In the last century, the leading company in China's animation industry was the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. However, in the 2010s, although the studio held a large number of characters that left a deep impression on Chinese audiences, its reputation quickly declined. It struggled to produce decent animated works, mostly rehashing old content. This piece can be seen as the Shanghai Animation Film Studio's attempt to rebuild its reputation and regain its former glory. It has been relatively successful and has helped change some people's stereotypical views on Chinese animation.
Compared to other Chinese animations from the same period, this one shows enough innovation. It uniquely chose eight different directors to direct eight different episodes, a format similar to the show Love, Death & Robots. The eight directors each brought their own creative ideas around the central theme of Chinese myths and legends, a concept never seen before in China.
Among them, there are indeed some noteworthy works, such as the highly anticipated first episode, Nobody, which focuses on a common pig demon as the main character. It subtly satirizes the tragic fate of ordinary workers under China's extreme work culture. In the ending, the little monster is initially struck dead by Sun Wukong, but the end credits reveal that it wasn't actually killed; instead, Sun Wukong helped it, transforming a tragedy into a comedy. Personally, I prefer the original tragic ending, as it better highlights the fate of small people: While Journey to the West focuses on Sun Wukong's bravery and skill, it overlooks the tragic destinies of those small demons who are forced into evil deeds, thus showing the dual nature of Sun Wukong. Though seemingly ridding the world of demons, he inadvertently ruins the bright futures of many innocents. The second episode, through the story of a boy and a goose, portrays the process of human nature being gradually consumed by desire and then awakening, with a profound theme. The simplistic art style also strengthens the main storyline.
However, this format also brings significant imbalance due to the varying levels of directing quality. This inevitably means that some episodes are masterpieces, some are mediocre, and others are downright terrible. For example, the sixth episode, Null Island, features a clichéd narrative, boring CGI, forced plot twists, and pretentious dialogue. As others have said, it's "neither Chinese nor a strange tale," making it the biggest flaw of the entire film and a major regret.
Nonetheless, as an attempt at innovation in Chinese animation, the overall viewing experience is still quite good. It demonstrates that Chinese animation has the
potential to compete on a global scale and possesses limitless possibilities.
