The Legend of Dragon Soldier

Shen Ji Long Wei follows Shen Lang, an agent from a futuristic world who is transported into the ancient world of martial arts. After arriving, Shen Lang makes it his purpose to reconcile with his lost comrades but is swept up in the affairs of the martial world, forcing him to live by the art of cultivation. With his modern firearms, handheld military equipment, and various modern tools, Shen Lang has the best of both worlds. How will his journey play out? Story & Character: 4/10 The idea of a transported soldier is not a new isekai concept, especially in Chinese literature, but Shen Ji Long Weitries to make the story as playful and casual as possible. However, I found a few downsides with this series. First, the pacing is too fast, making many of the major arcs feel incomplete or rushed because Shen Lang moves on before concluding them. Second, the plot focus shifts arbitrarily from saving his comrades to participating in sect events or opening special dimensions, which delays the actual narrative further. Third, there is no real challenge or antagonist. Because Shen Lang is calculative, he chooses to retreat and cultivate before challenging a strong enemy. While this is a great character trait, he gets distracted by side events after he is freed from time-skip cultivation, eventually losing the plot. Shen Lang starts off with all his memories intact, as well as his military equipment, so we see tactful use of his equipment. Instead of proper development with his skills in montages or chance encounters with skill books, we get 3, 5, and 8-year time skips while he is in seclusion. It's not a bad idea to skip unnecessary training, but the side characters during this time frame feel even more alienated because they aren't in contact with Shen Lang for so long. This happens several times in the series, where Shen Lang tries to play cat and mouse with his companions after abandoning them for years. The characters Shen Lang meets in chance encounters feel stereotypical as extras because they disappear from the story after the event or episode ends, many of them having little background or even a name to their face (as seen in the stable sealed dimension and Penglai Mountain opening arcs). Art & Sound: 3/10 & 6/10 At this point, Youku Animation is known for their distinct character designs and cinematography. They feel rough and amateurish, with many action scenes lacking proper impact, relying instead on fast-paced X-axis transitions. The characters are all keyframed, so movement feels mechanistic, which is expected from a small-budget production. Environments lack post-processing features like ambient occlusion or anti-aliasing, and many city scenes have low population density. Voice acting felt amateurish at times, with character grunts and screams feeling fake. The sound effects weren't necessarily bad, but they weren't amazing by modern standards. The music choice was fairly suitable, and the fight scenes felt more immersive with the suspenseful rock music. Overall & Enjoyment: 5/10 This is one of those series where you overlook its pitfalls in favor of its light-hearted gag humor and absurd action. There aren't many anime that will brazenly have a main character bring rocket launchers, firearms, or even a flying car into primitive worlds. The action, although very one-sided and lacking in logic, is a good opportunity to let your imagination run wild. Although the characters are very lacking in depth, they occasionally shift the focus away from Shen Lang. Overall, a 5/10 is suitable for this series given its 'uniqueness'.