On the floor, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese language blockbuster Nezha: Start of the Demon Youngster, is a high-octane, action-packed and visually beautiful animated spectacle, stuffed with hilarious moments and thrilling combat scenes.
However beneath all that, it’s one thing a lot deeper: a daring re-imagining of Chinese language conventional mythology, cultural historical past and philosophies.
Not like Hollywood’s basic hero’s journey, Ne Zha 2 is rooted in Chinese language thought, weaving collectively concepts from Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and extra.
By way of the story of a baby-faced warrior god who battles demons, it channels centuries of Chinese language custom into one thing refreshing, related and undeniably world.
The movie’s success speaks for itself. Directed by Yang Yu (aka Jiao Zi), Ne Zha 2 has shattered a number of world field workplace information, pulling in additional than US$1 billion in China in only one week.
It has entered the highest 10 highest-grossing movies of all time, and has develop into the highest-grossing animated movie – outperforming Inside Out 2 (2024).
However what makes Ne Zha 2 so compelling past its visible spectacle? At its coronary heart, it’s an inspiring story about id, free will, self-determination and riot – concepts that resonate far past China.
A toddler hero solid in fable and philosophy
Ne Zha is a rebellious deity in conventional Chinese language folklore – a boy born with immense superpower, who defies each divine and social expectations.
Most individuals who know of Ne Zha will hint his legend again to Fengshen Yanyi, or Investiture of the Gods, a Ming Dynasty novel that blends mythology with historic components.
Ne Zha ceaselessly seems in historic Chinese language literature comparable to Fengshen Yanyi (Investiture of the Gods).
Wikimedia
Ne Zha’s true origins, nevertheless, hint again to India.
“Ne Zha” is a shortened transliteration of the Sanskrit Nalakuvara (or Nalakūbara), an Indian mythological determine who seems in Buddhist and Hindu mythology.
As Buddhism unfold to China in the course of the Tang Dynasty, Ne Zha developed from an intimidating guardian deity into the rebellious, fire-wheeled warrior we all know at this time.
In Ne Zha 2, this “fighting spirit” towards authority and hierarchy is taken even additional, turning the story right into a deeper philosophical exploration of morality, destiny, self-worth and energy.
Good and evil – a Daoist perspective
One of the thought-provoking facets of Ne Zha 2 is the way it challenges the concept of excellent and evil.
In Daoist philosophy, evil and good, typically generally known as Yin and Yang, aren’t absolute, however are moderately shifting, interconnected forces.
By way of its two protagonists: the “Demon Pill” (Ne Zha) and his noble dragon prince buddy, “Spirit Pearl” (Ao Bing), the movie fantastically displays this Daoist thought of steadiness and self-discovery.
Their merging additional blurs the road between hero and villain and brings to life a core idea from the two,400-year-old textual content Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), written round 400 BC by Chinese language thinker Laozi (additionally known as Lao Tzu).
Laozi emphasises that righteousness and villainy aren’t at all times what they appear. “When the world knows beauty as beauty, there arises ugliness,” he says.
These we assume to be noble might grow to be darkish inside, whereas these deemed evil may be combating for what is correct.
Shen Gongbao, as soon as seen as a villain, leaps towards three mighty dragons.
Chengdu Coco Cartoon
Ne Zha’s character within the movie embodies this Daoist philosophy. Echoing the Xisheng Jing, The Scripture of Western Ascension, he declares, “My fate is up to me, not the Heaven.”
He’s the demon baby who’s prepared to die combating for his personal future, proving that even the smallest, most underestimated particular person can change the world.
Past household bonds: rebirth of Confucianism
In a single scene, Ne Zha is struck by the “heart-piercing curse”, a brutal spell that covers his physique in ten thousand thorns, inflicting insufferable ache and preserving him beneath management by focusing on his coronary heart. Ne Zha’s human mom, Woman Yin, clings to him as his thorns pierce her pores and skin – but she refuses to let go.
It’s a second of heartbreak, parental love and interior awakening. As his mom takes her ultimate breath, in Ne Zha’s grief, his physique shatters into 1,000,000 items. After which, he’s reborn.
That is the movie’s emotional climax, during which the so-called demon baby awakens to “Rén” (benevolence), a core Confucian advantage.
Confucianism teaches that true morality isn’t imposed by guidelines however arises naturally from inside. Ne Zha doesn’t simply search revenge, he awakes to combat for individuals who have been oppressed, embracing his id with unwavering resolve.
However maybe essentially the most profound transformation comes from the dragon prince Ao Bing. Because the final hope of his folks, burdened by centuries of expectation, he lastly makes a alternative, not for legacy, not for his ancestors, however for himself.
On this second, his once-imposing father Dragon King releases his grip: “Your path is yours to forge.”
The load of custom offers method to one thing new, reflecting a altering China the place youthful generations are defining their very own paths.
Ne Zha and Ao Bing’s transformation after the celestial-demon struggle.
IMDB
Knowledge of Legalism and Mohism
Past Daoist and Confucian beliefs, Ne Zha 2 additionally weaves in Legalist reform and Mohist resistance. These philosophies problem inflexible hierarchies (or in Ne Zha’s case, “divine order”) and advocate for collective justice.
Throughout Ne Zha’s three main trials and the climactic celestial-demon struggle, a brutal reality emerges: these deemed unworthy – whether or not groundhogs, mystical beings, or extraordinary people – are sacrificed to uphold the elite’s rule.
Take the small groundhogs. Wearing patched garments, surviving on pumpkin porridge. They’ve by no means harmed anybody. But, they’re mercilessly crushed within the title of celestial steadiness.
The innocent groundhogs in Ne Zha 2 are crushed within the title of celestial steadiness.
IMDB
Then there’s Shiji Niangniang, or Woman Rock, a recluse who harms nobody. She indulges solely in her personal magnificence and speaks to her enchanted mirror. But the heavens model her a demon, sealing her destiny.
Shiji Niangniang (Woman Rock), a ten,000-year-old demoness, is initially a stone.
Chengdu Coco Cartoon
An analogous cruelty befalls the Dragon Clan and the folks of Chentangguan, all caught in a struggle the place they’re mere pawns on a celestial chessboard.
Even the final battle is not only Ne Zha’s combat, however a battlefield exhibiting the Chinese language spirit of collectivism. Dragons, shrimp troopers, crab generals, octopus warriors, people and thousands and thousands of goblins stand aspect by aspect to rewrite future.
The celestial-demon struggle itself performs out like a lesson in Solar Tzu’s Artwork of Warfare, which states that “All warfare is based on deception.” Warfare is about technique, resilience and the unstoppable will to rise.
Ne Zha carries the load of Japanese cultural essence: Daoist steadiness, Confucian ethics, Mohist resistance, Legalist reform and the strategic knowledge of The Artwork of Warfare. It’s a really Chinese language story, igniting subsequent 12 months’s Oscar buzz and sparking a worldwide awakening to Japanese tradition.
Simply as Ne Zha is reborn in flames, so too does Chinese language animation rise, not by breaking from its previous, however by forging a daring future.
Ne Zha and Ao Bing look to the longer term.
Chengdu Coco Cartoon
