has unfinished business in the world of the living, so he incarnates himself into the body of a lunatic who was abandoned by his clan. Wuxian is later taken away by his archenemy, Lan Wangji (蓝忘机). Throughout a journey filled with attacking monsters, solving mysteries, and even raising kids, there is some mutual flirtation; leading Wuxian to believe that the poker-faced Wangji has more feelings for him than he lets on.
I can't rate this because it hasn't aired yet, so...how about a prediction of what the rating will be when I review it? Note that it won't be 10/10 because I can't say it's perfect without having seen it.
Prediction: 9/10
Why: First off, I'm not super familiar with the yaoi genre. Not because I don't like it, but because I just haven't seen a ton of yaoi anime. So given I don't know how the romance in this is going to go, I can't give it a perfect rating.
We see some typical anime tropes, including one of my favorites, magic music. Wei Wuxian uses a flute to control corpses. According to the manhua, any instrument will work, but I guess the animators chose a flute for style purposes. In the picture I posted above, we see Wei Wuxian with a flute (I think it's a traditional Chinese flute called a dizi, but it's hard to tell by a picture, and it's even harder to tell in the trailer), and Lan Wangji with a traditional Chinese instrument called a guqin (it looks like one; someone who knows I'm wrong, please correct me). The Lan sect is famous for their magical guqin skills, which can be used to summon spirits, interrogate spirits, forcibly calm people, and even temporarily nullify magical powers.
From what I've seen of the trailer, the animation looks pretty promising. It doesn't look like there will be a ton of CGI. The music sounds pretty awesome and I'm wondering who composed it, because I really like it.
I don't really have anything to complain about so far, so while I can't give it a 10/10 because it hasn't aired yet, I will give it a 9/10.
While danmei/yaoi anime is typically geared towards a female audience, I will say that I have guy friends who have enjoyed danmei/yaoi anime. So, for the guys reading this, I would at least give this a chance. It looks like there will be a fair bit of fighting, and a guy controlling dead bodies with a freaking flute seems pretty badass.
For the girls reading this: I'd give this a chance. I'm going to. The music sounds good, and a good danmei/yaoi anime is geared towards a female audience, so there's bound to be something you'll like about it.
Well, that's my prediction for The Founders of Diabolism! Hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to Mental Health Month (either April, May, or September)! I'll be reviewing the following (in no particular order):
No Game No Life
Tokyo Ghoul
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Madoka Magica: Rebellion
Until then! ~k
