There was not much publicity in the early stage. It seemed to be a very nonsensical domestic animation with a young age orientation, but it became obsessed with so many people after it was broadcast, and it firmly sat on the top of the list in the fourth quarter of 2019. The Throne of Guochuang Hegemony was promoted in the People’s Daily and even became the only Chinese comic shortlisted for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France in 2018. Moreover, the consecutive works are amazing and endlessly memorable. Douban scores are all over nine points. What is the charm of this domestically created animation?
The Annecy International Animated Film Festival was founded in 1960 and is held every June. It is initiated by the International Animated Film Association and has the longest history among the four major animated film festivals in the world. The world's top international animation festivals such as Oscars and Cannes in the Animation Industry are renowned. Its awards for animated features, animated shorts, and TV animations are the highest honors in the world's animation industry.
To be honest, the animation style of this animation is not very beautiful. Many of the depictions are exaggerated. Many people will be persuaded to leave the animation because of its confusing dubbing and overly exaggerated painting style. . But once you watch it, you will find that this animation with assassins as the theme and fighting scenes as the focus has put a lot of effort into the fighting, and the fighting scenes are very tense.
Assassins are a special profession in human history. They are often responsible for murdering or assassinating a target person due to political, personal grudges and other reasons.
The most classic ones are the battle between Wu Liuqi and Prince Sturt in the first season and the decisive battle with Chi Ya in the second season. The smoothness of the picture and the addition of BGM behind it allow the sublimation of the concept of the last episode to be supported by the background without being awkward. And when Wu Liuqi made his decision, picked up the scissors that had been with him for several days on Xiaoji Island, and finally said, "I am the strongest hairstylist on this island!" How many teenagers felt in their hearts? Is the blood ignited?
When Wu Liuqi wanted to assassinate a cheating boss, the boss’s bodyguard Dachun’s number was 9527, which was the same as Tang Bohu’s number when he was in Washington in "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance" .
When the leader from the Xuanwu Kingdom had no money for a haircut at Wu Liuqi's hair salon, he chose to exchange martial arts secrets with Wu Liuqi. This plot is similar to the old beggar selling martial arts secrets in "Kung Fu". It can also be seen in the picture that they all took five secret books. And in the scene of "Wu Liuqi" we can also see some details - "The Indestructible King Kong" is very similar to the indestructible boy body practiced by Da Chun; "The Blood Demon Knife (Blade)" is very similar to the one practiced by Chi Ya Blood Demon Technique; "Turtle Wave Qigong" is very similar to Director Jiang's moves in the first season, and it also pays homage to the classic move in "Dragon Ball": Turtle Style Qigong.
This domestically created animation only has ten simple episodes per season, but it reveals many profound ideas and correct values.
In the fourth episode of the first season, a wretched man collects beautiful underwear as a hobby and is despised by Director Jiang, the president of the "Pure Island Association", and entrusts Wu Liuqi to assassinate him. Wu Liuqi is obviously an assassin, and he just needs to complete his assassination mission, but he has a strong erotic ability, a sense of justice and an extremely upright outlook on life. After learning that these collections are from wretched men, After buying and picking it up myself, I would rather lose the purchase than defend the rights of others. : "This person just likes to collect different things from everyone else." If it does not harm other people's lives, why should we change other people's lives, belittle others, and discriminate against others? When this underwear collector said, "Thank you, for the first time today I feel that I am not a bad person." How much bitterness did he reveal?
In the extra chapter, Chicken Dabao’s brother Dafei wants to change his destiny and get rid of his fate of being eaten as a broiler. At the same time, he also hopes that his son will not be eaten by humans, and is determined to fight with Fighting chickens compete. But after training for a long time, the battle that was supposed to be won failed because of human play, and Da Fei was beaten to death. Ji Dabao shouldered the mission of revenge for his brothers and guardianship of Xiao Fei. His heart was full of hatred for humans, but when he finally took revenge on humans, he chose to give up. It murmured: "Don't leave the shadow of childhood on children, the world is still very beautiful." This kind of teaching of tolerance and kindness to future generations is not easy for this character who has just experienced the loss of his brother. The best relief for yourself is to say goodbye to the hatred of the past and welcome a better future. The world is really beautiful.
In my opinion, the theme throughout the first and second seasons is redemption and protection
Wu Liuqi: "Everyone has something they want to protect" "Don't try your best How can you know if you try it with all your strength?"
In this animation, everyone has something they want to redeem and protect.
Ji Dabao wants to get rid of his original hatred for human beings and protect Xiao Fei; security guard Dachun wants to protect the island and those who need protection and help; Wang Feng wants to get rid of his original cowardly self who dare not face love directly and protect what he owns. My beloved Xiaomi; Wu Liuqi wants to get rid of the cold-blooded and ruthless self of the past and protect all the residents of Chicken Island who make him feel warm...
The first season is basically a unit drama. The funny style unfolding in the form of "Chicken Island" roughly tells the general state of the residents living on this chicken island, and also lays a lot of foreshadowing for the development of the second season, such as: When Director Jiang and Wu Liuqi were fighting , it can already be seen that the fighting power is good, but how can the so-called "President of the Pure Island Association" on a small island have such strong skills? Why did Ji Dabao want Wu Liuqi to be an assassin? For Wu Liuqi to engage in such a high-risk profession is definitely not simply to have a life without worries about food and clothing. At the same time, the cooperation between chickens and humans does make people suspicious. Why an innocent and kind-hearted beautiful girl is terminally ill and able to immobilize those of the opposite sex she comes in contact with always makes people curious... and all of this has been well filled in in the second season.
The character creation in the first season is not just a mere introduction, but is just for the better development of the second season. Its core is also to shape the lives of these chicks who have not yet developed the main plot. The complexity of every seemingly ordinary person on the island. For example, the grandma who loves her grandson very much and is unreasonable seems to be hated by everyone. She also blackmailed Wu Liuqi's money, but she was targeted for assassination by her own son just for an accidental death insurance. Perhaps in the eyes of others, He is a wicked person, but he treats his family so lovingly. We can't judge whether such a grandma is good or bad, we just feel sad about it. Grandma's words, "It's all my fault, let me go to hell!" She threw herself at her grandson without hesitation, not wanting her grandson to be harmed in the slightest. In fact, there are many such grannies in our real society. They have indeed done a lot of evil things. Who knows that the money they save may be to save their family from suffering? We cannot agree with their actions, but we can understand their care for their families.
In the second season, the main content is the development of the main plot and the in-depth shaping of the characters. It does not adhere to the outstanding comedy style of the first season. Instead, it reveals a touch of sadness. It must be said that director He Xiaofeng is indeed a fan of Stephen Chow. Even the creative style is a mixture of joy and sadness, Behind the seemingly "nonsense" is a lot of bitterness. The second season also echoes the first season - Director Jiang is actually the quasi-heir of the Tianlian Sect, but he was expelled from the sect because he fell in love with Chi Ya and violated the canon rules. But in fact, she still hopes to maintain justice and protect women's rights, so she came to Xiaoji Island and became the president of the Pure Island Association. Who wouldn’t be moved when they see Director Jiang, a beautiful girl with “level 10 beauty”? Ji Dabao actually saw his good brother sacrificed in vain due to human conspiracy. At the same time, he also hoped to get rid of his fate as a broiler and become a meal on the plate, silently enduring the power of the enhancer to make himself stronger. . In the end, he defeated the fighting chickens and was no longer at the mercy of humans. He came to Chicken Island, where chickens are treated equally. Because he still had hatred for human beings in his heart, he used the amnesiac Wu Liuqi who he had rescued as a target, hoping that human beings would kill each other. The beautiful girl was actually a test product developed by Stan. She was originally expected to be a perfect artificial human with superpowers, but unfortunately it failed... How many people from the past are hidden on this seemingly peaceful and harmonious island? What about sadness? But these past experiences are already memories. In the second season, the people living on Chicken Island have come to terms with the past. They have truly come out of the past, and it all ultimately stems from us. The protagonist of this nationally created animation is Wu Liuqi. Although this drama seems to have many characters, each of whom has a full portrayal, it will not obscure Wu Liuqi's brilliance. Although Wu Liuqi is an assassin, the "emotion" in him makes him different from the original shadow assassin. If the previous Wu Liuqi was an emotionless killing machine, then the current Wu Liuqi is the most powerful hairstylist of flesh and blood who is well-deserved to protect this little chicken island!
Qingfeng, one of the seven shadow assassins, once said: "Emotion is the number one taboo of assassins." The former Wu Liuqi also asked the current Wu Liuqi to make a choice: "Emotion It will only make you weaker. Pick up the magic knife and become a true shadow assassin." But now Wu Liuqi is living on this loving and warm little chicken island, and he has realized that. Emotions are so important to people, so he made a choice: "I am not the shadow assassin you call me, I am the strongest hairstylist on this island!" He planned to no longer be an emotionless shadow assassin, but He is the strongest hairstylist who is flesh and blood, can have all kinds of emotions, and can protect others.
In the last battle with Chiya, maybe he could win easily by regaining his past self, but he didn't. He no longer used the magic sword Thousand Blades like before - only attacking without defense, attacking without emotion. Instead, he used the scissors that he had been using since coming to Chicken Island. The scissors that Plum Blossom Thirteen forged specially for him were different from when he was a Shadow Assassin. The scissors carried his emotions during this period. Tools are the carrier that accompanies him in his continuous growth after he has feelings. If you think about it carefully, this pair of scissors can not only witness Wu Liuqi's growth process, but also the change of Plum Blossom Thirteen's attitude towards Wu Liuqi. The original Plum Blossom Thirteen took Qingfeng's order as an absolute order and did not dare to disobey it. The little Plum Blossom Thirteen had to accompany the master in the cold wind in the winter, but after being infected by the assassin Wu Liuqi Under this, she gained the ability to think independently. When the master ordered Plum Blossom Thirteen to assassinate Wu Liuqi, she chose to give up. Perhaps emotions will really be a burden to become a top assassin, but can a person without emotions still be called a real person? Can you still have the joy of life? not necessarily.
"If there is no emotional burden, no one can defeat you." But they are unwilling to feel the charm of emotion.
The power of emotion makes the seemingly hostile characters in this worldview become flesh and blood.
At this time, I have to mention Chi Ya who finally fought against Wu Liuqi. We originally thought that Chiya came to Xiaoji Island to assassinate Wu Liuqi, but in fact, the first place he went to was the residence of his beloved Director Jiang. He has always been deeply in love with the senior sister in his heart, but because of the rules of Tianlian Sect, the two people who originally loved each other could not get a happy ending. "The martial arts of the Tianlian sect is a cult martial arts. It does not allow people to have seven emotions and six desires, but how can people have no emotions!" The roar during the final battle was the last resistance to the inability to have emotions. Although he went astray, sucking other people's blood to gain energy, and was despicable, bloody and perverted, deep in his heart he still hid the one Bai Yueguang who made him feel the beauty of the world - his favorite senior sister.
When I saw Chiya and the senior sister who had beautiful faces in their youth appearing in the ED of the second season, I realized that all the warm and beautiful scenes that appeared in this ED were impossible—— The beautiful girl will not get rid of her illness and live happily on Chicken Island forever; those unknown assassins on the assassin rankings will not sit together in harmony, talk and play games; Wu Liuqi cannot stay on this island. On the road, she rides a small electric donkey freely to the appointment; Plum Blossom Thirteen, wearing the skirt given by Wu Liuqi, will not see the Ah Qi who makes her miss her endlessly...
But the second time The end of the season does not represent a tragedy. Wu Liuqi took the blame for killing Chi Ya and saved the other residents of Xiaoji Island from the fate of being hunted. He left alone. This is undoubtedly a new beginning. Wu Liuqi Seven chapters of living with a new identity. At the end of the second season, the prince of Stan said: "Doctor, is it possible to only take away the energy stone without destroying the island?" It shows that Stan may be a potential aid force in the future. , the fate of Wu Liuqi and other residents of Xiaoji Island is still full of hope.