REVIEW: ‘The Daily Life of the Immortal King’ Season 4 Is An Enjoyable Experience

The overpowered hero trope seems to become more common with each passing year. With the core concept’s novelty long worn out, series that feature these powerful protagonists have to find other elements to make themselves stand out. While previous seasons managed to work creativity into their episodic tales, The Daily Life of the Immortal King Season 4 struggles here.

Another test for the students of Faction 60 is here. When Wan Ling once again exceeds expectations and divines the Way of Heaven technique, he accidentally destroys the faction’s shiny new gym. But this time, his overpowered performance does more than just property damage. He draws the attention of the leader, the Inifinite Sword Faction.

The Sword Saint is in search of an heir to lead his group. Wishing to continue his quiet existence, Ling seeks to avoid the honor. Meanwhile, a chance encounter will bring down the wrath of the Four Emblem Faction onto Faction 60. With new threats and spying eyes focused on them, can Wan Ling, Sun Rong, and the rest of their friends manage their classes and social lives in The Daily Life of the Immortal King (Xian Wang de Richang Shenghuo) Season 4?

Rather than finding fresh angles for the series to explore, this season feels like a familiar jaunt down old paths. Ling continues to hide his power as bad guys show up to destroy Faction 60. These new foes present a grave threat to those around Ling but never manage to pose a threat to the main character. The show does manage to craft some solid moments where Ling isn’t able to remove a threat himself simply. One such moment leads to a season’s best scene.

Featuring Sun Rong when she must confront one of the leaders of the Four Emblem Faction, this moment dazzles. While Ling cannot be present, he sends her some measure of aid, allowing Sun to shine in a way that hasn’t happened since the momentous end of season one.

The outcome of the action in The Daily Life of the Immortal King Season 4 is rarely in doubt. However, the visual presentation does a great job of wowing the viewer regardless. The unique way the series presents the spiritual abilities of its cast continues to stand out among the other fantasy offerings out there.

In between faction-threatening attacks and soul-shaking showdowns, the series continues to let the students of Faction 60 be just that. Students. Trips to the mall and garage sale-style events are sprinkled throughout the season’s 12 episodes. These down-to-earth events include many of the show’s most charming and humorous moments.

The warmth of these moments helps the viewer overlook how similar the season feels to what has come before. The familiarity that runs through these moments cannot help but be welcomed. Like meeting up with old friends, sometimes you don’t need to do anything new.

Another aspect of The Daily Life of the Immortal King Season 4 that helps downplay the lack of inventiveness in the season is how short the episodes are. With no episode managing to break the 20-minute mark, no scene is allowed to drag on. These quick episodes tell their stories, sprinkle in some humor and action, and are then gone. With little narrative fat to chew on, the brisk pacing of each story helps keep the focus on the moment. Except for one glaring exception. Which comes at the most unfortunate of moments.

The only episode that manages to overstay its welcome is the season finale. As the leaders of rival factions clash, we get a moment that gets bogged down in needless exposition. Too much explanation of spiritual powers and how they are achieved is allowed to weigh down the moment.

The epic clash to send the season out never lands. The fantasy babble even detracts from some emotional stakes in the scene. While the episode still delivers a fine story, it always hurts when the weakest element of a season is the finale.

The Daily Life of the Immortal King Season 4 brings enough fun and adventure that fans of the series will most likely walk away satisfied. The charm and fun group dynamic are still shining strong, even if the tune the season plays feels like an overly familiar one.

The Daily Life of the Immortal King Season 4 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.