Shiguang Dailiren

While it was airing, Shiguang Dailiren was considered the hidden gem of Spring 2021 by many fans. Now, with its strong finale and its pass to a second season, its insanely positive response by the audience will make more people watch it and discuss it. But is it really worth the hype? First of all, let's state the obvious and answer this question to a certain audience. People with an interest in non sci-fi time traveling shows could easily enjoy this. Flashy and with style, the protagonists use photographs to enter a past moment of the same world's timeline, and control others' bodies and minds there for a few hours with their main objective being the solution of criminal cases. Using that power, they must be careful not to change the flow of events because the butterfly effect may lead the world to a completely different future. How do they handle situations like these? Well, Cheng Xiaoshi's character is heavily inspired by the mad scientist from Steins;Gate, Okabe Rintarou. In his "diving operations", he gets emotional when he faces hardships and he feels the urge to help other people. He never puts the blame in others and tries to take full responsibility, and that's what could make him a tragic character or... a hero. His partner, Lu Guang is more grounded and that makes sense because he is an observer when they use their special power. Sadly, in these 11 episodes all the other characters are shallow and forgettable, so in the end, only Cheng matters. The dialogue and character interactions are a big minus in this show. There's sometimes fan service, while at times there are just tragic events happening and people acting immaturely. Of course, not everyone views this as a flaw. The animation and art show almost no similarity to those of common anime, and that's because Shiguang Dailiren is a donghua. Their style is closer to a live webtoon than a japanese anime. As for the soundtrack, it's a good reason to watch the show; the beautiful and romantic opening song, the dynamic and mysterious ending song that makes you want to watch more, but most of the insert songs too; all of them are praiseworthy. In my point of view, to really answer the question I set in my prologue, Link Click is neither innovative nor brilliant. Its selling points are either easy to use or already popular in fiction: simple time travel with no sci-fi approach, a compassionate main character, simple life lessons and morals that say no to greed, attractive looking characters and shallow drama that stems from bad life choices. It's like a failed attempt to make a crossover of Sherlock Holmes and Steins;Gate. Thank you for reading.

There's action, there's mystery, there's this captivating concept of time travel. It draws me in so much just in the first episode that im just dumbfounded. Its cleverly crafted mysteries don't lack anything: it keeps me curious, and always somehow end up catching me off guard. It's a donghua capable of tears too, and isn't emotionally lacking either. Well, to start off, it’s the first thing you notice about this donghua: the art. It’s refreshing unique art style I can’t find anywhere else. It gives me a new sense of originality that’s important in these animes and donghuas, in both story and art. If you're one for smart characters (ex. The Promised Neverland) with crafty plans then this is a good add to your watches. This has one of the few OP/EDs that I actually don't skip (unless I'm urgent due to cliffhangers) they have a unique opening and the endings are always somewhat chilly as it ends on the iconic ED beats. The only upsetting thing I can find in this donghua is their excessive use of cliffhangers that keep me on the edge. So basically (TLDR): if you like a suspenseful, exciting, brilliantly planned donghua, you'll like LINK CLICK.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. This jewel of a show is buried underneath all of the other great anime that have come out this spring season, but it's definitely one of the best, standing with Vivy and 86. The concept of time travel done through photographs is so fresh compared to all the other usual types that we see in media. The story is outstanding, to say the least, and I can't believe I almost missing this from my hesitation of it being a Chinese anime - I don't know the proper term. But I am so glad I took the leap and boy has this set the standard! The art style is pretty good, it matches the style of the show and doesn't distract from the story being told here. It compliments it so well and I would totally wear the characters' outfit choices, they're very trendy. While I personally don't really like the OP - I find it kinda cringey - the animation showcases the talent that is behind the scenes, it's so fluid, it's as if they rotoscoped it or something cause I can't believe how smooth it is. The ED is fucking FIRE! I love EDM music and as soon as I heard it I wanted the song on my phone and listen to it on repeat for a few days. This show NEEDS to be promoted more cause it's truly a shame that only a few curious people will watch it and it is overshadowed by other better-marketed shows. The word needs to spread that Link Click is fantastic and Season 2 needs to come out like right now!

tl;dr: good art, decent soundtrack, awful character development and one of the worst time travel implementations of any show. It's okay, not great, not awful. Story: 4/10 --- They jump into photographs and change the past for various clients, why? Well, they don't really explain their motivations much. They simply do it. The story is one of the characters jumping back into the past to help a client, solve their problem and then return to the present. You might then wonder, why doesn't the main character go into the past to either 1) save people 2) accrue a large amount of money Well, he can't do that. Why? The show essentially brings up the butterfly theory, that one small change can have immense impacts. For example, if I traveled to the past and took up a few seconds of your future partner's time with idle conversation, you may never meet them. Then your entire life trajectory (and countless others) would be changed permanently. The show brings this concept up multiple times as a generalized excuse, it never expands on it and it's never applied to the characters when they change the past every episode. Every change the characters do in the past are seen as largely an isolated change, so why can't the main character change the past however he pleases? This is never answered. Art: 7/10 --- There was a few scenes where I could tell there was a lot of effort put into it, then others where there was a lot of slacking. Overall, the background art/animation looked generally good. Sound: 6/10 --- Very hit or miss. It either perfectly suits the atmosphere or it ruins the atmosphere, they also reuse some tracks far too much in the wrong context. I did enjoy some of the OST's in this show but by the time I heard it for the 30th time, I stopped enjoying it as much. Characters: 4/10 --- I feel like I know nothing about the main characters motivations, thoughts or beliefs. Instead of focusing on the main characters, there was a plethora of episodic side characters that ended up being fleshed out more then them. I found that the random side characters they helped out seemed more interesting then the main characters, who didn't seem to have much of a personality. Overall: 6/10 --- It's alright but has a few flaws, mostly related to character development and the time travel aspect of the show. It's like Mushishi and Steins; Gate tried to have a kid but it came out a little retarded. Great concept but very poorly executed.

There are many very highly acclaimed time-travel anime. Steins Gate, Re:Zero, Takopi's Original Sin, and even shows like Summertime Rendering and Erased are praised for their creative uses of time travel to tell stories. Also at the top of the time-travel section of this site, standing at a very impressive 8.7 as of right now, is Link Click. This is perhaps the single worst disparity between MAL's rating of a show and the actual quality of a show. Shiguang Dailiren is garbage. It's truly incredible how this show manages to use time travel in the single most boring way possible. A lot of this stems from the show being very episodic. A client comes in, the main characters adventure into the past, learn about the client, and their story ends very soppily and sadly, which is more often than not just awkward, seeing as the viewer has only known them for 15 minutes. Or more accurately, the viewer gets to watch MC #1 live the client's life for 15 minutes, so you don't really get to know the client at all. Oh well. This in and of itself shouldn't really be an issue; you can tell fantastic stories episodically. The problem with Link Click is that it has absolutely no variety or creativity. Episode 1 is pretty good. It introduces a lot of interesting concepts that set up the show. Episode two is horrible. Not because the actual content is horrible (actually, it is pretty bad), but because it follows the exact same structure as episode 1: client, backstory, sad current life, reignite with previous loved ones, soppy ending. What? Imagine if Cowboy Bebop's episode two was a carbon copy of episode one, but everyone had a different colour scheme. Link Click never uses its episodic structure to experiment; each mini-arc/episode falls into this repetitive, often meandering structure that leaves you waiting for new, interesting ideas that could be brought about via the serial killer overarching plot. What makes this far more jarring is the complete and utter lack of any attempt to make the main characters interesting. The main characters of Link Click are black hair and white hair. Black hair is dumb but “hearty,” and white hair is stoic. There is extremely minimal explanation as to how they became friends, no explanation as to how/what/why they have literal superpowers, and they just aren't interesting. White hair does nothing (nothing) except tell black hair what to do, to which black hair manages to fuck up just about every single time despite being told exactly how to not fuck things up. He is very stupid, and it leads to most of the show's conflict. Even simple tasks like “watch a child that is about to get kidnapped” seem Herculean to black hair, and he manages to fuck them up. By trying so hard to get the viewer invested in the client's stories, the show neglects both black hair and white hair, leading to two cardboard cutouts with a dynamic that is so dry I can't even imagine them fucking, and that is hard in an anime with two male leads. Similarly, the villains are not worth discussing. They are very simple plot-device characters that are just evil because they are. Between the serial killer, the rival basketball team, the child kidnapper, and the stalker, there is zero nuance. //SPOILERS// There is also a wide array of stupid moments, plot holes, and suspension of disbelief required for the show to function. Why does black hair incarnate as himself if a photo was taken by a computer? How does the ramen CFO not know the recipe for the main dish of her chain restaurant? Why does nobody react at all to the main characters' superpowers? Why is black hair a martial-arts prodigy? Why is the rule of “major events are bound to happen” enforced so lazily? Why are they doing that funny ass dance in the OP? Why are the cops not even trying to check blondie's disabled alibi? Why does the final plan involve arbitrarily trusting a serial killer not to kill his victim in the same room as him for no reason? There are many other plot holes very present in the story I haven't mentioned, because they are solved in the last 30 seconds of the final episode in an impossible-to-guess reveal that another character has the same inexplicable, unexplained time-travel superpowers. Very unsatisfying, but it does set up a genuinely interesting premise for season two. //SPOILERS END// Link Click also includes tonal whiplash such as “we were late because daddy was looking for the Star Heroes” and “you're about to get kidnapped so pretend to piss.” TL;DR: they do a funny dance in the opening.

Honestly, I can't see how this anime is ranked higher than others out there. Vinland Saga, Banana Fish, and Mob Psycho are better than this. That's not to say that this anime is bad, it's pretty good. But that's about it. Pros: -op and ending -art style -time travel actually executed good -the plot twist at the end Cons: - The story leaves you with a lot of questions. This is a good and a bad thing. There is a plot twist at the end which is supposed to leave you on the edge, but there's also just not much backstory at all. Like how did the characters even get their power? Why are they working together (besides the fact that they're friends)? Who even set the "rules" for the time travel? Do they have an ulterior motive, other than their job? Etc... I really just wanted more backstory, because you're kinda just following these characters along for the hell of it. This is the biggest drawback I have with this show. - Idk if it was just me, but the impact the first ~6 episodes had on the story was little to none. Like I know each episode had a message to tell, but it lowkey seemed irrelevant to the overall plot line, especially near the end when the main conflict arises. Overall, I don't see anything groundbreaking with this anime. In my opinion, I can't say it crossed any significant boundaries in storytelling, and I'm a little upset to see it ranked higher than some others out there. But take my opinion with a grain of salt. Maybe this is your favorite anime, but I would definitely rank some other shows higher than this.

Shi Guang Dai Li Ren or Link Click is a popular Chinese cartoon about time travel. This has earned it many comparisons to Stein’s Gate, but beyond the time travel element this isn’t really a good comparison. Speaking of time travel, the plot of Link Click was problematic within China since the CCP banned all time travel fiction in 2011. It was considered “disrespectful to history and unhealthy wish fulfilment”. So instead of time machines, Link Clink had to create a truly bizarre and unique magic system to get the series approved by Communist Party censors. The series is about these 2 best friends named Xiaoshi and Guang who run an unusual business together. If they look at a photo, Guang has the power to know everything the person in the photo did or thought within a 12-hour period. Xiaoshi has the power to project his consciousness back into the past and take over the body of the person in the photo for 12 hours. Guang can then use his natural telepathy to tell Xiaoshi what to do in the past. Yes, Guang’s telepathy is so strong he can communicate with people in the past, even if they’re located vast distances away. They don’t actually try to change the past, but rather use their power to learn information. In the first episode, an unknown client gives the duo the task to recover the financial data of a powerful CEO who is suspected of fraud and embezzlement. Xiaoshi goes back in time 48 hours to take control of the CEO’s female secretary and has to find a way to read the data off the guy’s laptop. That’s a typical episode of Link Click until they meet their main antagonist later in the series. So how does Link Click compare to Stein’s Gate? Stein’s Gate is about a goofball mad scientist who accidentally creates a time machine by putting bananas in an old microwave oven. This immediately gets him targeted for assassination by the real-life research agency CERN, who in the world of Stein’s Gate is just HYDRA from Marvel Comics. They’re an evil organization of ex-Nazis who want to take over the world using super tech and succeed in 99.999 percent of all timelines. The plot of Stein’s Gate is fucking stupid. The series works because of its over the top characters and how they interact with each other. Stein’s Gate combines goofy humor with serious drama in a very VN sort of way. It is 100% a visual novel adaptation and it succeeds by embracing that. Link Click is kind of the polar opposite. It’s a series that lives and dies by its plot and high concept. The series succeeds because the plot is cool and the way they do time travel is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It’s not particularly funny. It’s not there to generate dozens of memes and reaction gifs. The characters aren’t as fleshed out or memorable as the ones in Stein’s Gate. Xiaoshi is the funny man and Guang is the straight man. Xaioshi has a heart of gold and Guang is kind of a cold bastard who is all about profit with little concern for the people in the photographs. By the end of the first episode, you basically know who these guys are. Link Click is less like a visual novel and more like a Hollywood blockbuster. I would say it’s a lot closer to Inception than it is to Stein’s Gate. One thing that actually impressed me about Link Click was its willingness to address China’s massive wealth gap and rural poverty that still persists to this day. This isn’t something that China typically advertises, so I assume this show was mostly made for a Chinese domestic audience. This may seem like a minor thing, but it shows up in Link Click repeatedly and actually makes the story more powerful while also making it feel more real. Link Click was made entirely in Shanghai by a studio called BiliBili. Apparently, it was made using Adobe Flash, so that’s actually really impressive. They made a God Tier rated anime in 2021 using the same software that brought us immortal classics like “Kerrigan & the Frog” 20 years ago. Is Link Click worth watching? Absolutely! However, if you don’t have Funimation, you might have a rough time. On most of the streaming sites as of this review, some of the episodes use the official subs and some use the fan subs. The fan subs are bad. REALLY bad! I’m getting flashbacks to bootleg Naruto DVDs where they translated “dattebayo” as “Fuck!”. I think most MAL users that watched Link Click just watched it in the original Mandarin, but if you’re a gweilo and don’t have a Funimation subscription, be prepared for a rough ride.

This is a great show that I feel threw away its entire plot in the last 2 minutes of the final episode. Like they've ended the season PERFECTLY, then the writer couldn't control themselves and had to keep writing and wrote the story from a Your Name level of perfect ending to one that is just sadistic, evil, needlessly cliff hangery and lacking in confidence. It just feels like they had so little confidence that people will come back for season 2 that they decided to write one of the most contrived and unnecessary endings in and ruined a beautiful story from the heart into a generic good vs evil story. I went from being extremely excited for season 2 to not even having ANY interest in continuing after the writers showed just what kind of petty people they are to the viewers and the characters. I won't spoil the ending but all I'll say is that if you want this show to be a 8-9 out of 10 instead of 7, stop watching at the first credits of the final episode.

Link click is arguably the one of the most unexpected shows I've come across. Chinese anime has been on the rise in past 3-4 years with a lot of shows coming out ranging from esports focused The King's Avatar to historical wuxia like Modao Zushi, while quite a few of them were pretty solid on their own they all lacked that one element that could make them truly stand along with the topnotch japanese anime. Link click while in no means a perfect show but the first 5 episodes are one of the closest thing to that I've seen. The plot itself is not much complex at all. Simply if you read from the synopsis it's about a couple of dudes ( AND THERE IS NO BL) who can go inside photos at the time when it was taken. Now that sounds like any classical time manipulation show but what truly makes this one stand out is the really unexpected emotional element, The show itself is mostly episodic where the main duo (or trio you can say) take requests from customers and go back in the photos to help them in various ways i won't go into detail as to what kind of assignments they get or what the constraints of their power is because that will definitely spoil some of the fun but you can be rest assured that the best part of this show lies in it's simplicity yet making the most out of it. Not to mention the cliffhanger at the end of almost every episode combined with the ed that drops hard af makes you watch the next episode really hard. What Link Click actually has that makes it so beautiful to watch is the soul, you can actually see the passion of the screenwriters and showmakers that went through writing all those stories for the episodes. Each story tells about a different person and their life and what they went through while at the same time it doesn't completely turns into a tearforcer but instead leaves a lot of the emotional elements for the viewers to take as they desire and doesn't lose focus on it's thriller/mystery element. As I said before the first 5 episodes clearly blew me out, when i started watching i, it was just on whim and wasn't even expecting to go past 2 or 3 episodes but the hooking element of the show is really not to be underestimated. The show does take a dip after episode 5.5 and the arc after that is not as solid as previous one but the final closing arc specially the final episode is great that not only wraps everything up in a good emotional way but also has a little something at the end which pretty much confirms a 2nd season. The bgm is really nice and keeps the continuity of themes of the show and both op and ed is great. Specially the ed clearly syncs with those cliffhangers at the end of each episodes. Visuals aren't extravagant but as the show isn't action focused they turn out to be pretty nice and handfighting and martial arts scenes are done pretty well as a matter of fact. Overall if you're even a little bit into mystery/thriller genre then i will say this is a must watch. Highly recommended and even more so if you're into actual soulful shows.

The absolute tragedy that more haven't people watched this show kills me. This is the best anime (technically) donghua that I've watched this past season. This doesn't feel like a show that is just using the time travel as a gimmick. Its unique form of time travel and the way it impacts the characters is just so raw and emotional at times I was near tears. The show also has abundant mystery and twists and turns. It's brilliant, and I loved every second. As for the characters, I appreciated the bonds the main characters have, but as you would expect, the start of the show is mostly focused on Cheng Xiaoshi. Love him or hate him, I think if anyone else was in his shoes, they'd be hard pressed to do any better. I do wish that the characters outside the episodic stories got some more fleshing out, but it seems like they'll be making a season 2, so this could be remedied later. The lack of explanation on the supernatural elements as well, like how the two male leads even have these abilities also would have been nice...but again...season 2. As for the art, I like the style, but animation wise it suffered a bit, whether just due to a lack of animation sometimes or just certain characters looking off. But really, it's hardly awful. I've seen much worse. All in all, Link Click is simply fantastic, and sitting at 11 episodes currently, probably the shortest anime of last season. Just watch it. You won't regret it.

"we can't change the past. dont question the future, as the future will change because of us." ─ lu guang story: 10/10, link click isn't necessarily a show about thrilling action and the deep sci-fi structure of time travelling - it's a donghua about the hardships in life: the things from our past that still causes us regret till this day in the present. it could be personal matters revolving around friends and family or devastating things that no one could predict.. realistically, past is something you can not change - but protagonist cheng xiaoshi has the power of diving back in time through photographs (the gold of preserving memories) and the goal to make no one regret what happened in the past as much as he's not allowed to change it. art: 9/10, there are times where it isn't consistent but it's completely okay to me! inplick has done a beautiful job with their artstyle creating the designs of the characters and founding the shows entire artstyle. it's so unique, the shows poster is what dragged me in the first place! hellooo amazing artstyle and attractive characters sound: 10/10, it's amazing. from the suspenseful or heart-warming ost in the donghua itself to the AMAZING opening and ending, it's just so good. do take a listen to the full version of dive back in time (op) and overthink (ed) once you get the chance! character: 9/10, this is a rating for the current season of course. it shines light on protagonist cheng xiaoshi and his experience connecting his emotions to the clients. our other main characters calm and collected lu guang and carefree outgoing qiao ling don't have much depth behind their backstories (because it's confirmed that we'll find out much more about them in season2!) but they make for a wonderful trio of red yellow and blue~ also, some of the clients stories are just unforgettable. should i mention that majority of them are based on true-stories? ranging from devastating things in history to people in the shows own animation studio enjoyment: 10/10, i was on the edge of my seat EVERY SINGLE EPISODE!! just watch it, it's an unforgettable experience with all the cliffhangers - especially since i was tuning in from the start and having to wait weeks to find out what happened after the end of each episode. overall: 10/10, link click is a masterpiece and i'm glad that myanimelist is acknowledging it. it truly did pave a way for the donghua industry, thank you so much cheng xiaoshi and lu guang! i'll see you soon in season 2

Truly a masterpiece, it's not just a show about entertainment, it talks about the way time pass, our choices, our social life, and what's worthy for us. Friendship, family, friends, love. It reminds us how important and worthy they are, and sometimes we are ignoring the time we have, our family & friends. How we forgot that what's truly important and what's just a matter of time, what really matters and what is really not. It reminds us that we have something in our lives that we need to look after and care about, because someday we may lose them, then we notice, and it's too late to do something about it. The story so far is genius with unexpected moments and emotional moments that leave you surprised. Besides that, the background and art are so effective and beautiful that fit the genre and scene. Character background and development are yet a thing that you can see on main characters.

Link Click is at its best when it tells stories centering on real people and real problems. Stories about things like strained family relationships, abuse in the workplace, or being young and aimless. These stories deal with universal things like relationships and regret, but in poignant ways that tug at viewer's heartsrings. That's why the first half of the show works so well, its a psuedo-anthology thats as believable as it is emotional. Towards the end, Link Click's quality starts to suffer greatly as it shifts focus away from what I consider its strengths (real stories and emotional beats). In the last couple episodes especially, the show takes on a crime thriller ish direction, but everything is all written very poorly. The motivations don't make sense, the machinations don't make sense, and then the emotional beats inevitably suffer as a result. The fantasy elements of the show are also leaned into a bit more but never properly explained, a crime that would be ultimately forgivable if not for everything else also falling apart. In terms of everything else, Link Click is pretty acceptable. The music is not bad but not particularly memorable either (though some of the editing choices were a little heavy handed or questionable). Art and animation is pretty passable, not super impressive but not bad either. Link Click does actually shine in its dialogue. Its pretty well written (though the translated subs might not convey this) and the voice actors do a good job of selling the banter and sounding believable. Overall, Link Click is a 7/10, but only because the first half is so solid. You could seriously stop watching this show after episode 8 or so and not lose anything of substance.

AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY, JAW DROPPING, MIN BOGGLINGLY, RICOCHET SMACKINGLY, UPPERCUT BOOM TASTICALLY, EXPLOSION OF THE NEURONS IN OUR BRAINS-TASTICLY, AMAZING. This show, makes you keep your back and (bottom) on the edge of your seat for 12 episodes straight as a giraffe's neck, THAT HAS NOT BEEN DONE A LONG LONG TIME FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS. To those who oppose, I MEANT THROUGHOUT THE SHOW, not just a few episodes here and there. This show is a bang on the billboard in the history books, with a block of certified platinum cherried with a diamond on its label. Well, done China [especially Haoliners Animation League Studio], YOU BOUGHT YOUR ROCKETEERING A GAME WITH THIS, after all those crap shows, THIS IS IT. Just go and watch it if you haven't yet, seriously, stop reading this, GO WATCH IT. And if you've finished it, I PITY YOU, just as I do me, because this was a masterpiece and wish I could watch it again without knowing anything. Thanks for reading and Goobye.

Some Interesting Facts about Chinese Metaphor There are many Chinese metaphors in this donghua, some were well translated but some were omitted. 1. In Episode #1, the name of that game company is “雀德”, same pronunciation as “缺德”, which means “wicked” in English. 2. In Episode #7, the human trafficker’s name is “梅琵艳”, same pronunciation as “没屁眼”, e.g. “No asshole” in English. Also, her surname is Mei because “Aunt Mei” is the designate of human traffickers in Chinese. This is because since 2016, “Aunt Mei” participated in multiple child trafficking cases and hunted by the police. However, she hasn't been caught till today and her name has become a symbol of human trafficker. 3. The names of the two heroes are “程小时(Cheng Xiaoshi)” and “陆光(Lu Guang)”. Combine the last character of their names, we have “时光”, meaning “time” in English. “时光” is also the name of their photo studio. Actually, if we translate this donghua’s Chinese name directly to English, it means “Time Agents”. 4. In Episode #1, the boss said “他妈的电话”, which was translated into “What a fuck time”. Actually, it also means “Her mom’s call comes” in Chinese because “Her mom’s” itself is a dirty word in some scenarios. 5. … (to be updated) |<-----------------------------------Divided Here------------------------------------->| Why is this anime extremely popular in China? As a Chinese, I clearly know that this donghua shows a real picture of current Chinese society. 1. Dirty company culture shown in Episode #1. Unspoken rules and sexual harassment of subordinates by company executives. Recently (2021.8.6), Alibaba was exposed to scandal that company executives raped drunk female employees. This phenomenon is common, especially in the top-tier company of China (Few people had courage to expose that). 2. In episode #3-#5, it shows the huge imbalance between cities and villages in China. Although it was 2008 in the story, the situation still exists now. Children in village have few chances to succeed. The only possible way is to study, take exams and work in the city. Emma is just example of this, but she is also discriminated by her boss. 3. In the Extra Episode about Kungfu, it shows the old traditions and new things coexist in society. There are still people who spend whole life studying Kungfu and hold some traditional rules and values. But those people are fewer and fewer and will completely become modern citizens in the future. 4. Episode #6-#7 are about child trafficking. It the past few years, such cases often occurred in rural areas. Luckily, with the help of DNA testing and monitors, there are much fewer cases these years. 5. The background of Episode #3-#5 is Wenchuan Earthquake (level 8.2) in 2008, the biggest earthquake since the founding of China (1949). Due to bad building quality at that time, many buildings collapsed, causing the death of 69227 people. This disaster really hurt Chinese people. Hundreds of thousands of people then struggled to become an architect to improve the building quality. That’s why in the episode, the man who lost his family, friends and lover in the earthquake became an architect. Architecture is almost the hottest major in China from 2008 to 2016 and was overtaken by CS in recent years. I am really surprised that this donghua was bold to show some dark side of Chinese society. It is rare that a donghua can give attention to those phenomena rather than fancy life in big cities. Also, the quality of this donghua is extraordinary. Tbh, many donghuas are just trash. Even for many good donghuas, their characters, music, drawing, completeness of the story cannot match this one.

The art was not to to my liking but the animation was just to the top. The story had many characters and it was just lit. The music was good the opening and ending the songs were just to good to skip. The first chinese anime i watched and i dont regret it its just so good from a 7 to a 10 now its 11 out of 10 for me. The enjoyment is just unexplainable. The story has one of the best mystery and thriller also the best cliff hangers.Just waiting for season 2. its just good asf i cannot tell anything more than this

This review covers the first 2 seasons, as well as the "Bridon Arc". The show is composed of roughly two parts: the mystery-thriller that's mostly centered around the time travel mechanic, and the melodrama that's more interested in side stories of various characters. At first, the latter element gets much more screentime, with the time travel being little more than a means to go from one story to the next. The first half-dozen episodes almost take on this "melodrama of the week" quality, which, uh, if you've read my Violet Evergarden review (https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=574604) you'd know I'm not a big fan of. I think episodic melodrama is particularly hard to do well, and while the scenarios here aren't quite as unbelievable as they were in Violet Evergarden, I still didn't find them particularly engaging, although I admit this might just be a "personal preferences" thing. On the other hand is the mystery-thriller time travel stuff, which gets more attention as the series progresses. It does this part quite well, at least for the first two seasons. The black-haired protagonist named Cheng Xiaoshi gets 12 hours to enter a person's body and pry useful information. There's also the white-haired protagonist named Lu Guang can see the future and guide him in keeping the past how it's supposed to play out. It's a mix of the Butterfly Effect where altering events can have unexpected (generally negative) consequences, with bits of Steins;gate in how only "critical moments" really matter. It's an interesting enough gimmick to carry a story, and the show really comes alive when the mechanics are a focus or when they're used in creative ways. The show is also helped by the characters mostly acting like adults -- a relatively rare thing in anime. I have some minor quibbles with how Cheng keeps getting emotional and comes very close to changing the past in ways the could ripple out to being Bad, but he doesn't actually go through with them for the most part. At the start of season 1, the show is roughly 70% melodrama and 30% mystery, while by the end of season 1 those ratios are flipped to 30% melodrama and 70% mystery. It continues with that pace into season 2, which is when the show is firing on all cylinders. It becomes almost a cat-and-mouse like Death Note, and I was hooked. A typical setup at that point is to show a scene without context, and have stuff that seems crazy or unbelievable happen, then it goes back and explains how everything worked. It's a good formula that maintains suspense and quickly answers the questions it brings up. None of the reveals feel like BS as they're typically only moderate extensions of the knowledge we already have of how the powers work, peoples' motivations, etc. while also doing more than enough to keep me guessing. That said, the melodrama also takes a turn for the worse here. Season 1's melodrama is fairly varied, but I hope you're fine with abused women being utilized as a plot device from S2 onwards, because this show REALLY likes to do that over and over. You'll see women beaten, abused, strangled, nearly raped, screamed at, and even murdered. It almost became a running gag, with whenever I saw a new female character introduced I would think to myself "I wonder when she'll get treated like a pinata", and I'd end up being correct most of the time. While S1's melodrama was merely "boring", S2's became outright repulsive, which was only helped somewhat by it having a lower screentime priority. Overall though, Season 2 is a decent package. The same cannot be said of the Bridon Arc, which MAL lists as a "side story", but it's 8 episodes (6 episodes really, but the first episode is a 3-in-1) worth of fairly critical information, so I doubt you'll be able to skip it. I don't know if some amateurs took over or what, but the show basically forgets how to do a mystery-thriller. The way it's supposed to go is question → partial answer → bigger question → partial answer. But here, all we get is question → question → question → question... Minor spoilers here, but to demonstrate what I mean I think an example would be helpful: in S3E1 a redhead character is revealed to be a bad guy since he attacks Lu Guang for reasons that aren't explained, then Lu Guang goes back in time to stop something that isn't explained, and he encounters the redhead who's all too eager to help the protagonists for reasons that aren't explained, then in E6 the readhead turns on them for reasons that aren't explained, using a nonlethal takedown on Cheng for reasons that aren't explained, then demands a macguffin (the purpose of which is not exlained), but then he also has a heart attack in the middle of the fight that instakills him for reasons that aren't explained, and then it's revealed he actually survived for reasons that aren't explained. You may have noticed I used the phrase "for reasons that aren't explained" over half a dozen times, and yeah, the whole season is 8 episodes worth of setup for a payoff that never materializes. That leaves entire scenes where I'm just thinking "What is happening? WTF is any of this!?!" Obviously the explanation and payoff might be coming in later seasons, but it's still obnoxiously poor pacing to do something like this. Having questions that are answered in later seasons is fine, but there's a limit. I need to have at least some semblance of a grasp on what's going on for me to be invested, and this failed that check hard. Two other notes: First, the show has some definite homoerotic undertones between the two male leads. They're both typical prettyboys and are way more handsy with each other than non-gay friends ever are in the real world, while also showing next to 0 interest in any of the female characters. As of now nothing concrete has happened, but there's definitely something going on underneath the surface. Second, the show has an overuse of fake cliffhangers, i.e. cliffhangers that imply something, but then the next episode comes around and it's not true, or it gets resolved very quickly -- often in under a minute. The end of season 1 is a particularly bad example of this. You can only do that once or twice before I become completely inured to it and reflexively start to think "yeah, nah, bullshit, nothing like that will actually happen" in a resentful internal tone every time it occurs. I guess they decided they had to keep the Gen Z ADHD kiddies from getting bored halfway through the season and start watching TikToks instead, but I really wish these shows would just have a little more faith in their audience. So overall, this show is very much a mixed bag. It has some great elements and some not so great elements. I'd recommend not watching the Bridon Arc until Season 3 airs, and then just treat them both as one jumbo season or something. Hopefully we'll get some payoff, as the Bridon Arc certainly left a bad taste in my mouth with the way it ended.

1. There was a reviewer here who commented about how this was a lackluster sci-fi, but that's not exactly right... For one, this show can't even be considered sci-fi. It's more like magic realism. There are characters with superpowers, but the superpowers are not the highlight of the story. The highlight of this story is simply the ordinary people, the clients Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang receives, and how their past shapes the person they are today. 2. Season 1 doesn't really dive in too much in the overarching plot (that will be in season 2, as recently announced). Season 1 simply shows us what our two main characters do on a day-to-day basis, and how they meet people (their clients) who teach them what it is to live, what it is to love, what it is to be a parent, and many more. 3. This season also focuses on Cheng Xiaoshi alone. Lu Guang is also a main character, but his story would only be explored in season 2. And I think that's alright. Season 1 is more about the emotional aspect of the story, so having Cheng Xiaoshi, the emotional guy between the two of them, lead the plot in Season 1 is just right. It perfectly shows us what stakes are hold everytime Cheng Xiaoshi enters the past, and what consequences could be entailed if he ever changes something. 4. This show is more like a slice of life. However, it's not at all plain. Every mission our two MCs take may seem like ordinary tasks, but how this donghua presents them shows them that they really aren't "ordinary." These missions they go through involve the life-changing moments of their clients, and it shows how each individual life, no matter how small the person, is just as important as any other. And I think that's a beautiful lesson. 5. This show is not boring either. Almost every episode ends with a cliffhanger that you can't help but just watch the next one. 6. Lastly, this show has a really cinematic feel to it. I feel like it's best watched on a widescreen tv with all the lights off and with large speakers so that sound surrounds you. The animation quality, the music, and everything else make it seem like a movie

Holy fucking shit do I have to say this is the best shows I have seen in this whole year it’s so amazing how one show of just 11 episodes can change you so much I can’t believe every twist that this show had this is incredible amazing it had me with my eyes wide open the whole time. The story of this show is so unique I’ve never even seen it anywhere else and it’s so crazy how just one expedidor of a persons life can deeply motivate and change you it’s so crazy this is a literal masterpiece. I live the art of the backgrounds you really do feel immersed into their series and the animation it’s just incredible.

Before I start, I want to preface since some people don't know or understand the difference. This is a DONGHUA NOT ANIME. Donghua is Chinese animation and the differences are NOT just the language but the production and storytelling. Please do not go into this expecting anime lmao, you will not get that. This being a donghua explains the slow start, that a lot of people who didn't like this series hate about it. Donghua, as far as I've seen tend to start off at a slow pace, so you dont get the full picture until like episode 5, however they do go really deep later on. Now here is my review: Link Click to me, is possibly one of the best series ever in my honest opinion, but just focusing on Season 1 I can still say its amazing. The animation is just beautiful and both the OP and ED are so fitting and listenable outside of the series, not to forget the incredible direction of the whole story. I currently am studying screen media and film so I value high production and quality direction like this more than anything. I enjoy how the initial first few episodes deceive you a bit into thinking it is just a few short stories about time travel, however all viewers should've at the very least been aware from the get go with how morals and ethics of time travel were being discussed, that this is far more than just some mini mysteries. By the second half of this season, it's fairly obvious this series gets pretty dark, and the more they do and more work they get, the more in deep to trouble they become. By the end of this season you can really see how well thought out every single mystery is, as they all come back to connect to the big picture. I really loved how very slowly there appeared very relevant and important characters, almost without you realising they became significant to the series as a whole, for example Emma and Xiao Li. And on the mention of characters, the main trio are truely great essence to the story. In Season 1 the focus is mainly on the two guys, Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi which their dynamic and teamwork really is showcased through the first season but extends further to what anyone wouldve thought much later on. They're so complimentary to eachother, very directly too. Your typical Yin and Yang dynamic, ig you can interpret that with them how you will. I'd also like to add how their names together Shiguang, means 'Time', a very clever and intentional move with the names alone showing how they rely on eachother to create what they are in the series. Qiao Ling, doesn't know of their business however lets them work without question, she acts in a way as the mediator between the two very contrasting characters, and she holds a lot more importance to the story than whats initially let on. But no spoilers and they dive a lot deeper into her character in Season 2. I really just can't get over how much this series creeps up on you with just about everything, you don't even realise how sentimental or dark it has become really quickly. The mix of psychological, mystery and drama with the tiniest bit of slice of life is just perfect. I love that even if this is a psychological mystery none of it is too far fetched for even the viewers to understand. In series like these its easy for the creators to overcomplicate a mystery to where it no longer makes sense but Link Click does an amazing job. It's so fun to discuss and guess what will happen next, none of it is too predictable but also predictable enough in a way that makes the story make sense. I will always say this is a must watch to anyone with even an inch of critical thinking, please do. My only real critique is how on occasions I was a little lost with some of the characters and mysteries, however by the end it all wraps up really nicely. It's definitely one of the series you really have to finish to even actually give it any sort of judgment. If season 2 didnt exist, I wouldve given this probably a 9/10 but season 2 also just gives season 1 a huge wash of understanding over it. The things that were left to question, were answered and it gave the season another life. Some people might see that as a flaw, but I disagree since it goes to show how they won't rush to the answer or explanation. Link Click will take its time showing us every bit of information rather than a rushed two minute explanation that was pulled out of nowhere, which is what most animes actually tend to do. So now I'll say its a 10/10