Sometimes when browsing what to watch next you will see random shows/movies that you've never heard of that just catch your eye. I do not remember what it was about this movie that initially caught my attention and on a whim, one evening, i decided to give it a watch. MY LORD am I glad I did, in all my time watching television and movies in general, I don't think I've ever been so caught off guard and in awe at how unexpectedly fantastic a piece of media was as much as i was this movie.
The movie opens on the main character drawn in a really simplistic yet adorable style with a cartoony and children's picture book-esque background. DO NOT let this put you off, the art style allows for some unbelievably fluid and fun animation. Plus the themes and character moments a little later on are anything but childish.
Hei himself as a main is adorable with some silky smooth animation, especially in his cat form. His journey throughout will endear you to him so much that if you don't find yourself falling in love with his design and voice acting then his character and development will surely be the thing that gets you. Hei is a mischievous little goofball and watching his arc is a genuine treat. His personality and abilities both evolve quite drastically yet he always remains an innocent little cutie. And if, for whatever reason you don't find yourself rooting for him...Well....let's just say I'm silently judging you.
Story wise, this isn't some mind bending, deep soul searching or heavy balls to the wall action (although the few action scenes are genuinely excellent). TLoH is an tremendous found family story that excels through it's characters be that with their designs, relationships and arcs or also with it's world building, with some fantastic background art and a simplistic yet interesting history to the world.
A well told found family story is kind of my weakness, so when you add to that all these extremely fun character designs, super cool powers and the showcases of said powers being depicted with a beautiful colour palette and slick animation. ALSO accompanied with the emotional heart of the show: The endearing, blossoming and heart warming relationship that builds between our mains, it was almost a guarantee i was going to LOVE this film.
So if any of those aspects are to your liking i can give you a strong subjective recommendation that The Legend of Hei hits those out of the park and has a whole lot more going for it, unfortunately the "whole lot more" strays into spoilers territory so hopefully that's enough to sell you.
LoH is an anomaly to me when it comes to anime, having only 3406 completed watches as of writing this, it is a relative unknown, which is likely because it isn't readily available on streaming services. However.
From it's jaw dropping action scenes to it's surprisingly funny and wholesome Slice of Life moments to it's heart wrenching emotional ones that made me tear up some of those good ol' manly tears.
The Legend of Hei is in my humble opinion one of the most under watched films on this site and it absolutely deserves more views.
It isn't perfect, much like everything it has it's issues and there will likely be things I didn't mind that might put someone else off but I found the movie to be a complete and utter joy to watch and I would be sincerely a little surprised if you didn't come out of it appreciating at least some of those elements i stated above.
Like all my reviews this is majorly opinion inspired I am in no way saying YOU will enjoy it this much, although I truly hope you do, I am just expressing my own thoughts :D
Please give it a chance, i truly think you will be surprised, and i hope you enjoy it as much as I did
