This series is entertaining. However, after watching others like Ever Night, Guardians of the Dafeng, Pursuit…
Go watch the donghua. There are many ppl who prefer the donghua version becoz it's done by the same studio that worked on parts of Nezha 2 (theatrical movie that made 2+ billions USD).
Personally for me 2, the live action is maybe 5-7/10 while I would rate the donghua 12/10!!
Shrouding the Heavens - The Imperial Path (full movie) is now up on YT. There are just too many sources no way Tencent can combat this kind of piracy and take them all down. New ones will just spring up...
I think for a very very long time, this will be the only movie team "Mortal's Journey" will ever produce, although obviously it's a different IP -- Shrouding the Heavens.
I've seen Perfect World, Swallowed Star, Renegade Immortal spin-off movies, None can match team "Mortal's Journey" (aka Original Force Studio) kind of visual quality and camera works.
BTW, I wish the pirate community would re-release the live action Shrouding the Heavens -- The Forbidden Zone movie in 4K. It's up on YT, but very bad quality. That movie was so funny but in a cool way.
hope they start the season 2 of this one. I know the team will be busy again in Donghua but it will be great if…
btw, they finished airing the 8-episodes BTS special for the donghua as promised. Pretty sure the next EP 177 (or was it 178 as EP 176 had 2 "parts") of the Mortal's Journey donghua will be released soon...
Can watch all 8 episodes of the BTS with ENG subs here:
hope they start the season 2 of this one. I know the team will be busy again in Donghua but it will be great if…
speaking of the Donghua...
"WE"RE TOO FRIGGIN' BUSY MAKING THE SHROUDING THE HEAVENS MOVIE, WE NO LONGER HAVE THE TIME TO RELEASE A WEEKLY EPISODE OF MORTAL'S JOURNEY"
May explain why the contract animation studio had been "missing in action" for 8+ weeks.
But hey, this is the same contract studio that made parts of Nezha 2 (grossed 2+ billions USD at the box office). So seeing the Shrouding the Heavens movie just released a few days ago by this same studio, it was worth it to get a pause on Mortal's Journey weekly donghua episode.
From the same production company Youku. Plenty of ppl have complained about the cheap/budget-looking SFX in Immortal Ascension.
I've only previewed a few seconds of action, but it seems like Veil of Shadows is over-the-top (in the best way) in visual effects! The kind of effort you'd wish they had put into Immortal Ascension S1 instead! Maybe Youku trying to make up for not putting enough $$$ into the VFX department for Immortal Ascension S1?
Hmm, there is a lot of cross copying in C-ent. You know the song in Immortal Ascension that has the male singer…
A taste of things to come -- OST for the Immortal Ascension S2:
I'm sure one or two songs from IA-S2 will be *inspired* by (not more like copying from) these fresh new songs from Renegade Immortal S2 (the second one sounds like Donkey Kong Country 2, which is a very fitting theme for the S2 of the drama...)
Only issue with this drama is the side characters (usually an issue in donghuas as they're mainly MC-focused).Every…
Not to mention Qu Hun his best friend is no more in S2, his mind was gone in S1 but his body was also killed in S2 (in the donghua but will be killed in the live action drama as obviously they haven't aired the sequel drama yet). This is/will be the most extreme illustration of "whoever comes into contact with Han Li eventually got jinxed" as Qu Hun wouldn't have become a puppet in the first place if he didn't wanted so eagerly to study together with Han Li under the tutelage of his first master...
Hmm, there is a lot of cross copying in C-ent. You know the song in Immortal Ascension that has the male singer go "oh oh oh oh oh" for most of the song? That actually came from the opening song of Renegade Immortal S1 donghua.
The most likely scenario is Youku contracted various singers to compose various songs for this drama. One of the bands being at a loss to what tune to compose looked to Renegade Immortal donghua for inspiration. After all it's the same genre dealing with Immortal cultivation . That's how they came up with the "oh oh oh oh oh" song.
Lucky for Youku, Renegade Immortal donghua now has fresh songs for their OP/ED credits. The new end song sounds like Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES video game released in the 1990's). This is actually very fitting for Immortal Ascension S2 drama as most of it takes place on DKC2-type tropical islands admist the vast oceans.
Basically, if you want a SNEAK PEEK at the OST of Immortal Ascension S2, go listen to Renegade Immortal S2 donghua OP/ED credits. The artists contracted for S2 of this drama will be doing the same to "draw inspiration" but with much fervor becoz they have paychecks to earn!
Why does Sword of Coming S2 (donghua not "The ZERO" live action adaptation) suck?
Any of you play Honor of Kings the mobile MOBA? You know those grass blades look so unrealistic and totally cartoonish.
They used the same kind of cheesy/sloppy way to create the grass blades in Sword of Coming S2.
I was generally not impressed with the environment details in Sword of Coming S2 becoz I seen better in other donghua series..
The ONLY saving grace SoC2 had was the ending song was quite catchy. This guy also sung the ending song of Shrouding The Heavens (another of my favorite donghua). He also performed for Beijing 2008 Olympics, so this guy is not some no-name artist contracted to perform for (often low budget) donghua ending songs. Most of his songs are quite catchy including SoC2 end credits song!
Is this the other name of the series, The Immortal Ascension - A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality?!
The rule of thumb in C-ent is, the original name is usually too long. So when they adapt a live action version, they always need to come up with a newer (and shorter) gimmicky name. To make it even worse, if there is already a live action adaptation but older made long ago, they also have to come up with a "gimmicky" name that is different from the previous adaptation.
You would never have guessed just from the name alone The Untamed is actually the live action adaptation of The Founder of Diabolism.
Only issue with this drama is the side characters (usually an issue in donghuas as they're mainly MC-focused).Every…
The only REAL issue I have with this series is Han Li is a sort of jinx. Whoever became his master or (close) friend or schoolmate (ie. of the opposite sex) or nemesis or even concubine all ended with some tragic fate. Even Nangong Wan was not spared (she lost her virgnity upon meeting Han Li).
But this is really at the subconscious level, not really noticeable unless the viewer thinks about it.
Actually, the only exceptions might be the girl who studied with Han Li at Maple Valley but is actually the daughter of the demon lord. And also the fox spirit that became Han Li's servant. But then the girl sees her dad kill the close friend of her mother, so experiences some trauma. And the fox spirit had to serve Han Li for a very long time until she regained her freedom. So in these ways, Han Li still acts like a jinx to them/in their lives.
I guess donghua will resume airing after taking 8+ weeks hiatus next week
(As always it's rare for BiliBili to upload the vid and ENG subs to YT at the same time. It's annoying as first time viewers may think there is no subs at all! Check back a few days later for the much delayed ENG subs)
I'm gonna binge watch this after I have acquired all episodes in 4K.
My question to those who watch this, has Guo Jing Ming moved on from the kind of crappy quality of Ice Fantasy?
I'm sure Youku must have enforced some kind of quality control on the man.
If there are 3 ppl in C-ent that make Chinese productions look like crap that third world countries churn out, they would have to be ZJZ, Yu Zheng, and Guo Jing Ming.
I'm definitely sitting out on "The ZERO" live action drama. But I just started watching S2 of the donghua.…
BTW, the only other donghua animation studio I find respectable is the one that did Slay the Gods S1. But they don't have a stylized animated company logo or sequence like other studios.
I'm definitely sitting out on "The ZERO" live action drama. But I just started watching S2 of the donghua. Man this animation studio sux. They were only ever good with Purple River S1. But now Sword of Coming S2... I remember the FL CGI model was much prettier in S1.
Their motion capture and story telling sux. Why would you want to animate someone sitting cross-legged on the ground then getting up? Plus that motion looked so weird like they didn't mocap it properly.
There's only one animation studio from China that made me go wow. That's the same studio that did parts of Nezha 2 (hit CGI movie sequel that made billions of USD) and also being contracted to animate the entirety (so far) of Mortal's Journey to Immortality and Shrouding the Heavens donghua series.
Let's also talk about Renegade Immortal donghua while we're at it. This is the same studio making Purple River S2 donghua. Just one word suck. They gave such a good IP to a third rate animation studio!
(What's making the good company extra good and the bad studios extra bad is I watch all my donghua on a projector that fills almost one side of my bedroom wall [image at least 50-75% bigger than the biggest TV you can buy at Costco], so whatever is good, bad, or awkward gets amplified multiples!)
Personally for me 2, the live action is maybe 5-7/10 while I would rate the donghua 12/10!!
I think for a very very long time, this will be the only movie team "Mortal's Journey" will ever produce, although obviously it's a different IP -- Shrouding the Heavens.
I've seen Perfect World, Swallowed Star, Renegade Immortal spin-off movies, None can match team "Mortal's Journey" (aka Original Force Studio) kind of visual quality and camera works.
BTW, I wish the pirate community would re-release the live action Shrouding the Heavens -- The Forbidden Zone movie in 4K. It's up on YT, but very bad quality. That movie was so funny but in a cool way.
Can watch all 8 episodes of the BTS with ENG subs here:
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/35477-a-record-of-a-mortal-s-journey-to-immortality/148302-a-mortal-s-journey-behind-the-scenes-8-part-mini-series-airs-feb-14-2026
"WE"RE TOO FRIGGIN' BUSY MAKING THE SHROUDING THE HEAVENS MOVIE, WE NO LONGER HAVE THE TIME TO RELEASE A WEEKLY EPISODE OF MORTAL'S JOURNEY"
May explain why the contract animation studio had been "missing in action" for 8+ weeks.
But hey, this is the same contract studio that made parts of Nezha 2 (grossed 2+ billions USD at the box office). So seeing the Shrouding the Heavens movie just released a few days ago by this same studio, it was worth it to get a pause on Mortal's Journey weekly donghua episode.
https://mydramalist.com/761731-the-resurrection-painted-skin
From the same production company Youku. Plenty of ppl have complained about the cheap/budget-looking SFX in Immortal Ascension.
I've only previewed a few seconds of action, but it seems like Veil of Shadows is over-the-top (in the best way) in visual effects! The kind of effort you'd wish they had put into Immortal Ascension S1 instead! Maybe Youku trying to make up for not putting enough $$$ into the VFX department for Immortal Ascension S1?
I'm sure one or two songs from IA-S2 will be *inspired* by (not more like copying from) these fresh new songs from Renegade Immortal S2 (the second one sounds like Donkey Kong Country 2, which is a very fitting theme for the S2 of the drama...)
New OP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5bvFUEPRuE
New ED (this one sounds like DKC2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=canQTCSJGLw
Renegade Immortal OP (the original -- I bookmarked the video at the "oh oh oh oh oh" part)
https://youtu.be/fVvV-9kJFw0?t=62
Immortal Ascension OP (the imitation/copycat -- also bookmarked at the "oh oh oh oh oh" part)
https://youtu.be/7QXnqnCHoSI?t=149
The most likely scenario is Youku contracted various singers to compose various songs for this drama. One of the bands being at a loss to what tune to compose looked to Renegade Immortal donghua for inspiration. After all it's the same genre dealing with Immortal cultivation . That's how they came up with the "oh oh oh oh oh" song.
Lucky for Youku, Renegade Immortal donghua now has fresh songs for their OP/ED credits. The new end song sounds like Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES video game released in the 1990's). This is actually very fitting for Immortal Ascension S2 drama as most of it takes place on DKC2-type tropical islands admist the vast oceans.
Basically, if you want a SNEAK PEEK at the OST of Immortal Ascension S2, go listen to Renegade Immortal S2 donghua OP/ED credits. The artists contracted for S2 of this drama will be doing the same to "draw inspiration" but with much fervor becoz they have paychecks to earn!
Any of you play Honor of Kings the mobile MOBA? You know those grass blades look so unrealistic and totally cartoonish.
They used the same kind of cheesy/sloppy way to create the grass blades in Sword of Coming S2.
I was generally not impressed with the environment details in Sword of Coming S2 becoz I seen better in other donghua series..
The ONLY saving grace SoC2 had was the ending song was quite catchy. This guy also sung the ending song of Shrouding The Heavens (another of my favorite donghua). He also performed for Beijing 2008 Olympics, so this guy is not some no-name artist contracted to perform for (often low budget) donghua ending songs. Most of his songs are quite catchy including SoC2 end credits song!
You would never have guessed just from the name alone The Untamed is actually the live action adaptation of The Founder of Diabolism.
But this is really at the subconscious level, not really noticeable unless the viewer thinks about it.
Actually, the only exceptions might be the girl who studied with Han Li at Maple Valley but is actually the daughter of the demon lord. And also the fox spirit that became Han Li's servant. But then the girl sees her dad kill the close friend of her mother, so experiences some trauma. And the fox spirit had to serve Han Li for a very long time until she regained her freedom. So in these ways, Han Li still acts like a jinx to them/in their lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4wf-CBHhY
I guess donghua will resume airing after taking 8+ weeks hiatus next week
(As always it's rare for BiliBili to upload the vid and ENG subs to YT at the same time. It's annoying as first time viewers may think there is no subs at all! Check back a few days later for the much delayed ENG subs)
My question to those who watch this, has Guo Jing Ming moved on from the kind of crappy quality of Ice Fantasy?
I'm sure Youku must have enforced some kind of quality control on the man.
If there are 3 ppl in C-ent that make Chinese productions look like crap that third world countries churn out, they would have to be ZJZ, Yu Zheng, and Guo Jing Ming.
S2 for Slay the Gods announced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF4EnaKs9hI
Their motion capture and story telling sux. Why would you want to animate someone sitting cross-legged on the ground then getting up? Plus that motion looked so weird like they didn't mocap it properly.
There's only one animation studio from China that made me go wow. That's the same studio that did parts of Nezha 2 (hit CGI movie sequel that made billions of USD) and also being contracted to animate the entirety (so far) of Mortal's Journey to Immortality and Shrouding the Heavens donghua series.
Let's also talk about Renegade Immortal donghua while we're at it. This is the same studio making Purple River S2 donghua. Just one word suck. They gave such a good IP to a third rate animation studio!
(What's making the good company extra good and the bad studios extra bad is I watch all my donghua on a projector that fills almost one side of my bedroom wall [image at least 50-75% bigger than the biggest TV you can buy at Costco], so whatever is good, bad, or awkward gets amplified multiples!)
Final run falls short of Nobody (2025) by a few mils USD:
Blades of the Guardians (this CNY) -- $206.84 Million USD
Nobody (last year) -- $215.3 Million USD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRvU5Ei11wo
BiliBili operates on a upload vid first subs later basis. If these videos don't have ENG subs, check back a few days...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjhm_3RNIGI