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Last week I watched 2 anime that other members of this community have been discussing. They are both coincidentally Chinese animation.
The first is the Nezha movie and its sequel. It’s peak battle shounen with plenty of flashy fights. Personally, I enjoyed Nezha 1 more than Nezha 2 despite the latter being more acclaimed.
very mild spoilers
There is a twist in Nezha 2 but I saw it coming a mile away.
There is no twist in Nezha 1, but I enjoyed the world-building and how they set things up.
They are worth watching IMO if battle shounen is your cup of tea, or if you are interested in Chinese mythology.
The second is Release that Witch. I binged the few episodes that have been released and I am now all caught up. I love the world-building and politics, and there is definitely a conspiracy.
In fact, I got too impatient after catching up, wanting more of the story, so I picked up the manga adaptation. While I don’t regret it, I must confess that I felt letdown. The manga felt sloppy.
Yes, there are significant differences in character design, but that’s superficial. What mattered to me is how the work is presented. The anime gave me the impression that it’s all about politics and drama. The manga on the other hand turned the story into yet another generic isekai power-fantasy.
Maybe the anime would eventually go down the same path as the manga since they are both based on the same novel, but till then I’d say it’s better to stick with the anime. Personally, I hope that the anime would pick out the best part of the source material while leaving the worst out.