Anime Anime Global

In autumn 2020, the Chinese comedy TV anime series “Please Take My Brother Away!” entered its 4th season, and in November, the Chinese animation film “The Legend of Luo Xiaohei” will be released in Japan with Japanese dubbing.

Recently, the opportunity to watch anime based on original works from China, anime produced together by Japanese and Chinese staff, and Chinese anime has increased in Japan.
In this article, we will introduce five hot Chinese anime.

“Please Take My Brother Away!”
An anime based on the webcomic that has over 3 billion views in China. It’s a school comedy about the siblings’ love (?) of a violent sister beating up her silly brother.
In Japan, the 1st season was broadcast in 2017, the 2nd season in 2018, the 3rd season in 2019, and the 4th season started its broadcast and streaming in Oct. 2020.

The dubbing cast members are Nakamura Yuuichi as Shi Fen, Amamiya Sora as Shi Miao, along with Ono Kenshou, Hanae Natsuki, and Morinaga Chitose.

“Please Take My Brother Away!” is available on d Anime Store, U-NEXT, and other streaming services.

“Aotu World”
A 3DCG battle action anime that has over 400 million views in China.
It tells the story about Jin, who enters the “Aotu Contest” in which by winning, you get “everything along with the power to rule the world instead of god”, a contest held in “Aotu World” created by a whimsy creator.
The 1st and 2nd seasons were broadcast and streamed in Japan in 2019.

The dubbing members are Kakhara Tetsuya as Jin along with M・A・O, Ono Yuuki, and Itou Miku.

“Aotu World” is available on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and other streaming services.

“Flavors of Youth”
A collaboration project between director Li Haoling, the representative of the Chinese anime studio Haoliners who admires director Shinkai Makoto since watching “5 Centimeters per Second”, and Comic Wave Film that worked on “5 Centimeters per Second” and “Your Name”.
General director Li Haoling, director Yi Xiaoxing from live-action films, and director Takeuchi Yoshitaka, who supported Shinkai works as the CG chief, get together to weave an original short anime set in China, and was released on Aug. 4, 2018.

The cast members are, Ban Taito, Ise Mariya, Kotobuki Minako, Shiraishi Haruka, Yasumoto Hiroki, Ootsuka Takeo, and Hasegawa Ikumi.

“Flavors of Youth” DVD is on sale at DVD stores, online shops, and other stores.

“Big Fish & Begonia”
Director Liang Xuan and director Zhang Chun created a feature fantasy inspired by “Zhuang Zhou”, which depicts a world based on Chinese classics, such as “Classic of Mountains and Seas” and “Soushen Ji”.
It originated from a flash anime the two directors created in 2004. They wanted to turn it into a feature film, but production was difficult, and with the investment from the Chinese company, Enlight Media, it finally was completed.
The film was screened at the Tokyo Anime Awards in 2017.

The dubbing cast members are Amamiya Sora, Sawada Toshiko, and Chiba Shouya.

“Big Fish & Begonia” is available on Netflix.

“The Legend of Luo Xiaohei”
An animation film produced by the Chinese anime director/manga writer, MTJJ, and Han Mu Chun Hua (HMCH) studios.
The web anime series released on a video website in Mar. 2011 gained much attention, and the later created film became a surprising hit with box-office revenue of over 315 million CNY (roughly 4.9 billion JPY).
It was released in Japan in Sep. 2019, and though only on a small scale, anime fans and people in the industry praised the film, which led to the release of the Japanse dub ver. in Nov. 2020.

The dubbing cast members are Hanazawa Kana as the black cat fairy, Xiaohei, Sakurai Takahiro, Miyano Mamoru, Saitou Souma, Matsuoka Yoshitugu, Sugita Tomokazu, Toyozaki Aki, Mizunose Inori, Cho, and Ootsuka Houchuu.

The anime film “The Legend of Luo Xiaohei” will premiere on Nov. 7, 2020, in nationwide theaters.