(CR) Thunderbolt Fantasy

[Dop]

OK. I'm in for the ride now. Enjoyed the second episode and want to see where this is going.

[felix]

Episode 2 was pretty cool.

Really like how the show is tacking every opportunity to do nice fight choreography.
The show also has a very strong wuxia vibe to it. The characters are also very wuxia in their thinking.

Just what I wanted ♡

[leongsh]

Episode 2: This is just way too much. They have well and truly hit one of my weak spots - nostalgia for old fashioned wuxia. What a blast.

[Nork22]

Originally Posted by B214

By the way Taiwanese Hokkien should be also the same as Penang and Singapore Hokkien, if you can understand the Hokkien in those locations, then it should be pretty much understandable.

I would disagree to an extent. Penang Hokkien is different to Taiwanese Hokkien due to the type of words used. I couldn't even communicate with the Taiwanese living in Yokohama when I was on holiday because of the words used. Mind you, Penang Hokkien has many Malay, Cantonese and English thrown in, it feels more broken for other Hokkien speakers in different countries to understand.

[Harry Dresden]

Episode 2

Hoo boy does this feel right at home. Demon realms, heavenly immortals, wandering "totally not important" nameless sages, weapons of great power. This is such a by-the-book wuxia show that I can't help but feel engrossed.

[Maxulous]

I guess I'm turned off by the lengths they've gone to replicate generic anime fantasy. The puppetry has worn for me.

[jeroz]

2 things:

Rinsetsua definitely swapped it while they aren't looking

Ryoumi definitely wet herself after that arrow.

[Grifis]

I love wuxia and all but my puppet tolerance for this maxed out at 2 eps. I can't stop thinking instead of those elaborate puppets, I could have ogled at gorgeous bishies.

[B214]

Originally Posted by Nork22

I would disagree to an extent. Penang Hokkien is different to Taiwanese Hokkien due to the type of words used. I couldn't even communicate with the Taiwanese living in Yokohama when I was on holiday because of the words used. Mind you, Penang Hokkien has many Malay, Cantonese and English thrown in, it feels more broken for other Hokkien speakers in different countries to understand.

Really i have no problem communicating with people from Taiwan and Penang through Hokkien. Maybe it's just me. ( ._.)

Anyway back on topic, ep 2 was nice, i have a weakness to wuxia series so naturally i'm hook up.

[Dop]

Anyone hoping Dan Fei would turn out not to be just a damsel in distress character will be pretty pleased with this episode. They're putting the band back together.

[Ii_chan]

It is really interesting how the mc always speaks about life is more important than pride or sword or anything. It is like he is more value his life than anything in the world.
I wonder in the end if he willing to sacrifice his life for something. For the heroine or love maybe.

[Xeiros]

Originally Posted by Dop

Anyone hoping Dan Fei would turn out not to be just a damsel in distress character will be pretty pleased with this episode. They're putting the band back together.

What are you talking about? While she's not completely helpless, the only enemies we've seen her take on (episodes 1 and 3) are the weakest grunts of whoever they're currently dealing with both of which happened to be some sort of undead.

You're watching say the end of this episode thinking whoa she's got some cool techniques, until you remember she's only seeing success against the least threatening of the enemies forces. I would love to see her take on an actual threatening character and not be completely useless, but that's yet to happen. Here's hoping it does.

[HandofFate]

Dan Fei seems to be the AoE character of the group and able to clear waves of grunts. Which isn't the star, but has its uses in certain parties.

Wuxias never did have prominent strong female characters though.

Last episode, the one that faced off against the arrow guy was pretty pathetic even if she was just there to introduce the main character to the party.

For the end of episode 3, probably because its harder with puppets, but found the spear guy's attacks and movement doesn't flow as smooth as regular swinging of the sword characters.

Looking forward to episode 4, I think it be funny if the necromancer girl is an old girlfriend of our party leader and that's why she hates him a bit lol.

[Xeiros]

I find it kind of silly that as one of the guardians of the Sword Forging Shrine, she's a pretty awful at her job and was clearly no match for either Cán Xiōng or their leader Miè Tiān Hái. Pretty much anyone else in thier current party would be better at protecting the divine sword than she is.

How did she earn her position again? Were her and her brother who to be fair wasn't bad as it took their leader himself to kill him the only ones protecting the parts of the divine sword? I mean seriously pretty much any named character on either side could kill her with no real effort. You look and the situation and realize she and her brother never had a chance. Of all the people that could have protected the Sword Forging Shrine they're no where near the level they'd need to be when compared to all the other named characters introduced so far.

I mean they're going to attempt to storm the bad guys home base right? The dudes we've established she is far inferior to as far as fighting ability goes. I will laugh so hard if she starts casting barriers and healing magic when she hasn't prior. Since you know there was never a time that would have come in handy. She's not equipped to handle any of the three tasks either. So why exactly is she going with them into the jaws of the beast where she'd only be a liability should anything worse than their undead grunts attack her?

I like her as a character. I like her personality and design. She's cool. I just don't understand her role and how doesn't at all mesh with her uh job as a Goinshi or protector of the sword forging shrine where the divine retribution sword is kept. A magic weapon so powerful it could cause mass devastation in the wrong hands and as such would obviously draw the attention of the most evil people seeking it's power for themselves . She is again not at all skilled enough to actually protect it.

The best part though is the fact the she is willingly bringing the swords guard, one of the things the bad guys need in order to gain access to the divine sword so they can fuck up the world straight to them. Remember they already acquired the sword's handle when Miè Tiān Hái killed her brother back in the first episode. This can't possibly backfire. Everything will be fine. Why? What? Why?

[AvianWing]

Originally Posted by Xeiros

I find it kind of silly that as one of the guardians of the Sword Forging Shrine, she's a pretty awful at her job and was clearly no match for either Cán Xiōng or their leader Miè Tiān Hái. Pretty much anyone else in thier current party would be better at protecting the divine sword than she is.

How did she earn her position again? Were her and her brother who to be fair wasn't bad as it took their leader himself to kill him the only ones protecting the parts of the divine sword? I mean seriously pretty much any named character on either side could kill her with no real effort. You look and the situation and realize she and her brother never had a chance. Of all the people that could have protected the Sword Forging Shrine they're no where near the level they'd need to be when compared to all the other named characters introduced so far.

I mean they're going to attempt to storm the bad guys home base right? The dudes we've established she is far inferior to as far as fighting ability goes. I will laugh so hard if she starts casting barriers and healing magic when she hasn't prior. Since you know there was never a time that would have come in handy. She's not equipped to handle any of the three tasks either. So why exactly is she going with them into the jaws of the beast where she'd only be a liability should anything worse than their undead grunts attack her?

I like her as a character. I like her personality and design. She's cool. I just don't understand her role and how doesn't at all mesh with her uh job as a Goinshi or protector of the sword forging shrine where the divine retribution sword is kept. A magic weapon so powerful it could cause mass devastation in the wrong hands and as such would obviously draw the attention of the most evil people seeking it's power for themselves . She is again not at all skilled enough to actually protect it.

The best part though is the fact the she is willingly bringing the swords guard, one of the things the bad guys need in order to gain access to the divine sword so they can fuck up the world straight to them. Remember they already acquired the sword's handle when Miè Tiān Hái killed her brother back in the first episode. This can't possibly backfire. Everything will be fine. Why? What? Why?

Because she's from the clan that protects the sword? I'm not sure I understand why it's unbelievable that she's the guardian of the sword. Seems like it's been a while since someone has attempted to steal the sword, and the clan may not have as much talent or resource to protect it as it used to. I don't see why they would ask random powerful strangers to come protect it in a time of peace. Also, the bad guys are after her. Yeah, she can go into hiding or something, but it seems safer (for now) for her to be guarded by the party.

[Xeiros]

You can't even defend it. It's clear she and her brother were not given the two keys to the most dangerous magic weapon in existence because they were the most qualified to keep them safe. The third episode actually lampshades this in her conversation with Shang. She and her clan are so stuck in tradition, so out of touch with the rest of the world they aren't actually capable of doing their duty. Their leader killing Dān Héng the stronger of the two by her own admission like it was nothing at all makes this abundantly clear.

You'd think you'd need only the most skilled warriors if you wanted to guard the keys to the most powerful of magic weapon since it will draw the attention of worst power seeking people to it. Hence the folly of tradition and being born into a clan over logic, good sense, and a strong understanding of the current world. Guess which character has shown all three qualities in abundance? Hint: It's not her.

They don't a rats ass about her specifically. They only want the sword's guard she has, the guard she is currently bringing to them. Nothing about the protagonist group of characters introduced is random. They're all clearly specifically chosen by Guǐ Niǎo with of course the exception of our reluctant hero being forced along for the ride due in part to Guǐ Niǎo's manipulations and having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She willing accepts their help too so it's not as though the clan's traditions are to refuse outside assistance as she pretty much immediately trusts Guǐ Niǎo a total stranger to her to both form the party for and lead the expedition to Seven Sins Tower.

Guǐ Niǎo is becoming increasingly suspicious too. When you think back to the first episode after having seen the third where he mentions he knows Miè Tiān Hái can extract memories from severed heads but never told Shang this before he drugs Cán Xiōng with his magic pipe smoke into attacking him thus forcing him to defend himself and defeat Cán Xiōng who then decapitates himself and sends his head back to Seven Sins Tower which then puts Shang on the Black Devil Sects shit list. He has pretty much the entirety of the protagonist party dancing in the palm of his hand. I'm sure he's a good guy though that just uses a few underhanded methods is all. I'm sure that magic smoke will never be used again.

[AvianWing]

Originally Posted by Xeiros

You can't even defend it. It's clear she and her brother were not given the two keys to the most dangerous magic weapon in existence because they were the most qualified to keep them safe. The third episode actually lampshades this in her conversation with Shang. She and her clan are so stuck in tradition, so out of touch with the rest of the world they aren't actually capable of doing their duty. Their leader killing Dān Héng the stronger of the two by her own admission like it was nothing at all makes this abundantly clear.

You'd think you'd need only the most skilled warriors if you wanted to guard the keys to the most powerful of magic weapon since it will draw the attention of worst power seeking people to it. Hence the folly of tradition and being born into a clan over logic, good sense, and a strong understanding of the current world. Guess which character has shown all three qualities in abundance? Hint: It's not her.

They don't a rats ass about her specifically. They only want the sword's guard she has, the guard she is currently bringing to them. Nothing about the protagonist group of characters introduced is random. They're all clearly specifically chosen by Guǐ Niǎo with of course the exception of our reluctant hero being forced along for the ride due in part to Guǐ Niǎo's manipulations and having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She willing accepts their help too so it's not as though the clan's traditions are to refuse outside assistance as she pretty much immediately trusts Guǐ Niǎo a total stranger to her to both form the party for and lead the expedition to Seven Sins Tower.

Prior to current events, these powerful people would be random strangers to her. Why would she trust them? Why would they seek out powerful people who can just as easily steal the sword? It's under the most extraordinary of circumstances that the group banded together. It's through them saving her life and preserving the sword guard that she trusts them.

You're looking at things in hindsight as if it's the most logical conclusion. It's a relic that hasn't been threatened in years. Yes, having the foresight to increase the protection would have been greatly beneficial. But there may simply have been no reason to suspect something like this would have transpired, or that they would not have enough power to fend off whatever threat that may come.

I don't know why you have so much hostility towards her. Her actions aren't so different from a normal person's and her decisions aren't inherently foolish. Not every character can be that Mary Sue where everything is just as planned.

[jeroz]

Originally Posted by HandofFate

Looking forward to episode 4, I think it be funny if the necromancer girl is an old girlfriend of our party leader and that's why she hates him a bit lol.

Dude that preview:
"A night's dream, a summer of love, a life of hatred"

that's not a prediction, that's pretty much what happened basically.

Lin pretty much fucked her up in multiple ways

[felix]

To defend the don't use the sword strategy,

What guarantee is there that once you unseal the sword you can seal it back?
Even if you defeat the big bad, now the sword is vulnerable, unless someone intends to carry it 24/7.

The only dumb part is that the key and the seal are in the same spot, it would have been more secure to separate the key from the seal.

[Harry Dresden]

Okay so this episode fully confirms this being a more fantasy-like wuxia setting with demons and immortals and the like, not just martial arts and magic. Interesting.

Could Lin Xue be the previous owner of the tower? He obviously has an ulterior motive in this.

Originally Posted by felix

To defend the don't use the sword strategy,

What guarantee is there that once you unseal the sword you can seal it back?
Even if you defeat the big bad, now the sword is vulnerable, unless someone intends to carry it 24/7.

The only dumb part is that the key and the seal are in the same spot, it would have been more secure to separate the key from the seal.

Also taboos usually are there for a reason. And it is not unusual for a wuxia to have some sort of weapon that affects the mind of the user. For all we know that is the case with this sword and whoever wields it could end up being intoxicated with bloodlust or something.

If the sword was as simple as "hey it has lots of destructive power", the taboo would make no sense. If anything the MC's question on why not use the sword and the whole taboo thing explanation is a huge foreshadowing for that.

Originally Posted by HandofFate

Wuxias never did have prominent strong female characters though.

Any wuxia with white haired witch motif usually has strong female character, considering its basically a revenge story.

Its becoming more frequent lately in wuxia movies and tv tho - Nirvana in Fire had quite a badass female lead, The Banquet had a great, morally gray female lead. The Grandmaster had a great(and quite tragic) heroine. The Swordsman tv remake despite its easy to dislike male lead, had very interesting and likeable focus on Dongfang Bubai who in this adaptation was a woman.

Even now older more mainstream examples like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon had strong female leads. Hell, even Condor Heroes Xiaolong is arguably one of the most powerful characters.

But yes, overall quite often they are delegated into a damsel in distress role after a while. But not always.