When cat spirit Luo Xiaohei's home is deforested by humans, he must find a new one. He runs into a group of other spirit creatures who take him under their wing with dreams of reconquering the land they say is rightfully theirs. However, they run into a human known as Wuxian who separates Luo Xiaohei from the other spirits and the two go on a journey, with the cat spirit learning to control his abilities as well as forming his own thoughts on whether or not he should ally with the spirits or the humans.
When cat spirit Luo Xiaohei's home is deforested by humans, he must find a new one. He runs into a group of other spirit creatures who take him under their wing with dreams of reconquering the land they say is rightfully theirs. However, they run into a human known as Wuxian who separates Luo Xiaohei from the other spirits and the two go on a journey, with the cat spirit learning to control his abilities as well as forming his own thoughts on whether or not he should ally with the spirits or the humans.
The film's central narrative critiques human environmental destruction and advocates for mutual understanding and coexistence between different groups (humans and spirits), aligning its dominant themes with progressive values like environmentalism and social justice.
The movie features a diverse cast of characters consistent with its East Asian cultural origin, without engaging in explicit race or gender swaps of traditionally Western roles. Its narrative explores themes of coexistence and environmentalism, and does not present a critical portrayal of traditional Western identities.
The Legend of Hei does not include any explicit or implicitly identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. The narrative focuses on the journey of a cat spirit and his relationships with humans and other spirits, without addressing queer identities or experiences.
The film features powerful female characters who engage in combat, but their victories against male opponents are consistently achieved through the use of spiritual powers and energy manipulation, rather than direct physical combat, martial arts, or melee weapon skills. No scenes depict a female character winning a close-quarters physical fight against male opponents without relying on these abilities.
The film "The Legend of Hei" is a prequel to an existing web series. All major characters retain their established genders from the source material, with no instances of a character canonically established as one gender being portrayed as another.
The Legend of Hei is an original Chinese animated film. Its characters were created for this specific production, and there is no prior source material or historical record establishing their race differently from their on-screen portrayal.
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