20 votes

'Ne Zha 2' is highest-grossing animated movie worldwide, tops $1.7B

25 comments

  1. [20]
    moocow1452
    Link
    Half tempted to put this under ~anime to ruffle feathers, but now I'm curious about this film, if it's going to have a theater run and where the original one is currently streaming.

    Half tempted to put this under ~anime to ruffle feathers, but now I'm curious about this film, if it's going to have a theater run and where the original one is currently streaming.

    6 votes
    1. [3]
      AugustusFerdinand
      Link Parent
      It's not anime though, so it wouldn't "ruffle feathers" it'd just be miscategorized and moved. It was released in US theaters last week, 80% of the audience was Asian, it brought in $10M, first...

      It's not anime though, so it wouldn't "ruffle feathers" it'd just be miscategorized and moved.
      It was released in US theaters last week, 80% of the audience was Asian, it brought in $10M, first film is on various platforms: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/nezha

      14 votes
      1. [2]
        Akir
        Link Parent
        Your link is for the previous movie. AFAIK the movie is not available on streaming in the US.

        Your link is for the previous movie. AFAIK the movie is not available on streaming in the US.

        2 votes
        1. [2]
          Comment deleted by author
          Link Parent
          1. Akir
            Link Parent
            There are kinder ways to point out that I missed a point.

            There are kinder ways to point out that I missed a point.

            5 votes
    2. [7]
      TurtleCracker
      Link Parent
      I saw the movie in theaters in the US.

      I saw the movie in theaters in the US.

      1 vote
      1. [6]
        moocow1452
        Link Parent
        How was it?

        How was it?

        1. [5]
          TurtleCracker
          Link Parent
          It was great. Didn’t see the first one but don’t feel like I needed to. Subtitles weren’t an issue once I got used to them.

          It was great. Didn’t see the first one but don’t feel like I needed to. Subtitles weren’t an issue once I got used to them.

          2 votes
          1. [4]
            KapteinB
            Link Parent
            They didn't dub it in English? Interesting decision.

            They didn't dub it in English? Interesting decision.

            1. [3]
              TurtleCracker
              Link Parent
              It was "Mandarin Spoken with Chinese and English Subtitles". So two sets of subtitles. I didn't find it to be an issue. I typically prefer dubs though. I think subtitles are actually a little...

              It was "Mandarin Spoken with Chinese and English Subtitles". So two sets of subtitles. I didn't find it to be an issue. I typically prefer dubs though.

              I think subtitles are actually a little easier to consume in a theater vs at home - maybe screen size?

              1. [2]
                KapteinB
                Link Parent
                I just assume they would reach a wider audience by dubbing it in English. But they probably did the math; increased ticket sale minus cost of dubbing equals not worth it in this particular case....

                I just assume they would reach a wider audience by dubbing it in English. But they probably did the math; increased ticket sale minus cost of dubbing equals not worth it in this particular case. National pride and prestige may have been factors as well.

                1. moocow1452
                  Link Parent
                  Theaters can only show one version at a time, whereas streaming can let you choose a new audio track easily. If theaters would show more of the more popular version, that's probably going to be...

                  Theaters can only show one version at a time, whereas streaming can let you choose a new audio track easily. If theaters would show more of the more popular version, that's probably going to be subtitled.

    3. [9]
      Drewbahr
      Link Parent
      Why would you want to ruffle feathers?

      Why would you want to ruffle feathers?

      3 votes
      1. [8]
        moocow1452
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        It's the old canard about what is ~anime, if it's more about the origin or the aesthetic. Is Chinese animation anime or does it have to be marketed as anime by a streamer?

        It's the old canard about what is ~anime, if it's more about the origin or the aesthetic. Is Chinese animation anime or does it have to be marketed as anime by a streamer?

        5 votes
        1. [6]
          Lapbunny
          Link Parent
          People tend to get Alignment Chart about that if either the source isn't Japanese but the style is there (eg Avatar), or if it's Japanese but it's heavily CG (Land of the Lustrous) or an...

          People tend to get Alignment Chart about that if either the source isn't Japanese but the style is there (eg Avatar), or if it's Japanese but it's heavily CG (Land of the Lustrous) or an off-kilter style like rotoscoping (Aku no Hana).

          This is Chinese CG. It's cribbing off Dreamworks or Illumination more than anything from what I'm seeing.

          15 votes
          1. Baeocystin
            Link Parent
            Worth mentioning that the original Kung-Fu Panda made quite a splash in mainland China back in 2008. That Dreamworks would be considered worthy of cribbing from is no surprise. Also, pretty damn...

            Worth mentioning that the original Kung-Fu Panda made quite a splash in mainland China back in 2008. That Dreamworks would be considered worthy of cribbing from is no surprise.

            Also, pretty damn cool to see the ascension of their movie industry. Congrats to all involved.

            10 votes
          2. [2]
            Minori
            Link Parent
            And the source material for the story can be a third axis! MyAnimeList decided not to list the Scott Pilgrim anime partially due to the Canadian source material despite the Japanese and...

            And the source material for the story can be a third axis!

            MyAnimeList decided not to list the Scott Pilgrim anime partially due to the Canadian source material despite the Japanese and multinational pedigree of the series. On the other hand, some Batman series are considered anime by MAL due to things like Pop Team Epic crossovers and Ninja Batman.

            5 votes
            1. ButteredToast
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              Similarly there was a kerfuffle on r/anime a few years ago where the mods insisted that the anime-styled music video for Porter Robinson and Madeon’s song Shelter wasn’t anime, despite the entire...

              Similarly there was a kerfuffle on r/anime a few years ago where the mods insisted that the anime-styled music video for Porter Robinson and Madeon’s song Shelter wasn’t anime, despite the entire production being handled by A1 Pictures (a Japanese anime studio that’s responsible for numerous shows, including big ones like Sword Art Online) simply because Porter Robinson is American and Madeon French, and thus would not allow threads about it.

              The mods finally conceded on that one, but it sticks out on my mind as a particularly absurd example of purism.

              3 votes
          3. moocow1452
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            Which makes it extra silly when a whole lot of the global animation industry is located in South Korea. Is Tower of God an anime if it was adapted from a Korean Webtoon, animated locally, has a...

            Which makes it extra silly when a whole lot of the global animation industry is located in South Korea. Is Tower of God an anime if it was adapted from a Korean Webtoon, animated locally, has a K-Pop OP song, and was produced by Crunchyroll?

            5 votes
          4. ButteredToast
            Link Parent
            Personally I think it’s more about aesthetic and narrative style than anything, with “how anime” a title is being a sliding scale. Like on a scale of 1-10 Avatar is a 7 and a Chinese show like...

            Personally I think it’s more about aesthetic and narrative style than anything, with “how anime” a title is being a sliding scale. Like on a scale of 1-10 Avatar is a 7 and a Chinese show like Link Click is an 8 or so, while some western shows that were clearly influenced but didn’t follow through only get a 4-5 at best. If it falls below 5 it’s harder to call it anime, kind of like how a movie that only incorporates select film noir elements isn’t film noir.

            3 votes
        2. TyrianMollusk
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          "Anime" is the Japanese word for animation. It's not weird to expect it to mean Japanese (in some sense) animation, rather than just uselessly lumping together everything sharing the remotest...

          "Anime" is the Japanese word for animation. It's not weird to expect it to mean Japanese (in some sense) animation, rather than just uselessly lumping together everything sharing the remotest aesthetic or thematic connections.

          Ne Zha doesn't look anything like anime. Deliberately annoying people by calling it anime would be, well, deliberately annoying.

          "Donghua" is the Chinese word for animation, which is a less jingoistic label than "anime" or "Chinese anime" (and searching for donghua actually finds more of it, unlike "anime"). People are still early on realizing there's a very significant animation industry in China pumping out interesting anime-like content, so we'll just have to see what kind of mess things end up in over time. One can dream we might settle on labels more oriented toward utility than annoyance...

          4 votes
  2. [3]
    brews_hairy_cats
    Link
    The first Ne Zha is available for streaming with ads, at least in the US https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/a63a196f095a5aa2a26c8a12dba4319f/ne-zha We didn't need an account to stream, but it...

    The first Ne Zha is available for streaming with ads, at least in the US https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/a63a196f095a5aa2a26c8a12dba4319f/ne-zha

    We didn't need an account to stream, but it could be US region locked, I don't know

    The first movie is okay... It gives some nice background on the main characters, but the pacing is slower, and the movie doesn't hold a candle to the second one when it comes to action, tension and emotional investment. Personally I say give it a pass and see the second one, the second one rehashes enough from the first that we followed it and loved it, without having seen the first one at the time

    5 votes
    1. nic
      Link Parent
      Thank you!

      Personally I say give it a pass and see the second one, the second one rehashes enough from the first that we followed it and loved it, without having seen the first one at the time

      Thank you!

      2 votes
    2. rubix
      Link Parent
      It's also available on Hoopla and Kanopy without ads as long as you have a library card in the US

      It's also available on Hoopla and Kanopy without ads as long as you have a library card in the US

      2 votes
  3. moocow1452
    (edited )
    Link
    The original is also available for free on YouTube in the US, with a Chinese or an English audio track with options for subtitles and closed captions. https://youtu.be/Xdg2Af9shk4 May try and talk...

    The original is also available for free on YouTube in the US, with a Chinese or an English audio track with options for subtitles and closed captions.

    https://youtu.be/Xdg2Af9shk4

    May try and talk my brother into a showing for the sequel if he's interested.

    3 votes
  4. unkz
    Link
    It's worth seeing in a theatre instead of streaming. I saw it this weekend (because of this post actually), and it was well worth it. The scale of the animation is astounding.

    It's worth seeing in a theatre instead of streaming. I saw it this weekend (because of this post actually), and it was well worth it. The scale of the animation is astounding.

    3 votes