Starting an aeni (animation from South Korea) show with the sword-wielding protagonist fighting a snarling dragon in a bloody skirmish is a great way to introduce a slightly different approach to chaos.
Tomb Raider King S1
The first episode is now streaming on Crunchyroll. Subsequent episodes will debut every Wednesday.
In the police station, Jooheon Suh needs a few minutes to figure out what's happening. Ostensibly, he's there because he punched out a high-schooler who was causing him trouble, leaving him to spend the night in jail.
His friend, Keon, a police officer, bails him out with a chuckle and a grin. Jooheon, though, begins to ponder, realizing that, somehow, he has been transported back in time. Some years in the future, the entire world will be thrown into chaos when giant relics plop down throughout the planet -- though mostly in Europe and the Americas. The relics contained treasures with great wealth, which means everyone becomes their own treasure hunter.
Jooheon, however, shows an unusual aptitude for relic gathering. Soon, he is hired by a giant corporation run by Keon, which sends him on a wide search for more relics.
But that's in the future. For now, Jooheon is anchored in a world where Keon is still a police officer, and relic hunting has not yet begun. How, exactly, does that tie into Jooheon fighting a dragon? And how did he travel through time? And why?
Here's the official synopsis:
"Chaos ensues overnight when mysterious tombs suddenly surface, filled with divine relics granting overwhelming power, triggering a global power struggle to claim them for dominion. Among the havoc, a raider, Jooheon Suh, is betrayed and left for dead until a second chance brings him back years before the relics. Fueled by fury and future knowledge, he sets out to raid each tomb before they arise."
Tomb Raider King has a snappy pace and great artwork. As an adaptation of a South Korean web novel written by Sanji Jiksong, the animation produced by South Korea's Studio EEK is good-quality and a bit different than many similar Japanese shows in its character designs -- sort of a mix of the past and the presents -- which helps it to stand out. I've added it to my watchlist.
Image ©3B2S, Yuns(REDICE STUDIO), SAN G./Tomb Raider King Partners.
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