We Overlooked China's Newest and Greatest Anime

Marking this down as the 2nd solo review / 

recommendation post I'm making for a new Spring 2021 anime that isn't my dearest Vivy-Flourite Eyes Song, Today I'm gonna be talking about Link Click (Shiguang Daili Ren) the newest Chinese smash hit and anime of the year candidate that slipped passed almost the entire community's radar last season.

First thing to note here is that there are pretty much two primary reasons why this anime was and still is Underhyped and unnoticed; the first being that it is a Chinese anime without hype fight scenes that blew up on the internet and the second being that it aired in the worst possible season it could have.

These reasons actually compliment eachother in explaining why this anime was so unnoticed last season. First of all Shiguang Daili Ren is a diversion from the popular Chinese animes we've experienced. Thinking back, literally all the best and most loved Chinese anime titles up to this day have been Action-packed Power-Fantasies that showoff their explosive animation and/or their stellar chinese martial arts choreography in their many fights. Hitori no Shita,  King's Avatar, The Daily Life of an Immortal King, Foghill of Five Elements, Soul Land, Quanzhi Fashi, Scissors Seven and all other hyped Chinese anime shows in their popularity and acceptance by the anime community all fulfill this criteria completely.

Link Click is a more plot driven and well grounded show than all of these and it's no surprise it got overshadowed by the storm of hype machines among the new animes of Spring 2021. Similar to Odd Taxi which I previously talked about, in a season with so many hits, only a bare minimum would be willing to try out or take seriously a show with no hype on the internet or pre-existing fanbase.

Going into the plot, Link Click tells the Time-travelling tales of Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang, who work together at a small photography shop called 'Time Photo Studios' set in the backdrop of Modern Metropolis to help clients solve personal mysteries and regrets of the past using the duo's unique powers.

The deed is done through a handshake, and while that might make it seem extremely similar to Tokyo Revengers in power description, the time travelling process in Link Click is a lot more complicated. A photo of the desired specific destination or event in time is required and Lu Guang as the 'Observer' uses his powers to get a review of how the events play out in that time period by simply looking at the photo and transmits it through the handshake to Cheng Xiaoshi, the 'Executor', the one who does the actual heavy lifting of leaping into the body of the client in the past to execute the mission within the time limit of 12 hours. Within the 11 episode run of this show, Cheng and Lu took on various jobs from different clients; from getting specific information to delivering heartfelt messages to lost loved ones to helping the investigation in the case of a kidnapped child, and of course in doing this, they were bound by the strict rule to NEVER change the events of the past as it would wreak untold havoc in the present or future.

Link Click very well executes a sense of depth and passion unlike it's fellow Chinese counterparts as in these missions, while leaping into the body of the clients, Cheng inherits the memories and feelings of the client in question, literally experiencing things in their bodies and feeling the emotional weight of their traumas and attachments.

During missions, things always seem to get intense and out of control, and while Lu acts as the ethical guidepost to Cheng, constantly reminding him not to break the one rule of not changing the past no matter what, Cheng finds this extremely difficult as he directly gets involved with these characters and feels the burden and pain they bear. Imagine literally being in these characters shoes, knowing that changing even a little detail of their past could save their loved one or make their lives much better, yet not being able to do a thing due to unforeseen disasters it could cause in the future. It's these frustrations and regrets bearing on Cheng in helping these characters find absolution that make this such a deep and emotionally resonant show.

 For once in a Chinese anime, I'm actually being captivated by the well written dialogues and backstories of the characters of this show, and this is elevated by the stellar voice acting and music quality during sensitive scenes. 

All these add up to why I feel this is the greatest among all Chinese anime, and when you finally get to see it, you may not agree on that, but you should agree that this anime is a huge step forward for China in the anime industry. 

Watching this was a great experience. The plot was really emotional and really engaging, each episode leaving you wanting more (prepare for a HUGE plot twist and cliffhanger in the end), the characters are really well written, the visuals were stunning, the music was fantastic (the Opening song being a banger!) and overall this anime did a lot more in 11 episodes in its story progression than any other of its kind ever has.

To those of you who may not know, Link Click while being new, is currently ranked 21st among highest rated animes on MAL, showing that the few in the anime community who's seen it can attest to how great it is (Not saying it deserves to be that high though).

All that being said, I absolutely loved Shiguang Daili Ren and definitely see it among the Greats this year, and with the climactic way the first season ended, I'm 100% down for subsequent seasons. 

I hope I've convinced you all to give this new gem a try, and be sure to share this to anyone in need of a great new show and comment your thoughts of this anime or this review in the comments section.

See you Next Time Weebs!.