Introduction
A poor and ordinary boy from a village joins a minor sect in Jiang Hu and becomes an Unofficial Disciple by chance. How will Han Li, a commoner by birth, establish a foothold for himself in in his sect? With his mediocre aptitude, he must successfully traverse the treacherous path of cultivation and avoid the notice of those who may do him harm. This is a story of an ordinary mortal who, against all odds, clashes with devilish demons and ancient celestials in order to find his own path towards immortality.
(Source: Wuxia World)
Audience reviews
7 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
ninja35mm
Score: 11/10 — One of the rare gems
Like many of you, I don't have a huge list of anime that I can truly call my favorites. Fanren Xiu Xian Chuan isn’t a “classic” in the traditional sense, but somehow, it managed to become one of those rare 11/10 shows for me.
So, what’s the protagonist like? He’s humble yet brave, calculating but kind, clever but never deceitful. If I had to point out a flaw (as of Season 6), it’s probably that he’s a bit too distant when it comes to romance — especially with the women around him. But honestly, it fits his character and journey.
The story? It’s classic cultivation at its best — full of intense battles, steady progression, and stunning, breathtaking animation. There’s a constant sense of movement and momentum, and you can feel the stakes growing higher…
Read at the sourcedaylilyyy
Fanren Xiu Xian Chuan is a standout donghua for fans of strategic. If you like smart, slow-burn cultivation stories with a clever hero, this donghua is worth watching. The start is slow, but it gets much better.
It follows the journey of Han Li, an ordinary mortal who enters the world of cultivation through wit, perseverance, and caution. The donghua has gained attention for its unique protagonist and cultivation realism, but it also has some notable weaknesses.
This donghua is great because it has a smart main character (Han Li) who uses his brain instead of just fighting.
The world feels real and dangerous, where cultivators must be careful to survive.
While the animation starts rough, it gets much better later with cool fights and nice visuals.
The story is great that stands out in…
Read at the sourceAntyVerse2021
I'll be honest: this is my first experience with Chinese 3D animation. I decided at some point in some day of some month of some year to diversify my repertoire and see what people from the country of Winnie the Pooh can create. Especially as I have not had much exposure to Chinese pop culture in my life, at least not to the same extent as Japanese pop culture. Here, of course, we are not counting creations i.e. the poor remake of Mulan from Disney or the concentration camps for Uighurs. So how did Fanren Xiu Xian Chuan fare after that huge number of reviews on MAL, four in number while writing this in 2024, of A Record of a Mortal Journey to Immortality? It was just meh. Like a big MEH.
STORY 5/10
Let's start with the story: a poor kid joins the minor sect (that doesn't sound at all lik…
Read at the sourceHouseOfCards
This is a Chinese animation (donghua) so some people might be hesitant but it's really good. I would recommend it if you are into adventure stories with low-key smart MC's that aren't OP that don't constantly have crazy fight scenes. I got started with Tales of Demons and Gods, and watched a few others, but this is probably one of the best ones out there. This is a typical cultivation story with the MC starting out weak in ancient times and progressively getting stronger, but the story always has a degree of realism. One of my biggest qualms about donghua is usually the unrealistic MC who can do everything and overcome any obstacles by growing OP quickly, but as people, we cannot. This MC is always aware of the ever present danger of life and he has to constantly make tough but practical d…
Read at the sourceST63LTH
TL;DR: This is a wuxia cultivation series that doesn't have BL and has an actually good plot, great animation, detail and sound design as well as consistent character development.
Mortal's Journey is a Chinese wuxia donghua that follows Han Li, a child of a poor village family who sacrifices himself to enter the seven mysterious sect in order to improve his family's living situation. Unfortunately he fails the entrance exam but is accepted as a medic's disciple learning medicine and the path of cultivation. He encounters trauma when he finds his medic teacher Mo is not what he seems and his disciple friend who showed no affinity to cultivation suddenly changing his path of cultivation to martial arts. This story is goes very in depth with character establishment in the beginning which al…
Read at the sourceiamKetranLang
Fanren lives up to the Martial Arts genre. It delivers some of the best 3D sword fighting action!
Our MC goes forth into a sect and to his enemies he demonstrates he can quickly rise in fighting skills and becoming the next master of elixir. Halfway in the donghua, he sets out higher and goes to a higher sect to cultivate to be an immortal, there are stronger people who fight in magic, Behind him is his shishu (senior) who was there even when others try to snub him. 2nd best character. His path forward, he fights with a burning spirit.
Amazing consistent quality throughout, pick up Fanren. You can see it's good from the first episode!
Read at the sourcexVoretex
10/10, total masterpiece. I've been a donghua fan for quite a while, going around a good bunch of them, be it CGI or not, I enjoy them quite thoroughly.
Now, If you've never watched a CGI anime such as this, especially since the dub is Chinese, you might think I'm delusional or something, but trust me, you just need time to get used to It.
The story progression is amazing, although there would be a few filters, but It's greatly built.
The power progression is also amazing, everyone thinks of others as super-strong, but the truth is, they're barely at the bottom of the path of cultivation. This anime had a great potential and met it, and so will the 2nd season (Coming 2021) I reckon.
Read at the source