The Umbrella Fairy

For a while now, China has been the rising star of animation. Every year they have at least one film raising the bar for the entire industry. For 2024, that honor seems to go to Jie Shen's The Umbrella Fairy [San Shao Nü]. A film that copies directly from Japanese anime, but manages to best it in terms of animation quality and offers a core Chinese experience by moving the setting to one of their classic fantasy/folklore stories. Some affinity with Chinese fantasy is a plus, but if you appreciate beautiful animation, there is no way this feature will disappoint.

Chinese animation is still in search of its identity. So far, it has been borrowing from Western and Japanese animation styles, in varying quantities, while relying on the stories and settings to give it a more definite Chinese feel. The Umbrella Fairy is a very close relative to Japanese animation, with a strong preference for the 2D anime look. But because of the distinctly Chinese elements, you won't be mistaking this for a Japanese film. Over time it would be interesting to see them develop more of a personal style, but if the quality of the animation is this exceptional, it's not something I'm going to complain about.

The film is reminiscent of the fantasy epics churned out by streaming studios like iQiyi (or if you want to stick to animation, the first White Snake film). It's an adaptation of a recent illustrated novel that harks back to classic Chinese fantasy and folklore. The story's core references the traditional concept of balance between good and evil (yin and yang), the separation of the human and spirit worlds, and the idea that objects have souls. If you've seen a few Chinese fantasy epics this will all sound very familiar, if you haven't it may be a bit much to take in all at once. The film does a decent job explaining everything, but there's only a limited runtime so the Western mind will need to make an effort to keep up.

Two fairies return to the hall of relics. Their relics were forged from the same jade stone, but one (a royal umbrella) was used for good, whereas the other (a dark sword) was used for evil. They need to keep each other in check to protect the peace in the human world. Not long after she arrives at the hall, the sword fairy escapes, as she still has unfinished business. The umbrella fairy teams up with the hall's handyman and together they go on an adventure to find the sword fairy before she wreaks havoc upon the world. The only thing that can lead them to her is the jade stone.

Looking at the stills should tell you there's a higher level of fidelity than you'd usually see in a feature-length anime. It reminded me of the quality found in the flagship Studio 4°C anthologies, but those shorts rarely go beyond the 10-minute mark. Seeing it in motion is even more spectacular, seeing it stretch beyond the one-hour mark is positively mind-boggling. The character designs are amazing, the animation is rich and fluent, the colors are divine and the loving details infused into the cultural elements (like the dance, or the reparation of the hairpin) betray a deep respect for traditional craftsmanship. Even if the story and/or the characters won't grab you, the visuals are sure to keep your eyes glued to the screen.

The soundtrack will probably be a bit more divisive. I felt it was a clear step up for Chinese cinema, but there's no denying it is a bit much. The music rarely lets up and while it is a beautiful score that works in the film's favor, a bit more nuance and restraint would've helped to make it even more impactful. As for the voice work, the original Mandarin dub is spot on. The film exudes Chinese culture and the soft-voiced Mandarin dub is as much part of that as the plot beats, the setting, and other, more visual elements. I'm not sure if they've already provided an English dub, but (as always) I would advise against it. Just with a little extra vigor and conviction, as it would ruin part of the experience.

I've heard people comment that there's too much exposition and there's a lot to take in for such a short film. I disagree, but that's probably because I'm used to watching these kinds of Chinese fables. This isn't the most derivative one (by far), but there are many familiar elements that are easy to piece together when it isn't your first rodeo. It's a pretty coherent whole too, that leads to an expected conclusion, just make sure you're up to date on the Chinese fantasy lexicon. And if not, isn't the discovery of foreign cultures part of the appeal of watching international cinema?

For a while now, I've had my eyes on China to get my animation fix, and so far they haven't disappointed me (much) yet. The Umbrella Fairy is the latest in a line of technically impressive, visually vibrant, and culturally rich films that are working hard to put their own industry on the map. The latter is still a challenge, but that's no doubt to do with the West's lack of interest in anything that doesn't deal with China's governmental and/or industrialization issues. People who love the medium would do well to try and watch The Umbrella Fairy, it's an astounding experience.