The official Weibo account for the Chinese donghua Tales of Herding Gods has just announced the animated series has hit 1 million views in China.
The account thanked all the show’s fans for their support.
A celebratory visual featuring protagonist Qin Mu was also unveiled at the same time. (see below)
Now, personally, considering how good the ongoing fantasy action adventure has turned out to be, I am actually surprised it has been almost a full month since the first episode of Tales of Herding Gods was released before it grabbed 1 million views.
I would have expected that to happen a lot sooner.
Especially as, on the Made By Bilibili – Chinese Donghua Animation’s YouTube account, the donghua has already earned almost 700,000 plays on its first four episodes — with all four episodes getting higher views than almost any of the other newer donghua streaming on the account.
Then again, the account did not release the time frame the 1 million views were earned in, so it could have been the first day.
What is Tales of Herding Gods?
The animated series is based on the ongoing hit fantasy novel series written by Zhai Zhu (宅猪).
The donghua’s first episode premiered on October 27th, 2024, with five episodes currently available for VIP subscribers on Made by Bilibili, while the first four episodes are now free for non-subscribers.
With it being an extremely long novel already, and more chapters being published every month, it is also likely we will see many more seasons of the Tales of Herding Gods donghua if this continues to be a success.
As for its plot:
The donghua follows the story of Quin Mu, a young man raised in the impoverished Disabled Elderly Village by his “grandmother”, Granny Si, after being found floating in a basket on the river as a baby.
A basket that was pulled there by a strange woman who dragged the baby along while floating underwater.
All of the elders living in the village have mysterious backgrounds, but they are kind to Quin Mu while he is growing up, even teaching him skills that will help him survive in the Wasteland that surrounds them.
When we first meet Quin Mu, he is 11 or 12-years-old and is responsible for taking the cow to graze outside the village. But, one day, the cow suddenly begins to talk to him asking him to remove a metal pin from her head.
When he does, his world is suddenly turned upside down as he finds himself the target of a mysterious group of cultivators who are now out to kill both him and the Elders in the Disabled Elderly Village.
You can read our full recap of the first episode of the donghua here on Baozi Buns.
The plot of Tales of Herding Gods is fascinating right from its very first scenes, as is the intricate world-building and the stunning art style chosen to illustrate it.
The animation, especially in the action scenes, is also superb, while the character designs are beautifully intricate and almost seem real.
Watch the first episode of Tales of Herding Gods down below to see what I mean.
Meanwhile, congratulations to Sparkly Key Animation Studio and to the excellent voice actors for having their brilliant donghua hit 1 million views so far.
Update: Tales of Herding Gods has now earned 200 million views on Bilibili
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