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Published: 2008-10-21 06:32:43 +0000 UTC; Views: 2802; Favourites: 10; Downloads: 128
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Now I feel that I'm ready. It's high time I show what I've been doing since the Beijing Olympics, and quite possibly introduce to you a well known character from an unknown place. Well, unknown unless deviantART can get past the Great Firewall without much b*tching from the Communist Party of China:Here's something that would come from left field to some people, but right up my alley. You all know I'm looking out for shows that would show what Disney would look like if it was made like Adult Swim. We're talking the kind of show people would watch when they've outgrown Power Rangers and Jetix. I've found one in, of all places, China. If you liked Kung Fu Panda and knows the Chinese Language, then you'll love this series called "Hong Mao and Lan Tu," or translated "Red Cat and Blue Rabbit," from Hunan Greatdreams [link] . An animation company that can give Disney a run for its money [link] .
It's an odd hybrid, a friend of mine said when describing it, where cutesy looking animals star in a wuxia (Think "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") plot, and while looking silly at first it's quite addictive. There are two of them, firstly, "Red Cat and Blue Rabbit's Seven Knights" where the titular characters fight the evil Tiger Blackheart, and "Red Cat's Adventures", where the Seven swords-animals find themselves up against the Rat Empire.
"Red Cat's Adventures" is a lot better done, more suspenseful, while "Red Cat and Blue Rabbit's Seven Knights" contains too much action for its own good at times and not enough suspense.
But still, worth a look, if you can understand the language.
Red Cat and Blue Rabbit's Seven Knights
[link]
Red Cat's Adventures
[link]
"The neatest thing is that the cutesy style underlies the fact that it's more violent than similar Western cartoons might be...characters die FOR REAL, the heroes can resort to some quite violent means to achieve their ends, and the villains aren't exaggeratedly silly as to be non-threatening upon close examination, they are quite dangerous. The Chinese child is exposed to quite a bit of harsh realities compared to the American child when one looks at it this way." And you don't have to hear it from that friend of mine, Check this link out that describes it.
In other words, when you see the series with the links below, you'll think of two things, in order. One: "[Insert your favorite cuss here] Kids in China watch THIS after school?!
And to answer your question, yes. Yes, I do love this cartoon five ways from Sunday. In fact, I can now announce my so-called Secret Project known as "Red Cat International" A project that I told Hunan GreatDreams about where I take China's (and Hong Mao's) Seven Swords legend and make it global, having the swords go all over the world and find Knights from many other countries. (Of course, I had Johnny Briz be the American Knight. Go slice your wrists, you Ediots, go on. Hah! I knew you'd do it wrong.) If I didn't catch wind that the idea wouldn't be interested by the company, I wouldn't even consider going any further on it.
You can see it at this address: [link]
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Comments: 16
Mattpoppybros [2011-12-10 08:55:45 +0000 UTC]
Amazing picture! The only thing I really think could improve it would be to improve the contrast. The black isn't black enough, in my opinion.
When I draw, I use a combination of ink, dark matter, black holes, and #000000.
Also, is that a hose?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
davidfoxfire In reply to Mattpoppybros [2011-12-10 16:47:05 +0000 UTC]
I've changed my tracing routine since then. I now use the AutoTrace program in Draw Plus to make the black lines, which I am very happy over. The lines--if you can call it that--here are just scanned in and used without any other processing, and even I can tell the difference.
And that's his tail. Hunan Greatdreams (The company behind Hongmao) tends to just let the tail drop.
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alexwarlorn [2008-10-22 05:26:43 +0000 UTC]
Also, America and China are opposites of each others in this way at least.
In America you can have your character sneeze like Mickey and get sued.
In china you can have clones of a copy righted character going about and tra la la.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
davidfoxfire In reply to alexwarlorn [2008-10-22 05:37:33 +0000 UTC]
Why do I get the feeling that I'm in the wrong fsking country? Or the country I'm in are collectively doing business with the wrong fsking end of their bodies?
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alexwarlorn [2008-10-22 05:23:30 +0000 UTC]
Adult Swim when it was a collection of cool and interesting and unique animes? Or the degenerate collection of blue, toilet, and rude humor entertainment that it has become?
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davidfoxfire In reply to alexwarlorn [2008-10-22 05:36:22 +0000 UTC]
The Old School Adult Swim. I see the Adult Swim of today and I don't even recognize the excrement as something that came from a human's ass.
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Roxy946 [2008-10-22 02:58:26 +0000 UTC]
Interesting, I must admit. For one, I thought FireFox was going to have a seizure after I saw all the Chinese characters it was trying to show but couldn't. For two, you're spot on about all your observations about it, and for three...it's like Kingdom Hearts after an animal makeover and bumped up to a Teen rating.
Cool pose in the pic by the way. You ever try a Kingdom Hearts character? That pose is like KH standard. Very neat.
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WriterNobody [2008-10-22 00:01:35 +0000 UTC]
Hmm.....not sure waht to think, really. Good pic though.
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Dragonrider1227 [2008-10-21 15:58:11 +0000 UTC]
hmm, I can't speak Chinese, but I may still have to take a look at this. Good drawing
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davidfoxfire In reply to Dragonrider1227 [2008-10-21 19:08:15 +0000 UTC]
That's why I want to see this series Fansubbed, and would like to help out if I can.
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ardashir In reply to Sparky-J [2008-10-21 23:54:14 +0000 UTC]
Look at it this way. They get good cartoons, we get to eat more than once a week and not worry about the secret police kicking in our door at three in the morning because the party wants to harvest our organs. It's not an entirely unfair trade. :humor:
More seriously, thanks for posting those links. I'll have to share them with some friends of mine.
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davidfoxfire In reply to Sparky-J [2008-10-21 07:13:13 +0000 UTC]
Tell me about it. Look at the utter gutter crap we're seeing being put out on American cartoon networks.
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davidfoxfire [2008-10-21 06:35:15 +0000 UTC]
Ivan Mayne has added this bit to my report on Hong Mao and Lan Tu:
You know what I love about this series so much after having seen both seasons of it?
Character.
It's got a level of character I have not seen in most American cartoons of late. There's gorgeous fight setpieces, lovely background art, some pretty good music, but the characters, oh man, the characters are where it stands out.
Honor. Courage. Heroism. Kindness. Sacrifice. This series has it all. The main characters are complex, understandable, with clear motivations and quirks and eccentricities. They're team players, friends, and look out for each other to the end. They grow, change, develop, and really shine as they surmount the obstacles that are thrown their way. They have formidable martial arts abilities, but they're approachable, down to earth in a manner that I rarely see in superheroes these days. They don't indulge in hip-cool patter like the Ninja Turtles or the Loonatics. When there's humor in the series, it's a result of character interaction, rarely as forced or contrived as it is in American cartoons.
So the story strains credibility at times, but hey this is a cartoon after all.
And as far as that's concerned, it is one that grows on you and stays with you,and offers you more than a few laughs and a good time, and truly brings it across without any heavy-handedness, that character counts. That's more than can be said for most American cartoons these days.
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