A Chinese animation that surprised me very pleasantly. It combines a lot of very relevant life situations and invites introspection through the whole scenario created, the story and the way it is exposed.
Have some context: the main character is Ne Zha, a child who was supposed to be born bright, but because of evil spirits who wanted power and felt wronged in their desire to be in power, Ne Zha is born demonic.
And so the luminous sphere that was to be Ne Zha falls into the hands of the cunning and power-hungry.
This is where the story begins, and we see how people fear what they don't know and end up throwing hatred, fear and dread onto a person struggling to manage their impulses and demonic inner aspects.
Because people stigmatized, judged and feared him, Ne Zha is isolated and acutely feels a lack of friendship, wanting to play and explore life, driven by curiosity and a desire for closeness.
Ne Zha is indeed a demon, but he has parents and a mentor god, who strives to guide him to a human path in the service of the people. But people hate him, creating an inner conflict for him; they do not understand why they should struggle to protect the people who judge him, and they keep him at a distance, because they are afraid of him.
At this point the movie highlights us that when you want to help, when you work for people's safety (Ne Zha's parents were fighting demons), you have to manage their stupidity, and protect them from their own dark areas, because in each of us there are many uninvestigated areas that do harm around. We humans generally judge very quickly what we don't understand, and in many moments and situations we are worse than the ones we judge.
I don't leave you in the air; I say we are worse than those we judge because we don't bring any freshness, we don't take any responsibility in situations like that, and we don't seek to improve anything or be useful.
To judge or throw hatred that stirs the waters and strengthens something negative in someone is extremely easy and handy.
It's much easier to tear down than to build.
This circle of which I have said is a vicious one, because we humans judge, and those who are judged, if they are stronger, say that it is not worth it. This creates a continuous loop in which no one does anything, but everyone justifies a convenient truth.
The loop is interrupted when someone takes responsibility and looks for solutions.
The first are Ne Zha's parents, then his master, and Ne Zha, who stubbornly explores his life and makes a friend (Aobing) who is much more connected to Ne Zha than they both know.
Aobing is Ne Zha's half and is the bright sphere; the two recognize each other and help each other in a battle with a demon.
Aobing, although it is the luminous sphere, we see how easily he allows himself to be influenced by the cunning ones who want his power and revenge, and how he detachs himself from very important moments for him.:
The friendship with Ne Zha and the fact that he saved his life, the fact that he felt seen and recognized, and felt safe.
Here's the interesting part I wanted to get to: no matter how good you are or how dark you are, it matters what decisions you make, what you live for and what you want to protect.
If you are bright but fight for cunning and end up serving the darkness you are much, but much weaker than a demon with very high impulses of destruction that gradually grows and ends up serving humanity.
Ne Zha and Aobing are like Yin and Yang, complement each other and support each other, they are part of the same continuous cycle.
I really liked it, and I can't wait for the second part, which came out this year. I'm curious to see the continuation of the story. In addition to the content I told you about, it is also very nicely drawn, it has humor, the fights are intense and show us how life works.
All you have to do is convince yourself.
Happy viewing 😁🤗
P.S.:
"Don't be fooled by the illusion of friendship."
Friendship is mankind's most valuable resource and the greatest power of men, if it is correctly understood and penetrated to the point where trust is at its foundation.
"My fate is controlled by myself, not by God"
That's why I think we're alive because we're responsible for the choices we make 😁