A stage greeting for the revival screening of the Japanese dubbed version of the popular Chinese animated film "The Legend of Hei," "The Legend of Hei: The Future I Choose," was held at Shinjuku Wald 9 (Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo) on November 1st, with Kana Hanazawa, who plays Xiaohei, and Takahiro Sakurai, who plays Fuxi, taking to the stage. In reference to the fact that Xiaohei and Fuxi are fairies, Sakurai was asked, "If you could become a fairy, what power would you want?" to which he replied, "I want to fly."
Sakurai said that if he acquired the ability to fly, "the next place I'd go to would be Meguro, like whoosh. The fairies (from The Legend of Hei) fly quickly, so it would be a little more pleasant, like there was a bird next to me as I flew," and added that he would "want to incorporate the ability into my life."
Hanzawa answered, "I want to have my favorite bakery closer to my house," referring to her favorite bread, but then added, "But it would be a nuisance.If I thought about it calmly, I realized that it wouldn't work."
The stage greeting on this day was held to commemorate Xiaohei's birthday, which was on November 1st, and a birthday cake was brought on stage to celebrate Xiaohei's birthday together with the audience.
"The Legend of Hei: The Future I Choose" tells the story of Xiaohei, a black cat fairy who is driven out of the forest due to environmental destruction, who meets the fairy Fu Xi and Mugen, the strongest human enforcer, and becomes embroiled in a major incident that shakes up the relationship between humans and fairies.
The film was produced by Chinese animator and animation director MTJJ and Hanmu Chunhua (HMCH) Studio. The web anime series was released on a video site in March 2011 and gained popularity, followed by a theatrical release. The theatrical version was a hit, grossing approximately 315 million RMB (approximately 4.9 billion yen) at the box office in China. A subtitled version was released in Japan in September 2019, and a Japanese dubbed version was released in November 2020. The dubbed version had a long run of about six months, grossing over 520 million yen at the box office.
The new film "The Legend of Hei 2: The Future We Want" is also attracting attention as it will be released on November 7th. The Japanese dubbed version and the subtitled version will be released simultaneously.
