Alot of this is just copy pasted from a anime and manga discussion text chat on discord, which kinda sounds like im itching to tell you to watch it. So if you did already watch it, good. if you haven’t; here’s why i like it.
Coming from just the movies (not the series, im sorry), it’s just a really good sequel and presents a new interesting story and dynamic. the fights are still there and we still get treated to some eyecandy of animated fight choreography but we also get some cool backgrounds and exploration on the Guild and Luye.
I’ve already cemented a lot of love for this series only because.... it just blew my mind of the possibilities of animation, especially chinese animation, donghuas, asian and non-asian. there’s alot of variety in this world and the fact that there…
Alot of this is just copy pasted from a anime and manga discussion text chat on discord, which kinda sounds like im itching to tell you to watch it. So if you did already watch it, good. if you haven’t; here’s why i like it.
Coming from just the movies (not the series, im sorry), it’s just a really good sequel and presents a new interesting story and dynamic. the fights are still there and we still get treated to some eyecandy of animated fight choreography but we also get some cool backgrounds and exploration on the Guild and Luye.
I’ve already cemented a lot of love for this series only because.... it just blew my mind of the possibilities of animation, especially chinese animation, donghuas, asian and non-asian. there’s alot of variety in this world and the fact that there’s something i didn’t know i like caters to my love of fight animation and the insanity of applying these fantasy elements into it too is... just mindblowing to me, i can’t comprehend how and why would they even do this when other animation styles are more profitable and an industry standard.
i fr just want to talk about the art direction because the movie’s artstyle is distinct but there’s just so many elements to discuss, the fights, the choreo, the design, the powers, the speed, and that everything they do is ANIMATED; from the NPCs to even just walking. this movie’s replayability value just comes from appreciating how they presented the story, the fights and the art. I’ve said that i liked cel-shaded anime but that’s because of the possibilities they present from having a limited style and legend of hei is the evidence of an uncomplicated design can bring about the full motion of animation to be a spectacle just as this. the artstyle; almost all shadowless presenting only distinct outlines and one tone colors which would’ve look unfinished but it’s a striking appeal that i appreciate for the style of this movie; given that it’s very animated. It also make use of smears and secondary action, squash and stretch is rarely ever used, almost as if it was a sin to do so. The characters are SO distinct, almost as if it were someone’s OC self inserted into the movie as background and side characters, the contrast of the background characters being given alot of details compared to the main characters is kinda daunting, it gives a feeling that minimalism supercedes stylization.
a bit spoilery territory here now but this movie twisted the narrative more to luye and that’s great but like, the posters and teasers and even movie title is a sort of betrayal. even if wuxian is the poster boy and a lot of fight moments with him, he’s benched so hard. wish we had more moments with luye because of how they portrayed her character. you get a montage of her life which is very telling and really good but that just makes me want more unfortunately lol
Im very bias for this movie and i might even give it a 10/10, it kinds of presents alot of what im looking for in a movie, very fast pace and doesn’t dwell too much on dialogue and presents a cinematic experience with all the fight scenes involved. Only thing missing is probably context and thorough world-building with exposition but even without it, it’s still entertaining.