Genshin Impact (Season 1)

The first season of the British-Japanese Shonen anime series *Genshin Impact* aired from September to December 2020, for a total of 16 episodes. The season was broadcast on TV Tokyo in Japan, and was released digitally on Netflix internationally. The season is based on the prologue of the miHoYo action-roleplaying video game of the same name, and was directed by Jay Stevenson, being produced by J-Animations. The season features one opening theme ("Snow Fairy" by Funkist) and one ending theme ("Ikite" by Aqua Timez). The season's soundtrack was produced by HOYO-MIX, featuring songs from the video game, in collaboration with Shiro Sagisu.

*Genshin Impact* follows Aether, a teenager from another world who arrives with his twin sister Lumine in a world called Teyvat, where they fight Asmoday, an unkown god who watches over Teyvat. The siblings are separated and Aether finds himself in a country called Mondstadt. The season follows Aether and his companion Paimon, as he becomes an Honorary Knight of Favonius and joins forces with his fellow knights and the Anemo Archon to stop the dragon Dvalin from destroying the city of Mondstadt after it was corrupted by Abyssal Poison and manipulated by the Abyss Order.

Development for the series began alongside the game in 2017, with the first two seasons being animated alongside each-other and scheduled to release when the game did. The season serves as a faithful adaptation of its source material, adding an extra fight between characters Kaeya and Diluc, changing the fate of the character Venti, and slightly altering certain side quests for a television format. The season's voice cast sees Zach Aguilar as Aether and Corina Boettger as Paimon, with a supporting cast that includes Erika Harlacher as Venti, Stephanie Southerland as Jean, Sean Chiplock as Diluc, Kelly Baskin as Amber, Josey Montana McCoy as Kaeya and Mara Junot as Lisa. Secondary voice cast members include Laura Stahl as Barbara, Cristina Vee Valenzuela as Bennett, Suzie Yeung as Eula, Brittany Cox as Fischl, Poonam Basu as Klee, Todd Haberkorn as Razor, Jackie Lastra as Xiangling and Lydia Mackay as Signora.

As J-Animations' first Shonen since their debut anime *Elixir*, *Genshin Impact* was highly anticipated. Upon release, *Genshin Impact* received positive reviews. Critics viewed as as a suitable adaptation of the source material, though cited it as serving no purpose beyond promoting the game. The series' animation and art direction was acclaimed, and the voice cast received praise. The narrative was well-received, and fans enjoyed the extra content not seen within the game. Some felt that the season tried to fit too much content into a 16-episode runtime, thus making the cast feel bloated and having some moments feel rushed. The complete overhaul made to the final fight was praised as being "a re-imagining of the fight with Dvalin that feels much less monotonous than the real thing". Venti's change of fate received positive reviews as a bitter-sweet conclusion "simply impossible to implement in a Gacha game like [Genshin Impact]" in regards to Venti being bound to Dvalin and not being able to return to his life as a bard. The series' soundtrack received acclaim. The season was nominated for Best Animation at the 2020 International Anime Awards, in addition to Best Voice Performance for Josey Montana McCoy.

The season was a ratings success in Japan, garnering over 5 million viewers per episode. Internationally, *Genshin Impact* was one of the top-streamed Japanese shows on Netflix for the year of 2020. It was succeeded by a second season shortly after in 2021.