#it’s probably so it’s visible in those wide shots chentang pass but still

[darkflierazura]

It occurred to me that 2019 Ao Bing has an incredibly similar outfit color wise to 1979 Nezha

Some non-academic thoughts below

Boy howdy those first 11 chapters that detail King Zhou’s corruption r not at all relevant today, yep. But we don’t care about that. We care about chapters 12-14

It’s been floating around with some other posts but I’d figure I’d share my own thoughts on the changes between the 封神演义 and 哪吒闹海

It’s been floating around with some other posts but I’d figure I’d share my own thoughts on the changes between the 封神演义 and 哪吒闹海

Ah right. The version I’m reading a complete translation by Gu Zhizhong, with an Introduction by a Professor Shi Changyu.

So Nezha 1979 mostly takes its story from Chapter 12, with bit from chapters 13 and 14. (Namely Nezha’s fight with the Ao Guang and his death (13) and the method of his rebirth (14))The biggest change between these two works is the recasting of Ao Guang and his family as tyrannical villains who demand human sacrifice and bring disasters seemingly for fun. In addition to that, Nezha is recast more heroic (from my perception anyways). In the novel, Nezha is a wrathful and vengeful brat (I read someone else comparing Heracles to Nezha and it’s not a bad one), unfortunately he’s also supernaturally strong and armed with magic weapons. Ao bing is described as having a lance, and his father says that Ao Bing was appointed as a god of rain by the Jade Emperor. Nezha doesn’t attempt to kill his dad, or rather, he doesn’t get the chance to attempt patricide.

The conflict begins because Nezha’s huntianling is so powerful, that when he dipped it in water, it caused earthquake level disruption to the dragon palace of the east sea. The yaksha who’s sent to investigate gets mad at Nezha for calling him a beast and attacks first. Ao bing attacks after Nezha admits he killed the yaksha.

The 1979 film obviously makes Nezha more heroic, his conflict with the dragons changed to being about defending Chentang pass, though the two parties are brought into direct confrontation for the same reason. While he’s capable of great violence, throughout the film I think he’s generally portrayed innocently and more reactive to threats than proactively causing problems. Also it helps that the lady Shiji conflict is completely ignored too (which makes sense when writing a stand alone narrative)

Side note: in the 2003 legend of Nezha Cartoon, which also seems to more or less be an adaptation of the full novel, Lady Shiji is adapted into a greater Villain who’s present throughout the entire show (at least, I think that’s what was going on??? I didn’t watch the show, just a few episodes without subtitles cause I wanted a better look at xiao longnu) working with Shen Gongbao and also maybe the fox spirit. In the novel, as far as I know, she’s introduced in chapter 13 and dies in it.

A second side note, I really love how Heaven is depicted in the 1979 film. That wide shot of Nüwa and Fuxi (I think) supporting respectively the Moon with the jade rabbit and the sun with the sanwuzu, on either side of the heavenly palaces. Ye

Right so. Why the changes. Idk. Probably the political landscape at the time.

Other things to spout about

There’s a ton of little visual nods to 1979 Nezha in the 2019 movie. The man servant has a markedly similar design. A scene I personally haven’t seen mentioned is the gifting of the Fire tiped spear. 1979 Nezha does a routine with the spear upon receiving it, the 2019 movie has the huntianling perform a shortened version of the same routine with the spear during the birthday party.

Here’s a dumb question, in the 2019 movie why is Ao Guang white? the east (directional) is traditionally associated with the color qing, while the west is associated with white. Is it to make him match with Ao bing? Did all the dragon kings get their colors shuffled around?

I thought about doing a more thorough summary and consideration of the adaptational changes, but eh.

Edit: after a bit more thinking. at least initially, Nezha doesnt quite resort to violence til after he’d been attacked. First by Li Gen, then Ao Bing. However, during his conflict with Lady Shiji, Nezha opts instead to attack her disciple, the one who’s going to speak with him, immediately instead of trying to have dialogue with Lady Shiji about the accident. (He accidentally kills one of Shiji’s disciples). I wonder if this decision was reached by experiencing the prior assaults + the fact that when Nezha admits his crime to Ao Guang, the dragon King opts to get further bureaucracy involved to punish Nezha’s parents.