ANI-MOVIES, *The Legend Of Hei

Chinese animated movies have been on the rise over the last decade, and in 2019 The Legend Of Hei was released with enough success that it recently got a sequel. This was the prequel to a flash animated series and webtoon called The Legend Of Luo Xiaohei by the artist known as MJTT, which has also spawned a graphic novel and a mobile game. To describe this film to anime fans is that is combines elements of Yu Yu Hakusho and Bleach but begins in a manner similar to that of the Oscar-winning Flow. If you're a regular Ghibli admirer, you'll recognize the themes of spirits trying to survive in the modern-day world of humanity.

Hei the cat spirit tries to find a new home after his forest was ravaged by construction workers. He gets taken in by another stray spirit called Storm End who has the power to control plants and takes Hei to an island where a few other rogue spirits live on. A human with magical magnet powers named Infinity attacks and captured Hei, then constructs a raft to get them off the island. Infinity is one of the human members of a council of spirits that exist harmoniously with mankind, and he was sent to get Hei to lure out Storm End that was planning on stealing Hei's powers so he can rid a major city of humans to reclaim it back for the spirits. Infinity and Hei's journey to the council's headquarters makes up a majority of the film with Storm End and his rebellious posse in hot pursuit. All this leads to Hei deciding whether he wants to ally himself with Storm End, join Infinity and the spirit council, or to go his own path.

The Legend Of Hei makes you question the morals of all the characters whether they are good or bad, humans and spirits alike, and since this is from the point of view of a small child it gives it that extra sense of an innocent spirit trying to figure out the world around him. The perspective of what the characters are willing to do to achieve their goals shows how extreme some of their methods can be and ultimately reveals their true colors. There are fluid fight scenes in this along with dynamic cinematography. This has a fantastic musical score that helps move the story along on a steady pace. The Shout! Studios dub is steady and easy to follow, so if you happen to catch this movie on streaming then give it a whirl, and hopefully the rest of the original series will make its way to western audiences.