History Series / ThunderboltFantasy

Season 3 is currently in production, but is set to feature Huo Shi Ming Huang leading a direct invasion into Dong-Li, assisted by none other than Xing Hai who seeks revenge against the heroes for their actions in the season 1 finale.

* WorldOfHam: Traditional Chinese Puppet shows have been done by male-only actors using [[LargeHam hammy]] tones of speech. The Japanese voice actors followed suit with their dubbing for this series.

** 2021's celebration has an announcement for [[Franchise/FateSeries Altria Pendragon]] joining the cast for Season 3. She has a doll made for her, but unfortunately no accompanying video.

* IronicEcho: In Season 2 episode 8, Shang gets angry at Lou for ruminating on the meaninglessness of his saving lives if they're just going to either die or bring cruelty onto others (referring to an old couple Lou was in the company of and saved the husband from illness, and his saving Xie Yingluo, who later went on to kill the former two [[spoiler:as blood sacrifices to the Seven Blasphemous Deaths]]). [[spoiler:Shang decides against his better judgment not to kill him, and later spares Xie, who is then murdered by a Lou that's now found meaning in wanton slaughter.]]

Season 1 focuses on Mie Tian Hai and his followers the Xuan Gui Zong[[note]]"Black Demon Sect" or "''Genkishuu''"[[/note]] seeking out the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Tian Xing Jian]][[note]]"Sword of Divine Retribution" or "''Tengyouken''"[[/note]], a mystical weapon said to have actually slain a demon god centuries earlier, but the sword is sealed away and its hilt and crossguard are kept by two guardian priests, the brother-sister pair of Dan Heng and Dan Fei. When Dan Heng is murdered by Mie Tian Hai, Dan Fei escapes with her part of the sword and crosses paths with Lin Xue Ya and Shang Bu Huan. With Lin Xue Ya's meddling, Shang Bu Huan is made to help Dan Fei retrieve the other part of the Tian Xing Jian from Mie Tian Hai to prevent him from taking the sword for himself. To assist in Dan Fei's quest, Lin Xue Ya gathers a [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Rag Tag Band]] of other warriors from his past including the one-eyed sniper archer Shou Yun Xiao and his protege Juan Can Yun, the demoness necromancer Xing Hai, and the assassin Sha Wu Sheng who actually wants Lin Xue Ya dead.

** The Seal Guardians ended season 1 guarding a sword containing a SealedEvilInACan like they were in the very first scene.

** The Seal Guardian [[LadyOfWar Dan Fei]] carries a straight bladed saber with a [[OrnamentalWeapon strangely round and intricate cross-guard]] [[CoolKey resembling a]] [[Franchise/KingdomHearts key]].

* WhamLine: "He was asking for help to swindle one of the Demonic Weapons from a little Seal Guardian".

** Season 2 ends with Shang Bu Huan somehow in possession of two more swords than he started off with, and now Huo Shi Ming Huang is planning a full on invasion of Dong-Li with the assistance of Xing Hai.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: All of the Shen Hui Mo Xie (Magic Weapons of Divine Teaching) are considered to be this in every way, but the Tengyouken (Tiān Xíng Jiàn) is believed by Mie Tian Hai to be the most powerful of them all and that is why he wants it for himself. He surmised this because he has studied the records of the War of Fading Dusk and listened to the communications of the Demon Realm, and the only Demon God not accounted for is Yao Tu Li, who he believes was actually slain by the wielder of the Tengyouken. Throughout season 1, Shang Bu Huan constantly doubts the veracity of the myth, and he is proven right when Mie Tian Hai finally steals the sword and releases a spell that has been keeping Yao Tu Li sealed under the Dan Clan's sacred grounds. Up until this point, Shang Bu Huan's skepticism is seen as unusual in a world of might and magic, until Yao Tu Li awakens and he faces her solo, unsheathing one of the '''''thirty-six''''' even more powerful magical swords he's been keeping hidden the whole time, when he's been using an intentionally dull piece of wood painted silver to look like a sword for the entire season.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: All of the Shen Hui Mo Xie (Magic Weapons of Divine Teaching) are considered to be this in every way, but the Tengyouken (Tiān Xíng Jiàn) is believed by Mie Tian Hai to be the most powerful of them all and that is why he wants it for himself. He surmised this because he has studied the records of the War of Fading Dusk and listened to the communications of the Demon Realm, and the only Demon God not accounted for is You Ja Rei, who he believes was actually slain by the wielder of the Tengyouken. Throughout season 1, Shang Bu Huan constantly doubts the veracity of the myth, and he is proven right when Mie Tian Hai finally steals the sword and releases a spell that has been keeping You Ja Rei sealed under the Dan Clan's sacred grounds. Up until this point, Shang Bu Huan's skepticism is seen as unusual in a world of might and magic, until You Ja Rei awakens and he faces her solo, unsheathing one of the '''''thirty-six''''' even more powerful magical swords he's been keeping hidden the whole time, when he's been using an intentionally dull piece of wood painted silver to look like a sword for the entire season.

** Xing Hai and Shou Yun Xiao siding with Mie Tian Hai is foreshadowed in a scene where Lin Xue Ya notices some Onyx Demon guards cleaning up a table that was set for three people...one of them being Mie Tian Hai of course.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: Season 2 ends with Huo Shi Ming Huang and his organizations are planning to start a full invasion of Dong-Li with the help of [[spoiler:Kei Kai.]]

*** Fight Sha Wu Sheng and Lou Zhen Jie (with the Seven Blasphemous Deaths) using two untransformed {{VideoGame/Touken|Ranbu}} Danshi,
*** Run into the world of ''Anime/ExpelledFromParadise'' to be saved by Angela Balzac,

*** Fall right in the middle of a battle in ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'' and summon the Shining Trapezohedron,

*** Run into the world of ''Anime/ExpelledFromParadise'',

*** Have Dan Fei, Xing Hai, Xie Yingluo, and Lie Mei take down [[Franchise/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Qubey]],
*** Get Shang Bu Huan out of a loop in ''VisualNovel/YouAndMeAndHer'',
*** Fall right in the middle of a battle in ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'',

[[labelnote:Click to view the teaser posters for season 3]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p_season3.jpg\\https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p_season3_2.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

[[labelnote:Click to view the teaser poster for season 3]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p_season3.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]

* TheSouthPaw: Due to the mechanism of the puppets, all puppets' left hands are designed to be their most expressive part, hence why they all wield their weapons with their left hands, making them left-handed. Puppeteers are mostly right-handed. Therefore, the puppets are designed to fully occupy their puppeteers' right hands by supporting the puppets' full body, and control most of the puppets' internal mechanisms, including head tilts, eye blinks, and the puppets' right arms; while their left hands control the left hands of the puppets and their puppets' foot movements. Our [[TheArcher mister archer]], Shou Yun Xiao and [[DualWielding dual wielder]], Sha Wu Sheng could pass as HeroicAmbidexterity due to Shou Yun Xiao's use of his right hand for arrows, typical for right-handed archers, and Sha Wu Sheng for his usage of dual sword-fencing.
** Subverted in the manga adaption. Where everyone wield their weapons right-handed with the exception of Lin Xue Ya and Mie Tian Hai, who are actually left-handed.

* BloodierAndGorier: The manga compared to the series has more gruesome deaths. And the series is BloodierAndGorier than Pili which says [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids a lot]].

** BadassCape / BadassLongcoat / BadassLongRobe: Due to the nature of controlling puppets from the inside, Pili puppet costumes are required to have long gowns and robes to cover up the puppeteers' arms. While the capes are there for bonus badass looks when they are performing live, flying, or just [[DramaticWind standing in the wind]], WordOfGod indicates that in Sha Wu Sheng's case, because of his lean bodyframe ([[MrFanservice and least amount of clothing layers on top]]), he ''has to'' wear a badass cape, otherwise his puppeteer won't have anywhere to hide himself during the shoot.
** PimpedOutDress: Judging from both 2D design and puppet production outcome, of all characters, Lin Xue Ya, Dan Fei, Sha Wu Sheng, and Mie Tian Hai takes the cake of wearing the most pimped outfits.

'''''Thunderbolt Fantasy: Sword Seekers''''' (Thunderbolt Fantasy 東離劍遊紀)[[note]]''Dōng Lí Jiàn Yóu Jì'' / ''Tōri Ken Yūki''; lit. "Record of the Dong-Li Sword Journey"[[/note]] is a {{Wuxia}} [[PuppetShows Puppet Show]] TV series, spearheaded by Japanese screenwriter Creator/GenUrobuchi of Creator/{{Nitroplus}} after he fell in love with the ''Pili'' (''Thunderbolt'') [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glove_puppetry glove puppet]] shows produced by Taiwanese production studio Pili International Multimedia (known in the west as the creators of what became ''Series/WulinWarriors'') after stumbling upon their works at a Taiwan anime and comic fan convention he attended; Toys/{{Figma}} creators Good Smile Company assists the show in character creation alongside nitro+'s stable of artists. Music/HiroyukiSawano (later joined by Takafumi Wada) scores the show's soundtrack, while Music/TMRevolution a.k.a. Takanori Nishikawa sings the theme songs and joins the Japanese AllStarCast in season 2.

'''''Thunderbolt Fantasy: Sword Seekers''''' (Thunderbolt Fantasy 東離劍遊紀)[[note]]''Dōng Lí Jiàn Yóu Jì'' / ''Tōri Ken Yūki''; lit. "Record of the Dong-Li Sword Journey"[[/note]] is a {{Wuxia}} [[PuppetShows Puppet Show]] TV series, spearheaded by Japanese screenwriter Creator/GenUrobuchi of Creator/{{Nitroplus}} after he fell in love with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glove_puppetry glove puppet]] shows produced by Taiwanese production studio Pili (known in the west as the creators of what became ''Series/WulinWarriors'') after stumbling upon their works at a Taiwan anime and comic fan convention he attended; Toys/{{Figma}} creators Good Smile Company assists the show in character creation alongside nitro+'s stable of artists. Music/HiroyukiSawano (later joined by Takafumi Wada) scores the show's soundtrack, while Music/TMRevolution a.k.a. Takanori Nishikawa sings the theme songs and joins the Japanese AllStarCast in season 2.

** The sword from ''Chaos Dragon'' is the Qisha Tianling, known in ''Thunderbolt Fantasy'' as the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Seven Blasphemous Deaths]] and the BiggerBad of season 2.

*** Get Shang Bu Huan out of a loop in ''VisualNovel/YouAndMeAndHer'',

The sprawling series of 2 (soon to be 3) seasons of the TV show and two films is set in a fantasy world of swords, wizardry, and demons in the nation of Dong-Li, which in the past was ravaged by an invasion from the Demon Realm that split it from its neighboring nation Xi-You by the impassible Wasteland of Spirits, full of dangerous dragons and demon-worshipping barbarians. The main cast comprises the illusionist and GentlemanThief Lin Xue Ya and the wandering and taciturn swordsman Shang Bu Huan who has somehow crossed the Wasteland of Spirits unscathed; Shang Bu Huan's compatriate Lang Wu Yao, a wandering minstrel with an enchanted voice and a magical talking pipa named Ling Ya, joins the main cast in season 2.

Season 2 finds Shang Bu Huan reuniting with Lang Wu Yao and Ling Ya, but the meeting is soured when Ling Ya points out that if Shang Bu Huan's old allies have found him in Dong-Li, that means so have his old foes. The two work together to prevent the Sorcerous Sword Index, a magic compendium of dozens of magical and weapons Shang Bu Huan has collected in Xi-You, from falling into wrong hands. They must contend with the FemmeFatale Xie Yingluo who is trying to prove herself to her master Huo Shi Ming Huang and also corrupt Xi-You Imperial envoy Xiao Kuang Juan who convinces his Dong-Li counterparts of the "danger" Shang Bu Huan poses to the public. However, Lin Xue Ya has his own sights set on Xiao Kuang Juan as a new mark, the ascetic monk Di Kong wanders the countryside questioning the meaning of his life alongside that of both the heroes and villains, and the Sorcerous Sword Index's most dangerous weapon the Seven Blasphemous Deaths is freed and it has a mind of its own to take over the world one corpse at a time.

* DwindlingParty: Dan Fei gathers a group of allies to travel to the Seven Sins Tower, and by the end of the series, only Dan Fei, Lin Xue Ya, Shang Bu Huan, and Juan Can Yun remain alive, with Xing Hai's fate unknown because demons can't necessarily be killed.

Season 2 finds Shang Bu Huan reuniting with Lang Wu Yao and Ling Ya, but the meeting is soured Ling Ya points out that if Shang Bu Huan's old allies have found him in Dong-Li, that means so have his old foes. The two work together to prevent the Sorcerous Sword Index, a magic compendium of dozens of magical and weapons Shang Bu Huan has collected in Xi-You, from falling into wrong hands. They must contend with the FemmeFatale Xie Yingluo who is trying to prove herself to her master Huo Shi Ming Huang and also corrupt Xi-You Imperial envoy Xiao Kuang Juan who convinces his Dong-Li counterparts of the "danger" Shang Bu Huan poses to the public. However, Lin Xue Ya has his own sights set on Xiao Kuang Juan as a new mark, the ascetic monk Di Kong wanders the countryside questioning the meaning of his life alongside that of both the heroes and villains, and the Sorcerous Sword Index's most dangerous weapon the Seven Blasphemous Deaths is freed and it has a mind of its own to take over the world one corpse at a time.

Season 2 finds Shang Bu Huan reuniting with Lang Wu Yao and Ling Ya, but the meeting is soured when he realizes that if his allies can find him in Dong-Li, so can his foes. The two work together to prevent the Sorcerous Sword Index, a compendium of dozens of magical and weapons Shang Bu Huan has collected in Xi-You, from falling into wrong hands. They must contend with the FemmeFatale Xie Yingluo who is trying to prove herself to her master Huo Shi Ming Huang and also corrupt Xi-You Imperial envoy Xiao Kuang Juan who convinces his Dong-Li counterparts of the "danger" Shang Bu Huan poses to the public. However, Lin Xue Ya has his own sights set on Xiao Kuang Juan as a new mark, the ascetic monk Di Kong wanders the countryside questioning the meaning of his life alongside that of both the heroes and villains, and the Sorcerous Sword Index's most dangerous weapon the Seven Blasphemous Deaths is freed and it has a mind of its own to take over the world one corpse at a time.

*** Fall right in the middle of a battle in ''VideoGame/{{Demonbane}}'',

*** Get Shang Bu Huan out of a loop in ''VisualNovel/YouAndMeAndHer'',