Shenhai

(Spoiler-free Review)
I just watched this in the theaters as I'm currently located in China. Overall, it was a fantastic experience.

Story (7/10): The story of Shenhai was pretty interesting. It is about a girl Shenxiu （参宿） who ended up in this fantasy world deep under the sea searching for her mother who she has not contacted for a while. She was guided by this mysterious sea creature but ended up in a restaurant run by humanoid fish and seals. The restaurant was run by Nanhe (南河), a greedy owner of the restaurant who cares only about making money. Much of the story was very ... abstract and reflected themes of loneliness, depression, and hope. Overall this story had a very strong "Spirited Away" vibe to it, despite being original in its own way.

Art (10/10): The art was simply fantastic. Especially, in portraying the surreal world. Everything looks so colorful and it had a very strong Chinese vibe. Also, the 3D effect was simply beautiful. I would definitely recommend watching this in the theaters if possible.

Sound (8/10): The sound was beautiful. Although none of its music was particularly memorable, it fits the vibe perfectly. Also, the voice acting was pretty on par.

Characters (9/10): All the main characters are multidimensional and had many sides to them. The background story of the main character Shenxiu was done really well. Her parents divorced when she was young and she ended being neglected as her father remarried and had another child. This led her to obvious signs of depression as she seemed hopeless and apathetic in this movie as she wanders to try to find her mother. No one is perfect in “Shenhai.” At first, you will probably not like Nanhe at first but he does have a benevolent side as well despite being super greedy in the beginning.

Enjoyment (8/10): This donghua was very enjoyable. Although the middle was slow, I was overall mind-blown by the visual effects. The story was also interesting reflecting deeper themes that most animated films fail to reflect.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8 (I’m generally pretty strict when it comes to rating but this film is definitely underrated. Watch it in the theaters in 3D if possible, but even 2D should definitely be a great mind trip.)