Crouching Tiger, Hidden Anime?

[Milky Mixer]

Hey John, I know there are several anime and manga series that take place in ancient Japan, but I was wondering if you knew of any anime or manga titles that take place in ancient China and capture the feeling of movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers. I've been on kind of a Chinese kick lately, reading about the country's history, the building of the Great Wall, etc. And of course I love Crouching Tiger, one of my favorite films, but the only Japanese-created series about kung fu in historical China that I can think of is the Shaolin Sisters manga (and I'm not even sure if that's set in China!). Could you point me in the direction of any anime or manga that might be comparable to this film and the era it captures? I have the Crouching Tiger manhua series by Andy Seto but I was looking specifically for anime or manga. For some reason Fist of the North Star popped into my head, but I saw that years ago and that takes place in some apolcolyptic future, doesn't it? Anyway, if you've got any suggestions can ya post 'em? Thanks!

[crow-kun]

If thats what you want why not just keep watching your live action Chinese martial arts movies? Why look to anime and manga for it when the Chinese can do it better.

[John]

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any "wu xia" anime. The closest that may exist is the Chinese/Japanese co-production Legend of the Condor Heroes. It's available on American DVD from Tai Seng, but the American DVDs contain only the Chinese and English dubbed audio. They don't contain the Japanese language track.

There are several anime adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but as far as I know, the TV series and movies are all fairly realistic and don't include superhuman martial arts.

[Milky Mixer]

Well, thanks for answering the question, John. Like I said before, I know there are a lot of anime and manga dealing with Japan's historical past and even other historical anime (Mysterious Cities of Gold was about the Americas). I just thought maybe there might be an anime or manga that interpreted Chinese history and the popular elements we see in martial arts movies. But I guess if you can't think of one... then it's an untapped idea.

[LostCause]

"Fushigi Yugi" world, I was told, resembles feudal China.

[John]

Fushigi Yuugi and Twelve Kingdoms both resemble ancient China, but they're not actually ancient China.

Like a Cloud, Like the Wind is set in ancient China, but it doesn't contain any fighting or martial arts. It's a romantic drama.

The very rare Street Fighter II: Yomigaeru Fujiwara-kyo OVA also occurs in ancient China, but it also has no fighting in it.

[Undrave]

How about a Saiyuki anime? There's many of those XD

Hoshin Engi(AKA Soul Hunter) is set in mythological Ancient China (the manga's WAY better than the anime),lots of fantasy and superhuman element... the mangaka was previously known for his sci-fi work and it really permeates the whole universe...yet still looking chinese somehow.