Any of you watch any chinese animated films? I watched Legend of Hei recently, anyone on Any Forums see it? I saw an user on here recommend it, decided to give it a shot. Never watched chinese media before so honestly expectations were quite low desu
But shit, it was actually quite good. I was pleasantly surprised. It's full of charm, humour, nice animation and good characters. It has clear influences and you can see some of its inspiration, but it holds up in its own right.
I like the story too. Nothing groundbreaking but some nice themes. Villain could be a bit stronger I guess. The final third lost me a bit, because I prefer slice of life stuff and it sort of just became a massively overblown anime battle with buildings being levelled, but for the most part it was good. The biggest problem I had was with all the camera jump cuts during the fight scenes. I couldn't tell what the hell was going on, it's a complete mess. A lot of the characters also look female for reasons I still don't know.
Do they make any other good films or aren't there many? How about animated films from other regions which we don't see a lot of?
Oh, I also watched Ne Zha. I think this one's a bit more popular, I remember seeing some trailers and stuff shared on Any Forums. What did Any Forums think of it?
I liked this one a lot as well. Had low expectations, and worries that they were going to lean too hard on humour but I'd say it managed to avoid that. Seemed to borrow from Kung Fu Panda a bit, but overall a fine film. Funnily enough, this and Legend of Hei share a lot of similar themes. I don't know if it's just that the Chinese like these sorts of themes, or I just happened upon the 2 films that contain them. There are a lot of similarities.
I also thought Ne Zha faltered in the final 3rd. It just becomes a bit of a mess of a fight scene, with too many things going on. I think in the end everything does wrap up nicely, but it just feels needlessly grandiose and complex at some points.
It's animated well enough. Hei is 2D, Ne Zha is CG. I was happy with both
I am currently watching the webseries and it's crazy good for a web based series production wise. I find the take on the "Villains" rather refreshing. I do find it interesting Chinese media references both anime and western cartoons, I assumed China was more insular.
I've seen White Snake I and II. The first movie has a simple romantic story adding interesting Chinese fantasy and good monster designs. The second film is not a direct continuation and takes place in an unknown land where everyone is fighting to survive. I like the second movie better than the first.
Oh, there's a webseries? I've only seen the movie. What does the web series cover? I'm completely unfamiliar with anything here. I went into both Hei and Ne Zha blind, I don't know anything about them or the background desu Have you seen the movie?
Brody Jackson
I've heard about Green Snake I've been meaning to watch it, but I saw some people here saying it was basically complete shit, and suffered from videogame cinematography and an all over the place plot
Eli Ortiz
The Legend Of Hei was refreshing considering: a. the poster made it look like it was going to be CGI b. from the synopsis and the way it started, I was afraid it was going to be some depressing Pom Poko rip off.
Haven't seen Ne Zha yet but I have seen the loose sequel, Jiang Ziya., which is pretty good though you'll probably find it has some of the same problems as the other. Also I didn't care for the character animation. They move just a bit too much like motion capture.
Julian Harris
>find it has some of the same problems as the other In what sense? > Also I didn't care for the character animation. They move just a bit too much like motion capture. You think so? It doesn't look motion captured to me really. Do they do any mocap as part of the animation or something? For me, I just like seeing CG that looks different. So many studios just follow what Disney do, so a lot of western CG shows end up looking similar. This was at least distinctive
Hei does subvert your expectations.
Elijah Collins
The plot was fairly generic, but I still enjoyed it. I prefer the webseries for it's SoL and comfiness, though I wish they had a more consistent release schedule and longer episodes.
In that it can be kind of a mess in places leading up to a massive bossfight. I gather it's not a direct sequel either so all the setup's in the intro, (which is really well animated in 2d btw) which makes it feel like a lot is left out. I didn't even know the dragon thing was from the previous movie. The figure motion just feels janky to me is all. Might just be in comparison to western technique but I've seen smoother from them.
Tyler Wilson
I'm one of those people that think it's shit. Legit one of the worst animated movies I've seen in years.
Christopher Jenkins
>What does the web series cover? I have only gotten to episode 30 but it's mostly about Hei being a cat due to being injured and weakened hanging out with a girl and her cousin who is also an elfin. the largely fight other elfin but most of the time it's due to some misunderstanding. I'd say the webseries doesn't take itself very seriously when compared to the movie.
>Have you seen the movie? Yup, I saw it first and watched the series after it. Probably my favourite Chinese film
Robert Bennett
Kek, now that's interesting Really tempts me to watch it because that's the complete other end of the spectrum. There's got to be something to it for you to say it's the worst, but dammit I'd rather find out myself now
Xavier Martin
...
Chase Gonzalez
Hei is absolutely incredible. The shaky camera is an intentional style choice by the director. Once you "get" what he's doing and experience the chaos instead of trying to understand every move, it feels awesome. Please go watch the also incredible web-series, then watch the movie again. You'll get SO many small details, lore and powers that you didn't get the first time. There's also a manwha basically dedicated to lore about Elfins, which is really good actually
I guess you could say it's kind of predictable, so then it comes down to how they handle all the moments and how they handle the story, and I think they did a great job. The SoL and comfiness were aspects I really enjoyed about the film, but at the same time I don't think I have enough interest in it to watch a series. Maybe one day
Tell me more about the web series though. Did it release after the film? Is it an adaptation of something else? I know nothing about any of it.
>Yup, I saw it first and watched the series after it. Probably my favourite Chinese film That's cool. I guess Hei might be my favourite Chinese film, either that or Ne Zha, but now that I think of it, they may be the only two I've actually watched. So that's not saying much. But I think both of them are genuinely good films, not just "good chinese films". What others are out there that are good?
Is it Any Forums? It's Chinese isn't it?
Andrew Hall
>In that it can be kind of a mess in places leading up to a massive bossfight I see. To be honest, I don't mind the whole boss fight thing itself, it's just in Ne Zha it felt like they just kept introducing new story elements just before, and then the "boss" ends up lasting a very long time. The CG never looked janky to me honestly, maybe it's just me though. It does have a more budget look, but i think the overall motion is done fairly well
>The shaky camera is an intentional style choice by the director It is? Eh, well I guess it works for some, but for me it doesn't. I do get that in a sense it adds to sense of chaos in the fight and sells how the nature of monster power, but for me personally, I just like being able to see what's actually going on. I mean, it's animated quite well, at least let me appreciate it
>You'll get SO many small details, lore and powers that you didn't get the first time. Ah, I kind of addressed that here . Maybe one day I will watch the series. My questions still stand though, did the series or movie come first? Who even produced this film? It's not any studio I know, yet it's a fantastic film. It can't be their first effort, what else have they done?
