Season 1 |
Season 2 |
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Episode Guide
Episode 1 – Wang Ling Wants to Lead a Quiet Life
Episode 2 – A Home Visit by the Demon Master
Episode 3 – The Idle Beauty
Episode 4 – How to Forge a Spiritual Sword
Episode 5 – The Four Bizarre Tales of Faction 60
Episode 6 – The Internet is Not a Lawless Paradise
Episode 7 – The Worker Bee Spirit in the Sun Family
Episode 8 – A Sword Dance of the Five Elements
Episode 9 – A Train to the Twinkling Stars
Episode 10 – Extra: The Director Is Not Home Today
Episode 11 – The Coming
Episode 12 – The Observer Beyond Time and Space
The first season of The Daily Life of the Immortal King (Xian Wang de Richang Shenghuo) is such a sparkling jewel, yet somehow Season 2 seems to have lost its shine. After restarting the world 5 times in Season 1 and losing his budding romance, Wang Ling has perhaps stagnated – even tarnished. Maybe he just feels a little low.
There are still villains aiming to take over the world, of course, this time by stealing the planet’s spiritual energy. And a couple of rogues from last season are still making trouble, like Shadow Faction Leader who’s incarcerated under the school.
But randomly, bigger spotlights seem to point to singular items such as Sun Rong’s family bankruptcy helped downhill by Tang Birdie 2’s family. They even spend an entire chapter showing us the hard slog of animators, perhaps a reason why this season is less fun – over-slog.
It reflects in the storyline, as the deficit in spiritual energy becomes an issue in more ways than one. Day-to-day, with the gear wheel of destiny turning and of course school life continuing, there are tests, rankings and superstitions that keep things going. This is the daily life, after all. As a result of a school test disaster – an accident by Jingke, Wang Ling’s spiritual sword – a nasty hole is accidentally ripped in space that, combined with the declining spiritual energy balance, begins to draw the Demon World closer to Earth.
While all that sounds dramatic, it’s fairly tactical, working away in the background until the final few instalments. Seemingly unrelated attempts from random monsters appear to be related to the hole ripped in space. But only some of the pieces are woven through. A red-colored atmosphere is the main indication of evil and a demon who pops up to take credit.
The bigger drama is there, but the things missing are the connections between friends, little glimmers of school romance, and even interactions with sarcastic baddies. In short, the human side of the story. Chen Chao and Xiaoyu seem to have a connection early on, but nothing comes of it. Sun Rong and Wang Ling keep an eye on each other but rarely connect. Even Froggy 2 is off being petted by other classmates most of the time.
The loss of The Daily Life of the Immortal King narrator leaves another energy-sucking gaping hole. Those moments of sarcastic above-it-all commentary added humor to the most serious of catastrophes. Without it, it feels like just a series of things gone wrong.
There are some standards you can count on, such as the continuing battle between Faction 59 and 60, Guo Hao panicking about homework and convincing Wang Ling to help him, Chen Chao stealing precious relics from home to use elsewhere and Sun Rong’s interest in Wang Ling. There are some moments in 3D – seen as an upgrade – but not really having an impact on the narrative. Plus there’s new music this season, but it’s not as catchy as Season 1’s Xian.
As ever, Wang Ling has the best but fewest lines and most sighs but it’s not nearly enough. True-to-character, all series-long he just quietly saves the day without anyone noticing or appreciating.
All in all, The Daily Life of the Immortal King continues the story, introducing a couple of new characters but not moving very far. Have they run out of ideas? Have we even seen Wang Ling smile? The over-the-top sarcastic explainers are replaced with an occasional staid line or two to ensure we don’t get lost. But this series seems to have lost its joy. <Wang Ling-style sigh.>
If it helps, The Daily Life of the Immortal King Season 3 is already up and running on Crunchyroll and Bilibili, so hopefully a little break brings back the teams’ fighting spirit. We look forward to it with fingers crossed. Jaiyo!
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Verdict - 6/10
6/10