The Legend of Hei (罗小黑战记大电影, Luo Xiao Hei Zhan Ji) is a 2019 original theatrical Chinese anime film directed and written by Ping Zhang (also known as MTJJ), and produced by studio HMCH and distributed by Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd. The film is also a prequel to the 2011 web series The Legend of Luo Xiaohei (罗小黑战记), also created by Ping Zhang. Staff credits for the film include writers Peng Kexin and Fengxi Shenli, and music director Sun Yujing. The film theatrically released first in Mainland China in September 2019.
Background:
“When cat spirit Luo Xiaohei’s home is deforested by humans, he must find a new one. He runs into a group of other spirit creatures who take him under their wing with dreams of reconquering the land they say is rightfully theirs. However, they run into a human known as Wuxian who separates Luo Xiaohei from the other spirits and the two go on a journey, with the cat spirit learning to control his abilities as well as forming his own thoughts on whether or not he should ally with the spirits or the humans.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, September 2024.
While Japan was the one that broke through the international scene their over the top films and mini series via indie distributors like Manga Entertainment in the UK or works that were able to reach an even wider audience through bigger companies like Disney for Studio Ghibli, other countries have produced their own form of animation whether its traditional 2D, utilising CG like modern Disney works have done or other experimental designs.
The first time I discovered animated works outside of Japan was Yeon Sang-ho’s Korean anime films The King of Pigs and The Fake which he produced before he became more widely known for Train to Busan and Hellbound. As for China, the first time I discovered they worked on their own anime was The King’s Avatar, though it was pretty difficult to watch any of their works legally unless you manage to find your way through YouTube or have access to their own platforms like Bilibili. In recent years, Chinese anime have started to reach international attention with the support of Crunchyroll and Netflix as well as Japanese distributors like Aniplex bringing them over to Japan with their own dubs, which is great as there’s a lot of works, both in 2D and CG styles, that have yet to be discovered.
The first Chinese produced anime to be part of my collection is from Discotek Media’s release of To Be Hero and To Be Heroine, but The Legend of Hei is the first Chinese anime film in my possession. Even though it’s a prequel to a widely known series in China, for many of us we would just think that this film is all there is and that’s it. It does look like it can be watched standalone, which is probably the case given it screened at various film festivals including Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Japan Media Arts Festival.
North American distributor Shout! Factory picked up the US & Canadian rights for The Legend of Hei back in 2021 with an English dub and a home video release on Blu-ray. Anime Limited a few years later then picked up the UK & Ireland rights and released it in short notice.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Anime Limited produce collector’s editions for many of their films and I think The Legend of Hei works well with this model, especially given how niche it would be for many English speakers.
This release is presented with a rigid box containing a Scanavo case housing the Blu-ray disc, in addition to a 20-page booklet and 3 art cards. The booklet contains an essay written by Dr Jonathan Clements.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £39.99. A standard edition Blu-ray was also made available around the same timeframe.
The film was made available as an early bird during the month of September, and was on offer for £24.99 with the Anime Unlimited membership lowering the cost down to £22.49. My copy initially arrived damaged but thanks to Anime Limited’s customer support I was able to receive a replacement (with the original copy shipped back to them).
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Scanavo packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 20-page Booklet
- 3 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 23rd September 2024
The collector’s edition release for The Legend of Hei contains the film on a single Blu-ray disc, with the encode & authoring done by Shout! Factory via their May 2021 release.
The audio options available are Mandarin with English subtitles and the Shout! Factory English dub with optional English subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Mandarin |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 2.39:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English HOH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
No extras on this disc.
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
The Legend of Hei is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The collector’s edition Blu-ray release can be bought through AllTheAnime Store.
The standard edition is available to purchase across different retailers including Amazon UK, AllTheAnime Store, and Anime-on-Line.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
Leave a comment