#the annoying thing is that in order to produce more plot she needs to reuse old issues multiple times

[awordwasthebeginning]

Do we. Do we really need to go into the details of Jamie's trauma with Black Jack again

Is it, at this point, really important that he looks like Frank (or vice versa)??

Also if I ever have to read about that damned pig again (an actual pig, not Jack Randall), I'm going to throw something.

[obfuscobble]

Quan Zhi Gao Shou

People are calling Quan Zhi Gao Shou the future of anime and superior to Japanese producer led animation but, my dudes, it’s just the same level yo.  Y’all focusing so much on the pretty fight scenes that you’re ignoring the massive budget and time cuts elsewhere: awkward 3d models for bg characters, NUMEROUS reused bits of animation within the fights, flipped animation, wide shots with FX and smoke to cover up what would otherwise have to be animated, good ol gainax mouth hiding, overuse of still shots for a quarter second longer than is appropriate, etc.  This does not make Quan Zhi Gao Shou inferior to Japanese anime; it’s just more of the same tricks with prettier snippets of fight animation backed by its obvious corporate backers. 

There’s a reason this is one of the few anime that can have an uncensored McDonald’s logo: they literally advertise McDonalds’ food, call it delicious in dialogue, and make shilling for McDonald’s a “desirable character” intro.  The plot has actually stopped to advertise McDonalds.  It’s being done very well and seems in character as it’s written, but you have to be blind to not realise that these corporate sponsorships (including from drink makers and other entertainment companies) are what’s allowing the level of animation you admire.  The cans that are left blank are cans that have ad space not yet paid for.  Yes, this is indeed the future of anime.  Just in a different way. (yeah i know japanese anime has started doing this too)

However, Quan Zhi Gao Shou is doing one thing much better than anime I have watched recently: character writing.  You can still see the old tropes in it, but each character trope is softened by “reality,” thereby bringing it back closer to the realistic character depictions that started each trope way back in the day.  Do we have an MC who is an omnipotent pretentious ass? Hoo boy yes we do, but he’s shown on screen to have earned his skill as a 25 year old professional with 10 years of experience in his job instead of a miracle teenager.  Do we have a red haired tsundere who is sharp with the MC?  Yeah, but she’s sharp with him because he’s a pretentious ass, and she’s giving him a job and a place to stay so he could maybe show her a little more respect plus attention to her feelings.  None of which are romantic.  Do we have a kawaii quiet girl?  Indeed, but she’s not crushing on the MC at all and is driven by her own search for challenge in combat and life instead of being a wallflower.  Do we have an idiot brawler boy?  Yes and he is good and perfect and you will not bad mouth my son.  Do we have a girl next door type with long hair and a yamato nadeshiko grace?  Yes, there is a girl fitting that trope, in being the oldest female companion of the MC, but she’s a fellow professional who didn’t try to date him and whose skills he calls on with the shared bond of friendship and years fighting together.  Do we have a calm and calculating nemesis who has a power limiter on otherwise he’d be too awesome?  We have one, and he’s being fleshed out as a man who has sacrificed himself for his teammates, and he’s opposing the MC not for his own personal gain and glory, but to help his team and to rekindle his suppressed sense of battle style and joy in combat.  Do we have a god damn rookie hunter?  Yep, more than one, and one of them is in the middle of a redemption arc which is super rare for that character type.

Mmm, that character development.  Mmm, that main character who has finished puberty and has an adult life.  Mmm, that worldbuilding that allows so many little tropes and even advertising to be believable in context.  MMM, that lack of a harem thus allowing female characters to be humans.  This is what Japan needs to take a good long stare at.  Free yourself from tropes or break them.  Think hard about your worldbuilding so that you can explain each character’s actions without an asspull and so that the viewer is immersed without asking too many questions because you’ve already answered them.  Try not to do it with so much sideline coach babble and onscreen text explanations like Quan Zhi Gao Shou does, but we’ll start where we can.  I hate to be saying this, but even Quan Zhi Gao Shou’s in-character McDonalds advertisements enhance its world since they come in the context of quickly snagged unhealthy gamer fuel or corporate sponsorships aimed for by characters to supplement their income.  (sort of like tiger & bunny)

Back to ragging on Quan Zhi Gao Shou though: it suffers from an editing style common to many mainland Chinese films since 2005 or so, where characters speak very fast and the cuts move likewise.  This tapered off significantly after episode 6, allowing for more still shots (usually in order to save on animation though) but I can still feel this directorial influence.  It takes a little getting used to if you’re more acclimated to Japanese or Hong Kong editing, or even if you’re accustomed to the equally fast paced and jarring dialogue/cuts pace of American output which is yet different in exact style.  I’d say that fast American editing is influenced by actual film trailers and advertisements, whereas mainland Chinese editing is influenced by Hong Kong mo lei tau slapstick.  They’re both trying to pack a lot of content into small packages, but mo lei tau has always had more of a stream of consciousness feel to its joke pace which is carried into these new editing styles.  I’m not an editing expert, mind you; this is just me as a layman analysing.  Chinese fast editing makes me want to take a hold of a sleeve, carefully remove a hand from its copy of Maya, and gently say “please, calm down, your effects are pretty and I want to hear your story but I also want to rest in emotional moments to allow them to impact me.”  American fast editing makes me want to take a hold of a sleeve, body slam the editor, and shout “STOP IT. PUT THESE SHOTS IN ORDER.” while stealing their palette of film filters forevermore before the whip crack from Johnny Test can hurt me again.  (johnny test is a canadian show btw but it still suffers from horrible editing)

Also I’d prefer Quan Zhi Gao Shou dubbed into Cantonese because then I could more or less follow it without subtitles taking up too much of the screen.  My Mandarin is terrible.  (wow watch me ask for the moon right lol) Chinese is not a language; it’s a language family thx.  I’m aware that this Cantonese preference is 100% due to me growing up hearing it.  Humans tend to prefer the familiar and I guess I’m a scrub.  At least I’m not asking for it to be dubbed into Superior Harmonious Japanese Ohhhh like so many weirdos in the comments section do though. . . chill, y’all: it’s a Chinese anime so it’s going to be in Mandarin. . .i s2g. . .

So all in all, I give a positive rating to Quan Zhi Gao Shou!  It has me wanting to see the MC and his companions succeed.  None of the characters annoy me.  This is rare.  If you ragged on SAO or Familia Myth in the past, give Quan Zhi Gao Shou a try to see an MMO setting done in a mature manner and a modern context.  If you don’t like anime based on games, you’ll want to give Quan Zhi Gao Shou a pass though, as gaming knowledge and the pro e-games corporate world are integral to its plot.  But yeah: pleasantly surprised.