The King’s Avatar

As I mentioned in this week’s ‘obsessions‘ post, I quickly became obsessed with this. At first I was hesitant but decided to watch this after reading the comments from previous viewers who were raving about both the story and animation. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided I might as well watch episode one. Now 9 episodes in I am waiting for the update.

So let’s get to the nity gritties.

• Genre: Action, Game, Adventure, Comedy
• Number of Episodes: 9 (ongoing) said to be 12
• Duration to watch: +/- 5 hours
• Season: 1
• Age restriction: PG-13 – Teens 13 or older
• Release date: April  2017
• Animation Studio: G.CMay Animation & Film
• Producers: Tencent Animation
• Kanji: 全职高手
• Other Titles: Quan Zhi Gao Shou or Full-Time Expert

About:

Xiu Ye is known as the “Battle God” due to his top-tier professional gaming in the online multiplayer game “Glory”. His game character One Autumn Leaf is known all throughout the game. After playing the game for many years he is forced to retire from the team and hand over his game character the the person replacing him. Unable to play professionally for 1 year he becomes a night manager at an internet cafe. He creates a new character for himself and joins Glory’s 10th sever and quickly immerses himself into the gaming world once again, having to relearn how to be a ‘beginner’. His new character ‘Lord Grim‘ is quickly set apart from the other players on the server as his name appears three times on the leader boards which attracts a lot of attention.

My Thoughts:

I had originally worried that this would be the same as Sword Art Online when I read the description, oh joy, another character that is overly powerful and will dominate the game with his epic skills… which Xiu Ye does but on a whole other level and not quite so miraculously as Kirito.

First thing’s first because let’s admit it, if the animation sucks, the anime usually does too. I was incredibly impressed with the blend of 2D and 3D animation. It was basically flawless and incredibly detailed. In all honesty I would probably watch this purely because of the animation although thankfully that is not all there is to this anime.

I also found that I enjoyed the characters, who were versatile and had actual personalities and were easily differential from one another. They each added different dimensions and view points to the game. As for the MC, Xiu Ye, he is incredibly talented and has honed his skills playing Glory for ten years so on top of having excellent control of the characters he has an extensive understanding and knowledge of the actual game which helps with in game play. He even goes so far as to read the manuals to learn how to effectively defeat each boss. He also emphasizes that even if you have good natural skills it will go to waste if you do not learn about the game and the characters.

The King’s Avatar offered a new perspective to the gaming genre by including the personal lives of the characters as well as the professional side to gaming showing that it is not all clean cut and easy. This is an incredibly detailed anime going so far as to mention AMP (actions per minute) Even the in game plays, politics and character types matched that of an actual game.

Some of the action scenes can seem repetitive, although this adds to the detail of the anime, since the same ‘action’ is enabled in a fight the move will be the same just as if you had been actually playing a game so it makes sense for the action itself to be the same.

As you can see in the above image, two different battles but the same move is carried out. The plot is also interesting to see as well since the whole story is not given away at the beginning. There are still some relationships that I question, wondering what their actual relationship is. I also wander what Xiu Ye is planning. Is he aiming to create his own team and train them up during his one year hiatus and then go pro again with the team of his own making? I kind of see this happening especially since so many strong and unique players are finding their way to him. The best part is since he is playing against others of varying skill it makes him keep up his own skills.

What does he have against clerics? This is actually one of my more pressing questions. Silly I know but really I just have to know.

Other than that, this is rather enjoyable to watch. The animation is smooth, the Mandarin was surprisingly easy to adjust to and the story flows at quickly. Although the Xiu Ye is honestly OP with being  both skilled and intelligent he can not play alone and he helps his fellow players.  Yet the anime is not completely focused on him alone.

Will you watch this? Have you watched this? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below!