Dahufa is an interesting and unusual title. Althrough having watched bunch of them, I’m not exactly a fan of Chinese anime, but it’s works like this or the Big Fish and Begonia that make me have some faith in the potential of this type of animation. If you’ve already watched some Chinese animations, you might notice that lot of the times the story tends to be confusing and seeming like it leaves out a lot of the info. Usually this leads to the story seeming lacklustre, but in case of Dahufa it actually works. While the story doesn’t explain anything at the start, it opensup with a mysterious and intriguing world that makes you want to continue and see what is going on, and as you continue with the movie the details are slowly being unveiled. It might be a bit far-fetched comparation, but it feels a bit like playing a Dark Souls game for the first time – you get thrown in an unknown world filled with curious creatures and you try to piece together the story from the dialogue of the characters and the scenery around you. And it is a story that actually surprised me with some moments – in a good way, though saying how would be a spoiler.

The animation is well done, and while not being that detailed it’s the flow and the movement it excels at. It’s nice to look at and welcomed change from the usual lower budget animations Chinese anime tends to have.

Dahufa is a movie that I would recommend even if you’re not interested in watching Chinese animation, and might even be a good starting point for watching it.