Xiong shi shao nian

This animation is one of the 2021 movies that raised a hot debate. But in my personal opinion, I am What I am is an awesome Chinese movie.

The story is about a weak teenage boy called A Juan, who's also passionate about lion dancing, a traditional Chinese art performance in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume, takes part in the top lion dance competition for the honor and money and his journey of it.

Some criticized it for the characters' appearance, saying it uglifies Guangdong people; some think the Lion dancing learning is too fast and too unrealistic. Well, those make sense in some way, but hey, it's animation after all(not a documentary), we use exaggerations all the time. As a drama/animation, it's nothing wrong when the director puts the focus on the growth of the character rather than discussing how we learn the traditional lion dancing for like 10 years.

The reasons I like this movie are:

a. This movie chooses to tell a story that we aren't that familiar with, which is rather bold a move in China. In most cases, this usually means a bad box office. But this movie conveys a good concept that a good Chinese animation movie can independently discuss local culture and local stories. It doesn't have to be those big IPs like the Monkey Kind(Sun WuKong) or Nezha(Deity), that it can be recognized and appreciated by the audience even if none of the characters are famous.

B. The first half part of the movie is quite relaxing, you laugh with the boys and you look for a master with them. And you laugh because they are funny, the twists are natural, not deliberately designed.

C. The end part is realistic. After A Juan went won first place in that competition, he is still down to earth and went to Shanghai for work. I especially like the part where he already decided to give up but on seeing the competition he just plucks up the courage and goes back to the game. The struggle is impressive and tense.

Among the few Chinese cartoons that can be evaluated as the best, it has been severely polarized in China due to squinting. I don't quite understand why the Chinese people are so tolerant of the quality of the picture, the soundtrack, the plot, and the thoughts that are not as good as the cartoons of this anime? When a superstar is rising, are we more fair and objective?

This one absolutely inspires! A story with a core inside-or should I say a "ROAR" inside. Everything about this movie is great: the cinematography, the jokes, the culture, and the traditions.

The degree to which it reflects reality is one of the reasons I consider it a success. The main character feels close to you because the background is so relatable in China. The vivid animation transports you to that beautiful southern Chinese village-you can almost smell the grass, feel the flow of the river, and hear the hustle and bustle of the streets during the day. I especially appreciate the contrast between the warmth of the village and the coldness of the city.

A lion's heart means bravery, but not ignorance, because it must come from something bigger than yourself. The main character demonstrates this through his journey of change and evolution of mentality, something we can all relate to when we first start questioning whether to chase our dreams.

Ironically, while some critics attack the production company for being too stereotypical about Chinese culture, this has, in a way, made the movie itself mirror the main character's struggle.

The Music/Songs: There are many original songs composed for this movie, they fit in each scenes very well and resembles the emotion correspondingly. I appreciate those songs even better by reading the lyrics, those words came from down-to-the-earth people's lives and reflects ordinary people's fighting spirit when they denying their destinies.

The screen shots/storyboard: Since this is an anime movie, there are many astonishing scenes with soothing great nature, or powerful actions, or emotional twists of our protagonist's life. I love how these are written down as cut-scenes and directed by the director, and eventually how they are presented in the movie.

Many scenes touched me in the heart.

Traditions, nostalgia and culture: You can get the awe-inspiring scenery from a Chinese traditional village, their life styles in the 90's and the beautiful nature. And you also get the cold and the ruthless from arising big cities where the poor are struggling with lives. These are the common memories of a whole generation.

Tiger dancing is a tradition that comes down from many generations before us but is also fading away with modernization of China. Here you can feel both the passion and sorrow from this transition.

The plot: It's really an easy story, there is no sideways to understand the plot and I think this makes this movie a no-brainer to recommend to anyone who wants to learn a little more about a Chinese tradition and an inspiring story of a child who defies his weakness and stands up as a man.

I feel the same way as all charactors in movie and burst into tears.

The technical level is almost perfect in my opinion, and all the flaws in character modeling are finally understood as the need to shape the characters who are look like ugly, but it feels real, as if the people around me may even be myself.

Overall, this inspirational story of people at the bottom sublimated a legend which give me so many Better than expected, more important, it returned to reality at the end of story which made me more sober instead of dreaming. It made me believe that this story could have happened in reality. Of course, the people at the bottom still need to face the harsh reality. It reminds me: Life is going on as before that is not overshadowed by the passion of Inspirational story.

Extremely clever logic!

And Great fit music! The images and scenes presented in the story are full of Lingnan style (the area near Foshan, Guangdong Province, the hometown of Yip Man). It makes me miss Hong Kong cinema at its best in the 1990s. Unique, fresh and full of tradition.