Lin Dong had returned for the Martial Universe Season 2 this 2020 and it has been a fantastic experience for all the viewers who had been following his journey since 2019 and all the fans of cultivation donghua out there. I must say that the whole experience of watching Martial Universe Season 2 had been amazing despite how generic its story might be, and how many times I had seen its plot from other series. The good thing is that the story had always been executed well which sets it apart from similar series that failed on attempting the cultivation / martial arts cliche.
Martial Universe Season 2 had been divided into two parts during its run. The first one revolved on Lin Dong’s journey to increased his status as a Symbol Master during the Tower Battle Arc. Despite all odds during the competition against other symbol masters, he managed to defeat them one by one and gained innumerable rewards throughout the process. He eventually stumbled upon a secret dimension where he had gained information about the Ancestral Symbols as he rose to the ninth level of the Tower, surprising everyone outside. Upon completing his breakthrough and rank up as a symbol master, he returned to his family and once again defeated another gang that bullies his family.
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| Lord Marten explained the Ancestral Symbols |
I must say that this has been a common plot in any Chinese anime with a cultivation plot. Furthermore, I felt like having a deja vu watching it, maybe due to its similarity to Battle Through the Heavens which was also written by the author that wrote the novel where Martial Universe was based off. In the other novel, the main character Xiao Yan unexpectedly comes across a piece of the map that has the location of the 3rd-ranked Heavenly Flame, he then embarks on a journey to find the other map pieces and eventually cultivate the Heavenly Flame when he is strong enough to handle it. In Martial Universe, Lin Dong has found the dimension that contained the information about the location of Ancestral Symbols. And while he is not strong enough to manage on acquiring the Ancestral Symbols, he sets his eyes on it. One thing is that Lin Dong sure has some kind of excellent luck on his side or just the pretty obvious plot armor that makes it ordinary at its core.
I just couldn’t ignore the similarities but I don’t mind it though as Martial Universe anime adaptation has been quite better compared to Battle Through the Heavens donghua adaptation.
The second part of Martial Universe Season 2 is when Lin Dong joined the party of entering the secret tomb by a cultivator. It’s more like treasure hunting and he went there together with several members from the main branch of the Lin family on which he had issues with. It has been a fantastic journey where he and Lord Marten hauled some precious items and treasures including his new weapon. He also met Lin Langtian once again and this is where the main branch of the Lin family sees Lin Dong as a rising threat.
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| Lin Dong’s rival from the main family branch, Lin Langtian |
He also met his future wife Ling Qinzhu here and it was quite funny since their encounter was awkward. Well, it reminded me of how Xiao Yan met Queen Medusa from Battle Through the Heavens.
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| Ling Qinzhu prepares to open the old tomb using her cultivation. |
We had also seen Lin Dong fought against members of the Wang family where he was able to test his newfound weapons and items from the Nirvana Tomb.
Martial Universe Season 2 Review: Strengths
This Chinese animated series surely thrive in its well animated and choreograph fight scenes. I did enjoy it even from its first season last 2019. If you wish to read more about the first season, I have written my review here: Martial Universe Anime Review– Is it Worth it?
Aside from the fight scenes, the character designs and music were also good. Lin Dong had made huge progress throughout the whole season and it’s even more gigantic than the speed of what he had achieved from the first season.
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| Ling Qinzhu |
I am also happy to meet some more characters this season including Ling Qinzhu. One thing that quite surprised me still is Lin Dong’s resolve and sharpness. He won’t hesitate to kill his opponents, and sometimes I felt like this aggressiveness is quite inhuman or just the typical arrogance from any Chinese stories I had seen. Well, at the end of the day, Lin Dong is the main character and it’s great to have an overwhelming protagonist to follow in a world-setting filled with villains and tyrants.
Our favorite demon Lord Marten had been one of the fun and exciting characters in the story, albeit he reminds me of Yao Lao from Battle Through the Heavens too.
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| Lord Marten |
Martial Universe Season 2 Review: Weaknesses
While I am pretty aware that its story is quite generic and share the same plot as almost every cultivation donghua out there, Martial Universe could be boring at times due to its predictable story. Yes, especially to the readers and fans of Battle Through the Heavens, you just can’t ignore the similarities that sometimes, make the excitement fade away as the story really becomes predictable. However, I think it is an issue on the source material, and I am still glad because the donghua adaptation exerted effort to make the journey a fun and enjoyable experience.
Martial Universe Season 3 Announcement
At the end of the 12th episode, it was announced that Martial Universe Season 3 is coming soon. I believed we might actually have it around summer or fall next year. So, if you guys wanting to see more from Lin Dong and his journey, you’d better list the upcoming 3rd season of Martial Universe in your watchlist next year. After all, it could be one of the biggest Chinese anime coming in 2021 along with Mo Dao Zu Shi Season 3, Stellar Transformations Season 3, Three-Body Problems, and many more.
Last Updated on December 14, 2020 by Yu Alexius
