Introduction
Tang San is one of Tang Sect martial art clan's most prestigious disciples and peerless in the use of hidden weapons. With high expectations, the sect's elders believe his future will be bright; yet Tang chooses to forsake this life at the cost of obtaining the sect's forbidden lore—an action punishable by death. Tang, now content with his ascension of knowledge, sees no reason to keep on living and jumps from Hell's Peak, but little did he know that that would not be the end of his existence.
In Douluo Continent, the strong prevail and the weak perish. Each person possesses an innate spirit, some of which can be cultivated and strengthened, bestowing its user with various benefits. Those who were born with such spirits can become Spirit Masters, a profession regarded as one of the continent's most noble.
Tang, reincarnated into this strange world, knows only the life of a blacksmith's son. At the age of six, he takes part in the Spirit Master ceremony, and discovers his spirit is Blue Silver Grass—supposedly the world's most useless spirit. In contrast, however, he possesses strong spirit power. Now, aided by the memories of his previous life as well, Tang's future as a Spirit Master is in no way bleak.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
19 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Thor1317
One of the best donghua out there. The characters, fights, world, and romance are amazing.
The power system is easy to understand but still interesting. There is a major focus on romance for most of the characters not just the mc and they take time to build the relationships. The fight s are flashy but followable and the power system allows for many interesting fighting styles and tactics. The story focuses more on group fights as a team, making for more tactical and balanced fighting compared to most action focused shows.
The focus on working as a team allows for character relationships and character building to be an important part of the story. The side characters actually get a lot of screen time and development which i rarely see in donghua.
There are some problems with the show h…
Read at the sourceSabrina808
If you haven’t watched this anime yet, don’t start it at all. Its rating fits an anime from seven years ago, when there weren’t many good options. Now there are much better choices. The story is extremely slow so much, so that the main story doesn’t even appear until around episode 70. The production quality of the first season is also very low.
The character development is extremely slow and filled with unnecessary dialogue. The storyline has lots of extra, irrelevant scenes so much, even the start of a simple fight in the entrance exam includes ten minutes of talking!
Read at the sourcetherealab
Runtime expected - 26 * 20 = around 520 mins
Actual runtime after 4 minutes of songs, recap and mid scenes - 26 * 15 = 390 mins
This is an isekai cultivation donghua.
Reborn in a cultivation world with all memories of martial skills from past life martial world.
Pace of story - Slow
Screenplay - Decent
Direction - Very bad (No clue about when to cut an episode or end a season.
Animation - Decent - There are good fight scenes. Rest of it is fine. Character development - Slow. The MC has no character growth as pretty much the character was an adult to begin with.
The sole saving grace is the father of the MC. He has shown more depth than all remaining characters combined.
Power fantasy angle - MC is powerful because of isekai and family souls inheritage.
But the pace destroys any change o…
Read at the sourceAtiqahBloom
This was my introduction into Donghua, and I don't want to go back. Basically, the series follows Tang San, a young soul master, as he navigates a world where strength is determined by one's spirit. The narrative is filled with twists and turns, and kept me captivated from the beginning to end. Given that it was my first donghua, I found that the quality was better than expected, and improved throughout the seasons. I also found the characters to be relatable, and each had their own distinct personalities and motivations. Tang San's growth and relationships with his companions are a highlight of the series. I also love a good one-woman man :) and since this had that, I went all in. So, if you are looking for fantasy, romance, friendships, this is a must-watch for you. While it may have som…
Read at the sourceEmposter
If Game of Thrones was a Chinese anime, it would be this one. Unfortunately, that's true for the last season as well. Like GoT, the last season of Soul Land get's kind of dumb and feels rushed. Overall, still worth watching, however.
Don't be tricked by the beginning. The beginning is fine, don't get me wrong, but pretty generic. Good guys win, plots happen as expected, classic OP MC stuff.
There are nearly 300 episodes, and once you get deeper it, the plot gets really good. Twists you don't see coming, intrigue and death can happen to anyone, red-wedding scale surprises that take a plot you thought you saw the destination for and dramatically changing it, and all really well done in a way that all the actions and plot points make sense, instead of feeling forced or stupid.
It's just re…
Read at the sourceSkillsBeyond
Well to be honest this show isn't for anyone... You have to adjust from watching regular Japanese anime to a fully 3D animated chinese production. It kind of feels like you are watching a video game animated story to be honest..
But man, the story is quite compelling if you ask me...
The story is about this young reincarnated boy who was a previous genious of his clans secret techniques, and now is getting to relive a second life in another world with different yet similar powers to his previous world which is pretty interesting.
The characters are fun, somewhat cool and not all over the top in terms of fanservice or annoying catch phrases. The MC feels pretty well balanced so far and have some kind of calm and coolness over him, yet also emotional at times which is a process for him t…
Read at the sourceGPDonghua
This donghua is an adaptation of a novel of the same name. I have read the novel, so I will give an adaptation review in addition to a review of the donghua as an independent work.
Plot Summary: Tang San, an outer sect disciple, violated the rules of the Tang Sect and thus was pursued as a traitor. In his final moments, he reveals that the techniques and designs he stole, allowed him to recreate the technologically lost legendary weapons weapons of the Tang Sect. These weapons would be his last gift to the Tang Sect, as he knows his treasonous actions would not be forgiven. Since he was an orphan raised by the sect, he returns everything, including his life to back to the sect (via suicide as atonement). After this, he reincarnates up in the Douluo Continent (Dalu), cultivating the skills…
Read at the sourceplutorenjun
I started this show in 5th grade and now I'm a high schooler, I kept watching because it had some nice memories from when I was younger but after episode 213 I'm finally dropping the show.
the episodes are getting shorter and shorter, its becoming really tiring and no longer an enjoyable experience which is really upsetting considering how much I loved it as a kid. After about the first 100 episodes, it started to feel like a chore and by now the story feels pointless and repetitive.
the story has a lot of likable characters and it was really fun seeing these characters grow which was the primary reason why I even bothered to keep watching.
I'm not sure whether to recommend this donghua to anybody because I really did love it for a long time but now its just become a disappointment. th…
Read at the sourceteejaycrunk
The short simple of this show is be patient with it. its going to be a bit wonky with the animations at first, but they do get better over the seasons. The product placement in the anime is annoying as well, but easy to skip over. however it also requires some patience as well.
as in any of my reviews, I never compare an anime to other animes, and I judge them solely on the impression they left me with. not the "well its alot like*****" and absolutely NO spoilers!!
THIS REVIEW IS BASED ON ALL 10 (current) SEASONS, NOT JUST THE FIRST. (this season)
Story:
Its a very well built world that is very rich and believable, nothing really feels like a stretch. If it don't make sense they usually fill in the gaps not long after, and forgotten elements of the show will reappear later and finally…
Read at the sourceHenriqueNeves
Douluo Dalu demonstrates a form that calls for a direct relationship with MMORPG games. The main mediator of the anime is in how it tries to put the viewer in a kind of fascination for the whole spectacular technical apparatus that is presented.
The entire staging of the anime has this kind of fascinating aspect due to the magic of its universe. The scenes are all very loaded: there are a lot of filters, details, things moving. Anime always has many pleasurable elements highlighted. Almost everything is spectacularly beautiful and detailed. And the anime makes several plans that allow the viewer to contemplate all this beauty. It's an anime made entirely in 3D, and it uses this style of animation very well to immerse the viewer in all this technical fascination.
The action scenes are divi…
Read at the sourceveerusani123
Its a very decent story line .Well developed main character and story plot.
Main character starting from zero and improves step by steps and Its looks very natural .
Chemistry between the leads also very good .
Friendship between main character and other characters are good.
The only thing I dis-pointed is episode to episode was taking to much time .If they manage weekly episodes its very good .
Its one of fine anime I ever seen.
story is he and his father leaves in a small village and he went to another place for education there he meet FL and develop feelings due to some issues he went other place there he meet new friends and starts develop his skills and participate in a competition and wins and knows his family background and FL background . situations push him to make stronger and h…
Read at the sourceST63LTH
Fairly comprehensive review of Douluo Dalu (Soul Land) Season 1
Introduction
Douluo Dalu is a Chinese Reincarnation-Cultivation Donghua adapted by Sparkly Key Animation Studios under Tencent Penguin Pictures and collaborators. The Donghua follows events of the novel “Douluo Dalu 2009” and from what I believe don’t follow the Manhua “Douluo Dalu 2011”.
Overview
Douluo Dalu First Season follows Vol. 1 Chapter 00 to Vol. 5 Chapter 34 covering the Douluo Continent, The First Spirit Ring, Monster Academy, Shrek Seven Devils and the end of Star Dou Forest arcs.
Meaning, the first season is a bulk of character development and narrative establishment which becomes lengthy and almost tiresome to persist. However, it is because of this development that the latter narrative development is more me…
Read at the sourcelordzden
Great Anime! Love the story. Tang San is the real genius. I like each character development. Excellent story telling.
I highly recommend this anime. Please watch it.
The Tang Sect is the most well-known martial arts sect in the world. Tang San committed an awful crime by taking its most sacred teachings in order to realize his aspirations. With his goal accomplished, he turns up his legacy to the sect and jumps from the dreadful "Hell's Peak."
He had no idea, however, that this would reincarnate him in a world devoid of magic, martial arts, or grudges. Only the magical souls of battle rested in this place.
Read at the sourceKoaichi
Something that I like about this anime is its art style. Before I watched Doulou Dalu, I only liked the regular 2D art style that most anime used. However, it seems to work for this type of genre. It makes the fight scenes cooler than they would've been in 2D.
One of the only issues I have is that none of the characters really develop except for the MC; everyone has the same personality.
Overall, it's a great anime. The MC retained his knowledge from his past life and uses it to his advantage. It's very satisfying seeing him becoming stronger and unlocking new abilities. For those that enjoy the anime, it's very difficult to stop watching.
Read at the sourceneoptimuskck
One of the best Chinese Animes i have watched. Great story line. Minimum fillers, Great character growth. Very good romance plot and character growth. The graphics are one of the greatest and actually much better than most of the Japanese anime too.
The fight scenes are non repetitive and specially the character growth with respect to world is awesome. The only problem i see is that . prepare a tissue box while watching because just like the FMA brotherhood, this anime has a hidden onion ninja who chop onions time to time.
The second season already running for 125 episodes and i recommend everyone to give a shot to this masterpiece.
Read at the sourcekkhaiii
The first impression of Douluo Dalu wasn't amazing. They say that the first 20 seconds of a show determines whether the show is good or not. And in most cases, that first 20-second rule is quite accurate from my experiences.
Art (5/10)
The animation and the art style were hard to convert into. I didn't like it at first, but I know I got myself into it and I shouldn't have expected much from it. It's not good but it's not something that I looked for so, in the end, it slightly matters, but it doesn't ruin the show. You can have a good story with terrible art and animation, and I'll still watch it.
One thing that annoyed me the most about the animation was how fast it moved. It was like watching an extremely fast slideshow. Every second is a new cut from a different angle, it's hard to see…
Read at the sourceAvalon2326
Soul Land stars off slow. The first season isn't that bad. The second one gets a little repetitive but once you get to the training arc the next 30 eps are some of the best that I have ever seen. This is pretty good anime to watch if you want to get in to Donghua. Trust me the art grows on you and you learn to appreciate it. The weapon details are very good and the fight scenes are awesome. The translation is pretty garbage at some points but they later get fixed. The power system is one of the best I have seen. It is straight forward and you enjoy watching the characters grow stronger.
Read at the sourcevccannes
It took some time to get used to the 3D animation, however after a few episodes it was totally fine; almost like watching cut scenes from a Teen rated fantasy/martial arts video game. The fight scenes are very fast paced: kinetic and filled with bright neon colors and moving particles to the point of being distracting or disorienting at times. Nonetheless, they are often exciting and fun to watch. Facial expressions can be stiff especially when characters are expressing affection or frustration which creates some disconnection as a viewer.
Most of the female characters look the same and have relatively weak personalities (save for 2 or 3), whereas the male characters have diverse body types and facial features and can be pretty funny. Regardless, few of the characters have much depth and…
Read at the sourcemushimk
Chinese Harry Potter. This is somewhat how I felt watching the show at times, because of the nice and well-thought adventure and story, in a beautiful and complex world : a believable world.
Now the problem is, to get there, the viewers have to ... cultivate (^^') an incredible amount of patience.
Because this show is also a perfect exemple as to why a carefully craft story can be crushed by its production nefarious flaws. And there are numerous, these flaws. Here's some example : in a video player, one episode is about 20~24 min. From these 20 min, remove 3 min for opening theme+previous episodes resume, then remove 1 min for useless interludes and finally remove 5 to 7 min for product placements and ending theme (and I'm not joking, I've timed the thing).
Honestly, this take a fair amou…
Read at the source