A heads up to cat lovers, you may want to mark your calendars for January 13th when YOUKU Animation premieres the award-winning Chinese donghua Cat God (aka Mao Xing Dongfang or 猫行东方).
The donghua series itself comprises 10 shorts from 10 renowned directors (all under 20-minutes in length), and all with stunningly beautiful, but quite different, art styles.
The shorts are anything from 2D to 3D-animated, to ink-wash paintings and stop-motion animation, with stories all told from a distinctly Chinese perspective.
What is Cat God about?
The 10-episode Chinese anime is produced by YOUKU and Bushes Entertainment and has already won 9 awards, with YOUKU Animation’s YouTube channel explaining what we can expect:
The story unfolds through the eyes of a cat, catching glimpses of fierce battlefields, fleeting moments in history, touching family bonds, and visions of the future.
Meanwhile, the donghua’s official Weibo account describes its concept like this:
The romance of The Grand World, the solitude of Cats Walk in Chang’an, the subtlety of Yuxiu, the fantasy of Ghost Station, and the vastness of Tuk in the West… Different stories, the same exquisite artistry.
Tune in on January 13th at @YoukuAnimation for the exclusive online premiere. Explore a magical world with a few cats.
with another post also adding:
Beneath the graceful and carefree catwalk lies endless loneliness, and behind the monotonous and dreary life of a corporate worker is a little kitten navigating dreams to help you find your true self.
Will the cat hero, descending from the heavens, be able to subdue demons, eliminate evil, and uphold justice?
Two trailers for Cat God have also been released that make this new animated shorts series look absolutely gorgeous, with episodes that widely vary from each other on aesthetic style.
Watch those trailers below, and look out for Cat God to premiere on YOUKU at 10 am (Beijing time) on January 13th.
Entertainment journalist covering Japanese and Chinese anime industry for a decade.
Favorite donghua — World of Immortals, A Will Eternal, The Demon Hunter, Perfect World, Battle Through the Heavens, Fabulous Beasts, Spy x Sect, Soul Land, Tales of Herding Gods, Heaven Officials’ Blessing