Spiritpact

This episode is satisfying, and while there are funny scenes interspersed, they don't detract from the overall tone. What does detract from it, however, are the over-the-top effects for some things. What on earth is that mountain-destroying laser straight out of Dragon Ball Z? Then the resolution is pretty ridiculous too. "We almost killed you and caused a coup in your family, but now that we see you can annihilate us with one blow, we realize we were wrong, sorry :("

We finally understand the importance of Yang Jinghua's spirit and why Duanmu Xi was so concerned for his well-being from the very beginning. A gamble to defy fate seems lost. An epic and intense episode in equal measure.

Yang Jinghua finally connects with the feelings of the Luoyue sword and its creator, and returns to save Duanmu Xi. The fight between Yang Jinghua and Situ Lu is quite intense, while at the Duanmu house another, less bloody but no less fierce battle rages. Qin Shiyao finally remembers she's a proper girlboss and acts like one. However, something happens, something that terrifies Duanmu Xi.

This chapter is TENSE. There are problems on two fronts. On one hand, we have Duanmu Xi and Yang Jinghua fighting for their lives against Situ Lu,, while at the Duanmu's home, Mrs. Situ is messing around with her spirit talisman. Duanmu Xi and Yang Jinghua's moments are very romantic and emotional.

Yang Jinghua finally receives a well-deserved explanation about what the Luoyue sword means, how it originated, and what his visions mean. The family dramas escalate; I suppose that's part of what's captivating about Chinese dramas—the difference between allies and enemies is much more critical when it's within one's own family. Also, the Shito family has become quite a nuisance.

Yang Jinghua manages to show himself to be more powerful than before, but the problems are not over yet. in this episode we go in search of answers and meet Duanmu Xi's master, who turns out to be quite a funny guy. Duanmu Xi tries hard to fix everything, but he's still badly injured and can't handle it all alone, which is a vulnerability I find refreshing to see. Oh, and now Yang Jinghua is a Sailor Scout (I don't know how to feel about that).

In this episode, Yinzhe makes an appearance, which allows us to learn a little more about him and why he's so interested in Duanmu Xi's activities. The fight scenes in this chapter are brutal; you really feel the damage inflicted on the characters.

Frankly, something that gives me terrible headaches and makes me furious is when these Asian stories blame a character for not knowing about family customs or ancient rituals, even though they're new to the group. Well, that's what happens here. They blame Yang Jinghua for not understanding the great responsibility of being Duanmu Xi's partner, but it was Duanmu Xi himself who didn't have the decency to explain it to him. It's illogical drama, and even more illogical is that Yang Jinghua feels guilty for things he didn't know and couldn't control. Pure rage bait. But at last we understand the great importance and responsibility of Duanmu Xi's work.

Duanmu Xi makes some rather kind gestures toward Yang Jinghua in this episode. We still don't really know his reasons, but he truly feels like a CEO protecting his Y/N. The animation gets quite poor at times, but overall the quality remains good. We also learn a bit more about the lore of our characters' ancestors, who had a VERY close relationship.

WOW, what was that?! Aaahh, that's the reason, uh-huh, okay. Curiously, for such an emotional moment, the sound effects and animation were very poorly executed; adding humor wasn't a wise decision either. I appreciate that they finally addressed the traumatic event of our protagonist; for a moment, it seemed like it didn't matter that he had died. In this episode, we see what was "left behind" after his departure.

After an emotional and ceremonial episode, we get a much more relaxed and humorous one. Duanmu Suming takes us through Duanmu Xi's schedule, which is quite funny, although a bit stereotypical for his "cool guy" archetype. But I empathize with that narcolepsy.

Finally, the big day has arrived: the ceremony to formalize the pact between Duanmu Xi and Yang Jinghua. During the preparations, Duanmu Xi says a couple of things to Yang Jinghua that feel like a premonition of the future. The event looks lavish and enormous, solidifying Duanmu Xi's position as a figure of high authority. However, the emotional montage with flashbacks of the two people who met just a couple of days ago is somewhat amusing.

Situ Lu's attacks are ferocious and very violent; after so much comedic acting, one wouldn't expect him to be so sadistic. The action scenes are brutal (and that's a good thing), and you really feel that Yang Jinghua is suffering. I really appreciate that he decided to solve his problem by becoming stronger rather than seeking help from Duanmu Xi; I really hate it when a relationship between characters has to be built on a dependency for security. There are hints about the characters' past lives or lineage, which makes the story more interesting.

We start the episode with a little fanservice (good job!), but Duanmu Xi finally deigns to give Yang Jinghua a few explanations about the terms of their pact (though not enough to cause further problems later on). Situ Lu turns out to be more dangerous than expected. The violent and humorous moments clash sharply, but it's not entirely unpleasant.

Some action scenes are very well done, others not so much. The animation is very inconsistent. Sometimes certain humorous moments in the middle of scenes come across as very anticlimactic. Xiao Huayu and Yinzhe's designs are very interesting and eye-catching.

Oh, Richie Rich is a rich kid, yeah, servants, a mansion, a mountain all to himself. The interesting thing about this episode is that within his own home there are some tense dynamics that I hope will be explained better later on. Tanmoku continues his bad habit of not explaining anything to You Keika, so we also have no idea who's who in the mansion or why some people want to attack him.

This episode is emotional; it gives us some context about Qin Shiyao's past and explains the reason for his devotion to Duanmu. These flashbacks also solidify Duanmu's role in his family. Qin Shiyao's interactions are very sweet; they have great chemistry together.

In this episode, we meet Duanmu Xi's fiancée. We also learn that Duanmu's sense of humor is a bit... peculiar, and he does something that becomes a recurring theme throughout the series: he fails to communicate with his allies. Because of this, they are unable to prepare for the impending threat.

Since it's such an old anime, the fight scenes look a bit awkward and the sound effects aren't great. Plus, some scenes have some pretty strange pacing issues. But overall, it does generate interest for the following episodes.

The first thing to consider about this anime is that the animation feels rough and inconsistent, but it's also important to remember that this series is from 2016. There are very static shots and distorted faces, and then suddenly there are scenes with great fluidity. The characters are very stereotypical, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't exactly inspire genuine interest in following their stories. The story itself is the strongest aspect of this series: exorcists and pacts with spirits, which makes you want to keep watching to see how things unfold.