#animatedfable

(Quick tip: you can turn on English subtitles by clicking CC.)

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might remember that I've recommended Yao Chinese Folktales before. Good news: the series is back this year with a new story, and the first episode, How to Become Three Dragons, is absolutely worth your time.

What I really like about this series is its shift in focus. Instead of centering the story around a powerful main character, a chosen one, or some larger-than-life figure, it tells a fable through ordinary people—and creatures—that sit much closer to the ground. Farmers, villagers, gods who don’t quite do their job, and three small snakes who are definitely not heroes at the start.

That’s where the story gets interesting.

This is a original fable in the best sense. It’s simple on the surface, but everyone will see something different in it. Some people might read it as a story about belief and disappointment. Others might see it as a cycle—how new figures rise when the old ones stop working, and how power slowly changes those who hold it. You can even watch it as a dark fairy tale about waiting, bargaining, and knowing when patience runs out.

What the animation does really well is avoid telling you who to root for. There's no“correct” main character. The so-called gods dont feel all-powerful, and the snakes dont feel like clean-cut heroes either. The focus stays on how small, ordinary lives are affected when systems fail and how change often comes from unexpected, very imperfect places.

This is exactly why I like Yao Chinese Folktales as a series. Its not flashy, and it doesn’t rely on epic protagonists. Instead, it uses folklore to talk about very human things: hope, responsibility, power, and repetition.