Blades of the Guardians: Heroes for Hire

I’ve been a fan of Xu Xianzhe’s manhua Biaoren (“Bounty Hunters”) since it came out in the 2010s. As a self-confessed zhai (Chinese term for geek), Xu is heavily influenced by videogames (and actually commissioned to write the five-volume Assassin’s Creed: Dynasty manhua). Highly reminiscent of samurai classics such as Lone Wolf and Cub and hyper-violent ‘90s anime like Blade of the Immortal, the story certainly had an appeal. I tried to get into the donghua adaptation, but as a seasoned fan of animation, including the beautiful works of Shanghai Animation Studios, and Studio Mir, I found the corner-cutting of rendered 3D backgrounds jarring. The action itself was almost entirely a show of Fist of the North Star-style muscles and brute strength, which longtime Wuxia fans know, can only carry you so far. It would have taken no less than a master of cinematic kung fu. like Yuen Woo-Ping, bringing their flare and skills to this story, for me to return to it, and Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert, delivers just that.

Read my officially quoted preview on Easternkicks.


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