Hype moments and fauna
The fast-paced Chinese action fantasy, The Legend of Hei 2 ain't Demon Slayer – and that's a good thing.
by Kambole Campbell
The worldwide smash hit anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has its latest box office-smashing (and likely record-beating) feature film, Infinity Castle, out in cinemas and IMAXs all over the world: so of course, we at re:frame are going to take this opportunity to talk about The Legend of Hei 2.
Another action series about the intersection of humanity and spirits, their shared world often interpreted for the audience through flashy combat sequences, the film once again follows Hei, a cat spirit who occasionally takes the form of a humanoid boy and a stoic badass warrior mentor named Wuxian, a human. In the first film, a prequel to a web series named The Legend of Luo Xiaohei, Hei ends up in Wuxian's tutelage after being kidnapped by him, but before that his home was destroyed by humans: the first film bent towards an environmentalist reflection on the all-consuming machine of human capital.
The world of the animation eventually lands back in a harmonious place by the film's end, in part represented by the steadfast bond between Wuxian and Hei. The Legend of Hei 2 opens with that peace being shattered again in a massacre at a sanctuary for spirits and 'spirit enforcers,' overwhelmed by human gunfire. Symbolic of the relationship between humans and spirits becoming strained again, Wuxian and Hei are broken up for a while, as the former is held under suspicion of aiding the human soldiers (he spends the majority of the film hanging out and playing video games with a sassy warrior child). The lone wolf and cub relationship is replaced with a new one, as Hei follows around Luye instead: Wuxian's old pupil, an orphan themselves who also grew up into a stoic badass.
The second Hei film leans a little harder into the intrigue (as you can probably see in that slightly long-winded summary above), which makes the viewing a little bit of a steep one for someone who watched the previous film about four years ago now. Typically, I would have done my due diligence and caught up, but this is my first letter back after a few weeks away – a lot has happened. A lot still remains familiar, however: its charming, clear-lined web cartoon aesthetic, the mixture of animal warriors and colorfully dressed humans who wear costumes walking the line between tradition and techwear modernity, its incredibly quick pace both in the action and the downtime between.
Briefly speaking to an online friend about Demon Slayer, and what the audience entry requirements are for that movie (not high, honestly), the thought presented itself to me: can I understand this sequel solely through those vague notes and the action?
The answer is: mostly yes! You should also watch The Legend of Hei, a fleet-footed good time in its own right, but getting to know Luye and seeing the bubbling frustration of the spirit enforcers and the world they protect from human violence is interesting enough in isolation. Directors MTJJ and Gu Jie, like with Wuxian, show Luye's stoic shell cracking bit-by-bit on the journeys (and investigative work) between big fights.
Though there are creative flourishes everywhere, the animation of The Legend of Hei spreads its wings the furthest during those battles. Some (necessary) 3D CG shortcuts chafe a little against its cartoonish art style, but even with its incredibly high speed the action is as legible as it is exciting, wuxia flourishes captured with efficiently utilized 3D camerawork as characters leap miles between moves, topped off with the kind of earthshaking displays of martial might that would make Dragon Ball proud.
As much as I have been put off by the "hype moments and aura"-focused Demon Slayer, which to me feels like the action no longer compensates for its lack of substance, Hei 2 – a film which also feels a little bit like a middle chapter – makes for some surprisingly good counter-programming even though its theatrical release was 11 days ago. Everyone gets to calmly walk through enemy strongholds while sowing chaos, everyone gets a "my technique is stronger than your technique" moment. Wuxian takes a break from gaming to show everyone that he's the strongest.
It also helps that Hei 2 has a certain integrity in that it is a film, meant to be viewed as a film, and Demon Slayer is a preview of the bit of Demon Slayer disguised as a movie.
Beyond that there's some other neat touches: luminous dots acting as a visual presentation of 'Ling' (a kind of spiritual energy) which Luye traces in her hunt for the real perpetrator of the massacre, or the strange tools some of the spirit enforcers fight with, like floating metal ringlets and rectilinear energy barriers.
The environmentalist tones and consideration of whether or not the modern human world is compatible with the old one takes more of a backseat to a slightly more generic conflict with people asking "shouldn't we just kill them" with regards to humanity as an existential threat. A conflict with such an obvious answer ("probably not") is a shame, because there is a richness to the setting of the first film which felt worth revisiting and reexamining. But honestly, there's nothing wrong with Hei 2 as animation to wash over you, through its creative action sequences as well as amusing day-to-day scenes of the earth's most powerful warrior getting better at gaming.
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⚔️ Kambole: This is quite literally the first animated thing I've watched since returning to the UK. BUT! The Hades 2 trailer from The Line animation studio is utterly gorgeous, taking some visual cues from the Grackle produced teaser while adding some anime-esque flair of their own. Dress-Up Darling is still great.
🗼Toussaint: Nothing new this week, but I wanted to resurface Shared Memories, a 2018 collaboration between visual artist Ash Thorp and animator Benjamin Bardou. Using a combination of CGI and volumetric capture, Thorp and Bardou create a dazzling free-floating journey through digitized impressions of the streets and vistas of Tokyo. Combined with a track lifted from Disasterpeace's score for Hyper Light Drifter, and you have a dream worth getting lost in.
🚀 Rollin: One of the reviews I've been spending all my free time on has finally gone up: Lego Voyagers is a charming delight. (Still playing other stuff I can't talk about yet, mind.)