My Donghua Review

Soul Land (2018)

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by

Midnight Poet

in

Synopsis:

Tang’s clan outer disciple Tang San, who secretly learnt the inner sect’s greatest power jumps off the cliff to prove his sincerity. With another identity, he enters another world full of Martial Souls, named Soul Land. Each kid’s Martial Soul will be awakened when they are six. Be it animal, plant or weapon type, Martial Soul can help out their daily routines. It is also the strongest occupation with utmost honour in Soul Land, the soul master. Little Tang San embarks his journey to be a soul master from the Saint of Soul Village, together with his dream to revive Tang’s clan.

Genre: Fantasy, Action, Drama

Number of episode: 265

Studio: Sparkly Key Animation

Type: 3D Animation

Where to watch?: WeTV, Youtube

Douban score: 7.2 (year 1); 7,5 (year 2); 7.7 (year 3); 8.0 (year 4); 6.5 (year 5)

Tencent rating: 7.6 (with > 9.5 million raters)

My rating: Must Watch

Status: Complete

Recommended if you like:

  • An exciting watch with action & fantasy
  • Story of love and friendship

What I Like

  • I think what I like from Soul Land is basically the same with what I like from Soul Land 2. They’re basically an exciting watch with action, fantasy & adventure, with story revolves around love, friendship & family.
  • I like how Tang Hao and Ah Yin really care about Tang San. Despite letting Tang San roam free on his adventure, Tang Hao actually always around to protect Tang San.
  • Xiao Wu is really pretty and cute. I like her so much. Tang San is smart and nice, I also like him. I think the original Shrek Seven Devil is more prominent and more balance in terms of screen time compared with SSD in Soul Land 2 where some characters like Xiao Xiao, He Caitou & Jiang Nannan rarely get spotlight.

My Other Comments

  • Tang San & Xiao Wu probably will be in my Top 5 list of donghua couple, if only they don’t have that gege-meimei phase. Maybe this is something normal in China, but I just find it strange.
  • TJSS seems to like love triangle in his novel. It’s ok for the first 1 – 2 love triangle. But when another love triangle keep appearing in the donghua, it start being annoying & seems like a lazy choice to create drama.
  • This donghua start in 2018. While I’m ok with the animation, my brother said he doesn’t like the way the characters walk & move in the first 100 episodes.
  • I have some complaint with the character design. I thought Shrek Sevel Devil are already in their teens/late teens when they first appear but it turns out most are only 11 – 13 years old at that time.

Other Fun Facts

Soul Land is adapted from famous novel and probably still the most widely watched donghua in China. In 2023, Yuewen said the donghua has 52 billion views. It has 66 million followers in Tencent Video platform. Even until now, Soul Land still often in Tencent Video Top 15 donghua chart, despite has ended in 2023.

Link to watch

WeTV: https://wetv.vip/en/album/wzx7pbebgpxlqqr

Youtube:

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