Starring: Xiao Liansha, Tute Hameng, Jin Shijie, Youwu Yueshan, Li Jiayi, Ye Zhiqiu, Li Lanling Director: Busifan

WITH a modest box office of 74 million yuan (US$11 million) as of July 23, 10 days after its release, Chinese animated film “Dahufa” has generated a lot of buzz online. The movie targeting adults contain some bloody, violent scenes as well as sort of soft-porn lines.

Centering on the titular person Dahufa, a short martial arts master born to safeguard the fictional Yiwei State, the tale follows his adventure to rescue the nation’s crown prince in a town populated by peanut-headed humanoids.

Peanuttown is a small backwater town on the fringes of the Kingdom of Yiwei, an ignored place on its frontier. But despite its beauty, a hidden danger lurks as evident by the enormous black peanut floating in the sky above the village. In searching for his long-lost prince, Dahufa has come to this strange town.

The residents that live here look exactly like peanuts; their faces each have two eyes and a mouth, but these are “fake eyes and mouths” that are stuck onto their faces. As a result, they are sluggish and stupid. They don’t know where they’re from, but instead live in a mechanical and submissive way.

These residents are against all foreign things, and are numb and ignorant. But whenever these residents grow a strange mushroom from their bodies, they are executed by the town’s guards. In trying to escape the murderous clutches of the guards, Dahufa encounters the prince as well as gets drawn into an epic story about desire.

It’s not just the choice of subject matter that is setting this film apart from its peers. “Dahufa” goes to great length to characterize the world of Peanuttown as a dystopia, and they do it through brutal violence.

The people of Peanuttown are routinely subjected to violence from its authoritative rulers. In the film, blood is spilled, heads are decapitated, and firing squads execute rows upon rows of Peanuttown residents. In fact, the film is so violent that it has self-imposed a “PG-13” rating to prevent young children from watching it.

Violence on its own is not something to be praised, but where “Dahufa” really shines is using violence and horror to paint an oppressive mood. The people of Peanuttown are depicted as haunting figures with detachable eyes and mouths; the lack of empathy afforded to these characters make their gory on-screen deaths seem all the more shocking.

“Dahufa” appears to take its inspiration from Hayao Miyazaki’s 1997 opus “Princess Mononoke,” especially when considering its horror and violence.

The movie also highlights the fact that China does not have its own film rating system. Speaking to Sixth Tone, film critic Wei Xiaoxi said that it was probably a marketing stunt to let audiences know that the movie is targeting adults. “Animated films have been for children by default for such a long time,” he said.

However, Dai Weisi, head of publicity for “Dahufa,” told Sixth Tone the rating was not set with marketing in mind. “The movie’s violence and adult themes were the reason it declared itself PG-13, despite the risk that this might affect viewership numbers,” she said. “It comes from a sense of responsibility to our audience.”

“Dahufa” currently enjoys an 8.1 rating on Douban from almost 50,000 reviews. Reception to the movie has been generally positive, with most viewers praising its artistic style, mature themes and contemporary relevance.

The movie offers two language options: Cantonese and Mandarin. Both versions have English subtitles.

The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen. (SD-Agencies)