Feng Shen Ji goes hand-in-hand with a certain concept in reading and enjoying manga (or alot of things for that matter) that I like to call Closed Accomplishment. A manga with closed accomplishment is one that is not trying to be stunning in every category of writing etc, rather it attempts to be the very best at what it is at its core. Feng Shen Ji is just Feng Shen Ji, and because of that can be enjoyed in a sort of vaccuum, with there being no need to judge it in numerous factors to enjoy it fully, this being due to its unique artwork style, and heavy content amount unusual for a japanese manga (as this is originally a Chinese Manhua.) Down to the point though, Feng Shen Ji is an action manga showing some of the most enjoyable, well drawn fights I have ever seen, and a simple albeit perfectly executed storyline that goes with it.

Feng Shen Ji is about Wu Geng (Ah Gou), the son of the Emperor of the mighty nation of Zhang. When Zhang is tasked by the Gods to conquer and unite humanity, the Emperor Zi Shou refuses, declaring revolution against Heaven in order to rid the human race of the Gods' Dominance. Despite a roller coaster encounter with all 6 great gods and the Ruler of Heaven Tian himself, Zi Shou is defeated, and his Empire destroyed and conquered by the resident number 2. Through a series of events, Wu Geng is killed by his own mother and ends up possessing the dead body of a slave whose eye he stabbed before the beginning of the story. Wu Geng is told a great destiny awaits him, and he is captured and taken to the dreaded mountain mines with the slave's wife to be and some others. Things only go crazy from there.

The first thing I want to talk about with Feng Shen Ji is the art. When reading Feng Shen Ji, something is going to stand out to you right away, and that is that EVERY SINGLE PAGE IS IN COLOR. There is no exception to this at all throughout the manhua, and since its barely 2 years old with chapters over 40 pages on average one wonders about the work ethic of it's creators. In my earlier Tower of God review, I talked about even if an art style is inherently not good, color can make it overall a more pleasing visual experience then well drawn black and white manga. Despite this I warned readers that since Tower of God isn't even actually drawn it might still not look great. But what about Feng Shen Ji, the second fully colored manga? Well rest assured, Feng Shen Ji doesn't disappoint in art style either. Anatomy, facial detail, and environmental detail is all top notch. Fight scenes are fantastically drawn, each detail in every fist, flame, tooth, and nail is given a full accord. To put it simply, Feng Shen Ji would have been one of the most well drawn manga even without the color, but in addition to that, every single page is in color. And I haven't said it before, but this is good color, as not all color jobs on manga are created equal. It's obvious that this colorist is consistent and actively work's with the artists to achieve a perfect result. The consistency in quality is notable, and although the art is wonderful to begin with, it gets better even so. Similar to the Monkey King, you can enjoy this manga just by the art alone, and going back to my original statement on how Feng Shen Ji is fantastic because it achieves exactly what it attempts to, the art is a massive factor into the overall quality of this well drawn, well choreographed fighting manga.

Coming off of that, what purpose is art unless there is something to draw? Luckily, Feng Shen Ji's action sequences do not disappoint in the same way the art does not. Action scenes are creative, bombastic, and fun. No fight's outcome is predictable, and more than that, no fight's processes are predictable. In this regard it achieves what many action manga try to achieve, perfect action. The world of Feng Shen Ji is full of gods, demons, zombies, beasts, and stone warriors, choreography involving the inevitable bouts with these creatures prove to be as wonderful as foreshadowed, something not all manga can achieve well. An example from the story would be Wu Geng's initial fight with Shi Xing, Shi Xing overpowers him completely, but Wu Geng escapes and uses a variety of carefully planned bullshit with everything from bazookas to pocket sand to attempt to defeat him. It's all ridiculous but it fits to perfectly with the tone up to that point but you can't help but be entertained. I've mentioned it before but one thing that makes the fights specifically so fun is that they are very unpredictable. When I read Medaka Box, it was kind of silly how much foreshadowing there was in a fight, you could tell exactly who was going to activate their power up and win. This was so prevalent in fact, you might even be able to tell when specific plot twists would happen. In Feng Shen Ji, this doesn't occur. That's because you aren't given enough background information to infer what is going to happen, not just in the form of the story lore but also little details that determine a fight's next sequence. It's very awesome to read, and really puts the previously detailed artwork and color to work, synergizes completely.

Feng Shen Ji's story can be interpreted in a few different ways. Battle of the gods and Heaven Revolution is by no means an underused trope in manga (or fiction as a whole for that matter), so then why is Feng Shen Ji interesting. Well for one thing, it is not based on frequently used Greek, Japanese, or Egyptian mythology. It is based entirely on Chinese Mythology, which if anything, does not compltely correlate to many stereotypes in these types of stories. The "Gods" are not so much a dozen or so super powered beings with divine powers representing a certain element of nature, but rather a race of super humans residing in heaven, with their own cities as well (however they are the former as well.) There is no concrete lightning great god, there are several Lightning Great Gods, there are several great plague gods, etc. The point being this is an original pantheon, so you can expect a unique backstory. I also want to mention on while this manga is obviously based on Chinese folklore it doesn't actually follow it in anyway, its only based on it. There is no God from real chinese mythology in this manga, and just so the world of Feng Shen Ji is not Earth, and doesn't share its timeline. It is a unique canon with its own history and backstory, and some interesting meta canon as the concrete to the bricks. With that detailed I'll talk about some specifics. Wu Geng is not an interesting character, but he is entertaining. Wu Geng does not have any depth to him at all, that is to say, his entire thought process is displayed to the reader at all times. He does not have a mysterious past or some childhood trauma that similar protaginists have that affect their personalities, Wu Geng is too cool for any of that nonsense. In fact, Wu Geng is so incredibly normal for his character archetype (that is a very hot headed, leadership like character) that he makes most of his clever decisions actually reasonable. You the reader may find this a little bit strange, as usually a complicated plot will not fully be revealed to the audience for suspence. Not the case with Wu Geng and his shenanigans, especially in the mines. What this shows as despite being simple, this character and his motivations are just as likeable as the best from the other side, it only beneficially adds to the experience. Wu Geng also has some interesting one liners which may or may not be the result of a language barrier with the native Chinese, such as "Put face into ground and eat dog shit God, God eating dog shit kick!" which he uses more than once. Wu Geng isn't the only fun character though, some like resident quiet badass and smelting aura master Zi Yu are even more fun to watch, Zi Yu having no special backgrounds but still the first character to actually kill a God. It's interesting because, none of these characters particularly become dislikeable, I personally think it might be because this story is so momentum drive, with almost no time spent on developing characters, only on developing events, that they are never given the chance too. It begs the question that if development is done off that it can make characters less enjoyable. No need to worry about that, as the Berserk Gorillas attacking are much more important right now then character development. It may sound silly to say such, but it works just fine.

Feng Shen Ji is a manga that accomplishes what it is. It is an action driven story, with focuses on fights, adventure, and revolution. It doesn't make any prolonged attempt to develop characters because that is not this kind of story. If this kind of energetic manga is to your liking look no more for the epitome of the genre.