Continuing a story is tricky enough without throwing in additional hurdles like cultural significance or an established long-running series. Anything established must be honored and, in so doing, can create limitations on what comes next. But that’s what co-writers/co-directors Gu Jie and MTJJ contend with in their animated fantasy adventure The Legend of Hei 2 (罗小黑战记 2), their follow-up to 2019’s The Legend of Hei, which is, itself, a prequel to the MTJJ-directed series The Legend of Luo Xiaohei (罗小黑战记). Gratefully, one doesn’t need to be familiar with 2019’s Hei or even with the spirits that exist within Chinese culture in order to enjoy the second outing (although it does help) as Hei 2 quickly establishes the rules of its world, its players, and the stakes, similar as they may be to Hei. However, like any good sequel, it takes what works and finds a way to improve upon it while crafting an adventure that’s worthy of its characters — something which co-writers Kexin Peng (The Legend of Hei; 钟馗), MTJJ, Gu Jie, and Fengxishenlei (The Legend of Hei) absolutely nail, even as they stoke the same tensions, highlighting that even when one fire is extinguished, the problem is, itself, not necessarily resolved. Now, GKIDS Films offers up The Legend of Hei 2 for your viewing enjoyment at home, accompanied by over 30 minutes of behind-the-scenes materials to expand the adventure.
If you need a reminder on the events of The Legend of Hei (2019), check out the trailer for the feature release.
Since stopping Fengxi (voiced by Hao Xianghai) from hurting innocent humans by rapidly terraforming an urban environment back to its natural roots, spirit Luo Xiaohei (voiced by Shan Xin) lives with their human master, Wuxian (voiced by Liu Mingyue), in order to train their skills and develop control over their spatial domain. Their peace is broken when Wuxian is called before the Spirit Elders and accused of having betrayed the spirits, killed some of their own, and handed over weapons that can kill spirits to a military force. Assured of his innocence, Wuxian allows himself to be observed under house arrest by Naza (also voiced by Shan Xin) and encourages Xiaohei to allow the Guild to investigate. However, Luye (voiced by Zhu Jing), Wuxian’s previous disciple and Spirit Enforcer like Wuxian, refuses to sit by and sets out to discover the truth. As Xiaohei follows behind, the two set forth to uncover the mystery of Wuxian’s accusation in hopes that they can do so before all-out war begins between the Spirit and Human worlds.
The following home release review is based on a Blu-ray retail copy provided by GKIDS Films via Radial Entertainment.
The Legend of Hei 2 is exactly what audiences want from a sequel. It’s smart, hilarious in all the right ways, and incredibly moving as it slowly amplifies the action alongside the stakes so that the audience starts to realize the implications. The first film had the burden of introducing a great number of characters, establish personalities, and generally do all the heavy-lifting of any first outing, while also delivering a solid story. It certainly helps that the hand-drawn animation charms like a Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away) crossed with a Cartoon Saloon (Wolfwalkers) production, evoking a grounded story infused with imagination that CG stories don’t often possess due to the false realism they generate or too-amplified fantastical affectation (The Super Mario Bros. Movie). With Hei 2, audiences are thrown directly into the fray, the cold open featuring an attack on one of the Spirit Guilds and establishing that it’s being led by someone with an agenda. It’s this mystery that powers the entire film and, even when the audience can tell that Wuxian isn’t the proper threat, the execution of sidelining him so that the story isn’t ended within minutes doesn’t feel like a cheat, it feels like a true-to-the-character choice. Also, for those familiar with the Chinese novel Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods), a story adapted in a variety of live action and animated ways over the years, seeing the over-powered Ne Zha (represented within the film as Naza) given a larger piece of the story to engage with is an absolute delight as the Demon Pill is ever the handful and absolutely willing to use his reputation and legitimate strength when necessary. Pairing Wuxian with Naza is a perfect choice because few within the Hei cinematic universe seem on the same level (or stronger) than Wuxian and Naza’s fiery personality makes for a comic balance against Wuxian’s stoicism. Their bound storyline is balanced by Hei and the introduction of Luye, the prior discipline and the one doing the hunting this time around.
L-R: Wuxian voiced by Liu Mingyue and Luo Xiaohei voiced by Shan Xin in THE LEGEND OF HEI 2. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 Beijing HMCH Anime Co.,Ltd
With Hei and Wuxian having addressed their differences, the pairing of Luye and Hei allows there to be interpersonal conflict to create natural forms of tension that might otherwise be more difficult to manufacture or that would grow repetitive with the various spirits sent to keep watch on Luye and Hei — like spirits A and B (voiced by Yan Ling and Chen Qigang, respectively). Outside of the sibling-like bond the two form, albeit to Luye’s initial chagrin, the pairing of the two spirits offers a perspective that keeping Hei and Wuxian together wouldn’t provide and is quite necessary to the story. Where the opposition to Fengxi’s plan made sense in the immediate and Wuxian provided the human perspective that Hei couldn’t quite grasp, by putting Hei with a fellow spirit, both Hei and the audience are asked to reconsider their perspectives on who is the greater threat to peace: spirits or humans? Taking it a step further, the background of Luye and her connection to Wuxian pushes the audience to look beyond the simple black-and-white dichotomy of most stories to explore the necessary grey that exists in the real-world. In a film that contains 10 battles, according to the featurette “Animation Breakdown,” the audience must care about these characters in order for the fight sequences to carry weight beyond the immediate awe from the clearly wuxia-inspired execution of most. It says a great deal about the efficacy regarding the structure, specially chosen pairings, and the performances that an elongated non-dialogue sequence will bring one to tears.
Luye voiced by Zhu Jing in THE LEGEND OF HEI 2. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 Beijing HMCH Anime Co.,Ltd
If you’re interested in learning more about The Legend of Hei 2, the on-disc materials offer two behind-the-scenes featurettes and a lengthy animatic breakdown, plus three trailers. The first two — “Animation Production” and “Sound and Dubbing” — average five minutes and are presented with a delightful whimsy. Packaged in a viewfinder format, both sections feature a brief introduction before diving into conversations with cast and crew members. We do learn a great deal about the production, including but not limited to: why it took six years to produce, the shift from a 90-minute to a 120-minute feature, the process of hand-drawing before animating each frame (over 200,000), tracking a large scale of characters, and a great deal more. Unfortunately, neither of them includes English-language translations for names and titles, only subtitles for what they say, which means it’s difficult to understand who may be speaking and their respective role on the project. It’s easier in the “Sound and Dubbing” portion to identify a few people as the Chinese voice cast is shown in the booth alongside the final footage of a scene they performed in, plus it’s highlighted how returning voice actor Shan Xin (The Legend of Hei) once more voices both Xiaohei and Naza. We also learn a bit about the foley work and the ways in which they adapted the original score to best fit within the story being told in Hei 2. Based on the ending of the “Sound and Dubbing” featurette, which includes mention of the May 2025 theatrical release (it was September for North America), one guesses that, unlike other GKIDS Films home releases with distributor-specific produced featurettes, these were released in support of the original Chinese release, which may be why there’re no English-language translations for names/titles.
L-R: Naza voiced by Shan Xin and Wuxian voiced by Liu Mingyue in THE LEGEND OF HEI 2. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 Beijing HMCH Anime Co.,Ltd
For those interested in learning about the animation process, there is a 20-minute featurette titled “Animation Breakdowns” that highlights 20 different sequences (shown in non-chronological order) in each of their respective individual development forms across four styles: storyboard, layout, animatic, and then the final version. Some of the development forms before the final version include either notes made to enhance the scene or dialogue test, but all of them are silent except for scoring. Though quite repetitive in execution, the intention is to provide audiences a chance to see the process of animated key sequences (such as: part of the training sequence between Hei and Wuxian; different portions of the capture sequence with the shapeshifter spirit; a portion of the thrilling plane sequence; and even the various skirmishes between Spirits and Humans). It’s particularly interesting to see the ways in which the modeling gives way to the final product, though, without any explanation of the actual process of animation (as it provided with other titles like Little Amélie or the Character of Rain and The Colors Within, via the director and scene breakdown featurettes), this featurette does grow tedious in the repetition. Finally, there are three trailers included, two in Chinese and one dubbed in English, for the theatrical release.
L-R: Luo Xiaohei voiced by Shan Xin and Luye voiced by Zhu Jing in THE LEGEND OF HEI 2. Photo courtesy of GKIDS Films. ©2025 Beijing HMCH Anime Co.,Ltd
As audiences are truly hungry for engaging stories, the chance to experience something like The Legend of Hei 2 couldn’t come at a better time. The first film is easily available through either physical or digital providers (including Crunchyroll, if you have a subscription), so getting caught up before watching is a simple and, honestly, quite enjoyable task. It’s not entirely necessary as, again, the script does introduce characters in an easy fashion and the relationships/stakes are equally easy to understand soon after the cold open and character catch-up is completed. One does, however, find themselves in a bit of shock as Hei 2 succeeds in amplifying the emotion and the action without sacrificing a thing or dragging for a moment. Though it does include some acts of violence that may be difficult for younger viewers, if your family is comfortable watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, go ahead and just add this to your queue as there are similar explorations of cultural violence within a different context.
The Legend of Hei 2 Special Features:
- Animation Production (4:56)
- Sound and Dubbing (5:19)
- Animation Breakdowns (20:29)
- Three (3) Trailers (4:34)
Available on Blu-ray and digital May 12th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official GKIDS Films The Legend of Hei 2 webpage.
To purchase, head either to The Legend of Hei 2 official GKIDS Films webpage or GRUV webpage.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
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