Shiguang Dailiren II

Look, I don’t think this season is terrible, if you like it, you do you. What I do believe, however, is that this season is a tremendous letdown when compared to the first. That is also why this review is marked as [Not Recommended], not because this season is garbage, but just because I wouldn’t recommend it to people who liked the first one, like myself. Let’s get the good stuff out of the way. The animation is just as good as it was in season 1, the same goes for the direction and music, though there are fewer memorable tracks this time. Voice acting is as Chinese as ever, and the OP and ED are both great. Sadly, that leaves us with the writing, and, oh boy, is there a lot to talk about. I am certain that I missed at least half of the stuff I would usually critique a show for simply because of: 1. Focus. The show flows well from episode to episode, but it doesn’t build anything. This is a problem to such a degree that I thought this was still the opening chapter/arc, both after episode 2 and episode 8. In other words, it is fun to watch, but it doesn’t use its time. The story told in these 12 episodes is a laughably small and incoherent excuse of a show. There is nothing wrong with small-scale narratives, I enjoy personal drama just as much as big-scale action set pieces, which is why a lot of my favourite shows are romances, but Link Click just manages neither. It wants to be this action-packed thrill ride, without using its time to build up an interesting conflict. It wants emotional parts while having no interesting moral or emotional conflict at its heart. Likewise, it has the production to really make you feel something, the music, the direction and animation are all more than good enough to deliver these high points, but the writing just doesn't make that possible. Everything just feels so utterly pointless, if the conflict at hand feels uninteresting on its own and also completely detachable from everything that came before it. Our leads from season one were not designed to make for good emotional drama on their own, they function phenomenally at telling other people's story, but there is just no reason for them to be this deep into a conflict this shallow. The moral conflict here is basically on the level of "I don't want bad things to happen" and then the antagonist goes "Well, that sucks 'cause I'm evil". Everything seemingly is only built to deliver that one shocking moment per episode, it doesn't matter if that moment makes sense, it just needs to be unexpected. If you disagree, then might I ask you one thing: 2. Are cliffhangers really that important? Season one had a lot of the episodes end on a cliffhanger, and while I think that these cliffhangers made, for example, the first episode a lot more engaging, they don’t lead anywhere. We are giving up narrative complexity for popcorn entertainment, and I would be completely okay with that if it didn’t also: 3. The show lies to us. The more I watched season 2, the clearer it became that the writing staff of this show did not preplan a solution for the murder mystery of the first season. If you don't get what I mean by this, might I ask why the pink-haired guy from the second season, who is the killer from the first, killed Emma? He, his name is Tianchen by the way, also didn't even show up once throughout the entire first season, which makes it pretty obvious that they didn't preplan any of this. I wouldn't mind all that if it actually made sense, but Tianchen's craziness runs counter to that of the killer presented in the first 12 episodes, especially when we take into account that he is meant to act tactically under the control of Jin Qian (evil glasses guy). It is much like the cliffhanger, it is about the expectations, not the payoff. Again, if you just want some popcorn entertainment, that’s fine, but I care about this story, I want to take it seriously, and because of that, I am going to judge it like that. If you want me to care, to get emotional like I did watching season 1, to be hyped and frightened to see what happens next, then make a narrative that works. If there is nothing but the production, that I can call good, if there is not a single episode that doesn't completely shatter my immersion through nonsensical storytelling, then I can't enjoy this season. There is so, so much wrong with it, but it really doesn't matter, even though I could count immersion breaking bullsh*t for days, it can't break the show, because its core conflict already did. All this has once again to do with cliffhangers, so if you don’t get why these cliffhangers are so bad, and maybe you don’t understand what I am mad about, let me explain it by saying: 4. Season 2 feels entirely pointless. The arc starts by rewriting the psychopathic serial killer from the first season in such a way that he can actually be compelling. With this, the cliffhanger of the first season’s ending is pointless. If you have already completed the show, you might already know where I am going with this, but if you haven’t, I am just going to say that season two ends with a cliffhanger, and oh boy, is it a good one. If each and every cliffhanger this show has presented me with throughout 20+ episodes was worthless, then why should I care about this one? The writers proved, that they did not know the answers to the mysteries they set up, that they care more about the set-up than the quality of their narrative, so why in god's name should I expect there to be a good answer to this cliffhanger? When the next season comes around, I might be shocked to see that they actually had a compelling answer after all, and that would make me very happy and look kind of dumb, but it doesn't matter. Don't get me wrong, I still want these payoffs to be good, but the fact that the show has conditioned me into believing that they aren't going to be, already speaks more than everything I could write. If a show manages to disappoint you to such a degree that you lose all hope in future instalments, then that is a pretty big f*ck up, and even if they manage to turn it around, if they somehow crawl out of this hole and start writing a competent third season, even then, this one would still be bad enough to disappoint me to such an extent. I don't want this show to be bad, I love its first season and for a good 6 episodes kept telling myself, that this one would be the same, but it wasn't, it is so fundamentally bad in so many ways, it ruined the show's mystery, it doesn't have a compelling plot and at best manages to be fine popcorn entertainment. We are talking about Link Click here, one of, if not the best show of 2021, the fact that I can say these things about this show, the fact that it got so bad is both incredibly disappointing and just sad. Look, I wanted to like this show. I absolutely loved its first season, and the second didn’t change that. I find it a bit sad to know that the whole murder mystery was pointless, but even then, season 1 is still amazing and well worth your time. Likewise, I cannot ignore the obvious writing flaws, the incoherence, and the fact that the writing staff completely failed to map out the story of their show. If you can ignore all that, if you can still have a good time with this, by all accounts, don’t let me, some guy on the internet, ruin that for you. But even then, I am not going to turn away and ignore how they completely messed up one of the most entertaining pieces of television of the last few years. If I want more Link Click, I’ll rewatch season 1, because this sure as hell isn’t the show it promised to be. [This review was reworked on 06.09.2024 and by that I mean, I reworded a few things that annoyed me, fixed writing errors and made wording more precise]

Let me preface this by saying that season 1 of Link Click was one of the most enjoyable original "anime" (I know it's a donghua but it's my first and so far only one besides Scissor's Seven) that I'd seen in a long time. It instantly made it to the top five of my personal favorite time travel stories, just behind the legendary Steins;Gate. I loved the framing device of using photos to jump into the past, I loved that the main characters weren't the main focus for the majority of the show but still likable and intriguing enough to care about, and that the episodic stories told were all equally compelling and heart-felt, and I loved loved loved how all the plot threads came together in the end to culminate in a truly intense final arc that brought us even closer to the main characters personally, rounding out with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger while leaving so many questions open for another season to answer. I ain't gonna lie, my expectations for this second season have just been building and building in the two-year wait (helped along by all the promotional material released, and promises of what to expect from the creators), until they reached admittedly unfairly high levels. So it's with a heavy heart that I have to call this second season, in a word, a DISAPPOINTMENT. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely did not live up to the hype built by the first season (and the show's promotional team) at all. With the way the first season ended, it was clear season 2 could not continue in the same episodic format. I expected this and in fact anticipated it, as I was eager to learn more about the main leads, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang themselves. Unfortunately, far from just being different to the first season (and not in the right ways), this second season doesn't even feel like the same show. There are glimpses of what it used to be in the first few episodes, when the titular time agents actually do some time travelling, but the majority of the rest of the show is taken up with the things happening in the present time, which isn't a whole lot. I'm sure anyone who enjoyed season 1 didn't like it for being an action crime drama (because it wasn't!), and yet this season seemed to be trying so hard to transform itself into that... and ultimately failing. Look, the fight animations were cool, but they're essentially just filler scenes and they took up WAY too much screen time in some episodes. What's fun about watching police officers beat up a bunch of goons for FOUR AND A HALF MINUTES when the actual main characters are in danger somewhere else? It wasn't only fights that ate up a lot of time that could've been dedicated to actual character exploration and plot development; from episode 6 onward, SO much of this show is just backtracking and redoing scenes over and over again for the sake of "revealing" things they could've shown the first time around. I swear the plot took a complete standstill for THREE WHOLE EPISODES while we backtracked and flashbacked our way through plot points we'd already seen or inferred. It really gave off this vibe of the show's writers wanting to stall as much as possible before moving forward with anything really TANGIBLE in terms of plot progression, because they didn't actually know where it was they wanted to go with this story. And it IS just one story here, unlike the first season. While that would have been fine, the fact is, this just wasn't a very INTERESTING story. The antagonist from the end of season 1 turns out to be pretty lame and too cartoonishly over-the-top in his mannerisms (complete with maniacal laughter that also goes on for way longer than it should...) to take seriously, and the other characters introduced aren't much better. I couldn't give a flip about Qian Jin because his motivation and backstory is so uncompelling and unsympathetic - the dude is just a douchebag and I only wanted him taken out. And I haven't even talked about the over-abundance of fake outs and cliffhangers. This is a problem that rears its ugly head right from the first episode. Given that anyone who might be watching this season now won't have to wait for it, I don't feel any qualms about spoiling something that happens in that first episode. Do you remember how the first season ended? That big cliffhanger that left those of us who had to wait two years for this season on the edge of our seats, while each teaser and trailer that came out in the meantime made us believe that a certain character was going to die? Boy did that create a lot of expectations for what this season would be about. Well, halfway through the first episode of season 2, they reveal that... that character is totally fine. Not dead, not even in danger of dying. They play it off like a joke and move on. That first episode basically represents how the show handles all its cliffhangers (and there's one for each episode!) for its entire run. They make you think something is going to happen, then bail on it immediately. Oh no, a character who's hiding is about to get caught? Next episode: Sike! No he doesn't! Oh no, a character is about to change something in the past that wasn't supposed to happen? Next episode: Nah, he doesn't. Oh no, some characters just got blown up! Did they survive?? Next episode: Yeah they're fine, they didn't even get a scratch. Literally every ending for every episode was done in a way just to string its viewers along to make sure they tune in next week, without actually doing anything major in the story. Maybe this will be less annoying to people who binge-watch this season all the way through, but for us weekly watchers, it was really aggravating waiting a whole week to see what consequences would occur, only to be shown that there weren't any. Honestly, about the only things I can credit this season with that make it enjoyable are the FEW moments we get between the three main leads (and I think I can count those moments on one hand), the opening theme which is even better than the first season's and almost seems to tell a better version of this season's story, and the very last scene of the last episode which finally reveals something actually worth caring about. And of course, sucker that I am, I am still looking forward to another season because of that reveal. Because overall, this season was really just a transitional part of the story, the bridge that will (hopefully) lead to all the answers we originally wanted. And it really shows; it was clunky and not very well paced or prepared, and the plot never really goes anywhere, but I never missed an episode and it was fun to laugh at even as I was frustrated by it at times. And by the time season 3 rolls around, if the writers actually do it right this time, it won't have harmed the story much in the long run. (The only thing that could do THAT for me is if they actually make the two male leads a couple - please don't.)

Link click might be the best of chinese animation and its not hard to see why. The Emotional storylines incorporated with thriller and mystery elements not to mention the sheer unpredictability of the plot itself. Unlike the first season, the story enters a linear plot line, which involves our main characters entirely. With addition to giving hints on how far the abilities can go and quite possibily a teaser on where they began. The main theme of this season happens to be domestic violence. And how it can be extreme in many cases. Considering how little it is represented in media despite being one of the most common issues in asian countries and how well a job someone rarely does in portraying so I applaud the creators for the work they did and making it standout from a psychological prespective. From the children having psychological issues though in a non traditional way with addition to the extreme cases of murder and paranoia, it does an extremely good job. All the characters are good standouts especially the twins. However some can be stereotypically "mad" as well. In addition to this, Lu guang happens to be the best of the trio this season. Considering how it was primarily focused on the twins mostly, the protagonists can take a back dive however Lu guang with his development as a character and his actions makes up for it. Season 1 was primarily focused on Cheng Xiaoshi while the main storyline(which begins in this season) happens to center around Lu guang especially considering the concluding episode. The plot explains everything up to a satisfactory degree... How it happens and why it happens though it can become a bit hard to follow in the middle. Considering we are talking about time loops etc. But it explains it later on in case you miss it in the previous episodes so its a win either way. All of the 12 episodes are connected however with a astounding reveal making up for another cliffhanger ig. But overall while it has some short comings since it was experimenting with some stuff(episode 9) it did a job well done overall in more ways then I can count. Link click stands out among similar storylines involving timeloops with its emotional touch and real world elements. The plot contains a sense of Alturism which is rare in many thrillers. The art and aesthatic is beautiful overall. In terms of quality it improves from first season and the story boarding is nothing short of unique in many cases. The Music just adds to the entire thing putting a cherry on top, every score is enticing and the opening sequence being complimentary to the plot itself without containing spoilers is also pretty good. The last thing I will probably mention is the action. The creators definitly researched martial arts. There are several sequences and all of them are done beautifully. All in all A great season that ultimately sets itself for the next.

The tone was really different than the first season. After an insane clifhanger at the end of the 1st season, it seems that the goal of the writters shifted entirely. Even the oppening of season 2 was an absolute banger From a show that was heavily focused on the plot and the mystery, it turned into a more classic thriller. They added lots of fights (smooth ones btw), flashbacks from something we saw 10 min earlier... It's not bad in itself, just really different Moreover, all the major decisions / ideas that the main characters have don't seem brilliant. They didn't left me speechless. When you use something as powerfull as time travel, it is possible to achieve greatness. They don't give to the watcher all the clues that the characters have. Hence their decisions didn't feel entirely natural or justified. First season was a banger, surprising and new. Second season was classic. BUT if you like fist fights, a little bit of plot with grim undertones, you may like it quite a lot ! Reminded me more Fate Zero than Steins Gate "Your dissing the show so much and yet you gave it 5/10" The show isn't bad at all. It was just disapointing because I had high expectations. I skipped a few minutes because I was bored but nothing terrible.

Coincidentally the last review I wrote was about Link Click. As I anticipated in the release of the new season for 2 years, I don’t think I can give it a 9 this time around. If you look for traces of season 1 in this season, you won’t find it. It’s migrated, or at least try to, into the “mystery” and “crime” category. Plot: The whole season is one case they are trying to crack. It’s not even cracked at the end? It’s full of pacing issues and bugs. I don’t even know where to begin because I stop caring halfway through. The “villain” Qian Jin is motivated by some stupid reason, it’s not even satisfying seeing him commit crimes. The police on the other hand are also unbelievable, there’s been murders and discovery of !!superpowers!! and they are doing nothing about it? Throughout the whole case there’s 1(one) person on it, wouldn’t you have gotten the SWAT team out to protect these people who have superpowers and in risk of dying?? And people started dying for sob factors, I was desensitized by the end like oh cool another person just got shot, thank you, next. TLDR: we still don’t find out what Lu Guang’s real power is, they hinted it at the last 20 seconds which I presume will be the highlight of season 3. Characters: In my last review I said, “People might accuse Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi to be queer baiting, which I digress.” I take it back. I’m not a big fan of participating in fandom drama, but for the last 2 years, shits have gone down on the Chinese side, and the director is basically pushing them towards this route under the table. They will never be canon because it’s just a gimmick to sell merch. (Trust me on this, them straight men do not care about real queer people if there’s no monetary gains) Qiao Ling is the token girl in the group to show that in this economy we care about women #equality. Wouldn’t you have guessed; this formula has been used to death in anime. Including the hot airing JJK use the same formula!! I should’ve seen it coming!!!! HOWEVER, I do think they heard the people’s voice and gave Qiao Ling a little more screen time and possibly a superpower as well. Art and sound: I can’t even be bothered to talk about this because art and sound can’t make up for the lack of logical story. These elements act as the icing on the cake but it’s not the cake itself. Extras: They’ve been such a sellout by doing so many ad collabs and selling merch at high prices, which is fine whatever you need money to make the show, yet the quality of the story and money don’t seem to match up. Not to mention for selling the right to make a live action, and we all know how live actions usually ends.

As a fan of the First season, this season was bad for simple reason The pacing and repeating the same scene for more than one time. They wanted to make mystery by not showing enough information but it would be good to do it once or twice, not repeating throughout whole season. The actual plot of the season was ok,not bad except one event Because of this, the mystery was so obvious that someone can predict easily Another thing. The hook or cliffhanger was so amazing in the end of first season and I couldn't wait for this season but the hook of this season's finale was meh (I didn't cared)

The good: - Nice art and impressive animation. - Great music. That OP is just wow. - I like the way they change things up with the story structure. Instead of self-contained episodes, this season is one lengthy, continuous plot with new and quite interesting characters. The bad: All the magic from season 1 gradually faded away. It has become something entirely different but not in a good way. Season 1 was fantastic that I watched four times already. Season 2, on the other hand, dragged on for too long with endless cliffhangers and zero explanation, all for the sake of season 3. Even in the final episode, nothing was resolved and nothing felt satisfactory. They kept teasing plot twists after plot twists but they never bothered showing what's what. A shame really, since it’s such a intriguing subject matter. Even the most mysterious mystery has to come to a conclusion eventually. You are better off waiting for season 3 before watching this season or you're gonna stuck scratching your head like me.

It's really sad to see that lots of shounen animes with almost no storyline and only focusing on fight scenes are getting so much attention while this masterpiece is underrated af. If i could i would rate even higher than 10. First season was more like different stories on each episode and because of that it was more emotional. But this season focuses on the storyline more and i enjoyed so much that how actually mind blowing the story is. Especially that plot twist at the end.. aaah i have so many questions and theories in my head. And let's don't forget the opening and ending too. Even though i like the first season's soundtrack more, song choices are very good again. i'm so excited about season 3. I hope it continues with the same quality. Keep up the good work guys! Also thanks for the amazing animations.

Finally, this is the last episode! To be honest, I really love so much "Link Click", I like both the first and the second part equally. But it's important to realize that they're just about different things, and the focus of the story has changed 360° First season was an excellent time travel with a lot of small different local stories which as the plot progressed, slowly coalesced into one coherent story. In the final episode we got a huge cliffhanger and the answers to what comes next... The Second season was absolutely different than the first one. The accents has shifted. We finally went from those localized small stories to a whole story with its own antagonist, characters, events and a specific goal. So this season, there's more emphasis on the conflict itself, revealing the personalities of the characters, as well as the gradual unraveling of the plot. And in my honest opinion - S2 as excellent as the S1. It's a worthy sequel of the best title of 2021 year. And actually, this season made a huge leap over the S1 in terms of visual, animation and a scene staging. They feel incredibly vivid, and the OST complements them as well. Bottom line, 10/10

TL;DR If I wanted to watch a crime procedural, I’d just watch a crime procedural. That’s not why I’m watching link click. Objectively, as a stand-alone, this season is… fine. Normal, if not well-produced tv. As a sequel to link click 1, it’s disappointing. It’s nothing like link click 1. Link click 1 excelled thanks to its format: episodic vignettes with an underlying plot. Each vignette was both character and suspense-driven, and the suspense each time relates to the overarching series gimmick/theme— don’t question (change) past or future. This theme was psychologically well-developed. The powers worked around and through it; it was the heart of link click. And link click 2 just… throws that all out the window. It’s fine if you decide to switch your show’s main format, main structure, main focus, main theme— if you do something interesting and just as engaging. Link click 2 did not. The only thing it has in common with the previous season (and superficially at that) is super powers. Superpowers that were not insightfully used, as they were in season 1. Beyond that, it’s just an average crime procedural. It’s not very good at being a crime procedural. Without the psychological and thematic underpinnings of the former season the suspense just, doesn’t matter. The big bad isn’t interesting. The “tragic” antagonist had a decent set-up, perhaps the most interesting thing in the season, but this wasn’t followed through. If you want to watch a crime procedural, watch Poirot, Law and Order, etc. If you want to watch a quasi-crime procedural with a supernatural twist, watch Reset. The writing of this season isn’t bad per se, but it’s just very average at being a crime procedural and it’s not link click. There’s no point in this STORY being link click, as it has very little to do with time, justice, morality, etc. It’s boring. The cops were not interesting characters, because they were not brought into the heart of what made link click good. We spent SO much time with the cops, running around. It was boring. Again, I’d rather watch an actual crime procedural. The two main characters weren’t developed further at all. They were just there to react to (boring, predictable) plot points. Gone was their previous ideological tension, which drove season 1; now they just talk like plot devices. Most egregious to me was Qiao Ling, a character I liked and appreciated in season 1. In season 2, though she has a ton more screen time and is included in far more plot points, I like her a lot less. Why? Because she isn’t developed at ALL through these. She’s just there to push plot along, to stand with the boys. She was fun previously because she had her own role and it generated tension. She was kind of an outsider, but also not. She had unique insight into CXS. She recruited people, hung out with outside friends which brought in stories, in short, she had her own life and personality, her own motivations, her own way of relating to the premise. That made her relationship with CXS and LG a lot more organic. Here, perhaps in an ill-guided attempt to make her more girl power!, the writers are trying to put her in the same role as CXS and LG while not caring about her as a character. So what if she fights or delivers information or notices something and plainly states it? That’s not a character! That’s a plot device! She has no self! She had a self previously because her position allowed her to do DIFFERENT things and be a DIFFERENT person with a life and motivation outside of just trying to help CXS and LG. This season… ugh. A woman character isn’t well-written just by giving them physical strength. You have to remember, women are also people too… In short, this is a different show, and even as a different show it’s worse. It’s like if you knew link click from ads and merch and slammed those onto a whatever script for a crime procedural. As its own thing, it’s okay. As a follow-up to link click season 1 though… it makes me sad. If you like season 1, just watch the x-files instead. That blends supernatural crime procedural with some of the stuff that made season 1 good better than this does.

How is this flying under the radar of so many people?! This season is an excellent follow-up to the first, the OP is fantastic. It's so in-depth about what's happening in the season and full of symbolism that you can analyze for fun or further after watching more episodes. Finding all the little things once you figure out everything is just such a fulfilling feeling, I'm going to try and find the song and add it to my playlist cause it's so good. The ending is also well done, but not as good as the OP. Not sure if this is accurate but I think it's a nod to the movie The Time Machine - so that's cool. If you haven't watched the first season, you should cause I feel that it sets up the rules that the main characters need to follow to make sure everything goes to plan. This season kind of shows how far they need to push those established rules they made to solve this mystery. The stakes are a lot higher compared to before and the emotions will flow. I will admit that some episodes around the middle I found to be a bit slow, but there were still moments in them that gripped my attention and boggled my mind - in a good way. I liked how Cheng Xiaoshi had to go without Lu Guang this season, with one of them down he needed to think his actions through to keep everyone out of danger. So this was a good character arc for him and hopefully, he'll understand why he can't do everything he wants to do and learn that he needs to come to terms with the hard choices that need to be made. The villains are complicated, and I can sympathize with and understand why one of them did what they did. The choices afterwards I can't justify and the other one - that one was insecure, paranoid and broke after it was all said and done. That's great character writing right there, such human reason to fall into such corruption. The little glimpse we got for season 3 is such a tease. It opens up many questions about what is going to happen in the future and how the rules are either going to bend more or be broken to reach the goal. So needless to say totally in for season 3!

I gave this a 10/10 for my personal enjoyment but the technical quality is really a 9/10. PLS WATCH OG CHINESE SUB😉 Most people's gripe with this season is that the plot didn't continue in the way THEY wanted it to.🤷🏾‍♀️ They preferred the anthology type structure and non-linear storytelling. Which is fine, but it's not a valid criticism. I can't criticize a story for its decision on story, I can only critize the execution and passion put into it. That being said, Link Click delivers everything it promises. An amazing ost, OP & ED,VA's, art direction and animation. This season manages to shift its focus without losing the emotional core to its story. character development and plot twists make sense, and the stakes are real. my favorite part about the writing is its ability to use misdirection to subvert expectations. Often the plot seemingly goes in a direction that makes sense but can still be fun and unexpected. I would say this series is a great gateway for someone who is trying something other than basic shonen anime. I promise even if a genre isn't action packed doesn't mean you will be bored.

The second season of link licka continues the story left unfinished in the first season, it does it just as well, changing various elements and patterns, such as adding more fights to the series, which really raises the level because it is known that it is easier to create an interesting fight involving superpowers, than a regular fist fight. The plot is fantastic, it has a sad story, action-packed moments, situations that make you wonder why this situation happened and how to solve it, and plenty of twists and turns. The graphics are of a very good standard, the music is suspenseful, and the characters are easy to like. If I were to rate this series based solely on the first season, I would give it a 9/10, but with the second season fleshing things out, I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite anime.

The first season was very good and I admit that it made me shed more than one tear. This second season has kept me in constant tension, worried all the time about the characters! I was afraid of what might happen considering how the first season ended. After having seen all the episodes I can only say that I am destroyed inside. An incredible soundtrack, just like its first part, a great animation improvement, interesting and hateful characters at the same time. I have become very fond of the main characters, the development of each one has been greater and greater and I love being able to see them evolve! Cheng Xiaoshi's smile must be protected. Lu Guang is his protector. Qiao Lin is a queen. Please give this series a chance, for me it was a great discovery this year and I don't regret watching it at all.

The DRAMA! The CHEEZE! It is a cheese fest! Not just the problem for 2nd season the 1st season as well. The cheesiness of the emotional scenes is not the only problem of 'Link Click' but defiantly is what occupied my mind the most. In my opinion this is supposed to be a 9/10 angle of a show, it got great mystery, fluent story telling, memorable characters, top notch animation, refreshing art style, super awesome sound track op & ed for both seasons, and not to mention a well concluded ending (could be more in future but an conclution along is hard to come by this days)... but the execution of emotional scenes are kinda lackluster, they occupied too much time and they are way too cheesy. This show tried to makes the emotional scene super extra emotional (makes the sad feel sadder) with the crying shot, slow motion, and sad music etc. (the cheesy tactic). Doing it once it will work, but this show isn't short of emotional scenes and this show does the same thing every time which in reality it backfired and ruined the mood. To draw a parallel, a quote from 'Gakkou no Kaidan/ Ghost Stories' the English dubbed version: '"it is from our mother, our dead mother! You feel sad now?" this is a sarcastic line to describe the cheesy emotional moment in many drama shows and 'Link Click' has done exactly the same but seriously and over and over and again and again.... Alternatively, to draw another parallel from other shows 'Violet Evergarden', which also use the same "cheesy tactic" but in the 'Evergarden' the emotions are the main focus of the story so it spends more time on the slow build up and settle emotional development which are what makes the cheesy tactic work in shows such as 'Violet Evergarden' but not a mystery/action driven show such as 'Link Click'. I believe if the show down plays the emotional scene a bit and make them run more settle would yield a better result than become a cheese fest. This is still a very good show, I am just disappointed it couldn't become something even better.

Season two is pretty good but a far cry from the perfection of season one. Since season one ended on a cliff - hanger, of course one wants to go straight to season two, which is different in structure, tone, and style than season one. Was I disappointed? Yeah, because I know the greatness this creator is capable of. It does not live up to the genius of season one. Worse, however, though both seasons are heart-rending, season two is heavy - handed about it. It less touches your heart than rips it out of your chest, and not in a good way like season one. Also, though season one wasn't afraid to delve into some very dark topics and it had a body count, season two is straight up brutal, the body count mounting among characters you really love, and for no good reason. The story structure is frustrating, inasmuch as it's continually telling and retelling the same events from different perspectives, adding a little information each time. I was willing to give the creator the benefit of the doubt and see if this experimental storytelling approach amounted to anything in the end, and it ... didn't. Maybe the genius of season one didn't get the kind of reception the creator expected so he got discouraged and/or thought he had to resort to such brutality, but in the end, he does tell an interesting (but kinda predictable, given the premise of the show) story with great voice actors and fantastic animation and an incredible opening credits sequence, and really, nothing more. All the retelling of events, by the end of the season, just seems like a waste of time. On the plus side, more is revealed about how exactly their powers work. We also learn more about other people with powers. Still, there is a huge, unmined vein to do with the two main characters' past, how they came together, and what they might owe each other that may never be revealed if the creator doesn't get on it, since I don't think this comes from a manga or anything; I think its only story is told here, so if it's not renewed, we're out of luck. ... And that's the main problem with season two: it just kind of feels like a place - holder, like it's mostly filler. Really disappointing, given all the promise of season one, but on its own merits, not bad.

Unique story, unexpected twists, memorable characters and great art. Truly an outstanding anime of this season, too bad not many people know this. I highly recommend this anime for all people that like mystery, time travel and unpredicted storyline. Before this anime I never thought that time travel can be used this way, but apparently it can. Also, don't forget to enjoy the incredible fight scenes, haven't seen anything like that for a while. Plot: Manage to bring new things to the table even though time travel story is pretty common. Characters: The characters are also amazing, they all have their own characteristics and really complement both each other and the story.

I don't know, man. I think they botched their execution a little bit. The first season had two plots within itself. Murder-mystery and emotional rollercoaster. The main characters, great ones, have an incredible dynamic in both seasons that leads to emotionally brutal moments. It’s all in these two being “I must allow my friend to suffer for the good of people,” and “I must suffer for the good of people.” They’re both linked far beyond what most people could be, and I felt for them incredibly hard throughout both. However, they decided to ditch the emotional rollercoaster for the murder mystery, and the story falls apart as a result. Too much time is spent on the stakes being raised, in the characters outsmarting, and failing against the villain, that the character writing is lost. The show is most definitely not the same. That should be okay if the murder-mystery is done properly, but was it? Into the second problem. The show does try to create an emotional rollercoaster with the villains, instead of the main characters, keyword “try”. It did not work at all. In fact, the evil of the villains falls apart when everything they do is extrapolated by the story’s style. The story decides to switch back and be about how sad the main villain is when he did assassinate so many people before confronting the main characters. He’s a psychopath who I don’t feel an ounce for, and the score just forces the emotion down your throat hardcore. They try so hard to make you cry because the main villain, who is a serial killer, lost everything. Yes, the emotion is also tied to the ones he lost, who are innocent, but if it doesn’t truly go back to the main characters or maintains tonal consistency, it falls flat. The action scenes are great, the animation is damn good, but I was so bored at times. The way the show reveals information is also so bad. They show a scene, where we don’t have all the info that led us into a cliffhanger episode ending. The next episode explains what the hell happened last episode, and most explanations fill out the first third or fourth of the episode. Pacing is bad, is what I’m saying. Maybe the show didn’t hit any cord in me because the way it’s told isn’t effective, nor interesting. It spends too much time trying to grab too much, without mastering anything. The story turns into the classic old spy vs spy when it was the best in emotionally charged things. It also has so many ridiculous dialogues, and scenes that do NOT fit in here. Silliness works in silly scenes, not when the stakes are high, and informational consistency is chucked out the window. 6/10. I hope the third one builds on the great season ending. It did manage to convince me to check out the third. Amazing opening as well. Not a bad season, not a great one either.

Based-ception. Link Click is fucking awesome! One of the best Chinese anime made in recent years. If you’ve never watched Link Click and I highly recommend you do, the story is about two guys with supernatural abilities. One can look at a photo and see up to twelve hours into the future from where the photo had been taken, the other can jump into and take control of the photographer's body allowing him to relieve a moment in the past. Together these two work to solve mysteries for their clients. However because time travel is involved if something goes wrong it could mess with the future, and boy, oh boy do things go wrong. Leaving off on the cliffhanger left last season, the gang is in trouble with the new supernatural ability user running around. They need to figure out what's going on, and why they're targeting them. Link Clicks biggest strength is how tight its script is which is a huge claim considering time travel is involved. Every action and reaction has consequences in the present story. Even though there is an overwhelming number of people and things to keep track of during a single episode the show takes its time leading the viewer to hypothetical conclusions using all the information the show has given before it reveals the truth through another perspective. It is incredibly satisfying as a viewer. It’s almost as if the writer knows how to write mystery thrillers or something! I also love the cast. Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang are the perfect buddy duo in life and abilities and Qiao Ling brings them together to make the perfect trio. Even the supporting characters are great although, get ready for some tissues and I hope some of those characters aren't your favourites. This season's villains are admittedly a bit of a mixed bag for me. Without spoilers, two of them are sympathetic without exonerating them of their crimes whilst the main bad felt a bit… meh now that the season is finished. Not only is the story good but even the animation and art are fantastic. There are laboriously detailed fight scenes that most normal anime would die for that seemly go on for ages and they’re a visual spectacle. I know this is China and there is a high chance that the animators are probably crunched to hell and back to make these scenes (The Daily Life of the Immortal King makes a joke about this), but I don’t know much about the Chinese animation scene so I’m choosing to be ignorant so I can enjoy my cartoon. Season 2 of Link Click either had me on the edge of my seat or emotionally drained each week. With another massive cliffhanger left at the end, I’m crossing my fingers in the hope of a season 3 confirmation. 9/10 Amazing.

I genuinely don't think anyone understands how someone could dislike this damn show. I watched it like everyone else when it dropped in 2021, and I couldn't be more hyped for season 2. I kept rewatching ep 11 of the first season because it was just so damn good, and people are wondering, did I enjoy this? YOU BET I DID! This season should honestly be studied for its direction. Everything from start to finish has been meticulously thought out, and my god, did they start clicking. Mind you, there are a few plot holes that might get patched up in the future, but let's see. So, I'm gonna talk about three things that make this season one of the best damn things I've ever watched in my entire life. Animation The season was already great in terms of animation, but my god, they stepped it up here. The fluidity in the movements is amazing, it's just a notch below movie-level quality. The final episodes enhance everything from the fights to the exhilarating moments to the CGI - it's all on point. The production team knocked it out of the park with this one. And if we're talking about the CG, man, it's amazing. It's the perfect blend of 3D objects with everything else. Direction Director Li Haoling is honestly one of the best Chinese directors and one of the best animation directors of all time, no doubt. The man is a genius. If you didn't know, this story is original, and it was all handcrafted by Li's creative mind. There isn't a damn show that had this many cliffhangers that actually made sense and weren't just cut out due to screen time constraints. Li's obvious passion permeates every scene, delivering a phenomenal story to us viewers. He succeeds in not having too many exposition dumps, and when he does use them, it's done masterfully, making sense as the characters discuss plans and we viewers observe them. Every episode after 5 ended with an ending that made me want to time travel just to watch its successor. And episode 12 was out of this world with that final mystery - HOLY SHIT! His phenomenal direction showed itself in episodes 10 and 12 with those flashbacks into our main characters; the usage of black and white and running through tape was GODDAMN brilliant. Music Finally, I want to give a shoutout to whoever composed this series because my god, it was amazing. The music was excellently used by Director Li, perfectly inserted into the episodes, matching the damn atmosphere he was trying to deliver. It was honestly a blast to listen to. Now, the only thing I'd criticize is that it's the same music from the first season (at least, I'm not sure). This is because, after doing a bit of research on Spotify, there weren't any OSTs linked to this season, and the ones that did appear were from season 1, so I'm not really sure. Anyways, that ticking sound that plays during a deduction scene is masterful. Finally, I want to touch on the Opening and Endings because my god, they are amazing. I didn't know if I liked the ED at first, but after ep 5 and listening to it on Spotify, I knew this was a masterpiece. "Vortex," the OP, should win OP of the year. So much effort went into it, and the actual song is a banger. This year was a true blessing for anime fans, and I don't think anything can top it. The only thing I want to criticize is that episodes 3 and 4 were probably the weakest, but they helped set up the rest of the show. I'm not saying they're bad by any means, but in a show where 10 episodes were a solid 10/10, these were probably a 7/8. Fans who loved the simple backstories from season 1 will not be disappointed, as there are 2-3 great backstories that hit the mark for me. Overall, this show was a blast to watch, and I honestly have goosebumps thinking about when the third, and probably last, season comes out. If you think I'm exaggerating with Li's work, look up "To Be Hero X" and tell me that this man isn't an icon in the making. That's it for me, and goodbye. I'll probably make a video on the show, but in the meantime, this'll do.