One of the most popular action adventure martial arts donghua of the last decade is Wu Geng Ji (aka 武庚纪 or The Legend and The Hero).
It is one of the earlier Sparkly Key Animation Studio donghua series, and one that premiered its first episode of its first season back in mid-2016, then spawned three more series after that with its last season, Season 4, airing in April, 2023.
All told, the supernatural action adventure series has 156 episodes out for a total running time of around 26 hours (plus the opening and ending animations).
By 2022, the donghua series had earned itself over 6 billion views worldwide. It even went on to win the Silver award at the 14th China Animation Golden Dragon Awards.
For that era, almost a decade ago, Wu Geng Ji features excellent animation, cool character models, and is one of the most fun donghua released, with a well-developed, quite intricate plot, interesting characters and some real cliffhangers at the end of each season.
For donghua fans who enjoy a decent martial arts series, with some supernatural elements thrown in, this one then is a great watch.
And, unlike many of the older donghua, which have either disappeared from legal streaming platforms or don’t have English subtitles if they are still available, Wu Geng Ji is not only easy to watch legally, it is also currently free.
Where to watch Wu Geng Ji Seasons 1 thru 4 free — and legal?
Recently, the Tencent Video Animation YouTube channel has been adding older series to its online library in the form of long videos featuring every episode in one season, or sometimes even several seasons in just one video.
That is what just happened with Wu Geng Ji over the weekend, when Tencent uploaded a video that includes every episode of Wu Geng Ji, Seasons 1 through 4 playing back-to-back in one video. (watch below)
The running time on it is 1:01:21:59 — in other words, close to 26 hours of Wu Geng Ji content, and in a video that omits the opening and ending animations.
Thus, saving you from having to fast forward through them, and so being able to enjoy the plot even more.
There then is your opportunity to watch Wu Geng Ji, Seasons 1 through 4 legally and for free. Just be sure to let some of the ads run so Tencent makes some money for nicely providing this for us.
The plot of Wu Geng Ji
The donghua is adapted from the popular Chinese manhua Feng Shen Ji written by Zheng Jian He, and illustrated by Cheng Kin Wo and Deng Zhi Hui.
Baidu Encyclopedia gives a quick rundown of what you can expect like this:
The series is positioned as an “epic fantasy with a highly imaginative take on the Investiture of the Gods” and aims to present a grand 3D magical epic based on the theme of the Fengshen mythology.
The series builds on ancient Chinese mythology, starting with the blood-pumping legend of Wu Geng, the son of King Zhou, who refuses to live as a slave to the gods and battles for independence and freedom.
Interwoven in the story are three main races—humans, gods, and demons—engaged in a millennium-long struggle for survival, freedom, and glory.
Watch all four released seasons of Wu Geng Ji below. Just be aware, while the story is long and involved, even with four seasons, it is not yet complete.
Hopefully, with the release of this, it means Sparkly Key Animation, whose equally superb Tales of Herding Gods is currently airing, is now well into creating Season 5.