#yaojing

OKAY OKAY GUYS I KNOW THE STANDOUTS THIS YEAR FROM CHINESE ANIMATION ARE NEZHA 2 AND THE LEGEND OF HEI 2 BUT I NEED TO PUT IN A GOOD WORD FOR THE FILM NOBODY!!!! 🥺 🥺 🥺 🥺

Finally got to see it tonight (I am SO glad I live near a city with a big Chinese population so the film was still showing; I heard it only got to show in LA for like 2 weeks and it was during a road trip I was on so I was scared I’d miss it). 🥹

It’s an expansion of episode 1 from the short collection Yao—Chinese Folktales, which can be watched here:

Yao—Chinese Folktales Episode 1:

The film is focused on the life of the small-time yao that get no names and are basically henchmen in Journey to the West where they’re basically cannon fodder for Sun Wukong ADKFJSKFJSKSH.

In the movie, the plot is that the main characters (a boar and a toad) decide to impersonate Sun Wukong and his gang to try and be respected but also gain immortality, gathering two other yao to help them on their journey. 🔥

It’s a very funny movie but also pretty low-key—less flashy in terms of action than The Legend of Hei 2 and Nezha 2 and also sillier than the former but less immature than the latter!

It also has a very hopeful message and themes since it’s focused on the underdog and kind of more clearly reflects our reality (since the yao suffer from the hierarchy system and struggle to keep/find jobs).

I even forced my younger brother to watch it and it’s actually his favourite donghua film this year out of the other 2 I similarly forced him to watch in theatres. 😆

Here’s the trailer!:

Official MV:

Behind the scenes:

And kind of depressingly, we only have one video on YouTube reviewing it… 😭

But they really liked it too!:

Plus it has legacy too since it’s animated by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, which was practically responsible for all animation in China after the 1920s-1930s in the 20th century before China opened up in the 1980s, and they evidently have tons of important historical animation under their belt like Uproar in Heaven (1961-1964) and Nezha Conquers the Dragon King (1979).

Nobody even references SAFS’ work with the Journey to the West characters, along with the iconic 1986 adaptation. ^^

Evidently Nobody itself is not doing too hot in western theatres and has already left some theatres, but I’d encourage you guys to watch it in theatres if you can! It is quite a pretty film and it’s cute and funny and honest and subdued and heartfelt and adds a really fun new dimension to Journey to the West.

It actually makes it so that this story doesn’t mess up the JttW canon at all despite using a villain directly from the story, so it can totally be taken as canon. 🔥

My favourite character is surprisingly enough the weasel ALFJSKDJSKS. HE’S ANIMATED PRETTY CUTELY AND HE HAS A FUN LITTLE PERSONALITY AND ARC TOO!

(Actually all the characters have pretty strong character arcs!)

OH AND I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION THIS BUT NOBODY IS NOW CHINA’S HIGHEST-GROSSING 2D ANIMATED FILM EVER!!

Yes they would be called a spirit, but that doesn't make them less of a yaoguai either and they could be considered demons still. There are still some Yaojing that are considered evil and harm humans but these words can still be used interchangeably. I don't see a lot of people really being hard when it comes to calling something a Yaojing or a Yaoguai since they are so similar and thus people can still describe a good nature monster as a yaoguai or an evil monster as a yaojing. This is my personal take that yaoguai that do not harm humans are considered yaojing and yaomo are more like yaogaui that do harm humans to cultivate but this is not like implemented in actual use in mythos. There are still good or bad Yaojing depending on what you are reading and some media does show more sympathetic yaomo.

We see this with how Wukong treats the tree spirits that held Sanzang for a poetry session and while they did not intend to harm Sanzang, Bajie and Wukong still kill them in case they would become demons later. This suggests that while spirits are considered to be mostly harmless and can even befriend humans they are still 'dangerous' and capable of harming humans just like anyone that has free-will.

Yaoming isn't really a title that is given per se but rather a name to offer a better alternative than just calling them just a Yaoguai. It's like a better classification but they still are a sub-category of Yaoguai. And that is where there is a lot of differences are met as Yaoguai are a concept that goes against the laws of nature, even if they cultivate alone and do not harm humans, they are still cheating as they are not probably going through the reincarnation cycle. They can be called Spirits but they are still yaoguai in the end of the day. It is not something to be 'earned' just what they are.