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hel-the-growl · 1 year

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Cultural Annotations on New Gods: Yang Jian -Part 1-

This is the companion piece to my long-ass thread about the same topic on twitter.

Light Chaser really outdid themselves with the visuals and research this time, and with Yang Jian out in NA theaters, it's totally worth seeing on the big screen.

There were so many historical references packed into this movie, I thought I'd do a deep dive into the characters, motifs and lore associated with Investiture of the Gods scene by scene.

Background

Yang Jian is the second instalment of the New Gods series of animated films (after Nezha Reborn), that are loosely based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods (IOTG). IOTG shares some canon with other Chinese classics like Journey to the West, Classic of Mountains and Seas, Lotus Lantern etc. so there may be crossovers.

The character Yang Jian, better known as the god Erlang, is a figure widely regarded as heaven's greatest warrior deity. He is recognized for having a third truth-seeing eye, and in IOTG, helped bring about the fall of the Shang Dynasty in 1046 BC.

The movie however, takes place during the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties circa 5th century AD, some 1500 years after events of IOTG. We first meet Yang Jian as a rather lethargic but free-spirited individual, 12 years after losing his powers during a great disaster involving the three realms, scraping by as a bounty hunter.

A rough timeline

c. 1075-1066 BC: Yang Jian is born

c. 1060-1050 BC: Yang Jian cleaves Peach Mountain

1046 BC: Battle of Muye (Conclusion of Investiture of the Gods)

c. 9 BC-23 AD: Erlang defeats Sun Wukong (Journey to the West, Chapter 7 - Havoc in Heaven)

c. 405 AD: Disaster of the Three Realms; Yang Chan is trapped under Mount Hua

c. 417 AD: New Gods: Yang Jian

c. 1920s - c. 1930s: Nezha Reborn

Breakdown

Yang Jian’s crew all have backstories. In Journey to the West, Kang Anyu (康安裕) and Yao Gonglin (姚公麟) are two of Erlang’s six brothers of Plum Mountain, both supreme government officials in charge of military affairs. Maybe we’ll get to find out about the other four’s whereabouts in later instalments?

Xiaotian is Erlang’s dog sidekick who helps him subdue evil spirits and never leaves his side. The movie’s version of Xiaotian seems to be inspired by ancient paintings depicting her as a white hound.

The wanted bulletin printer seems to be inspired by a Hu Shi Ren You (虎噬人卣), a tiger-shaped Ancient Chinese wine vessel.

In Chinese mythology, Penglai is a legendary island for immortals. It has been reimagined to be the equivalent of the CBD of the divine realm.

The dice used in the casino are 18-sided Xing Jiu Ling (行酒令) from the Han Dynasty. It has the numbers 1 to 16, along with the characters for "wine" and "arrogance" engraved in gold and silver. The rat is the first animal of the Chinese Zodiac.

Shunfeng’er (顺风耳), who now goes by Old Gao and works at the casino, was usually accompanied by Qianliyan (千里眼). They are two temple guards whose names translate to “all-hearing” and “all-seeing” that could hear and see things from thousands of miles away.

Light Chaser is serious about its monkey business. The way casino monkey grabbed Yang Jian’s tally with his foot, the big ape miming and even in Nezha Reborn where the little monkey imitated Yunxiang.

Fun fact: The monkey is voiced by Yang Tianxiang, the same actor who voiced Li Yunxiang (Nezha) in Nezha Reborn.

Refresher - Primordial Spirit, known in Chinese as yuanshen (元神), is is a concept in Daoism defined to be a level of existence surpassing that of physical existence. In the New Gods universe, they manifest as giant glowing avatars.

New Gods also has a recurring theme of lost Astras - In Nezha Reborn, Wukong’s staff is nowhere to be found and Yunxiang has only recovered Nezha’s Sky Ribbon so far. Among Erlang’s many Astras, three are mentioned in the movie.

Yang Jian’s headdress is designed to resemble his signature trident, the "three-pointed, double-edged lance". Hence when casino monkey asked him where his weapon was, he clinked the headdress.

This weapon was later shown in a flashback:

Another one of his Astras is a golden bow with silver bullets. According to the director, it was melted into his harmonica (although this was probably retconned as in the teaser for the sequel, it was his mother who gave it to him as a child). The harmonica not only has the powers of his bow, but is also the ignition key for his ship.

The third weapon featured is his mountain-cleaving axe (开山斧). It is the axe he used to split Peach Mountain in half to save Yaoji. He is shown wielding the same axe in the opening montage 1500 years earlier and it is currently wedged inside the Lotus Peak of Mount Hua from the events of 12 years ago. Needless to say it is a powerful Astra with earth-shattering capabilities.

The Four Diablo Brothers - Mo Lihong, Mo Liqing, Mo Lihai, and Mo Lishou - were initially antagonists in IOTG, having launched an attack on the Western Foothills. This led to the introduction of Yang Jian, who helped defeat the brothers.

By the conclusion of the novel, they were enshrined as the Four Heavenly Kings - Vaiśravaṇa, king of yakṣas (多闻天王; Duowen Tianwang), Virūḍhaka, king of kumbhāṇḍas (增长天王; Zengzhang Tianwang), Dhṛtarāṣṭra, king of gandharvas (持国天王; Chiguo Tianwang) and Virūpākṣa, king of nāgas (广目天王; Guangmu Tianwang). In the movie, only Mo Liqing was addressed by his title when Shen Gongbao met him inside the lighthouse.

There's a PSA on the noticeboard with a picture of Nezha pissing. It reads "no urinating or defecating here." This might be a piss (pun intended) at the 2019 animation Ne Zha from a rival studio, and its hilarious promo. The shade 💀

Further supporting my theory that White Snake and New Gods are from the same universe, Precious Jade from White Snake is recruiting!!! And medicine boy plugging his illegal business lol.

Jinxia Cave (金霞洞), lit. Gold Sunset Cave is Yuding’s HQ. It is located on Jade Spring Mountain in the Divine realm.

The little disciple playing the flute is a tribute to the 1963 ink animation “The Bamboo Flute” (牧笛) produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

Yuding is one of the many disciples of Yuanshi Tianzun, one of the highest deities of Daoism known as the Primeval Lord of Heaven. Yuding is ranked 10th among the “12 golden disciples”, and among his peers are Jiang Ziya (the main character of IOTG who led the battle against Shang), Taiyi Zhenren (Nezha’s master) and Shen Gongbao etc. They are all practitioners of Chan Daoism, also known as Kunlun Sect, founded by Laozi and Yuanshi Tianzun.

In the tale of the Magic Lotus Lantern, Chenxiang was the son of Yang Chan AKA Goddess San Shengmu AKA the holy mother of Mount Hua AKA Erlang’s sister, and a mortal scholar named Liu Yanchang. This parallels the Yang siblings’ own origin story as the children of a goddess and a mortal.

Chenxiang literally means Agarwood. It is a revered wood valued for its use in incense and traditionally burned during meditation.

The place on Jade Spring Mountain where Yuding sealed the sect brother’s Dharmakaya (the embodiment of the truth itself, a transcendence of the physical and spiritual bodies) is based on the travertine pools in and around Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan. Notably, a scene from Journey to the West, a story associated with Erlang, was once filmed at one of the waterfalls here. I’ve been here and yes, it looks exactly like this irl.

Part 2｜Part 3｜Part 4

#erlang shen #new gods #new gods: yang jian #yang jian #新神榜 #二郎神 #杨戬 #新神榜：杨戬 #xin shen bang #jttw #investiture of the gods #lotus lantern #light chaser #xsb #still laughing at the nezha shade

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nexttimeisnotthesame · 1 year

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New Gods: Yang Jian / New Gods: Nezha Reborn ━ Yang Jian

#new gods: yang jian #new gods: nezha reborn #yang jian #xiao tian quan #erlang shen #movie #light chaser animation #i loved both movies! :D #this handsome man <3 #the parallells - standing in an alley xD #mygif #m: animation

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the-monkey-ruler · 6 months

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New Gods: Yang Jian (2022) 新神榜：杨戬

Director: Zhao Ji Screenwriter: Wang Wei Starring: Wang Kai / Ji Guanlin / Li Lihong / Li Lanling / Zhao Yi / Liu Xiaoyu / Wen Jingyuan / Tang Shuiyu / Xingchao / Qiu Qiu / Yang Tianxiang / Meng Yu / Yang Mo / Zhao Mingzhou / Li Nan / Lin Qiang / Liu Cong / Jin Li / Shen Liangjun / Zhao Ji / Hu Yajie / Han Le Genre: Action / Animation / Fantasy / Adventure Country/Region of Production: Mainland China Language: Mandarin Chinese Date: 2022-08-19 (Mainland China) Duration: 127 minutes Also known as: New Gods: Yang Jian IMDb: tt19757204 Type: Reimanging

Summary:

Fifteen hundred years after the War of Shang and Zhou, the world of heaven declined, and Yang Jian, who had been wronged and downtrodden, made a living as a bounty hunter. One day, Yang Jian accepted a reward from a mysterious visitor to hunt down a young man, and unexpectedly discovered that the young man was his nephew Liu Chenxiang. Chenxiang is determined to find the lotus lantern and cut down the mountain to save her mother, but this will lead to a catastrophe. Yang Jian embarks on a journey to find Chenxiang and uncover the dusty past...

Source: https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/47909

Link: https://www.dandanzan.com/dianying/108153.html

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fuckyeahchinesefashion · 2 years

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chen xiang沉香 in new gods: yang jian via 启谪EEE

#china #animation #movie #chen xiang #yang jian #new gods: yang jian #art #agarwood

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5water-kohaku · 29 days

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Another video of collection of things I love, simply like to look at, or looking forward to. XD With the song "River of Blood" by Huang Xiaoyun.

Qin's Moon (Animation TV series)

9 Songs of the Moving Heavens (Animation TV series)

Legendary Twins (Animation TV series)

The Ravages of Time (Animation TV series)

The Demon Hunter (Animation TV series)

THRUD (Animation TV series)

Green Snake (Animation movie)

New Gods: Yang Jian (Animation movie)

Honkai: Star Railway (Video game)

Punishing: Gray Raven (Video game)

Black Myth: Wukong (Video game)

Where Winds Meet (Video game)

Condor Heroes (Video game)

Project: The Perceiver (Video game)

Aether Gazer (Video game)

Gujian 3 (Video game)

I would have added Moonlight Blade Mobile too, but I think I'll wait until I have more clips or something.

This upload focuses only on Chinese animation and Chinese video games. It's because the list was pretty long already and I didn't want to squeeze in the others.

This song is from (or is for) a mobile game titled Justice Online/逆水寒. Probably a promotion song for it. I got curious about the lyrics and ended up giving it a rough translation.

#donghua #chinese video game #Qin's Moon #9 Songs of the Moving Heavens #Legendary Twins #The Ravages of Time #The Demon Hunter #THRUD #Green Snake #New Gods: Yang Jian #Honkai: Star Railway #Punishing: Gray Raven #Black Myth: Wukong #Where Winds Meet #Condor Heroes #Project: The Perceiver #Aether Gazer #Gujian 3

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aryshacore · 1 year

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Yang Jian ☓ text posts part 2

#new gods yang jian #new gods: yang jian #yang jian #yang jian 2022 #light chaser animation #movies #chen xiang #agarwood #wan luo

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earl-of-221b · 2 years

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Posters for New Gods: Yang Jian

#New Gods: Yang Jian #Lotus Lantern #Journey to the West #Erlang Shen #Honestly - I’ve never gone to look for western movie posters before #whenever a good eastern movie is on the horizon I go digging to see the insane artwork that goes on the promo posters #live action or animated #fengshen

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khuantru · 1 year

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These end credit illustrations are gorgeous for 'New Gods: Yang Jian' (2022)

#New Gods: Yang Jian

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mostly-mundane-atla · 1 year

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Is anybody else excited about the coming North American release of New Gods: Yang Jian? I've come to expect nothing but good from Light Chaser Animation and this one looks just as beautiful and action-packed as the last three. Will there be anywhere near as much queer coding and subtext? Hard to say but from what little i've seen the leopard guy looks like he has chaotic bisexual energy. Plus, Chenxiang is my new faceclaim for Yun. Just look at him:

(Screenshots originally posted on the tumblr blog Fuck Yeah Chinese Fashion here)

#other interests #new gods: yang jian #love these light chaser animation guys with stumpy ponytails they're like the one man don bluth can draw but for this studio

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lindoesntwin · 5 months

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NEW GODS: YANG JIAN

A poor bounty hunter gets a new job to hunt down a young boy in order to stop a catastrophe.

#new gods: yang jian #donghua movie #donghua recommendation #donghua review #donghua #action #adventure

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hel-the-growl · 1 year

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Cultural Annotations on New Gods: Yang Jian -Part 3-

Part 1｜Part 2

I counted five periods of Yang Jian’s life that were depicted within the scroll.

1 - his childhood.

2 - teenager cleaving Peach Mountain. His hair is in a half updo, opposed to his full updo as an adult. The totem on his pauldrons is most likely Yazi (睚眦) - the second son of the Dragon King, who has the body of a dragon and head of a jackal. As a creature that likes to fight and is aggressive, Yazi’s image is often used to adorn armor and weapons, normally found on cross-guards on swords. The Yazi here is a cute pup, fitting for baby Jian.

3 - As a general in the war against Shang. His armor is decked with a red cape and he wields his signature trident. On his helmet are a pair of pheasant tail feathers called Lingzi (翎子) - which is indicative of the wearer as a warrior figure. The length of the feathers is also an indicator of the warrior's rank. This event was probably during the Battle of Muye, the decisive battle between Shang and Zhou. These flashbacks, like with Nezha Reborn, are the traditional depictions of the characters and are emphasized by the different art style.

4 - the disaster of the three realms twelve years ago. In Journey to the West, he was described as wearing “boots that were lined with cloth of gold; dragons coiled round his socks; His jade belt was decorated with the eight jewels”. He seems to have gained a new chest plate and notice how Yazi has also grown over the years from a cute pup to a ferocious beast with large fangs.

5 - bounty hunter. A tie-dyed bandanna covers his third eye - tie-dye was popular during the Eastern Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, where the extraction method of indigo dyes was recorded in the agricultural text Qimin Yaoshu (齐民要术).

His clothing is also described in chapter 40 of IOTG - “This Daoist wore a cloud crown with a fan, a robe the color of water with a silk sash around his waist, and hemp shoes on his feet.” This attire was typical of Disciples of Chan Daoism.

Wrist guards wrap around his index finger while his bounty hunter’s tally hangs from his belt. Despite falling into poverty, he still maintains an air of aristocracy with his white robes showing subtle intricate cloud details.

Blink and you’ll miss - during the battle at Mount Hua, he ripped his pants at the crotch lol.

Not that I think that the placement of Go pieces have any real significance, but I recreated the board for fun. Despite some minor inconsistencies (some black pieces disappeared and reappeared between shots, and the spot where Yang Jian hovered his piece is an illegal move), the game was mostly accurate. Btw, black is winning.

Yang Jian had a noble upbringing and has retained his discipline over the years - his left hand is clenched while his right palm lies flat on his lap.

What the hell is a Fenix? In the movie, the Xuan Bird was translated as Fenix, however there is no direct english equivalent for this mythological bird. “Xuan” means black or mysterious, so some sources describe it as a black bird, while others call it a swallow. The Book of Songs dedicated a line to it: The Book of Songs dedicated a line to it: "The Xuan Bird of destiny descends to give birth to Shang."

Fa Tian Xiang Di (法天象地) translated as “Heaven and Earth I rise to Thee” is the law of heaven and earth that is commonly mentioned in ancient texts. In Journey to the West, invoking Fa Tian Xiang Di grants the user the power to rise as high as the heavens and as vast as the earth. Only Erlang and Sun Wukong have this ability.

The inscription on Yuding’s giant sword reads “福生无量”, a Daoist mantra. They are written in small seal script, an archaic form of Chinese calligraphy, and a variant form of seal script that became the standard during the Qin Dynasty. The characters are separated by the horizontal lines of the eight trigram figures.

The moment Yang Jian knew exactly what would happen when Chenxiang ran toward his mother, yet was powerless to stop him. This scene BROKE me.

In the post credits scene, Yunxiang (Nezha) asks Wukong “you couldn’t beat him?”, a nod to their battle at the beginning of Journey to the West where Erlang was able to subdue Wukong after 300 rounds of fighting.

In the teaser for the sequel, Yang Jian is seen overlooking East Sea City/Donghai (the same city Nezha: Reborn was set), commenting “so many years have past again”. What he meant was, about 1500 years since Chenxiang cleaved Mount Hua. “So many years” is a gross understatement.

FAQs

What is Yang Jian’s origin story?

Yang Jian is a disciple of Chan Daoism, the third generation disciple of Yuanshi Tianzun, known as the Primeval Lord of Heaven, one of the highest deities of Daoism. The Jade Emperor really is his uncle. According to some legends, his mother Yaoji was imprisoned under Peach Mountain for falling in love with a mortal, breaking the laws of heaven. Yang Jian cleaved the mountain in order to save her.

If he’s heaven's prince, how did he fall so low? And where is his uncle the Jade Emperor?

Yang Jian doesn’t exactly have a great relationship with his uncle. It was the Jade Emperor who imprisoned his own sister under Peach Mountain, and Yang Jian wrecked havoc in heaven over this incident (not unlike what Sun Wukong did a few hundred years later). So obv he doesn’t associate with the other gods in the heavenly court, choosing instead to live elsewhere along with his six sworn brothers of Plum Mountain.

As for the whereabouts of the Jade Emperor, this is something the movie has not hinted. However in Nezha Reborn, Ao Guang mentioned it’s chaos up there [in heaven] right now.

If Yang Jian lost his powers, how was he able to phase through the jail’s barrier and overpower all of his opponents?

Most of the powers he lost pertain to the powers of his Eye of Heaven, which had the ability to differentiate truth from lies and see through deceptions and disguises and be used as an offensive weapon to fire continuous, highly destructive blasts of light energy and/or divine fire. He also lost the ability to manifest his primordial spirit, as well as the ability to fly. He does however retain his skills in the martial arts, primarily his “Nine Turns Mystical Arts” (九轉玄功), which grants him vast, physical durability of undefined limits and nigh-invulnerability to conventional weapons and various magic spells. His 72 transformations should be a part of this skill so whether he retained it or not remains to be seen.

It would be awesome to see him be able to transform though, it would suck if he were stuck bounty-hunting for the next 1500 years.

So how powerful is Yang Jian exactly?

In Journey to the West, he was unrivalled and the most ruthless among all of the gods - even the Monkey King could not defeat him. Another time, he single-handedly killed a beast that Wukong and Pigsy were struggling to fight. At the beginning of the movie, we got to see him finish off the ogre before it even had time to react. When outnumbered by Boss Hai and his goons, none of them could even lay a finger on him. Yang Jian is so powerful that even with his powers nerfed, the toughest opponents seem like small fries to him. During the battle at Mount Hua, his primordial spirit was so unbelievably massive that its body couldn’t even fit in the frame. The combined efforts of four gods could not hold him down and just one swipe of his axe was able to destroy Master Yuding and three heavenly kings. Yang Jian is no joke.

How old is Yang Jian?

We know that Yang Jian was born after Jiang Ziya, a real life figure who was born in 1128 BC. Jiang Ziya was peers with his master Yuding, who already had a head of gray hair when he took Yang Jian in as a child. Going by this logic, we can estimate that Yang Jian’s age was about 20-30 when he participated in the battle against Shang, making his birth year between 1075 and 1066 BC. His age when he cleaved Peach Mountain is a broad estimate, as he looked much older than Chenxiang when he cleaved Lotus Peak, so it might not be that long before the events of IOTG. Yang Jian would’ve been about 1512 years old when Chenxiang was born, 1525 at the start of the movie, and 3093 years old today.

What is Yang Jian’s relation to Nezha?

They were allies. After the final battle in IOTG, a few of heaven’s warriors including Yang Jian and Nezha came to court to inform that they did not desire positions and wealth and asked to be liberated from service.

How does this tie in with Nezha Reborn?

I read a tragic leaked original ending for Yang Jian where they weren't able to free the fenixes and he was the one that becomes trapped under Lotus Peak. It took another 1000 years before Nezha freed him... talk about tragic life. By now, it is pretty much given that Yang Jian ending up in Donghai over a millenia later has something to do with the new Order of the Gods. It was repeated in Nezha that Ao Guang wants to establish a new order to improve his ranking on the list, and some theories say that the the fenixes being freed from Mount Hua heralded the end of the old Order. Sun Wukong also alluded that the list had been re-ordered more than once.

Part 1｜Part 2｜Part 4

#erlang shen #二郎神 #new gods #new gods: yang jian #yang jian #新神榜 #杨戬 #新神榜：杨戬 #xin shen bang #jttw #investiture of the gods #lotus lantern

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nexttimeisnotthesame · 1 year

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Some things never change: Xiao tian quan being super reckless 🐶

#new gods: yang jian #yang jian #xiao tian quan #erlang shen #movie #animation #light chaser animation #they are so adorable <3 #mygif #m: animation

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simidakaze · 1 year

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to my betiest’s birthday gift！❤ ❤ ❤

#杨戬 #new gods: yang jian

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kukuandkookie · 1 year

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To all the Chinese animation and mythology fans out there, I know some of us are like super super excited to finally watch New Gods: Yang Jian for ourselves. I definitely am—and in my excitement, I decided to try my hand at subbing this production featurette/trailer into English!

You can watch it below~:

youtube

Now as per usual I need to give you a warning that there may be imperfect translations within because my first language will always be English. I’m of Chinese descent, but I was born and raised here in the west, so my Chinese isn’t perfect.

I hope you guys enjoy!! And that this production featurette gets you all as hyped as I am, because holy shit they put so much effort into this! 👀

On the topic of me not being 100% fluent in Chinese though: this was actually such a challenge because I would pause the video every line and write characters out by hand before inputting them into the dictionary (for definition) and Google Translate (for pronunciation). The really fancy stylistic Chinese text was also extra hard because those I really had to put in a lot of effort to identify them by rewriting the characters by hand.

So from there, the video was basically translated character by character ahaha—but I do think the diligence paid off, and I’m pretty proud of it! Taking this project on definitely helped me understand the video even better myself, which has allowed me to appreciate even more all the hard work the film and animation crew put into this. 🥺

Oh, also I was hoping to add hard subs to another upload of this video along with these soft subs, but my editing program kept freezing my laptop, so maybe next time. 🥲

For the original version of the video without subs, you can watch it here on Light Chaser Animation’s official YouTube account!

#yang jian #new gods: yang jian #杨戬 #新神榜：杨戬 #xin shen bang: yang jian #chinese animation #donghua #animation #animated film #animated movie #light chaser animation #new gods #kuku88 #kuku rambles #chinese anime #nezha #nezha reborn #Youtube

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