The fight against Nezha is another core memory, because Nezha utterly mystified me. A child fighting among - and with - grownups felt out of place. I suspect because in any other story I'd encountered he'd be the Son Of The Emperor and a major storytelling element. Here he just shows up, gets beaten, and disappears again.
#UproarInHeaven #ChineseAnimation #animation #shenmo #donghua
Kudos to Shanghai Animation Film Studio for giving their characters five fingers! I know the reason for four fingered characters, but - frankly - the shortcut sucks just as much as sliding feet in a walk cycle.
(Belt buckle eye contact in pic)
#UproarInHeaven #animation #ChineseAnimation #shenmo #donghua
Now that I've watched the entire Journey To The West I can share the behind the scenes photage I stumbled upon a while ago. It's easy to see why Heng Dian World Studios have become so popular. And... is the horse complaining about Xuanzang driving a car?
(For some reason no sound - just a musical overlay)
And my watch-through ends with this graduation photo of the three disciples. If I'd sum up the drama it'd be something like this
Tangzang: Greetings benefactor, I'm Tangzang from the great Tang, and here are...
*internal sigh*
...my three ugly and rude disciples
After that it's a dice roll whether the benefactor wants to eat Tangzang, marry him, or is a woman in need. But they do get the books. And enlightenment, somehow.
Character design analysis of Wujing, Bajie, and Wukong. Their basic shapes are rectangle, circle, and triangle, and it's fascinating to see how few details one have to add before they're recognisable.
The smocking on his sleeve is gorgeous! The costume designers of this show are really good, both in how they use shortcuts (a neccessity when you work as an artist) and when they chose to add some extra detail. It's easy to think a pattern like this is superfluous work, but it adds to the feel of the drama.
Again? What of 'monk' is so hard to understand?
(Eye contact in pic)
According to Hanping Chinese Dictionary that huge character on Wukong's cap, 佛, means "buddhism"*. It feels a bit like L for Learner, or those trainee signs companies provide, to make sure people know those unruly newcomers actually belong. Yep, it took me 39 episodes to look it up, despite wondering over it from the start. Speed is _not_ my middle name.
(*as well as "seemingly" and "(female) head ornament")
Game Master's Book Club
Nikolas Kozloff
Martha Crimson