Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well ever since I talked about Cupid’s Chocolate everyone’s been requesting me to check out other animes from China such as The King’s Avatar. My response to this is about damn time! I’ve been looking for an excuse to review this anime for a long time and with the long awaited second season airing soon, now is the time to review it. The best way to describe The King’s Avatar is imagine combining SAO with Log Horizon, getting rid of the needlessly boring dialog, focus more on the fighting, and having realistic and relatable characters. The anime is based off a light novel written by Hu Dienlan and made it’s debut in 2017. This was the anime that put Chinese anime on the map as westerners like myself were blown away by this anime. It was basically the Chinese version of SAO only better. Let’s fight for glory and check out The King’s Avatar.
Episodes 1-4
We start by getting introduced to this world’s version of Skyrim (except with samurais which makes everything cooler), Glory, a popular MMORPG that is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary by opening a 10th server. We focus on Ye a pro player of the game who is considered to be the best seeing as how his professional team has won 3 straight championships under his leadership. But all that seems be changing as the team manager says he’s past his prime and now wants to replace him with a new up incomer. He’s told to hand over his account card (oh hell no, that’s a man’s life work. Also, account card? That’s not a bad idea) and not only does he hand it over but also signs papers announcing his retirement (what the hell man?). As he’s leaving his friend and good partner from the game Mucheng wants to know what he plans to do next to which he responds take the year off and then return. He heads to a net café (I didn’t know they had those in China. It’s a nice one though) where he asks the manager Chen for the supervisor job but she says she’ll only give it to him if he beats her one on one in Glory (that doesn’t sound smart from a managerial perspective). Since he doesn’t have an account and has to start all over again she gives him one all-nighter to prepare for their match where he reveals that he’s the famous pro player Ye but she doesn’t believe him (to her credit Ye doesn’t really give off the pro vibe). So we go inside the Glory-atrix (https://youtu.be/qjBRNqwDPrU) where Ye does requests, gets a spear (oh thank God he’s not a sword user. We finally get something fresh and new), and gets invited to join a party about to take on a raid boss called Phantom Cat. He goes to the raid which consist of him, 3 rookies, and a veteran where the veteran purposefully gets the 3 rookies killed so he can get more loot and tries to get Ye killed but he sees through his trick and stays on the sideline letting the veteran do all the fighting and dying so he can get the loot all for himself (using his own strategy against him all while smiling and keeping cool. I like your style).
At the start of episode 2 Ye defeats the Phantom Cat earning the first boss kill on the new server but players bash him for letting his entire team die (well that’s one way to get popular). He continues to play where he teams back up with his previous party where he defeats the Phantom Cat again solo and continues to impress everyone in the Cave of Spiders taking down everything that comes his way. He even shows his great command skills by commanding the team when they come across a hidden boss in the cave (what a badass). He soon gets scouted by Blue Brook one of the big guilds in the game, who want to test his skills and invite him on a quest. He agrees to go but only if they give him rare materials that he asks for and their leader not only gives it to him but he invited him to join a raid (Ye just played this guy). He takes a break and sleeps the day away where night comes and the announcement of his retirement gets broadcasts for everyone to see. Everyone is shocked, sad, and some (and by some I mean Chen) shed tears over the fact that their king is gone (me, I would be celebrating, I can take the throne now).
In episode 3 Ye goes on that raid with Blue Brook’s elite in the Frozen Forest where the group wants to break the record and finish it faster than anyone else. Ye says that’s easy (of course it is, as long as you’re on the team) but with their current party it won’t work so he changes up the party and takes command where they do a one wave rush (which is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in my life) and they wipe all the monsters in about 20 minutes breaking the record and looking cool while doing it (that sequence was awesome). During the raid we also discover that Ye’s class unspecialized is a class that nobody has used in 5 years (bringing back the old school). Despite the class being outdated it does have a number of skills no other class can do and he uses this effectively in battle. His weapon is also a spear, umbrella shield, and Gatling gun all rolled into one (somebody’s a fan of RWBY). After that, we get to meet Tang the little sister of Chen who despite having incredible hand speed that would rival Ye, she isn’t an active player on Glory saying the game is just too easy (oh no she didn’t). Chen convinces Ye to face her in a match where they have a good match but in the end Ye wins (bow before the king). While Yang may have good hand speed her coordination tactics are terrible (not so easy huh Yang? It’s like someone playing Street Fighter or Tekken and bragging about how easy and simple Smash Bros. is. Oh yeah, on the surface they’re the same game but if you treat them the same you’re going to get your ass kicked). Yang demands a rematch and they fight again and again and again with Yang losing each time (for God’s sake Ye at some point you’re just picking on a girl). Ye finally decides to call it quits and Yang officially joins Glory determined to beat him with her own character (revenge is a great motivator).
Nothing much to say about episode 4. Ye, along with some noobs take out a world boss (they’re like raid bosses except only stronger and wilder) right from under the big 3 guilds in the game and it’s an awesome and intense scene with plenty of action, good strategy, and great animation. At the end of the episode another guild called Excellent Dynasty (Ye’s old team) beat Ye’s record in Frozen Forest (okay, it’s on).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 Ye suspects that Excellent Dynasty used 3 pro players to beat the record and says it’s possible for them to beat that record however they’ll need a few specific classes to do it. So Ye recruits a mage character from the guild he’s helping, that noob player named Steamed Buns who likes throwing bricks from episode 4 (I love this guy), Yang, and Mucheng. There was also a pro match between Excellent Dynasty and 301 where Excellent Dynasty lost despite having the advantage and everything (poor leadership yields poor results). One of the deputy leaders Hao from Excellent Dynasty comes into the café drunk where he recognizes Ye who fires shots at Hao’s poor leadership skills. After that, we get to see the raid where they do practice runs to work on their teamwork and get familiar with the battle patterns of their enemy.
In episode 6 they beat Excellent Dynasty’s record but Excellent Dynasty beat it again in record time. Ye decides to let it go and focus on a new dungeon called Boneyard. From there Hao tries to get revenge on Ye for looking down on him (well maybe if you stopped being such a petty man and actually focused on getting better at the game, he wouldn’t be so hard on you. God, it’s like that time Michael Jordan schooled that rookie player for calling him out). Hao creates a whole new account and approaches Ye as a noob hoping to embarrass him within the game but Ye easily figures out the noob is Hao. Hao gets so obsessed with his revenge that he almost misses a pro match where in the match he losses in embarrassing fashion to Shaotian (a guy who won’t shut up. Must be the Chinese version of Deadpool) but continues to follow Ye around raid dungeons and break his records. Once Ye exposes him he runs away and Ye decides to break the record in the Boneyard again calling in the help of Shaotian who plays with a sub character. Before doing the raid, Ye introduces a new strategy to help them cut time, trapping enemies. He shows them how it’s done, what they each have to do and get ready for the real raid.
Nothing much happens in episode 7. Ye’s team sets the new record in the Boneyard and the captain of a professional team called Tiny Herb (these team names are pretty silly) gives the backups a challenge. He sends them to defeat Ye calling him the strongest boss in the game (the strongest boss in any game isn’t what the developers created. It’s the person holding the controller or keyboard in this case) figuring out that it’s Ye playing as this new character everyone calls Lord Grim.
In episode 8 Ye continues to serve as the training target for Tiny Herb. He decides that if he’s going to do this, he at least deserves something in return (this is true). So, he invites them to his own gambling arena where they bet rare materials. Ye takes an interest in a young player named One Inch Ash (if he’s talking about what my dirty mind is thinking I feel sorry for him) who plays as the team’s assassin and encourages him to switch classes to Ghostblade (that sounds like a cool class). The leader of Tiny Herb known as the Magician takes on Ye and they have an amazing fight which ends in a draw. The Magician was especially impressive as he adapted to Ye’s changing strategies perfectly (scene here: https://youtu.be/kMR1RIRlcCc). The Magician also takes an interest in Yang who fought against a few of the members herself and wanted her to do a trial with the team but she turned it down. At the end of the episode we finally get to meet the noob player Steamed Bun who was passing through town because of business and we discover that he’s a bouncer (and just like in the game he’s a lot of fun).
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 is a fun episode. It starts off with Ye buying new weapons for Yang and Bun (that was nice of him) and then going to check out another raid dungeon called Desolate Land (you know the player names are creative and funny but the dungeon names lack creativity) where they run into One Inch Ash who has become a Ghosteblade class player and he looks pretty awesome. Just as they’re chatting they get attacked by players belonging to Excellent Dynasty led by Hao (he just never learns) where Ye, Yang, Bun, and Ash dominate them and we get to see that despite being a Ghostblade for only a short while Ash has a good handle on what to do from an offensive and supportive standpoint (he learns fast. He’ll do fine in the pro league). After defeating Excellent Dynasty, a player from Blue Brook shows up trying to fight Ye but getting stopped by the leader of Blue Brook (to save the man’s pride as well as the team’s image because Ye would have owned that kid). At the end of the episode Ye sets his sights on beating the record for Desolate Land and he wants Ash’s help in breaking it along with Yang and Bun.
In episode 10 we start off with Ye taking on that member from Blue Brook who called him out last episode and beating him not with his own character but Chen’s character who is a gunner. After seeing the match and analyzing playthrough data from Boneyard, the leader of Blue Brook figures out that Ye is Lord Grim and uses Shaotin to get in contact with him so that they can have a duel. The fight just like all the other fights is amazing. We see that the leader of Blue Brook is quite the strategist that rivals Ye and has a badass character in the game who is a spellcaster done right (and this is the first spellcaster we’ve seen in the game too). His only weakness is that he’s has slow hands so he can’t type as fast as other players which puts him at a disadvantage but even despite his slow typing he’s still able to get a draw with Ye (something that 99% of players can’t do). After the match, the leader of Blue Brook tells Ye that his unspecialized character is good however it doesn’t have a lot of high attack damages and once it reaches level 95 that character will have reach it’s limits (well that sucks). As the episode draws to an end Mucheng makes a return to play with Ye and the others where they each get attacked by other players for some reason (what did you do this time Ye?).
In episode 11 we find out that Ye and the others are being hunted by Excellent Era and Tyrannical Ambition the other big guild in the game who are archrivals with Excellent Era. There are also 5 other guilds joining them in this hunt and wanting to get revenge on Ye and the others for setting dungeon records that at this point have become impossible to break thanks to him. The majority of the episode takes place in a forest where Shaotin also joins the fight and annoys players because of his chatter. Ye and Shaotin team up and begin taking out people left and right. The others soon join the fight and then it becomes even more epic. In a funny moment Ye also has to make a McDonald’s run at the request of a customer all while fighting (get it yourself ya lazy bum, I’m trying to play here).
In the final episode Ye and the others escape to fight another day and their fighting gets the attention of Tyrannical Ambitions pro player Han who is the captain of Ambitions and next to Ye is the best player in Glory. When the game first started these two were the only ones to remain undefeated and eventually they both became pro players and face off against each other in the first Glory championship match where Ye won giving Excellent Dynasty the win. Han and Ye face off against each other in a valley where the fighting is so good as we see Han is a brawler fighting with his fists and fire powers. Their fight ends in a draw once Han learns from Ye that he plans to return in a year and Han leaves satisfied that he’ll get to face the one man he was never able to defeat again (and has been vengeance).
Final Thoughts
Oh my God this anime was awesome! Hands down my favorite anime from China! Great characters who are fun and relatable and fight scenes that have fantastic animation. It’s so great that I forget that it’s just a bunch of people sitting at a keyboard and tapping buttons. I love how they don’t stop and talk with each other; it just focuses on the fights and the strategies that go into them. My only complaint is that the animation can be a little grainy at some parts, but this is at best a nitpick and doesn’t really distract you from the anime as the animation is spectacular as well as the soundtrack which gets you hyped for every fight. The game of Glory is very cool. While the world is pretty basic, the different types of classes and characters you see in the game are great. They introduced classes to me I’ve never even heard of and would like to see in real life games. Ye is such an awesome character. I just love his calm and laidback demeanor. He doesn’t play the game for rewards or fame; he plays it because he likes the game and loves the challenge. While I’m not sure what he’s planning I’m interested in seeing what he does and how he does it.
Final Score
The final score for The King’s Avatar is 9.5/10 with a much watch stamp of approval. If SAO has too much talking for you and want to see more action, then check this anime out. In fact, you can watch the whole first season on their Youtube. That’s right, all of the episodes are up on Youtube and are free for you to watch. Follow this link here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMX26aiIvX5pFbfTf10Tke0CiMwxO76fT to watch the anime and see why so many people love it and why they’re hyped for a second season. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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