Quanzhi Gaoshou (King’s Avatar) Anime Review
The relationship between anime and video games is well-known among both gaming audiences and anime fans. Both forms of entertainment have taken inspiration from each other and it's common to see video games with anime art styles and see animes that borrow from video game story beats.
For example, in 2016, Square Enix released Final Fantasy XV. Final Fantasy XV is a classic JRPG that takes place in Eos and sees Noctis and his three friends roam around in an open-world, taking down enemies and exploring. Noctis and co.'s character designs already seem ripped from an anime and that's what led to Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV, an anime series of five episodes that continued to follow the adventures of Noctis and his friends. Square Enix is also the publisher of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, which is a series of anime and JRPG-style takes on Disney characters. The Kingdom Hearts franchise has sold more than 24 million copies around the world, highlighting the interest in this merging of genres.
As mentioned, we have also seen some anime series based on games. One of these is Quanzhi Gaoshu (King's Avatar), the esports-related anime series that was put together by the G.CMay Animation & Film studio and first aired in 2017. Read our review of this anime below.
What is Quanzhi Gaoshu (King’s Avatar) About?
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Quanzhi Gaoshu (King's Avatar) is an esports-focused anime series that follows a character named Ye Xiu. In the plot, Ye Xiu is one of the top-tier professional players in the online multiplayer game Glory, where his talents and contributions to the game have seen him nicknamed the “Battle God.” But Ye Xiu retires from his team and begins to find himself working at an Internet café. Ye Xiu's career in the café doesn't last too long, though, because the launch of Glory's tenth server encourages the renowned esports player to get back into the game. Once he makes his triumphant return, players question who this mysterious new, talented player is while Ye Xiu must figure out how he can earn sponsors, find a team and get used to a game that has massively changed. As expected, the anime is full of intense competition, vendettas and ambitious protagonists and antagonists. Overall, we'd say it's a must-watch for esports fans, and quite an interesting option for those who are curious about this world.
Quanzhi Gaoshu (King's Avatar) follows the well-worn anime trope of competition in sports and fans have also seen anime games such as the soccer game Captain Tsubasa Dream Team (based on an old anime about soccer) thrive. But the anime is still widely held in high regard and the novel it is based on received the title for Best Work in 2013.
Can We Expect More Esports Anime Series?
Arguably, the release of an esports-related anime like Quanzhi Gaoshu (King's Avatar) was massively overdue, especially given the growth of the esports industry. Esports is steadily making its way into the mainstream, as made evident by a Limelight Networks survey of 4,000 people from 2017 that revealed that young men in the United States prefer esports to traditional sports. We have also seen mainstream bookmakers such as Betway which offer odds on popular esports games such as the MOBAs (multiplayer online battle arena game) League of Legends and DOTA 2, and the shooter game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which shows exactly how much of the mainstream public is interested in esports – it's definitely not a niche market anymore. In fact, speaking of League of Legends, developer Riot Games confirmed that the game's 2014 world championship received 32 million viewers and the final sold-out the Staples Center. When considering viewership figures like this, it's no wonder that the esports industry is expected to be worth $1.5 billion by 2020, according to Newzoo. Although the anime industry is already worth $17.7 billion, by embracing esports this incredibly popular form of entertainment has even more room to grow. Anime studios could capitalize on the success of esports by portraying it in anime form.
For example, the biggest names in esports have rivals and people looking to oust them from the top seat and there are also longstanding feuds between the best-known teams in a game. Moreover, there are surprise wins and incredible plays as a player uses an ability in an impressive, strategic way and helps to guide the team to victory. These would all make for some highly viewable plots and action-packed episodes that anime viewers would love, so perhaps the anime industry will make more esports-inspired series soon.
