The Legend of Hei

A gorgeous, adorable, sweet, fun film. The story is heart-wrenching and funny. Perhaps the only issues it has is that things are kept overly vague for the entire story. You can imply what the mysterious organization does, but it's probably not a full picture, and the story doesn't attempt to clear things up, giving the audience obscure hints and teases like they have more to show without making good on the promise. I guess it helps build up this sense that Hei is rightfully conflicted, and the characters demonstrate through actions rather than overarching dogma which is the side to choose, but it still leavesyou wondering what the organization is. Maybe this is supposed to lead to another film or another animated series or more graphic novels, and I support that idea. It just has the downside of making this feel less like a complete story and more like an unfulfilling prequel. The characters are wonderful. Hei is adorable, and the art style for the humans is quite cute, too. The character designs themselves are excellent. The fluidity of the animation is just... a joy to watch. Whether it's Hei running and jumping or transformation sequences or combat, it's just great to watch. The music was great. It was kind of Ghibli vibes for the most part when it wasn't focusing in on small character moments - a lot of greenery and landscapes and emotional build. During the character parts I didn't notice the score as much. There is a notable shift in music for the climax during a particular fight scene that I greatly enjoyed. Overall, a great, heart-warming film with an interesting universe.

【Sub or dub?】 • original > Jap dub >>> Eng dub Ger, Kor and Viet dub sound decent but no idea how they are to native ears If you can understand Japanese without subtitles, you'll definitely have a better experience with the JP dub. Otherwise, CN voice rules because it does have the most accurate character presentation. • Eng dub is CENSORED, because that segment (very mild, really) is considered child abuse. • But EN sub has some mistakes where the original meaning is clearly misunderstood. Dub has stuff lost in translation too but not as bad. • Eng dub has an all-Asian cast, yay foreffort? 【Recommended watching order】 episodes 1–13 (not as interesting but 5 minutes each!) → movie → the rest of web series (ep. 37–40 is the BOMB) & webtoon 【TL;DR】 • derivative in spirit, original in execution • appears simple, but meticulously thought out — **withstood rewatches like magic** (btw it's neither serectly anti- or pro-government, some people need to stop categorizing art into either disguised protest or propaganda.) (it's also not championing colonialism or justifying urbanization that sacrifices environment, pay attention to the actual movie please??? environmental terrorism is two words and the emphasis is on the second.) 【spoiler-free review】 The director MTJJ has always been smooth incorporating references. He does it in a wholesome way without making people feel that he is uninspired or appropriating, because • the plot actually makes sense, and none of it is unnecessary • despite the Ghibli influence, there are brave, creative choices in art direction, such as minimal shadows on characters, and trading design complexity for dynamic action, cuteness and practicality — against the possibility that people will dismiss it as Flash cartoon (they did) • in every wallpaper-worthy 'still', every sweeping or miniscule movement, every minor character in the background, the team's attention to detail fills the screen. It has so much love. Every nuance is calculated to make it feel organic and thus actually not stand out. Which is why it is **so easy to watch and at the same time the most rewatchable thing ever**. It's so natural yet has hidden SO MUCH lore and easter eggs. You can tell there are backstories and justification for why each character acts a certain way. Back to its resemblance to other stuff — it's so fun spotting other movies in it, and they're not restricted to ACG only, which is better than what would feel like exclusive circle jerk. Don't get me wrong though, you don't need to know anything to enjoy it. The main series other reviews mention has very little to do with it. Action scenes are noticeably better than the web series (before ep. 29, that is), which is already known for that aspect. I'll never tire of looking at them frame by frame. Since everyone is commending the action, it's worth mentioning my favourites are all slow scenes. Camerawork is extraordinary throughout, including slice-of-life moments where people tend to neglect the 'camera'. I especially like how it pans from nighttime streets to inside the 'domain' (yes they cheaped out on 3D models in that scene due to time restraints). The sparingly used silence worked to great effect. Story is where it marks the greatest leap for Chinese animations. White Snake, Big Fish, Ne Zha, Monkey King: Hero Is Back... all have fatal flaws in their story. They stack clichés and at the same time choke on itself when trying to be special. All Saints Street, produced by the same studio that made LoH, is unfortunately also a mixed bag (maybe because the story was written by someone else?). But in LoH, tropes are used effectively — which is inconspicuously. The story is classic, but MTJJ has such a grasp on storytelling and pacing that it works. The movie takes you along for the ride. You connect with characters and feel what they feel. MTJJ said in an interview he wanted the tone to match Hei's mood so he insisted making the first part duller, even though it would (and it did!) drive away impatient audience. I think it's genius, although it didn't occur to me while I was watching because it just flowed. Everything everyone does is logical and everyone is respectfully smart. Very few things stood out that threw me back to reality. It's such a tight story, only 101 minutes and characters are all established. Twists, motives, all fleshed out, through very efficient use of dialogue, movement, even camerawork: it often shifts camera to indicate where a character focuses his eyes. If you want proof, all side characters have been noticed, to the point where almost all of them have gotten a fan base, including one that has only appeared for 5 seconds in full. If that is not successful worldbuilding, I don't know what is. The hint of lore is strong in this one. My only gripe is it has a few dialogues that feed me information and the purpose is too obvious, e.g. when Wu Xian's friends each express their views, and when the flower girl makes her welcome speech. I was immediately aware why they're there and started thinking in movie-producing perspective, instead of "this is my world and these are people I'm talking to". To me the most surprising aspect is the voice-over. Many of the voice actors are familiar names and I think they've never been this good (yes, even the legendary Shan Xin). I wouldn't say every line is perfect but none is cringy bad. This movie is the definition of an all-rounder. Not the most original thing ever, but it just has so few slip-ups. Even the jokes are all good: funny, timed well, universal and tasteful, something even comedies — anime or not — very rarely pull off. **This movie.. it feels like home.** After the first viewing, I thought it was incredibly strong but the story felt too familiar to go beyond an 8. But I kept going back to it, each time noticing more details and being moved just the same. Then I realized how sincere it is and how rare it is to have a conflict-themed movie full of likeable characters. And it's so pure. There is no love plot, no bromance. Despite being a small studio, they resisted these shortcuts and focused on a world and a story they wanted. Not a single second is wasted. No unnecessary monologuing before action. No narrated exposition. No dumbass looking down on enemies. In the end, it is story, what I thought was the weakest card, that got me addicted. It is proof creators shouldn't be afraid of subjects that have been done to death – A better expression would be tried and true. If you love your characters, the audience would too.

It would not be to much of a stretch to call this an Chinese attempt at a Studio Ghibli style animated story. All the little notes that one attributes to Ghibli are there. The vague, yet familiar story; the grandiose reveals of scenery; relatable yet other worldly characters; and a musical score that's both supportive of the art and at the same time having an immense presence of its own. The studio made masterful work of color, and the absence of, to dictate the mood of certain scenes. Similarly, sound and silence is used to great effect with some scenes being all the more impactful thanksto the feeling of one holding their breath before releasing a thunderous finale. I never really had a complaint during slow points in the movie. There weren't really too many but there was more than enough to take in during them so that it never felt like it dragged on. The action scenes were fluid although at points the screen can get a bit cluttered. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as it does lend a certain gravitas to that point of the story. As I said before, Studio Ghibli has always made their main characters vague enough so that almost anyone can relate to them. This movie achieves the same thing by really limiting backstory and making the motivations of the characters simple enough so that you could connect to them quite easily. Besides the mains, almost all the characters that were introduced were at least somewhat interesting. The most recent comparison I could make would be some of the supporting characters in Spirited Away where there were a number of characters that had very little screen time but were quite important to the story. Think Lin, the Radish Spirit, and the Old River Spirit. They had maybe a few minutes during the movie, and in some cases no dialogue, but there was a reason they were there and if you took them out, the story would feel different. The overall story will seem familiar to pretty much anyone. The concept of balance and cohabitation appear frequently in main stream media in things like X-Men, Princess Mononoke, various Pokemon Movies, etc... This doesn't detract from the way this particular story is told though and if anything, because it feels so familiar, it makes the movie easier to digest without having to throw in too much background. All in all, you get nice story told in a beautiful manner bundled into a quick hour and a half. Definitely make some time for this movie.