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The Japanese anime industry has long been considered the gold standard in global animation, producing icons like Dragon Ball, Naruto, and Jujutsu Kaisen. But now, one of its most influential veterans, Masao Maruyama, founder of Madhouse, Mappa, and Studio M2, is raising the alarm. In a recent interview, Maruyama voiced deep concern that Chinese animation, known as donghua, is on the brink of surpassing Japan’s anime legacy if given the right conditions.

At 81, Maruyama has a unique vantage point. As a producer behind major talent and titles, including the upcoming Pluto adaptation for Netflix, he has seen the full arc of anime’s global rise. But he warns that Japan’s current focus on marketable trends, like “kawaii” aesthetics and commercial genres, has come at the expense of cultivating fresh talent, according to Crunchyroll. Meanwhile, China is pouring resources into young animators, and it is only political restrictions, he claims,...

It’s a fascinating time to be an anime fan. On one hand, Japan’s still pumping out hit after hit, like Jujutsu Kaisen, the Chainsaw Man, and Attack on Titan, and the fanbase keeps growing stronger. But on the other hand, there’s a new player quietly climbing up the ranks, and no, it’s not Korea with some random webtoon adaptation. It’s China. That’s right, Chinese animation, aka donghua, is slipping in the back door like a sleeper agent in a shonen anime.

And one of the greatest legends in the anime industry just raised the red flag. We’re talking about Masao Maruyama, the man behind not one, not two, but three powerhouse studios: Madhouse, Mappa, and M2. This man worked with legends like Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars) and helped bring us modern masterpieces like Pluto on Netflix. So when he says he’s concerned...

5 movies like Ne Zha 2 that you must watch(Photo Credit –Facebook/Prime Video)

Chinese mythology offers an abundance of stories about human resilience, sacrifice, honor, and relationships. Here are five films that capture the same magic as Ne Zha 2, with brilliant action, vibrant visuals, and heartfelt stories. Read on for 5 movies that you must check out.

1. White Snake (2019)

Inspired by the Chinese legend of the White Snake, this animated film shows a visually stunning story of Blanca, a snake demon, who loses her memory and falls in love with a kind-hearted human. There is emotion, there is action and did we say stunning visuals? White Snake presents a good blend of legend, storytelling, and presentation.

2. Jiang Ziya (2020)

A spiritual successor to Ne Zha, Jiang Ziya explores the story of Jiang Ziya, a banished celestial warrior who must choose between following divine orders and saving an innocent soul. While...

Ne Zha made headlines back in 2019 for its box office success. It stands as one of the highest-grossing Chinese animated films where adventure and fantasy are blended seamlessly. The visuals and the music make it splendid, but its sequel took it to a whole new level.

A still from the movie Ne Zha 2 | Credit: Beijing Enlight Pictures

It surpassed Star Wars: The Force Awakens as the fifth highest grossing film, which is a big feat. From critics to fans, people have praised its animation and conception, which only means one thing. The Chinese animation industry is setting itself apart, and these three films are a proof of that.

1. The Legend of Hei

Isn’t it refreshing to see a shift and change in perspective, especially with black cats? From Flow to Kiki’s delivery Service, films have black cats as mascots. The Legend of Hei is no different, especially...

Netflix's Thai horror miniseries Tomorrow and I features some of the biggest names in Thai cinema and television, and they all contributed some of their unique talents to the anthology show's dark future. Tomorrow and I has been described as the Thai version of Netflix's Black Mirror, and the description fits quite well. Each of the four episodes in Tomorrow and I showcases a different possibility for the future of Thailand, and explores the darkest sides of technological advancement and Thai culture. That makes Tomorrow and I one of Thailand's best shows on Netflix.

As an anthology, each episode of Tomorrow and I features a completely new cast of characters in a new situation. Tomorrow and I explores everything from the dystopian rainfall of "Octopus Girl" to the cultural breakdowns of "Paradistopia" and "Buddha Data." While that doesn't give the cast of the show much time to develop their characters,...

The official YouTube channel for Japanese singer-songwriter Lmyk has begun streaming a music video for her fourth CD single song, "I Luv U 2." The moody tune is now featured as the ending theme for the summer 2024 TV anime Bye Bye, Earth . The clip slowly shows various natural landscapes on the earth, accompanied by Lmyk's smooth singing voice. Lmyk "I Luv U 2" Music Video Bye Bye, Earth Creditless Ending Movie Lmyk was born in Osaka, Japan to a German father and Japanese mother. She began making music in New York City while still in college. When Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, one of the world's leading music producer teams, heard her music and voice, they immediately offered to produce her songs. In November 2020, she debuted with "Unity," the theme song for the Japanese dubbed version of the Chinese animation film The Legend of Hei . "I Luv U 2" is her fourth Japanese TV anime theme song work,...

A Chinese director has captivated Pokémon fans with a short film that showcases a different side of the franchise's universe.

A French news platform called Catsuka recently spotlighted an unofficial animated short called Pokemon - Dreaming of good times, which was created to commemorate the beginning of 2024's Chinese New Year. While the franchise's official releases usually chronicle the lives of Pokémon trainers, this two-minute film, seen below, follows the lives of ordinary people as they do things like go to work, hang out with friends and get stuck in traffic on the way home -- all while accompanied by their Pokémon. The film ends with scenes of a Pokémon-themed new year's festival and a shot of the legendary dragon-type, Rayquaza, taking off into the night sky. Catsuka currently features the short on its official YouTube channel.

Related Space Jam Meets Pokmon in A New Legacy Cut Scene A...

The Legend of Hei is a gorgeous and heartfelt Chinese animated film directed by Zhang Ping, better known by his pen name Mtjj, that was released in China in 2019. The film became available for purchase on Blu-ray and DVD in 2021, and made its Crunchyroll debut in the spring of 2023. The Legend of Hei is a prequel to a flash animation that was initially created by Mtjj back in 2011, which then received a graphic novel adaptation in 2015.

The Legend of Hei follows Luo Xiao-Hei, a cat spirit who is forced to wander the world when his home forest is destroyed by humans. After being saved by another spirit by the name of Fengxi, Xiao-Hei travels back with him to meet a group of like-minded beings. However, their shelter is soon attacked by a powerful human called Wuxian who ends up bringing Xiao-Hei along with him on his travels. Despite initially trying to escape from Wuxian,...

A trio of anime films has been announced by Crunchyroll, which are coming this month. Two films have already debuted with one more on its way. With so many new films and shows to watch, anime fans will have a full schedule ahead.

Crunchyroll has announced the acquisition of three new films: Backflip! The Movie, Hula Fulla Dance, and The Legend of Hei. Having debuted on May 11, Backflip! The Movie is an animated feature film for the anime series, Backflip! The anime follows a group of high school rhythmic gymnasts. The series was one season, consisting of twelve episodes. After its conclusion in 2021, fans can finally watch the 2022 film follow-up!

Crunchyroll Films: Hula Fulla Dance and The Legend of Hei

Hula Fulla Dance also aired on May 11. The synopsis per IMDb reads, "A young girl joins the Spa Resort Hawaiians hotel to serve as a hula dancer." The poster reads...

Animated movies are always a hit, especially in Asia. Today, we are recommending some of the top-rated Chinese animated films to watch. It was hard to choose but we had to pick our favourites! Check out our list below and let us know which ones have made it to your to-watch list!

The Legend of Deification (aka Jiang Ziya)

The Legend of Deification is the sequel to one of China’s biggest film releases in 2019, Ne Zha. It is also adapted from Fengshen Yanyi, the popular Chinese fold legend that features the mythological figure of Jiang Ziya.

This 3D animation film was expected to be released in the 2019 China Spring Festival, but it got delayed due to the outbreak of Covid-19. The pandemic led to a lot of delays in the film industry. In fact, as movies slowly decreased in production, a lot of movie fans turned to sites for online sports betting found here,...

Theaters may be reopening, but physical media is forever — Alonso Duralde spotlights the best new DVDs and Blu-rays

New Indie

Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones make a somewhat unusual couple in “The Sound of Silence” (IFC Films), a somewhat unusual film. And it’s not that Sarsgaard and Jones don’t have chemistry to burn; it’s that the movie operates at its own pace while diving deeply into the Sarsgaard character’s obsessions with the thrums and throbs and vibrations of our day-to-day lives. He “tunes” his clients’ New York City apartments, looking for the sounds (whether they’re on the outside or coming from household appliances) that are disturbing the tenants, and Jones plays a social worker who turns to him for his unique services. Somewhere between “The Conversation” and last year’s “Sound of Metal,” it’s a uniquely eccentric tale that might make you pay more...

Specialty distributor Shout! Studios has secured all North American rights to ecology-themed Chinese animated feature “The Legend Of Hei.” In a partnership with France’s Play Big, it will give the film a release in the U.S. and Canada.

“The Legend Of Hei” is a heart-warming fantasy about a cat spirit who goes on a journey of self-discovery after its forest home is destroyed by humans. It was directed by Zhang Ping (a.k.a Mtjj), who spent five years adapting the picture from a Flash animation series that he created in 2011 and published online.

The feature had a successful commercial release in China from September last year and earned $48 million at the box office. It subsequently enjoyed festival play at the Guangzhou and Beijing student festivals and at the 2020 edition of Annecy. It recently began a theatrical outing in Japan.

For the North American release, Shout! and Play...

China’s Joy Pictures is selling 10 Chinese titles at the Cannes market this year, including two of its own animated features scheduled for summer 2022.

The shingle, which began as a marketer and distributor best-known in its early days for bringing “La La Land” to China, has recently shifted its focus to the production and sale of animation.

“The Legend of Hei,” which it co-financed, grossed $45 million in China last September and screened at Annecy in earlier this month. A sequel is currently in script stage.

When it comes to production, the Joy is still finding its stride. Four animated titles announced in November at the American Film Market have had their expected release dates pushed back due to Covid-19, which delayed production.

Meanwhile, it is announcing two new titles. “The King of Fighters: Awaken” is a 3D feature-length adaptation of Japanese firm Snk’s popular fighting game “King of Fighters.

The beloved French animation festival Annecy has announced that 20 features will be presented at its 2020 edition, which is taking place online this year, from June 15-30.

76 films were submitted to the Festival selection committees and to the Artistic Director, Marcel Jean. 20 films are competing in the two competitive sections; 10 of them will be presented in the main competition, while the other features will be screened as part of its competitive Contrechamp category.

”The Shaman Sorceress” by Jae-huun Ahn (South Korea)

Among them Japan leads the pack with four films in the selection, followed by three from France. South Korea will run with 2 films and China with one. Here is the full list of Asian titles:

Feature Films In Official Selection – In Competition

”Lupin III The First” by Takashi Yamazaki (Japan)

”7 Days War” by Yuta Murano (Japan)

”7 Days War” by Yuta Murano (Japan)

Feature Films In the Contrechamp

”On Gaku: Our Sound!

Annecy 2020, the world-class French animation festival, is going online this year due to the pandemic. The official selections for feature films and Vr works were revealed on Monday.

There are 20 features competing in the two categories (Official and Contrechamp) from France, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Chile, Mauritius, and Egypt. Standouts from the Official category include Takashi Yamazaki’s “Lupin the 3rd: The First,” the latest in the popular “gentleman thief” heist franchise, which GKids picked up for theatrical release this year; “Calamity: A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary,” the biopic about Martha (Calamity) Jane’s empowering journey West in 1863, from French director Rémi Chayé (“The Long Way North”); and “The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks,” an experimental drama about Stalin’s reign of terror from Russian director Andrey Khrzhanovsky.

The Official competition also includes Seven Days War” (Japan), an anime about young adult social rebellion from Yuta Morano; “Bigfoot...

Films by Joann Sfar, Rémi Chayé, Takashi Yamazaki and Andrey Khrzhanovsky to compete for festival’s Crystal award.

The Annecy International Film Festival has unveiled the 20 works that will compete in its main feature-length competition and Contrechamp competition, aimed at works by emerging talents.

The French lakeside animation festival and industry event will run online June 15 to 30, following the cancellation of its 2020 physical edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

French filmmaker Joann Sfar’s comedy Little Vampire and Japanese animator Takashi Yamazaki’s adventure tale Lupin III: The First will be among the 10 feature animations competing for the Crystal award...

The Chinese box office has broken its all-time yearly record, with local films accounting for eight of the top 10 movies so far in 2019 and a few more anticipated releases yet to come. The previous record total, set last year, of RMB60.7 billion – $8.67 billion at current conversion rates – was overtaken last Friday, according to data from online ticketing agency Maoyan.

With nearly two weeks to go until the end of the year, and a clutch of big titles to be released during the busy Christmas season, 2019’s takings could show several percentage points of growth from last year. Maoyan chose not to issue a forecast, noting that some 2019 releases remain fluid even at this late stage.

The record-breaking haul seemed an unlikely outcome throughout the first half of the year, when the local industry was dogged by uncertainty caused by the Fan Bingbing tax scandal. That triggered a sharp slowdown in...

China’s Joy Pictures — previously a buyer, marketer and distributor best known for bringing “La La Land” to China — is now turning towards the production and sale of animation, and is at Afm for the first time this year as a seller.

So far a hot title has been one of Joy’s few live-action films: “Libai: Fire in the Sky.” A fantasy martial arts pic jointly produced by Joy, Tencent Penguin Pictures and Ckf, it streamed exclusively on Tencent earlier this year. All rights have been sold to Korea, and discussions are under way for India and Europe.

Highlights from the rest of its almost exclusively animation slate include two titles co-financed by Joy: “The Legend of Hei,” which grossed $44.8 million in China in September and screened at Afm Saturday, and “Gg Bond,” an older IP targeting the 4-to-12-year-old demographic, produced by Winsing Animation.

Joy is also producing...

As China gears up for a big political anniversary and national holiday, its box office has been dominated by innocuous animal films and local fare capable of keeping censors happy but unable to make that huge of a splash. None of the top four weekend titles has scored more than 7 out of 10 on the key user-review platform Douban.

“Little Q,” a heartwarming dog film from Hong Kong, led China’s weekend box office with a $9.6 million debut, despite a delayed release date and continued tensions between the mainland and the special administrative region.

The film was directed by Wing-cheong Law, a longtime collaborate of Johnnie To and winner of a 2002 Golden Horse Award for best editing on “Running Out of Time 2,” and stars veteran Hong Kong actor Simon Yam. The movie is based on a true story retold in a Japanese novel by Ryohei Akimoto and Kengo Ishiguro, which was adapted into “Quill,...

With “Jade Dynasty” out front, Chinese action and Asian animation films led the way at the China box office over the past weekend, while the few American titles in play have failed to attract many moviegoers.

Chinese action fantasy “Jade Dynasty” led the weekend box office in its debut with $38.1 million, figures from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed. That was higher than the global total for the much-lauded “Hustlers,” which took $33 million in its opening in North America and $37.7 million worldwide.

China’s box office this year is running 2.5% behind this point last year, but the past weekend was not too shabby. Artisan Gateway reported a total gross of $111 million between Friday and Sunday, exceeding the $109 million earned at the box office in North America.

Starring Mandopop idol Sean Xiao Zhan, Li Qin (“The Founding of an Army”) and Rocket Girls 101 singer Meng Meiqi, “Jade Dynasty” is directed by Hong Kong’s Tony Ching Siu-tung,...

“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” has essentially stalled out in its third weekend in China, earning just $10 million despite being up against one of the weakest lineups of the year.

The combined star power of Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham did not prove enough to keep viewers’ attention despite a total lack of competitors, with Universal’s flick coming in second behind a new Chinese animation and only just ahead of “Nezha,” another local animated title that’s already been in theaters for 46 days.

“Hobbs & Shaw” is projected to bring in only another $7 million (RMB50 million) or so over the rest of its run, according to data from Maoyan. Nevertheless, figures from consultancy Artisan Gateway show that its total China tally of $186.1 million still exceeds its U.S. haul of $164 million.

China’s total box office this weekend was particularly low at just $41.8 million. “The Legend of Hei” led...