#Rouran

[choujinx]

KUSURIYA NO HITORIGOTO (2017-?) by nekokurage

[znsluc]

https://x.com/ryosuketarou?s=21&t=55HyzerWcN_RxNpgV2Jocw

[cavity-core]

Here’s a cropped version of my Rouran with his hair down dakimakura style art wip

Keeping your screen clean of peen 👍🏻

[iwant-fuitgummi]

why did it take me five years to learn that the pearl galley is a BROTHEL ?

[zodyandleo]

Rouran’s horse body is based on Przewalski’s horse, a stocky, true wild horse native to central Asia. As such, I gave him the name of a Mongolian nomadic tribe (I had many other Mongolian names on the list, but Rouran visually matched him best). His hair was a traditional Mongolian warrior style I’d found in my research (but can’t seem to find again). Rouran himself doesn’t really have much of a character yet. He was the final one I designed, and I haven’t quite finished constructing his character.

Boost post

[ancientoriginses]

La silla de montar con estructura de madera más antigua descubierta en Mongolia, que data del siglo V d. C., ayuda a redefinir nuestra comprensión de cómo se desarrolló en el este de Asia la tecnología de montar a caballo que dio forma a la guerra medieval.

[queenangst]

need more people to read apothecary diaries because we're currently operating on levels of insane secrets and subterfuge and culmination of arcs and it's fucking crazy

[yurisorcerer]

Honestly, the story of how I ended up watching this is almost more interesting than the show itself (although the show itself seems pretty good, too). I got randomly recommended this Youtube video earlier today-

-and what this is---and I didn't know what to make of it at first since I don't speak Japanese, but Google Translate helped on this front---is a compilation of commercials for anime that used to air on Japanese TV network KidsStation, specifically their late-night selection which was more aimed at teens and such. Most of the shows here are pretty obscure by anglosphere standards, but at about the 3 minute mark I and the friends I was hanging out with at the time saw the preview for Rouran, and we went through some lengths to identify the show, only to find that it's *extremely* obscure in the Anglosphere (and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was so domestically as well) and that most evidence of its existence boils down to a few stray listings in anime databases, a single Nyaa torrent with 3 seeders, and an upload on Aniwave which is just an extremely low-quality scrape of the video from that torrent.

After finding *all this* out, we watched the first episode, and the show seems very ambitious and also very of its time. Mecha meets magic, yin-yang symbols plastered over everything, a mysterious girl who's lost her memories and a hot blooded robot protagonist. Obviously, I have no idea where any of this is *going* yet, since we're only 1 episode in and the show is half-length episodes at that, but it's really neat and I'm glad circumstance lined up just so to bring this to my attention.

[hotpotmode]

I miss her,, I haven't played Kuro yet but I miss her,,

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3/5

Book Blurb: Why is the dragon the only fantasy creature in the Chinese zodiac? Maybe it's because dragons aren't a fantasy after all...

Moli has never seen a dragon, but she'd imagined one many times. Following the death of her father, a museum curator and historian, her need to escape from the real world has never felt so acute.

Travelling from China to London to attend the funeral, Moli takes the opportunity to visit her father's last exhibition, "The Lost Dynasty of Rouran". The trip reveals Moli's connection to an ancient khanate and, unexpectedly, opens the door to another realm. This is just the beginning of an adventure that takes her travelling through time to a world of shamans, rituals, conqueror worms, dragon chariots and even a confrontation with the world's greatest foes.

To save humanity, Moli and an unlikely quartet of heroes are sent back in history, but can they outrun a fate worse than death? And where does reality end and magic begin? Enter a world where everything is possible...

Review:

A young girl who loves dragons finds her life turned upside down after her father's death as she ventures into another realm while looking into her museum curator/historian father's research. The story centers around the modern-day events of COVID-19 and focuses on a young girl named Moli who is traveling from China to London to attend her father's funeral and see his last exhibition. She finds herself pulled into another realm, one that is filled with mythical creatures and she gets to experience first-hand the ongoing war and the lives of the Rouran's, which her father was looking into. Her involvement in the past time has a ripple effect when she returns to her own time. The story is a fantasy one but poses a lot of philosophical thoughts. It's an interesting read and definitely leaves room for a second book. My only big thing about this was that the writing style was all over the place and it was hard to get into the story when I felt like I was constantly being pulled out of it. I did enjoy that this book was trying to tackle a lot of things but it felt like I was being pulled back and forth between the fantasy realm with Moli and the modern pandemic times. The story just felt a bit all over the place but I can appreciate what it was trying to do.

*Thanks Netgalley and UK Book Publishing for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[the-lost-profile]

It gets even worse later on in the LN and WN, Western Capital a great example of this. Plus all the p*do emperor's shit.(Let's also ignore that it was implied that Anshi never let the previous emperor see Jinshi, because bby Jinshi looked like a little girl).

The apothecary diaries: is a pretty light hearted show about an apothecary who loves poisons

Also the apothecary diaries: will drop the most fucked up thing in the middle of an episode casually.

[erwinrer]

Vanishing Mongolia! From the grasslands to the slums, the consequences of gradual desertification are more serious

Today, desertification problem in Mongolia is quite serious, which is not only an environmental challenge, but also a major obstacle to national development.

Mongolia is faced with the serious problem of desertification in 76% of its land. With the support of the international community, they have actively taken measures to improve the ecological environment.

Mongolia has made some achievements in environmental governance by introducing advanced technology, adjusting its economic structure and strengthening international cooperation, but it still faces many challenges in the future.

Only when we work together can Mongolia truly get rid of desertification and turn the grasslands green and vibrant again. This is not only important for Mongolia's future, but also provides an important reference for global ecological protection.

Mongolia has a long history and was once ruled by the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, Turkic, Khitan and other nomadic peoples. The famous Genghis Khan was born here.

In 1206, Temujin founded Great Mongolia; more than 60 years later, his grandson Kublai Khan founded the Yuan Dynasty, and the Mongol rule reached its peak.

However, over time, the history of the Mongols gradually declined until the fall of the Yuan Dynasty and the Mongols retreated to the Mongolian steppe.

Later, they often clashed with the Central Plains regime, and Zhu Di, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, fought with the Mongols many times. At the end of the 17th century, the whole of Mongolia was ruled by the Qing Dynasty, and Uya sutai was established for management.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government was very corrupt and signed many unequal treaties, which led to the declaration of independence of Outer Mongolia at this time. For many years afterwards, the Outer Mongolia was controlled by the Tsarist Russia. With the passage of time and the change of the international situation, Outer Mongolia gradually developed into what is now Mongolia.

Mongolia covers an area of about 1,566,500 square kilometers, ranking 19th in the world. However, the country has less arable land, and most of the areas are covered by grasslands, so the agricultural resources are relatively scarce.

Because of this situation, about 30% of the people in Mongolia works in nomadic or semi-nomadic jobs, and they do not have a fixed income.

Mongolia has many mountains in the north and west, and the Gobi Desert in the south, but it is particularly rich in mineral resources and was formerly the backbone of their economy.

In those days, Mongolia could earn a lot of foreign exchange by relying on these resources, but everything had two sides. Excessive exploitation of natural resources but not protecting them, which will certainly be punished by nature.

Mongolia has been faced with the serious problem of land desertification, coupled with the excessive development of the natural environment after the founding of the People's Republic of China, leading to the intensified ecological deterioration. At present, 76% of the land is being swallowed up by the desert.

Even the former grasslands have been replaced by slums. Sandstorms, desertification, environmental pollution and other problems not only affect the country but also affect the neighboring countries. Why does such a serious situation occur?

The Mongolian nationality is known as the "nation on horseback". Their lives are closely related to cattle and sheep. This way of life has lasted on the vast grassland for thousands of years.

Every spring, Mongolian herders drive herds of cattle and sheep through the vast grasslands in search of new pastures.

Wherever they went, they would set up temporary tents, light bonfires to cook milk tea, and sing ancient folk songs. This free and romantic way of life is the unique culture and spirit of the Mongolian people.

This lifestyle looks good on the surface, but there are hidden dangers. Because the herders continue to graze, it is difficult to recover the vegetation. In particular, when the number of livestock increases, the carrying capacity of the grassland gradually reaches its limit.

Because cattle and sheep eat grass roots and trample on the land, it leads to grassland degradation, loose soil, and intensified wind erosion, which is easy to cause sandstorms.

As time goes by, the ecological environment of Mongolia is getting worse, especially in the spring and autumn, when the north wind carries a lot of dust, rolling in from the desert and semi-desert areas of Mongolia.

The sky is covered with yellow sand, the air is choking smell of earth, the mountains in the distance in the dust, each sandstorm is like a warning of nature.

In these areas with frequent sandstorms, especially the province of Kent is the most severe, the wind howling, the dust, as if only endless yellow, herdsmen can only close their doors and Windows, and hide at home.

Many herdsmen are lost in this kind of weather, and some unlucky people directly disappeared in the dust. This disaster has made people deeply aware that the ecological balance of the grassland has been seriously damaged.

Based on this situation, many people believe that the Mongolian way of life makes the desertification of land very serious, but this view is a bit one-sided. Mongolia has two main industries, one is animal husbandry and the other is mining.

Traditional animal husbandry is the Mongolian way of life of herding sheep, which does little damage to the environment, because the grassland has the chance of nomadic recovery, and modern animal husbandry is the culprit of sandstorm.

Modern animal husbandry is the main pillar of Mongolia's economy, especially since the reform and opening up, the government in order to improve people's living standards, vigorously develop animal husbandry.

It used to be "nomadic", "grazing", the number of cattle and sheep is limited. Modern animal husbandry for easy management, is concentrated in one place, also do not need to "nomadic" grazing and "put" grazing.

Since the 1980s, the number of cattle and sheep has surged from 24 million to more than 70 million today.

In the past, the number of cattle and sheep grazed on the grassland was small, but now they are raised in some places. The number of cattle and sheep is several times higher. As a result, the area of the grassland is decreasing due to overgrazing.

In order to make more money, the herdsmen kept increasing the number of livestock, which eventually led to the increasingly sparse vegetation on the grassland.

Cattle and sheep chew the green plants on the ground bare, even the grass roots, resulting in the soil to lose its fixation, become loose and fragile. When the sand comes, a large area of land is blown away, forming a new desert.

[kilfeur]

Cette page me tue parce que Mao Mao s'est fait punir mais pour elle c'est une récompense. Lolan la connait bien !

This page kills me because Mao Mao was punished but for her, this is a reward. Rouran know her damn well !

[gravity-what]

A couple of maps to go with Gathering the Dragons!

Map 1: hometowns of each of the Xiaolin Dragons plus their current residence in Luoyang. The dragon represents the yellow sea and is holding a scale of 一千里 (1000 li ~300 miles). The white tiger of the west rests to the western side of the image to give a sense of directionality.

Map 2: a close-up map of Luoyang, capital city of Wei, and some important temples around it. Including the White Horse Temple and the Shaolin Temple. The Vermillion Bird flies to the south giving a sense of direction.

A much more detailed description of the labels on each map are under the cut with each location description written as if it is the third year of the Xiaochang era (aka: 527 ce).

(Again, not necessarily to read this for the story. I just figured someone might be interested in my notes)

ཁྱུང་ལུང་དངུལ་མཁར། - khyung lung dngul mkhar or Kyunglung (abr.) - Meaning: “Valley of the Eagle” also referred to as the “Silver Palace of Garuda Valley”. - Dashi's home town.

Kyunglung is the capital city of the Zhangzhung kingdom. It rests atop a large mesa overlooking three surrounding valleys and, on clear days, the sacred mountain of Gang Rinpoche, also known as Kailash, can easily be seen. While the majority of the farmers and poorest of Kyunglung’s population live within the three surrounding valleys, the mesa itself is home to the wealthy. The mesa top is divided into three ter­races: the lowest and largest terrace being the residential district where domestic duties and life occur. The people occupying this terrace being mostly composed of wealthy traders, businessmen, and artisans who travel into the city proper for work. Along with them are their servants, and retainers who maintain the households and everyday duties. The middle terrace is therefore the city proper. The buildings here are mostly comprised of businesses, places of worship, and public areas for gathering. Lastly the upper terrace is reserved for the wealthy elites of the population, those few high-status individuals who had achieved wealth and prestige along with the Zhang Zhung ruling class.

Sources: https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/in-the-valley-of-the-eagle/

ཞང་ཞུང་ - Zhang Zhung

A powerful and wealthy empire located within the Gangdisê, Khunu, Gdang La, and Himalaya mountain ranges, high deserts, and plateau’s of the Bod sa mtho (Tibet Plateau). It is located to the west and northwest of Wei and borders the strategically important trade route: the Hexi Corridor. It is considered and important intermediary for trade between the far western societies of Sogdiana, Persia and Helen, the southern empires of the Gupta, Khanate, and Kamarupaof, and and the eastern empires of the Wei, Qi/Liáng, Tuyuhun, and Xiya.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhangzhung

河西走廊 - Hexi Corridor

Stretching from Jìnchéng in the east to Dunhuang city in the west the Hexi Corridor is a key bridge for trade between the Wei empire and the western regions. It is bracketed on the south by Bod sa mtho’s Mdolaringmo and the Róurán to the north. Because of its strategic importance in trade it is also prone to military incursions into Wei and other surrounding empires. For this reason a large section of the Chángchéng was constructed during the previous Han dynasty along the northern side of the corridor to protect travelers and traders from northern raids.

Source: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202405/31/WS66599489a31082fc043ca4b6.html

晉城 - Jìnchéng - Meaning: Golden City - Guan's home town.

Built during the Han dynasty it has been hailed as the "impenetrable city" of the north. It is a strategic city along the northern ‘Silk Road’ pass, located at the very start of the pass going from east to west. It is slowly starting to become a center for Buddhist study as more people travel through the Hexi Corridor into the city along with being a key trading point for tea and horses. Because of its location it often has trouble with raiders and Rouran armies from the north.

Source: http://lanzhou.china.org.cn/2014-06/30/content_32809186.htm

魏 - Wèi

Imperial dynasty ruled by the Xianbei Tuoba clan. The empire has existed from 386 to the present day and is currently under the rule of Emperor Xiaoming. The main language was Altaic, however, due to efforts by the past and present Wei emperors, the Wei dynasty has slowly started to adopt Han culture and language. Along with these changes Han administrative methods, penal codes, and Taolist and Buddhist religious practices have become common practice and highly encouraged, with the previous Emperor Xuanwu informally making Buddhism the state religion. This adoption of Han beliefs and ideas has only sped up with the recent move of the Capital from Pingcheng to Luoyang in the sixteenth year of the Tàihé era. In addition to this, the Wei Royal family took on the Han name Yuan, abandoning the ‘Touba’ name of their clan. The Royal family has also maintained a policy for many years of arranging the marriages of Han elites to the daughters of Xianbei elites in order to further bring the two cultures together with as many as half of the Xianbei elite women now being married to Han men.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Wei

梁 - Liang

The newly created kingdom to the south of Wei. Established in the second year of the Jǐngmíng era after the assassination of Emperor He and (most) of his family at the hands of Xiao Yan. Many of the elites of the former Qi dynasty fled to Wei for asylum during this time of turmoil and uprising.

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Wu_of_Liang

黄河 - Huanghe - Meaning: Yellow River, Murky River, or simply ‘The River’

The pride and sorrow of the Wei empire (and all empires that came before) is the life-blood of the country. According to records its flow used to be clear and crystalline but, sometime in the last few hundred years, it changed to the muddy yellow color for unknown reasons.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River

洛陽 - Luòyáng - Xiaolin Dragon’s current home

The Capital City of the Wei empire. It is located on the northern side of the Luo River at the confluence area of the Luo River, the Yi River, and the Yellow River. It is home to over 600,000 people and six Buddhist temples, including the Yǒngníng and Yaoguang Temples within the main-city walls, the White Horse, Jingming, and Qin Tainshung temples all just outside of the city proper. Further, but still within a day or two travel of the city, the – still under construction– Lóngmén grottos, and the newly built Shaolin Temple found at the foot of Wuru Peak of the Song mountains.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luoyang

Detailed Map of Luòyáng:

伊 (Yi), 洛 (Luo), 伊洛 (YiLuo) - the convergence of the Yi and Luo rivers to the east of Luoyang creates the YiLuo river which will merge with the Yellow River 59 li to the east.

白馬寺 (Báimǎ sì) - The White Horse Temple - The first Buddhist temple in China, built in the eleventh year of the Yongping era. The temple is named after the two white horses who carried the founding Buddhist monk’s from Gupta to Wei. (Additional Fun note: in 628 ce The Monk Xuanzang, also known as Tang Sanzang began the famous Journey to the West from this temple!) (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Horse_Temple)

龍門石窟 (Lóngmén Shíkū) - Dragon's Gate Grottoes - Carving of these statues began in the sixteenth year of the Tàihé era commissioned. The first cave, named Guyangdong, was excavated and carved by Emperor Xiaowen after moving the Wei capital. The second, third, and fourth caves were done by his successor, Emperor Xuanwu, in the memory of his parents, Emperor Xiaowen and Consort Li, and were named the Binyangsandong. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longmen_Grottoes)

少林寺 (shàolínsì) - Shaolin Temple - Located at the base of Wuru peak in Mount Song, this temple was recently founded in the twentieth year of the Taihe era by the monk Batuo who come to Wei through the silk road passage in the seventh year of the Taihe era. Thanks to the sponsorship of Emperor Xiaowen the Shaolin Temple has thrived in its secluded mountain location as a center of study and translation of Buddhist scripture. Recently the renowned monk Bodhidharma, the 28th patriarch of Mahayana Buddhism, has arrived for continued study and teaching at the temple. With him he has also brought with him a unique martial arts style which he has been training the local monks in as exercise.

柔然 - Rouran

The Khaganate state to the north, ruled by a confederation of kaghan with the central ruler being Chiliantouqiudoufa Khagan. They continue to push at the northern borders of the Wei empire with the Hexi Corridor being one of the most contested pieces of territory. However, while battles are being fought in the western territories, some of the Rouran in the central and eastern territories seem to be under the employ of the Wei dynasty. The Rouran are known for being skilled horsemen and for using sorceresses in battle.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rouran_Khaganate

前张村 - Qianzhang Village - Chase’s home village

A small village on the outskirts of the Tongcheng (铜城镇, Copper Town). It is located on the northern bank of the Huanghe and mostly consists of a small shopping and trading district surrounded by farmland. It is home to a singular Buddhist temple, The Xiangshan Temple (香山寺).

Source: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hans/%E9%93%9C%E5%9F%8E%E8%A1%97%E9%81%93

[timetravellingkitty]

Mulan 2020 sucks lol

Written and edited by yours truly

So, Mulan 2020 happened. And I am disappointed. Seriously disappointed. It is utter garbage. I would genuinely prefer it if I watched Mulan II 5 times in a row, and that's saying something.

There is so much to talk about because this has so many issues. I don't think my brain can handle a movie as bad as this for some time. It is a disgrace to the original animated movie.

(Who cares about spoilers?)

And yes, I can and I will compare it to the original movie because it is a remake. It is totally valid to see where this fell flat and where the original succeeded. I'm not saying it has to be like the original cartoon, that is stupid. As I mentioned, it's to highlight the failures of this movie.

Besides, even if we forget the fact that it is a remake, this movie is still horrible.

INTRODUCTION

Mulan 1998 is a classic. It has great visuals, an awesome soundtrack, wonderful and compelling characters, a great message and a cool plot. It's just a great movie in general. It is an adaptation of The Ballad of Mulan, a Chinese legend. Both the legend and the animated movie are about a young girl named Mulan who disguises herself as a man to take her father's place in the army to fight back against an invasion.

As big of a success Mulan was, Chinese audiences thought some things were weird. For instance, having a dragon be a comic relief character, given that dragons are highly respected in Chinese culture. So of course, Disney decided to try another shot, claiming that they wanted to be more culturally sensitive, accurate and closer to the original ballad.

Mulan 2020 is a remake of the original animated movie, and was marketed to be more "accurate to Chinese culture and the Ballad". This claim is, of course, false, because they failed in that aspect. Say what you will about the cultural inaccuracies in Mulan 1998, but at least it was a great movie. Besides, Mulan 1998 didn't pride or market itself on being culturally accurate, the way Mulan 2020 did, so there's that.

CHANGES

I don't mind some changes. And honestly, if there's one thing I appreciate, it's that it isn't a carbon copy of the original (looking at you The Lion King 2019).

Li Shang's character is divided into two characters: Commander Tung and Mulan's love interest Honghui, apparently in light of the Me-Too movement. This is a dumb reason. Disney wasn't comfortable with a superior having a relationship with a subordinate? The hell? The romance between Shang and Mulan was only insinuated at the end, when Mulan wasn't even a part of the army anymore, so there's that. Also, Mulan gave her consent, so I don't know what they’re talking about.

Mushu isn't present in the movie. I can see why though. He contributed quite a bit to the soul of the animated version but a CGI dragon would be very distracting. Also, the director said that removed him to achieve a more realistic tone.

Grandma? No grandma. Mulan has a sister though, who only exists to mess stuff up.

The Huns are replaced with the Rourans and Shan Yu is replaced with Bori Khan.

Mushu is replaced with a phoenix, who acts as an emissary for the ancestors

There are no songs, except in the end credits, which isn't a bad thing. The instrumentals of the songs in the animated one play during some scenes (I'll talk about the music, don’t worry)

CHARACTERS

The characters in this movie are so boring. Our lead character Mulan lacks the charisma her animated counterpart had. She's utterly bland, uninteresting and poorly written. In the original, she knew she wasn't physically strong and that she couldn't solve her problems with her strength, so she used her intelligence and wit. She excelled by working hard and being strong willed and determined. This Mulan is a well rounded character.

Mulan in the live action is given Chi powers (Chi is a big part of Chinese medicine, in case you didn't know). Honestly, I wouldn't be as mad at Mulan being given superpowers, had they actually done this properly! Chi isn't like midichlorians, it's something that flows through everyone. Mulan is naturally born with dumb superpowers and has to hide them because as her dad says, " Chi is for warriors, not for daughters”. There is a problem:

It has been mentioned many times that Mulan needs to hide her superpowers otherwise she will be shunned and ostracised. Then why doesn't she get more repercussions everytime she uses her powers? The worst thing that happens is little Mulan getting looks of disgust when she uses them. On other occasions, when she is now a part of the army, she uses her powers in training and she doesn't get any backlash? What the hell?? Then why even bother in the first place?

The only way for this narrative to work is if Mulan got more repercussions for using her powers.

If I were to make the line "Chi is for warriors, not daughters," work, I would make it go something like this:

*At the end of the movie when Mulan comes home*

Dad: Didn't I tell you that Chi is for warriors, not daughters?

Mulan: "I am a daughter, but I'm a warrior too."

(Yes, I know this is similar to a scene in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but this would be better, tbh. Also, watch Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Let me compare the training montages from both movies.

In the animated one, there is an absolutely AWESOME montage of Mulan training side by side with her companions, slowly gaining their trust. She climbs the pillar with both medallions by using her wit, not by brute force. This Mulan worked hard. Besides, the fact that "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" plays over this is the only thing that makes it better (banger song, thank you Donny Osmond)

In the live-action, Mulan is supposed to lift up buckets and climb on top of a mountain. There are also other training scenes, but those aren't very important. In these scenes, she succeeds with the power of CHI. WHY? Mulan here just achieves her goal because she is oh so special. She didn't work to achieve her goal at all, because she is perfect. No struggling or development here at all.

Mulan in the animated version was more concerned about saving her father. Mulan in the 2020 version is a dumb patriot who can't even do patriotism right ("I know my place. It is my duty to fight for the kingdom and protect the Emperor") How very empowering.

In short, live-action Mulan can do no wrong. She has no flaws, no personality and no charm. Everything comes to her pretty easily, because MAGIC.

Li Shang's role in the live-action is divided between Commander Tung and Mulan's love interest Honghui, as mentioned before. Both of these characters are flat, dumb and boring. Tung exists to tell Mulan to cultivate her Chi and to train these idiots (and to offer his daughter’s hand in marriage to her, unaware that Mulan isn’t actually a guy, but eh). Honghui is there to be a stupid love interest, who gives us an “I am Spartacus” moment.

The witch is by far the most interesting character. She actually has more than one side to her, has SOME kind of depth and you can even feel sorry for her. She is supposed to serve as a foil to Mulan, given that both have similar powers. In case you've forgotten (which is something I wouldn't blame you for), she's an outcast who's now working with Bori Khan. Why is she an outcast? Because of her Chi. The witch has said many times that she could kill Bori Khan in a snap, then why doesn't she kill him? Because she needs acceptance? What the hell? She decides to pull out the whole "We're the same, you and I," stupidity to Mulan, and I can see that. It's just that the writers just didn't put much thought into it. “It’s too late for me” because you saw a woman leading an army of men? Also, why does she warn Mulan that Bori Khan is coming? Unless she's playing both sides, except her motivations aren't made clear enough for this to make sense. Finally, she dies for the dumbest reason. God, it just makes me so mad. She had so much potential, but no. They just had to mess her up.

Bori Khan? MORE LIKE BORING KHAN. Not much is there. His animated counterpart Shan Yu was scary and contributed to some of the darkest moments in the movie. This guy over here is just...nothing. That's all I have to say.

Mulan's sister is only there to mess up the meeting with the Matchmaker. What a stupid change. First off in the animated version, it's Mulan who messed up, because she isn't perfect. She fails at being stereotypically feminine AND masculine, but in the live-action, she literally pulls off a Spiderman cafeteria scene, and the blame is put on the sister. In the animated movie, this scene is groundwork for Mulan wanting to prove herself and going on a hero's journey, providing depth to her character, but in the live-action, she's perfect. What is the point? (I know this section was supposed to be about the sister, but eh). The sister doesn't provide anything else to the movie, so thanks! I hate it. Moral of the story: Girls can do anything boys can, as long as they have superpowers. If you are born special like Mulan, you can be respected, whereas if you are like the sister, you have no significance and in the end, you can just fit in and be irrelevant. Congratulations!

The live action group of guys Mulan met and befriended in the army lack the charm and comedic timing of their animated counterparts. That’s it. Seriously. I have nothing more to say about them, because they don't really have anything going on. I don't even know why they are included, because their contribution is nil, save for them blandly speaking lines from the animated version’s songs ("I don't care what she looks like, I care what she cooks like"), which is seriously cringe.

The dad is there to tell Mulan that Chi is for warriors. A shame, because I really liked the dad in the movie. He was a source of wisdom for Mulan, whose greatest honour was having her for a daughter. In the live-action, he just takes the sword that Mulan is given at the end of the movie. The mom is meh.

The emperor is also meh. At least he was wise and cool in the animated version, but here he just does bed sheet kung-fu.

Did I mention that the dynamics between the characters are unnatural, forced, awkward in a bad way and in no way indicates any chemistry between them? Oh yeah, I didn’t, until now. They don’t establish much when it comes to emotion.

Simply put, Khan (Mulan’s horse in the animated version) had more personality than all of these characters combined

PERFORMANCES

Liu Yifei as Mulan was a pretty terrible choice. She is just a block of wood, who has absolutely no range, and this isn't because of the writing. She is genuinely bad, and is regarded as one of China’s worst actors (I kid you not). She just can’t emote.

Jet Li as the emperor is meh. But hey, he doesn’t have much to do, so eh.

Jason Scott Lee as Bori Khan is fine. He doesn’t suck, but he lacks the command and authority of a character who is supposed to be intimidating, but I guess it has something to do with the writing of his character.

Donnie Yen is a martial art legend, but unfortunately, he doesn't have much range as an actor.

The best performance of this movie is that of Gong Li, who played the witch. Honestly, she is charismatic, charming and has an idea of what she is doing.

To save everyone’s time, simply put: most of the performances are bland and mediocre. Partly due to bad writing and partly due to most of the actors not being, well, good at acting.

CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL ACCURACY

So Disney went all “we like cultural and historical accuracy”, which is nice. For example, the Huns are replaced by the Rourans, a real tribe in China around the time Mulan was supposed to be alive. They also removed the hair cutting scene, because as iconic and awesome as it is, it doesn’t make sense. Chinese men wore their hair long too. You know what? I like these kinds of changes. I appreciate accuracy. If only Disney didn’t pride themselves on their accuracy when they got almost everything else wrong (They somehow got Mulan's house wrong lol). I don't know jackshit about Chinese culture so just go watch that Xiran Jay Zhao video it's very swag

THE BALLAD OF MULAN

In a surprising turn of events, this isn't accurate to the Ballad, like they had marketed it to be (I know, I’m shocked too). In a reference to the Ballad, Mulan is riding a horse and she sees two rabbits running side by side. She goes home and tells her family that she saw 2 rabbits, and she thinks that one was male and the other female, but she wasn't sure. This just misses the entire point of the Ballad.

Long story short, Mulan in the Ballad is actually a seamstress. She joined the army in her father's place. She defeats the barbarians and goes on a ten year long campaign with her friends, after which they meet the Son of Heaven (a sacred imperial title of a Chinese emperor). He offers her a high ranking position, which she refuses, because she just wants to go home. She returns home and her family welcomes her. Sometime later, her friends come to visit her, and they find out that she is actually a woman. The friends are shocked because she has been in the army for 12 years and in those 12 years, they didn't even realise that she was a woman.

Mulan then replies:

The male hare's feet hop and skip

The female hare's are muddled and fuddled

But when two hares are running side by side

How can you tell the male from the female?

Which is where the poem ends.

So, Mulan just going on, judging those rabbits like that makes absolutely no sense. The Ballad is about how no matter how different men and women look, when they live and fight amongst each other, who gives a damn about the differences? You know what would have made sense though? If Mulan got off her horse, went close to the rabbits, examined them, and then made the conclusion that one is male and the other is female. This would actually be sticking to the message of the Ballad. Also, why do they make it ambiguous as to whether she accepts the high ranking position? I assume for a sequel (yes, God save my soul). Here we can see another example of its impeccable accuracy to the Ballad.

THIS ISN'T EMOTIONAL AT ALL

Everything that made the original film good has been stripped away. Every moment that is meant to be emotional is very dull. For example, the scene where Mulan makes the decision to take her father's place in the army is supposed to be a very powerful scene. Mulan is risking it all just so her dad can be safe. She might be killed if discovered, and her family would be dishonoured.

When Mulan comes back from the Matchmaker, she has a moment of reflection while singing "Reflection". This is the beginning of her personal journey, discovering who she is. In this, after Mulan comes back from the Matchmaker, she doesn't have a moment of reflection. The army immediately shows up. Am I really supposed to believe that Mulan feels bad about this? That Mulan is really struggling?

When Mulan’s friends are singing, it suddenly shifts to the striking scene of the burnt village. This, in my opinion, is the best use of tonal whiplash. From this point on, things are getting serious, and the emotional weight of this tragedy is felt. In this, they just randomly show up at the village.​​ There is no seriousness (stop trying to tell me this movie is adult, mature and serious, it just looks like that on the surface).

Their attempts at being emotional are poor and unconvincing, and ultimately, the end product is an emotionless, soulless, depthless entity.

THE MUSIC

The director mentioned in an interview that she didn’t add songs into the movie because it is “unrealistic to break into song when you're in war”, and I don't think I’ve heard anything more false (apart from the concept of a flat Earth). Even I, who isn't going into war anytime soon, know this is false. They instead inserted instrumentals from the original film. Except, it's very weirdly placed. The instrumental for Reflection is placed when Mulan is fighting the Rourans after she reveals herself to be a woman. Like, there isn't any context. In the end credits, they had the original song "Loyal, Brave and True" sung by Christina Aguilera, which was nice. I don't really have much to say in regards to the music. The music is overall forgettable.

THE ACTION

The action may seem weird, but this kind of martial arts is a part of the Wuxia genre, which is what they were going for. Well, they failed. The choreography is bad, the CGI is bad, EVERYTHING is bad. Honestly, if you want a good Wuxia movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon exists. The action is here stupid and stiff.

OTHER DUMB STUFF

Why does Mulan take her armour off before going into battle? That is just stupid. Can't you just take the bindings off? Also, WHY OPEN YOUR HAIR-

Mulan really likes kicking spears (and pointy stuff in general). Seriously. It’s weird.

The CGI is okay I guess, I don't know. The phoenix in some scenes looks pink to me. There are some pretty visuals though.

It is very obvious that there is a green screen used in the scene where Mulan and her friends find the burnt village. And it looks bad. Pretty ugly. It looks bad. The green screen looks bad.

The war strategy is just weird. I can't really say anything about it in text form because how am i supposed to describe it, help- (she literally teleported behind the bad guys in the avalanche scene-).

I like how the animated film, which had a dragon as a comic relief and other silly stuff, is more mature than this.

For what joy does Mulan get another sword from the army? Also, shame the dad is all “oh look at the values written on the sword, they are honourable” even though in the original the greatest honour was having her for a daughter.

How was Mulan even able to tell the gender of the rabbits?

Why not just try to send a warning to the Emperor that the Rourans are coming to get him?

Why does Commander Tung let Mulan lead them-

I AM SO DONE

Well, I think I have said everything I wanted to about this movie. I know I havent talked about its controversies but honestly, I am done. I am so done with this. This document took 5-6 months of my life. I am kind of proud of this, and there isn't much I have done to be proud of. I did procrastinate on this a bit, and I had stuff going on, but finally, I am done. In the future, if I remember something, I'll add it here, but I think that is unlikely. I never want to watch or even go near Mulan 2020 again. It's horrible, and there is barely anything redeemable. I hate it here. It’s been reported that a sequel is in development. If it’s true, of course I’ll watch it, how else am I supposed to validate my self hate? I am also, of course, the resident “friend who suffers for everyone else’s entertainment”. If you want a live action remake of Mulan, Mulan: Rise of a Warrior exists. Go watch it, it’s free on YouTube with subtitles. I really liked it.

If you’ve somehow made it this far, thanks for reading. I congratulate you for putting up with whatever this is. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate myself for actually committing to this. It was painful yet fun to complain about this to the best of my ability. If anyone wants to add anything to this, feel free to do so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m out. I have lost my faith in humanity, and I have other things to complain about.

[chirpycloudyrobin]

about to do something really fucking funny (make my own interpretation of what happened between qingheng-jun and madam lan that would require me doing extensive research on the sociopolitical history and interactions between the xianbei people, the rouran people, and the han chinese people, and which would also explain why lwj was always noted to have light eyes compared to the other characters whose eye colours were almost never mentioned or pointed out)