Chinese animation, otherwise known as donghua, is ready to kick Japanese studios off its throne, releasing trailer after trailer for increasingly larger projects that have stunning visuals. The newest installment is The All-devouring Whale: Homecoming, slated to release May 1st of this year on Bilibili, a video-sharing platform based in China that’s similar to YouTube. If the anime is successful, fans may see it premiere later on Crunchyroll with proper English subtitles.
The All-devouring Whale: Homecoming is just one of the many manhua, or Chinese web novels and webcomics, to obtain an animation and come out with a trailer this year. Alongside this are exciting new releases such as Super Cube and the Lord of the Mysteries, which have featured similar insane animation techniques that stand to compete against even the juggernaut of anime this year, like Solo Leveling.
The All-devouring Whale: Homecoming Puts A Cultivation Spin on Monster Taming
Starting With a Magikarp and Ending With Gyarados
Cultivation manhua is incredibly popular, featuring alluring swordsmen based on heavenly soldiers atop high peaks fighting against demonic creatures or ghosts, but The All-devouring Whale: Homecoming puts its own spin on a traditional genre. Instead of using fancy swords or mesmerizing techniques, the cultivation sects instead use monsters in a similar way to Pokémon to conduct their battles for them. By evolving these creatures and fighting against others, ‘trainers’ can elevate themselves and their sect’s status to compete in high-rank competitions and earn further prestige.
The story follows Fan Lingxiao, a talented cultivator within his sect, Lingxiao Pavilion. During one of these competitions, Fan Lingxiao is swallowed by his own spiritual beast, Kun, a whale. Many years later, he is reincarnated in a similar rendition to isekai, taking over the body of a young man named “Liu Fengman,” who has amateur skills at best when it comes to battling beasts. Fan Lingxiao must embark on a journey to rise to the top once more to find out what happened to his sect and who plotted to kill him using the creature he had tamed.
Chinese Animation Will Be Japan’s Largest Competition Going Forth
Japanese Studios Can’t Afford to Slack on Projects
The anime industry has been hit by some rough waters as of late, between having a hard time with the dwindling work force as conditions get to be too much to bear for many workers and studios so far backed up in work, they’ve had to cancel major projects. This is all occurring at a time when anime is at its highest popularity thanks to major successes like Solo Leveling, One Piece, Dragon Ball: DAIMA, and many others.
It's Hard to Deny: The Anime Industry Is Going Through Changes, But Are They For the Best?
The anime industry is undergoing major changes in recent years. Despite the outcome of those changes not yet being evident, things are looking up.
Studio Pierrot is just one of the studios facing backlash about how its production has been scheduling its anime projects after having to put many on hiatus, given that releasing episodes weekly is no longer a structure that can benefit both the studio and the audience. Chinese animation has been slowly building up its foundations with Link Click, Heaven’s Official Blessing, Psychic Princess, and The Daily Life of the Immortal King. This year has barely started and donghua is already placing itself ahead of the game with amazing projects, further proving that China is out for the anime industry.
