#thunderbolt fantasy season 4

[billerak]

THUNDERBOLT FANTASY 4 IS HERE AND IT HAS CHOSEN TO BE PEAK FROM ITS FIRST EPISODE

WE ARE SO FUCKING BACK

[dazzle-art]

HELLO!

[umbrellaeclipse]

Oh, some thoughts on the first episode of the new season of which I must scream into the void with!!!

(Warning: disorganized rambling and spoilers for Thunderbolt Fantasy S4 E1)

Such a serious tone from the get-go! Shang Bu Huan, as self sacrificial as ever, parting ways with Juan Can Yun in order to stowe away somewhere safe to protect the sword index. Thus, also leads to a parting with my dear favorite character Lin Xue Ya; who will no longer be following SBH as he is now too boring to consider a worthwhile target.

Hohoho, I cannot help but think LXY's parting is a farce. I feel like he's scheming something and I am ever so delighted to find out what. Also, did LXY always have that massive crystal flower over his left shoulder, or have I just blindly never noticed before...?

Hmmm hmmm hmmm, and SBH also mentioned he never knew his parents.... are we getting... actual backstory on him? I feel like the show so far has hinted a lot but his origins are still vague.

Oh, and back to the demon realm again. Some shocking revelations there I suppose. Granted, it's no shock how hierarchical the demon realm is, but to my suprise, Xing Hai, was/ is a lower class demon? Hmm hmm hmm, and now the lower classes of the demon realm have to worship the demon gods to not get killed. A fate previously carried out by humans before the war. How curious.

Oh cool! The mad scientist dude is back, and is pairing off with the Order of the Divine Swarm... and then, enters the best characters of the season. I already love this buff hornet lady and the pretty boy spider spy. Their battle gave me life. I love the fights in this show so much! I'm looking forward to their character development... and the hornet lady had such a sick... soliloquy? Not sure what the word is for the little character poems, but I've always loved them and was a bit sad how few there seemed to be in S3.

Back to the demon realm. Really, gonna force Lang Wu Yao into his demon side.... and, hmmm, Ling Ya had some interesting comments here, being LWY's demon side so he could just continue living as a human... gonna think on that one. Also, lol, the new opening has LWY's demon form flash in towards the end.

I am so psyched to see this show continuing!!!! I am going to be so normal about it. As normal as Luo Zhen Jie is about his sword girlfriend.

Cheers <3

[rose-madder-gaze]

Dubbing has started on Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 4!

[fujimusume]

About the Thunderbolt Fantasy S4 teaser shown at the Pili Fantasy Land Exhibit 2023

From November 9–December 10 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Pili held an exhibit called Pili Fantasy Land, where visitors could view a teaser trailer for Thunderbolt Fantasy S4.

While photos (but not videos) were allowed for most of the exhibit, taking photos and/or videos of the teaser was strictly forbidden, so I abided by those rules. (My photos from the exhibit are in this Twitter thread, for anyone interested!)

I was able to visit the exhibit during the tail-end of its second week / the start of its third week. Though two weeks have passed since my visit (things have been hectic, so I only got to write this now), I took notes right after viewing the teaser, so these are my notes fresh from the venue. Putting the details behind a cut for those who'd rather not be spoiled!

Nonetheless, lemme put out a disclaimer that my memory isn't perfect, so despite watching the teaser several times, there might still have been details here and there that I missed.

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY WORDS (i.e. copy-paste it then repost it somewhere else, and especially do not pass these off as your own). If you want to share the info, just link to this post or my Fusetter post.

Anyway, on to my notes!

IN GENERAL

No dialogue; just a smattering of scenes

Can't really tell what's going on plot-wise because the scenes shown didn't really have any revealing details: Shang drinking, Lin walking as his clothes flutter in the wind, the camera zooming in on Lang as Azibelpher says something…

6 new characters, presumably all from the Demon Realm, since Urobuchi said in an interview from the Japanese S3 art book that that setting would have a more Western aesthetic

ABOUT THE NEW CHARACTERS

Their designs look more Western but with some Middle Eastern designs/motifs

The teasers briefly showed their puppets plus their 2D concept art

As far as I can tell based on their features: 3 female characters, 3 male characters

No name reveals or VA reveals yet

THE FEMALE CHARACTERS

One has hair buns that look like cat ears; she wears a veil covering the lower half of her face

One is the character that Pili posted when promoting the exhibit. From the photo Pili posted, her outfit looks very Takarazuka-inspired, but seeing her concept art, I felt that some details in the middle part of her outfit looked more Middle Eastern to me

One has an outfit with a plunging neckline, showing her cleavage (iirc her outfit is mainly colored black)

THE MALE CHARACTERS

One blue-haired guy

One is an older, darker-skinned character with an outfit that reminded me of a pharaoh or grand vizier

I'm not 100% sure this character is male but I think so—part of their face is covered with a skull mask, and their robes kinda remind me of Caster from FGO

[chipsncookies]

Can I get a small synopsis of thunderbolt fantasy? It looks interesting

Okok I'll try to be brief. Our story is set in Dong Li, a country where in the past there used to be a war between humans and demons, so humans forged powerful magical swords that could ward off demons, and this results in demons being successfully banished from human realm.

In present time, demons are gone but the powerful swords still exist, and shrines are built to protect these swords from falling to the hands of evil. One guardian of such shrines, Dan Fei (green) and her brother (light blue) was attacked by an evil group (yellow) who wants to steal the sword they're guarding. Her brother sacrificed himself so Dan Fei could escape. During her run, she ran into Shang Bu Huan (red), a traveler who just arrived there, who decided to protect her after being convinced by Lin Xue Ya (violet) to help her.

Shang managed to drive off the mooks, but the evil group is still hunting Dan Fei, so she begged Shang to go on a quest to defeat them for good. Taking a pity for the poor girl and having his arm twisted being convinced by Lin Xue Ya, Shang agreed to help. They later assembled a team to fight the evil group, including a one-eyed archer and his plucky brother, a flamboyant assassin and and a demon(!) necromancer, each having their own strengths and quirks, they go on a journey together to defeat the evil group... But it won't be easy due to many difficulties and conflicts they would face along the way!

This is very brief spoiler free synopsis for season 1. It starts a bit slow but ramps up immediately halfway the season, and there are many plot twists and surprising developments. Gen Urobuchi, the guy famous for Fate series and Madoka Magica is the one who created the series and wrote the story, so if you're familiar with his works you might be able to tell things are gonna be crazy!

[silveryair]

Thunderbolt fantasy season 4 save me

[savaralyn2]

Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 4 - Coming October 5th

[atamascolily]

You might not know this because Crunchyroll is shit at promoting their shows and probably won't announce it until a hour before the first episode airs, but Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 4 starts on Saturday, October 5!!! A lot of my reactions will be longwinded and therefore under a cut, but just in case, anyone who doesn't want to be spoiled should block the "tbf s4 spoilers" tag.

also, if you haven't seen Thunderbolt Fantasy and have no idea what I'm talking about, consider: it's never a bad time to watch the wuxia fantasy puppet epic (but please start with s1, you will be utterly confused if you drop into the new stuff without any context).

[billerak]

BRUH

LAST WEEK WE WERE GOING CRAZY OVER A MACHINEGUN AND THIS TIME THEY HIT US WITH THE GORILLA MECH??!??!??!

[dazzlerazz]

Happy thunderbolt fantasy season 4, have an out of context meme I made based off something I drew a week ago

[rose-madder-gaze]

Updated with new season and film news, plus the two new characters unveiled at AnimeJapan.

[fujimusume]

Thunderbolt Fantasy S4 Begins Filming (+ My Translation of Gen Urobuchi's Comments)

Earlier, the official accounts for Thunderbolt Fantasy and Pili announced (in Japanese and English, respectively), that filming of S4 has begun.

Pili's official Twitter and Facebook accounts linked to an article in Chinese with more photos and details regarding the kick-off ceremony.

Meanwhile, TBF's Japanese Twitter account posted a bit of commentary from Gen Urobuchi regarding this bit of news, which I translated via a Twitter thread and am now cross-posting here.

Please do not repost my translation without crediting; link to this post or my Twitter thread instead.

If I have time and/or no one beats me to it, I'll try translating Pili's article as well, though at this point my Japanese is better than my Mandarin... 😅

Comments from Gen Urobuchi in Honor of Thunderbolt Fantasy S4's Start of Filming

What are your expectations for the sequel? What do you have in mind for this production?

Urobuchi: Post-Season 3, I’ve been crafting the plot as a series of vignettes that take a lot of twists and turns.

This next installation is precisely the point when the story reaches the climax.

I want to make the most of the heightened feeling that we’re heading toward the end.

What aspects of filming are you excited for?

Urobuchi: This time, we’re going to dig rather deeply into & shed some light on the past secrets of the main characters.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how those scenes will be translated to film.

Please share some words for fans who have been eagerly waiting for the sequel.

Urobuchi: Thanks to everyone’s support, TBF has been able to become a much longer series than originally envisioned.

We hope to deliver to our fans a superb work that conveys our gratitude to our fans & doesn’t betray their expectations. Please keep the support coming!

[dobadgerseatsnakes]

Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 4 Opening

[aptericia]

Crunchyroll has officially listed Thunderbolt Fantasy season 4 in their 2024 simulcasts! Episode 1 isn’t actually up yet, but since tomorrow is TbF day maybe they’ll release it then along with episode 2 (fingers crossed)!!!!!