u/sugar_rush_11

Guys, what are your predictions for this EWC? Did you get your predictions right in the in-game event? 😁 Although we all know who's gonna win anyway but I still enjoy learning from the games, esp with the rotation, playstyles, build paths etc.

I checked out the stats from the finished games and I got two right so far for the hero stats:

Most picked: Zhang Fei

1. Zhang Fei 2. Lapu Lapu 3. Mai Shiranui

Most banned: Pei and Florentino (Tie) I mean... Who else is surprised with Flo lol

https://preview.redd.it/3qzjo1431igh1.png?width=1078&format=png&auto=webp&s=96f40ed996303ff1a3173e3b0725512d9423ae7e

With regards to over-all performance, it looks like Zhang Fei still leads with 60% (6 wins out of 10 games).

First thoughts and impressions of Oriental Martial Academy ... or maybe just a rant? Lol

* I've already added the flair, but again... spoiler warning ahead for those who have not watched the first two episodes yet. Everything here is shared according to memory so if I have mistakenly shared/added details, feel free to correct.

The donghua starts by introducing the MC as this seemingly happy-go-lucky (slightly cocky) ladies’ man whom all the girls apparently fawn over.

He then goes up against some cultivators in a game, where it is revealed that he supposedly has no spiritual root. So at this point, we are led to believe that he cannot cultivate normally. Then demons suddenly attack the city, and it turns out that the MC has a powerful pendant or necklace that allows him to access his cultivation sea. Inside it is the soul of an extremely powerful cultivator.

(You already know how this kind of setup usually goes... 😏 ) The old cultivator tells the MC that he has hidden power, lends him some strength, and the MC immediately starts aura-farming while fighting the demons alongside the academy’s strongest students.

One of those students is a supposedly very powerful Nascent Soul-level girl with this pretty bad-ass ultimate technique. However, something goes wrong, her technique backfires, she regresses into a little girl, and somehow a portion of her power gets transferred to the MC.

Okay, full stop.

Up until that point, I was thinking, “Hmm, okay. A modern cultivation story. Maybe something along the lines of Slay the Gods or The Other Side of Deep Space.”

But then came the part that genuinely made me go, “Huh???”

How did this guy, who supposedly had no spiritual root and was never shown undergoing any real cultivation training, suddenly become capable of using a Nascent Soul-level ultimate technique and defeating a demon general?

Was it simply because he absorbed a portion of the girl’s power?

But how exactly does that work? Did she also transfer all of her cultivation knowledge, combat experience, and understanding of the technique along with her power? Was his body somehow instantly capable of handling Nascent Soul-level energy despite having no previous training?

It felt like the story skipped several necessary steps and immediately gave him a massive power-up because the plot needed him to win.

I had high hopes for this donghua and was genuinely looking forward to it. There are not that many modern cultivation donghua that I have seen, and the setting and premise looked fresh and interesting.

But introducing the MC with no spiritual root, giving him barely any training, and then immediately having him use a high-level ultimate technique against a demon general really put me off 😒 It did not feel earned at all.

I watched the next episode as well, but unfortunately, my opinion has not changed much.

Will I continue watching? I’m not sure... For now, this is probably going onto my back burner unless I see reviews saying that the story and power progression improve later on.

Will you be watching Oriental Martial Academy? Or have you already seen it? What are your thoughts?

Ten Day Ultimatum/Ten Days Till the End (十日终焉 - Shi Ri Zhong Yan) donghua adaptation was included as part of Tencent's upcoming 2026 animation lineup. 

It's a huugely popular webnovel in China. The MC (Qi Xia) is like this terrifyingly intelligent con artist/swindler who gets into this mysterious place called End Point where they have to survive games and a whole cycle lasts for 10 days (hence the title). Think Alice in Borderland/Squid Game vibes with the game 'hosts' as Chinese zodiac characters.

Personally I'm looking forward to this because it would be quite a refreshing change from the cultivation/leveling up donghuas that I usually watch...And the animation looks pretty dope too. I've also started reading the novel, so if interested, there's a site for English translations (ongoing, c/o Pure Love Translations) that you can check out.