Da Yu Hai Tang (Movie)

I made an account on here just to write a review for this, since no one else has! This is such a beautiful movie. In my opinion (and I know not many will agree with me but whatever), this by far surpasses any Ghibli movies, as well as Kimi no na wa. Of course there were a few things it could have done better, but honestly, everything was too superb for me to notice many flaws at all.

Art: 10/10. Literally so gorgeous. The vibrant colors and scenery were incredibly majestic and stunning, and the whole time I felt completely immersed. Not to mention, all of ... the characters were super well done. The men were really attractive, which is a plus for me, but in general -- everyone had their own little quirks about them instead of being bland and repetitive.

Animation: 9/10. I would give it a 10/10, just for being so smooth and extremely well done, but the use of cgi at some points was a bit annoying. Even so, the studio still managed to meld it together without it being too standoffish. It was unique, if anything, so I had almost no problems with it.

Story/Plot: 10/10. I might be sounding super biased, but honestly, I've never seen such a well done plot revolving around reincarnation, and the concept of life. It's perfect to me, and because I was raised around this type of belief, it really hits home to see something depicting it in such a way.

Voice acting: 8/10. There were some parts - especially towards the beginning of the movie where I was not yet used to the voices - that I felt the emotions were not being portrayed as powerfully as they should have been, and were lackluster. But overtime I was able to adapt quickly to it, and throughout the movie it almost felt like the voice actors themselves grew, as I was hearing much more depth in the tones they were taking on. I did, in particular, really enjoy Chun's older voice. Very wise sounding (as she should be, after all she went through).

Soundtrack: 10/10. I loved it. It's not too over the top, yet still very impactful. There were no scenes where I felt that the ost was out of place.

Characters Development: 8/10. I didn't see much of this with Chun, honestly. She seemed to stay the same throughout the whole movie, and I didn't feel like she grew very much. Qiu, on the other hand, went through a heck of a lot of development. He was somewhat selfish at first, caring more about what would happen to Chun than listening to what Chun herself actually wanted, and then ended up sacrificing quite a bit for her wishes nearer to the end.

Overall: Deep storyline, beautiful message, and lots and lots of much appreciated heartwarming feels. To me, it was perfect, and I will most definitely be re-watching this again.

*This review contains minor spoilers for the sake of humour*

China strikes again!
But seriously, there are more and more Chinese animations that are coming out lately and managed to capture an overseas audience which is pretty interesting to see to say the least. So we really should find a better one word representation of this because “Chinese Cartoons” is 1 word too many for my mouth. That aside, let’s actually get on with the review.

Sound: 10
We are going to start with sound because ear-gasms are apparently a thing. The music and sound effects are really well done and are used perfectly; melding together the ... art, characters and story into a piece of stunning visual entertainment. Suffice to say, without this the movie would definitely not be as spectacular as it could have been. Also the movie is dubbed in Mandarin Chinese, so if you really picky with your dubs, then you are going to miss out for sure.

Art: 9
The animation is great, there is no doubt about that. However, some parts of the movie is CG (like one object in one scene) which might put you off the magnificent art style and animation if you are a hardcore “ALL CG IS BAD CG” fan. Character design is also unique, since it is a fantasy film expect to see many different Chinese mythological creatures (many nekos).

Characters: 8
You shall meet three mains: 1 male, 1 female, 1 dolphin; let gender equality reign (unfortunately no apache attack helicopters in this film, since the setting isn’t in the modern world).
Female main is called Chun (not cousins with Chun Li), and the story is told through her point of view for most part of the movie.
Male-chan is called Qiu (good luck pronouncing that), and he will be accompanying Chun in her endeavours.
Dolphin-kun is called Kun (no seriously, I’m not lying), 他 is the drive of the plot of the film, so fairly important.
Now the development of the characters is not bad, particularly Qiu undergoes monumental changes from one end of the spectrum (cheeky and selfish) to the other (selfless and super saiyan) in the name of 爱. Chun on the other hand doesn’t change very much which is not surprising if I’m honest since there really isn’t too much of her to change. Kun is a dolphin, that’s ample development.
One last thing before moving on though, the side characters do what they needed to do, none of them were there to “fill the numbers” and all of them has a particular personality associated with them. Chun’s granny is a phoenix for goodness sake!

Story: 7
Ah, the minor pitfall of this movie.
Generally the plot flows, with powerful themes of life, death, love, reincarnation, family, rebellion… as well as philosophical questions like how much are you willing to lose to gain a certain thing. However, some parts of the film was slightly confusing, as it would make you question “why?” or “how?” or “wait, what?” but these don’t detract you from the entire plot point and many are explained/revealed down the line, it’s just the spur of the moment confusion might put some of you off the plot a minute or two. This is coming from a person who understands Chinese to enough of an extent that don’t use the subs so the effect might vary depending on your viewing experience.
All in all though, the plot made sense in the end and it does make you question your existence.

Enjoyment: 8
It’s a very stunning looking piece of visual and auditory entertainment. There are only a few minor chips and dents in the plot but otherwise everything is great. It might take you a bit of time to understand everything fully but it is well worth your time to watch it.

Overall: 8
Da Yu Hai Tang is like a Ghibli film, but instead of Japanese it’s Chinese, instead of No-Face it’s dolphins but otherwise it’s very similar to Spirited Away and explores many deep themes. So don’t be fooled by the visuals and concept, the film definitely makes you think.

yes for some the Chinese is going to throw you off a little bit but other than that the movie is on par in animation with Ghibli movies and Kimi no na wa, garden of words etc. The story was a bit weak but many supernatural storylines tend to have such effect.

ART (10/10): one word stunning. You will be totally mesmerised by the level of detailing and the vibrant colours. The amount of work put in the art is completely visible in the incredible visual sequences. At some points you can notice CGI being used but the animators did manage to meld it in quite ... well so it does not appear too standoffish.

SOUNDTRACKS(10/10): not too exceptional but no where in the movie it felt like the soundtracks were not meant for the scene.

STORY(8/10): it is a supernatural movie so to some people the story might not appeal so much and to some it may look not too well prepared and structured or given proper depth to, however the plot is well developed around the idea of rebirth.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT(8/10): the lead role didn't show much of development however one of support roles had a good growth towards the end.

overall beautiful artwork, good storyline and heartwarming. Definitely recommend watching it.

It took me almost a year to realize that this title is not Japanese but Chinese. The realization hit me just when I was preparing to watch it. I thought,"A Chinese anime movie? Why not! This is gonna be interesting." I had my doubts. I also had my hopes. But it all stabilized when the story ha started. Trust me! This movie is worth it.

For all the lovers of mythical worlds and magic, this is a very good choice. It's not even on earth to begin with. It's about sacrifice and noble feelings. The magnificence of the animation adds to ... the story. It's this kind of movie that sweeps you off your feet and flies away. Epic, that's the word.

I'm not gonna say anything about the story. I will leave that to you. I'm gonna speak about the art. It's modern art but not that kind of modern that leaves you the anime was made in the 90s. It's something like Kotonoha no Niwa and Kimi no Na wa, so the colors are vibrant and the movement is smooth. To complete the legendary image, the music comes to support the scenes with the right tunes.

It's a shame that this movie isn't popular, so give it a try and invite others to watch it. Enjoy.

Story: 8
Art: 10
Sound:10
Character: 8
Enjoyment:10

Big Fish and Begonia is an excellent example of a fairly mediocre story coming together with animation so good that it'll give you an eyegasm.
I'll try to keep this review as concise and spolier-free possible.

Overall Plot (6) : Personally i'm not a fan of constant loop of "sacrificing oneself for the other" theme that the story goes for. It gets frustrating by the end of the story.

Characters (5.5) : The characters suffer from the "motivation not explained" syndrome and that's something that goes on throught the entirety of the movie. It makes the characters extremely hard to relate to and overall drag the story ... down. Now i won't say that it'll completely take away the enjoyability but it can definitely bug some people like myself.

Music (8) :The music of this movie is absolutely stunning. The slight tough of chiniese classical music really elevates the vibe of the scenes and meshes really well together the atmosphere of the story. Is it memorable ? I wouldn't say so. There weren't any tracks that caught my attention and i have no recollection of a single track inspite of only finishing the movie about 30 minutes ago. But, for the time you watch the movie, it's going to be the best music that you've ever heard.

Animation (9) : This movie is GORGEOUS, it has one of the most beautiful sceneries i've ever seen in an anime ever. The character and disasters are masterfully animated and it shows how much love was put in this project. The animation is basically a love child of ghibli and modern day cgi and it elevates the movie from average to fairly good.

Final rating (7) :While i have more than just a few gripes with the film I enjoyed it. It's not going to be the most moving thing you ever see nor is it going to be something that you're going to remember for the rest of your life. But if you want to watch a thrilling movie with a fairly simple plot and animation that'll blow you away ? Then this one is for you!

Short Review here -
Recommended: for animation and art? Yes. But no for everything else
Spoiler-Free?: pretty spoiler free! Some tiny things but that’s it. Nothing major
Pros: the frickin art dudes, it's so beautiful its almost unfair
Cons: The characters and the overall execution with the pacing of the show. And there was something off with the voice acting I guess? (both sub and dub)
Best Character: Qiu ( they did him dirty and he carried the whole show damn 😔)
Swears in review: it’s cleannnnn
♥
An in-depth review is here:

[Story]: the story was alright, the romance sucked and kinda weird but besides that it's was a ... really nice story with a really chill life lesson. Super epic but at times the pacing of the whole thing seemed to be rushed and unorganized.

[Art]: the Art is absolutely breathtaking and it’s really what saved this movie. To the colours and to the character design they really built a well-designed fantasy world. I’ve noticed that they used CGI which makes sense cause they must’ve used it to get those shots that like go in a circle and that (like promised neverland.) but they were able to handle the CGI beautifully, in fact, I think they also used CGI for the characters (maybe?) and honestly this should be the new CGI standard. The only complaint I have about the art is a nick pick and it’s that during the movie they have this little ball thing and whenever a character would hold it, it just looked super awkward in their hand. But honestly, I loved the art so much.

One of the transition things was just a black screen and I didn't like that. Literally fading into a black screen isn't super epic.

[Characters.]I want to talk about the voices in the movie for a second before we transition onto the characters, For some reason, the lines in the movie absolutely sucked and fell flat. I have no idea why it's like that but it sometimes the lines didn't make sense for the situation they were in or when they were talking to other people, it just felt awkward and weird. Of course, there were a few lines that felt normal but there would be moments where you are wondering ”why are you saying that.” again, I found this issue in mostly dub but I found it in the split second of sub I watched. I don't know if this was on the delivery of the lines or the actual script given but it really took me out of the experience. Maybe it's cause I found the lines inconsistent with the characters or I really can't seem to understand the characters at all. I mostly found this issue with Chun, rarely Qiu, Feng (Chun’s mother.), Kun’s sister and Jumang (He's just some dude who shows up and speaks for a bit.)

Let's get onto the actual characters starting with Chun. Chun was very inconsistent for me and I found a hard time liking her. Honestly, her personality was strange and inconsistent and I don't know if this was because of the facial expressions or its cause she would randomly do things that I wouldn't associate her character with doing. I don't know if they just fell short trying to get her character fully development or something else but she felt off to me and so did her mother so, daughter like the mother I guess. Maybe it's because she was too stiff? One of the only dynamic characters was Qiu and man did he deserve better. Literally, he did everything for Chun and he was ignored by her the entire time. Like Jesus man, you deserve better and can do better. Their relationship to me was very one-sided and just felt lacking. Two of the characters i really liked ( besides Qiu) was rat lady ( Shu Pozi) and Ling Po. It probably causes their characters were more constant but their motives were strange, mostly on Lings Pos side.

There's a lot more i can say about the characters but the main point i want to say is that they felt rushed and unimportant. All of the side characters showed up randomly and had no foreshadowing to them and i honestly didn't know who most of them were despite the fact they were labelled important but that's just me.

[Overall]: honestly it was a beautiful story that just fell short. I think it could've been better if they polished up on characters and lines and all of that but it's pretty nice.

I've seen plenty of movies in my life so far,but believe me..This is one of the most amazing Adventure/Romance.Supernatural based animated movie I've ever seen & It's my most favourite movie of this genre for now.😍😘
I'm not exaggerating when I say-This is a true Masterpiece & one of a kind.
It's very sad to realize when this came out the same year as Kimi No Nawa & didn't even get half the recognization It deserves.🤔😥
But,Trust me,Bigfish & Begonia beats Kimi No Nawa in every possible way,both storywise,emotional impact & visually too..& Kimi No Nawa is just an example.
Story-
The most crucial part of any movie is the ... storyline...& The storyline of this movie is so mastercrafted that It'll make you fall in love with every part of the movie,the dialogues,the characters & so on...The story is so amazingly engaging that you'll be absorbed into the screen throughout the whole movie,the romnace is not something typical or cliche either..In fact It's a very deep romance story that'll show us how far one can go to savs their loved ones & such profound matters...you'll feel every emotion they intended you to feel & you even bother to pay attention to your surroundings for the whole time...It's that amazing..It's like you'll have to pinch yourself to realize If you're back into reality or not after finishing the story.👌❤️
The way they connected Myths,legends & reality was was absolutely brilliant & astonishing at the same time.
Artstyle/Animation-
Oh,Boy...Maybe I just can't explain enough in words how beautiful,marvelous the visuals actually were...Right from the start of the movie every scene,every landscape,every visual effects of this movie is so fabulous,eye soothing that you can't keep away from the screen even for a second,I mean you'll have eyesgasms in every damn scenary change...The artstyle/animation of this movie was too amazing,too satisfying..Perhaps the best visuals I've seen in all the animated movies I've seen so far.😍
Characters/Sountracks-
Although,most of the movie is driven by 3 main characters...The character designs were very beautiful,accurate,their characteristics according to their roles were perfect too..Which made perfectly suitable for the storyline.
The blend of the soundtracks according to every scenario was really great..aside from that,you'll be so absorbed into the story that you'll barely notice the soundtracks tbh.
End Note-I don't think I've ever seen an animated movie overall this satisfying in my life till now,heck I almost shed a tears or two during some scenes,almost.😥😭
So,without further ado,please do watch this movie asap,best 2 hours you'll spend on anything..I'm not sure If can call It an anime since It was done by Chinese directors & staffs...Nevertheless,this is one movie you cannot afford to miss If you love strong Suprnatural/Romance based story driven movies.

If you haven't watched Da Yi Hai Tang and think you have a small idea about what it's about, you haven't even touched the surface of it. This anime pursues both the physical and emotional aspects of a story told through a young girl named Chun. This story cannot be replicated in any way and is a one of a kind. The beauty of this anime has brought me to tears. Not just the visual beauty. The beauty of the story, characters, and emotions put into it. It touched my heart deeply and i regret not coming across this anime sooner. Don't skip over this ... anime for any reason, i assure you it's worth the watch. This anime represents the sadness of death and happiness of life in all of its worth. Life and death go hand in hand and Da Yu Hai Tang shows it well.

The first thing I should mention about BIG FISH AND BEGONIA is that it is visually stunning. I do not recall seeing many Chinese animated productions (although I wouldn't be surprised if I had inadvertently stumbled upon one without realizing it), but this is one of the most visually impressive I've seen from the country. Like a magnet, it seduces you from the first frame and keeps you entranced for all 100 minutes. In a way, this film reminded me a bit of Laika's recent KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS. That film, while not a tightly plotted story, was nonetheless so visually stimulating that one ... could not help but be glued to their seats throughout. BIG FISH is the same way.

Describing the plot, it's sort of a mixing pot of THE LITTLE MERMAID with shades of SPIRITED AWAY and Chinese mythology. Basically, this film imagines an "alternate world" way beneath the ocean -- a sort of mythological Chinese flavored kingdom whose inhabitants are some sort of humanoid "spirits" with powers who are responsible for guarding the balance of nature. One of its residents, 16-year-old Chun, participates in a sort of "coming of age" ceremony, in which she is transformed into a crimson colored dolphin and swims to the surface world. Here she comes face to face with a human boy and his little sister. But the visit turns tragic when she is trapped in a fisherman's net. The boy courageously rescues her, only to drown. Feeling responsible, Chun travels beyond the boundaries of her village to some sort of one-eyed demon (Lingpo, the Lady of Souls), where she strikes a Faustian bargain. The boy will be reborn as a dolphin, whom she will have to tame and grow until he is old enough to return to hid world. But the price is two-fold. First, she must give up half of her life force to revive the boy in question (whom she names Kun), and whatever pain he receives, she'll receive too. The second and more dangerous outcome involves unnatural disasters such as rainstorms, maelstroms, and even snow which threaten to destroy her world's existence. Only her closest friend Qiu, who secretly harbors a crush on her, might be able to set things right.

As mentioned, BIG FISH AND BEGONIA is absolutely breathtaking to look at. The film is also rich with metaphorical imagery, particularly when talking about matters such as life and death. In one scene, for instance, when an old man dies, he is reborn as a tree. His similarly deceased wife, incidentally, is some sort of peacock who comes to rest on the tree in question. In terms of character development, BIG FISH AND BEGONIA isn't very heavy on it, but Qiu, oddly enough, emerges as the most interesting of the characters. When we first meet him he appears to be somewhat mischievous and playful. But he also has a very serious dedicated side to him, and ultimately goes to great lengths to help the person dearest to him. The rest of the cast don't stand out as much, but with the possible exception of one fairly negligible potential baddie (who lives in a rat-infested sewer), nobody comes across as truly unsympathetic. Only issue is that there are a plethora of minor characters who only have about five minutes of screentime, to the point where we don't get to know them as well, but that's my only issue.

The dub by Studiopolis is well done for the most part, with no noticeably bad performances, although I DID detect some mistimed lines at least in the first half hour -- I do find it jarring to see a character's mouth start flapping only for no sound to come out until the second one, and this unfortunately sometimes happens in the beginning. Thankfully, this problem disappears in the second half, and other than that, as mentioned, everyone plays their roles well. Stephanie Sheh and Johnny Yong Bosch, in particular, do great turns as the lead characters, Chun and Qiu, respectively.

Perhaps the best way to describe this film is that it is more visual poetry rather than a cohesive plot, but it also offers a sincere heart that somehow manages to win the viewer over. The ending is also bittersweet and will surely wrench tears. (I know I was crying toward the end!) Directors Lian Xuan and Zhang Chun spent more than 12 years(!) working on this film, most of it being a series of starts and stops. According to the making-of-featurette, this film started off as a wildly successful 7 minute short made in Flash, but acquiring funds for expanding it into a feature proved problematic, and nearly disbanded the animation studio B & J. So what saved the day? Crowdfunding, that's what. The amount of interest from said crowdfunds prompted a Chinese distributor to take a chance and fund the film. Xuan and Chun's lengthy labor of love was greatly rewarded: the film was a smash hit in China, the second most successful animated film over there

I wouldn't say this movie reaches the echelons of say, Studio Ghibil, but it doesn't have to. If you're an animation fan and want to see something this breathtaking and emotional, you can't go wrong with this one. Every second of it will have you nailed to your seat.

When I first watched it it kept reminding me and referencing the Disney movie Little Mermaid, it is so similar to it on so many levels. But this movie has more depth into the story, more lessons, meanings and values that the little mermaid.
It is not an easy movie to watch, it is filled with emotions on love and sacrifice. In addition to the meaning of life and death. The art is just beautiful and very meaningful, the story line is very catchy and it is hard to stop watching it. One must watch it more than one time to capture its meaning ... and lessons. My only take is that I did not like the selfishness of Chun I wished that she would have been kinder and more considerate to her own people and for the person who truly loved her.

that was so damn beautiful

the story was well done and very emotional. you have this magical mythological setting and explore how it interacts with human reality. there were some loose ends and there couldve been so much more but alas movie time is limited and it only made the world they built feel so much bigger
as i already said this was beautiful. but not just the stunning art, i was also very captured by the sound.
i usually dont bother or notice anything about the sound but here it was absolutely amazing. the music (both instrumental and vocal), the animal sounds (both backround and from the ... main chars). tbh chinese voice acting isnt as jarring as everyone makes it out to be. as long as you have well paced subtitles youll understand everything no biggie. i hope i can download the soundtrack somehwere.
there characters were great. there are some antagonists and you get frustrated but you also cant really blame them. i was really invested in everyones happiness making the story that much more bittersweet. the ending was well done and very satisfying.

i enjoyed this movie so much i wouldnt know what else to say

In all honesty, of all the non-action animated movies I've seen in my life, both Western and Eastern, this movie is almost at the same emotional level as Spirited Away. The characters are nearly top-notch in terms of designs (both the human, divinities and spirits), the backgrounds are just drop-dead gorgeous, the soundtrack is like the first time I had a Chinese herbal tea (in short, marvelous). The only microscopic gripe I have towards the use of CGI is sometimes a little out of place, like you can clearly see that it just don't add up to the rest of the setting of some scenes; ... but overall the animation quality is almost perfect. For a final note, I will go with a 9.9/10 (if they could've fixed real quick these CGI mistakes...)

This movie is so beautiful that i think could be a good serie with 12 episodes.
Would be awesome to explore more the characters and the story.
The art is simply amazing and the soudtrack is very good too... i love the characters and the magic beyond everything.
The movie is very thrilling, gorgeous and definitely i recommend. I dont know what more i have to tell about it.. amazing story, amazing art, amazing characters, amazing soudtrack, amazing enjoyment. I just rate 8 to the sotry because i think that could be more episodes to explain more about eveything. But overwall its simply wonderfull. Everybody who likes ... beautiful stories with magic and lessons of love and friendship should watch Da Yu Hai Tang (Big fish and Begonia).

This was one amazing movie that I wasn't really keen on watching for the fact that I knew it's audio wasn't in Japanese and that's the language I usually put it, to learn.

The story follows a good plot, and I think there's nothing really bad about it. However I'll have to say I was a bit annoyed to the fact that characters weren't deeply shown and you'd only get to know them from the surface. I would have liked to know more about the characters.

The animation itself was beautifully made and it was really outstanding. I was angry at the fact that there wasn't a ... dub on Japanese but there was one in english( or at least in the platform I was watching it on.).

Overall it's a great anime to watch on your own, with friends or anyone, although I'd recommend it for families.

I just love so much everything about this since first moments til the lasts.

I have never seen bounding love and pain in so artistic and pure way.
Its enjoyable for basically every age and the story is not that hard to understand but even than you can find that its so much deeper.
What is so unique about it is the way it express feelings. The art style its beautiful and the story just gone through it like its an colouring book full of magic.
The innocence in their relationships and the small line between whats the right to do and what is the right to ... do for you are the things that i have never felt in so much bittersweet way.

I think everyone should watchi it, even if its once a lifetime.

A very emotional film, with an enormous audiovisual force. I found it a very exciting graphic journey.

I saw it with low expectations but I found a very original story with an excellent narrative and art. It's the first Chinese anime that I see and also produced by Netflix. Great bet and excellent work.

The soundtrack fits perfectly at all the scenes and the combination of the 3D with the 2D gives an important weight to some moments that try to give that feeling of dimensional disengagement.

Totally recommended.

Story: 9.
Art: 9.
... Sound: 8
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 10.
Overall: 10.

Big Fish and Begonia is a great movie, and one I highly wish would gain more traction. I've shown this film to a few friends, and each time I dive back into the beautiful visuals and a heartwrenching plot, I ache to know that not many people will know this film. However, this movie hits the quality of Ghibli and Disney, and it's a much-underappreciated film. I'm not one to make long reviews at all, but please, seek out this movie. Fans have subbed it and there is a box set for sale on Amazon. The more we support good foreign films, the more we ... can get by giving back to them.

Big Fish and Begonia may have you drawing parallels to Studio Ghibli films and Avatar: The Last Airbender with its visuals and elements of its premise. But in spite of this, this Chinese animated film does quite a beautiful job at establishing its own identity in exploring a focus on love and sacrifice with the challenges faced by Chun to resurrect the soul of a young human man who saved her life during a venture into the human world.

The obvious thing that was a highlight for me with Big Fish and Begonia was the animation. Outside of the apparent drawing style being inspired by Ghibli ... films, this film features highly detailed and beautiful scenic shots that are pleasing on the eyes and take place in a number of locales that include the spirit world that as Chun's home and the sea in which she meets Kun within the human world. In addition, it features an impressive merging of 2-D cel-shaded and 3-D computer-generated animation that blends seamlessly with one another during some of the film's more elaborate animation sequences, a feat that is hard to replicate in many animated films as the CG typically sticks out like a sore thumb when used. The film also maintains consistently fluid movement throughout its run, having many elaborate sequences that are able to maintain the elaborate visual details of its scenery and characters without any drop in quality or noticeable animation shortcuts.

Moving onto storytelling, Big Fish and Begonia does a great job within its 100-minute runtime to offer solid world-building of the spirit world that Chun lives in and developing its themes of love and sacrifice that our heroine faces in protecting Kun's soul. The film's world is inspired through a number of ancient Chinese and Taoist legends and stories that dabble into supernatural and magical elements, this being apparent in some of the film's themes focusing around resurrection and reincarnation. As for the story of the film, it revolves around Chun's admiration of the human world leading her to make a large risk to save Kun that jeopardizes her world's stability due to Kun's presence and her place within it. Without spoiling too much, the journey leads Chun to reflect on what path she wishes to choose for herself in life and make a great number of sacrifices to ensure Kun's safety and return him to the human world. Outside of Chun, other characters are introduced in the film to aid or deter Chun's efforts to protect Kun, though all said characters have justifications in their actions more than simply existing as a story element in Chun's adventure.

Overall, I must admit I was quite impressed with what I seen from Big Fish and Begonia as I believe this is the first Chinese animated titles I've had a chance of seeing. While some may draw parallels to Ghibli films with it as mentioned, it still stands on its own two feet with creating an engaging adventure with Eastern supernatural elements and many sacrifices being made by Chun to fulfill her goal of ensuring Kun's resurrection. I would strongly recommend checking this film out if you happen to come across it.

My first review, you could say this movie made me think more than ever before. Its a 9 for me for all the wrong reasons. The movie really makes you realise how sad it is when a person is too caught up in someone/something to notice anything else whatsoever around them. It made me realise that even though it felt relatable to be the one to look at that person from the side due to somewhat feeling the pain of the one always being right by their side, it really wasn't, as I believe I'm way smarter than that and I pull back whenever I ... feel like things could get out of control. I love it when movies make me realise something of the like and I would definitely recommend no matter what reason it is that you might find this movie to be special.

1. English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry.
2. Personal opinion :)


Story: (9/10)

The premise looks symple in the begining but when you let the movie show its story you can see the nuances.

Multiples sides of love and how this feeling is more complex than like and dislike, the power of choices and the consequences of them and, of course, the culture behind the fantasy.

... --

Art: (7/10)

Just generic. The 3D was kinda weird with the scenerios sometimes, but wasn't a big deal for me.

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Sound: (8/10)

The voice acting seems off sometimes in the not-main characters but the soundtrack was just magical to me, especially the ones with vocals in chinese opera style.

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Character: (9/10)

PERSONALITY! We have it! I just think they should show more from the characters than the current movie situation, like family/friendship background than just tiny phrases.

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Enjoyment: (8/10)

In the last 50min I felt tired, just "Well, this will happen so I'm waiting for it" I think the movie time was kinda rushed in the beginning and slow in the end.
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Overall: (8.2/10)