The Demon Society, a thief syndicate, desires the Phoenix sword owned by the king of Gui Kingdom. With the hope that the king is going to offer them the sword as an exchange gift for their services, The Demon Society traps the king’s daughter in an iron weeping mask that no one in the kingdom but them can unlock. The King is unwilling to give up on his precious sword, even if it is for the sake of his own daughter. Fortunately, JhugeShiro, a guy that knows the whereabouts of The Demon Society is in town and he will commit to save the princess without losing the sword.
Shiro-Hero Of Heroes is screening at Asian Pop Up Cinema
JhugeShiro is a well-known hero in the asian culture. Taiwanese and Chinese boys experienced for almost ten years through the 1940’s and 1950’s his imaginary adventures in a comic book that came by the same name created by Yeh Hong-chia, a creator that this animation never forgets to celebrate. Yeh Hong-chia makes an appearance at the first part of the story as a comic book writer that visits the gates of the traditional kingdom depicted in the film with the warm, strobbing colors that the viewer would expect to see in an animation about Asian folklore. The creator appears also as his animated self working on the very same comic in a post-credits scene. So, there you have it, a kid’s movie made to entertain our little friends ( the Phoenix Sword makes a hilarious EDM sound that mesmerises the crowds whenever Shiro pulls it from the sheath, among other things) with an aim to strike a chord in the heart of the older audiences that used to be fans of JhugeShiro’s paper adventures.
This animated feature is enjoyable as it combines a tight, short plot without many sub-stories-that could be noisy and tiring for the adults that acompany the younger viewers-with some classic gimmicks that we usually find in tradional legends of most cultures. In this case, we have two magic swords and a princess that has to be saved by a brave young man while the king seems to have missed the point of being a father driven by his materialistic needs.
I wouldn’t recommend Shiro as your Saturday night movie event if your over 12, but it won’t bother you if you have to watch it with a little friend of yours either.
Plus, I couldn’t tell why half of the characters had fully expressive eyes, while the other half were button-eyed.
