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Myth and Cyber: A Study of the Narrative and Visual Language of Chinese Cyberpunk Anime Films

  • Xiaoya Wang

    Xiaoya Wang is a Ph.D. candidate at Jinan University, specializing in the fields of International Communication Studies and Media and Cultural Studies. Her research interests primarily encompass global communication phenomena, the interplay between media and culture, as well as the impact and mechanisms of cross-cultural communication. She is committed to exploring how media shapes and reflects cultural identities, and how it influences social and political dynamics on a global scale.

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    and Jinbo Yuan

    Jinbo Yuan, Ph.D. candidate researcher at the Graduate School of the Humanities, Nagoya University, specializes in Asian Studies and Gender Studies. Her research interests include Chinese cinema, East Asian war films, Chinese masculinity and feminist discourses to explore the representation of gender, identity and state relations in mediated cultures.

Published/Copyright: September 10, 2024
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Abstract

The cyberpunk genre started a new trend in Chinese anime movies after 2020, represented by the hugely commercially successful New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021). Unlike Western cyberpunk, which focuses on portraying the future as a subcategory of science fiction, Chinese cyberpunk anime chooses to look back, fusing ancient myths with cyborgs, which is called myth-cyberpunk, reconstructing traditional Chinese culture, and broadening the boundaries of cyberpunk. This paper focuses on spatial construction and characterization in Chinese cyberpunk anime films. It traces the influence of Western cyberculture on Chinese animation and the uniqueness and local innovation of the Chinese side. Importantly, it examines the role of audience participation in the processes of cultural encoding and decoding, as proposed by Stuart Hall, to understand the dynamics behind the growing popularity of cyber animation in China. This paper aims to interpret the evolution of the cyberpunk style in Chinese animations, its reception, and its deeper societal motivations, offering insights into the unique allure of Chinese cyberpunk anime within the contemporary socio-cultural context.


Corresponding author: Xiaoya Wang, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, E-mail:
Xiaoya Wang and Jinbo Yuan contributed equally to this paper and are listed in alphabetical order.

About the authors

Xiaoya Wang

Xiaoya Wang is a Ph.D. candidate at Jinan University, specializing in the fields of International Communication Studies and Media and Cultural Studies. Her research interests primarily encompass global communication phenomena, the interplay between media and culture, as well as the impact and mechanisms of cross-cultural communication. She is committed to exploring how media shapes and reflects cultural identities, and how it influences social and political dynamics on a global scale.

Jinbo Yuan

Jinbo Yuan, Ph.D. candidate researcher at the Graduate School of the Humanities, Nagoya University, specializes in Asian Studies and Gender Studies. Her research interests include Chinese cinema, East Asian war films, Chinese masculinity and feminist discourses to explore the representation of gender, identity and state relations in mediated cultures.

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Received: 2023-09-01
Accepted: 2024-03-03
Published Online: 2024-09-10
Published in Print: 2024-08-27

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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