You do have to admire Tsui Hark for even daring to attempt creating an animated reinterpretation of one of Hong Kong cinema's most beloved supernatural romances. Rather than trying to outdo the iconic 1987 live-action film, this fascinating, if often overlooked, animated version reimagines the story through stylised visuals and heightened emotional clarity. It's as frenetic as any Tsui Hark production, with the animation embracing a storybook aesthetic; it's visually enthralling with lots of fluid character movement, expressive faces and backgrounds that feel pulled from classical Chinese ink paintings. Forests drift in mist, spirits glide rather than walk and the supernatural elements feel ethereal insteadof frightening. While the animation occasionally shows the limitations of its era with some uneven motion and a glaring disparity between the computer and cel animation, it compensates with atmosphere and mood. The world feels dreamlike, perfectly suited to a tale about love that exists between life and death. The film does stay remarkably faithful to the core of the legend, with the animated format allowing the story to streamline its emotional beats, if slightly less playful than in the live-action version. Ultimately, standing as a complementary companion to its live-action predecessor rather than a replacement, this animated Chinese Ghost Story trades iconic performances and kinetic action for visual poetry and emotional restraint. It's not perfect by any means, with its thin attempt at making the legend more child-friendly falling short, but it's a considerable accomplishment and just so irresistibly charming that, for any fan of the original, it's worth watching.