Pitched at a frantic pace, the short-format donghua flies by.
Crowned in a Hundred Days S1
The first two episodes are now streaming on Crunchyroll. Subsequent episodes will debut -- late-night -- every Thursday.
It's easy to watch the images race on and off the screen, though it's much harder to have any sense of their characters when they're moving at such a fast pace.
Admittedly, though my firsthand knowledge of Japanese animation is limited, I have even less experience in watching donghua, or Chinese animation. And I haven't even seen enough to form an opinion on the short-form donghua on display here. (The first two episodes run 11-14 minutes each.)
The official synopsis sets the tone:
"After a beloved king unleashes a brutal massacre, Ming loses everything and vows revenge. But as he sets out to kill the tyrant, he discovers the true King Lie has been forced from his own body. With only 100 days left to reclaim the throne, the king and his would-be assassin must join forces to expose an impostor before the kingdom falls into darkness."
To be clear: the 16+ rating is not a joke; heads get stomped into squishiness, and much blood flows. Yet the show also aims at a lighthearted approach, which is hard to square when the violence is staged in dramatic fashion.
What it has going for it is the two-pronged narrative thread. Ming wants to be reunited with his one true love, and the true King Lie wants to be reunited with his one true love (the crown). The reason for the deadline is that the fake King Lie kidnapped Ming's one true love after slaughtering her family, along with nearly everyone else in the food shop they owned. Since she is underage, he must wait 100 days until she comes of age and he can legally marry her. (The show was produced in China, after all, which is OK with squishing heads but not marriage before both are of legal adulthood.)
The primary impression I took away was the frantic pace -- people running and shouting and cutting off body parts -- and the extended explanations, which dominate Episode 2. I won't be avoiding the show as it progresses, but neither will I prioritize it in my viewing.
Image ©bilibili.
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