Monday Mids Ep. 22: The Last Summoner — Amazing Animation, Mid Story?

Welcome back to Monday Mids, where we pull a letter, look for the certified bangers, and then find an anime sitting comfortably in the mids category. This week we pulled Z—and the pickings were brutal. Roughly 70% of my Z section was essentially one franchise and its sequels or spin-offs, which made this one of the shortest episodes to prepare since starting the series. And for the first time in Monday Mids history, we have no certified bangers. I wanted to feature series like Zero no Tsukaima, Zom 100, and Zutto Mae Kara, but none quite reached the 8/10 requirement. Zoku Owarimonogatari easily clears that threshold, but it's a continuation of a franchise that doesn't actually begin with Z, so I excluded it. That brings us directly to today's mid: Zuihou de Zhaohuan Shi / The Last Summoner. This Chinese supernatural action-adventure follows Ajie, an ordinary student whose greatest ambition is becoming a ramen chef. Then his cooking accidentally summons a goddess named Dora. Ajie soon discovers that everything possesses a spirit and that certain humans—known as Summoners—can call those spirits forth. From there, his normal life turns into a supernatural adventure involving: Summoners with wildly different abilities Spirits connected to plants, animals, technology, elements, and more The Guardian and Destroyer factions Ajie's mysterious connection to the Summoner world Dora's hidden past A much larger forgotten history The actual summoning system is one of the more interesting parts of the series because the summons function as partners rather than disposable attacks. Unfortunately, the broader story feels extremely familiar. You have the ordinary protagonist, mysterious supernatural girl, hidden powers, secret society, new companions, mysterious enemy organization, forgotten history, and increasingly dangerous opponents. It's all perfectly functional—but you've probably seen most of these pieces before. Where The Last Summoner really shines is its presentation. The animation and drawing quality are consistently impressive, and this isn't even an exceptional example of what Chinese animation studios are capable of visually. Ratings: Plot: 5/10 Characters: 6/10 Animation: 8/10 Overall: 6/10 Overall, this is a solid series that's extremely pleasing to look at and gives you a glimpse of how much potential Chinese animation has as the industry continues developing. The visuals are already there. Now I just want to see more stories that take full advantage of China's own incredibly rich history, mythology, and culture. If you made it this far, thanks for watching. Please subscribe. Love you all. Stay safe. Stay Beautiful. Peace. #MondayMids #thelastsummoner #ZuihouDeZhaohuanShi #donghua #animereview #animerecommendations #chineseanimeseries #FantasyAnime #supernaturalanime #anime